Pirates (23-34) Beat Marlins in Extra Innings 8-7, Win First 3 in Series

The Pirates had no business winning this game.

The Marlins are mired in a rough stretch and when that happens to any team you see them occasionally grasp defeat from the jaws of victory, and that’s exactly what happened today on the North Shore of Pittsburgh.

Down 3 in the 8th inning the Marlins walked, HBP’d and errored in 4 runs to lose the lead 6-5. They’d come back in the 9th off Rodriguez before the extra inning portion of the contest began. After exchanging runs on no hits in the 10th, each club held the other scoreless in the 11th.

In the 12th, Holmes got through the top scoreless.

In the bottom Hayes almost put one out but it served to get Frazier to 3rd, the Marlins walked Reynolds intentionally and it brought Jacob Stallings to the plate needing only a fly ball. He said screw it and just singled him in to win the game.

Early on in the contest it looked like the Bucs were never going to really get into this one. Rookie of the year candidate Trevor Rogers held the Pirates bats at bay. And Chase De Jong didn’t perform nearly up to par. Giving up 5 runs in 5 innings.

Again, the Marlins should have had no issue winning this game. That said, shoulda, coulda, woulda. It’s nice to see things fall the Pirates way.

The Bucs pulled it off, and the bullpen again was absolutely lights out even given the Rich Rod blown save.

Back at it tomorrow looking for the sweep with Sandy Alcantara facing Chad Kuhl at 1:05. Hell of a fun game today. Been a really fun series.

News & Notes

  • Richard Rodriguez blew his second save in a week today. It’s not alarm bell time, but only having one pitch is starting to catch up with him. They need to help him discover that slider.
  • Ke’Bryan Hayes 1 for 6 today, but just his presence in the lineup changes the dynamic of how the order falls, how the opponent attacks them, it’s truly remarkable.
  • The Pirates have won 3 in a row and 4 of 6 facing the Marlins and Rockies. Let’s keep this in perspective.
  • The Pirates go for the 4 game sweep tomorrow against the Marlins.
  • Ben Gamel played first base after pinch hitting in the 8th inning and looked pretty decent doing it.

Hayes Sparks Offense Outburst From The Pirates

I am not going to lie, that was fun. Beyond my initial concern as to why Mitch Keller was pulled from the game after only 45 pitches, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Once again, the solid one to three delivered; especially with Ke’Bryan injected into the lineup. The Younger Hayes has lifted some of the pressure from Adam Frazier and Bryan Reynolds, as they can now feed off each other instead of feeling like they have to carry the team.

His energy is contagious, making it seem as if it is a brand new ball club; and this is without Colin Moran batting clean up behind them, which will be coming soon. Now I don’t think want you to think I am going to say something crazy like this team can contend for anything meaningful this season, but with a solid top of the order and a strong bullpen the Pirates will at least be able to compete from game to game; consistently lowering the chance that they will be laughed out of town like they were in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago, or Cincinnati in the second series of the season.

Sure there will be a few bumps along the way, and they will look like the inexperienced team that they are from time to time; however there will also be some near complete performances just like the one we watched last night; although it didn’t seem like a guarantee after the Marlins tied up the game in the top of second as an exhausted Mitch Keller walked the bases loaded and gave up a two run double.

Luckily the bullpen combination of Duane Underwood, Jr., Chasen Shreve and Chris Stratton were up to the challenge, and delivered with seven scoreless innings; allowing only three hits, walking one and striking out seven. Meanwhile the bats kept rolling as the built a lead; finally breaking through for five runs in the bottom of the sixth, as they put a cap on a 9-2 victory on Friday night.

News and Notes

  • After he exited from the game it was eventually announced the Mitch Keller had left with a “heat illness”. In his two innings of work Keller allowed two runs on 2 hits, to go along with the aforementioned three walks and two strikeouts.
  • Frazier, Hayes and Reynolds combined to go 6 for 12 on the night, and knocked in six runs.
  • Chris Stratton pitched 3.2 innings for the save, which is the longest save opportunity since Jason Christianson in 1998, when he threw four innings against the Expos.
  • Kevin Newman simply can’t get things going consistently with the bat this season. Currently he has a .212 AVG, a .503 OPS and only seven extra base hits, however, he does have minuscule 5.6%, so making contact isn’t the problem; it’s the quality of contact that continues to be the problem.
  • Chase De Jong pinch hit for Mitch Keller. It really doesn’t mean anything, but it was also a very odd choice.

With the win last night, the Pirates are guaranteed to at least split the four game series with the Marlins.

For Pittsburgh, the pinch hitter Chase De Jong (0-0, 1.87 ERA) takes the mound at 4:05 PM EST at PNC Park, with Trevor Rogers (6-3, 1.87 ERA) on the bump for Miami.

