OFFENSE – THE
GOOD
David Freese is
finally making positive contributions after two years of being quite ‘meh.’ The
veteran has been picking up the slack, and over the past week his role became
more important with Josh Bell going
to the DL. The outfield of Gregory
Polanco, Starling
Marte, and Corey
Dickerson continues to be among the best in the National
League, and have made sure that the Bucs are set at the top of the lineup.
Like Freese, Adam Frazier has
come up big after a slow start, most notably delivering the eventual
game-winning single in Friday’s 7-6 win over St. Louis. He also delivered a
game-tying double on Saturday night, before the Pirate bullpen melted down in
an 8-4 loss.
I’ve said it in every review thus far, and it’s no less true
now, for the Pirates to reach their maximum potential the offense has to be the
team’s strong point. While the bats still have plenty of issues, Pittsburgh is
getting contributions from several areas.
OFFENSE – THE
BAD
The Bucs were shut out by the Mets when somebody other
than Jacob DeGrom was
pitching, so that was probably the low point of this homestand.
The offense also struggled against Cole Hamels and
didn’t get much done in the last 14 innings of the Cardinals’ series. The bats
were just too inconsistent this week, and the Cardinals series, which started
with a seven runs performance and ended with a one-run output, is an example of
that.
Overall, the Pirates scored 35 runs over eight games, which
was good for a little over four runs per contest. That’s not terrible, however,
for the Bucs to make a playoff push, the bats will have to be more consistent
STARTING
PITCHING – THE GOOD
Trevor
Williams continues to show that he belongs in a MLB
rotation, shoving in both of his starts over the homestand. Jameson
Taillon did his job in Tuesday’s 4-3 win over the Cubs,
and Ivan Nova showed
up in a big win last Friday against the Mets.
The biggest positive from a pitching standpoint this week
was the Archer trade. So even if the Pirates rotation didn’t perform well
statistically this week, which they did, acquiring Archer would have put this
homestand in the “win” column almost regardless of what else happened
STARTING
PITCHING – THE BAD
Nick Kingham left
no doubt as to who would get the shaft with Archer coming in after getting
shelled in both of his outings. After good Nova showed up against the Mets, bad
Nova made his return this past Saturday in a loss to the Cardinals.
Aside from Kingham, every member of the rotation contributed
over this past homestand, with Joe Musgrove keeping
the Mets at bay in a tough-luck 1-0 loss to the Mets in last Sunday’s series
finale. So, overall, it was a good week for Bucco arms even without the Archer
trade. GRADE B+
BULLPEN – THE
GOOD
Like the starting rotation with Archer, the ‘pen got better
at the deadline with the addition of Kela. Aside from Kela, the Pirates
relievers have come into their own over this hot 25-game stretch, and they are
becoming a fun unit to watch.
Felipe
Vazquez and Kyle Crick are
filthy. Richard
Rodriguez is a master at stranding baserunners, and Edgar Santana should
thrive as more of a short-inning guy with Kela in the fold.
The ‘pen had to come up big on a few occasions, throwing 5.2
innings in this Friday’s win over the Cardinals, and four innings in last
Friday’s win over the Mets. After some rough patches in 2018, the bullpen is
coming into its own and should become even more enjoyable as the season rolls
on.
BULLPEN – THE
BAD
Steven Brault pitched
himself back to Triple-A, and Alex McRee happened.
Those weren’t good things, and it would be nice to see Huntington add a
short-inning reliever, preferably a left-handed one, to stabilize things when
starters aren’t able to go seven, six or even five innings.
Overall, the bullpen is arguably the most exciting aspect
about this team at the moment. Who’d have ever thought that would be the case? GRADE A-
OVERALL
The most important thing to take from this homestand is that
the Pittsburgh Pirates are better then they were when they left Cleveland
nearly two weeks ago. As annoying as it was to lose two of three to the
Cardinals, the buzz around this team is, well, existent, for the first time in
what feels like forever.
As far as wins and losses go, the Pirates didn’t really take
a step forward, but they didn’t hurt themselves too much, either. That said, If
this club is to make a playoff push, which still seems unlikely, 4-5 stretches
won’t cut it. Neither will 5-4 runs, and maybe not even 6-3.
Pittsburgh played average baseball for the first four months
of the season, and this past homestand was a good example of that. The
acquisitions of Kela and Archer have improved the team and raised expectations,
and the two newcomers will need to live up to the hype for the Bucs to make a
run.
Even if the Pirates don’t make the playoffs, they made
themselves better this week, and that’s something that can’t be argued.
OVERALL GRADE: B
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