Taking A Look At Some of the Guys To Watch At The Alternate Training Site
The Pittsburgh Pirates are back and they kicked off their season this afternoon with an impressive 5-3 win where the bullpen dominated the Chicago Cubs. While the Opening Day roster has made their 2021 debut, there are a whole group of players still in Pittsburgh that are waiting to begin their season. Anyone not on the Pirate's active 40-man roster was sent to the Pirates Alternate Training site, which this year is happening here in Pittsburgh. The Pirates will be using a combination of PNC Park, Heinz Field, and Charles L. Cost Field (home of the Pittsburgh Panthers) to allow their other players the opportunity to get reps in. Some of these players will make an impact on the 2021 Pirates, and others are part of the future and are still a couple of years away.
Triple-A manager Brian Esposito will run the camp, much like he did last season in Altoona, and make sure when the players are called, they are ready to go. The Minor League season was pushed back to May 4th, so for the Pirates Minor League players, it is essentially a much more extended Spring Training. They won't be playing against other Alternate Site teams, but they will get the chance to play in some exhibition and inter-squad games as they get ready for the first time they see live ball action. Tonight, we look at the top players at the Pirates Alternate Training site and what they bring to the table. This will be a combination of guys who will make an impact this season and people who will be part of the Pirates future
Todd Frazier
Just three days after opting out of his contract, Todd Frazier rejoined the Pirates signing another Minor League deal with the team. As the oldest player in the organization, Frazier has a lot of experience that he can bring with him both on the Major League club and at the Alternate Training site. He also performed well on the field this spring hitting .250 with 3 HR and 6 RBI over 28 Spring at-bats. While he did deal with some lower back tightness that forced him to miss about a week's worth of games, Frazier showed that he could still be an effective bat in the lineup. Defensively, he can handle both first base and third base, with defense always being a plus part of his game.
At 35-years-old, he doesn't have the ability to play every single day like he did in his younger years for the Reds. However, he could serve as a good bench bat for the Pirates down the line when they need a boost because of injury or ineffectiveness. Frazier knows about starting on a young team, as in 2020 he was with the Texas Rangers before being traded to the New York Mets. So far this spring, Frazier has already made an impact in his short time in Spring Training, helping Adam Frazier and Ke'Bryan Hayes as they develop and get ready for the season. He is hoping to have the same effect at the alternate training site while also showing that he has what it takes to be a part of the Pirates bench in 2021.
RHP Cody Bolton
Of all the top pitching prospects the Pirates have, one name that doesn't get mentioned as often is 22-year-old right-handed pitcher Cody Bolton. Bolton is set to start his first full season at Triple-A Indianapolis when the season begins and has a chance to impact the Pirates late in the 2021 season, possibly as a September call-up. He worked at the alternate training site with the club last season and earned his first invite to Big League Spring Training this season. Although he did not appear in a game for the Pirates, he still got his work in on the back fields of Pirates city. He is coming off a year where he split time between Advanced-A Bradenton and Double-A Altoona and put up decent numbers.
In 21 starts between the two levels, Bolton ended up going 8-6 with a 3.28 ERA over a career-high 101.2 innings of work. As a result, he was ranked as the Pirate's #10 Overall prospect by MLB Pipeline. If it was a normal season, with Triple-A Ball starting on April 4th, I would say it's a sure thing that Bolton would be at least a September call-up. However, because of the delayed start time, Bolton is going to have to perform well if he wants to make that step to Major League ball. During his progression through pro ball, he has shattered every expectation of him. He made it to Advanced-A before his 21st birthday and is knocking on the Major League door at just 22-years-old. He may not come with the high profile tag like Quinn Priester and Mitch Keller, but he is still a quality arm that will be a big part of the Pirate's future.
IF Liover Peguero
At the end of Spring Training, Liover Peguero showed what he could do with the bat. During his first year as part of Big League camp, he struggled through the first part of the month of March, he really started to come alive at the end of Spring Training. His big game came on March 25th against the Baltimore Orioles when he went 2-3 with a double and two RBI in what would be a 10-9 loss for the Buccos. He got the scoring started for the Pirates and the day gave him some confidence towards the end of Spring Training. His confidence continued to grow in his final appearance of Spring Training as he went 1-1 with a double in his only at-bat on March 29th.
Peguero ended Spring Training with an impressive line hitting .333 with two doubles and two RBI while striking out three times. Peguero was acquired in the deal that sent Starling Marte to the Arizona Diamondbacks but has yet to get an opportunity to play in his new organization. With the Minor League shut down last season, Peguero was left to play at the alternate training site. However, it was a good experience for the youngster as he got the chance to work with the coaches of the upper Minor League teams. While we won't see Peguero in Black and Gold this season, he will probably start the year with Double-A Altoona and be able to work his way up from there.
RHP Quinn Priester
You can't have a list of guys at the alternate training site that doesn't include Pirate's top pitching prospect Quinn Priester. Priester was part of his first official Big League Spring Training in 2021, and despite not seeing a whole lot of action, got good experience for his repertoire. He appeared in just two Spring Training games for the Pirates, pitching 1.1 innings of work allowing one run on one hit while walking four batters. While these aren't the results he would have liked to see, his 2019 pro debut went a lot differently. Priester appeared in nine games, eight starts, between Rookie Ball and Class-A Short Season and went 1-1 with a 3.19 ERA over 36.2 innings. Right now, his high-powered fastball is his big weapon and he used it to strike out 41 batters last season.
Priester is a guy who you don't know where he will start the year, as there are a couple of different options the Pirates could go with. If the team wants to be aggressive, they could start him out at Double-A Altoona, which has a star-studded group of guys in the possible rotation. However, if the Pirates are looking on the more conservative side, you start him in Advanced-A ball with the opportunity to move up from there if he performs well. Priester has only pitched one game above Rookie Ball in his career, so the latter move might be the better one in terms of development. Wherever the Pirates send Priester, he is looking to show that he can be the ace of the staff and continue developing towards one day taking the mound at PNC Park.
After an off-day on Friday, the Pittsburgh Pirates (1-0) continue their three-game series with the Chicago Cubs (0-1) on Saturday at 2:20 pm. Tyler Anderson (0-0, -.--) will be making his Pirateregular-seasonon debut against old nemesis Jake Arietta (0-0, -.--) for the Cubs. You can watch the game live on AT&T Sportsnet, Listen on 93.7 The Fan, or follow along with us on Twitter by following @Buccos_Cove.
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