Kevin Gorman's Take 5: Pirates are rebuilding, even if they refuse to say so
The Pittsburgh Pirates might refuse to say the word, but all evidence has pointed to rebuilding since the end of the 2019 season.
If firing the president, general manager and field manager wasn’t an indication that the Pirates are going in a different direction, trading their best all-around player, center fielder Starling Marte, for a pair of 19-year-old prospects should have sent a strong message.
Not that they have much choice.
The Pirates started the season without their top two starting pitchers, Jameson Taillon and Chris Archer. They have been without closer Keone Kela and top position prospect Ke’Bryan Hayes since the start of training camp, after both tested positive for covid-19.
On top of that, the Pirates lost three players to season-ending injuries: high-leverage relievers Nick Burdi and Michael Feliz and corner infielder/outfielder Phillip Evans, who was leading the team with a .359 batting average and nine RBIs. And relief pitchers Kyle Crick and Clay Holmes and starter Mitch Keller also are on the 10-day injured list.
Still, that’s no excuse for the Pirates (3-13) having the worst winning percentage (.188) in baseball. It’s one thing to keep games close, as they have been involved in seven one-run games; it’s another to lose six of them. They also have lost all three of their extra-innings games.
The Pirates have dropped plenty of subtle suggestions that they are looking ahead to next season. With a quarter of the 2020 season over, the Pirates have some things to figure out in the two-plus weeks before the trade deadline.
1. Who’s the closer?: The Pirates are running out of candidates, and catcher John Ryan Murphy’s 1-2-3 stint on Saturday against Detroit might have been their easiest ninth inning since Burdi struck out the side on July 26 at St. Louis.
Kela is close to coming back, as he threw live batting practice last week at PNC Park.
“I thought he was really good,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “I thought the fastball came out of his hand. I thought the breaking ball was good. For it being the first time he faced hitters, I thought it was really encouraging.”
But Kela is in the final year of his contract, so he could be a trade candidate come Aug. 31. What will be interesting to see if the Pirates promote Blake Cederlind, who threw 100 mph in spring training but missed summer camp with the coronavirus.
2. What’s the rotation?: The Pirates began the season with only four established starting pitchers, as both Steven Brault and Chad Kuhl were still in the process of building up their arms.
With Keller, the only starter to earn a victory, out with an oblique injury, the Pirates were forced to adapt. Now, they could go from not having enough starters to fill out a rotation to having too many.
Joe Musgrove, Trevor Williams and Derek Holland are set as starters, and JT Brubaker allowed three runs on four hits while making a start in Keller’s spot in the rotation.
When Musgrove was scratched from Sunday’s start, Brault took his place. Brault, Kuhl and Brubaker all have indicated that their preference is to pitch out of the rotation but at least one is likely headed to the bullpen when Keller returns.
3. Who’s on third?: Losing Evans to a fractured jaw was a big blow for the Pirates as much for his defense as his bat. He was showing signs of being a stopgap at third base until Hayes is ready.
Colin Moran has started more games at designated hitter (six) and first base (five) than he has at third (four), so Erik Gonzalez is likely to get more playing time at the hot corner.
The Pirates love his glove, as well as his versatility. He has started five games each at shortstop and third, and is capable of playing second. But his bat is earning Gonzalez playing time, as he’s hitting .333 (12 for 36) with three doubles and eight RBIs.
“He’s always been a great defender,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said. “He can play defense at a number of spots at a high level. He runs well and he’s always hit the ball hard. He’s hit the ball hard on the ground a lot in the past, and that’s maybe cut into his offensive performance a little bit. So the simple thing with him is just trying to get the ball off the ground, and again, it’s a small sample. He needs to keep playing.”
At least, until the Pirates are ready and willing to call up Hayes from their satellite camp in Altoona. He’s already their best defensive third baseman, but they could be waiting until September in an attempt to preserve his Super 2 status.
4. Who bats leadoff?: Shelton hasn’t used the same lineup this season, somewhat by design, but the biggest question starts with the first spot in the batting order.
The Pirates haven’t found any consistency.
Kevin Newman struggled in the first two games, getting only one hit in his first eight at-bats, before Shelton dropped him one spot in the order in favor of Adam Frazier.
Frazier has hit game-winning and game-tying home runs, but is batting .167 in 12 games at leadoff. Newman was 7 for 20 (.350) in the five-game homestand, with two doubles and four RBIs. Another candidate is Cole Tucker, who has one hit (a home run) in two games batting first.
Until the Pirates come to a conclusion on who should bat first, the rest of the order is likely to remain in flux.
5. Who’s in center?: Defensively, Jarrod Dyson makes it look easy. Offensively, it’s been a struggle. The 35-year-old is batting .118, but has shown that he can be dangerous when he gets on base. What is most evident is that Dyson is neither an everyday player at this point of his career or a long-term solution in center.
So, the Pirates are taking a long look at Tucker, who never played anywhere but shortstop prior to this season, as a center fielder. He made a dashing debut in an exhibition game at Cleveland, sliding on his knees to make a catch without crashing into the wall. His inexperience in the outfield proved costly, however, in a 5-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins, when Tucker misplayed a line drive by Max Kepler that went for a two-run double.
“Cole’s done a good job out there,” Cherington said. “He certainly looks aggressive and not tentative at all. That’s kind of the first thing you look at. His speed is playing well. He’s an above-average runner for any of the outfield positions, including center field. Some of the range measurements we’ve looked at are promising. He’s been aggressive on ground balls, coming to get balls. He’s been aggressive with throwing. There are a lot of good signs defensively.
“Got challenged with a tough play in Minnesota the other day. That’s something that, for a young player playing center field for the first time, you kind of have to see that ball five or six times … it’s just different off the bat in the game than it would be in batting practice. It’s just coming off faster, so you have to see that ball a few times to get used to it. But we know his attitude is always going to be good. He’s always going to come to the ballpark trying to learn and get better. His energy is fun to be around. I think he likes the challenge of learning a new position. We’re encouraged by it.”
Cherington said Tucker dropped hints that he would be open to a position switch if it kept him in the majors, and the Pirates coaching staff was confident that Tucker would “be fine” if switched back to the infield or had to play a combination.
“There are still obviously things he needs to do to improve and be a better player. He knows that. But this is a way to get him in the lineup,” Cherington said. “There are very few players in today’s game who really only play one position. There are some, but they’re fewer and far between. Guys who have his ability and can play multiple spots becomes potentially really valuable.
“We want to explore that and see where it goes.”
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
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