The Pirates are scouting Marlins outfielder Bryan De La Cruz, writes Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. Pittsburgh can be recognized to be conserving a watch on middle fielder/second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., although there’s no indication they’ve progressed in commerce talks.
De La Cruz, 27, has been a daily within the Miami outfield for the previous three seasons. He has hit round a league common stage, displaying stable energy with middling on-base abilities. This 12 months has been no exception. De La Cruz has 17 house runs and may surpass the 20-homer threshold for the primary time in his profession. He’s not getting on base constantly, although. De La Cruz is placing out at an elevated 26% charge whereas drawing walks simply 5.5% of the time. He’s hitting .241/.285/.410 throughout 439 plate appearances general.
That’s not likely the extent of offensive output anticipated of a nook outfielder. Whereas De La Cruz has some expertise in middle area, he has performed solely within the corners or at designated hitter this season. Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Common are every bearish on his defensive profile, particularly relating to his left area work.
FanGraphs and Baseball Reference have every graded him round substitute stage. The Bucs may view him as a buy-low goal based mostly on his respectable exit velocities. Craig Mish wrote within the Miami Herald earlier this month that the Marlins had been unlikely to deal De La Cruz (and outfield mate Jesús Sánchez), reasoning they’d be promoting low on each gamers. The Fish wouldn’t take both off the desk, nevertheless, so the Bucs may definitely make a push for De La Cruz in the event that they really feel he’d signify a notable improve.
Pittsburgh wants offense basically and will search for outfield assist particularly. Their greatest want might be in middle area, the place the mix of Jack Suwinski and Michael A. Taylor has fallen flat. De La Cruz wouldn’t tackle that, however Pittsburgh has additionally had one of many least productive proper area teams in MLB.
They’ve given an honest period of time there to Edward Olivares, a broadly comparable participant to De La Cruz. He’s additionally a right-handed hitter with some intriguing bodily instruments however restricted on-base capability. Olivares is hitting .224/.291/.333 over 55 video games, main the Bucs to choice him to Triple-A shortly earlier than the All-Star Break. They’ve used a Joshua Palacios/Connor Joe platoon there in current weeks.
De La Cruz has but to achieve arbitration and is taking part in for barely greater than the league minimal. He’ll be eligible for arbitration subsequent winter and is on observe to hit free company after the 2027 marketing campaign (barring an earlier non-tender).
