The Pirates were disappointing in all three aspects of the game tonight and fell to the Blue Jays 6-2. The pitching was shaky, the offense couldn’t deliver with runners on, and the defense was a comedy of errors. The Pirates suffer yet another loss they have to flush and move on from, as they commit 3 errors, go hitless with RISP, and Dennis Santana imploded in the 8th trailing by 1 run. DiNardo and I break down this game here:
Bubba Chandler: Much Improved and Still Frustrating
Ultimately, Bubba Chandler was let down by bad defense tonight. The Pirates committed 3 errors when he was on the mound, highlighted by the catchers’ interference from Endy and Spencer Horwitz throwing the ball into left field. Chandler muscled through 5 innings and struck out 11 batters, making many Toronto hitters look foolish. This was by and large his best start in quite a while and if his defense was normal he would’ve been able to go 6 innings.
The biggest frustration is that he struggles to be efficient even when he is pitching very well. He was at 50 pitches after 2 innings despite not giving up more than a walk, and the double from Yohendrick Pinango was a case of not being able to put away a rookie hitter. Bubba features 3 pitches (fastball, slider, change up) that are over 90 mph, and he chose to throw a hanging curve in a 2-strike count with RISP instead. Chandler is going to be a good pitcher, and if these games are growing pains it is much easier to stomach than what we got in early May.
Why Are We Letting Jake Mangum Hit in Key Scenarios?
The Pirates got destroyed by Kevin Gausman for most of the night. After surrendering a run in the first, the Pirates got nothing going until the 6th inning, when they got 2 quick hits off of him with no outs. Down 2 runs, this was the perfect chance to get back into the game and put pressure on the Blue Jays. Esmerlyn Valdez, making his MLB debut, moves the runner over with a grounder to first and now there are runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. There are two guys on the bench (Bryan Reynolds and Marcell Ozuna). The Pirates are paying a combined 26 million dollars to play for your baseball team. Instead, we decided to let Jake Mangum take the at-bat despite him rocking a sub-600 OPS. Mangum promptly swung at a pitch at his ankles and weakly grounded out to first.
As chief of the “Managers don’t matter” team, this is probably the best proof I have seen of managers having influence on a baseball game. Hopefully, Don Kelly is asked about this in his post-game presser, because it doesn’t make any sense to pinch hit for Spencer Horwitz, your best hitter, and not pinch hit for Mangum. Even if you want to argue defense, Mangum hasn’t even been good enough at defense this year to justify sending him up to hit with your best opportunity to get back into the game.
The Defense Cost Us the Game
Bubba Chandler and Dennis Santana both had moments where they struggled mightily. However, the blame for this game falls on the defense for not making basic plays. The Pirates committed 3 errors tonight, 2 of which led to the Blue Jays scoring 3 runs in the third inning. Endy Rodriguez committed an avoidable catcher’s interference, followed up by Horwitz turning a double-play ball into an airmail into left field putting the Pirates down 2 runs in a hurry. Bubba managed to strike his way out of other danger, but Dennis Santana wasn’t so lucky. Santana was awful tonight, unable to generate whiffs and giving up hard contact. However, the double by Jesus Sanchez was a routine fly ball to the warning track that Esmerlyn Valdez misjudged. A minimum of 3 runs can be attributed to the Pirates not being able to field basic plays. There were other factors, mainly the offense going 0-9 with RISP, but ultimately the Blue Jays were not able to string together many hits and were ushered across the plate by Pirates fielders.
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