Pittsburgh Pirates: 2016 Season In Review
The Good
LF Starling Marte (4.0 fWAR, 529 PA)—Marte was the Pirates’ best player this year. He hit .311/.362/.456 and stole 47 bases, good for third in the National League. It was the fourth straight year that Marte stole at least 30 bases. His .362 on-base percentage and .456 slugging percentage were career highs. The downside to his season were injuries that limited him to 129 games and 529 plate appearances, but the overall season was a positive.
RF Gregory Polanco (2.7 fWAR, 587 PA)—The 24-year-old right fielder made big improvements in his ability to hit for power, which had been lacking in his first two big league seasons. Polanco increased his home run total from nine in 2015 to 22 this year. Of course, it could have been an even better season if not for injuries to his shoulder and knee that hurt his production in the second half. Polanco hit .287/.362/.500 in the first half, but struggled to a .220/.267/.414 batting line in the second half as he tried to play through the injuries.
3B Jung Ho Kang (2.4 fWAR, 370 PA)—It’s difficult to include Kang here because of the ongoing investigation of an alleged sexual assault from earlier this year. Setting that aside, we have Kang improving on his debut season of 2015. He was limited to 103 games because of the injury suffered on a take-out slide late in the 2015 season, but he hit .255/.354/.513, with 21 home runs in 370 plate appearances. When he was in the lineup, he was one of the team’s best hitters.
UT Sean Rodriguez (2.0 fWAR, 342 PA)—Rodriguez came into this season with a career batting line of .228/.295/.371. Somehow he hit .270/.349/.510 in 342 plate appearances this year. It’s likely to go down as a fluke. It’s not often that a 31-year-old utility player suddenly becomes a great hitter and sustains that going forward. Even if proves to be an aberration it was a good year for the man who played every position but pitcher and catcher.
SP Ivan Nova (1.9 fWAR, 64.7 IP)—The Pirates acquired Nova in a deal with the Yankees at the trade deadline and he went 5-2 with a 3.06 ERA in 11 starts down the stretch. Unfortunately, after building up some value with a good two months in Pittsburgh, Nova is a free agent and will likely sign with a team that has more money to spend.
SP Jameson Taillon (1.7 fWAR, 104 IP)—Taillon was one of the Pirates’ top pitching prospects heading into the season. He started the year in Triple-A and had a 2.04 ERA in 61 2/3 innings. That earned him a promotion to the big club in early June. He was 5-4 with a 3.38 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 18 starts after his promotion. He should be part of the Pirates’ rotation for years to come.