Pittsburgh Pirates: Missed Opportunities Lead to Series Loss in Cincinnati

Positives from the series

Despite the series loss there were some positives from Cincinnati.

Oneil Cruz struck out just once in the series. Saturday afternoon facing one of the best young left-handed starting pitchers in the NL he put together two terrific at-bats that ended in base hits. Both of these at-bats would have undoubtedly ended in a strikeout last season. If this series was any sign of things to come this season for Cruz then, well, buckle up folks becasue it will be a lot of fun.

As was mentioned on the previous slide, the bullpen pitched relatively well. De Jong got rocked on Saturday and put the game out of hand. Otherwise, the bullpen did not allow a run. This included Dauri Moreta cleaning up a mess in game one, while Colin Holderman and David Bednar each pitched a scoreless inning with a 1 run lead. Jose Hernandez pitched a scoreless inning in his MLB debut, Duane Underwood Jr. looked really strong in his inning on Sunday, and Rob Zastryzny may be a quality lefty out of the bullpen.

Andrew McCutchen look good this series putting together one strong at-bat after another, getting on base in seven of his 13 plate apperances. He also made a terrific catch in right field on Sunday. Ji Hwan showed good things at the plate, on the bases, and in center field. He should be a lot of fun to watch this season. Connor Joe looked good at the plate throughout the series as well, going 3-for-7 with a walk and a stolen base.