There is no sugarcoating it: The Pirates offense was bad in 2021.
They were 23rd in on-base percentage, 24th in hits, 25th in batting average, 28th in OPS and 30th (dead last) in runs, total bases, home runs and slugging percentage.
And you can’t just blame Michael Perez. It was a team effort.
But that doesn’t mean there weren’t some good individual offensive campaigns in the organization this summer.
Today we are going to look at how the Pirate hitters fared in Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+), a beautifully simple stat that attempts to portray a hitter’s offensive production in relation to others, regardless of ballpark or even era.
If you want the full write-up on wRC+, read all about it on Fangraphs. But for the rest of you, know that this is a rate stat, not a counting stat, that estimates a player’s offensive contributions in terms of total runs compared to the rest of the league that year.
It’s adjusted, so a wRC+ of 100 is league average. That means an (ahem, unnamed) hitter with a 38 wRC+ created 62% fewer runs than a league average hitter in the same number of plate appearances. Conversely, another (unnamed) hitter with a 169 wRC+ created 69% more runs than a league average hitter in the same number of plate appearances.
Below you’ll see tables that show wRC+ numbers for Pirates at each level. You’ll get a sense of offensive contribution for each player compared to his peers at the level, and you can also infer relative production across different levels. We are using a round-number threshold of 100 minimum plate appearances to give some semblance of a sample size. If you want to dig into all Pirates hitters — including some of the recent draft picks who didn’t reach 100 plate appearances — go here.
Some things to look for:
- The more plate appearances, the more dependable the wRC+.
- For prospects, age matters. If you see a young player (for the level) with a high wRC+, that’s good.
- Michael Perez and Eli Wilson.
Pirates Prospects top-30 rankings are in parentheses next to the player names.
And with that, here are the 2021 wRC+ numbers for Pirates hitters at each level:
Top 10 Overall
| Player | Level | Age | PA | wRC+ |
| Eli Wilson | Low-A | 22 | 152 | 169 |
| Anthony Alford | AAA | 26 | 226 | 168 |
| Matt Fraizer (11) | High-A | 23 | 350 | 158 |
| Jackson Glenn | Low-A | 23 | 124 | 158 |
| Tsung-Che Cheng (26) | Complex | 19 | 157 | 154 |
| Michael Chavis | AAA | 25 | 110 | 151 |
| Nick Gonzales (4) | High-A | 22 | 369 | 150 |
| Rodolfo Nolasco | Complex | 19 | 164 | 150 |
| Blake Sabol | High-A | 23 | 229 | 145 |
| Bryan Reynolds | MLB | 26 | 646 | 142 |
MLB: Pittsburgh
| Player | Age | PA | wRC+ |
| Bryan Reynolds | 26 | 646 | 142 |
| Yoshi Tsutsugo | 29 | 144 | 134 |
| Adam Frazier | 29 | 428 | 128 |
| Ben Gamel | 29 | 383 | 105 |
| Colin Moran | 28 | 359 | 98 |
| Wilmer Difo | 29 | 240 | 95 |
| Jacob Stallings | 31 | 427 | 95 |
| Anthony Alford | 26 | 148 | 93 |
| Ke’Bryan Hayes | 24 | 396 | 88 |
| John Nogowski | 28 | 123 | 86 |
| Cole Tucker | 24 | 131 | 75 |
| Hoy Park | 25 | 149 | 75 |
| Phillip Evans | 28 | 247 | 73 |
| Gregory Polanco | 29 | 382 | 71 |
| Ka’ai Tom | 27 | 117 | 64 |
| Kevin Newman | 27 | 554 | 54 |
| Erik Gonzalez | 29 | 229 | 50 |
| Michael Perez | 28 | 231 | 38 |
AAA: Indianapolis
| Player | Age | PA | wRC+ |
| Anthony Alford | 26 | 226 | 168 |
| Michael Chavis | 25 | 110 | 151 |
| Will Craig | 26 | 139 | 139 |
| Christian Bethancourt | 29 | 363 | 115 |
