Pirates Promote Top Outfield Prospect Amidst Jack Suwinski Struggles

The Pittsburgh Pirates entered the 2022 MLB season with modest expectations, and it's played out that way nearly two months into the campaign. Pittsburgh sits in third place in the NL Central, but trailing the Milwaukee Brewers by 8.5 games with a 17-24 overall record.

This 2022 season was always about continuing the rebuild, and there's no better way to accomplish that than by taking full stock of a franchise's top prospects. That's exactly what Pittsburgh is doing, evidenced by the promotion of top outfield prospect Cal Mitchell on Tuesday morning.

Pirates Cal Mitchell

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Mitchell is ranked No. 25 on MLB.com's list of top Pirates prospects for 2022. The 2017 draftee has spent five seasons in Pittsburgh's minor leagues, including 41 career games with Triple-A Indianapolis. A smooth-swinging lefty, the 23-year-old outfielder raked Triple-A pitching this season, slashing .307/.362/.500 with 5 home runs, 26 RBI, 6 stolen bases and cutting his strikeout rate way down.

His promotion comes in the middle of a tough stretch for fellow rookie, right fielder Jack Suwinski. Suwkinski began his year at the MLB level but has hit a dismal .182/.232/.377 across 82 plate appearances.

Mitchell has an opportunity to compete for starting playing time thanks to Suwkinski's struggles.

Meanwhile, it's looking like a long road ahead for the 2022 Pirates. Pittsburgh holds just +15000 odds to even win the NL Central on FanDuel Sportsbook.

Adam Taylor McKillop is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Adam Taylor also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username atmckillop. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.