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

Following another mediocre home stand for the Pittsburgh Pirates, let’s dish out some grades

Another home stand is in the books. This week, the Pittsburgh Pirates played host to a pair of National League playoff contenders for seven games at PNC Park. Staying true to their identity as a middling club, the Pirates went a ‘meh’ 3-4.

Here is a “report card” analyzing how the Pirates performed in some of the critical facets of baseball. Let’s get into it.

Starting Pitching

As has been a recurring theme since Trevor Williams went down three weeks ago, the starting rotation is hanging by a thread, on the verge of destructing at any moment. While the staff hasn’t been great, it hasn’t fallen apart just yet.

Not surprisingly, there was some ugliness with the starting pitchers on this home stand. Nick Kingham (shocker) and Joe Musgrove (slightly less of a shocker) were both awful against the Brewers, and Sunday’s start against Milwaukee left us with a feeling that the bloom might be starting to come off the Jordan Lyles rose. Despite the rough patches, the Pirates came out of this home stand with encouraging signs from two of their most important starters.

Chris Archer had his two best outings since coming off the injured list. While that’s not a high bar to jump over, Archer showed signs of being the guy the Pirates sold the farm for, and his starts against the Brewers and especially Atlanta showed there’s still some gas in the tank.

Musgrove avenged his poor showing against Milwaukee with a gem Wednesday night against the Braves, becoming the first Pirates starter to pitch into the ninth inning in 2019.

The rotation won’t be whole until Williams comes back, and maybe not even then. Remember, Jameson Taillon is still at least a month away from returning. Still, enough good things happened for the starters to earn a passing grade.

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.

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