Brutal Homestand Comes to an End: Pirates/Padres Takeaways

8/9/24 By Drew Cagle – @cagles_bagels on X

A pair of ugly losses where the Pirates held 9th-inning leads bookended a less-than ideal homestand for the club. Losing five of six, especially against fellow wild card contenders Arizona and San Diego, makes it even harder to swallow. A trip to Dodger Stadium awaits, but let’s look back on how the Friars took down the Buccos.

Bullpen Woes

The Pirates’ bullpen is a liability to the team, as of writing. In each of the team’s last eight losses, a reliever has been the losing pitcher. Blown saves from David Bednar in each of the last two games, along with shaky outings from recently-IL bound Colin Holderman and others, have them in this spot. At this point, Aroldis Chapman and Kyle Nicolas are the two relievers I feel most confident in, and they’ve still had control issues somewhat recently.

The Pirates are losing ground, and quickly

Many other fellow wild-card contenders are making things tougher on the Pirates, pairing Pittsburgh’s cold stretch with hot streaks of their own. San Diego is on a five-game win streak. Arizona has won four straight. San Francisco is 7-3 in their last 10 games, and has passed the Pirates in the standings. When compared to the Pirates’ 4-game losing streak, it only creates a taller mountain to climb in an unforgiving race.

All records/streaks as of the end of Thursday’s midday games

Joey Bart Continues to Mash

I know I discussed Bart’s potential future with the team after the Diamondbacks series, but he continued to show off his power during this series. Sunday’s game was no different, with the Pirates’ backstop swatting his 9th homer of the season, a 2-run shot to give the Bucs the lead. A 9th-inning double and run scored added to his output.

Marco Gonzales

My confidence in Gonzales was high to start the season. A former Opening Day starter in his own right, I saw him as a valuable addition to a rotation that could use him to give Paul Skenes or Jared Jones extra days between starts. Following a solid start in his return against the White Sox, he’s put up poor numbers in the last three starts. All three have included multiple runs, at least six hits, and less than five innings pitched. I’m officially worried about his fit as a Pirates’ starter.