Pirates' trade deadline failure is already coming back to haunt them

All things considered, Ben Cherington did his job at the trade deadline. By bringing in four relievers — Luke Weaver, Camilo Doval, Kirby Yates, and Lake Bachar — three of whom have extensive closing experience, he rigorously addressed the team's biggest weakness and overhauled the candidates for high-leverage work out of the bullpen.

The problem is that the relief corps wasn't the Pittsburgh Pirates' only weakness prior to the deadline. The offense, despite generally ranking toward the top of the league in most run-producing metrics, has been desperate for an impact bat from the right-hand side of the plate all year long. That need only grew once Marcell Ozuna was mercifully released.

And, wouldn't you know it, that inactivity came back to bite them right away. Facing Kyle Harrison in an all-important clash against the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers, the Pirates couldn't get anything going at the plate; they struck out 10 times in five innings against the lefty starter, managing just one hit and one walk in another listless showing on offense.

Pirates' trade deadline dedication to bullpen overlooked their massive need for a right-handed bat

This has been an issue all year long, though it's especially pertinent right now while Esmerlyn Valdez is struggling. The rookie sensation had a 176 wRC+ in his first 41 MLB games, including a 235 mark against southpaws. However, he's gone hitless in his past six games and is just 2-for-his-last-41 with a 34.5% strikeout rate.

Without his bat firing on all cylinders, the Pirates simply can't provide much resistance against left-handed pitching. They rank 24th in the league in wRC+ (89) in that split, getting dragged down by a prolific strikeout habit (25.5% K-rate against lefties, third-highest in baseball).

On an individual level, only four players on the roster have been above-average when facing southpaws: Valdez, Oneil Cruz, Bryan Reynolds, and Konnor Griffin. Two of those players are currently on the 60-day injured list, while Valdez can't hit water if he fell out of a boat these days. Reynolds is an excellent player, but he's been in a mini-slump since the end of June and can't be the lone threat in the lineup.

The team did call up Ronny Simon in an attempt to patch over this issue, and his 1.057 OPS against lefties in Triple-A this year does suggest he can help. Then again, betting on a guy with -0.6 career fWAR to singlehandedly fix a massive lineup flaw maybe isn't the smartest gamble out there.

With the trade deadline having passed, there's nothing the Pirates can do now except wait for their players to get healthy and hope for better performances from those already on the roster. That's not a strategy that usually wins playoff series, but it's the one the Buccos have left themselves with.

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