I’ve always been a big fan of Connor Joe since he arrived in Pittsburgh. One of my last ever articles back when I was with The Foreword was a career profile on him.

I’ve been higher on him than many others in town during his Pirates run, even when he was in his slumps, but there has never been a clearer case that right now he needs to be an everyday player for the Pirates.

The team’s need to get him in the lineup more partially comes at the expense of first baseman Rowdy Tellez, who heard the boos once again on Friday night in Pittsburgh’s 7-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs. Fans have taken to disregarding the free agent signing’s “don’t boo” request from earlier in the season and have instead aimed their displeasure directly at him.

Tellez has slogged his way to a .194 batting average and his routine of pop-ups and subpar defense has put him up in the Pirate doghouse.

He’s become practically unplayable, and the fact that manager Derek Shelton put him in the clean up slot Friday night was nothing short of abhorrent mismanagement.

On a personal level, I do feel for him. He was trying to stick up for a teammate and for those efforts, it will be remembered infamously in a Pirate career that is off to one of the worst starts possible. Those ironic boos are probably getting to him.

However, baseball is a business, and he is woefully underperforming. He cannot be an everyday player if this team as any ideas of competing, and his regular spot in the lineup just gives fans all the more reason to never believe this organization.

It becomes even more frustrating when a viable solution exists (at least temporarily) stands right in front of the team’s eyes.

We talk about calling up Jake Lamb, who is currently leading the Triple-A International League in batting average among qualified players, and how he could potentially fill in for a DFA’d Tellez.

We also talk about potential outside answers, like free agent Brandon Belt who was sought after by some fans this offseason for the opening at first base.

However, for a Pirates team that does not want to make huge moves and does not want to cut somebody out this early on, these options are virtually non-starters. We can debate all day long about how wise those decisions, or non-decisions are, but that’s not the point of this article.

Connor Joe, in an ideal scenario where the Pirates were say, a World Series contender, shouldn’t be an everyday player. But for these 2024 Pittsburgh Pirates, he absolutely should be.

Joe needed to be the everyday first baseman starting weeks ago, but deciding to do it now is also ok. Already a member of the major league roster, he doesn’t require the Pirates calling up other people or spending money on outside hires.

Hell, he doesn’t even require the Pirates designating Tellez for assignment, which would publicly acknowledge the signing was a mistake and leave the Pirates organization with egg on their face.

Connor Joe has outplayed Tellez by a country mile this season, and it quite frankly no longer makes any sense why Joe isn’t the starting second baseman.

Tellez has played 34 games for the Pirates this season (28 starts), all at first base. Joe has also played 34 games this season, but only 18 have come at first base (11 starts).

Part of this is due to Joe having an increased versatility, which allows him to also see time in the outfield, right field in particular.

However, given the outfielders the Pirates have, Joe is usually in the outfield only if someone else is out. The same can be said for first base; Joe is in only if Tellez is out.

Joe isn’t looked at as a full time starter for the Pirates, but right now he absolutely should be. The first base job needs help. If the Pirates aren’t going to call up Jake Lamb, who is raking it in at Triple-A but has suffered subpar major league numbers in recent years, Joe is your man.

Joe is currently batting .288 on the season. That far and away leads the team, with second place Oneil Cruz coming in at .261 after a solid performance vs Chicago on Friday.

You have to find a way to get that bat in the lineup as often as you possibly can, and with Tellez being Tellez right now, here is a perfect opportunity to get Joe in more games.

The reputation for Joe is that he destroys lefties but struggles vs righties. That mantra is still true, but not quite as much. Joe is batting .296 vs left-handed pitching and .284 vs right-handed pitching. It should be noted though that against starters in a game, the numbers swing pretty dramatically.

Joe is batting .333 against leftie starters and .250 against rightie starters, with some of his pinch hit success inflating the right-handed stats. A similar gap was present last season for Joe, who had a .071 difference between left-handed starters and right-handed starters.

However, even with that, it shouldn’t be enough to not play him all the time, considering what the alternative is. Whether it’s against righties or lefties, starters or relievers, Joe is out-batting Tellez.

Joe could even bat backwards and he might have more success than Tellez is having right now. He has to be your everyday first baseman moving forward. There is no defensive skill drop-off with the switch; in fact, defense might actually increase at the position.

As for the outfield, that has some problems as well, and a majority of the outfielders have not pulled their weight at the plate. It leads to some interesting options there if Joe is no longer regularly pitching in at right field.

Maybe the Pirates look to bring up Ji Hwan Bae and deploy him as an outfielder. In my opinion, that’s where he belongs, and now that Nick Gonzales is also called up it would make it harder for the team to play Bae at second base, Gonzales’ primary position.

Somebody has to be moved or optioned for that to happen, but I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Rowdy Tellez has to spend some serious time in the dugout. Connor Joe is a fine first baseman. Get his bat in there everyday, and equally as important, get Tellez’s bat out of it.

(Featured photo by Gene J. Puskar/AP)