Benefitting From Playing Multiple Positions, And Sometimes Multiple Sports

Since he arrived on the scene in November of 2019, Pittsburgh Pirates General Manager Ben Cherington has emphasized, and at times, given preference to positional versatility when constructing rosters from PNC to Pirate City. Along with this flexibility, he has also targeted players with pure athleticism in the field and on the base paths, which sometimes, obviously goes into being able transition between almost every position in the infield, or even ranging into the outfield when needed.

Now, I know that Cherington didn’t hand pick this particular two sport athlete out of Central Catholic High School in Toledo, Ohio, but 20-year old Jase Bowen sure fits the mold.

Prior to being drafted by the Pirates in the 11th Round of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft, Bowen had received a full athletic scholarship to attend Michigan State University as wide receiver for the Spartans football team, as well as a second baseman and outfielder on the baseball team.

In high school, he had started at shortstop all four years, while playing the outfield for his travel team. Selected as an outfielder, and signing for $392,500-with the slot for his draft position being $125,000-Bowen was immediately assigned to the GCL Pirates at Pirate City in Bradenton, where he began the season as an outfielder before moving to second base for the remainder of the year; not because of performance, as he actually didn’t commit an error his entire time there. Sure he only slashed .223/.301/.315, yet, eight of his hits were for extra bases; which exhibited an ability to make solid contact, and to get around the diamond when he did so.

Then, as for most Minor Leaguers in his position-not close enough to the Majors and not a highly touted prospect-Bowen was left with out baseball for a year; aside from an invite to the Instructional League in the Fall of 2020. Before this all took place it was most likely that he would have started last season with the Pirates, now defunct, Advanced Rookie Level Affiliate, the Bristol Pirates; but unfortunately at this point it can only be speculated.

What we do know is that Bowen started this season with an assignment to the newly restructured Low A-Bradenton Marauders, that could have just as easily been another go around in the GCL. So, far he has done nothing but take this opportunity and run with it. On the year thus far Bowen is slashing .247/.309/.494 with 5 homers, 2 triples, 3 doubles and a 114 wRC+; and he’s have a great time doing it.

Now if I being honest, and not a complete fanboy, I have been a little concerned about the swing and miss, to go along with a low walk rate, which currently sit at 25.8% and 4.1% respectively; however I look for for both of these to adjust toward the positive as he continues to adjust to live at bats, following a year off the field. Plus, remember that he is still only 20 years old for almost the entirety of the remaining season.

He is young and has plenty of time to modify and adapt his approach; and I fully expect to see him in August when the Marauders take on the Clearwater Threshers in a six game set at BayCare Ballpark on what I can only imagine will be a sweltering summer night on the Gulf Coast of Florida. But this isn’t a bad thing, as there is depth and competition at the levels immediately above Bowen, as well as on his own team.

Nevertheless, Bowen has one one thing that a lot of these guys don’t have, position versatility; and that could make him very useful in Ben Cherington run system.

Pirates (21-34) Take Game 1 from Struggling Marlins 5-3

No, one guy isn’t going to make this team good.

Having three legitimate threats in the lineup won’t be enough to make a difference.

Give this kid a chance before we get excited.

These were some of my favorite comments today as I wrote a piece about Ke’Bryan Hayes returning to the lineup. It wasn’t a flowery fluff piece about how the team would take over the Central, nothing about the Cardinals watching their backs, but instead just a bit of an upbeat happy we get to watch this guy play baseball type deal.

It’s ok to enjoy having nice things Bucco fans. Ke’Bryan Hayes is a good player, with a chance to be great, and it’s ok to be excited to watch him play. Don’t be so afraid to be wrong that you forget to just enjoy watching him play the game.

Enjoy watching Bryan Reynolds getting his stroke, and finding power few thought he had if we’re honest. Watch him take that quick compact swing and rope balls over the wall from both sides of the plate, and believe what he’s showing you.

Catch Adam Frazier continuing to adjust and punch back against a league that just can’t find a consistent way to get him out. Watch him do it in front of two and soon to be three guys who can actually make his OBA count.

Smile when you think about Jacob Stallings and that clutch bat being in a place in the lineup where his unexpected contributions will play better.

Tonight Tyler Anderson toed the rubber and pitched really well through five innings, he would run into trouble in the 6th though as he allowed runners to reach second and third with one out, and the Pirates called on Clay Holmes who got two ground balls but allowed both runners to score.

The Pirates got their first run as Bryan Reynolds took matters into his own hands.

Now anyone who listened to my Mother’s Day Special of the Fan Forum on DK Pittsburgh Sports knows from my special guests he doesn’t like B-Rey, but look past that….

Later Hayes and Reynolds would combine to do more damage starting with this shot from Ke’.

The Bullpen and some slick defense kept the Pirates in this one, especially Sam Howard.

This followed an excellent pick with the infield in by Adam Frazier to keep the runner at 3rd.

In the bottom of the 8th Frazier singled, Reynolds saw nothing to hit and walked, Polanco had an excellent at bat to draw a walk, and then Jacob Stallings did something.

