3 Takeaways From Pittsburgh Pirates Frustrating Series Split With The Rangers

After appearing to be well on their way to a second series sweep in as many weeks against the Rangers, the Pittsburgh Pirates wound up settling for a frustrating series split against Texas.

For the second time in as many weeks the Pittsburgh Pirates played a two-game series against the Texas Rangers this week. In last week’s series in Texas, the Bucs swept the Rangers. For the first 50 outs of this series, it appeared they would be doing the same.

After winning on Tuesday night 5-4, the Bucs led 6-2 with two outs in the 8th inning on Wednesday afternoon. However, this is when the wheels fell off. Following a 9-6 loss, the Pirates are now 6-4-2 in series played this season and 17-16 overall.

This series was the start of an important stretch for the team. Tuesday night was the first of 13 games in 13 days, with a three-city 11-game road trip now on deck.

Before moving on to the long road trip, we will take a look back at the key takeaways of their series split with the Rangers. An warning, this will be one of the more negative takeaway articles of the season due to the you know what show that unfolded on Wednesday. That said, let’s dive in!

The bullpen is a mess

Entering the season the bullpen was expected to be a strength for the Pirates. Felipe Vazquez, Kyle Crick, and Francisco Liriano have all been excellent, but that’s where the good ends.

Kela started the season slow, but had strung together five consecutive scoreless outings and appeared back on track before going on the IL. Nick Burdi was a strikeout machine before getting hurt. Richard Rodriguez has pitched poorly, neither Dovydas Neverauskas nor Michael Feliz should be on a MLB roster, and Tyler Lyons had been out of the Majors since last summer for a reason.

When the Pirates promote a reliever to replace Kela on the active roster tomorrow they will have eight relievers active. Only four of them (Vazquez, Crick, Liriano, and Rodriguez) will be relievers who started the season on the active roster.

Not optimal!

The bullpen being down to essentially three reliable arms in Liriano, Crick, and Vazquez makes the starters going deep that much more important. This only adds to the issues with the current roster construction. Because it is literally impossible for Brault or Kingham to do deep as neither is stretched out. This series was a whole bunch of stupid from Pirate management.

While it remains to be seen who will replace Kela, hopefully, it will be Geoff Hartlieb or Montana DuRapau. Both have pitched well at AAA this season, and both have earned an opportunity. The other options are re-treads such as Brandon Maurer or Clay Holmes. Let the young guys see what they can do.

It (yet again) was not a good series for manager Clint Hurdle

When it comes to his in game decision making, it has not been a good season for Pirate manager Clint Hurdle. This continued against the Rangers. Especially in Wednesday’s loss.

While, to an extend, Hurdle’s hands are somewhat tied due to the amount of injuries this team has experienced and the fact he’s currently working with three starting pitchers, his bullpen management remains poor.

With the team leading 6-2 with two outs in the top of the 8th inning, Michael Feliz issued back-to-back walks to load the bases. This gave Feliz three walks in the inning, and he was clearly gassed.

With Kyle Crick unavailable, the only smart option at this point was to hand the ball to Felipe Vazquez. Especially with Pirate killer, and the red hot, Hunter Pence due up. Instead, Hurdle stuck with Feliz who proceeded to allow a game-tying grand slam to Pence.

Worst of all, Vazquez was not even warming in the bullpen. He also would not be used in the 9th inning with the game tied. Tyler Lyons was, and he proceeded to allow 3 runs on the way to a 9-6 Rangers win.

After the game Hurdle said Vazquez was only available for a save situation. So, instead of managing for the win Hurdle managed for the save and took a loss. Worst of all, when Pence stepped to the plate it was a save situation due to the bases being loaded with two outs in the 8th inning.

Even if Vazquez was not going to be the guy, Feliz needed to be lifted before Pence hit. It was clear Feliz was taxed and had nothing left in the tank. Instead, he was left in to allow a grand slam and issue a fourth walk before being lifted.

As I have said before, Hurdle is a great leader and motivator. That has been on display this season as this team remains above .500 despite an 8 game losing streak and 18 players having already spent time on the IL. That said, his in game managerial decisions leave a lot to be desired. Especially his bullpen management.

It can be argued that his in game decision cost the team at least one, if not two, games against the Dodgers on the previous road trip. It certainly was a contributing factor, if not the biggest factor, in their loss on Wednesday. Hurdle must be better moving forward.