Jared Triolo is giving Pirates hope history says won't last

As the Pittsburgh Pirates meander through a disastrous August that has put their playoff hopes on life support, it's important to highlight the few contributors on the roster who are doing everything they can to keep this ship from sinking.

Rookie catcher Rafael Flores Jr. has continued his sensational campaign, blasting a team-leading five homers this month. There's also center fielder Jake Magnum, who has filled in admirably for Oneil Cruz and owns a .760 OPS since Aug. 1. The team has also gotten some really strong work on the mound from Bubba Chandler and Mason Montgomery, among others.

And let's not forget to give flowers to Jared Triolo, the 2024 Gold Glover who hasn't had the easiest season to this point. But as successful as he's been this month — he owns a 100 wRC+ and equal strikeout and walk rates — there's reason to believe this hot streak will be short lived.

Jared Triolo must prove history wrong in order to remain relevant as Pirates fight for their playoff lives

For one thing, we're already starting to see Triolo slow down. After opening the month with a 168 wRC+ in his first 22 plate appearances, the Boston Red Sox completely shut him down over the weekend, holding him to a 1-for-12 line throughout the series. Even before that, his lone home run this month came via an assist from Miami Marlins center fielder Jakob Marsee, somewhat artificially inflating his numbers.

The Red Sox got Triolo to pound the ball into the dirt, which is a telltale sign of him being in a rut. Half of his contact against Boston was of the ground-ball variety; in his two-week hot stretch from Aug. 1-13, only 40% of his batted-ball events resulted in grounders, with 60% comprised of line drives and fly balls.

He'll never be a star hitter, but a player like Triolo can survive in the big leagues by producing favorable contact (even at unfavorable exit velocities). No matter how valuable his versatility on defense is, it's hard to justify giving playing time to someone who isn't creating any impact at the plate.

Unfortunately, history says we may have already seen the best version of him at the plate this year. Throughout his career, Triolo tends to get better as the season wears on; he doesn't have a career OPS mark higher than .638 in any month between March and July, but then he explodes for an .810 in August. He then slips backward in September with a .762 OPS.

Obviously, even that latter version of Triolo would be mighty valuable. There's no denying that it's good to see him succeeding once again this month, even if he's due for some regression in the coming days and weeks.

But if he falls any further below that level... well, the conversation is going to get uncomfortable.

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