Pittsburgh Pirates Homestand Report Card 7/6 – 7/15

Pitching – the good

After the beatdown that started this stretch, the Pirates much-criticized starting rotation stepped up for the rest of the homestand.

Jameson Taillon is finally starting to pitch like the No. 1 that the Bucs need him to be, dominating in both of his outings this homestand Nick Kingham continues to show promise, tossing a gem in Sunday’s finale against the Phillies. Since coming back from injury, Ivan Nova has pitched well, tossing a gem Monday night against the Nationals and following that up with a solid outing against the Brewers in the first end of Saturday’s double header.

This is still a rotation that has a lot of holes, and we don’t know if guys like Kingham, Trevor Williams or Clay Holmes will become consistently good. Over the past two weeks, however, there’s been little to complain about with the starting rotation.

Pitching – the bad

Williams was the starting pitcher of that 17-3 game. Joe Musgrove had a rough fifth inning against the Nationals, and was left in a batter too long against the Brewers Sunday, a decision that should have cost the Pirates the game. Aside from that, the rotation did its job. Hopefully, this group can continue to impress going forward.

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