The Pittsburgh Pirates are scoring runs in bunches thanks to their unorthodox choice in a leadoff hitter.
Do you remember when the Pittsburgh Pirates made headlines for exploring the possibility of having first baseman John Jaso hit leadoff? Well, they’re doing it, and it is working. Really well.
Jaso has 169 plate appearances at leadoff, hitting a breathtaking .320 with a .387 on-base percentage and 19 runs. The Pirates only use Jaso as leadoff when they’re facing a right-handed pitcher because Jaso has a career .537 OPS against southpaws, but fortunately they’ve have faced only nine left-handed starters this season.
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Jaso is not a typical leadoff hitter—he’s stolen only 15 bases in his career—but his ability to get on base makes him a prime candidate to hit at the top of the order (The Tampa Bay Rays used him there as well). He had a career .362 on-base percentage entering Sunday’s game and is having one of the best seasons of his career. And with Jaso constantly on base, the Pirates are rolling.
Consider that the Pirates got only a .226/.325/.381 line from the leadoff spot last season. Most of those plate appearances went to right fielder Gregory Polanco (460 PAs) and Josh Harrison (291 PAs). In that role, Polanco slashed .261/.328/.391 while Harrison slashed .276/.324/.373. With those two at the top of the lineup, the Pirates averaged 4.30 runs per game, 12th in the majors.
This season, the Pirates were averaging 5.10 runs entering Sunday, fourth in the majors. And that’s really important, because their starting rotation isn’t pitching as well as it did last season and the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals are second and third, respectively, in runs per game.
The reason the Pirates are scoring in bunches is almost every hitter is exceeding preseason projections, and perhaps the most significant improvement is coming from Polanco. Freed from the restraints of hitting leadoff, Polanco is mashing this season with a career-high .395 weighted on-base average, which is 91 points higher than last season.
It would be difficult to attribute exactly how much of an impact Jaso has had on the increased run output, but anecdotally , it seems as though it’s had a lot. The Pirates are racing across home at an astounding rate even though perennial All-Star Andrew McCutchen is producing at a clip well below what the Pirates have come to expect from him.
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Shortstop Jordy Mercer gets the plate appearances against a left-handed starter, but even his .356 OBP against lefties doesn’t measure up to what Jaso is giving the Pirates when he’s at the top of the lineup.