With division wide open, the time is now for Pirates to call up top prospect

The Pittsburgh Pirates were given an unexpected gift this season in the form of a terrible National League Central division where nobody has emerged as a favorite. 

They are wasting that gift by not putting their best possible lineup on the field, and the best example of that is keeping a recent No. 1 overall pick—catcher Henry Davis—in the minor leagues with no better option blocking him. 

Entering play on Sunday the Pirates are 34-35, which is by their own admission better than they expected to be this season. Even though there is nothing special about that record or their roster, they are still within striking distance of the top spot in the Central Division just 1.5 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers. If they can salvage their series in Milwaukee on Sunday with a win it will be reduced to just a half-game. 

That is what has made their collapse from a shockingly good 20-8 start so frustrating for their fans. 

Adding to that frustration is the black hole that is the catcher's position and one of their most glaring weaknesses. The Pirates are using a duo of Austin Hedges and Jason Delay to handle the catching duties this season, and it has been one of the worst positional performances for any team in the league at any position.

Hedges is, by almost every objective measure, the worst-hitting position player in Major League Baseball. His .175 average and .472 OPS is about what you would see from a pitcher in the pre-DH days and he gets the bulk of the playing time. Delay is not much better. Making matters worse is that neither player is particularly good defensively. At least not as good as the Pirates think they are. They almost never throw out base-stealers. Hedges is one of the league leaders in errors and has already been called for catcher interference a whopping five times this season. The most recent of which preceded a three-run first-inning home run for Milwaukee on Friday night. Milwaukee won by one run.  

On Sunday, Hedges came up to bat in the seventh inning, with the bases loaded, representing the tying run .... and innocently popped out on the infield ending any potential threat of a rally. Friday's game ended with runners on second and third in a one-run game with Delay striking out. Those were just the most recent examples of their incompetence at the plate. 

The Pirates' top two prospects are catchers in Davis and Endy Rodriguez. They are both excellent prospects and ranked among the top 100 in baseball. Davis was a No. 1 overall pick out of college in 2021, is already 23 years old, and has done nothing but hit at every level of the minor leagues, consistently posting an OPS well over .900. Between Double-A and Triple-A this season he has a .946 OPS with 11 home runs and 40 walks in 232 at-bats. He also has been used in right field, giving him additional position flexibility. There is no good reason other than money and the fear of him being eligible for arbitration status a year early (Super Two).

Whether the Pirates expected it or not, and whether they want to admit it or not, they are in a divisional playoff race right now. There is a wide-open opportunity right in front of them with a division that is there for the taking. Who knows when they will get a chance like this again? The division is wide open for anybody to win. Potentially even them.

Fixing the catching spot will not cure all of their flaws. It will not make them significantly better or even a World Series contender. But it should make them a little bit better, and why wouldn't you want to do that? Especially when just a small improvement might help you close the gap in a terrible division.