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

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.