Pirates have the speed to be more aggressive on the bases in 2025
Several Pirates on 40-man roster graded out well in Sprint speed in 2024
There are a lot of things that can be said about the current construction of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 40-man roster.
They currently lack a clear-cut answer at right field. There isn’t much power available, but the Pirates can circumvent that.
The team seems in a position to get aggressive on the basepaths, with quite a few players that have above-average, or better, speed.
Of the 18 hitters on the 40-man roster who had their sprint speed tracked on Baseball Savant in 2024, 13 finished in the 60th percentile or better. Liover Peguero was in the 95th percentile in 2023, and Ke’Bryan Hayes has slowed down, presumably as his back has continued to flair up. He was in the 78th percentile when it came to sprint speed in his rookie year in 2020.
At the end of the season, the Pirates added Nick Yorke and Billy Cook, who finished in the 90th percentile or better in sprint speed.
Having so many players with above-average speed could help counter the fact that they finished 27th in slugging last year. Given the right aggressiveness, they could turn any single into a double with a stolen base, immediately putting a runner in scoring position.
Looking at the bottom 10 teams in slugging last year, four were in the Top 10 in stolen bases, including the Washington Nationals (1st), Tampa Bay Rays (4th), and the Cincinnati Reds (3rd).
If you aren’t going to hit for a ton of power, you have to try and find other ways to generate scoring.
The Pirates can do this on the bases, it’s just a matter of committing to it.
Here are some of the notable speedsters on the Pirates’ roster, according to Statcast:
Liover Peguero - 95th percentile (from 2023)
Nick Gonzales - 93rd percentile
Billy Cook - 93rd percentile
Ji-Hwan Bae - 91st percentile
Nick Yorke - 90th percentile
Oneil Cruz (88th), Jared Triolo (80th), and Jack Suwinski (77th) are other players who put up well above average sprint speeds.
Even Henry Davis (61st), Isiah Kiner-Falefa (61st), and Bryan Reynolds (67th) all graded out well when it came to speed.
It wasn’t the only reason, but the Arizona Diamondbacks made the World Series in 2023 while stealing the second most bases during the regular season. They were also ranked 17th in slugging, so the added aggressiveness on the bases helped offset that.
Stealing bases might not be as exciting as hitting a home run, but the new rules in the game give teams all the more reason to be aggressive with the legs, especially if they are unwilling to pay for what it takes to bring in power.
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Much faster team than you’d think at first glance. Ironically, though, the guy whose hitting skills are best suited to leadoff, Horwitz, grades out at . . . uh . . . 7.
Always loved watching Frank Taveras and Omar Moreno back in the day. Lot of fun on the base-paths.