Pirates Spring Week 1 Recap: Who's Hot and Who's Not?

The Pittsburgh Pirates are now nine games through Spring Training. We have seen many players stand out, whether it is with good performances or bad performances. Today, Baron and Tyler will be going over hot and cold players from Spring Training so far.

Two Hot Hitters

Henry Davis is a former number-one overall draft pick for the Pirates. Last season, the catching prospect saw time in Pittsburgh, but it was in the outfield. Davis has gotten to catch in half of the games this Spring. His bat has also been great as he has a batting average of .385 with two home runs and six runs batted in. He also has an OPS of 1.246 which includes a .400 on-base percentage and a .846 slugging percentage.

Termarr Johnson is the big-time prospect performing for the Pirates this spring. The 19-year-old second baseman is having a great start to his first career Spring Training. So far through 12 at-bats, Johnson has a batting average of .500 with two home runs and four runs batted in. He also has an OPS of 1.621, which includes an on-base percentage of .538 and a slugging percentage of 1.083.

Two Hot Pitchers

This comes without saying, but I believe most of the Pirates fanbase is keeping a strong eye on SP prospect Jared Jones this spring.

Jones, has appeared in just two games and went 2.2IP total, but during that time he has impressed with his arsenal. While facing eight batters, Jones has struck out just two but continues to throw very hard. Jones' fastball is averaging in the 97-99 range while also mixing in a cutter with tons of movement. This movement has caused hitters to swing in an unprepared manner as it moves away or into the batter. 

Hunter Stratton has been an intriguing arm to watch throughout spring. Stratton has appeared in three games, going 3.0IP, while striking out 5 of the 9 batters. Currently, his WHIP stands at 1.00. Stratton appeared with the Pirates during the 2023 campaign where he went 0-0 in 8 appearances in 12.0IP pitched. Stratton maintains a hard fastball averaging 95-96 but also throws a sweet cutter/slider mix to get hitters off on their timing. This has allowed Stratton to look pretty dominant so far in spring and can make an argument for getting on the Opening Day roster, if not a top role for the Indianapolis Indians. 

One Cold Hitter

Edward Olivares is off to a tough start to the spring as he has the most at-bats out of anyone. Olivares was acquired this offseason in a trade with the Royals for Deivis Nadal. So far this spring, Olivares has a batting of .176 with no home runs and two runs batted in. He also has an OPS of .426, which includes a .176 on-base percentage and a .250 slugging percentage.

One Cold Pitcher

Bailey Falter is off to a rough start this spring. In an important spring for Falter’s career to be quite honest with all of you, Falter has been put to the test and has ultimately fallen short each time. Falter has appeared in two games so far for the Pirates. In those two games, Falter has pitched 4.0IP while earning a 9.00ERA with 4 strikeouts and a lot of hard contact. Falter was traded at the 2023 deadline from the Phillies to the Pirates where the Pirates went their separate ways from young infielder Rodolfo Castro. Falter averages 92-93 on his fastball during spring so far and he has had tons of control issues leaving this “lower” level fastball down the middle of the plate. This has allowed batters to wait on his fastball and when they see it, it typically goes pretty far.