Since the All Star break the Pirates have gone 13-18 and all phases of their game has declined. Lately they appear to be hitting better but not enough to overcome some early hitting woes. Runs per game they were 22nd at the 90 game mark dropping to 24th now. They dropped from 21st to 22nd in OBP. The OPS+ dropped from 24th to 26th. Not big drops but drops, nonetheless. The pitching dropped even further, which is no surprise considering their recent performances. Runs against went from 21st to 25th. In Fielding Independent Pitching they fell from 20th to 22nd. The ERA+ fell from 17th to 20th. The Defensive Efficiency Rating went from 23rd to 27th. This was a total team effort to go 13-18 or lack of effort you might say. If the Pirates can win 20 or 21 of their last 41 games, which I admit is not likely, they will wind up with 74 or 75 wins, which would be a 12 to 13 game improvement from last year. Most likely they will win right around 70 games. The most disappointing aspect of this team has been the regression of the young starting pitching.
Mitch Keller last year had an ERA+ of 106. This year he is at 105 after a solid start his last time out. Whose idea was it to not allow him to pitch but 1 inning over an 11 day period? He should have started the 2nd or 3rd game after the break. That last good start he had, may have been the result of finally getting back to a normal routine. Johan Oviedo may be the most inconsistent pitcher in the history of baseball. Last year in 7 starts, which is not a lot, he had an ERA+ of 130. This year he is checking in with 99. He has had 25 starts for the Pirates this year. He has only given up 2-4 runs 6 times. In 11 starts he has been brilliant giving up no or just 1 run. In the other 8 starts he has been awful giving up 5 or more runs. Until this last start, his fast ball was consistently reaching 97 MPH. For some reason he was reluctant to throw it. He became another Pirate pitcher who has lost velocity with his fast ball rarely hitting 95. He got blasted for 4 runs in just 4 innings. Luis Ortiz last year came up and had 3 solid starts in a row. Pitching 15 innings with an ERA of 1.15. He had a fast ball that was at 99- 100 MPH the majority of the time. His last start of 22 was a disaster where he gave up 6 runs in just 2/3 innings. This can happen to anyone. This year his fast ball never hit 100 MPH and most games topped out at 97. No explanation from the Pirates. Other than a great 8 inning performance he has gotten knocked around pretty good, got sent down to AAA in July and is not really do all that great down there. Roansy Contreras has fallen the furthest and the hardest. In 2022 Contreras pitched in 21 games and made 18 starts. He had 2 bad starts giving up 6 and 7 runs respectively. Despite that he had an overall ERA of 3.79 and an ERA+ of 110. His fast ball was clocked at 96 to 97 MPH. This year he lost 2-3 MPH on his fastball and his ERA+ fell to 68 before he was sent down. He is pitching a little better at the moment in AAA. Whatever the Pirate pitching philosophy is, it ain’t working brother, and it needs to be changed. The regression of this young staff with no apparent injuries is alarming. Top that off with the recent Quinn Priester disastrous Major League debut stint, and things could not get much worse for this young staff. Talk about negative player development, the Pirates are showing how to do it.
I wrote at the All Star break that the Pirate pitching is in disarray and nothing that has happened is changing my mind. The Pirate schedule over these last 41 games is fair. They have 20 home games and 21 on the road. They play only one powerhouse team the Braves in Atlanta. They will be playing a lot of teams in the wild card hunt, and this may be to their advantage. These teams will be playing under pressure and the Pirates will not. The Pirates will finish up with the Phillies and Marlins so they will help decide the wild card race. The final games should be interesting. Let’s hope the Pirates can be competitive.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 