The Pittsburgh Pirates are
on fire. The Bucs ended the first half of the 2018 season with a 10-game home
stand against three playoff contenders and went 7-3, highlighted by a five-game
sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers.
After a “meh” series with the
Philadelphia Phillies to start this stretch, in which the Pittsburgh Pirates
lost two of three, Pittsburgh won six of its last seven games to roll into the
All-Star break playing its best baseball of the season.
The homestand started with an
embarrassing 17-5 loss to Philadelphia, and also featured the continued
disappearance of Austin
Meadows, which has caused a stir among fans and media. For the
most part, however, the Bucs are clicking, and because of that, people
shouldn’t be complaining about much.
Here’s a breakdown of how the
Pirates starting pitching, relief pitching, and offense performed over this
past homestand. Let’s get into it.
PITCHING – THE
GOOD
After the beatdown that started
this stretch, the Pirates much-criticized starting rotation stepped up for the
rest of the homestand.
Jameson
Taillon is finally starting to pitch like the No. 1 that
the Bucs need him to be, dominating in both of his outings this homestand Nick Kingham continues
to show promise, tossing a gem in Sunday’s finale against the Phillies. Since
coming back from injury, Ivan Nova has
pitched well, tossing a gem Monday night against the Nationals and following
that up with a solid outing against the Brewers in the first end of Saturday’s
double header.
This is still a rotation that has
a lot of holes, and we don’t know if guys like Kingham, Trevor
Williams or Clay Holmes will
become consistently good. Over the past two weeks, however, there’s been little
to complain about with the starting rotation.
PITCHING – THE
BAD
Williams was the starting pitcher of that 17-3
game. Joe Musgrove had a rough fifth inning against the
Nationals, and was left in a batter too long against the Brewers Sunday, a
decision that should have cost the Pirates the game. Aside from that, the
rotation did its job. Hopefully, this group can continue to impress going
forward.
Williams was the starting pitcher
of that 17-3 game. Joe Musgrove had
a rough fifth inning against the Nationals, and was left in a batter too long
against the Brewers Sunday, a decision that should have cost the Pirates the
game. Aside from that, the rotation did its job. Hopefully, this group can
continue to impress going forward.
MY PITCHING
GOOD B
OFFENSE – THE
GOOD
Starling
Marte has been the
furthest thing from a liability recently, and fellow outfielder Gregory
Polanco has been raking as well. Josh Bell is
starting to come around at the dish, ending a good week with an epic walk off
hit Sunday afternoon.
Even role player Jordan Luplow made a big splash with a two home run
game in the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader. Overall, the Pirates averaged
nearly five runs per in this ten game stretch. As I’ve been saying all year,
for the Bucs to make the most out of their talent, the bats have to lead the
way. Right now, they are doing their part.
OFFENSE – THE
BAD
While the success of the outfield has made Meadows’ continuous isolation
easier to understand, the way the Pirates have handled the rookie, who is now
in Triple-A for the time being, is still frustrating. While Luplow has
shown flashes of brilliance, he isn’t better than Meadows. This kid needs
at-bats, and Clint Hurdle isn’t giving them to him.
While the organization deserves criticism for how they’ve handled their
2013 first-round draft choice, It’s unfortunate that fans appear to be more
upset about Meadows than they are happy about the team winning, but cynicism is
nothing new here.
Overall, the offense is doing its part to help the Pirates win, and this
lineup has the talent to keep it rolling.
My pitching grade A
BULLPEN – THE
GOOD
Felipe
Vasquez continues
to dominate. After a rough patch in May, the Pirates closer hasn’t allowed a
run in over a month and has reestablished himself as the anchor of the ‘pen.
Aside from Vasquez, Kyle Crick and Edgar Santana remain solid, as they’ve been all
season. Like the starting rotation, the Pirates relief pitching has its
question marks. But right now, the relievers are picking up right where the
starters are leaving off, and for once, that’s a good thing.
BULLPEN – THE
BAD
Michael Feliz still hasn’t figured it out. He’s
allowed runs in two of his three appearances since being activated off the DL
and his 1.57 WHIP for the season speaks for itself. More so than other
positions, relief pitchers are capable of getting hot at any moment, however,
and a stretch of dominance by Feliz would be huge to this young and
inconsistent group.
The ‘pen allowed 12 of the 17 runs in that woeful loss to the Phillies,
and it would be unfair to single out one person for that train wreck. The next
days 3-2 loss was also disappointing, as Santana couldn’t come through after
Taillon’s curious removal with a 2-0 lead in the seventh inning.
Aside from the Philly series, however, much like the rest of the team,
the bullpen was good and deserves a pat on the back for the time being.
CONCLUSION
There isn’t a lot to say about the Pirates right now except for that
they’re playing really well. Of course, people in this city will always take
any positivity the wrong way, not understanding that acknowledging a quality run
of baseball isn’t the same as proclaiming the Pirates to be World Series
contenders. Any reasonable person should be pleased with what’s transpired over
the past two weeks.
One good stretch isn’t enough to put the Pirates into playoff contention.
They’re still 5.5 games out of a wildcard spot, with six teams to jump over, so
the chances of a magical run remain slim. With the last place Reds first on the
horizon after the break, Pittsburgh has another chance to creep further in the
standings and finally move back above .500.
Maybe the Pirates will continue to ride this wave, and maybe they won’t.
But when these guys are playing well, it wouldn’t kill fans to enjoy it for a
few minutes. Unfortunately, most people won’t take that advice.
Overall grade: A
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