The Pirates have added several veterans to their roster this winter, including starters Martin Perez and Marco Gonzales, as well as Aroldis Chapman. Just before the official start of Spring Training, the Pirates added yet another veteran in Yasmani Grandal, who’s had two rough seasons in a row with the White Sox.
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A Look at Grandal
Believe it or not, Yasmani Grandal didn’t get off to a bad start in 2023. Through his first 11 games, Grandal posted a .300/.400/.500 (.900 OPS) with a home run and four extra-base hits. However, the veteran catcher’s production tailed off from there. That was evident in August and September when Grandal failed to hit .200 in both of those months.
In total, the 35-year-old hit .234/.309/.339 (.648 OPS) over 405 plate appearances last year.
It’s been a fall from grace for Grandal, a catcher well-known for his power and ability to work counts. After a 23-home run campaign in 2021, the 35-year-old posted just a .611 OPS from 2022-23 and saw his Hard Hit% rates drop.
That .611 OPS, by the way, was the sixth-worst among regular catchers (min. 50% GP at catcher) who accrued at least 500 plate appearances from 2022-23.
When he’s clicking, the 35-year-old has shown plus power and good discipline. But in recent years, he’s been more prone to chase up in the zone. In 2021, Grandal swung at pitches up and out of the zone less than 10% of the time. Last season, that number was close to 30%.
The 35-year-old isn’t a particularly strong backstop behind the plate but is a good framer. Just last season, Statcast rated him to have netted four catcher framing runs, good for an above-average figure. In terms of pop time, Grandal had the second-lowest average time (2.08 s) last year, behind just Logan O’Hoppe.
Per MLB.com, Yasmani Grandal will get a one-year deal worth $2.5MM with incentives.
Analysis
Even though the Pirates have several young catchers on their roster, one won’t be available in 2024. Endy Rodriguez underwent reconstructive UCL surgery in December after an injury sustained in winter ball that will force the young catcher to miss all of 2024.
With Rodriguez not available for 2024, the only regular catchers on the 40-man roster aside from the 23-year-old are Jason Delay and Ali Sanchez, the former of whom received 187 plate appearances last year but posted just a .666 OPS.
Former top MLB Draft pick Henry Davis can also catch but he played just two games there in 2023. He’ll reportedly get his chance to be a regular catcher in 2024 after an injury prevented him from getting more work at the position last summer.
Thus, Grandal could be looked upon as a security blanket for the Pirates behind the plate.