Kiner-Falefa set to take over at shortstop for Pirates

With the Pirates committed to Oneil Cruz in CF, the spot is opened for the former Gold Glove winner.

When the Pittsburgh Pirates moved Oneil Cruz to center field late last August, it solved a problem at one position but appeared to create another: With Cruz in the outfield, who would play shortstop?

The immediate answer was Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who started 17 of the next 20 games at shortstop before the Pirates gave Alika Williams, Nick Gonzales and Liover Peguero a look in late September.

But general manager Ben Cherington revealed last month at PiratesFest that the club had an eye on playing Kiner-Falefa at the position when they acquired him from Toronto before moving the error-prone Cruz.

“We’re really committed to Cruz in center field,” Cherington said in a Q&A session with fans last month at PiratesFest. “We really believe that while he still has work to do to be all that he can be as a center fielder, we saw enough in that sample of the season to give that a full shot. That seemed to free him up a little bit. Obviously, having him do that requires a shortstop. That was part of the calculus of acquiring IKF.”

Kiner-Falefa has a reputation for being a strong defender — he won an AL Gold Glove at third base with the Texas Rangers in the pandemic- shortened 2020 season — but especially for his versatility. He started his major- league career at catcher before moving to shortstop, then bouncing to third and second base and even experimenting at center field.

“Third base is always my best position, but I enjoyed what I was doing this year,” Kiner-Falefa said last August. “What I bring is that type of versatility. When they need to play a spot, they can plug me in anywhere. That’s my job. If they want me to play short, I’ll play short.”

With the Pirates appearing to be set at third base with Gold Glove winners in Ke’Bryan Hayes and utility infielder Jared Triolo, Kiner-Falefa enters spring training as the favorite to start at short.

Kiner-Falefa has 28 defensive runs saved in 355 career games at shortstop, per Fan-Graphs, including 10 DRS in back-to-back seasons as the starter for the Rangers in 2021 and New York Yankees in ’22. He ranks in the 84th percentile in range, per Statcast, but in the 14th percentile in arm strength — quite the opposite of Cruz.

“For what it’s worth, our internal metrics have him as an above-average defensive shortstop,” Cherington said. “He’s been an elite infield defender, for sure, over the course of his career.”

Pirates manager Derek Shelton echoed that sentiment and shared his belief that spending all of spring training at shortstop will help Kiner-Falefa find a comfort zone he hasn’t enjoyed since 2022. The Yankees moved him to center the following spring to make room for Anthony Volpe, and Kiner-Falefa started more games at third base (36) and second base (27) than shortstop (11) for the Blue Jays last season.

“It’s a critical position. We’re confident IKF can do it at a high level,” Cherington said. “It’s also a position we’ll keep looking at in the future, in terms of who’s playing that down the road.”

With Kiner-Falefa in the final year of a two-year, $15 million contract, this could be a critical year for Peguero. Acquired from Arizona for Starling Marte in January 2020, the 24-year-old Peguero has shown the type of power potential that Kiner-Falefa lacks.

Where Kiner-Falefa batted .292/.338/.420 in 83 games with Toronto before being sidelined by a knee injury, he hit .240/.265/.322 in 50 games with the Pirates and finished the season with 18 doubles, four triples, eight home runs and 43 RBIs.

Peguero spent the majority of the season at Triple-A Indianapolis, where he had 29 doubles, four triples, 13 homers and 79 RBIs. In 63 games with the Pirates, Peguero has 13 extra-base hits and 28 RBIs. But he has required extra time in the minors to reduce his errant defense, so he has to show the Pirates he can be dependable on defense.

The other side of the bag will be intriguing, with Nick Gonzales returning after starting 83 games at second base last season. The 2020 No. 7 overall selection — Cherington’s first draft pick with the Pirates — Gonzales started last year in the minors and made some adjustments in his plate approach before batting .270/.311/.398 with 19 doubles, three triples, seven homers and 49 RBIs in 94 games in the majors.

But Gonzales will have competition at second base in Triolo, Peguero and rookie Nick Yorke and offseason acquisitions Enmanuel Valdez and Adam Frazier, an All-Star with the Pirates in 2022 who gained postseason experience with Seattle, Baltimore and Kansas City the past three seasons. Triolo won the starting job in spring training last year before being supplanted by Gonzales in mid-May.

“I’ve never really been a guy to just relax. No matter where I was, what position I was in, it’s always trying to do a little bit more and be better,” Gonzales said. “Obviously, being a starting position player at the major league level is not my goal. Being an All-Star, being on a championship team is my endgame. I’m going to be working towards that consistently and constantly.”