Starting pitching – the good
Trevor Williams continues to show that he belongs in a MLB rotation, shoving in both of his starts over the homestand. Jameson Taillon did his job in Tuesday’s 4-3 win over the Cubs, and Ivan Nova showed up in a big win last Friday against the Mets.
The biggest positive from a pitching standpoint this week was the Archer trade. So even if the Pirates rotation didn’t perform well statistically this week, which they did, acquiring Archer would have put this homestand in the “win” column almost regardless of what else happened
Starting pitching – the bad
Nick Kingham left no doubt as to who would get the shaft with Archer coming in after getting shelled in both of his outings. After good Nova showed up against the Mets, bad Nova made his return this past Saturday in a loss to the Cardinals.
Aside from Kingham, every member of the rotation contributed over this past homestand, with Joe Musgrove keeping the Mets at bay in a tough-luck 1-0 loss to the Mets in last Sunday’s series finale. So, overall, it was a good week for Bucco arms even without the Archer trade.