Tag: Please do something

The Pirates have played 60 games. That is 37% of the season. They have played better under Don Kelly. They still have not played the best players in their organization. Their record stands at 22-38. That is 16 games below .500. If they play .500 ball the rest of the way, their final record would be 73 and 89. They are 10-12 under Don Kelly. Before we explore the Pirates’ mysterious ways, let’s first review their performance in key offensive statistics. Then we’ll examine their defensive and pitching statistics.

On the offensive side of the ball, they are tied for 28th in runs per game with 3.23 runs per game. They are 24th in On-Base Percentage. In the comparison stat of OPS+, which takes into account all aspects of offensive production, they are 28th at 81. Despite some recent improvement in the offense, they pretty much stink as a team. Right now, they have three players who are above-average hitters: Oneil Cruz is at 129, Andrew McCutchen is at 116, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa is at 106. At the other end of the spectrum, of the Pirates with at least 100 plate appearances: Jared Triolo is at 36, Tommy Pham is at 47, and Ke’Bryan Hayes is at 57. Hayes does the most damage to the team. He is second in plate appearances and is always batting in the middle of the lineup, even leading off at times. On the defensive side of the ball, the Pirates rank tied for 9th with the Atlanta Braves in defensive efficiency. This is surprising to me, but it is one of their highest rankings in about 15 years. The Pirates rank 15th with 4.20 runs per game allowed. Their fielding-independent pitching ranks 11th at 3.82. In the comparison stat of ERA+, which takes into account all aspects of pitching, including competition and ballparks, the Pirates come in 14th at 106. This is above league average, but it is not elite. The leading pitching staff is the Mets at 135. The Pirates have a ways to go. Their four starters are all above league average, with Paul Skenes leading the way at 194. The Pirates have not been capable of finding an effective 5th starter, but more on that later. Only Ryan Borucki and the now-defunct Tanner Rainey are below average out of the bullpen. Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is an overall player evaluation. It takes into account all of a player’s abilities: how he hits, fields, and runs the bases. WAR is a volume stat. The more you play, the more your WAR will fluctuate depending on how you are playing. Their worst positions at the moment are 1st base, 3rd base, left field, right field, and their bullpen, all ranking in the bottom 10. The rest of the positions are in the middle 10, including starting pitching, catching, 2nd base, center field, shortstop, and DH. Remember, this is just by position, not the player per se. Bryan Reynolds missed significant time in right field. There have been other players playing third base besides Ke’Bryan Hayes. It does show where the Pirates have been bad.

The Pirates have done nothing to handle these issues. At the end of last season, they needed a 1st baseman and a corner outfielder. They needed bullpen help. What did they do? They got damaged goods, a washed-up player, and two mediocre bullpen pieces with one of those out for the season. Jared Jones went down and eventually needed surgery. What did they do? Essentially nothing. The no-brainer move would have been to promote Bubba Chandler and make him the fifth starter. They still did not do it when Carmen Mlodzinski failed miserably as a starter. Now they have Mike Burrows up, and he has been lit up twice. What are they thinking? They are not. They do not do anything to try and improve the club and win games. As bad as they have looked at times this year, there is talent out there that needs to be developed. The Pirates do nothing to do that. They bring young players up and let them languish on the bench. Even when they get their few opportunities, they perform better than the bums they replace. Yet, they still get sent down to the minors. Even though they have played better under Don Kelly, these things have not changed. Who is chiefly responsible for all this? The owner, the GM, the manager, or even the scouting department? The only answer to me is that this organization needs to be completely gutted. Do you ever get the feeling that this team would do better if they were just left to their own devices? Do everything by proxy. I bet they would not have brought Tanner Rainey into a tight game in the 7th inning if it had been left up to a vote.