Cole Tucker willing to do whatever it takes to make Pirates roster

Cole Tucker has never played anywhere but shortstop in his baseball career, so the Pittsburgh Pirates 2014 first-round pick has had his sights set square on becoming a major league starter at the position.

With another former first-round shortstop Kevin Newman coming off a strong rookie season, however, the Pirates optioned Tucker to Triple-A Indianapolis in March so he could play every day. The shutdown for the coronavirus pandemic gave Tucker a chance to contend for a spot on the 30-man Opening Day roster, as he was one of the 40 players invited to training camp at PNC Park.

But is Tucker willing to be a utility player to make the team?

“That’s a great question, and it’s not for me to answer, really,” Tucker said, deferring to Pirates manager Derek Shelton. “But I still believe I have the tools to be an everyday shortstop, however that may shake out. I’m here to help the team win in whatever capacity that is. If they want me to play center field, I’ll play center field. If they want me to be the bat boy, I’ll be the bat boy. And I’m going to try my hardest to be really good at all of those things.

“That’s more of a question for Shelton, but I’m ready to go out and do whatever I can to help us win, whether that’s playing shortstop, whether that’s batting leadoff, whether that’s batting ninth. Whatever it is and whatever it may be, I’m excited to do that. I’m excited to help us win because I think I bring pieces to the puzzle that will help us be a better team in this short season and the long-term.”

Shelton is more confident his middle infielders can play on both sides of second base, something more common nowadays with defensive shifts. Despite his superior range at shortstop, the Pirates had Tucker practice at second base in spring training. So Shelton doesn’t see an issue wherever Tucker plays.

“I do feel like his athleticism translates,” Shelton said, “and anymore with the game is, people say ‘Well, this guy doesn’t play short’ or ‘This guy doesn’t play second.’ But, really, he does because of the fact of as much as we defensive shift and move, they play on both sides of the ball. … We put him on that side of the field some specifically for that reason. He’s been on that side of the bag, so I don’t see that being an issue at all. He’s so athletic, it’s not gonna matter.”

Tucker’s bat is the bigger concern. After a dazzling debut that featured his winning, two-run home run against the San Francisco Giants in April 2019, Tucker slashed .196/.244/.321 over the next 37 games before being sent back to Triple-A. Tucker returned to the Pirates in August and slashed .211/.266/.361 with 10 doubles, three triples, two homers and 13 RBIs for the season.

After spending the offseason working on some adjustments to his swing, Tucker had a strong spring. He slashed .296/.387/.667 with a double, two homers and seven RBIs in a dozen Grapefruit League games. When MLB shut down spring training, Pirates hitting coach Rick Eckstein offered Tucker some simple advice.

“Rick was like, ‘All right, you had a really good spring training. Don’t mess this up,’ ” said Tucker, who turned 24 on July 3. “Like, go home and continue to work on what you’ve been working on this spring. So it wasn’t like ‘Go home and add to that.’ It was more, ‘Go home and try to refine that,’ and to continue to be good at what I was doing.”

Problem was, Tucker only faced live pitching twice in three-plus months in Arizona, once in a “Sandlot”-style game organized by Cincinnati Reds right-hander Trevor Bauer and once against Pirates righty Trevor Williams and Tampa Bay righty Tyler Glasnow, a former Pirates player.

No wonder Tucker was excited to take competitive at-bats at training camp, whether it was in the batting cage or against live pitching. He hopes to pick up where he left off in spring training.

“That’s gonna show up,” Tucker said. “I feel really confident about that, just like I told you guys in spring. I’m really excited to see it play and how it plays out.”

Not to mention where he plays.