the first two years of his career van slyke played first base, third base and all three outfield positions. he mostly played right field the next two years on the strength of his throwing arm, occasionally platooning with tito landrum, sometimes substituting for willie mcgee in center field. on september 21, 1986, he hit a rare inside-the-park home run. during spring training 1987, he was traded to the pittsburgh pirates along with left-handed hitting catcher mike lavalliere and minor league pitcher mike dunne for catcher tony peña. the trade occurred on april 1, with van slyke initially believing that it was an april fools' day joke. in pittsburgh, he mostly played center field alongside stars barry bonds and bobby bonilla.