In December the Pittsburgh Pirates inked John Jaso to a two-year contract. Jaso’s contract was worth a total of eight million dollars. Even though Jaso was a catcher and a designated hitter for the entirety of his career, the Pirates signed him to play first base.
When John Jaso was signed where he would fit in at in the Pirates’ lineup was unclear. However, this quickly became clear in Spring Training. For most of the season John Jaso was the Pirates’ lead off man against right-handed pitchers.
John Jaso started to struggle in mid-June and his struggles would continue through the month of July.