What does Gilberto Celestino bring to the Pirates?
A look at the recent signing by the Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates made their first offseason splash, signing outfielder Gilberto Celestino to a minor-league contract.
Initially signed by the Houston Astros, he was part of the package sent to the Minnesota Twins in the Ryan Pressley trade in 2018. Celestino made his major league debut in 2021 before playing 122 games the following season.
Celestino, 24, has never been a big-time hitter, with a .755 OPS in the minors. A few parts of his game did stand out, which the Pirates could take advantage of next year.
Fielding
Maybe the best part of his game is that Celestino put up above-average defensive metrics during the 2022 season while playing center field.
On Baseball Savant, he posted a +2 Outs Above Average (OAA), which would have been the third-best mark on the Pirates last year, behind Ji-Hwan Bae and Jack Suwinski.
He also had one of the strongest arms in baseball that year, as his arm strength ranked in the 93rd percentile. Celestino had a max throw of 102.3 mph, which is harder than any other tracked throw made by a Pirate fielder since 2020.
Only Henry Davis has thrown a ball in the field at triple digits.
Doesn’t chase, draws walks
Last year in Triple-A, Celestino walked more than he struck out and was in the 63rd percentile when it comes to walk rate in the majors during the 2022 season.
He has a walk rate of 10.7% during his time in the minors.
Celestino also doesn’t often chase pitches out of the zone, posting a 21.8% chase rate in 2022, which was in the 86th percentile of all qualified hitters.
Last year in the minors, he posted a chase rate slightly better than in the majors in 2022.
Hits breaking balls
One of the primary issues that some of the prospects coming up faced was against breaking pitches. Gilberto did his best bit of hitting against breaking pitches, posting a .396 against them. It also included a +6 Run-Value against sliders specifically.
He struggled against off-speed pitches, with unfavorable data going back to his major league stint in 2022 and the minors last year.
Triple-A metrics: is there more to give?
Last year, Celestino hit the ball hard in Triple-A after putting up mostly underwhelming numbers in the majors.
His exit velocity numbers match some exciting names in the Pirates system.
Max exit velocity - 109.7 mph, comp - Jack Brannigan
This one is interesting because Brannigan didn’t exactly light things up exit velocity-wise but still put up some decent power numbers.
95th percentile exit velocity - 106 mph, comp - Lonnie White Jr.
You could argue that LWJ has some of the most power in the Pirates system right now, and Celestino put up a similar percentile number as him.
Average exit velocity - 90.6 mph, comp - Cal Mitchell
Of all the hitters with at least 50 recorded Batted Ball Events (BBE), Mitchell led the Pirates system in average exit velocity, and Celestino finished 0.4 mph behind him.
The issue? Launch angle
Celestino was a victim of hitting the ball hard in Triple-A last year, but it was mainly into the ground, with a barrel rate of just 2.7%.
In 236 batted balls in the majors during the 2022 season, Celestino had a negative launch angle (-1.7). He didn’t show much exit velocity then, but maybe he found something last year that allowed him to hit the ball harder that can be further tweaked with the Pirates.
The fit
Going into the offseason, the Pirates could have benefitted from adding another right-handed-hitting outfielder who could play center field.
The Pirates gave some extra at-bats to Jack Suwinski against lefties, and it didn’t go well.
What issue could arise is that Celestino doesn’t hit lefties any better despite being right-handed. In the majors, he has a wRC+ of 85 against righties and just 54 against left-handed pitchers.
Suwinski had a wRC+ of 68 against lefties last year.
That may not be the makings of the traditional platoon picture, but this could point to a different role for Celestino should he make the major league roster.
The Pirates only have two right-handed hitting outfielders currently on their 40-man roster - Connor Joe and Henry Davis.
Joe may factor into the first base picture, at least until they sign/trade for someone, and Davis will go into spring training working as a catcher, so the opportunity will be there.
Not opposed to the signing, but he should be looked at as a depth option, not a platoon option for Jack.
Signing a 24-year-old former top prospect that can at minimum provide decent D in CF is a good depth move. Losing Marcano and adding Celestino feels a bit like rearranging deck chairs but we come out slightly ahead because it's a minor league deal and he's healthy or healthier.