The Pirates took a break from wild roller coaster games against the Cubs with a comfortable 16-5 win over the Nationals to open up a four-game set at PNC Park Monday. Paul Skenes was in cruise control, as the Nats batters could not touch him besides a first-inning home run from CJ Abrams. The offense did its job early, chasing starter Cade Cavalli from the game before he could get out of the 2nd inning. The Pirates then torched the Nationals bullpen for another 12 runs to wrap up a comfortable win. The Pirates move to 10-6 and extend their lead in the NL Central Division. Doug and I broke down the game on the NS9 Postgame show as well that you can watch here. And here are my three takeaways from the Pirates big win today.
The Nationals Bullpen is Ruined for the Series
The most impactful part of this win is how it sets up the Pirates for the rest of the four-game series. The Pirates scored four runs off Cavalli and got him yanked from the game after 1.1 innings. The Nationals are already one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball, allowing more runs than any other team so far this season. Now they have to entrust the human batting practice machine, Miles Mikolas, to steady the ship tomorrow. Realistically, they need him to eat 5-6 innings so the bullpen can recover. Making the Nats burn four relievers in this blowout makes managing closer games in the future much harder, especially since there are still another three games left to play. The Pirates are clearly the better team, so it would already be disappointing if this didn’t happen, but now anything less than taking 3-out-of-4 games would hurt.
Extend Brandon Lowe Immediately
I am overreacting, and front offices don’t operate like this, but at this rate it would be malpractice to let Lowe hit free agency after this season. Brandon Lowe now has back-to-back games with 5 RBIs, which is something that has almost never happened since they started tracking the stat. He has six home runs in 16 games, and his OPS is now a team-highest 1.048. Lowe is limited against left-handed pitching, but the damage he inflicts on righties is basically not replaceable with the Pirates current budget. Lowe helped break the game open with an opposite-field single in the 2nd inning, scoring two runners. Then he helped contribute to the 6th inning barrage by hitting yet another home run, his 6th of the season. The Pirates lineup has been crying out for a guy who can take charge and break games open for years, and Lowe is that guy who can have a two-week heater and lead teams to win streaks. You get his agent on the phone, you tell him he gets a four-year deal, and let him fill in the number of his choosing. He has been the second-best 2B in the league for years behind only Jose Altuve, and the Pirates should make it a top priority to keep him in Pittsburgh for a very long time.
It is Time to Move on from Jose Urquidy
The Pirates choosing to bring in Jose Urquidy on a one-year prove-it deal was a perfectly reasonable move. Urquidy had proven in the past to be a quality MLB starter, and it isn’t like Mike Clevinger is killing it in Triple-A to prove that he belongs. However, after the Cubs series and his inning-long appearance tonight, it is clear he does not have the makings of an MLB pitcher anymore. He got beat up by Nationals hitters tonight who were clearly pleased they no longer had to hit off of Paul Skenes. Urquidy gave up 4 runs on 6 hits, including a home run to Jacob Young in his one inning. Thankfully, his appearance never came close to costing the Pirates the victory because they were up by 14 by the time he came in. However, there are simply far better guys in Indianapolis, and he does not belong on the major league roster. I write this not to bring the vibes down because this was such a fun win from an extremely fun team, but it speaks to the larger bullpen issue that the Pirates currently face. The more the Pirates allow Urquidy to pitch in games, the more likely they are to throw away games that they deserve to win. I look to Sunday’s game as an example where he couldn’t get anyone out and gave up the walkoff to Carson Kelly. We might have a good team, but we are not good enough to roster dead weight like this and potentially cost us a division or wild card spot.
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