A bases clearing double and suddenly the Pirates went from trailing 3-2 to leading 5-3.

A typical Rich Rod outing later and the Bucs win.

Really nice ballgame tonight, and man that top three in the lineup look so so nice.

News & Notes

  • Tyler Anderson pitched better than his line tonight. he’ll get tagged with 3 earned runs but he really had this game in control for most of his outing. Positive step for him tonight.
  • There was some question about Ka’ai Tom’s health but he pinch hit in this game so he must be at least well enough to avoid the IL.
  • The Pirates sent Wil Crowe to AAA today clearing a spot for Ke’Bryan Hayes. They avoid having to make a 40-man move for now as JT Brubaker comes off the bereavement list and goes on the COVID protocol list. But a decision will come soon. Sounds like Moran, Evans and Cahill will all be back very soon as well. Going to be a flurry of moves and I’d guess by early next week if not sooner.
  • The Pirates were able to trade Ildemaro Vargas to the Arizona Danger Noodles for cash, probably the same cash they sent out for him in the first place.
  • Jose Soriano was shut down today with soreness in his elbow. This is significant for several reasons. First, he is recovering from TJ so the setback is not welcome news. Second, he is a rule five pick and the Pirates could just keep him around next season under the same rules. Third, if this is what it looks like it’s one less 40-man spot they need to mess with.
  • Travis Swaggerty officially had surgery on his shoulder and will be out for 5 to 5.5 months. His season is over and now the hope is he can have a typical off season.
  • Oneil Cruz is lighting it up in AA. He is also hacking it in the field, but the bat was the main concern with him. I’d imagine a promotion is going to come sooner than later, maybe around the All Star break if not a bit sooner.

Welcome Back Ke’Bryan Hayes

Ke’Bryan Hayes makes the lineup more professional from the moment the letter K is written on the lineup card, but as bad as the offense has been, its key he isn’t being dropped into nothingness.

The way Adam Frazier and Bryan Reynolds have held up their end of the bargain in his absence means he’s not being dropped into some abyss. No matter how they line this up its likely those three will hit consecutively and that can do nothing but help.

Personally, I’d go Frazier-Reynolds-Hayes one through three. Frazier is an on base machine, Reynolds can be a run producer but he’s much better suited to the two hole where he can just take more of what the pitcher gives him. Hayes could do that too of course, but if he stays healthy he’ll likely finish the season with more homeruns than anyone despite Reynolds’ recent power surge.

One guy in baseball isn’t supposed to make or break a lineup but let’s be honest here, a lineup can’t be effective with 2 real threats. Things just don’t pan out like that often enough to make an impact. Think about it, when it’s just those two, in order to make a big impact you’re waiting for the bottom of the lineup to have a rare on base party, then survive the 2-hole hitter du jour and hope Reynolds still has an opportunity.

With the three of them, there’s a shot every single time they appear in an inning to score.

This is without even talking about getting Colin Moran back in the fold.

With the glove, Hayes is brilliant, but Erik Gonzalez held down the hot corner well. Taking his bat out of the lineup however will help this offense too. He’s never swung an impact bat, but this year it’s actually been worse than that. Even the “he’s never gotten a real shot” crowd has to admit he’s gotten more opportunity than ever before. In 2020 he had the most at bats he’s ever had in MLB with 181, and here we are in June with Erik just 13 at bats fewer for 2021. A .214 batting average with an OPS+ of 49. He’s just been abysmal.

You probably didn’t need me to write that last paragraph. And the way Kevin Newman has played defense this season, you probably don’t need me to tell you Kevin will keep his job and being completely transparent, his numbers are actually worse than Gonzalez’. .215 in 186 at bats with an OPS+ of 42. But if the argument can’t be made that Gonzalez is a defensive upgrade, at least not a glaring one, only one of these two has a shot at a future as a Pirate that stretches beyond 2022. Let’s answer the question, right now, this season.

We can’t erase what we saw in the first two months of the 2021 season, but if you just want to hit a reset button knowing the entire picture of what this team does won’t be pretty, June 3rd looks like a good place to do it.

Again, it’s rare in baseball when one player can have the impact that this one could, but he makes a whole bunch of parts that don’t fit together look purposeful. That’s what this one player can do, by his own performance and the diminishing use of others at the same time.

And don’t worry about piling on the kid or burying him with expectation. He doesn’t care, and it doesn’t scare him. He’s had all of 90 at bats in the league, and there still isn’t a bunch of protection in the lineup for him, but we’ve seen nothing but good. So we can sit here waiting for him to “become a Pirate” or we can allow ourselves to believe he is representative of who the Pirates could become.

His shoulders look plenty big to me, I think he’s got this, and I spent enough time doubting him, he’s sold me.

Welcome back Ke’Bryan Hayes. Welcome back offense that can help make the most of pitching performances. Welcome back glimpse of the future.

