Pittsburgh Pirates: Road Trip Report Card #1

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The Pittsburgh Pirates had a recent road trip. Here is a grading style report card on how they performed away from PNC Park so far.

Hello, all. Welcome to the first edition of what I hope to become part of the Rum Bunter routine, and that is my “report card” series. Every time a Bucco road trip/homestand concludes, I plan on taking a look back at that series of games by breaking down how the Buccos performed in the key facets of the national pastime on their most recent road trip that included games in Boston, Chicago and St. Louis.

I will be doing this in a report card style format, giving out letter grades to the Bucs in the major statistical categories. I will begin by examining the events that transpired in the world of Bucco baseball between April 13 and April 19.

Last week was up-and-down to say the least for the Bucs. It started out fine and dandy, with a sweep over the mighty Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. But one of the great things about baseball is that things can change, a lot, and that was evident when the Pirates went to St. Louis, as they were swept by the hated Redbirds in three games, all by the exact same score.

So, to say this Pirates season has been Jekyll-and-Hyde would be a great understatement. Now, the Bucs are back home, currently getting ready to take on the Chicago Cubs at PNC.

Although the first real roadtrip of the season is over, I still think it’s relevant to look back at how the team performed. Especially as they prepare to embark on their next road trip starting tonight in Miami.

Pitching has been a nice surprise

Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Starting Pitching Grade: A-

If justice always prevailed, the Pittsburgh Pirates would have gone 5-1 on this road trip instead of 3-3, because the starting pitching deserved to come out with more wins than it did.

Out of the six Pirates starting pitching performances over the past week, five were strong, and the other one, from Tyler Glasnow, still showed promise even if his stat line on Saturday in Chicago did not show it.

This week, Pirate starting pitchers combined for 44 1/3 innings, allowing 15 runs.Chad Kuhl, Gerrit Cole, Ivan Nova and Jameson Taillon all have given the Pirates excellent performances that must be very pleasing to Ray Serage and Clint Hurdle. It is not clear as to whether this success will be sustainable or not, as the Pirates still have some question marks in their rotation.

Will Chad Kuhl start pitching more like a number four starter? Is Gerrit Cole an ace? Will Jameson Taillon somehow fall into a sophomore slump?
Yes, there are many questions to ask this early in the season, and since we all should know how important pitching is in baseball, these questions are all important. But overall, there is not a lot more that one could ask for these starters. So far, they have been A-ok.

Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

Bullpen Grade: B

The only glaring negative of the bullpen on this road trip was on April 13 in Boston, when they could not hold a 3-1 lead in the eighth inning. Even that mishap had a lot to do with some defensive mistakes.

Much like the starting pitching, there isn’t a lot to complain about regarding the bullpen so far. Tony Watson is perfect in the closer role to this point. Felipe Rivero is developing into a dominant set-up man, and Daniel Hudson looks like he could be locked in as the seventh-inning guy.

My big concern regarding the ‘pen is what will happen on nights where the starters are not as sharp as they have been, as the Pirates middle relief is still unproven. However, the combination of solid starting pitching and lights out back-end of the bullpen has put the Pirate’s pen in solid overall shape. However, the Pirates starting pitching’s hot run can’t last forever, so time will tell if the weakness of the middle relief will end up hurting this team a significant amount.

In any case, this road trip was all about the back end, and they sure got the job done. They were solid, and there is no reason to think that they won’t be an asset as the season goes on.

Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

Offense Grade: C

Against the Cubs, the offense did its job. Against the Cardinals, the offense was what was separating the Pirates from coming back home with a 9-6 record instead of a 6-9 record. The offense did not get the job done in St. Louis. Three runs in three games are never acceptable, and hopefully, the offense will bounce back without Starling Marte.

The Pirates so far have been a prototypical #cantpredictball type of team. They were expected to be solid offensively while not as sound pitching wise, and so far, that has been the opposite of what has transpired.

The Pittsburgh Pirates pitching has been consistently good, while the offense has been inconsistent at best. The loss of Marte, the struggles of Josh Bell and the injury problems of Gregory Polanco have all contributed to the Pirates lack of punch on offense.

Without Marte, who would arguably be the most consistent bat in that lineup, the Pirates are a lot worse off. It is possible that the offense can gain legs as the season unfolds, as there is still plenty of talent there that could provide that. However, the change of circumstances that the Pirates suffered over the past week is troubling, to say the least.

Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

Bench Grade: C

It’s hard to give a bench performance anything less than a C because they usually don’t impact the outcome of a game too much. The Pirates bench has not been nearly as impressive as it was with the Matt Joyce/Sean Rodriguez crew last season. The Bucs have limited depth, and the one promising bench bat, John Jaso, has been horrendous.

On the surface, it would make sense to give this bench a big fat F, because they just have not done a whole lot. However, would it be fair to be that harsh on the Bucco bench when the lack of production from the starting lineup has been much more harmful to Pittsburgh? It would be nice to see guys like Jaso and Phill Gosselin start to rake a little more, but the Bucs have bigger fish to fry.

The Bucco bench was one of the team’s strengths in 2016, especially in the first half of the season. But those days are gone, and now, the Pirates must work with what they have, for better or for worse. So, the Pirates bench has not been productive, but it has not been their biggest detriment either, and although a lack of depth is never a good thing, the Pirates have bigger problems to worry about.

Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /

Defense/Overall Grade

Defense: D-

The Pirates defense this year has been a disaster. Just a disaster. Starling Marte, when he was playing, was struggling in center field. Adam Frazier seems to make mistakes on defense wherever he plays. Even Josh Harrison made a crucial mistake on Monday in St. Louis that played a role in costing the Bucs that game.

Nothing has gone right the with Bucco defense. For people who are reading this that may be unaware of the struggles, just look up the highlights of the Pirates loss to Boston last Thursday, particularly in the 8th inning.

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Simply put, the Pittsburgh Pirates have no defense at the moment. If you think back to 2015, it can be argued that the Pirates defensive mishaps (HI, Pedro!) were the main reason that they did not win the NL Central that year.

I’m not saying that a similar circumstance will happen this season, but the moral of the story is that it is always beneficial to be sound on defense, and right now, the Pirates are not. We don’t think about defense in baseball as much as we would in, say, football or basketball. But it is still an essential part of any team that wants to be successful. Simply put; the Pirates have no D at the moment.

Overall team grade for the week: C

It was average. The Pirates swept a great team, then got swept by a good team. The Pirates, right now, are a pretty average baseball team overall. They’ve gotten great pitching and sub-par pitching, for the most part, while the defense and bench have struggled. At the end of the day, there are still plenty of games left. So buckle up.

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