Cristian Pache May Already Be Good Enough For an Everyday Role

After watching some playoff baseball, one thing has stood out: Centerfielders don't have to hit if they can be elite defenders. So how does Cristian Pache stack up with Trent Grisham and Myles Straw?

Cristian Pache was acquired by the A's along with Shea Langeliers, Ryan Cusick, and Joey Estes in the Matt Olson trade with the Atlants Braves before the season. He'd had some experience in Atlanta, but hadn't quite made his mark at the plate in his two quick trips to the big leagues in 2020 and 2021, batting a combined .119 in 24 games. 

Pache's first week with the A's went pretty well. He went 7-for-18 (.304), had two multi-hit games, and was playing outstanding defense in center. He didn't have another multi-hit game until May 29. He was optioned down the Triple-A Las Vegas on June 30 and wouldn't return to Oakland until August 28. 

He was batting .159 with a .203 on-base at the time of the demotion. 

He made some small improvements in the second half of the season, batting .200 with a .289 OBP, and his walk rate increased from 5.1% to 8.7%, leading to a wRC+ of 84 (where 100 is league average), 60 points higher than it was before his demotion. 

So why am I telling you all of this? 

Well if Roster Resource is correct (and they usually are), Pache is out of options, which means he has to be on the big league roster at the end of Spring Training, or be subjected to waivers. I am pretty certain Pache would not clear waivers if the A's didn't put him on their 26-man roster. 

So in all likelihood, Cristian Pache is going to be the A's centerfielder for the majority of the 2023 season, and I'm here to tell you that might be alright. 

The Cleveland Guardians had the worst offensive production out of center this season, mainly from former Houston Astro Myles Straw, who tallied a 64 wRC+. He was also worth two wins above replacement due to his stellar defense. Straw hit .221 with a .291 OBP in 152 games in 2022. He hit exactly zero home runs, but he stole 21 bases on 22 attempts. 

The real key for Straw was that he walked 9.1% of the time and only struck out 14.6%. He is a starting position player for a playoff caliber team, and one that is one win away from heading to the ALCS. 

Then there is Trent Grisham of the San Diego Padres, who hit just .184 with a .284 on base, but he finished with an 84 wRC+ thanks to 17 homers. He walked 10.9% of the time and struck out 28.6% of the time during the regular season. He has also become the Padres best producer at the plate since the postseason began, slugging three homers in seven games while hitting .381 with a .519 OBP and a 1.329 OPS. 

Pache hasn't shown the pop of Trent Grisham at the big league level, or the plate discipline of Myles Straw, but they provide the blueprints that Pache can follow to become a big-league regular. 

The key is going to be in the field, so let's take a look at how that stacks up with these two Gold Glove caliber defenders. 

Over at Baseball Savant, Trent Grisham ranked first among centerfielders in outs above average (OAA) with 15. Myles Straw ranked third with 13. Even though he spent a couple of months in the minor leagues, Pache was tied for fourth with 8. 

It's safe to say that he is on their level defensively. 

Offensively, Pache feels like a little bit of a mix between the two. He's probably going to strike out at a rate much closer to Grisham's 28.6% than Straw's 14.6, and is more likely to hit double digit homers than zero, but he is also more likely to be a menace on the bases like Straw. 

I will say that there are a couple of pretty big caveats that have to be acknowledged. The first is that Pache isn't currently surrounded by anyone near the caliber Juan Soto, Manny Machado, or José Ramirez, so it's not like the A's are going to the ALCS next season just because Pache is hitting or defending similarly to Grisham or Straw. 

The second caveat is that for both of these guys, 2022 has been a down year over their career numbers. When Grisham was 23 (two years ago) he was batting .251 with a .352 on-base. Last year he hit .242 with a .327 OBP. 

When Straw was 23 back in 2018, he got all of 10 plate appearances with Houston and went 3-for-9 with a walk. The following season he hit .269 with a .378 OBP in 128 plate appearances spanning 59 games. It took him some time and a trade to Cleveland to really find his niche in baseball. Pache has already been traded, so part of the equation is solved! 

Over at The Athletic, A's Assistant GM Billy Owens had this to say about Cristian Pache at the plate. "Offensively, he’s barely getting started. Finding a suitable starting point is first on the bucket list. His hands and lower half appear disconnected. Rhythmic moves are forced. Leg kick complicates his timing. He’s surviving on hand-eye coordination. Adjustments are immediately necessary, and blood, sweat and tears will be accrued shoring up his offensive potential."

There are going to be some rough at-bats for Cristian Pache next year, and probably in the years that follow as well, but there will also be glimmers of hope here and there that show us the potential that he has that keeps fans invested in his development. While he is working things out at the plate, we'll still have his defense to marvel over on a regular basis. 

In the end, being a productive centerfielder at the major league level isn't that far away. It's reaching his full potential that could take some time.