We’re a little late on this one, because we all took some time off for Thanksgiving, but the Pittsburgh Pirates re-signed outfielder/first baseman Yoshi Tsutsugo to a one-year, $4 million deal.
Yoshi came over to the Bucs in August after being released by the Los Angeles Dodgers and immediately became a fan favorite, flashing power that Pittsburg’s lineup sorely lacked by swatting 8 homers in 43 games. He finished his year with the Bucs by hitting .268 with 25 RBIs, but he had a slugging percentage of .535 sparked by those dingers and also 8 doubles and a triple.
The 30-year-old left-handed batter now has a chance to see if those power numbers will extrapolate over a full year with the Bucs, though the challenge will be to figure out exactly where he is the most comfortable in the field. The slow-footed Tsutsugo is regarded as generally a poor outfielder, so getting that bat in the lineup every day will likely require some time at first base, which could be open depending on what the club decides to do with Colin Moran (trade?).
We’ll also have a full season of those Mario Brothers Yoshi memes, however, so welcome back to Tsutsugo!