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Pittsburgh Pirates: Pinch Hitters Come Through& Other Takeaways From Sweep Of Padres
For just the second time this month the Pittsburgh Pirates have won a series at home
The roller coaster that has been the 2019 Pittsburgh Pirates season continued over the weekend against the San Diego Padres. After losing seven in a row on their last road trip, the team’s second losing streak of at least seven games this season, the Pirates had fallen to a season high eight games under .500 at 32-40.
Since this seven game losing streak ended with the Pirates being swept in a four-game series against the Atlanta Braves, the team has responded. The Pirates are now 2-0-1 in three series played since their trip to Atlanta, and are 6-2 in their last eight games.
Overall this season the Pirates are 11-10-4 in series played this season. Despite owning a winning record in series played, the Pirates are just 36-40 on the season. A big reason for this is due to the team being swept on six different occasions this season. These six sweeps include a pair of four-game sweeps to boot.
Next up for the Pirates is an off day on Monday. After that, the team will travel to Houston to play a three-game series against one of the best teams in baseball in the Astros. But before we look ahead to the Astros, let’s take a look back at 3 key takeaways from the team’s sweep of the Padres.
Pinch hitting continues to be a strength for the Pirates
No team in baseball has been better in pinch hitting situations this season than the Pittsburgh Pirates. This does not come as much of a surprise as the team’s outfield logjam has led to one or two good outfield bats being on the bench each night. When he does not start, Colin Moran has become one of the best pinch hitters in baseball. Then there’s Jose Osuna who leads all of Major League Baseball in pinch hit home runs this season.
Melky Cabrera is 6-for-14 with four walks and three doubles as a pinch hitter this season. The aforementioned Osuna has hit a MLB best 3 pinch hit home runs this season, including a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 5th inning of Saturday’s victory. At the time of the home run, the Pirates were trialing 1-0.
On Sunday, pinch hitting may have been the biggest reason the Pirates won. Jason Martin picked up a pinch hit single to start the bottom of the 5th inning and came around to score a run. In the 9th inning with the Pirates trailing 7-4, Adam Frazier doubled to put runners on second and third with no one out to get a game-tying 3-run rallying going. Then in the 11th inning, Jacob Stallings had a game-tying pinch hit single. Stallings would come around to score the winning run later in the inning.
On the season, Pirate pinch hitters are 38-for-111. Their pinch hitters have walked 12 times, hit six home runs, eight doubles, and a triple. Against the Padres, Pirate pinch hitters were 5-for-7 with a home run, a double, a sacrifice fly, and 5 RBI.
Having a strong bench is a requirement for National League clubs. This is due to the need to be able to successfully pinch hit in the NL. So far this season, no team has been better at pinch hitting than the Pirates.
It was a great weekend for Jose Osuna
He only has 34 MLB plate appearances this season, but Jose Osuna has been really damn good for the Pirates. After a monster series against the Padres, Osuna is slashing .290/.333/.677 with a .387 ISO and a 157 wRC+ this season. He has nine hits with the Pirates, and six of them have gone for extra bases.
With a left-handed pitcher on the mound for the Padres, Osuna started at third base on Friday night and Sunday afternoon. With his performance this weekend, Osuna has certainly earned additional starts against left-handed pitchers.
In his two starts Osuna 4-for-9 with a double and he drove in a pair of runs. This included the game winning hit on Friday night. Even though he was not in the starting lineup, as we discussed above, Osuna still made a huge impact on Saturday’s game with his pinch hit home run.
Osuna has always hit in the minors. He was also the star of Spring Training in 2016 and 2017. Finally, he is showing signs of this hitting translating to the MLB level. If nothing else, Osuna is looking like a great platoon player and bench bat. And quite possibly the best pinch hitter in the National League.
It was not a good weekend for Francisco Liriano
There was a lot of good this weekend for the Pirates. After all, they did sweep a good Padres team. This swept included overcoming a 3-run deficit in both the 9th and 11th innings on Sunday. However, it was not all good.
For most of the weekend, the pitching staff was excellent. On Friday Joe Musgrove allowed just 1 run in 7 innings of work, then Kyle Crick and Felipe Vazquez each followed with a scoreless inning. On Saturday, after Chris Archer allowed 1 run in 5 innings of work the bullpen followed with 4 strong innings. Sunday, however, the bullpen hit some turbulence. Although, the 2 runs charged to Clay Holmes would not have happened with better defense.
The one blemish on the pitching staff this weekend? Lefty reliever Francisco Liriano. In his return to the Burgh Liriano has been terrific this season. However, it was not a good weekend for Filthy Franky.
On Saturday, Liriano allowed a run on two hits and a walk in his 1 inning of work. Sunday, he inherited a 7-7 game in the top of the 11th inning. He loaded the bases with no one out and damn near got out of it, but wound up surrendering back-to-back two out hits to get tagged for 3 runs.
Next. Rich Rod Has Been Excellent Since Being Recalled From AAA. dark
Despite his rough weekend, there is no reason to worry about Liriano. At least not yet. His ERA on the season remains a cool 2.87. While his 4.18 FIP indicates he is due for some regression, the main reason his FIP is over 4 is due to a 11.7% walk rate this season. While his walk rate is higher than you would like, his 22.4% strikeout rate helps him overcome most of these walks.