2022 Fantasy Baseball Insertion Ranking - Pittsburgh Pirates
Creating my 2022 fantasy baseball rankings one team at a time
Explanation & Other Team Links Here
Hitters to Rank
Bryan Reynolds
Ke’Bryan Hayes
Oneil Cruz
Bryan Reynolds
The lone star of the Pirates last year, Reynolds went for a really strong .302/.390/.522 slash line with an 18% strikeout rate and a decent home run rate (27 PA/HR). He did that in 646 plate appearances and scored 93 runs and drove in 90 despite the pitiful offense around him.
His barrel rate (10.4%) and contact rate (78%) make for a really, really good combination - you won’t find a ton of hitters beating the league average in both of those categories. He also swiped five bags and posted an average walk rate (8.4%).
On any other team, Reynolds would be a really exciting pick after posting those stats and being just 27-years-old. With the Pirates, however, it’s hard to really pumped to click on his name. If his skills hold up from last year, he should be a 25 homer guy with a .280+ batting average, and just the raw number of hits should result in a useable RBI count as well. I think it’s likely 2021 will be his best fantasy effort, but this guy should certainly be ranked and drafted pretty high.
Comps/Rank-Arounds: Jonathan India, Randy Arozarena
Ke’Bryan Hayes
Everything got worse for Hayes in 2021 as compared to 2020:
That shouldn’t have been surprising given 2020 was just 95 plate appearances, but I don’t think many people saw Hayes’ posting a 66 PA/HR and a .257 average. The true Hayes will certainly be between these two seasons. His 81% contact rate should bring the batting average up, and he has been league-average in walks so far as well, meaning we’re probably looking at more .270/.330 rather than .260/.320. The power numbers in 2020 never made a ton of sense, and he barreled the ball just 5.6% of the time last year with a max velo of 111.
He seems like a league average power bat at best right now with a decent contact rate. There’s still a lot of development to happen here as Hayes will be just 25 this year and has seen so little playing time in the Majors so far. He did steal nine bags last year, which was a 15+ steal pace, so there’s that consolation prize even if he doesn’t improve much. At worst you’re looking at a decent batting average with some steals, and at best you could have a .280 guy with 20+ homers and 20 steals.
Comps/Rank-Arounds: Dansby Swanson, Jake Cronenworth, Yoan Moncada
Oneil Cruz
Came up for nine plate appearances and hit a homer. He also hit a ball at 118.2 miles per hour, which was the most (and only) notable thing of a sample size this small. In the minor leagues last year he went .310/.375/.594 with 17 homers in 302 PA (a great 17.8 PA/HR). He walked around a 9% rate in the minors and struck out an encouraging 23% of the time.
His minor league numbers definitely check all the boxes. The raw power is undeniable with his 6’7’’ frame, and it’s super exciting to see a guy like this not striking out very much. Certainly the strikeout rate will come up as he faces Major League pitching, but hey you can deal with a high strikeout rate if the guy is hitting bunches of homers - which is pretty likely for Cruz.
I think Cruz will probably be the only Pirate I target in drafts this year. If you’re going to chase prospect status, you should always go after the guys with low strikeout rates in the minors and clear raw power - and Cruz has all of that.
Comps/Rank-Arounds: Adam Duvall
Pitchers to Rank
David Bednar
David Bednar
Well this will be quick. The Pirates may have a split in the closer’s role between Bednar and Stratton, and they really don’t figure to win many games next year. That makes both of these guys very low priority for fantasy. Bednar is the one to pick if you’re choosing though, he had a nice 32.8% K% last year with a strong 47 PA/HR and a respectable 7.2% BB%. 15-20 saves is probably in the cards, which is worth something.