Tag: Almost half way there

The Pirates stand at 39 wins and 39 losses. We are three games short of the halfway point of the season. They are one of nine teams contending for the wild card. They are 1.5 games out of a spot. They are at a point in the season where any kind of a streak could determine the outcome of their season. Lose or win seven or eight in a row, they could be at the top of the wild card standings or fall completely out of contention. The Pirates have had a grinding season so far. The most they have been under .500 has been two, and that was on March 30th. The most that they have been above .500 is five on June 4th. I thought this would be a good point in the season to see who was doing the best for the Pirates and who was doing the worst. I am simply going to use the two comparison stats, OPS+ for hitters and ERA+ for pitchers, with the number 100 meaning you are league average. I was not going to use this stat, but for the purpose of this blog, it is an easy number to look at. I will do the normal team report at the All-Star break.

The best hitter on the team is Bryan Reynolds, with an OPS+ of 143. He is having his best offensive year since 2021. It will be interesting to see if he can continue this pace. The worst Pirate hitter is Henry Davis at 43; no surprise there. You have to wonder how long the Pirates can keep him on the team. Among players that have made at least 150 plate appearances, there are only two players in all of baseball that are worse than Davis. The best fielder on the team is Brandon Lowe, with +5 defensive runs saved. The worst fielder on the team is Oneil Cruz, with -9 defensive runs saved. Ryan O’Hearn is next, with -4. Most of the Pirates are average fielders, with 0 defensive runs saved. Interestingly, Jared Triolo grades out at 0 this year. By the way, he is the second-worst hitter on the Pirates, at 64 OPS+. So far this year, his glove has not been much of an asset. The best starting pitcher is Paul Skenes, with an ERA+ of 151. His ERA+ in his previous two years has been over 200. The worst starting pitcher is Mitch Keller, at 88, which is below league average. The best reliever is Evan Sisk, at 185, and the worst is Dennis Santana, at 83. It is time to put Sisk in more high-leverage situations and see how he does. Overall, the Pirate bullpen is ranked 27th in baseball. Their DH moved up one spot to 29th. Thanks to Endy Rodriguez, the catching position has moved up to 15th out of 30 teams.

Looking at the stats, it is obvious where the Pirates need help. I do not see the Pirates making any tough decisions—decisions like these: cut Henry Davis if he is out of options, bring up Rafael Flores even though he is not tearing it up in AAA; neither was Endy Rodriguez. No matter what, he has to hit better than Davis. Cut Billy Cook, bring up the Password, and keep him up here. When Konnor Griffin comes back, cut or trade Jared (No Hit Average Field) Triolo, bring up Hunter Stratton, and cut Dennis Santana. As far as the bullpen is concerned, do not look for any more help from AAA. The Indianapolis Indians are 31 and 44, and no one is really pitching or hitting very well. You notice you haven’t seen many down-on-the-farm reports on Pirate broadcasts; about the only exception is young pitcher Seth Hernandez. The Pirates are going to have to make a trade for bullpen help, and that is one scary proposition. The Pirates do not have a lot of prospects to shop, and it will not be that easy to get a top closer from another non-contending team. The lack of effort to obtain bullpen help during the off-season will most likely cost the Pirates a playoff spot.