CINCINNATI — When the Pirates traded right-handed reliever Clay Holmes to the New York Yankees for a pair of infield prospects, the return was … well, a little surprising.
Nothing against Holmes, who experienced success whenever he was able to harness his power sinker and consistently throw strikes, but he also had a 9.20 ERA and nearly as many walks (16) as strikeouts (19) over his final 18 appearances, plus an ERA of 5.57 over parts of four seasons.
In return for Holmes, the Pirates got 25-year-old Hoy Park and Diego Castillo, 23, a pair of versatile infielders.
The crazy part was that Park had been leading all Class AAA East players in batting (.327), on-base percentage (.475), OPS (1.042) and walks (46) at the time of the deal. Considering who the Pirates were giving up — a reliever who had experienced sporadic success — it appeared to be an impressive haul for general manager Ben Cherington.
Nothing Park has done thus far with the Pirates has changed that. In fact, it has made the trade look even better.
After going 2 for 4 Thursday during a 7-4 loss to the Reds at Great American Ball Park, Park is hitting .375 in his first four starts with the Pirates, which includes three doubles, two walks, three RBIs and two runs scored.
With Adam Frazier having been traded to the San Diego Padres, Park has slotted into the leadoff role and — if this continues — may have staked a claim to the spot.
“He’s taking good swings,” manager Derek Shelton said of Park. “He’s a guy that, when we acquired him, he was leading the International League in hitting, and we knew that. As we’ve talked about, just opportunities for different guys. We’ve kind of mixed up the lineup with ‘Fraz’ being gone, and we just felt like he was a good guy to get some at-bats for up there.”
Park has also been a little Frazier like with his versatility.
Although Shelton didn’t do it much, he would occasionally use Frazier in left field, a position he played well. Park has already played all three outfield spots, including left field Thursday when Ben Gamel was scratched with hamstring tightness, as well as shortstop.
Park was supposed to play second base before Gamel was taken out.
“My natural positions are shortstop and second base — I’m a middle infielder — but I’m always telling myself that I don’t care where I’m playing, just keep my mind on helping my teammates and helping my team win,” Park said. “I do have an outfield glove and an infield glove, so I’m trying to be ready to go.”
That much was evident watching Park in batting practice. While pitchers did their normal running routines in left and others shagged fly balls at a relatively relaxed rate, Park was going all out, using the time to get reads off the bat and work on his routes.
Although he’s just 25, nothing about Park screams comfortability or indifference. It’s actually refreshing to see how much he’s putting into this opportunity.
“I’ll play anywhere for now,” Park said. “I’m trying to help the team. That’s first for me. The leadoff thing, I’m going to try to think it’s not different. I’m trying to get on base. I’m trying to do the right thing at the plate.”
It’s obviously incredibly early in Park’s career. Like we’ve seen with John Nogowski, things can and will change. But there’s also a lot about Park’s game that fits within what the Pirates are trying to do.
They’re obviously not a power-based team, but they do pride themselves on making good swing decisions and not becoming easy outs. Grinding out at-bats is something that Shelton repeats a lot, and it fits firmly within Park’s wheelhouse.
The defensive versatility is also a running joke with Shelton. He routinely points out how much he likes guys who are versatile, with occasional nods to what Ben Zobrist brought the Tampa Bay Rays when Shelton was the hitting coach there.
Again, it’s way, way too early to call Park the next Zobrist. However, the ability to produce consistent offense, have good at-bats and play multiple defensive positions also doesn’t hurt your chances of staying in the lineup.
“I’m telling you, it doesn’t matter where I’m playing. I’m just trying to help the team,” Park said. ‘That’s what I have to do for now. Yeah, I just want to keep helping the team.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: August 6, 2021, 2:30 p.m.