Pirates continue to give Josh VanMeter opportunities as he grinds through struggles

PHILADELPHIA, PA - AUGUST 27: Josh VanMeter #19 of the Arizona Diamondbacks in action against the Philadelphia Phillies during a game at Citizens Banking concern Park on Baronial 27, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

Pittsburgh Pirates: What Makes Josh VanMeter Intriguing

Terminal week the Pittsburgh Pirates traded for utility man Josh VanMeter. What about VanMeter's game makes him an intriguing bench player to have?

In a motion that came as a surprise, late final calendar week the Pittsburgh Pirates traded for utility man Josh VanMeter. This came afterward VanMeter was designated for assignment by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Pittsburgh Pirates already accept a plethora of utility players. Diego Castillo and Cole Tucker will make the Opening Day roster, while beau utility men Hoy Park and Michael Chavis continue to battle for a roster spot as well. Besides, VanMeter is a left-handed hitter. The Pirate roster is one heavy with left-handed hitters. This also added to the surprise of Ben Cherington acquiring VanMeter from Arizona.

With no real credible need for a player like VanMeter on the roster the question became why are the Pittsburgh Pirates interested in him? Well, there would appear to be ii main reasons for this. VanMeter'due south ability to draw walks and striking the ball hard.

Terminal season VanMeter striking for merely a .212/.297/.354 slash line in 310 plate appearances with the Diamondbacks. However, he was able to draw walks at a x.6% clip. This was the second fourth dimension in three MLB seasons (11.2% in 2019) that VanMeter's walk rate was over 10.v%. Any walk rate per 10% for a hitter is considered to exist above boilerplate.

VanMeter's average leave velocity last season was 89.3 MPH. This was a total MPH higher than the league boilerplate and landed him in the 71st percentile of baseball game in boilerplate exit velocity. He also posted a hard-hit rate of 36.8%, which was also amend than league average.

Hitting the ball hard is nothing new for VanMeter. For his MLB career VanMeter has an boilerplate exit velocity of 89.6 MPH, and he has never posted an boilerplate exit velocity beneath 89 MPH. His career hard-hitting rate of 37.3% his 2% higher than the league average. In fact, his 36.viii% hard-striking charge per unit last season was the lowest of his career.

While VanMeter has hitting for only a .212/.300/.364 slash line with a 75 wRC+ in his career, at that place appears to be some untapped potential in his bat. If VanMeter tin keep to striking the brawl difficult and describe walks at an above league average charge per unit he tin can exist a productive demote piece for the Pirates this season. While on the surface the trade may have looked a bit disruptive information technology is like shooting fish in a barrel to see why the squad was intrigued by VanMeter.

Source: https://rumbunter.com/2022/04/05/pittsburgh-pirates-makes-josh-vanmeter-intriguing/

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