Pittsburgh Pirates Grade Report: Shortstop

The Pirate's shortstop position has been the one that has seen the most player cycle through. 2020 was another experiment year where the Pirates were sorting through their options for the future.

Ever since the Pirates lost Jordy Mercer following the 2018 season, the team has been struggling to find someone to man the position full-time. Over the past two seasons, four different players have cycled through at shortstop for the team with neither of them really able to stake their claim to the position. There was a thought after last season that Kevin Newman would be the guy after he hit .304 during his first full season in the Majors, but a sophomore slump put those first-year successes into question. As a result, the Pirates had to test other options as they tried to get Newman back on track.

Some of those options included Erik Gonzalez, Cole Tucker, and even now-former Pirate JT Riddle. Gonzalez was hurt for most of the 2019 season and the Pirates never truly got a look at him, Tucker was moving to the outfield, and Riddle consistently struggled throughout the year. Even after the shortened 2020 season, there is still no clear-cut shortstop of the future and, with guys like Robbie Glendenning on the horizon, this group of players will have to battle if one of them wants to take over. Today, we will look at the 2020 shortstops and see how they grade out at the end of the season.

Kevin Newman: Starting Shortstop

After an impressive first full season in the Major Leagues that saw him hit .308 with 12 home runs and 64 RBI, many thought that Kevin Newman was the shortstop for the future for the Pirates. He didn't have to battle for his spot in Spring Training and was initially penciled in at the top of the Pirates lineup. However, things went completely south for Newman in his sophomore season as he hit just .228 with one home run and 10 RBI. If it were a 162 game season he was on pace for just three home runs and 36 RBI, which is a drastic decrease from last year. His strikeout numbers were up as he struck out 12.2% of the time and he walked just 12 times throughout the season. 

Shortstop is a position where you can live with lower offensive numbers if you play good defense, but Newman wasn't good on the defensive side either. In 184.1 innings at shortstop, Newman committed five errors and had a .930 fielding percentage. Newman ranked 28th among Major League shortstops in fielding percentage and could not accurately throw the ball this season. Defense was the big part of Newman's game that he needed to work on, and he got drastically worse from his 2019 numbers. It got so bad that they moved Newman to second base after the trade deadline, where he fared slightly better with a .960 fielding percentage.

With rumors surrounding the Pirates moving Adam Frazier, Newman could settle in as a second baseman next season for the Pirates. After a dismal showing at shortstop this season, Newman is going to have to hope his defense can stick at second base. If not, it is going to be a long season for Newman in 2021 with several other players nipping at his heels for playing time in the Pirates middle infield. Guys like Glendenning and Oneil Cruz, barring legal action, are all making there way to the Pirates very soon. If Newman wants to keep up, he is going to have to get back to his 2019 numbers as the calendar turns to 2021.

Erik Gonzalez: Back-up Shortstop/Utility

If any Pirates middle infielder had a strong season it was Erik Gonzalez. After suffering a broken collar bone in May of 2019, Gonzalez had to sit out nearly the entire season and didn't really get a chance to prove himself to Pittsburgh. 2020 was going to be an even harder season for the 28-year-old as he had to prove himself while not being guaranteed a starting spot in the infield. After hitting .083 through his first six games of the season, Gonzalez got it going in early August with a short four-game hitting streak where he would hit .473 with one home run and seven RBI. His breakout game came against Detroit on August 7th when he went 4-5 with a home run and six RBI. His numbers would eventually come down to Earth by season's end as he finished the year hitting .227 with three home runs and 20 RBI.

Gonzalez proved a little better at shortstop then Newman was, but not by much. He had a fielding percentage of .957 in 308.2 innings of work, committing five errors. He showed a little more natural ability at the position and was a part of a team-high 22 double plays at shortstop. Gonzalez isn't a superstar shortstop by any means, but he proved a defensive upgrade over Newman. Gonzalez came over in the trade that sent Jordan Luplow and Max Moroff to the Cleveland Indians and hasn't really gotten that full-time shot to prove his worth. 2021 might be his year as the Pirates wait for some of their top prospects to get ready for Major League action.

JT Riddle: Utility Man

JT Riddle played so many different positions on the field that it was hard to group him into any of the position categories. However, his most playing time came as a shortstop where he appeared in three games. He was signed by Cherrington and his staff in the off-season as a utility man and played all over the field. However, his bat was just unable to keep up with his fielding as he hit just .149 with a home run and one RBI in 67 at-bats. He appeared in just 23 games for the Bucs and just couldn't put it all together. Defensively, Riddle played every position in the field besides catcher and pitcher and played well for the most part. As a shortstop, he had his share of struggles posting a .917 fielding percentage with one error in 20 innings.

Overall Grade D+

Overall, shortstop is one of those positions that disappointed the most on the 2020 Pirates. While there were spurts of success from the couple guys that played the position regularly, no one could consistently perform and stake their claim as the full-time starter. From bad defense to bad offensive performance, shortstop has gone from a strength for the Pirates in 2019, to a weakness as the Pirates move forward. With Cole Tucker more than likely moving back to shortstop next season, maybe it will be the young gun who takes over the position as the Pirates look for someone to step up.

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