Pirates intrigued by power-hitting potential of new addition Alexander Canario

Alexander Canario brought a reputation of power-hitting potential along with frequent swings and misses into his debut action with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday.

“From the people I’ve talked to in other places he’s been, when he impacts the ball, it’s pretty impressive,” manager Derek Shelton said.

Canario, traded to Pittsburgh last Monday by the Mets days after being designated for assignment, was inserted mid-game into left field during the Pirates’ home opener against the Yankees after starter Tommy Pham left the contest due to illness.

“He’s a guy we targeted and looked at for a while, and his availability came up and we were able to acquire him,” Shelton continued. “I think we’ll learn more as we see him.”

Canario wound up completing the game, playing seven innings while going 0 for 3 at the plate.

On Saturday vs. the Yankees, Shelton gave Canario his first start with the Pirates, this time in right field.

Canario went 0 for 4 with a pair of strikeouts.

Two games and seven at-bats hardly constitutes a significant sample size for Canario, less than a week into his tenure with the Pirates.

However, with four strikeouts so far, the 24-year-old has not showcased signs of shaking off issues at the plate that have plagued him throughout his professional career to date. Before joining the Pirates, 19 of Canario’s MLB at-bats (45%) with the Cubs in 2023 and 2024 were strikeouts.

Over 1,971 career minor-league at-bats, Canario, originally an international free agent signed by San Francisco in 2016, owns a 30% (593) strikeout rate.

Canario, who was designated for assignment by the Cubs in late February before being traded to the Mets, has displayed an intriguing amount of power in the minors, blasting 109 homers with 116 doubles in 519 career games.

Strikeout woes aside, Canario, who was part of the return package Chicago received in 2021 for sending Kris Bryant to the Giants, hopes to translate the power he showcased in the minors into his at-bats with the Pirates.

“Same plan,” Canario said through translator Stephen Morales. “Make sure I make good contact. I know I’m a power hitter, too. I can hit the (ball a) long ways, but nothing changes. Just try to put a good swing on the ball, make contact and they’ll go out.”

Christopher Horner | TribLive

Pirates left fielder Alexander Canario makes a catch at the outfield wall during the home opener against the Yankees on Friday, April 4, 2025, at PNC Park. Pirates left fielder Alexander Canario bats against the Yankees on Friday, April 4, 2025, at PNC Park.

Canario spent the majority of 2024 at Triple-A within the Cubs system, batting .243 with 18 home runs and 47 RBIs over 64 games.

Canario’s most impressive minor-league campaign came in 2022, when he split time at High-A, Double-A and Triple A, hitting a combined 37 home runs with 97 RBIs in 125 games and batting .252.

Most of his damage (24 homers, 61 RBIs) was at Double-A South Bend.

In total, he owns a career .261/.346/.501 minor-league slash line.

Canario also put together a solid spring training with the Mets before he was designated for assignment, batting .306 with three homers and eight RBIs in 17 games.

But 15 of his 36 (41.6%) spring at-bats were strikeouts.

Shelton and his staff will aim to diagnose any weaknesses in Canario’s batting to help combat his high strikeout rate.

“The commonality, usually, if there’s so much swing and miss, is what they chase out of the zone,” Shelton said. “Or there’s certain areas of the zone that they don’t handle as well. You end up having misses in those areas, whether it’s up, down, in or out. That’s probably the commonality, but all hitters have different weaknesses and different strengths.

“I think that’s where our identification of that with Alexander is something that’s going to be important.”

On Friday against the Yankees, Canario did offer a glimpse of the pop potentially waiting to be unlocked in his bat, as in the eighth inning, he hit a ball sharply into the right-center field gap off Brent Headrick.

While it did not result in a hit, the ball had an exit velocity of 101.8 mph, per Statcast, and had an expected batting average of .620.

Defensively, Canario has not had the cleanest start to his time in Pittsburgh.

He committed a fielding error on the second ball that came his way in left field Friday, while Saturday, managing hits off the Clemente Wall in right field appeared tricky for him on a handful of occasions.

As he continues to get settled with the Pirates, Canario aims to make the most of his new opportunity.

“It’s all about confidence. I know what I’m capable of doing,” Canario said. “Just go out there every day and do my best, give 100%. I think that’ll put me in a good spot.”