Derek Shelton’s lineup juggling act isn’t solving the Pirates’ biggest problem

Fresh off a league-leading sixth shutout loss at the hands of the San Diego Padres, the Pittsburgh Pirates are 12-23 and officially off to their worst start to a 162-game season since 2006. And it's not hard to see why.

While there is plenty of blame to go around, from injuries to bullpen struggles and more, Pittsburgh's utter lack of offense is becoming increasingly apparent. Through 35 games this season, the Pirates rank 28th in runs scored (114), are tied for 28th in home runs (25), and sit 28th in OPS (.641).

Manager Derek Shelton has received his fair share of the blame for his constant tinkering with the batting order as he tries to generate some kind of offensive consistency. The best way to find consistency, though, probably isn't throwing out a different lineup every single night.

Derek Shelton’s lineup juggling act isn’t solving the Pirates’ biggest problem

Shelton deserves plenty of the criticism he's received for the Pirates' shortcomings. He's been racking his brain trying to come up with a solution, but to no avail.

“I don't know. That's something I'm probably gonna think a lot about tonight and have been thinking a lot about, but there has to be some sort of consistency,” Shelton said after Sunday's loss (via Alex Stumpf of MLB.com). “This lineup's better than this.”

But ... is the lineup really better than this? Other than Bryan Reynolds, who is currently slumping despite being one of the Pirates' most consistent hitters for years, I'm not sure that it is.

Even the best hitters go through the occasional slump, which is why I'm more than willing to give Reynolds – who has gone 5-for-27 with a .185 batting average over his last seven games – the benefit of the doubt. His overall body of work indicates that he is better than his recent stats suggest.

But for the rest of the lineup? Their failure to produce doesn't fall totally on Shelton. Anyone in their right mind who looked at this roster at the beginning of the season knew they were never going to produce to begin with. The Pirates have a poorly, cheaply constructed roster that has no business competing with the rest of MLB, and that falls on management and ownership.

Again, the Pirates' multitude of problems this season extend beyond their offense. But perhaps the reason Shelton can't find any consistency from his lineup is because there never was any to begin with.

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