Pittsburgh Pirates home stand report card for 5/30-6/6

The offense

Averaging more than six runs per game over any stretch is impressive. The Pirates did that this week, and if you pay attention, there are plenty of positive storylines regarding the offense.

Starling Marte is hitting .464 over the past seven days, and .526 in the short month of June. Bryan Reynolds continues to be in the mix for NL Rookie of the Year and pushed his hit streak to 14 Thursday afternoon. While the seemingly indestructible  Josh Bell cooled down when the calendar changed, he reminded the world that he’s still a freak with a three double performance to cap off the home stand.

Others such as Gregory Polanco, Colin Moran and Melky Cabrera had moments in the sun over the past week. To add to the offense injured outfielder Corey Dickerson will likely rejoin the team this weekend in Milwaukee.

Since the start of May the Pirates are averaging 5.1 runs per game. It certainly appears the offense has turned the corner from its early season woes The Pirates can hit, and they’ll need to hit with the status of the rotation and bullpen still up in the air.

The bullpen

Since five of the seven games on this home stand were decided by four runs or more, the relievers weren’t thrust into too many high-intensity situations. The two times the Pirates needed the bullpen to come through, however, it failed, and that’s been an unfortunate theme throughout 2019. Ironically, the Pirates two best relievers were the culprits.

In Saturday’s game against the Brewers, the Pirates twice had late leads, and coughed them up both times, climaxing with Felipe Vazquez’s first blown save of the year. Three days later, Pittsburgh had a 5-3 advantage in the seventh inning, but Kyle Crick met Austin Riley, and the evening quickly went south.

While the bullpen wasn’t tested enough to earn too terrible of a grade, I think a big fat D+ is in order.

Coaching

To me, this home stand went as Clint Hurdle went.

The Pirates lost three of four to the Brewers largely because of Hurdle’s poor decision making. Saturday afternoon, he inexplicably threw Clay Holmes in the sixth inning two-run game instead of starting the frame with Francisco Liriano, and the Bucs lost the lead and, ultimately, the game as a result. The next day, the Pirates had Milwaukee on the ropes with two on an nobody out in the ninth… until Hurdle decided to bunt Adam Frazier, killing any chance of a comeback. Against the Braves, however, Hurdle did his job well.

Wednesday night, Hurdle rode Joe Musgrove until Musgrove had nothing left, and gave his starter the chance to throw a complete game. Wednesday, he pulled Chris Archer at the right time, went with the right reliever (Liriano), and made sure his team wouldn’t lose the lead.

Hurdle will never be a great on-field manager, and I don’t even think he’s a good one. This week showed, however, that he’s capable of balancing poor decisions with intelligent ones.

Overall grade: C