The Curious Case of Steve Pearce

It's spring training and players all across Florida and Arizona are trying to make a good impression on their managers and teammates in order to make the major leagues out of spring training. Steve Pearce is one of those guys... again.

Let's start with the basics. Pearce was born in 1983 in Lakeland, Florida. That makes him 27 years old; he will turn 28 on April 13th. He attended the University of South Carolina and was drafted in the 8th round of the 2005 draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pearce made his big league debut September 1st of 2007, but has been struggling mightily to stay with the big league team ever since then. He's seen time in the majors every year since his debut, but hasn't played more than 60 games with the club (he played 23 in '07, 37 in '08, 60 in '09, and 15 in '10).

Pearce is a guy that has had success in the minor leagues. In 2007 he hit 31 home runs with a .333 batting average and a 1.016 OPS in 3 different minor league levels. That prompted Pirates fan to picture him as a future every day first baseman, with big power upside. However, he has struggled in the power category every year since, not topping the 13 homers he hit in 2009. His batting average was very impressive in 2010, when he hit .326 in 35 games with Indianapolis. That average earned him another shot in the big leagues, which he took good advantage of in his first 2 weeks of playing, however he was injured and never saw the majors again last season.

So where does all of that put Steve Pearce right now? Well, he's in the same spot he's been in the past couple of years, competing for a bench spot on the major league club in spring training. However, this year he has more guys in front of him, Lyle Overbay and Garrett Jones are both ahead of Pearce on the depth chart. The Pirates are certainly not giving up on Pearce. That is proved by the fact that the Pirates are having him take ground balls at third base this spring, trying to open him up to a possible back-up third base role.

Why do the Pirates like Pearce, you ask? Maybe it's because of that monstrous 2007 season, or maybe it's because the Pirates don't have much else in terms of potential power hitting first basemen in their system. The reason I like him is because he's a lifetime .304/.372/.557 hitter against major league left-handed pitching. He's compiled those numbers in only 129 plate appearances, so that may be a deceiving picture I just painted, but it's hard to argue with those numbers. That said, Pearce has been terrible against righties, hitting .240/.313/.394.

Pearce isn't a great fielder, his career UZR/150 at first base is 10. You can compare that to Jones' UZR/150 of -7.1 and Overbay's rating of 0.2 and say that he's a pretty good option for the Pirates at first base. Keep in mind that Pearce hasn't played a ton in the majors, so the numbers might be misleading. Pearce also plays outfield, which he is significantly worse at, with a UZR/150 of -0.9. However, that ability to play right field could give him a boost towards being in a Pirates uniform come April.

The Pirates have a couple decisions to make by April in terms of who they will take for their big league bench. They will be choosing two of six players, the six players being Pearce, John Bowker, Garrett Atkins, Josh Fields, Corey Wimberly, and Andy Marte. One of those players is going to have to be able to play third base, something that all of those players except Bowker can do.

If Pearce makes the team, I think it's going to be because of his defensive versatility. If he proves that he is capable of playing the major league third base position, I don't see why the Pirates wouldn't take him. It will be interesting to see if he makes some starts at third this spring, definitely keep an eye out for that.

One of the things working against Pearce is that he has an option remaining. That means the Pirates can hold him in AAA this year with basically no repercussion, that same thing can't be said for the rest of those guys.

Pearce has worked hard the last few years, and he is one of the handful of guys that has been in this system for more than a couple years. He was very impressive last year but had some very bad fortune with the injuries. It's been an up and down career for Pearce, and it's tough not to root for him.