The rest of the 2023 season will likely be meaningless in the way of game-by-game results for the Pittsburgh Pirates. They’ve dug themselves a rather large hole and are now 11 games under .500 following a sweep at the hands of the San Francisco Giants. Ben Cherington has decided to call upon his top prospects to finish out the season in Pittsburgh.
Over the past month, nearly all of the Pirates’ top prospects have found their way to the majors. That wave continued with the promotions of Quinn Priester, Endy Rodriguez, and Liover Peguero for Monday evening. Priester will start Monday with Rodriguez likely catching, both making their MLB debuts. Peguero was called up for a very brief cup of coffee in 2022 because the Pirates needed an injury replacement.
Those three join Henry Davis and Nick Gonzalez as top prospects that Cherington has promoted to the big leagues. While it isn’t likely that they’ve got time to make a late push at the playoffs, bringing them up now is certainly the right move. However, by promoting all of these guys, Cherington has officially started making his stamp on the Pirates’ roster. Without a doubt, it is now fair to begin putting Cherington under the microscope in terms of the Pirates’ performance.
Cherington’s Job Security
Cherington was always going to have some leeway with the Pirates’ rebuild. In all fairness, upon taking over the Pirates, there was nearly not a desirable part of taking the job. They had no big-time prospects and any prospects like Oneil Cruz were still years away from becoming MLB players. Any major league talent had been traded away for those far-away prospects. He had his work cut out for him.
One can argue the teams he has put on the field in his four seasons at the helm have been underwhelming. They would be right in that assessment as they haven’t really been competitive until this season. Even then, the Pirates fell off hard from their early season burst.
Cherington has some grace yet as the Pirates are just beginning the ascent back to relevancy. However, if this group of prospects that Cherington has largely assembled – aside from a few holdovers from the previous regime – doesn’t pan out by the end of 2024, things could get dicey for him.
Neal Huntington was given a long opportunity with the Pirates, more than a decade to be exact. For three playoff appearances in a ten-year span, that is a lot of life for a Pirates General Manager. I don’t suspect Cherington will get that long of a chance unless the Pirates show legit improvement over the final two-and-a-half months and into 2024.
Winning % with Ben Cherington:
2020: .363%
2021: .361%
2022: .356%
2023: .441% (remind you this is pre trade deadline)2022 Pirates had a .420% in game 93. Where will this 2023 Pirates team settle when it's all said and done?
— 𝐍𝐒𝟗 (@NorthShoreNine) July 16, 2023
How Do Moves Affect Roster?
Rodriguez’s call-up is the most intriguing as it will likely bump Austin Hedges and his sub-.500 OPS to the bench. On most normally operated baseball teams, Hedges would likely be a DFA candidate. This doubles knowing that Davis is on the major league roster and was drafted as the first overall pick to be…a catcher. However, the Pirates value Hedges’ defense too much to designate him for assignment.
Priester likely will lock down a rotation spot for the remainder of the season. Outside of Mitch Keller, the Pirates’ rotation has been inconsistent. Priester used to be seen as a top-of-the-rotation prospect. He never really dominated Triple-A like the Pirates would’ve hoped so his outlook may have changed a bit. In an ideal world, Priester fits in as a middle-of-the-rotation guy behind Keller and Paul Skenes down the road.
Peguero is a slick middle-infielder with just enough pop to play at the Major League level. Peguero was a part of the first trade Cherington made as Pirates GM when Starling Marte was shipped to the Arizona Diamondbacks. He’ll reunite with his good buddy Gonzalez as the Pirates’ double-play tandem until Cruz gets back.
2024 Becomes Pressure-Packed Year for Cherington
It may not seem like it now but the promotion of all these top guys means 2024 should be the year the Pirates begin going for it. Maybe they won’t be contending for the NL Central quite yet but asking them to potentially nab a wild card berth shouldn’t be out of the question.
Skenes will likely debut in 2024. A handful of other prospects should make their debuts to supplement the current new core of the Pirates’ roster. There is no reason to believe the Pirates can’t compete next year. Of the Pirates’ top-10 prospects on MLB’s official website, only Priester and Mike Burrows were holdovers from the Huntington era. The other eight are fruits of Cherington’s labor. Five of them will officially be on the MLB roster once the Pirates make the promotions official on Monday.
These guys are going to get valuable playing time over the final months of the season. They’ll be helped out even more once the roster is trimmed further with the trade deadline purge. Then, come August 1st, it is officially the kids’ team for the rest of the year. 2023 may be over in terms of wins-and-losses meaning anything.
That doesn’t mean that the next 15 months don’t mean a whole heck of a lot for Cherington.
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Photo Credit- Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Players Mentioned- Quinn Priester, Endy Rodriguez, Liover Peguero, Henry Davis, Nick Gonzalez, Oneil Cruz, Austin Hedges, Mitch Keller, Paul Skenes, Starling Marte, Mike Burrows
