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Pirates infielder Liover Peguero warms up against the Rays Wednesday, March 17, 2021, at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla.
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Pirates Pipeline: How Liover Peguero is learning to 'go crazy' and continue his ascent

Matt Freed/Post-Gazette

Pirates Pipeline: How Liover Peguero is learning to 'go crazy' and continue his ascent

When the Pirates’ top prospect, Nick Gonzales, returned from injury at High-A Greensboro on June 26, he hit a home run in his first at-bat. Then, Liover Peguero stole his spotlight.

Peguero, the Pirates’ No. 4 prospect, launched one home run immediately after Gonzales, then hit another in the sixth inning. They were just his fourth and fifth home runs of the year at the time.

His sixth home run came Wednesday, and perhaps not so coincidentally, Gonzales also homered in the same game.

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Really, it shouldn’t be surprising. Gonzales and Peguero are a close-knit, middle infield duo. It would make sense if Peguero was extra jazzed for his friend’s return. He had also seen an uptick in production prior to Gonzales rejoining the lineup, so perhaps a two-homer game was only a matter of time.

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“I feel like they do have some type of chemistry,” Greensboro manager Kieran Mattison said. “We joked with Peggy about that, when Nick came back he had his first two-home run game, and we’re just like, ‘Hey man, when Nick comes back, that’s when your power [shows up].’ But honestly, he was hitting the ball hard prior to it. We just joked with him about it. I think when one guy’s not in the lineup, they both continue to go about their business the same way, but I do feel they have a really good chemistry among the two of them and they feed off each other.”

Peguero also knows what it’s like to come back from an injury. He, too, was on the shelf for about two weeks with a knee contusion in May. When he returned at the beginning of June, his batting average dropped from .323 to .238 over the span of seven games.

That really isn’t so bad given the small sample size of games, but Peguero now admits that the injury was tough on him and he is just now getting his timing back and taking off again.

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That is the norm for him. He slashed .326/.382/.485 in his last minor league season in 2019, playing as an 18-year-old in rookie ball and short-season A ball. But the injury weighed on him for a time, and he still doesn’t think he’s all the way back now, hitting .265 with a .785 OPS, but it’s a work in progress.

“It’s really hard to go from a good start and then shut down for three weeks and then come back,” Peguero said. “It was a really hard thing for me, and it got me a little bit out of rhythm. But I feel like we’re getting there.”

Even if Peguero were struggling, it would be understandable. He and right-handed No. 2 prospect Quinn Priester are the only 20-year-olds on the Greensboro roster. With no minor league season last year, his placement at High-A is more a testament to the belief the Pirates have in him than anything else.

There are other testaments, too. For example, he was invited to MLB spring training this season. Playing against players much older than him, he went 4-for-12 with two doubles in very limited action. That’s as encouraging a sign of his preparedness as any.

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As far as how he got here, Peguero doesn’t have much of an explanation. He said he isn’t really working on anything in particular with his swing, but instead he is just trying to get back into the feel of things.

Because when Peguero feels good, he’s mashing the ball. As Mattison said, he makes a lot of hard contact, even if his home run numbers aren’t off the charts. 

“To be honest, I just think about putting the barrel on the ball,” Peguero said. “Not do a lot and just be simple with it. Baseball’s hard, so if you think about it a lot, you’re going to make it harder for you. I’m just trying to make it simple, try to do it simple and put the ball in play hard.”

For now, Peguero doesn’t appear to be primed for a call-up to Class AA Altoona. Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said the team’s goal when placing players in the minor leagues is to make sure that the level is a challenge but appropriate. It needs to be a sweet spot.

That appears to be the case for Peguero, who has gone through peaks and valleys this season. Plus, he is only 20. There’s no rush here.

Peguero isn’t rushing it, either. He has all the confidence in the world in himself that he can continue to improve his performance and prove that he’s ready to be moved up, whenever that time comes.

