Bats continue spring slumber
Now 4-12-3 after loss to Toronto
DUNEDIN, Fla. — Focusing only on the margins, there were actually a couple things to like during a 7-1 Pirates loss to the Blue Jays Wednesday at TD Ballpark.
JT Brubaker became the first Pirates pitcher to work into the fifth inning and continued to rack up strikeouts. At the conclusion of this one, his 20 over 12⅓ innings led all Grapefruit League pitchers.
Travis Swaggerty, who’s now hitting .400 this spring, drove in the Pirates’ only run and has a team-high four RBIs.
Connor Joe collected three hits, including two doubles, and stole another base. Tough to find fault with what Joe has done as he competes for time in a crowded outfield.
At the same time, you see the run total. The Pirates are 4-12-3, and they have the second-lowest OPS in MLB (.650). Spring training obviously doesn’t mean much, but the offense also hasn’t shown much improvement from last season.
“We just need to keep getting reps and seeing pitches,” Joe said.
One would hope. Because as encouraging as certain things might feel on the pitching end — Roansy Contreras and Luis Ortiz shining in the World Baseball Classic, Mitch Keller getting the opening day start and Rich Hill and Vince Velasquez seemingly adding stability — the offense hasn’t been good enough.
Facing Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman, the Pirates made seven of 10 outs via strikeout. In 19 Grapefruit League games, the Pirates have failed to score more than two runs in six of them.
Meanwhile, the Blue Jays put plenty of pressure on the Pirates.
In the third, second baseman Whit Merrifield had a broken- bat double that dropped just inside the right field foul line. Toronto’s lead grew to 2-0 when first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. smoked a 113.6 mph double to left field that sailed over Bryan Reynolds’ head.
Continuing a trend, Reynolds didn’t look completely comfortable on the ball. The Pirates outfield on the whole has been disjointed, with routes and breaks the largest issues.
Ji-Man Choi couldn’t snare a hard-hit ball in the fifth that went into the right-field corner. Merrifield’s sacrifice fly made it a 4-0 game before Toronto broke it open in the seventh.
On the mound
This was actually a solid outing for Brubaker, though he gave up four earned runs over 4⅔ innings. He finished with 17 called strikes or whiffs, he worked in his changeup and his familiar sinker-slider combination was effective.
Of the 20 strikeouts Brubaker has this spring, 11 have come with the batter looking at strike three. They’ve also come most frequently via Brubaker’s sinker.
Two intriguing outings followed, as Carmen Mlodzinski and Angel Perdomo both looked good.
Mlodzinski entered in the middle of an inning, which would be an odd move for someone the Pirates considered a starter. Nevertheless, he got two outs and has given them six scoreless innings, with a noticeable uptick in velocity.
Perdomo, a massive lefthander who looks like Oneil Cruz in pitcher form, struck out the side in the sixth inning.
At the plate
Joehad several solid at-bats and finished with three hits, including a double that he crushed in the fourth inning. It came on a four-seamer up in the zone. Joe drove it 398 feet at 104.1 mph and also stole a base after singling in the second inning.
As hard as that was hit, Joe was just warming up; his seventh-inning double had an exit velocity of 108.7 mph.
“Continuing to zone in and narrow my focus and my approach with the hitting guys ... it’s the combination of it all,” Joe said. “Swing has felt good all camp, so it’s not really a big change.”
Neither is running. The stolen base was Joe’s third. As a team, the Pirates have 13 steals, which ranks in the bottom third of MLB. The way the offense is constructed, along with Pittsburgh’s onbase mark, it must be higher.
“I’m not gonna steal 50 bags, but if I can advance a base, that’s huge,” Joe said. “Get into scoring position. You have to practice it in spring training, too. My legs feel good. Working more so on the timing and just getting jumps.”
Chris Owings, who’s looking more and more like the Pirates’ backup middle infielder, cranked a double to left-center that traveled 359 feet in the third inning.
Quotable
“I hope he takes it all in. It’s gonna be awesome. Couldn’t be happier for Mitch.” — Brubaker, last year’s opening day starter, on Mitch Keller