Pittsburgh Pirates: Young Bucs Impress, Other Takeaways From Series Victory Against the Phillies

Young Bucs come up big for the Pittsburgh Pirates and more takeaways from their series victory over the Philadelphia Phillies

At this point of the season the Pittsburgh Pirates do not have much left to play for. Sitting 10 games out in the National League Central and 9.5 games out of an NL Wild Card spot, there will not be any postseason berth for the Pirates this season.

However, one thing the Pirates can still play for is looking to play spoiler. This past weekend the Pirates were able to do that by securing a series victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. With this series victory, the Pirates knocked the Phillies out of an NL Wild Card spot and put their cross-state rivals 1/2 a game out of a Wild Card spot.

After taking two of three from the Phillies the Pirates are now 13-18-1 in series played this season. This also marked the first time since April that the Pirates won back-to-back series. They now own an overall record this season of 47-58.

Next up for the Pirates is an off day on Monday and the MLB trade deadline on Tuesday. They will then begin a brief two-game series with the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night. Before looking ahead to the Tigers, let's take one last look back at the series victory over the Phillies with our series takeaways.

Young Bucs make their mark

In recent weeks the Pirates have fully committed to the youth movement. This has led to a mass influx of Young Bucs. Against the Phillies, many of the Young Bucs made their impact known to help the team secure a series victory.

Henry Davis flashed his cannon of an arm in right field twice. One came in game two on Saturday night to throw out Bryce Harper when he attempted to stretch a single into a double. Then Sunday afternoon, the arm of Davis not only prevented Harper from scoring on a potential sacrifice fly, but it also started an impressive defensive play that was aided by fellow Young Bucs Endy Rodriguez and Nick Gonzales to get Harper out.

Oh, and most importantly, this play came with the game tied in the 10th inning and no one out. Other than the walk off home run by Josh Palacios, this was arguably the biggest play in Sunday's series securing victory. You can see the play below.

Rodriguez also did it with the bat in the series. He had a base hit on Friday night, then on Saturday hit a double, a triple, scored twice, and drove in four runs. Fellow rookie Liover Peguero joined Rodriguez in having a huge game in Saturday's victory. The 22-year-old Peguero was 3-for-4, with his 2nd career home run and a pair of RBI in the victory.

24-year-old reliever Carmen Mlodzinski also had an impressive weekend. Sunday afternoon Mlodzinski pitched 1.2 scoreless innings of relief, although he did allow a pair of inherited runners to score, while striking out three. Friday night he came into the game with the bases loaded, two outs, and Harper at the plate, and he got Harper to fly out to end the inning. Through his first 19.1 MLB innings Mlodzinski owns a 1.86 ERA, 22.1% strikeout rate, and just a 0.93 HR/9. Mlodzinski looks like he will be a very good one out of the Pirate bullpen for a long time.

Even though he struggle at times in the start and allowed 5 runs, Quinn Priester struck out a career high seven to help the Pirates win on Saturday night. Gonzales was on base multiple times in the series and hit an important sacrifice fly on Sunday. Jared Triolo had a multi-hit game on Sunday.

The young players are a breath of fresh air. They add some much needed spark to the team, and overall improved play. These guys are learning while gaining vital experience for 2024 and beyond. Watching what the Young Bucs can do the rest of the season will be exciting for Pirate fans.

Josh Palacios joins some good company

Sunday afternoon, Josh Palacios made his first start since returning to the Pirates on Friday to take the roster spot created when Carlos Santana was traded. Palacios had a pinch-hit single on Friday, then had a huge game on Sunday afternoon.

Palacios went 3-for-4 with a double that helped spark an 8th inning rally to tie the game. He then ended the game when he launched a walk off 2-run home run in the 10th inning. With that home run, Palacios joined some pretty good company.

Palacios did not just hit a walk off home run, he did so on his birthday. By doing this he joined three of the best players in MLB history as the only players this century to hit a walk off home run on their birthday.

One heck of a happy birthday to Palacios who continues to prove to be a quality fourth outfielder.