New York Mets 11 Pittsburgh Pirates 2: Stars And Stiffs

The Pittsburgh Pirates were annihilated by the New York Mets in game two of their three game serious by a score of 11-2 on Wednesday night.

Wednesday night was one of the worst games of the season for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Playing a New York Mets team that the Pirates had dominated in recent years, the Bucs were dealt a 11-2 loss. This was a game that the Pittsburgh Pirates found themselves trailing 3-0 after one inning, and things just snowballed from there.

With the loss, the Pittsburgh Pirates June swoon continued. The Pirates are now just 4-10 in the month of June after their loss on Wednesday night. Making matters even worse for the Pittsburgh Pirates is that left fielder Starling Marte had to leave the game early with an apparent eye injury. Anyway, here are the three stars and stiffs from the Pittsburgh Pirates loss on Wednesday night.

STARS

First baseman John Jaso – Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman John Jaso entered Wednesday night’s game riding an 0-for-11 streak, but he was able to breakout of that slide despite the Pirate loss. Jaso went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double, he scored the first Pirate run, and saw his batting average rise from .281 to .291 as a result.

The Pittsburgh Pirates had just five hits on Wednesday night, but Jaso had three of them. It was a very good performance from Jaso when you consider how dominant Noah Syndergaard was for the New York Mets on Wednesday night. 

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John Jaso continues to have a strong first season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He now has a solid .358 on-base percentage as he continues to be a table setter for the Pirate offense. Also, his 12.8 strike out percentage is the second lowest of his Major League career and well below the Major League average.

Third baseman David Freese – In Wednesday night’s disaster David Freese had just one at bat, but he made the most of it. Freese laced a one out pinch hit double into the left-centerfield gap to score John Jaso in the top of the ninth inning. This hit produced the first Pirate run of the game.

Also, this hit assured that the Pittsburgh Pirates would not be shutout on Wednesday night. As a result, the Pittsburgh Pirates remain the only team in Major League Baseball to not be shutout in the 2016 season. Silver linings!

STIFFS 

Starting pitcher Jeff Locke – Jeff Locke turned in his second consecutive disastrous start on Wednesday night, and his days in the Pittsburgh Pirates rotation might be numbered. Locke pitched into the fifth inning on Wednesday night but failed to record an out in the fifth inning. In the end, Locke was charged with seven earned runs in four innings pitched.

Over the course of his four innings pitched Locke allowed nine hits, a home run, he walked a batter, and he struck out just three batters. After Wednesday night’s debacle, Jeff Locke now has a 5.92 ERA, 5.27 FIP, and a 5.14 xFIP on the season.

Jeff Locke had turned in eight consecutive strong starts before allowing 11 earned runs against the Colorado Rockies in his last start. This makes it two consecutive starts in which Locke has been terrible. With Gerrit Cole‘s disabled list trip expected to last the minimum 15 days and Tyler Glasnow getting closer and closer to the Major Leagues, I truly believe Jeff Locke’s days in the Pittsburgh Pirates rotation are numbered.

Relief pitcher Rob Scahill – Prior to Wednesday night Rob Scahill had pitched well for the Pittsburgh Pirates out of their bullpen. However, that was not the case on Wednesday night. Scahill took over in the bottom of the sixth with the Pirates trailing 7-0 and things quickly got worse.

Rob Scahill would end up pitching two innings for the Pirates, and in those two innings of work he would be charged with three runs. Schaill wound up allowing six hits and a home run in the process of surrendering three runs to the Mets. This saw Scahill’s ERA skyrocket from 3.38 to 4.70 and FIP from 3.05 to 3.65.

Catcher Erik Kratz – There were a lot of Pittsburgh Pirates hitters that stunk on Wednesday night. But since Erik Kratz is very possibly the worst position player in all of Major League Baseball, he makes the list. Kratz went 0-for-3 at the plate with a pair of strike outs.

Erik Kratz has now struck out in 48.6 percent of his at bats this season which is astonishingly bad. His wRC+ is now -64, and, no, that is not a typo. It has gotten to the point that if Kratz just puts the ball in play I consider it a small victory. Unfortunately, with Francisco Cervelli and Elias Diaz on the disabled list, and Chris Stewart battling a bunch of minor injuries, we may see way too much of Kratz in the next few weeks.

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There is no denying that the Pirates have been awful in June. The offense has been inconsistent and the pitching has been atrocious. Injuries are also starting to pile up for the Pirates. The Bucs have already lost Gerrit Cole and Francisco Cervelli to this disabled list this month, and Starling Marte had to leave tonight’s game with an eye injury after being hit by a ball in the outfield.

Hopefully the Pittsburgh Pirates can win this series tomorrow. This team is in dire need of a series win, and their remaining schedule in June only gets more difficult after this series. Right now, the Pirates’ season is teetering on the edge.