Pittsburgh Pirates Overcome -17 Run Differential to Win Series at Wrigley
By Marty Leap
Kevin Newman’s days need to be numbered
Even though slugging shortstop prospect, the top prospect in the Pirate farm system got off to sluggish start at Triple-A Indianapolis, Kevin Newman‘s days at the primary shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates needs to be numbered.
Newman was 3-for-11 with a walk in the series. He also committed three errors in the series, including a pair of errors on what were pretty routine double play balls in Chicago’s 8-run 2nd inning on Saturday that allowed the Cubs to start to put their 21-0 blowout victory out of reach.
On the season Newman is hitting for a .222/.286/.356 slash line to go with an 88 wRC+. despite it being 12 points below league average, Newman’s wRC+ of 86 is a huge improvement over recent seasons. Which, just, yikes.
Despite his slow start to the season at Triple-A, top prospect Oneil Cruz appears to be finding his swing. This includes a walk off nuke for the Indians on Sunday afternoon. With the deadline for Cruz to remain in the minors and the Pirate accrue a 7th year of team control set to pass at the end of this week, a change needs to be on the horizon for the Pittsburgh Pirates.