Pirates Could Turn To Unlikely Internal Candidate At First Base

The Pittsburgh Pirates are keeping their options open at first base to start spring training.

Spencer Hortwitz was projected to start at the corner infield spot but a right wrist injury, which will sideline him for six to eight weeks, took that off the table for the time being.

Jared Triolo could be the solution at first as he has started 10 games there over the past two seasons. The Pirates could go in a completely different direction, though. That’s where infielder Nick Yorke comes in. Yorke isn’t a first baseman by trade — he needed his young brother to mail a first baseman’s mitt to Pittsburgh’s spring training facility — but the Pirates may just try out the experiment.

“(The Pirates) let me know that I should probably get one (first base mitt) just in case I start working out over there,” York told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Andrew Destin. “With Spencer going down, just don’t know what’s happening.”

The Pirates acquired Yorke at last season’s MLB trade deadline from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Quinn Priester. Yorke, 22, received his first action in the big leagues after the trade as he batted .216 with two runs and five RBIs with two stolen bases in 11 games.

Yorke, who the Red Sox drafted in the first round of the 2020 MLB draft, has never played first base since turning pro. And so far, he has only taken grounders at second base since arriving at Pirates camp, according to Destin.

But Yorke is keeping it in the back of his mind that he might eventually need to put on the first baseman’s mitt.

“Never played first before. Probably one of the only (positions) I’ve never played,” Yorke said. “But I played a lot of seconds base on the right side of the infield, so they’re thinking the transition should be pretty smooth.”