06/20/23 – By Ethan Smith – @mvp_Ethan on Twitter
The Pittsburgh Pirates offense is toast, but at least toast is hot right when it comes out of the toaster.
Pittsburgh’s offense was on a historical pace in April, was up-and-down in May, but as we near the end of June, the offense has now entered a portion of the season where seemingly, nothing is going right.
The Pirates were shutout Saturday in Milwaukee. They were shutout Monday night vs the Cubs. Now, the have another evening without scoring a run.
On the bright side, the pitching in this series vs Chicago has been there as Johan Oviedo followed in Osvaldo Bido’s foot steps with a quality start, going six innings while only allowing five hits and two earned runs.
Only problem? No run support, again.
The majority of the “offense” in this one came from Connor Joe and Ke’Bryan Hayes, who each finished the evening with two hits while Tucupita Marcano added the other Pirates hit.
Oviedo left the game with a 2-0 deficit, but Dauri Moreta, who has seen an increased role as of late with the bullpen in a state of flux, would give up two runs in the seventh to make it 4-0 Cubs, which at this point feels like blowout territory with an offense this bad.
Do I sound like a broken record? Yes, but its awful folks. Is it Andy Haines? Maybe. Is lack of talent on the roster that played over their heads in April? Maybe. But at some point, something has to change and someone will eventually take the fall if this continues and that will likely be Andy Haines.
But for now, the Pirates losing streak was extended to eight games with yet another loss to the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night and now sit in fourth place in the NL Central after entering this nine-game stretch against Milwaukee and Chicago as the number one team in the division.
Rich Hill(4.31 ERA) will face Kyle Hendricks(3.18 ERA) in the series finale tomorrow.
News & Notes
- Pirates losing streak extends to eight games and still remain winless against Milwaukee and Chicago
- Oviedo: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 K
- 23 consecutive scoreless innings from the Pittsburgh Pirates
- Cubs leap frog Pirates in NL Central standings, dropping Pirates to fourth
Steel City Pirates 
Do you think it might be a good idea to bat the player with the highest slugging % 4th vs. batting the player who is one of the lowest? Which team in MLB has a lighter swinging bat than the Pirates? Which team(s) in MLB have a lighter bat at 1st than the Pirates? Shouldn’t the order have all the lowest producing bats at the end of the lineup? When the team is serious about winning, they will fire Shelton. Until that happens, they are comfortable losing due to the reward of selecting high in the draft(s). I can assure you if I was given Ben’s job when Ben started, this team would be in a much better position.
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“I can assure you if I was given Ben’s job when Ben started, this team would be in a much better position.”
Tell us you don’t want to be taken seriously without telling us.
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