Pittsburgh Pirates minor leaguers own leaderboards

A few weeks ago, the Pirates’ offense was firing on all cylinders, and it looked like the experiment of hitting John Jaso at leadoff was yielding positive results. Every team goes through offensive lulls, but the Pirates have come crashing down to earth. In the month of June the Pirates are 19th in on-base percentage (.312). Even more concerning is the lack of power, as the Pirates are second to last in the majors with a .342 slugging percentage.

Which brings us to Indianapolis Indians first baseman Josh Bell. Bell is among the top five in the International League of almost every important offensive category with a .312/.398/.502 slash line, including 2-for-3 with a home run yesterday.

With his high OBP and low strikeout rate—just 17.3 percent of plate appearances entering Wednesday—Bell could fill the exact same role as Jaso in the Pirates’ lineup. Bell is a career .306/.374/.457 hitter, hasn’t struck out in more than 18 percent of his plate appearances since 2012 and is putting up the highest isolated power (.190) of his career.

Even if the Pirates decide to abandon the experiment and move Starling Marte or Josh Harrison to leadoff, the thought of Bell in the Pirates’ lineup is an intriguing one.

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Cody Reed might be the steal of the Johnny Cueto trade. Brandon Finnegan and John Lamb have been pitching with mixed success this season, but Reed has been mostly consistent. Reed has allowed more than three earned runs in a start only two times and has a 3.20 ERA and 3.37 FIP. In Monday’s start he went six innings and allowed one run on three hits.

Dan Vogelbach could be turning himself into trade bait. The Chicago Cubs first base prospect is slashing .313/.434/.545 and is sixth in the Pacific Coast League in wOBA (.430). (He hit his 11th home run of the season Wednesday). Considering the Cubs have Anthony Rizzo slated at first base for the foreseeable future, flipping Vogelbach for a reliever may be a possibility.

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