Joe Playing Big Part in Pirates Successful Start

Make no mistake, Connor Joe is an important player in the Pittsburgh Pirates surprising and successful start to the 2023 MLB season.

This past week, beginning with a quick two-game series against the Tigers on the road in  The Motor City, the Pirates were still holding their own in the National League Central. Just one game behind the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers, the Pirates are 22-19. One year ago, on the same day that the Pirates opened their series in Detroit days ago, on May 16, 2022, Pittsburgh wasn t contending as a divisional powerhouse.

The Pirates trailed the Brewers by 7.5 games and are just a half-game ahead of the Cincinnati Reds, in third place. Last May there was little hope for a successful season in western Pennsylvania.

The tide has changed for the better with the Pirates, and most of the credit goes to the acquisitions club general manager Ben Cherington made this past off-season.

Count among the newcomers to the Pirates fold Connor Joe.

Arriving in Pittsburgh just before Christmas in a trade with the Colorado Rockies, Joe has been rock-steady, in the field and at the plate, so far this season for the Pirates.

Joe is one of many on the 40-man Pirates roster that outside of the Pittsburgh area isn t a household name among the MLB community. However, there are signs that this tag is already showing signs of reversing.

Through the 36 games played thus far, Joe has been impressing opposing pitchers and has teammates cheering his ability to get on base. Of Joe s registered 30 hits in 115 at-bats, he had 10 doubles, three triples, and slugged five home runs leading into the Detroit series. Oh, and there have been 15 base-on-balls.

Along with his fine offensive showing, Joe is a steal for skipper, Derek Shelton, to position on the field. The corner positions of right and left field and first base are where Joe is usually penciled in on the lineup card.

Joe, signed through this season with the Pirates, is an unassuming leader by example. On the flip side of Joe s importance to the club s winning ways this season, those around him know what a person of high character he is.

During spring training months back in Bradenton, it is accurate to say Joe was one of, if not the quietest individual in the Pirates clubhouse, at LECOM Park or Pirate City.

When stretching drills were scheduled, Joe was routinely one of the first players out on the field, usually 15 minutes ahead of the last to arrive. With his locker next to that of Jack Suwinski s, Joe would go about his business prepping for a day s work. Playing a full game during the exhibition schedule or being replaced in the later innings, it was clear Joe was being groomed for the Pirates regular-season roster.

""It was pretty normal, said Joe of his off-season training regimen. ""I hit in the same facility and worked with the same trainer.

Home in the off-season is Dana Point, Calif., north of San Diego. Later this season, just after the July MLB All-Star Game, Pittsburgh has a mid-week three-game series with the San Diego Padres. These are dates Joe, since spring training, has circled on his calendar.

""That s going to be a special road trip. Many family members and friends will be coming out to Petco Park for me.

Joe s attributes his success this season to taking bits and pieces of advice from people he s come across during his baseball days in the minors and major leagues and utilizing them in key situations. Plus, his friend and former Colorado Rockies teammate Charlie Blackmon has helped him greatly in incorporating different additions to his game.

""He (Blackmon) has been a great friend. ""Off the field, I found myself maturing faster as a player and a person. I learned how to deal with life events with him, too.

Perhaps the most important life event for Joe to confront was being diagnosed with testicular cancer that spread to his lungs, while in training camp with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020.

By July 2020, after undergoing chemotherapy treatments, Joe was declared cancer-free. After missing all of the 2020 season, Joe signed with the Rockies for the following season.

""I feel great. I learned a lot about my body since then, and I m just looking forward to the future, says Joe, originally drafted by the Pirates in 2014.

Joe remains a mainstay on the Pirates roster. Given that the outfield has an ample number of contenders for each game s lineup, with Miguel Andujar being the latest to be called up from Triple-A Indianapolis and getting playing time, Joe s attitude hasn t shifted. He remains ready for wherever he may need to be slotted in.

With the club having extended Shelton s contract beyond this season, signed outfielder Bryan Reynolds to an eight-year extension for more than $100 million, plus, talk of extending pitching ace Mitch Keller, it s not a stretch to wonder if Joe will be the next contract to be extensively reviewed by management. The former Bradenton Marauder is in a class of players that an organization could build around.

The Rockies, Dodgers, and San Francisco Giants all had their shot at locking up Joe for his prime playing years. They passed. The Pirates should at least pause when it comes to defining their outfield future, and if or where Joe fits into that future.