After making a bit of a splash as a rookie last year, Alex Presley has struggled immensely this season. He got off to a poor start after beginning the season as the opening day left fielder and eventually was demoted to AAA. He did well during his time in the minors turning in a .301/.402/.616 line and hitting five home runs in only 73 at-bats. His success did not quite translate, however, after a call-up and then Presley landed on the 7-day DL with concussion-like symptoms. Yesterday, Presley was recalled from his rehab assignment and was immediately inserted into the leadoff spot in the lineup, which has been a revolving door this year.
Despite his struggles, Presley's return made me breathe a sigh of relief. Anyone who has watched the outfield defense of Drew Sutton, Garrett Jones and Josh Harrison will understand why. Though Presley has struggled at the plate, he has played solid defense and has displayed improved base running ability. He has a season WAR of 0.7 according to Fangraphs, but the calculation shows him at 4.1 in fielding and 1.4 in base running. If he was hitting at the level he did last year, his WAR would be approximately 1.76. By comparison, an outfielder on the trading block like Carlos Quentin (whose value comes almost exclusively from his bat) has a season WAR of 1.4. Now, I'm not saying that Presley is likely to be more valuable than Quentin the rest of the season, but defense and base running do matter. If Presley began hitting even close to what he did last season, he would be a nice upgrade over what's already in the Pirates outfield.
Don't believe me? Let's look at the value of Drew Sutton and Garrett Jones. Sutton has a season WAR of -0.1. His fielding value is -3.8. Jones has a season WAR of 0.6, similar to that of Presley's, but his defensive value is -1.2. It is unlikely that Jones' offense will improve significantly over the second half and his defensive value is already higher than his career average. A slight bump in Presley's offensive value would make him the clear choice.
Now, I have already advocated for the promotion of Starling Marte and the acquisition of a corner bat like Quentin, but truthfully we don't know how Marte will do when he's called up or what Neal Huntington will be able to do on the trade front.What we do know is that Presley should be starting in the outfield right now. Also, if Marte is called up, Presley could be a good platoon partner for him, keeping the young Dominican away from tough right-handers. There's no way of knowing if Presley will improve with the bat down the stretch, but if he does, he could represent a key piece in the Pirates' march toward the playoffs.
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