Kevin Gorman's Take 5: Aggressive approach helps Pirates reset offense against Reds

A three-day break might have been the best thing for the Pittsburgh Pirates to snap a three-game losing streak, so it was no surprise to hear players treating their trip to Cincinnati as an offensive reset.

Before three of their first six batters hit home runs and scored nine runs against a pitcher who hadn’t allowed an earned run all season in the 9-6 win over the Reds on Thursday night at Great American Ball Park, Josh Bell predicted that the Pirates were “really close, at least the lefties” to an offensive outburst.

“It’s definitely refreshing,” Bell said of the postponement of their three-game series at St. Louis earlier this week because of a covid-19 outbreak on the Cardinals. “We’re all going to have fresh legs going into this series. Should be some fun baseball.”

Colin Moran with a BOMB.#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/t2S2YLcLAi

— Pirates (@Pirates) August 13, 2020

Walkie: "He's good for a home run tonight."

Polanco: #LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/OpBzVU7okJ

— Pirates (@Pirates) August 13, 2020

Then the lefties went to work, as Adam Frazier, Colin Moran and Gregory Polanco all hit solo home runs off Anthony DeSclafani. A seven-run second inning gave Trevor Williams a nine-run cushion. Every Pirates batter reached base, with all but Bryan Reynolds getting a hit and all but Reynolds and Jarrod Dyson scoring a run.

“I like the Nostradamus call on his part,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Bell’s pregame prediction. “Very good. I don’t know if that’s the case, but we did a really good job. We came out early, aggressive.”

Shelton is fond of GABP from his days as a hitting coach, given its reputation as hitter-friendly field because of its dimensions (328 feet to left, 379 to left-center, 404 to center, 370 to right-center and 325 to right). But the Pirates looked like a team prepared to hit.

“It was huge,” Frazier said. “A lot of guys, including myself, were searching a little bit trying to find it, and I think it was great. Just a mental reset. Obviously the first 15, 16 games didn’t really go the way we wanted or expected, so those couple days we took advantage of and just try to build off this one.”

OUT.
GOES.
FRAZIER!#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/vYAXFWKJWY

— Pirates (@Pirates) August 13, 2020

1. Leading off: Frazier hit his eighth career leadoff homer, tying him with Andrew McCutchen for third place in franchise history behind Al Martin (10) and Barry Bonds (20).

All three of Frazier’s home runs have been momentum boosts for the Pirates this season. His two-run homer in the eighth inning against Milwaukee proved to be the game winner in an 8-6 win on July 28, and his two-out solo shot in the bottom of the ninth against Detroit sent the game into extra innings in a 17-13 loss on Aug. 7.

DeSclafani had yet to allow a homer this season, but he gave up 29 bombs last year, including 15 at home.

“He pitches off the fastball a lot. It’s a fastball full of life, 97-98, and then he was running the two-seam off of it at the same speed,” Frazier said. “So you’re just trying to get up there ready to swing, ready to attack a pitch over the middle and go from there — and we got lucky a few times too. I know I did on that second at-bat, so I guess it was just our day against him.”

Look ma, no hands.#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/XQGehoIK7E

— Pirates (@Pirates) August 14, 2020

2. Nice cushion: Trevor Williams had only received one run of support in 15⅓ innings this season, so he enjoyed starting the bottom of the second with a 9-0 lead.

Williams called pitching with a lead a double-edged sword, as he knew the Reds were capable of a comeback because of some big bats in their lineup. But Williams said the Pirates welcomed the rest, given that they were mentally and physically taxed as injuries and close losses took their toll over the first 16 games.

Last season, the Pirates scored five or more runs in six of nine games in Cincinnati. Of course, they also gave up five or more runs in five of those games.

“It always seems like when we play here, it’s an offensive reset,” Williams said. “I feel like last year, every time we came in here, it really boosted our offense and got it going. Is this what we need? Scoring nine runs in the first two innings was great. Is it the boost that we needed? Sure, in combination with the three days off, was pretty nice as well. … For what we did against a guy who hadn’t given up a run all season until today, it’s impressive.”

3. Turning two: One of the key defensive plays came in the second inning, when Williams walked Eugenio Suarez and gave up back-to-back singles to Jesse Winker and Nick Senzel.

With one out and runners on first and third, Freddy Galvis hit a grounder to first. Colin Moran fielded it, touched the bag and threw a strike to shortstop Kevin Newman to force out Senzel just a split-second before Winker crossed home plate.

The double play was a dagger that killed the Reds’ rally.

“That was a really big play, and I’m glad that you brought that up,” Shelton said. “He made a really nice play on it. Newman made a really nice tag on the play. It’s a really quick play to be able to step, tag — and not only did Colin make a nice throw and Kevin made a nice tag, but also we prevented a run there.”

It took Williams a moment to realize exactly what happened, especially given that it’s a play Bell might not have made at first with his submarine throws to second sometimes carrying.

“It threw me off, in a sense, because they said the run didn’t score and I was like, ‘Why? It was a force out.’ And then I realized we tagged him at the end and I saw the video on how close it was to where the run scored,” Williams said. “So I’m thankful that we got out of that. Double plays are a pitcher’s best friend. It got me out of a out of a jam.”

#TBT to when we scored seven runs in the second.#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/5b1XILiAxl

— Pirates (@Pirates) August 13, 2020

4. Be aggressive: Bell wasn’t bashful in stating that the Pirates were going to change their approach, starting with the Reds series, with the focus on being on time for fastballs.

Shelton clarified that an aggressive attitude doesn’t necessarily mean the Pirates are swinging for the fences or result in home runs, even if that was the case the first time around the order.

“Aggressiveness really doesn’t have to be power,” Shelton said. “We hit the ball out of the ballpark, but aggressiveness is just taking a good, healthy hack at the pitch we like. And I think we saw that throughout.”

For example, Reynolds was 0 for 3 with a walk but flew out deep to right and left field, where Sogo Akiyama made a great catch in the seventh inning to prevent a sure double.

“Reynolds hit two balls on the screws and got robbed,” Shelton said. “There were some nice plays. Frazier hit a ball that the left fielder made a hell of a play on, and it shows why he won a Gold Glove in Japan. Two really good plays that could have accounted for runs. I just thought, throughout, we were really aggressive.”

5. Call a taxi: After reducing rosters to 28 players, MLB allows teams to carry as many as five players on the taxi squad. The Pirates took advantage by inviting outfielders Guillermo Heredia and Jared Oliva, along with third catcher Andrew Susac, on the trip to Cincinnati.

Shelton said it was both good exposure and a reward for how Oliva, ranked the team’s No. 10 prospect by MLB.com, has performed at the satellite camp in Altoona.

“He’s working his butt off down there,” Shelton said. “He’s doing a lot of good things.”

Taxi squad players can work out with the team in batting practice and pregame warmups — which allowed Oliva to work with outfielders coach Tarrik Brock — but aren’t allowed to be in the dugout during games.

Shelton said exposing top prospects to the majors through the taxi squad happened “organically,” and suggested that “everybody’s fair game” from the alternate training site in Altoona.

Don’t be surprised to see more prospects like Oliva, especially at positions like center field where the Pirates could potentially trade a veteran like Dyson by the Aug. 31 deadline.