Young Pirates Hitters Rely On Experience To Grow
Veterans playing a big part with Indianapolis this season.
Much of the attention and publicity around Minor League players are highlighting the youngest and biggest prospects.
However, there are other players on the roster, who are just as vital to the ultimate growth and development of the Major League team, even if it’s not firsthand.
In Indianapolis, three such players this season are Chris Owings, Miguel Andujar, and Ryan Vilade. While Owings and Andujar saw some time in Pittsburgh this year, it was with a minimal impact. The biggest influence the three made were sharing knowledge at the Triple-A level.
“You get lucky with (some of the veterans that we have this year),” Indianapolis hitting coach Eric Munson said. “They have been there, done that and lead by example. It’s been a good group.“
Additionally, while the veterans in Indianapolis have a great deal of experience, they are also at different age ranges.
Owings is the most senior of the group, at 32. However, he has also played the most career Major League games with 720. Andujar has enjoyed the best season at the big league level of the three, finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting with the Yankees in 2018. He is 28 and enjoying an extremely strong season at the dish in Triple-A.
Vilade finds himself in a very unique position. He has the upper level experience in his third season at Triple-A, but is also still only 24 years old.
“We are younger team,“ Vilade said. “If people have questions about what I’ve been through, I always love to help out. It’s that funny part, where everyone is still young, and we’re trying to figure it out together.“
In fact, Vilade found himself on the development list to start the year. Despite that setback, his success on the field has led to him playing in over 100 games with Indianapolis this campaign. As of Wednesday, Vilade had 17 doubles with 25 extra-base hits in total.
While a lot of players could see that start of the season and a new organization, as a detriment, Vilade still continued to work and kept a positive attitude. He forced his way into the lineup in a fairly deep outfield with Indianapolis and has paid dividends.
“It was kind of a weird start to the season, but God has a plan,” Vilade said. “I just have to trust it, and it puts into perspective that the next day is not guaranteed. I just come out here and enjoy it, have fun and enjoy the guys out here enjoying the game.”
It’s that perspective and experience that has earned Vilade a leadership role in the clubhouse.
Despite having the leaders, the younger players have to also be receptive. This is a situation that Munson has been most proud of from the squad this year.
“Most of all, I’m pleased with their work ethic when they come to the field, and their openness to try things,” Munson said. “Overall, the mindset and attitude has been really good. It’s more impressive, because we have a lot of young players.”
Veteranosity of these sorts at Triple AAA is fine if they are not blocking real prospects. (Especially since most of these veterans are Quad AAAA players.)
But keep them out of Pittsburgh or Shelton will play and bat them out of their positions and comfort zones at the expense of real prospects or Cherington/Nutting will use them as excuses for not paying for real ML upgrades.