Three of the top seven payrolls, including two teams built primarily through free agency.
An outfit in Houston that has been the opposite of a problem, advancing to the American League Championship Series an unprecedented seven consecutive times.
Plus a red-clad group across the state that has embraced postseason baseball like little kids around the holidays.
On the surface, it might seem difficult to find much meaningful to glean from Major League Baseball’s remaining playoff teams, now reduced to four after the Phillies bounced the Braves on Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park.
But as we eagerly await Diamondbacks-Philadelphia in the NLCS and the Texas two-step of Rangers-Astros to crown the American League champion, there’s actually a fair amount the Pirates can learn from each club, aspects of what they do well that’s reasonably attainable here.
Grow it here
For all of the Astros’ success, it’s easy to forget that they’re largely homegrown.
They took a chance on Jose Altuve in March 2007, signing him as an international free agent out of Venezuela for $15,000. He’s now an eight-time All-Star who has been worth 52.6 fWAR … and someone who needs no introduction here.
Pitchers Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, Jose Urquidy and Bryan Abreu were also acquired as international free agents and combined to accrue 7.9 fWAR this past season. Valdez, who twirled a no-hitter this past summer, has averaged nearly 200 innings and 200 strikeouts the past two seasons.
Meanwhile, Houston’s hit rate in the MLB draft has been outstanding: Third baseman Alex Bregman (2nd overall in ’15) and right fielder Kyle Tucker (5th overall in ’15) are the two most notable names; they combined for 54 homers and 210 RBIs this past season.
But shortstop Jeremy Pena (3rd round in ’18), center fielder Chas McCormick (21st round in’17) and pitcher Hunter Brown (5th round in ’19) have added important value in later rounds.
No chance you could name the players the Astros gave up for designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (.990 OPS, 4.5 fWAR) or closer Ryan Pressly (31 saves) from the Dodgers and Twins, respectively, which emphasizes another thing Houston has done well — trades.
But as it relates to the Pirates, we’re staying simple. Be better internationally and through the domestic draft.
So far, the Pirates have added international prospects such as Jun-Seok Shim (MLB Pipeline No. 15), Yordany De Los Santos (No. 17), Shalin Polanco (No. 22), Tony Blanco Jr. (No. 25), Po-Yu Chen (No. 28), Hung-Leng Chang and Jun-Seok Shim through the traditional period, then acquired Jhonny Severino and Estuar Suero this year at the MLB trade deadline.
We’ve seen some recent draft picks peek through with Henry Davis, Carmen Mlodzinski, Nick Gonzales, Quinn Priester and Jared Triolo. Oneil Cruz, Johan Oviedo, Endy Rodriguez and Liover Peguero were other clubs’ international signs. Luis Ortiz and Osvaldo Bido are the Pirates’ only comparable acquisitions of note.
Ol’ college try
The Pirates signing the equivalent of shortstop Corey Seager, second baseman Marcus Semien or pitchers such as Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney or even Jacob deGrom through free agency likely feels about as likely as a 50-point outburst from Matt Canada's offense.
But there has been one similarity when it comes to how this Pirates regime and the Texas Rangers have drafted: They both seem to prefer college players over high schoolers, with 2022 No. 4 overall pick Termarr Johnson — whose offensive approach plays much older — the lone exception.
Third baseman Josh Jung (2019, 8th overall) out of Texas Tech in 2019 is the most notable name, considering he could win the AL Rookie of the Year.
But the Rangers took outfielder Wyatt Langford out of Florida this summer and Vanderbilt pitchers Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter the previous two drafts. Middle infielder Justin Foscue (Mississippi State) was their 2020 pick and should make his MLB debut next season.
While the Pirates prospect list technically includes more high schoolers than college picks, they’ll need the latter group to carry this thing. Paul Skenes (LSU), Gonzales (New Mexico State), Triolo (Houston) and Mlodzinski (South Carolina), sure. Also established guys such as Bryan Reynolds (Vanderbilt), David Bednar (Lafayette) or Colin Holderman (Heartland Community College), though the Pirates didn’t draft the second group.
Friendly style
Expecting the Pirates to put together a lineup like the one the Phillies did to homer 11 times against the Braves isn’t realistic.
But they can model more of what the Diamondbacks do, which is predicated on running a lot, running smart, playing terrific defense and — after much consternation and some key tweaks — relying on one of the best bullpens in baseball.
Running-wise, only the Mets (88.7%) had a better success rate on steals than the Diamondbacks (86.5%). Volume-wise, Arizona (166) had the second-most stolen bases in MLB. The Pirates were 15th with 117 and extremely inefficient; they were successful at a 74.1% clip that ranked 29th.
Opposing teams stole successfully just 71.8% of the time against the Diamondbacks (2nd best), while only four teams fared worse than the Pirates (84.1%). Arizona also made the fewest errors (56) and had the best fielding percentage (.990) in MLB.
The acquisition of closer Paul Sewald from the Mariners helped to stabilize Arizona’s bullpen, which has improbably had the second-best ERA (2.10) in the sport over the past five or so weeks.
While their fielding percentage (.984, 7 worse) could still use work, the Pirates did go from last to tied for ninth in errors (91). They also showed flashes at various points of being able to push the pace on the bases and prevent opposing teams from taking them.
End result
Myriad numbers have framed the previous three traits. The last is tougher to quantify. It’s also the result of finding a winning and repeatable formula: connecting with fans and creating a clubhouse confidence and culture like the one that has been developed in Philadelphia.
For anyone who has watched the Phillies this past, you’ve seen it: players celebrating during and after games; fans packing the park, singing along and going nuts; the nastiest fans in pro sports softening and embracing Trea Turner during the regular season.
Recently, the Phillies rallied behind Bryce “Attaboy” Harper whenever Atlanta’s Orlando Arcia — intentional or not — provided plenty of bullpen board material following Game 2 of the NLDS.
We saw tastes of this stuff here from 2013-15, with the Pirates thriving with clubhouse chemistry, leaders in the right places, recognizing the greater purpose at play and having an entire city embrace what was happening at PNC Park.
We’ve also seen a sample of what this group can become. But if there’s one (reasonable) thing to take from the Phillies this postseason, it should be how much fun this all can be if the other stuff is done right.
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: October 13, 2023, 2:55 p.m.
Updated: October 13, 2023, 8:22 p.m.
