WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

2018
DSL:  260/341/414, 181 AB, 9 2B, 5 3B, 3 HR, 21 BB, 46 K, 8-13 SB

Basabe’s debut was oddly similar to Pie’s.  He tore up the DSL in the early going, then slumped.  Basabe’s OPS by month, from June through August, was 1.001, .779 and .537.  Overall, he showed good gap power and had a decent walk rate, but he also had a high K rate.  He had trouble with LHPs, with just a .644 OPS in an extremely small sample size of 29 at-bats.  He played center almost exclusively.

2019
R:  210/278/303, 119 AB, 5 2B, 3 3B, 9 BB, 30 K, 4-6 SB
A-:  000/167/000, 5 AB, 1 BB, 2 K

The Pirates sent Basabe briefly to West Virginia, until the draftees arrived, and then assigned him to the GCL.  He struggled to hit there and put up a poor BB:K ratio.  It may not have helped that he played only two-thirds of the time, due to an extreme logjam of outfielders on the team.  He got fewer than six innings in center, possibly due to the presence of other outfielders whom the Pirates regarded more highly.

2020
DNP

2021
R:  214/314/308, 119 AB, 5 2B, 3 3B, 11 BB, 28 K 5-5 SB

Basabe returned to rookie ball, where his hitting was nearly identical to 2019.  He played mostly in left.

2022
A:  257/353/378, 74 AB, 1 2B, 4 3B, 10 BB, 13 K, 3-5 SB
A+:  130/130/304, 23 AB, 1 2B, 1 HR, 8 K, 2-2 SB

The Pirates sent Basabe to Bradenton at the end of May.  He played sporadically there, depending on injuries and promotions.  He hit fairly well, making better contact than he had previously.  Basabe made a late, brief appearance with Greensboro.

The Pirates have a lot of lower-level outfield prospects, so Basabe won’t have an easy time finding a spot in 2023.