The Pittsburgh Pirates split a rain shortened two-game series in
Cincinnati to begin their 2019 season. What, if anything, can we takeaway from
the series?
The dust has settled from the Pittsburgh Pirates first
series of the season. After a long offseason, and a seemingly even longer
Spring Training, the team kicked off their 2019 season in Cincinnati against
their divisional rival Reds. With the series in the rear view mirror, the team
finds themselves owning a 1-1 record as they return home to Pittsburgh for
their first home stand of the season.
For a third consecutive season the team’s opening series was
impacted by rain. This was the third consecutive season the Pirates suffered a
rain out in their first series of the campaign. The rain out came in game two of the series on
Saturday afternoon and will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on
Memorial Day.
As a result of the rain out, the team also had to shuffle
their rotation plans for the upcoming week. You can read more about that here.
While it can be difficult to gather too much information
from any one series in baseball, especially the first series of the season, we
will attempt to do just that. Let’s get to 3 key takeaways from the team’s
season-opening series at Great American Ballpark against the Reds.
THE PIRATES STRUGGLED TO HIT WITH RUNNERS IN
SCORING POSITION
It can be argued that the main reason the Pirates lost on
Thursday was the failure to get the big hit. In a 5-3 loss, the team left 14
runners on base. This included going 1-for-5 with three walks with runners in
scoring position.
The biggest letdown came when Corey Dickerson grounded out to second
base to end the game. The reason it was such a letdown, despite battling to a
12-pitch at bat? It came with the bases loaded and the Pirates trailing by a
pair. A base hit there would have at least tied the game.
On Sunday, the struggles with men on base continued. The
team left 17 runners on base in their 5-0 victory, including leaving the bases
loaded in both the 2nd and 3rd innings. Overall, the team was 3-for-12 with a
hit by pitch and three walks with RISP. Dickerson and Erik Gonzalez each hit into a double
play with RISP, too.
Hopefully this was an aberration for the Pirates and not a
sign of things to come. In 2018 the Pirates were one of the worst teams in
baseball when it came to batting with RISP. It is an area where there needs to
be big improvements in 2019 in order for the team to return to the postseason.
TREVOR WILLIAMS CONTINUES TO PITCH ANGRY
Early on last season Trevor Williams struggled. After a
nine start stretch that saw him allow 37 runs in 42 innings pitched, the Pirate
righty put a foot down. Tired of, as he called it, “being embarrassed” Williams
began to pitch angry.
Starting on June 18th, Williams put together a spectacular 17
start stretch to finish his 2018 campaign. In his final 17 starts he posted a
2.14 ERA and a 3.54 FIP in 96 2/3 innings pitched. He also went on to have a
Major League best 10 starts of at least 6 innings pitched and zero runs
allowed. In his 2019 season debut on Sunday, Williams continued to pitch angry.
There was no better example of this than the final batter
Williams faced.
In the bottom of the 6th inning with the Pirates leading
3-0, newly acquired slugger Yasiel Puig stepped to the plate for
the Reds. This was the first time all day that Williams had faced any sort of
adversity, and, what did he do? Attack.
Williams immediately pumped two fastballs into the strike
zone to get ahead of Puig 0-2. He then got Puig to whiff for his sixth and
final strikeout of the game, capping off 6 scoreless, brilliant innings of
work.
Prior to the start of the regular season MLB Network
analyst Billy Ripken picked Williams to win
the National League Cy Young Award. If Williams continues to pitch the way he
has his last 18 starts, Ripken’s pick just may come to fruition.
THE REDS ARE GOING TO REGRET GIVING SONNY
GRAY A CONTRACT EXTENSION
This past offseason the Reds acquired right-handed
pitcher Sonny Gray from the New York Yankees.
They also inked Gray to a new three-year contract extension in the process.
This was despite Gray posting a 4.90 ERA, 4.17 FIP, and a near 10% walk rate
last season.
A big problem for Gray in New York was confidence issues. He
saw a spike in both home run and walk rate, and these two issues likely went
hand-in-hand. The amount of home runs he allowed at Yankee Stadium caused Gray
to be hesitant to attack the strike zone leading to an increase in walks. On
Sunday, Gray again looked afraid to throw strikes.
In 2 2/3 innings pitched Gray hit a batter and walked four.
These walks included one to Williams with the bases loaded, and if there’s ever
a time to attack the strike zone it’s when the bases are loaded and the
opposing pitcher is at the plate. He also threw more balls (37) than strikes
(35) in his short outing.
Getting out of New York was a move that Gray needed. However,
Cincinnati was not the city he needed to go to. Great American Ballpark is an
even better hitter’s park than Yankee Stadium, which does not bode well for
Gray. It does, however, bode well for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the rest of
the National League Central Division. The Bucs should beat up on Gray plenty
over the course of the next three seasons.
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