The Pirates returned back to .500 after mounting a 4 run comeback against the Athletics on Tuesday night. Despite defensive woes and walks ceding 4 runs in the first inning, 3 home runs were enough to give the Bucs a 1 run win. Bryan Reynolds was the hero tonight, totaling 4 hits and hitting 2 homers to power the struggling Pirates offense to yet another big night. Watch Doug and I break down the game in greater detail here:

Bryan Reynolds is a Hero

Bryan Reynolds currently holds the record among active players for most games played without a playoff appearance. He was also targeted heavily for his poor performance at the plate last year despite being the highest-paid player in franchise history. As of tonight, he is rocking an .870 OPS and a wRC+ above 140. He could have chosen to wait out his years of control and gotten traded to a large-market team. Instead he chose Pittsburgh, suffered through the misery of the early Cherington Pirates and is now an essential cog in the playoff push machine. No one in this entire organisation deserves this success more than Reynolds, and that makes tonight’s victory powered by his bat feel a little sweeter. He is Mr Pittsburgh at the moment, and the Pirates should be doing everything in their power to get this man to Buctober.

Mitch Keller was Better, but not Good Enough

Mitch Keller is another big money earner on this team, as he is making 16 million this season. He has been dreadful to start the season; his strikeouts are up and his ERA sits north of 5. Tonight began in about the worst way possible, 3 walks within the first 4 batters. To his credit, Mitch settled down and got a strikeout and a ground ball to limit the damage. Unfortunately, 4 runs still ended up scoring because of a horrendous defensive play by Horwitz throwing the ball away. He also gave up a home run to Zach Gelof in the 6th, which ended his day before he could get through the inning. There were many positives, though: 7 strikeouts on 11 whiffs, 3 innings with single-digit pitch counts, and a complete shutdown of the Athletics after the 1st inning. However, this still isn’t good enough for the money we are paying him. This staff needs innings to be eaten, and even with better starts tonight, he is struggling in that department mightily. Keller needs to step up and be the pitcher worthy of that 5-year extension.

Endy Should Be the Starting Catcher

Endy Rodriguez delivered the Pirates’ 3rd run while registering his only hit of the night, and the Pirates desperately needed that run. His OPS now sits at .880, and his at bats are already far more competitive than anything Henry Davis has shown us in years. Davis still has a place on this team to catch Skenes and be the defensive backup, but Endy has taken his chance at the MLB level by storm and deserves to ride this out. While his defense could use some work, he is providing a large offensive spark from a position the Pirates have been getting negative production from. It has taken several years, but Endy has finally arrived and is living up to his top 30 prospect status after 2 years were derailed by a major injury.