North Shore Nine

There may not have been a more frustrating experience than what was the Giants series this week. Down 6-2 in game one of the series the Pirates scored four in the bottom of the ninth to tie, then winning the game in the 10th. A thrilling game to say the least, however the Pirates then Pirated like they have never Pirated before. The following game they blew a 5-0 lead on their way to losing 9-5 in another 10 inning game. Not to be outdone, they followed this up by blowing a 6-2 lead the following night this time in the 8th inning. They then took the first two games against Atlanta before being blow-out on Sunday. All in all, a week mixed in frustrations and hope.

In this weekly recap, we will look at each of the three major categories—Offense, Pitching, and Defense/Baserunning—and grade how the Pirates played.

Offense:
Hello Pirates offense, we have missed you. The Pirates scored 34 runs in their six games this week. While this offensive outpouring did not mean every player had a good week, most did. Once again in limited time Joey Bart had a week, including a grand slam, more importantly he only struck out once in nine at bats. Bryan Reynolds and Nick Gonzales were both hot this week, their production was a catalyst for the team this week. A trio of outfields also had pretty good weeks in Edward Olivares, Connor Joe and Andrew McCutchen, though Joe played mostly at 1B and Cutch at DH. McCutchen in particular has been real good the last two weeks. This as we approach June which has been typically one of his best months during his career. As the next week comes into focus Oneil Cruz and Ji-Hwan Bae need to get going. This two speedy players can cause havoc on the basepaths. If either one or both can get going along with what the rest of the team has been doing we could see an offensive repeat this week.

Pitching:
The bullpen was once again the issue in the losses this week. David Bednar and Colin Holderman being the exceptions as both threw three innings without giving up a run or walking anyone. Mitch Keller, Paul Skenes, Baily Falter and Martin Perez all had good starts this week. Jared Jones had a good start as well but struggled a touch with command walking three batters in his six innings of work. It was a solid start, but not quiet the dominance we have seen from his up to this point. The rest of the pitching staff was horrid this week. Hunter Stratton was blown up against the Giants giving up five earned in two-thirds of an inning. He did pitch well against Atlanta over two innings but the San Fransisco game left a bad taste in fans mouths. Kyle Nicholas continues to either strike batters out or give up runs, or both. Against Atlanta he struck out two over an inning of work, but also gave up two earned runs in the process. Carmen Mlodzinski pitched a clean inning to start his week against the Giants. However, the next day he have up four runs three earned blowing the game for the Pirates. Then Sunday he gave up another three to Atlanta in the blowout loss. The bullpen will need to get things back on track or else this season could take a bad turn quickly. Also we await news on Martin Perez who was injured Sunday in his start when covering first base. If he needs to go on the IL expect to see a reliever recalled until a 5th starter is needed again, at which time expect Quinn Priester to be recalled.

Defense/Baserunning:
Three errors this week, two on Cruz and one on Reynolds. The Reynolds one might have been the most significant as it led to the tying run getting an extra base. Cruz continues to make multiple errors a week either on poor fielding or uncorked throws. He generally makes up for it by making plays or throws that few others could do, however there may come a time when that is not enough to make up for the errors. On the basepaths this week the Pirates managed three steals and were caught only once. With players like Bae and Cruz hopefully these numbers will begin to increase as they get on base more. Being able to steal puts pressure on the opposing teams and can help turn a game in the Pirates favor. Look for the Pirates to continue to try to swipe bags when they get on base, it should help lead to an extra win or two.

At 25-29, the Pirates are still only 2.5 games out of the Wild Card. Injuries to Perez and Bart on Sunday have yet to be announced as far as severity. It will be interesting to see how one or both will be handled if they need to miss some time. Five games only this week, two against the Detroit Tigers and three versus the Toronto Blue Jays. With Jones and Skenes going against the Tigers a two-game sweep would be a huge boost going into Toronto, a team looking nearly identical to the Pirates. Winning four games this week would ideal, pushing the Pirates to nearly .500 before the Dodgers and Twins come to town. If the bats and starting pitchers can stay hot, it is quite possible for this to occur.