The Pirates dropped a heartbreaker on Sunday in San Francisco, as they allowed the Giants to come back and defeat them and take the series. The loss stings because the Pirates felt like they were in the driver’s seat to win and to go 4-2 on the road trip out west before heading back to Pittsburgh. Instead, they go a respectable 3-3 and return home to start a homestand against the Colorado Rockies. Click the links below to listen to Doug and DiNardo break down today’s game in detail:

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Coldest take of the century here, but Konnor Griffin continues to impress as he slowly develops as a major league player. His home run today was a beauty, as he demolished a baseball to dead center with an exit velocity of 110 mph off the bat. He also reached base once more with a walk, and his OPS now sits at .721. As I’ve said on the podcast, Griffin’s litmus test is Bobby Witt Jr.‘s rookie campaign, where he posted a .722 OPS and a wRC+ of 98. Griffin has cut his strikeout percentage to 29% from 35% a few weeks ago, one of the bigger signs that he is becoming more adjusted to MLB pitching. He also is a demon on the basepaths and is going to steal the Pirates a lot of runs with how hard he is to catch stealing. Griffin has 9 stolen bases in only 32 games, and that is with a paltry .321 OBP, something that will only improve with time. He was one of the few joys we got to appreciate in this game while the rest of the team tripped over themselves repeatedly.

Time to Worry About Isaac Mattson?

Isaac Mattson got the ball to start the 6th after Bubba Chandler exited with a solid 5 innings under his belt. Mattson proceeds to immediately cough up the lead and let the Giants tie the game at 4 apiece before Montgomery is called upon to record the final two outs of the inning. Mattson’s fastball is still grading out to be a great pitch, but it’s clear that MLB hitters are wising up to his tricks and he struggling to find other pitches that are good enough to keep batters honest. Here is Mattson’s savant page:

A reliever who isn’t generating whiffs, limiting hard contact, and is an extreme fly ball pitcher is simply a recipe for disaster. His ERA has climbed to nearly 5 after Sunday’s performance, and the underlying metrics suggest he probably should be pitching worse. The staff must work with him to develop and second pitch because currently this Cinderella story is turning sour.