Jack Suwinski has been a hot button topic around the Pittsburgh Pirates for a long, long time. Through his ups and downs and a multi year journey to try and find consistency at the plate, he has always been one of the most discussed players on the team.
In recent weeks, however, the frustration that fans have felt towards Suwinski has reached a near breaking point.
The 25-year old is in the midst of a terrible batting season. He is slashing .172/.258/.301 through 65 games with the Pirates this season. He has 6 home runs and 19 RBI, with 5 stolen bases.
His batting average is the worst amongst qualified batters for the team, and is third worst overall, ahead of just Henry Davis at .153 and Jason Delay at .083.
While he is fifth on the team in home runs, he is eighth in RBI, and his highlights are starting to get more and more buried under poor play.
Suwinski was optioned for the first time in nearly two years earlier this season, when the Pirates re-assigned him to the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians. It was his first time in the minor leagues since 2022, but his trip to Indy was rather short-lived.
An injury to his replacement in Ji Hwan Bae and Michael A. Taylor taking a brief trip to the Paternity List forced the Pirates to call up an outfielder. Despite playing in just 7 games for Indy, Pittsburgh recalled Suwinski to the major leagues, where he has remained.
At the time he was optioned, I wrote that Suwinski needed some time in the minors for a hard reset. The Pirates had kept him in the majors before despite him going through several extended slumps during his young career, but after a particularly rough stretch the Pirates finally had called it.
The major league game seemed to just be a little too fast for him, and getting some time to correct his swing, while also keeping him from harming the Pirates’ major league lineup, would have served both sides well.
Seven games was not nearly enough for that to take place, and the Pirates did seemingly acknowledge (or at least, their broadcast teams did) that Suwinski’s time in Triple-A was too short to spark any long-term change. He slashed .250/.276/.429 in that week-long trip to Victory Field, but even that minimal progress did not translate back to the majors.
Now though, things are getting even worse, and it’s spreading into other aspects of his game.
Suwinski has never been thought of as a defensiv stalwart. His center field counterpart in Michael A. Taylor has struggled at the plate just as much as he has, but unlike Taylor, Suwinski does not have a Gold Glove defensive reputation.
The argument could definitely be made that the ideal defensive center fielder is sacrificing too much away from the offense for the Pirates, but that is another conversation to focus on Taylor.
Suwinski, already an average defender, has completely lacked fundamentals in recent games. Two perfect examples have come in back to back games now.
In the team’s series finale against Tampa Bay, with the Rays ahead 2-1 in the eighth inning, Richie Palacios hits a line drive into Suwinski’s left field. Instead of hustling to make a play, Palacios makes a rather relaxed field and slow throw into the infield.
This lack of urgency allowed Josh Lowe to run from second base into home uncontested.
Not only does Suwinski double clutch before he throws the ball, he throws a weak hopper into the infield, insuring that Tampa’s Lowe can score easily at home.
“He throws it stronger in between innings when he’s playing catch,” remarked the Rays’ broadcast team.
Had Suwinski been quicker to the play, he can at least make Lowe work for the run at home. If the Pirates get lucky, Lowe is held at third, but even if he runs, the Pirates could have tried to get an out with a throw to home.
With Suwinski’s slowness to field the ball, the Rays scored an easy third run. Even if Lowe scores anyways, you have to make him work for it.
Despite that blunder, Suwinski was a starter in the lineup again yesterday, this time in center field.
In a similar situation, regarding to a lack of urgency or hustle, Suwinski’s lackadaisical approach to a ground ball up the middle turned a single into a double for the opposing Cincinnati Reds.
Elly De La Cruz hits a grounder up the middle, that second baseman Nick Gonzales just can’t corral. There are two things wrong with what Suwinski is doing here.
1: He does not start running, or even making much of a move towards the ball, until after it hits off the diving Gonzales’s glove.
2: He makes a lollipop throw to shortstop Oneil Cruz, which allows De La Cruz to snag an extra base out of an extremely routine hit.
I get it, De La Cruz is crazy fast, and the vast majority of players could not pull off what he did even if they had all the ambition in the world. But precisely because it is De La Cruz that is running, you have to make a heads up play there to avoid any potential extra bases.
If Suwinski is faster to that play, maybe De La Cruz doesn’t run, or maybe he’s thrown out at second base. We’ll never know.
It’s unacceptable defensive play from the outfield, and it cannot continue for the Pirates. I don’t ever want to call a professional player lazy, but he looks incredibly unfocused out there, and it only further undermines his ability to stay on the major league roster.
The Pirates can’t afford to have somebody out there with such a nonchalant attitude towards fielding. A change needs to be made.
Ji Hwan Bae just got off from a rehab stint in Triple-A, but it turns out he’s staying there, as the Pirates have optioned him to Indianapolis for the time being.
Bae is, at best, an average defender, regardless of if the Pirates try to deploy him in the outfield or in the middle infield. The same can be said for his major league bat. But given that he has already has been subbed out for Suwinski, it’s possible that he could be recalled again.
Fans have clamored for Matt Gorski, who has a .265/.313/.583 with 14 homers and 44 RBI in jus about 200 Triple-A at bats. Gorski has played in center field for the Indians more than any other position in his 59 Triple-A games, and he does provide a lot of versatility in the outfield. But, he has no major league experience to his name.
I have lobbied for the return of Joshua Palacios, who is slashing .264/.350/.377 with Indy in limited action due to injuries. Palacios has garnered some more attention in recent days as the Pirate outfielders have continued to struggle.
It doesn’t really matter which of these names it is though; whether it’s Bae, Gorski, Palacios, or someone else, a change has to be made. Suwinski is unfocused and these relaxed plays don’t seem to be fazing him. It also isn’t fazing management, but that’s another conversation for another day.
Optioning him has to happen. Even if this is just the type of batter now, any player who shows that little discipline and that little effort has to have a trip to the minor leagues in their near future. It would be a wake up call, and a much needed one.
(Featured photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
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