The Pirates dropped the series finale against the Dodgers tonight 8-6. Mitch Keller left the Pirates in a rough spot, as he gives up 5 runs and fails to finish 5 innings yet again. Despite being down 5-0 early, the Pirates do battle back to make the game close twice. However, another untimely bullpen collapse lets three Dodgers score, and the Pirates offense cannot respond. Watch Tyler and I break down the game in further detail here:
Mitch Keller is Paid Too Much for This
Mitch Keller has been the rock-steady arm in the Pirates rotation for years, where he is always there to give the team 180+ innings a season. Even when he would get beaten up, he could reliably get you through 5 or 6 innings without too much embarrassment. Sitting here on June 11th, in the Pirates first competitive season in his MLB career, Keller is rocking an ERA north of 5. Thursday night he gives up 5 runs, only goes 4 innings, and generates a total of 4 whiffs while allowing 4 walks. Especially with a bad bullpen, the team desperately needs that innings eater Mitch Keller back to help mitigate the damage. Keller has been trying to use a large pitch selection this year, probably to mitigate his dropping strikeout rates as the years have gone on. Mitch has found most of his success in his career through a primarily fastball diet, though hopefully Bill Murphy can sit down with him and try to simplify things where he has been effective before.
This is Not a Playoff Team (as it stands)
The most bitter pill I have had to swallow is accepting that with the current roster, this team will not make the playoffs. The Pirates have now lost a staggering 10 games so far when scoring 6+ runs. They have been rightfully praised for the offense, their mental fortitude, and some of the starting pitching. However, in mid June we have seen this team continuously throw winnable games away. The offense scored 6 runs yet again but never held a lead once because the pitching staff has fully let them down once again.
The Pirates made this a one-run game after 5 innings, and we proceeded to hand the Dodgers 3 more runs and put the game fully out of reach. Evan Sisk is just one guy in a long line of arms that keep getting obliterated at the most costly of times. The Pirates must address the bullpen situation as soon as possible because it is a bad enough situation that they are sitting under. 500 by the trade deadline and are forced to sell in such a competitive National League.
Callihan Deserves This Success
Tyler Callihan was drafted a full year before the COVID pandemic shut down the world out of high school. He spent 6 seasons grinding his way up through the Reds system, enduring bad travel, subpar hotels, and low pay. Callihan finally debuted with the Reds last year before suffering a terrible season-ending injury trying to field a fly ball. He is 25 years old, never a highly touted prospect, and traded for spare parts. I say all of this to show that if there is anyone who deserves these last two games, it is Tyler Callihan. He was seen as such a threat that he was walked on 4 pitches so the Dodgers could face Jake Mangum. He hits his first career triple after hitting 2 home runs last night. Baseball is great because of stories like Callihan coming up and striking fear into the hearts of the two-time defending champions, no matter how short-lived.
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