I honestly can’t wait to watch this game, just the expectation of seeing an offense with a chance to do damage will make this more fun. We also shouldn’t discount the amount of pressure players like Reynolds and Frazier have put on themselves to BE the offense. They know what the rest of the lineup can do too. Think we’re the only ones who look at who’s where in the lineup and puke in our mouths a bit? I’m guessing not.

Starling Marte returns to PNC tonight, and while I’m looking forward to seeing him again, he won’t even come close to being the story tonight. That distinction belongs to Mr. Hayes.

People Don’t Line Up for a Repeat of a Bad Show

Something weird happens to fans as things unfold over years or even decades of watching a franchise. We forget the how, we um, enhance the why, we ignore the when.

Small tweaks in any of the facts tend to change the actual event in dramatic ways.

For instance, many were so disillusioned by the end of the Huntington era as Pirates GM that we forget the good things he did early on. We forget entirely that his first action was to tear down the continuing pile up of borderline MLB players Dave Littlefield left him and built around the few high end prospects that were in the system. He got lucky on some reclamation projects, and spent real money in free agency to take advantage of things working well with top level development.

They stopped short, and more importantly, they failed to do the right thing again. Instead of using monster assets like Gerrit Cole to acquire high end talent they reached for a quantity of close or borderline MLB talent. Some of it panned out, some didn’t.

It’s led to right where we are now.

A development system that had succumbed to foolish concepts put forth by trusted Generals under Huntington, topped with a host of poor draft selections. An utterly exposed failure to acquire enough top end talent in the draft, and a collection of players who probably reached close to their ceiling already and it’s painfully obvious its not good enough coupled with reaching the end of their team control at the same time.

So Ben Cherington started doing his work.

He moved Starling Marte for two high end prospects with two years left on his deal. Moved Josh Bell for a high end prospect and one much closer to MLB who could be a contributor. Jameson Taillon returning from injury with one year remaining for 4 prospects who so far all appear to be doing well. Joe Musgrove in a three team deal to bring in more prospects and a young reliever with a ton of control.

Each and every one of those players had an expiration date. All set to expire before any of the young, top end talent would arrive.

This would be like buying milk for cereal you plan on getting in a month. Chances are by the time you get the cereal you’ll need more milk, or at least it won’t smell like you hoped when you open it.

The players of course thought they were close and wanted the team kept together. But this is where we really need to look back honestly about what these players were. Reason being, at the very least these players all needed to either sign extensions, or be traded. Starling Marte was maybe a year early for what the team had to do, but he wanted out, he asked to be out. The team certainly didn’t have to agree, but they also knew that decision was coming the next season anyway. In order to avoid it, Marte would have needed extended, even 3 additional years would make him 33-34, and Marte plays a speed game, with power that’s never really fully emerged, at least not to the degree his tool rating suggested it could.

They face other decisions just like that right now. Adam Frazier, two years left, having as we sit here in early June a career season. He’ll be 31 when his team control expires and if you extend him by a few years, chances are you don’t expect him to be starting when he’s 33 or 34. So, yes, they could extend him, but they could move him too, and I’m not sure I can say they shouldn’t. It’s a decision. Not an easy one.

Let’s fast forward a bit to today.

Team isn’t good, I mean imagine that, you trade 4 good players and the team doesn’t improve. That said, there are ways to do this that can work faster, we’ve seen them, arguably none bigger than Cam Bonifay’s acquisition of Brian Giles way back when. Hell, even in the same time frame Jason Bay I could argue was a much closer to the league and much more of a sure bet to make the jump and be successful than some of the youngsters recently brought in.

I mean, even Huntington’s trade of Cole to Houston brought in Joe Musgrove and Colin Moran. Moran has turned into a useful player, another the Pirates will have to make a decision on very soon, and Joe who the decision was made on and returned all the players in that deal.

Can you seriously not see how this is different from trading prospects for someone who’s supposed to help now? I mean the deal that ultimately ended Huntington’s time in Pittsburgh, even if it had returned someone who really contributed would have put this club in this position.

So why didn’t Ben Cherington do that this time beside the obvious? Why get players so young that the team is going to stink for a couple years? I mean what about the fans right?

It’s a bet.

When you set up a 401K plan at work, most of them will give you some level of control so you feel like you have some say in how it grows. If you’re 25 when you start it, you might want to use a risky approach for investment, if you’re 40 you might want to go safe and steady, because you can’t afford the time to recover from a major setback.

Baseball is the same way. If the Pirates trade Joe Musgrove for instance and bring in one or two players in AAA or even with a bit of experience in MLB, they either start immediately or next at the latest. Most of the Pirates high end talent even before the first move lived in the very lowest levels of the minor league system.

It’s about stacking talent, trying to force the timing together to create a core that has a shot to be no more than an acquisition or two away from being in the hunt, and this time not just a wildcard.

That’s the plan.

