Pirates home stand report card for May 26-31

Another Pirates homestand is in the books, and as has become a pattern for the 2017 season through nearly two months, there were some ups, and unfortunately some more downs. The Bucs played two three-games sets between Friday and Wednesday, and dropped two games each to the New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks, respectively.

The week started off on the wrong foot, as two home runs from local icon Neil Walker propelled the Mets to a comfortable 8-1 win. The next night’s contest would be much more exciting and ultimately, more satisfying.

The Pirates trailed 4-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, but an unlikely hero was about to step up. With one out, and Gift Ngoepe on third base, John Jaso, who has been ridiculed and deservingly his play this season, lined a single into left field to tie the game. After tying it up, Jaso won it in his next at-bat, as his first hit off of a left-handed pitcher in over a year scored David Freese and gave the Bucs a dramatic 5-4 win.

The excitement would not carry over to the series finale, as a national TV audience saw young Tyler Glasnow struggle, and the series ended as it began, with an easy win for New York.

The D-Backs were next. The series started well enough for Pittsburgh, as Andrew McCutchen gave the Bucs a dramatic 4-3 victory with his first walk-off home run since July of 2015 to lead off the bottom of the ninth. As with the last series, however, the good feelings did not last. The Pirates bats were dominated by Robbie Ray Tuesday night, and the series ended with a heartbreaking 6-5, 14-inning loss Wednesday afternoon.

Here is a breakdown of how the Pirates performed in the major facets of the game over this past week, using a “report card” format. Let’s get into it.

Pitching 

Chad Kuhl got roughed up Friday night, allowing five earned runs over 4.1 innings of work. After a solid start to the season, Kuhl’s month of May has not been one to remember, and his days in the starting rotation may come to a halt, as Jameson Taillon appears to be coming back sooner rather than later.

Things did not get much better Saturday night. For the second straight start, Gerrit Cole did not have his best stuff, and the Mets made him pay for it, hitting three home runs off the former UCLA Bruin. New York scored all four of its runs off of Cole, who only lasted five innings.

If Cole is healthy, any reasonable Pirates fan should expect him to bounce back. But as I wrote on my last report card after the Atlanta series, to be a good baseball team, the Pirates need Cole to pitch like the star he is capable of being.

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Sunday night, we saw some good things from Tyler Glasnow, and some bad. The rookie was efficient, not walking any batters, and was productive for the first three innings. Glasnow hit a wall along the way, however, allowing five runs over the fourth and fifth frames and taking the L. Glasnow has the tools, and it would be swell to see him put it all together for more than two starts in a row.

Trevor Williams continued his surprisingly solid run of outings Monday afternoon, pitching six innings of one-run ball and doing so in under 70 pitches. Williams has proven himself to be capable, and if the Pirates are smart, they will keep him in the rotation if and when Taillon returns.

Ivan Nova was efficient as usual Wednesday, going seven innings and allowing three runs. He faltered late in the game, however, as all three of Arizona’s tallies came after the fifth inning. Nova’s performance didn’t matter a whole lot in the long run, as the Pirates offense could not do anything against young stud Robbie Ray, who pitched his first career complete game shutout.

Kuhl bounced back in the series finale Wednesday afternoon, pitching five innings of two-run ball. After a solid start to the season, Kuhl has been inconsistent in the month of May, and this week showed that.

Overall, the Pirates starting pitching had an up and down week. Williams and Nova were excellent, Cole and Glasnow were bad, and Kuhl was a little bit of both. Despite some inconsistencies, Pittsburgh has a decent starting rotation, and if Taillon’s health continues to progress, it will become even better shortly.

Grade: C

Bullpen

Due to the Mets offense being hot and the Pirates not, Friday night’s contest was already looking bleak when Clint Hurdle called on the ‘pen with two outs in the fifth. The relievers did little to help things. Johnny Barbato- who has no place on the 25 man roster, allowed three runs over two innings, and life was easy for the New York Mets on this night.

