Kevin Gorman's Take 5: Pirates search for answers after a night of missing the barrels

The Pittsburgh Pirates couldn’t quite put their finger on what went wrong Wednesday night against Brandon Woodruff and the Milwaukee Brewers, just like they couldn’t quite make much contact.

Not that they didn’t search for answers.

“Um,” Pirates third baseman Phillip Evans said, “I think he was just missing our barrels.”

That’s one way to put it.

Here’s another: Their barrels were missing the ball.

Either way, the Pirates mustered one hit — a dribbler down the third-base line that Evans legged out for an infield single — against Woodruff and three Brewers relievers in a 3-0 loss at PNC Park.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton compared it to the Opening Day loss at St. Louis against Jack Flaherty: A dazzling performance by an opposing pitcher. Difference is, the Pirates got to Flaherty the third time around the order to score two runs in the seventh.

The Brewers didn’t wait for that to happen. David Phelps, Devin Williams and Josh Hader continued what Woodruff started, combining to record four strikeouts without allowing a baserunner.

“I think one of the key points here is, especially this game and the Flaherty game, is they just pitched really well,” Shelton said. “They execute pitches really well and, because of that, made it challenging. Then when you get a really small sample size in six games, if you want to you can really magnify it out. I just think we got pitched well, and their bullpen guys came in and threw the ball well, too.”

That’s kind of missing the barrel.

Brandon Woodruff has retired 17 in a row. The Pirates have hit one ball out of the infield so far, a pop out to shallow left. The only hit he's allowed through six had an exit velocity of a scorching 60.9 mph, per Statcast. Here it is: pic.twitter.com/zFIxEcKUIF

— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) July 30, 2020

1. Lineup shuffle: Shelton hasn’t used the same lineup in his first six games and sounded like someone willing to change that.

It’s with good reason. He has expressed concerns about soft-tissue injuries from the start of the season, knowing that three weeks of training camp following three-plus months off can be dangerous, and has tried every position player as a starter.

“I think we have to give them some sort of consistent at-bats,” Shelton said. “We’ve played six games. Obviously, it is a shorter season, and obviously we’re going to take a look at some guys. We’ve run some different lineups out to give us a different look.”

Six games is a big enough sample to ask these questions: Who should bat leadoff, Kevin Newman or Adam Frazier? Does Bryan Reynolds return to the second spot in the order? Should Josh Bell bat third or fourth? Where does Gregory Polanco fit in?

Once the Pirates figure out Nos. 1-5, the rest can fall into place.

The Pirates’ Josh Bell walks back to the dugout after striking out during the first inning against the Brewers on Wednesday, July 29, 2020, at PNC Park.

2. Bell bottoms: Shelton isn’t married to Bell batting cleanup, even though that’s the spot he hit in 140 games last season, because he sees the benefit of getting him first-inning at bats.

Bell has played every game, twice serving as the designated hitter, and is batting .174 (4 for 23) with four runs scored. He struck out three times against Woodruff on Wednesday, marking the first game he hasn’t had either a single or a sacrifice fly.

With Bell, the bigger concern should be at first base. He dropped his throwing motion from three-quarters to sidearm in the offseason, but is almost submarining the ball now. That caused it to carry on throws to second base when he worked with infield coach Joey Cora before Tuesday’s game.

Shelton shrugged it off.

“It would concern me if you didn’t see him out there working because of the fact that we need to work on our defensive stuff,” Shelton said. “I feel good about it. He feels good about it. Joey and (bench coach) Donnie (Kelly) have done a really good job working with him. It was just an opportunity to get some work in.”

Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review

Pirates third baseman Colin Moran during fielding practice Monday, July 13, 2020 at PNC Park.

3. Foul up: The Pirates started Colin Moran at first on Wednesday, using Bell as DH, and got mixed results.

Moran made two stops along the line but also had an error in the eighth on a pop fly in foul territory by Justin Smoak.

Or, as the Pirates would say, it missed his glove.

This is where Shelton has difficult decisions to make. Does he keep Moran as DH, even against lefties? Does he use the switch-hitting Bell as DH to allow him time to work on his throwing? What does he do with Jose Osuna, the best fielding first baseman of the three?

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Pirates pitcher Joe Musgrove delivers during the first inning against the Brewers on Wednesday, July 29, 2020, at PNC Park.

There were 28 strikeouts in the game tonight between the Pirates and Brewers. As @gbrowniepoints signed off the radio, he mentioned this incredible, dubious note: It is the most strikeouts in a game between the Bucs and their opponent in the modern era.

— Dan Zangrilli (@DanZangrilli) July 30, 2020

4. Joe knows: In each of his two starts, Joe Musgrove has pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed three runs. Against St. Louis, he gave up five hits, three walks and had seven strikeouts. Against the Brewers, he gave up four hits, three walks and eight strikeouts.

Both games he gave up two home runs.

Those mistakes have proven costly, especially when facing the opponent’s No. 1 starter.

“As a starter, I’m always competing with the other guy,” Musgrove said. “As good as he is, you’ve got to be real sharp and on your game, but that’s how it’s going to line up for me. I’m going to get some of the best of the best, and I’m ready for the challenge.”

Musgrove was happy with his breaking balls and said his slider was sharper, even if he didn’t have much life on the fastball. He didn’t, however, hide his frustration over the lack of run support in his first two starts, as the Pirates haven’t scored a run while he was pitching.

“It sucks, you know?” Musgrove said. “But there’s plenty of pitches that Woodruff made that I’m sure he saw as mistakes. We just didn’t hit ‘em. Sometimes, nights go like that. Sometimes, you execute all your pitches and you give up six, seven runs. Sometimes, you can’t hit a spot to save your life and you go scoreless. The game’s weird, man. But I like where I’m at right now.”

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Pirates left fielder Bryan Reynolds guns the ball to home plate to throw out the Brewers’ Ryan Braun on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at PNC Park.

5. Don’t run on Reynolds: Bryan Reynolds threw out a runner at the plate for the second consecutive game, and his throw on Wednesday night was even better than the night before.

Where Reynolds had to back up to catch Avisail Garcia’s fly ball in left and set his feet before throwing Ryan Braun out at the plate on Tuesday, this time he caught Keston Hiura’s single on a bounce and fired a laser to peg Eric Sogard at the plate.

“Two really good throws,” Shelton said. “That’s a good point. Came up aggressive, made a good throw.”

Shelton used that play to take positives out of the game, pointing to a solid performance by the bullpen.

Dovydas Neverauskas replaced Musgrove with two outs in the sixth and recovered from walking Garcia to put two runners on by striking out Ben Gamel, who hit one over the right-field seats in the third.

Lefty Robbie Erlin allowed two hits in two innings but twice got out of jams with runners in scoring position. Richard Rodriguez pitched a clean ninth, with a strikeout and two groundouts.

Problem was, the Brewers bullpen was even better. The Pirates never reached base on any of their three relievers, either.

It was a bad night for the barrels.