Now, things happen. Just this season we’ve seen Travis Swaggerty go down, likely for the season. We’ve seen Miguel Yajure shut down with elbow pain, we can only pray he’s ok after some rest. Nick Gonzales broke his pinky and lost a very good chunk of his first year of real pro ball.

This is why clubs need to stack prospects. Injuries happen, development set backs happen.

Mitch Keller was supposed to be the most ready prospect in the system, ready to step up, ready to lead. He may yet, young players don’t evolve on the timeline you want them to. Look at Brubaker, he’s more advanced than just about anyone thought he would. That’s the way it goes.

Players you didn’t expect will crop up, players you did count on, won’t work out. Some will never be able to stay on the field. Others will stubbornly push back on training or lack the physical capability to perform as instructed, they’ll turn into those prospects that somehow wound up being 27 and haven’t made it yet.

So while I understand it will be upsetting when the franchise makes decisions on players like Adam Frazier, Colin Moran, Richard Rodriguez and Tyler Anderson, really think about the alternative.

Think about what you’re asking for. In some cases it will make sense, like Colin Moran for instance is the most consistent first baseman the team has had since Kevin Young, and I think we’ve seen that Will Craig is, at least not yet, the answer. Maybe Mason Martin is, he’s doing well in AA, seems to be addressing his issues with strike outs but his timeline even if he has no hiccups probably has him up here or pushing for it in 2023. Would it be bad to have Colin Moran there to be pushed aside?

Again, not advocating either way here, just illustrating these decisions aren’t all the same because let’s be honest, if someone wants to give the Pirates an MLB top 100 player, it’s hard to say they’d be smart to pass it up.

One thing I can honestly say though is this isn’t about salary, not right now. Even if Adam Frazier stays on this track and wins the silver slugger for second basemen, his arb settlement won’t eclipse 10 million in arbitration. More importantly, they wait and risk losing him for nothing, well, probably a comp pick, which isn’t the worst outcome, but not ideal.

Every single one of these is a choice. They’re either someone to be moved because they won’t be part of the solution, someone to be retained for a while to build a bridge to more talent, or someone to be retained long term because they are part of the new core.

If you simplify this down to Nutting doesn’t want to spend, it’s hard to overtly say you’re wrong, his spending, or lack thereof created the situation, and I’m not here to tell you this leopard will change his spots. Right now, it’s just not about that. These aren’t big money decisions we’re talking about, these are just choices for roster construction. No, not this roster, the future roster.

Don’t believe? I don’t blame you. I haven’t forgotten why we’re here, but I also can’t sit here and pretend this is the same thing that’s been done in the past. it’s simply not, and while nobody can guarantee it will work, or Bob Nutting will help sustain it I can say Cherington is operating as though he believes. Maybe he’s a fool. I’m sure he isn’t the first person to have Mr. Nutting sell him a bill of goods, but maybe he’s building enough protection to keep the franchise heading in the right direction regardless.

This part isn’t fun and I completely get it, but don’t dumb this stuff down to “Nutting Cheap”, it’s part of the story for sure, but it also isn’t the story of every player they decide to move on from.

Some players will go, some will stay. I don’t expect you to be happy when it happens, but I’d like to think at least seeing the difference in methodology might help you cope with the decisions.

You’re smart people. Smart people who’ve been hurt and lied to. That’s not easy to recover from in life or fandom, and it’s not on you to fix it, it’s on them. Think your way through this build and you’ll give yourself the power to predict what’s coming instead of react to what happens in the moment.

Pirates Get Up Early, But Are Eventually Doubled Up By the Royals

For the first three and a half innings of the game last night, the Pirates looked as if they were going to put together a pretty solid performance, and walk out of Kansas with a split in the short two game series. Even after Salvador Perez roped a Wil Crowe breaking ball, that hung in the zone, over the left field fence, it didn’t feel like Pittsburgh was overmatched on this given night; as they still held on to a slim 4-3 lead. Then came the bottom of the fifth; where Crowe couldn’t hit the spots he was earlier in the game, the bases found themselves loaded because of it and Andrew Benintendi flipped the game to a 8-4 Royals lead with one crack of the bat.

At this point it seemed like the game could be over, but the Bucs kept Battling; getting a run back on an Adam Frazier bloop double that fell to the ground off the body of the the sliding third baseman, Kelvin Gutierrez, and eventually loading the bases themselves for Bryan Reynolds-who had come through with a bases loaded single earlier in the contest. However, down in the count, Reynolds thought about offering to a ball in the dirt, slowly backed out of the box while allowing Kevin Newman to rush home to score and prepared for the next pitch of his at bat; or so it would appear. Home plate umpire Dan Bellino on the other hand saw something completely different, calling Reynold’s out for interference as Perez tried to make the play at home; but actually looked to be tagging Reynold’s on a dropped strike three, which it wasn’t. Either way the rally was essentially snuffed out by this ending the inning.

