Pittsburgh Pirates home stand report card 7/26 – 8/5

(Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
(Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /
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PITTSBURGH, PA – JUNE 06: Trevor Williams #34 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches during the second inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on June 6, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA – JUNE 06: Trevor Williams #34 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches during the second inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on June 6, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images) /

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

Pittsburgh Pirates
PITTSBURGH, PA – APRIL 29: Nick Kingham #49 of the Pittsburgh Pirates acknowledges the crowd after pitching 7 innings with one hit allowed in his major league debut against the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park on April 29, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

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.

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