Phillip Evans Proving 2020 Was Not a Fluke
One thing the Pittsburgh Pirates were searching for at the beginning of the season was a consistent bat with some power. They thought that was going to end up being rookie infielder Ke'Bryan Hayes, but Hayes went down with an injury and had to be moved to the 10-day injured list just two days into the season. It was a big blow to the Pirate's starting lineup as they were without their number two-hitter and one of the biggest producers on the team. They would need someone to step up, and turned to a man who had a hot start in 2020. He appeared in 11 games for the Pirates last year, before his season was ended with a broken jaw, and hit .359 with one home run and nine RBI.
However, he is starting to show that those numbers aren't a fluke as he is once again out to a hot start in 2021. Through his first seven games of the season, Evans is hitting .391 with three home runs and four RBI. He hit his third home run of the season on Saturday night and is now the team leader in home runs. Once Hayes comes back from the injured list, Manager Derek Shelton is going to have to find a way to keep that hot bat in the lineup. While it is still just a small sample size, with Evans only having played 18 games with the Pirates entering Sunday, but he is showing he could be an important part of the future. Today, we look at what has made Evans so successful and how he fits into the Pirate's future.
Combination of Power and Contact
With most hitters today in Major League Baseball, you either have a contact guy who gets on base a lot or a power guy who is basically home run or nothing. However, through 18 games with the Pirates, Evans has shown that he can be a combination of both types of players. During his time in Pittsburgh, he has a career batting average of .371 while hitting four home runs and driving in 13 RBI. Of his 23 hits for the Pirates, seven of them have gone for extra bases for an extra-base percentage of 30.4%. He has a career hard-hit percentage of 35.1 and rarely misses an opportunity to put the ball in play. However, this season he is showing an increased power bat, which is something the Pirates are in desperate need of.
Through his first seven games of the season, Evans already has three home runs and none of them have been cheap shots. The key to this is that he has consistently been hitting the ball hard and has been able to find gaps consistently. He currently owns the highest hard hit% on the Pirates hitting the ball hard 52.9% of the time and hitting the sweet spot 23% of the time. And, he is not only hitting the ball hard consistently but is also getting on base consistently. He is in the top 10% of the league in weighted on-base average (wOBA) with a .494. It is a stat that measures a player's overall contributions per plate appearance. So, when Evans is stepping to the plate, he isn't only having good at-bats, but he is having meaningful at-bats.
With the increased power that Evans has shown this season, you would expect to see an increase in strikeouts. However, that hasn't been the case with Evans and in fact, he has actually gotten harder to strike out. Seven games into the 2021 season, Evans has been one of the hardest men to strike out with a strikeout rate of 9.5%. Part of his success in this area is the fact that he is being a much more patient hitter at the plate. He has only chased pitches outside the zone at a 17% clip in 2021, and when he does chase he is making contact 60% of the time. The patience has also helped him get better pitches to hit and is leading to his offensive e success. If he can continue being patient at the plate, he should continue to get those good pitches to hit and should continue having success.
Evans' Place in the Pirates Future
Phillip Evans is one of those players that could go either way in terms of the Pirate's future plans for him. At 28-years-old he isn't really a young guy anymore, but he has only played parts of three seasons in the Major Leagues and has never appeared in more than 19 games with either the Mets or Pirates. However, the late start actually benefits the Pirates because they still have four years of control over him and he isn't scheduled to become a free agent until 2026. Again, it is still very early in Evans's Major League career, but all early signs indicate that his numbers are trending in the right direction.
However, like so many Pirates before him, Evans does not currently have a spot in the everyday lineup when everyone is healthy. Instead, he uses his versatility to find ways into the starting lineup night in and night out. However, he can play five of the nine positions on the field, so Shelton has ways of getting him into the everyday starting lineup. While third base is his primary position, it is unlikely that he sees a lot of time there because of Ke'Bryan Hayes. However, his ability to play the outfield helps him out especially this season. It has not been a good year so far for Pirates outfielders as Anthony Alford and Gregory Polanco have both struggled this season. However, with Evans's hot bat going that could move Reynolds to center and get the hot-hitting Evans out in right or left.
Even though it is still early in his career, I have a feeling that Evans will be a big part of this team moving forward. At 28-years old, he is entering the prime of his career and he is showing that he can handle Big League pitching. However, the key to his success will be how he adjusts when pitchers adjust to him. As he starts performing better and better, pitchers will start to be more careful and not give him so much to hit. If he is able to make those adjustments and keep his average in the high .200s to low .300s, he will be a big part of the Pirate's future. Because he is still under team control until 2026, he is one of a few players who should be on the Pirate's no-trade list in 2021.
The Pittsburgh Pirates (3-6) are looking to ride the momentum of their first series win when they take on the San Diego Padres (6-3) tomorrow at 6:35 pm. Trevor Cahill (0-1, 15.75) makes his second start of the year and is looking for a bounce-back as he takes on Yu Darvish (0-0, 4.22) for the Padres. You can watch the game on AT&T Sportsnet or listen on 93.7 The Fan or follow along with us on Twitter by following @Buccos_Cove.
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