Pittsburgh Pirates: Home Stand report card for week of 5/11-5/20

Bullpen

The Good

After a horrendous start to 2018, the ‘pen seems to be getting better every week. Edgar Santana, Richard Rodriguez and Michael Feliz are all coming into their own, and Sunday notwithstanding, Felipe Vasquez has lived up to his “nightmare” persona for opposing bats.

The Pirate bullpen still has work to do to establish itself. Aside from Vasquez, none of these relievers have proven that they can be useful for a full season, and that’s a fair concern to have. Right now, however, these guys are electric.

The bad

George Kontos is still on the team.

What looked like a solid veteran acquisition last summer hasn’t panned out. As bad as Kontos’ 4.82 ERA looks his advanced metrics are worse. His WAR is -0.2 and his FIP is a horrendous 6.30. Kontos didn’t do the Pirates any favors over this home stand, allowing runs in two of his three appearances, and being removed from his role as setup man, which he amazingly held for over a month and 1/2.

For a bullpen that has stocked up on young fireballers, Kontos doesn’t fit. While the ‘pen could use a veteran, and Kontos seems like a good enough guy to have in the locker room, he isn’t getting it done on the mound. I don’t expect Kontos to be in the organization much longer, but he should be gone already.