Ben Cherington will be wielding a double-edged sword when it comes to promoting prospects in September, even though the Pittsburgh Pirates are interested in seeing some of their newly acquired talent.
MLB rules changes have limited roster expansion from 26 players to 28, instead of the previous allowance of any player on the 40-man roster. So Cherington won’t have many options, no matter how the Pirates general manager slices it. But that doesn’t mean he can’t get creative.
“The 28 obviously doesn’t allow for as many call-ups,” Cherington said, factoring in the late start to the minor league season. “We also still have minor league baseball going on for a longer period of time, so you’re not really giving up playing opportunity if the guy’s not called up (because) there’s still games to play. That’s something to keep in mind, too. Just because the guy’s not in the big leagues doesn’t mean he’s not playing.”
The Pirates have two weeks before they can make such moves, so Cherington doesn’t have to worry about September call-ups just yet. But he’s keeping close watch on the Pirates’ top prospects.
Whether it’s a pitcher or position player, Cherington said the Pirates plan to promote players who are in the minor leagues but wants to strike a balance between receiving a call-up and earning one.
“Our hope is that we do see more young players come up and get opportunity,” Cherington said. “We’re just trying to balance that the best we can with what their development needs are right now, (where is the) best place to continue to work on stuff and, you know, feeling like when players come up that it’s been earned. All those factors come into play, but our hope and desired outcome is that we’ll see some more young players come up between now and the end of the season.”
The candidates could range from players with major league experience, such as shortstop Cole Tucker and outfielder Jared Oliva, to those Cherington acquired in trades, such as infielders Michael Chavis and Tucupita Marcano.
The athletic Marcano, acquired from San Diego in the Adam Frazier trade, can play second base or in the outfield and has a .393 on-base percentage with two doubles, a triple and a homer in August.
Cherington warned that Marcano, who turns 22 on Sept. 16, made a big jump from Class A in 2019 to making the Padres’ Opening Day roster this season and that the Pirates’ preference is for Marcano to get playing time on a daily basis.
“Marcano is a really smart baseball player,” Cherington said. “Really aware on the field. Makes a ton of contact. He can move around the field. Smart baserunner, instinctive.”
Chavis, acquired from Boston for lefty reliever Austin Davis, can play first, second or third base. He has major league experience, and is batting .297/.381/.730 with four doubles, four home runs and nine RBIs in nine games at Triple-A Indianapolis.
“Chavis is at a different point in his career and has already been in the big leagues a fair bit,” Cherington said. “Little bit older, has experienced more at Class Triple-A. I think with Chavis, we felt like because his year had been a bit choppy moving up and down, not getting as much consistent playing time in different chunks of the season, we just wanted him to have a chance to get that first in Indy as he was getting to know people in the organization. It’s the first time he’s been in a new organization, so the reasons they were sent there were different. But we feel in both cases it’s the right place to be. Now we’ll see.”
It could come at the expense of a veteran, as the Pirates designated Erik Gonzalez for assignment to make room for outfielder Anthony Alford. Cherington also has shown a willingness to be creative, like cycling prospects through for cameos or taking a nontraditional approach by promoting No. 1 prospect Oneil Cruz from Double-A Altoona, like Cherington did twice this season with Rodolfo Castro.
“I think some people would argue that the difference between Double-A and Triple-A is smaller than the difference between Triple-A and the big leagues,” Cherington said. “Still think there’s a difference but might be a smaller gap than between Triple A and the big leagues, so I think we’re aware of that. It’ll come back to case by case and there won’t be any magic rule for (how long) you’ve got to be in Triple A or Double A.
“It’s going to come back to who we think has earned it, who we think furthers their development by coming up and playing, and who we have the opportunity to play.”
Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin by email at kgorman@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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