Pirates' Connor Joe Testing New Position
Prior to Friday night's game against the Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder/first baseman Connor Joe was seen taking ground balls at third base, as shown in a tweet by Alex Stumpf of MLB.com.
Connor Joe is taking ground balls at third base today pic.twitter.com/MaLC3R4odS
— Alex Stumpf (@AlexJStumpf) August 23, 2024
Joe has never played third base in the major leagues, but this wouldn't be the first time he's added to his positional flexibility since coming to Pittsburgh. Sure, he played 38 games at first base with the Colorado Rockies in his final two seasons there, but he really figured out the position and got comfortable with it here with the Pirates.
So, why in the world is Joe taking grounders at third? Well, first things first, it's starting to seem like Ke'Bryan Hayes may be on the shelf for more than a couple of weeks. The back issue continues to linger and with the type of season he's had at the plate, it's clearly impacting his effectiveness.
With Hayes out, they're going to need more options to slot in at the hot corner. Jared Triolo will continue to be the every day guy in the interim while Isiah Kiner-Falefa will get some time here and there, but probably will stick at second until the return of Nick Gonzales.
The other part of this is, manager Derek Shelton wants to find a way to get Joe in the lineup on a more regular basis and has to get creative with how he goes about it. Now that Bryan De La Cruz has seemingly turned the corner, there will be very few opportunities for Joe at either of the corner outfield spots with Bryan Reynolds and De La Cruz being penciled in every day. Rowdy Tellez will start at first pretty much every night at righty is on the mound, so getting Joe some action at third could be one way to do it.
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