The Royals would ultimately tag on a couple more on the Pirates bullpen, and Pittsburgh wouldn’t put up much more of a fight; losing to Kansas City 10 to 5.

News and Notes

  • Adam Frazier is the league leader in hits (71) and doubles (19), all while batting .335 with a 144 wRC+.
  • After somewhat stifling the Royals through 3 innings, on two hits and while striking out three, Wil Crowe imploded over the next inning pitched; finishing with a line of eight earned runs allowed on eight hits and two walks, which raised his ERA on the season to 7.26. It could be a realistic possibility that Crowe could be optioned to AAA in the upcoming moves, with several players working their way back from the IL.
  • The Pirates tallied 10 hits on the night and were assisted by 2 errors from the Royals, but still couldn’t manage more than 5 runs, as they were 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position.
  • The bottom of the order hit for the Pirates as Wilmer Difo, Kevin Newman and Michael Perez all went went 2 for 4. On most nights that would equal a win for Pittsburgh; especially with Frazier and Reynolds continuing to supply some offense.
  • Aside from sweeping the Saturday doubleheader against the Rockies, the Pirates have dropped 9 of their last 11 games.

Today is an off day, as the Pirates travel back to PNC before taking on the Miami Marlins in a 4 game weekend series.

Tyler Anderson (3-5, 4.63 ERA) is scheduled to face off against the dreaded TBD for the Marlins at 7:05 PM EST on AT&T SportsNet.

A Look at Clay Holmes and His Dominant Month of May

April showers bring May flowers?

Although that saying may be extremely cliché, it perfectly describes Clay Holmes’ 2021 season thus far. As it stood on May 1st, Holmes had a 5.02 ERA and was being talked about as a real weak link for an otherwise strong Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen. But the turn of the calendar seemed to do a lot of good for Holmes, who rattled off nine scoreless innings in the month of May across 10 appearances, including a huge (and dominant) three-pitch strikeout of Brendan Rodgers in the 6th inning of the Pirates’ 4-3 loss over the Rockies on Sunday. 

The majority of the Pirates ‘pen are players who were castoffs from another team. But, there is one current member of the big league bullpen that was drafted and developed by the Pirates. In today’s player profile, I’m going to be looking at Clay Holmes’s journey and how he got to his current, dominant self as well as what the future looks like for him. 

All the way back in 2016, the Pirates’ MLB.com prospect list was topped by Tyler Glasnow, Austin Meadows, Josh Bell, Kevin Newman, Mitch Keller, Ke’Bryan Hayes, and other Pirates who reached the big league level with varying success. Just outside the top 10 on that list was Clay Holmes, who slotted in at number 11. Holmes’ position in the top 30 prospect list declined the next year, falling to 21 after the McCutchen and Cole trades. 

Holmes’ 4.22 ERA with Altoona in 2016 was apparently enough to earn a promotion to Triple-A Indianapolis in 2017. His debut season at the second-highest level in baseball was pretty good, but possibly overlooked by Steven Brault’s 1.94 ERA and Glasnow’s 1.93 ERA. With all that in mind, a 3.36 ERA across 112 ⅓ innings is still a really good season. 

It didn’t take long in 2018 for Holmes to get his first taste of big league action in 2018, as a spring training injury to Joe Musgrove brought him up to the big league club on April 2nd. He wouldn’t have to wait long to make his debut, as he was brought into a 14-3 blowout win over the Cincinnati Reds on April 6th, where he pitched two innings and allowed his first big-league run. As it turns out, that would be his last appearance until June 24th, as he and Josh Smoker were optioned in favor of the current back-end tandem of the Pirates, Kyle Crick and Richard Rodriguez. 

Through the end of the 2018 season, Holmes would make 11 total major league appearances, 4 of those coming as a starter. Holmes had a rough season overall, but he struggled a lot in the starting role. In 15 innings, he had a 7.80 ERA, and that included a start in which he pitched six shutout innings. His relief outings were not great either, with a 5.56 ERA in 11 ⅓ innings. The biggest issue with Holmes was his control. In 26 ⅓ total innings that year, he had 23 walks. An interesting thing to note is that Holmes made six relief appearances in Indianapolis in 2018, something he had not done more than once in a season. 

2019 was a year of disaster for Holmes, both in the minor leagues and major leagues. After making his first 10 appearances (15 ⅔ innings) to the tune of a 6.32 ERA in Indy, Holmes got recalled, mostly due to the struggles of the big league bullpen. Unfortunately, Holmes did not do much to help those struggles, with a 5.58 ERA in 35 appearances (50 innings). The control was once again the greater issue, as Holmes walked 36 men. He also sustained an injury which kept him out for 2 and a half weeks. 

With the new management coming in for the 2020 season, Holmes had what was probably his last chance to prove himself. After an impressive 3 ⅓ scoreless innings in spring training, Holmes was able to crack the opening day roster, even pitching an inning and a third scoreless in that opener in St. Louis. You may know what happened next, and it wasn’t good for Holmes, as he was shut down for the rest of the season with a right forearm strain. 

