Pittsburgh Pirates: Three Goals for September

Even though the Pittsburgh Pirates are well out of contention there are still things they should be looking to accomplish in September

The month of September is upon us which means the 2021 Major League Baseball season is starting to wind down. For the Pittsburgh Pirates this means finishing out a season that has not gone as anyone had hoped.

While the Pittsburgh Pirates were expected to be among the worst teams in baseball this season things have gone even worse than anticipated this season. The Pirates enter play on the first day of September with a record of 48-84 which is the second worst record in the National League and fourth worst in all of baseball.

In addition to their poor record the Pittsburgh Pirates have had plenty of poor individual results as well. The team has been among the worst offensive teams in the National League which led to hitting coach Rick Eckstein being fired on Monday. The club’s pitching staff has also been among the worst in the NL.

Despite all of this the Pittsburgh Baseball Club can still have goals as they prepare to embark on the final month of the season. While they may be completely out of postseason contention there are still things that they can play for.

How will Derek Shelton manager the bullpen?

When the Pittsburgh Pirates traded then closer Richard Rodríguez to the Atlanta Braves at the trade deadline it changed the make up of the Pirate bullpen. Since then manager Derek Shelton has used a bit of a closer by committee approach with both David Bednar and Chris Stratton getting save opportunities.

Since returning from the IL in August Chad Kuhl has become a mainstay in the Pirate bullpen as well and has looked strong out of the ‘pen. This should not be a surprise, after all many people have long thought Kuhl was best suited for a relief role.

Watching what Shelton does with the bullpen in September will be worth keeping an eye on. Bednar and Stratton will undoubtedly continue to pitch in high-leverage situations. If Kuhl continues to do the same instead of transitioning back to the rotation, or even a long-relief role, it could indicate the Pirates plan to keep Kuhl in that role moving froward. This could give the Pirates one heck of a back-end trio entering 2022.

Young righty Nick Mears will be another reliever to watch in September. While he has struggled to the tune of a 5.02 ERA and 6.23 FIP in 14.1 innings pitched this season he possesses the power stuff needed to be a successful high-leverage reliever in the Majors. His 20.6% strikeout rate is solid, but he has struggled with the long ball (2.51 HR/9). If Mears can get his home run issues under control he could make that previously mentioned strong back-end trio a strong back-end quartet for 2022.

Duane Underwood Jr. will be worth keeping an eye on this month as well. His 4.20 ERA and 3.91 FIP do not paint a completely accurate picture of how well he has pitched this season. Since some woes in June and early July that ballooned his ERA, Underwood Jr. owns a 2.61 ERA and has struck out 17 batters in his last 20.1 innings pitched. Under team control through 2025, Underwood Jr. could emerge as a key piece of the bullpen moving forward, or an offseason trade chip, with a strong month of September.

Can the Pirates avoid 100 losses?

As we mentioned above the Pirates will enter the month of September with a record of 48-84. This puts them on pace for 59 wins, which would give them 103 losses to finish the season. So, will they be able to avoid 100 losses?

Looking at the team’s remaining schedule avoiding 100 losses is going to be difficult to do. Well, not that it wouldn’t be difficult anyway because the Pittsburgh Pirates, are, well, you know, pretty bad, but the schedule will make it even more difficult.

14 of their final 30 games come against teams still competing for a postseason berth. This includes 9 against their divisional rival Cincinnati Reds who are currently tied for the second National League Wild Card spot.

In order to get to 63 wins and avoid 100 losses the Pirates need to go 15-15 in their final 30 games. Other than when the team started the season 12-11 they have not even come close to putting together any sort of stretch like that this season.

Getting to 63 wins seems to be very unlikely for the Pirates. All signs point toward the Pirates suffering through the franchise’s first 100 loss season since the 57-105 Pirates of 2010. The better question may not be can the Pirates avoid 100 losses, but instead can they finish better than the 2010 Pirates did?