The bullpen got it together Saturday. After another underwhelming starting pitching effort, Hurdle called on Wade LeBlanc to relieve Cole in the top of the sixth. As usual, LeBlanc did his job, going two innings and not allowing a single runner to reach base. From there, Juan Nicasio, Felipe Rivero and Tony Watson kept New York off the board for three innings, giving the offense an opportunity to win the ballgame, which they cashed in.

Sunday was similar to Friday. Just as Kuhl had done two nights prior, Tyler Glasnow left the game with his team trailing 5-1. Once again, the bullpen did little to help, as Jhan Marinez allowed two runs in his two innings of work.

Monday, Watson blew his second consecutive save opportunity, allowing a two-run shot to Chris Iannetta, tying the game at three. Although the Pirates went on to win the game, it is clear that Watson is not the best option to close, and Rivero would gladly take that position if given the opportunity.

Thanks to Supernova, the relievers didn’t do a whole lot Tuesday night. Wednesday afternoon was a different story. It started in the top of the sixth, when Daniel Hudson’s frustrating season continued, as he allowed two runs to give Arizona a 4-2 lead.

After that, LeBlanc, Nicasio, Rivero and Watson held the Diamondbacks off the board for five innings. Things went south after that, as the great Barbato allowed a solo shot to Nick Ahmed, giving Arizona a 5-4 lead in the 11th. Although Mercer would tie it, and Marinez would fight valiantly, it would not be enough, as one more run from the D-Backs in the 14th proved to be the nail in the coffin.

Overall, it was not a banner week for the Bucco bullpen. Granted, aside from Wednesday, the relievers didn’t play a prominent role in any of the four losses. Nonetheless, it was a slow week for the typically reliable Bucco relievers, and it will be interesting to see if the team does anything to fix it’s somewhat concerning middle relief. LeBlanc, Nicasio, Rivero and Watson (at times) are all solid, but it’d be good to have a little more depth.

Grade: C-

What to do with the bullpen?

One hot topic that’s been going around as of late is the Pirates bullpen situation. I think sensible fans would agree that Tony Watson is not fit to be closer, and see Felipe Rivero as an obvious replacement. Clint Hurdle does not see things this way, and we just have to accept that. But the thing that grinds my gears more is that the personnel that makes up the middle relief portion of the bullpen is not as strong as it should be.

It’s one thing knowing that the Pirates middle relief is not stellar. It’s another thing knowing that they have better options right there in the organization.
Do Johnny Barbato and Jhan Marinez seem like solid middle relief options? Was A.J. Schugal not among the Pirates best relievers anywhere for two months last season? Is Edger Santana not having a solid option in AAA? The answer to all these questions is no.

I know middle relief doesn’t seem like a thing worth a gripe But don’t you think the Pirates would have been in better shape to win the series rubber match with Arizona Wednesday afternoon with Schugal and Santana as relief options instead of Barbato and Marinez? A solid middle relief core won’t get the Pirates to the playoffs. But it wouldn’t hurt, either.

Overall thoughts 

Through all of the drunk driving, steroid taking incidents. Through all of the injuries and overall lack of production, the Pittsburgh Pirates are 5 games out of first place in the NL Central. To put that into perspective, the Bucs are in a better position the win the NL Central than they were at this point in their 98-win campaign in 2015. Does this say more about the strength of the Bucs or the weakness of the NL Central?

If you know anything about baseball, the answer to that question is an obvious one. As it stands, The Bucs are not a good team. They are what their 24-30 record indicates. The good news is that unless the people who built PNC Park did so on an ancient Indian Burial Ground, the Pirates won’t experience as much bad luck and adversity over the next four months of the season as they have in the first two.

As far as talent is concerned, the Pirates can only go up from here. The way I see it is that if the Bucs are still within five games of first by mid-July when Starling Marte and (hopefully) Jameson Taillon are back, then things could get interesting. Although that might seem unlikely, as the Chicago Cubs still could heat up at any moment, the ineptitude of this division is hard to underestimate.

Next: Gosselin, Moroff Returning To Pirates

Things are bound to get better fairly soon. But as long as the Pirates roster is not at full strength, 2-4 home stands like this one will continue to take place.

Overall grade: C-