Frustration builds: Bad start to second half leads the list
Josh Bell has been a terrific story, even with his current funk. Bryan
Reynolds has emerged as a key piece of the outfield for years to come. Young position players such as Kevin Newman, Colin Moran and Adam Frazier have taken steps forward.
But for as many good stories as this
Pirates season has produced, there has been a bunch of less enjoyable ones, too, the unfortunate reality of being five games under .500 and two games from last place in what is perhaps Major League Baseball’s most mediocre division.
With that in mind, here are the five most frustrating story lines of the Pirates season thus far.
1. Let’s start with the recent stuff first: On July 7, after the Pirates used a threerun homer from Reynolds to beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6- 5, at PNC Park, they were riding high at 44- 45 and 2 ½ games out of first place in the National League Central Division.
But since the All- Star break, things have been bad. Jordan Lyles didn’t last an inning in Chicago. Trevor Williams and Joe Musgrove were a tick off. The Pirates were sloppy Monday in St. Louis, and their bullpen blew a lead Wednesday in the seventh inning.
Bottom line, the Pirates, despite all their early season injuries and struggles, had a gigantic opportunity, and they very well may have blown it.
“We need to sharpen our game up,” manager Clint Hurdle said Tuesday at Busch Stadium. “We need to pitch better. Walks have been problematic. Multiple- run innings have been problematic. Defensively, there were gaffes [ Monday] night.
“Our want- to and our howto are not matching up right now.”
2. The Pirates won 12 of their first 18 games behind a starting rotation that was supposed to be the strength of the team. In that ( admittedly small) sample, nobody had a better ERA than their 2.52. Since then, it has been bad. From April 21 through Wednesday, the Pirates have a staff ERA of 5.57. Only four clubs have been worse. Based on what Jameson Taillon and Williams did in the second half of last season and what the Pirates thought they could get from Musgrove and Chris Archer, the starting pitchers have produced well below expectations.
Not only that, the Pirates had Nick Kingham and Mitch Keller do absolutely nothing with the opportunities they were afforded, while finding consistent relief pitching has been an ongoing problem.
At the root of the pitching issues has been a stunning lack of control. Since April 21, nobody has fared worse than the their 3.99 walks per nine innings.
“The walks are a challenge,” general manager Neal Huntington said Sunday on his radio show. “We are definitely walking way too many hitters. Free baserunners in a home run environment can become a crooked number very quickly.”
3. Given the poor performance by the pitching staff, the Pirates have needed an extra/ reliable arm for months … yet nothing has been done.
With Dallas Kuechel available before the Braves signed him for $ 13 million ( and no draft- pick compensation), the Pirates instead tinkered with an opener and had Montana DuRapau and Michael Feliz start games.
Meanwhile, the biggest trade the Pirates made was for Chris Stratton, who has been fine as the long man out of the bullpen, but he’s not exactly the type of fix we’re talking about here.
Expecting the Pirates to mortgage significant pieces of their future for someone such as Giants left- hander Madison Bumgarner might be a bit much. But acquiring a guy who has at least started big- league games, and hasn’t been banished to the Frontier League after doing it, should not be too much to ask.
4. The Pirates have one of the best closers in baseball with Felipe Vazquez, but getting him the ball has been an issue.
Early in the season it was Richard Rodriguez who struggled a lot, allowing eight homers in his first 22 appearances before he improved his fastball command and turned his season around.
Kyle Crick was terrific a season ago in the eighth inning — 1.4 wins above replacement — but has struggled with his control this season, walking 28 in 32⅓ innings, good enough for just 0.5 WAR.
Keone Kela has been hurt for much of the year, dealing with right shoulder inflammation, and Feliz hasn’t been able to graduate to a higherleverage role.
5. Injuries have hurt the Pirates, especially when you’re talking about guys they expected to assume prominent roles.
Francisco Cervelli was supposed to catch 100- plus games, but he’s dealing with at least his sixth concussion since 2011 and might’ve played his final MLB game.
Taillon hasn’t pitched since May 1 and only recently started throwing again, the result of a right elbow flexor tendon strain. Even in the best- case scenario, maybe Taillon makes it back by midto late August. But given the fact that he’s throwing from just 90 feet on flat ground, that’s a long way away.
Gregory Polanco, meanwhile, had his rehabilitation assignment shut down because of persistent problems in his left shoulder, which he had surgically repaired in the fall. After this season, Polanco has two more years on the five- year, $ 35 million contract he signed in 2016, meaning the Pirates could be paying a lot for damaged goods.
Lonnie Chisenhall, one of the Pirates’ offseason additions, has dealt with persistent calf issues. His locker does a great job of storing spikes and bats, but chances are the Pirates would rather actually have Chisenhall occupying it than at home in North Carolina, collecting a salary.