That injury was the final nail in the coffin that ultimately led to Holmes getting non-tendered in December. Less than a week later, however, Holmes came back to the Pirates on a minor league deal, at the least securing some more depth, and as Pirates fans would soon find out, a key 2021 bullpen piece. 

After a pretty good 2020 spring, Holmes followed it up with an even better 2021 spring, this time tossing 9 ⅔ scoreless innings. Once again, that was enough to not only get himself back onto the 40-man roster, but to cement himself on the opening day roster.

That whole journey leads us to the present day, where we’re sitting here and asking ourselves how Clay Holmes has become, quite literally, the best reliever in baseball over the past month. Well, I’m going to try to explain based on the trends I’ve observed and researched. When Holmes broke into the league in 2018, he had a mix of six different pitches, led by the sinker, four seam fastball, and the curveball. He also had a tendency to throw the cutter, changeup, and slider, but he only did that about 15% of the time combined. In 2019, he took out the cutter. The interesting thing I saw from those two years was that the fastball was getting hit around an awful lot, with an opponent batting average of .480 (25 ABs) in 2018 and .313 (16 ABs) during the 2019 campaign. 

When new pitching coach Oscar Marin arrived in 2020, he and his staff must have seen the same trends and completely removed the four seam fastball from Holmes’ arsenal. Instead, Holmes focused on the sinker, curveball, and slider, and although in a limited fashion, it produced results in 2020 spring training and in his lone regular season appearance last year. The first month of the 2021 campaign for Holmes may have been a feeling out process for him, getting reacquainted with the pitching style he had only adopted for a short time last year. Now that he’s locked in and feeling comfortable, Holmes is throwing his sinker at an average of 95 MPH that has reached as high as 97 MPH with wicked movement and complementing that well with both of his breaking pitches. 

What about the control issues that had always been a burden to Holmes? I don’t want to jinx anything, but 7 walks in 24 ⅓ innings looks fine to me. Also, the batting average for all three of his pitches are good, with the sinker getting hit by the opposition at a .231 clip. That is his worst number at that statistic, as both the slider and curveball are getting hit at .212 and .188, respectively. 

So what does the future hold for Clay Holmes? Obviously there will come a time where Holmes gives up a run again, but hopefully the runs don’t come in bunches and that he’s able to rebound with the stuff that he possesses. The fact that he’s 28 means virtually nothing in my opinion, because the 3 years of arbitration are of the most value. On the flip side, that team control can be extremely valuable when it comes to trades and such. Whether the Pirates keep him or trade him may hinge on his production up until that July 31st date. Honestly, I don’t mind one bit holding onto Holmes, and I’m saying that after thinking last year that getting rid of him wouldn’t make a change one way or the other for this franchise. It may be a little later than expected and in a different role than expected, but Clay Holmes looks like a solid piece for this bullpen that could be helpful for the Pirates in more ways than one in the future.

Pirates (20-32) Drop First of Two 7-3 to Royals, Kuhl Shaky in Return

A battle.

No, no I’m not making some Memorial Day equals baseball metaphor about this game. This time I’m talking about Chad Kuhl and Duane Underwood Jr, both battling their stuff, and controlling it all night.

First up was Chad, returning from a stint on the IL and he struggled from the start. No walks on his line doesn’t do justice for describing just how wild he was. He had no control of his arsenal save spotty ability to place his slider and he fought through 4 innings giving up 3 runs.

This was a frustrating start, his stuff is crazy good, really and the way he manages to flummox a legitimately good lineup with one pitch kinda working is truly what makes him so hard to just wash your hands of.

Next up was Underwood Jr. he too would struggle with command all 3 innings of his outing and again, no walks. The Royals would pick up 2 runs on a bomb by Aldoberto Mondesi.

The Pirates started the scoring in this one as hitting machine Adam Frazier led the game off with a double, Newman moved him over with a fly ball to the track, and Reynolds ground out to score the run.

Jacob Stallings would come through later with a two out single.

And in the 8th, Reynolds got some retribution for a wide strike zone all night.

In the bottom of the 8th, now down two the Pirates went to Luis Oviedo who gave up a lead off double and came close to getting out of it with a double play, but alas another two runs came across to make it 7-3 Royals. Could have been worse if not for a fabulous running catch by Polanco. (not a typo)

Back at it tomorrow as the Pirates send Wil Crowe to face Brady Singer at 8:10 in Kansas City.

