Pittsburgh Pirates Report Card for week of May 15-20

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Apr 25, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (45) delivers a pitch against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

Pitching

The Pirates starting pitching did not get off on the right foot this homestand. On Tuesday, Chad Kuhl once again got roughed up, allowing six earned runs over four innings of work. Although Kuhl did hit 100 MPH on the radar gun according to Root Sports, he has not been getting the job done this season, albeit with little defensive help.

On Wednesday, Gerrit Cole did Gerrit Cole things, pitching seven innings and allowing one run on just three hits in a 6-1 win. Cole is pitching the best ball of his big league career, and it was wonderful to see his offense give him the help he deserves for a change.

Thursday afternoon saw the best and worst of Tyler Glasnow. The tall right-hander threw five innings and allowed just two earned runs, but at the same time, struggled with control and had an awful throwing error that tied the game. Glasnow pitched well enough to get the Pirates the win, and certainly turned in a much better performance than he did in Arizona.

On Friday, Trevor Williams continued his momentum from his start against the D-Backs, going 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on just four hits, suffering a hard-luck loss. Williams has made significant strides since his first start in LA, and hopefully, he can keep it going.

Saturday was business as usual for Ivan Nova, who went 7.1 innings, allowing three runs and (shocker) no walks in a 6-3 win.

To me, the most important outing for a Bucco pitcher this week came Sunday.

We all know Chad Kuhl has some nasty stuff. But so far, his sophomore season has not been a great display of that. In the series finale with the Phillies, Kuhl put it all together, allowing no runs and one hit over five solid innings for a well-deserved W.
Kuhl has been the weakest link of the Bucco’s arms, and if he can start to pull himself together, that would be a big boost for the starting rotation.
Overall, aside from Kuhl’s rough start Tuesday night, there isn’t a lot that went wrong for the rotation. For that, I see no reason to give it anything other than an A.

Grade: A

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