When the Pirates sent Jack Suwinski to the minors this spring, the initial thought was that he wasn’t going to be one of the first call-ups should the major league team need an outfielder.
Fast forward to now, and Suwinski leads all NL rookies in home runs after his game-tying three-run shot against the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday.
It hasn’t been all pretty. Despite the five home runs, Suwinski is currently batting below the Mendoza line with a .188 average, and has struck out 26.7% of his plate appearances.
Despite that, he hasn’t looked completely out of place, and depending on how much you buy into analytics, there is actually a lot there that makes a strong case for a huge turnaround.