News & Notes

  • The Pirates promoted Max Kranick to AAA Indianapolis tonight. He’s started 3 games and posted a 4.02 ERA, but a 1.02 WHIP. In reality the promotion isn’t about his numbers as much as showing the command of the fastball they were looking for, this is something I think we can expect to see more of, the veteran players like De Jong get a look, and the movable players start to make their way up the organizational depth chart.
  • The home plate umpire tonight was giving strike calls consistently two baseballs off the left side of the plate. I stress consistently, because as anybody who plays will tell you, that’s all they expect. Now Bryan Reynolds batting right handed much of the night against a lefty starter continued to just take pitches out there resulting in a couple strikeouts. This is always an interesting thing in the game. Now is it better as a hitter to not leave your game plan or look outside your zone for one game, or is it better to just deal with it for a night and stay consistent within yourself? I mean, Reynolds is consistent, so it’s hard to argue with his approach, just an interesting part of the game, and it certainly didn’t hurt him when he crushed a homerun in the 8th.
  • I think the Pirates kinda tipped their hand a bit tonight, it looked like they had every intention of using Kuhl and Underwood together tonight. I’m not sure I see the brilliance here, seems to me if you have guys who can actually start and don’t need the opener stuff, use them instead, but ok, seems like it’s gonna be a thing. Honestly, I feel it will weaken a strength on this club, the pen.
  • Ka’ai Tom had 2 official at bats tonight and had 2 walks. He’s really good at drawing walks, but at some point you have to start doing some damage too. Hard to say he doesn’t take a good at bat, he makes drawing a walk the goal at times it seems and I’m not sure that ever makes him matter enough.

Five Pirates Thoughts at Five 5-31-21

Good afternoon, and happy Memorial Day! Today is about so much more than the beginning of Summer or grilling up some dogs, at least take a moment today to close your eyes for a second and really think about the sacrifices made to keep us safe and free.

1. What’s This Rotation Going to Look like?

So with Chase De Jong getting a shot, and specifically a decent look as per Ben Cherington, for the foreseeable future he’s part of it. Have to figure Keller and Brubaker stick. Chad Kuhl is back too. Anderson is still around. So does this spell an option for Wil Crowe? Maybe Cahill is released upon returning from the IL? One place this club actually has moving parts from AAA and they’ve chosen to use one who doesn’t in De Jong. Nice start yesterday out of the 27 year old and as I’ve reminded people several times, he may be old to get his career really going, but his years of control are intact, so if the Bucs have found a guy who can help for half a decade, hey that’s great.

Another possibility is for the Pirates to go with a 6 man rotation, or piggyback a couple guys, hey, Kuhl or Cahill could just be bullpen pieces now. Interesting times, and I’m really curious as to how they handle it.

2. Don’t Fear Trades

When you look at this team, the shortcomings are really hard to miss. When they get healthy some of them will be obscured a bit, but moving more players for assets is and has been part of the plan from the jump. Justin and Joe have done a great job illustrating how these things are thought through and the types of returns that could be out there.

You aren’t wrong either for thinking at some point they need to decide someone stays, someone starts the new ‘core’. Looking around the NL Central, I’d suggest the window better be open in 2024 or they’ll be right in the middle of two other teams coming out of the darkness at the same time. They can’t make development too much faster, but they can keep some talent in place to get there if they so choose.

3. Well Executed Small Ball

The Pirates played the kind of baseball they want to play against the Rockies this weekend taking 2 out of 3, and a big theme was small ball. They moved runners over and had some timely hitting. That’s what they’re looking to do most nights, but it’s worth noting, the two they won came with home runs, while the one they lost did not.

Small ball is cute, and when you’re desperate its sometimes the only option, but make no mistake, this team isn’t single handedly changing how runs are scored in this league, and the long ball is not going away.

Having Ke’Bryan Hayes back and the threat he brings will change the dynamic of this offense. Even if he doesn’t hit 25, the mere presence of his bat in the lineup will open doors for others.

4. It Was Bound to Happen

Richard Rodriguez blew his first save of the season yesterday, and you could almost feel it coming. Part of what makes him so good is even while hitters know what’s coming, they just can’t seem to catch up with it. Well, something changed yesterday. I wouldn’t say he was doing anything terribly different, but he clearly was missing some aspect of deceptiveness because swing and misses turned into foul offs and ultimately getting barreled up after 16 pitches to the Rockies two best hitters.

It’s incredible he’s gotten this much mileage out of one pitch and the Pirates haven’t pushed him to figure out his slider, but maybe at some point they should. Good hitters are going to figure him out, and if he slips even just a little like yesterday, the results won’t be great.

5. Kyle Crick is Off Again

After a sincerely tremendous start to 2021, Crick again looks like he can’t control his stuff, and he’s added a new mental block now, apparently he can no longer face right handed hitters.

Kyle is talented, but since his first year with the Pirates he’s had one problem or another, and every time it’s a big enough issue that he can’t be trusted in the back end.

Again, he was very good early on, but its not like he was just missing spots. Against left handed batters, he was pinpoint. Against right handed batters, he had no idea where the ball was going, period. Throw a baseball that hard, and couple that with not knowing where it goes, my friends, that is a dangerous thing.