Heredia Looking to Provide Depth to the Pirates Outfield.
Entering the 2020 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates starting outfield looks to be set with Bryan Reynolds, Jarrod Dyson, and Gregory Polanco nailing down the three starting spots. One thing the Pirates didn't have was a true 4th outfielder who could play all three positions and give guys days off here and there. The Pirates fixed that problem when they went out and signed Guillermo Heredia to a one-year contract. Heredia is entering his age 29 season and has experience patrolling all three outfield positions.
Heredia is one of a number of defensive first signings by new General Manager Ben Cherrington this summer, as he looks to sure up that aspect of the Pirates game. Heredia is one of the best defensive outfielders in the game and, in 2018, was one of only five qualified Major League outfielders to record a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. His offensive numbers leave little to be desired, with a career slash of .240/.317/.342, but he could more than make up for that by coming in to sure up the defense late in games.
The Pirates had literally the worst defense in the league last season with -46 defensive runs saved. A lot of that came from a rotating field of outfield depth that included Colin Moran playing left field several times throughout the season. Heredia gives the Pirates a strong defensive option off the bench where their outfield defense wouldn't suffer from a guy taking a day off. Heredia finished 2019 with four outs above average (OOA) and a 90% success rate as an outfielder. Of the three positions, his best numbers came as a centerfielder where he had 4 OOA and a 92% success rate.
His reaction time ranks in the upper echelon of the league at 1.2 seconds and his burst time sits at 0.9 seconds. On average, he covered about 36 feet per play and has a knack for getting to the baseball. As the ball hangs up in the air longer, there is a better chance that Heredia makes the play. In a spacious PNC Park outfield, this graph, courtesy of baseballsavant.mlb.com, shows how Heredia would have faired defensively at PNC Park last season.
Heredia's goal for 2020 is going to be finding a way to consistently stay on the Pirates Major League roster. With the Tampa Bay Rays last season, Heredia made three different trips between the Majors and Minors. As a result, he only played in 89 games in the Majors last season, and many of those were for defensive opportnities late in games. His average was the lowest it has ever been in his professionsl career, at .225, while he hit five home runs and drove in 20.
One of the positives from his 2019 season was that both his hard hit percentage (34.2) and his exit velocity (85.5) took significant jumps from the 2018 season. Heredia hits the ball on the ground about 41% of the time, just below league average, while hitting line drives 24.3% of the time. You love to see line drives from hitters because it means they are on the ball. If Heredia can use his speed and continue to hit line drives into the gaps at PNC Park, he could see his production numbers shoot up.
One thing Heredia needs to cut down on is his number of strikeouts. While all the positive stats were shooting up, so was his strikeout prcentage at 26%(11 percentage points higher than the previous season). Heredia doesn't chase much, at just 20% of the time, and he makes contact when he swings at pitches in the zone 87.4% of the time. However, Heredia was not a very lucky batter with a BABIP of just .293 last season. That was up 20 points from 2018, but he is still looking to find more holes at the at the plate.
Before Spring Training was shut down, Heredia had gone 3-19 at the plate (.158) with one double and one RBI. While his offense hasn't been going, his defense is right back where he left off. He has already made a few incredible leaping grabs and threw out a runner at home plate. If his defense remains strong, Heredia is going to be another strong defensive option for manager Derek Shelton to go to in 2020.
Prediction: .235, 3 HR, 24 RBI
I see Heredia continuing to be a bench player for the Pirates throughout the 2020 season getting his opportunities on defense late in games. I'm going to make a bold prediction, given Heredia's strong defensive numbers, and say he is going to be the Pirates best defensive outfielder in 2020. He is going to get a chance to play all three outfield positions, but I think he will be the primary back-up for Jarrod Dyson out in centerfield.
As of now, the season is expected to begin somewhere around May 25th. Until then, we will continue to look at the men who make up this year's team and their contributions in 2020.
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