Billy Cook
Billy Cook was another prospect the Pirates acquired at the deadline, this time from the Baltimore Orioles. Cook was a September call-up for the Bucs after he batted .275/.375/.474 with a .377 wOBA and 124 wRC+ for Baltimore’s/Pittsburgh’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates. Cook drew walks at a hearty 12% rate while putting up a 9.4% barrel rate, but this came at the cost of a 28.9% whiff rate and 23.5% K%.
Cook appeared in 16 games and made 49 plate appearances in the majors at the tail end of last season. We’ll first start with the good. The utility man went yard three times and had a .224 isolated slugging percentage. His ability to make strong contact carried over from the minor leagues, with an impressive 92.4 MPH exit velocity and 13.3% barrel rate. Now, let’s move on to the bad. Cook only batted .224 and didn’t draw a single walk. He chased outside the zone 36.9% of the time and swung and missed nearly 40% of the time (39.8%).
But if there’s one thing that is for certain, it’s that Cook is an excellent defender with great speed. Cook only logged 85 innings in the outfield during his first sample of big-league playing time, but racked up +6 defensive runs saved and +2 outs above average. He split his time almost evenly between all three outfield spots. Cook also played 35 innings at first base, but had zero DRS and OAA while stationed there. According to Baseball America, Cook also has the best outfield arm among Pirates prospects.
Cook also ranked in the 93rd percentile of sprint speed in the bigs. He ranked 42nd among 606 total players with at least five opportunities at 29.3 feet-per-second. That was the fastest among all Pirates players, including speedsters Ji-Hwan Bae, Nick Gonzales, and Oneil Cruz, as well as just a step behind other known speed demons Trea Turner, Corbin Carroll, and Jackson Holliday.
Cook will likely serve a similar function to what Connor Joe served this year: an OF/1B utility man. But Cook has more functions than just that. Cook also has over 500 minor league innings at second base, so he could occasionally see starts at the keystone as well. His speed and defense will be a considerable improvement over Joe’s, but he will need to improve his plate discipline accordingly. He swung with reckless abandon in his major league playing time this year, and while that led to some home runs, it also led to no walks and a handful of strikeouts. Luckily, the Pirates are bringing in a coach known for teaching good plate discipline.