Pittsburgh Pirates: Chase De Jong’s Struggles Continue in Loss Against Diamondbacks

Monday night the Pittsburgh Pirates kicked off a three-game series in Phoenix against MLB’s worst team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, with a loss

The 2021 season has not been a good one for the Pittsburgh Pirates. That said, the team has played some strong baseball of late. Dating back to before the All-Star Break, the Pirates entered play on Monday night with a 7-4 record in their last 11 games played.

Riding their recent strong play in recent weeks, the Pittsburgh Pirates were looking to remain hot when they kicked off a three-game series at Chase Field in Phoenix against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night. While the Diamondbacks entered the series with a MLB worst 27-68 record, the D-Backs were able to get the best of the Bucs on Monday night by a score of 4-2.

Chase De Jong’s struggles continue

When the Pittsburgh Pirates added Chase De Jong to their starting rotation in May it was a move that was warranted. De Jong was pitched well for Triple-A Indianapolis and had an impressive spring for the Pirates. Additionally, the Pirate rotation had plenty of struggles at the time.

Despite a strong first start with the Pirates, De Jong has struggled in the Majors this season. Monday night De Jong’s struggles continued as he allowed 4 runs on 7 hits, a pair of walks, 3 home runs allowed and he struck out 6 in 5 innings pitched.

While De Jong had earned the opportunity he was given earlier this season, he has failed to seize that opportunity. In 9 starts this season De Jong has now pitched 43.2 innings, posting a 5.77 ERA, 6.03 FIP and allowing home runs at a rate of 2.27 HR/9.

With Steven Brault closing in on a return from the injured list, Max Kranick impressing in his two MLB starts this season and Mitch Keller pitching well since being demoted to Triple-A, De Jong’s time in the start rotation is likely running out.

Wasted opportunities by the Pirate offense

While the Pirate offense scored just 2 runs on Monday night, they had opportunities to plate more runs than that. In the 2nd inning the Pirates loaded the bases with just one out. However, De Jong was up who struck out before Kevin Newman grounded out after he just missed a grand slam.

Then in the top of 3rd inning the Pirates had runners on second and third with two outs. Once again, De Jong stepped to the plate. De Jong grounded out to shortstop to end the inning and thwart the Pirate threat.

In the 7th inning the Pirates were able to score both of their runs. Phillip Evans and Jared Oliva recorded back-to-back singles with one out. With two outs in the inning, Ke’Bryan Hayes singled home Evans to cut the Arizona lead to 4-1.

Bryan Reynolds followed the run scoring hit of Hayes with one of his own. The single by Reynolds plated Newman who reached on a fielder’s choice earlier in the inning. Following a John Nogowski walk, Adam Frazier had arguably his worst at-bat of the season striking out on three pitches to end the inning.

In the 9th inning the Pirates would threaten once again. Oliva singled to start the inning and Hayes singles with one out. Reynolds then stepped to the plate and hit a 107.5 MPH missile. The only problem is the ball was hit directly at Arizona right fielder Kole Calhoun for the second out of the inning. Gregory Polanco then struck out to end the game.

The Pirates finished the night 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. This led to the team stranding 11 runners on base, including leaving the bases loaded in the 2nd inning. With another extra hit or two, the Pittsburgh Pirates would have taken the game.

What’s next?

Making potentially his final start with the Pittsburgh Pirates, lefty Tyler Anderson (4.35 ERA, 4.44 FIP) is scheduled to start on Tuesday night. As of this writing, Arizona’s starting pitcher is still TBD. First pitch from Chase Field is scheduled for 9:40 PM ET.