The 2022 season starts Thursday for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the team has a lot of players who can make big splashes this regular season, including first baseman Daniel Vogalbach, utility player Cole Tucker and catcher Roberto Perez.

Vogalbach has been the Pirates leadoff hitter this spring, with Manager Derek Shelton putting the power hitters at the top of the lineup and the speed players towards the bottom for a small ball feel.

Vogalbach in six games had 16 at-bats and four hits including a double and a home run. Vogalbach has a good shot to be the number three player on the Pirates squad, behind Bryan Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes. 

Tucker has been with the Pirates since 2018 and for the past few seasons has not really made any impact at the big league level. This is all going to change in 2022, as Tucker is having an amazing spring training and is on pace to have a really good season at PNC Park.

Perez was picked up by the Pirates from the Cleveland Guardians. 

He really was a good defensive catcher for the Guardians, and he has a decent bat as well. Perez is basically going to be another Jacob Stallings, since they are so similar. 

One thing that people who follow the Pittsburgh Pirates do not like is the team taking their top star on the team, Reynolds, to an arbitration hearing because Bryan wants more money than the Pirates want to give them.

This is sad because it most likely is causing Reynolds to look at other options with other teams, and one of the teams that is in contention for him is the San Diego Padres. 

This would be good for the Padres because Reynolds has a good bat with elite power. The Pirates would just be back where they started and have to pick a new player to build the team around.

The pitching rotation will have many young arms with very few veterans.

These arms will include Mitch Keller, who has really improved over his last few seasons, and also second year pitcher Max Kranchick, who as a rookie had a decent record of 2-3 with 9 games played.

Overall this season should be a mediocre season for the Pirates, just like past seasons. Fans should not expect much.