| Bligh Madris | 25 | 385 | 111 |
| Cole Tucker | 24 | 263 | 101 |
| Hunter Owen | 27 | 366 | 98 |
| Jared Oliva | 25 | 249 | 86 |
| Phillip Evans | 28 | 144 | 84 |
| T.J. Rivera | 32 | 212 | 81 |
| Taylor Davis | 31 | 137 | 78 |
| Kevin Kramer | 27 | 214 | 72 |
| Chris Sharpe | 25 | 371 | 72 |
| Tucupita Marcano (18) | 21 | 210 | 71 |
| Fabricio Macias | 23 | 111 | 70 |
| Ethan Paul | 24 | 150 | 66 |
| Joe Hudson | 30 | 175 | 50 |
AA: Altoona
| Player | Age | PA | wRC+ |
| Oneil Cruz (2) | 22 | 273 | 136 |
| Matt Fraizer (11) | 23 | 149 | 129 |
| Canaan Smith-Njigba | 22 | 266 | 127 |
| Diego Castillo | 23 | 121 | 114 |
| Ji-hwan Bae (14) | 21 | 365 | 114 |
| Mason Martin | 22 | 471 | 113 |
| Jack Suwinski | 22 | 182 | 110 |
| Brendt Citta | 24 | 173 | 108 |
| Cal Mitchell (24) | 22 | 419 | 106 |
| Jonah Davis | 23 | 221 | 101 |
| Rodolfo Castro (17) | 22 | 312 | 92 |
| Daniel Amaral | 24 | 248 | 85 |
| Connor Kaiser | 24 | 168 | 67 |
| Josh Bissonette | 24 | 259 | 66 |
| Arden Pabst | 26 | 214 | 45 |
High-A: Greensboro
| Player | Age | PA | wRC+ |
| Matt Fraizer (11) | 23 | 350 | 158 |
| Nick Gonzales (4) | 22 | 369 | 150 |
| Blake Sabol | 23 | 229 | 145 |
| Fabricio Macias | 23 | 184 | 130 |
| Jared Triolo | 23 | 473 | 128 |
| Andres Alvarez | 24 | 158 | 126 |
| Lolo Sanchez | 22 | 437 | 124 |
| Jonah Davis | 23 | 132 | 115 |
| Liover Peguero (5) | 20 | 417 | 108 |
| Will Matthiessen | 23 | 310 | 102 |
| Aaron Shackelford | 24 | 421 | 91 |
| Matt Gorski | 23 | 401 | 89 |
| Grant Koch | 24 | 211 | 80 |
| Francisco Acuna | 21 | 117 | 59 |
Low-A: Bradenton
| Player | Age | PA | wRC+ |
| Eli Wilson | 22 | 152 | 169 |
| Jackson Glenn | 23 | 124 | 158 |
| Endy Rodriguez (19) | 21 | 434 | 140 |
| Jack Herman | 21 | 243 | 116 |
| Sammy Siani | 20 | 258 | 116 |
| Hudson Head (29) | 20 | 434 | 113 |
| Francisco Acuna | 21 | 131 | 106 |
| Daniel Rivero | 20 | 134 | 105 |
| Dariel Lopez | 19 | 416 | 103 |
| Maikol Escotto | 19 | 381 | 100 |
| Ernny Ordonez | 22 | 287 | 99 |
| Jase Bowen | 20 | 405 | 90 |
| Alexander Mojica | 18 | 339 | 87 |
| Norkis Marcos | 20 | 143 | 65 |
| Jasiah Dixon | 19 | 115 | 52 |
| Sergio Campana | 19 | 188 | 52 |
Complex: FCL Pirates Black
| Player | Age | PA | wRC+ |
| Juan Jerez | 19 | 181 | 136 |
| Rayber Romero | 19 | 153 | 128 |
| Carlos Canache | 20 | 100 | 105 |
| Angel Basabe | 20 | 139 | 74 |
| Franrielis Bastardo | 18 | 118 | 73 |
| Luis Tejeda | 18 | 131 | 65 |
Complex: FCL Pirates Gold
| Player | Age | PA | wRC+ |
| Tsung-Che Cheng (26) | 19 | 157 | 154 |
| Rodolfo Nolasco | 19 | 164 | 150 |
| Sergio Campana | 19 | 111 | 123 |
| Jasiah Dixon | 19 | 105 | 109 |
| Norkis Marcos | 20 | 136 | 85 |
| Randy Romero | 21 | 170 | 75 |
| Deivis Nadal | 19 | 126 | 29 |
DSL: Pirates Black
| Player | Age | PA | wRC+ |
| Ronny Sanchez | 18 | 125 | 136 |
| Omar Alfonzo | 17 | 133 | 132 |
| Rafael Escalante | 19 | 111 | 121 |
| Enmanuel Terrero | 18 | 174 | 114 |
| Ruben Vizcaya | 17 | 132 | 104 |
| Ewry Espinal | 18 | 150 | 93 |
| Jesus Castillo | 17 | 170 | 86 |
| Shalin Polanco (27) | 17 | 176 | 77 |
| Javier Rivas | 18 | 192 | 22 |
DSL: Pirates Gold
| Player | Age | PA | wRC+ |
| Eddy Rodriguez | 17 | 109 | 120 |
| Esmerlyn Valdez | 17 | 153 | 120 |
| Dioris Valdez | 18 | 120 | 116 |
| Jeral Toledo | 18 | 192 | 116 |
| Gustavo Armas | 17 | 189 | 98 |
| Rodolfo De La Cruz | 17 | 153 | 82 |
| Wesley Zapata | 17 | 120 | 76 |
| Delfin Ramirez | 18 | 106 | 63 |
Photo: Eli Wilson; Photo Credit: Wilbur Miller
