Pittsburgh Pirates Report Card for week of May 15-20

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May 18, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Tanner Roark (57) reaches first base on a throwing error as Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Josh Bell (55) fields the throw during the fourth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

The defense

Defensively, the Pirates have been showing improvements. The series with Washington didn’t see a whole lot of miscues, aside from Glasnow’s awful toss that led to two runs scoring. Even John Jaso flashed the leather with a fantastic catch in right field Monday night. The Bucs are still not a good defensive team, but they made strides against baseball’s best offense

The Philly series saw some shaky moments, such as Josh Bell’s struggles Friday night and Felipe Rivero’s error in the eighth inning of Sunday’s game. But overall, there weren’t a whole lot of grimaces caused by the defense this weekend.

The return of David Freese should help as well, as the former World Series MVP is a solid, dependable fielder, which the Pirates have needed in the worst way.

It is unlikely that the Pirates, at least without Starling Marte, will ever become a sound defensive ballclub. But the D has shown improvements in my eyes, and we can only hope that they will continue to improve. If vets like David Freese stay steady, and youngsters like Gregory Polanco start to get better than improvement is very much in the cards for this group.