Pittsburgh Pirates: Grading the Series Loss Against the Twins

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PITTSBURGH, PA – AUGUST 06: Cody Ponce #60 of the Pittsburgh Pirates reacts as Eddie Rosario #20 of the Minnesota Twins rounds the bases after hitting a home run in the fifth inning during the game at PNC Park on August 6, 2020 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /

The Pirate Bullpen

It was not a good series for the bullpen for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The home run ball, walks and letting games get out of hand continues to be a trend for the Bucco bullpen in the series. So, it was not a series that grading out kindly for the group.

In the series, the Pirate bullpen pitched 15.1 innings. Pirate relievers allowed nine earned runs on 14 hits. The Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen also issued 14 walks to go with two home runs in the series. Again, not good!

While the Pirate bullpen has not been as bad as many believe this season, it also has not been good. This was the story of the bullpen for the Pittsburgh Pirates in their series loss against the Minnesota Twins. That said, there are some potential building block arms starting to emerge in the Pirate bullpen. Which is not something many would have expected had you told them Nick Burdi and Michael Feliz would be on the injured list, with Blake Cederlind still working his way back from COVID.

The Verdict

While there were bright spots from pitchers such as Chris Stratton and Sam Howard, overall, it was not a good series for the Pirate bullpen. Seriously, outside of Stratton, no Pirate reliever had a good series. At least, this argument can be made. All in all, the bullpen continues to be a major issue for the Pittsburgh Pirates. That reflects in their grade.

Grade: C-

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