“I don’t really think about that, to be honest,” Peguero said. “I’m a very, very simple guy. I’m not always thinking about everything, you know what I mean? But if I ever get [promoted], I’m just going to be me and do my thing and go crazy. That’s what I call it. Go crazy. Be good.

“It’s just be in the moment, be present and just be me. Be myself. Be Liover Peguero, not more, not less.”

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Numbers through Thursday’s games

1. Nick Gonzales, 2B, High-A Greensboro: Homered again Wednesday and added a triple, too, but that was his first multi-hit game since June 26, when he first returned from injury. Now slashing .250/.330/.511 over 92 at-bats.

2. Quinn Priester, RHP, High-A Greensboro: Another solid outing for him Tuesday, throwing five innings and allowing two runs on two hits with three strikeouts. Priester will now head to Denver for the MLB Futures Game, with a 3.35 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP over 10 starts and 43 innings.

3. Oneil Cruz, SS, Class AA Altoona: Now down with an injury, playing his last game on June 30. It was forearm soreness, which can be scary, but Pirates director of sports medicine said it was just a muscle strain in his forearm, and that they expect him to return to “baseball activities” in 2-to-3 weeks.

4. Liover Peguero, SS, High-A Greensboro: Homered Wednesday and drew three walks in a game Thursday. After the early struggles after his injury, Peguero appears to be stabilizing, sitting solidly around .260 or .270 mid June.

5. Hudson Head, OF, Low-A Bradenton: Two doubles in his last four games, but hitless in five of his last eight games, Head has had a somewhat perplexing season. Despite his .213 average, he gets on base a ton, drawing walks frequently to give him an on-base percentage near .400. 

6. Tahnaj Thomas, RHP, High-A Greensboro: Thomas has not pitched since his seven-walk effort on June 24. Mattison said he is currently working on his mechanics and his mindset to try to get back to a good strike-throwing base.

7. Brennan Malone, RHP, GCL Pirates: Was moved from Low-A Bradenton to rookie ball for developmental purposes. Had allowed four runs over 3 2/3 innings before the move.

8. Travis Swaggerty, OF, Class AAA Indianapolis: Will be out for the remainder of the season after undergoing right shoulder surgery.

9. Cody Bolton, RHP, Class AA Altoona: Likely will not pitch this season after undergoing right knee surgery.

10. Carmen Mlodzinski, RHP, High-A Greensboro: Had his worst start of the season on July 3, allowing five earned runs and two homers. Even still, he lasted six innings with five strikeouts and maintains a 2.65 ERA this season.

Other Notables: 

  • RHP Roansy Contreras (#19) also had forearm soreness at Class AA Altoona but was given the same diagnosis as Cruz. He is expected to be out 2-4 weeks before returning to baseball activities. The injury is somewhat similar to that of RHP Miguel Yajure (#11), who after going down with forearm soreness last month, is now back and throwing off the mound again.
  • RHP Max Kranick (#26) is expected to make his second career MLB start for the Pirates on Saturday, sources confirmed to the Post-Gazette. His first, you may remember, was a perfect, five-inning effort against the St. Louis Cardinals.
  • In Greensboro, RHP Michael Burrows (#27) set a new career high in strikeouts, notching 10 of them in 5 1/3 innings Wednesday. He now has a 2.30 ERA for what has been a pretty dominant staff at High-A.
  • Enough about the pitchers. 1B Mason Martin (#14) is mashing right now. In four games this week, he hit six home runs and now has an absurd slugging percentage of .598 to go along with his .265 batting average.
  • 2B Ji-Hwan Bae (#13) returned from injury after a month off. He spent some time in the Florida Complex League but has now played his first game with Class AA Altoona again, going 2-for-4 with a stolen base to bring his season average up to .275. 

Mike Persak: mpersak@post-gazette.com and Twitter @MikeDPersak

First Published: July 9, 2021, 5:16 p.m.

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