Pittsburgh Pirates: Pitching, Newcomers Struggle & More Takeaways From Series Loss Against Cleveland

Newcomers struggle

As the Pirates continue to commit to the youth movement, Priester, catcher Endy Rodriguez, and infielder Liover Peguero all joined the team for this series. Unfortunately, each of the three struggled in the series.

Priester's struggles in the series have already been mentioned, but it goes deeper than the overall results. His stuff looked average at best and he struggled mightily to miss bats. Priester looked like a pitcher who ahd a 4+ ERA in Triple-A this season.

Both Rodriguez and Peguero started the first two games of the series, and they both looked overmatched in these games. Rodriguez popped out in his first MLB at-bat, then proceeded to strikeout in six straight trips to the plate. However, he did record a bloop pinch-hit single for his first MLB hit in game three. Peguero went 0-for-6 in his two starts, striking out five times.

Now, it is just one series. Hopefully, this all proves to be nothing more than sluggish starts for these three. Especially Rodriguez who is viewed as a the long-term answer at catcher and Priester who the team dearly needs to pan out to help stabilize the starting rotation.