Tim Benz: Pirates may prove ESPN right on ‘worst ever win percentage’ prediction

Tuesday’s Pirates-Twins game was delayed in the top of the fifth inning when an unauthorized drone flew over Target Field in Minneapolis.

Welp, this is a first. Pirates vs Twins game delayed because of a drone on the field. pic.twitter.com/uMPPcv8nOL

— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) August 4, 2020

The delay lasted about five minutes before the small flying device departed.

Presumably, the drone flew away at that point because it realized the visiting team was the Pirates.

So why bother waiting around any longer to watch them? Maybe come back another day when the Twins (9-2) were facing real competition.

The Pirates team Twitter account had a sense of humor about the incident at least.

We are in a...drone delay.

We don't know. AL baseball is weird.

— Pirates (@Pirates) August 4, 2020

Even Pirates rookie manager Derek Shelton seemed bemused.

“A drone in an empty stadium? It just speaks to the season we are in,” Shelton said after his team’s 7-3 loss. “A global pandemic. Guys wearing masks. A 60-game season. Why not throw a drone into it to keep everybody interested?”

Good for Shelton and the team. Because they are quickly approaching “if you don’t laugh, you are going to cry” territory.

The defeat was the Pirates’ sixth in a row. And it dropped the franchise to a Major League Baseball worst 2-9 record.

The loss came just a few hours after ESPN.com published a list of “bold predictions,” roughly two weeks into this reconfigured sprint of a season.

One of those predictions was: “The Pirates will have the worst winning percentage in modern baseball history.”

Given that the season is only going to last 60 games this year — at most — that prediction may not be so bold.

The modern-day record for worst winning percentage in a season is currently held by the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (.235). They were 36-117.

As ESPN.com writer AJ Mass points out, “That would translate to 14 wins in a 60-game season.”

So look out, Philadelphia Athletics. The Pandemic Pirates are coming for you! They are currently at a .182 clip.

Come to think of it, that ignominious record is so old, it predates the last global pandemic in 1918.

No drone footage exists of that A’s team for the sake of comparison, unfortunately. Although they did improve to 52-76 the year the Spanish flu hit the U.S.

Mass continued, “I’ve started to tune in to their games to see their latest bizarre baserunning gaffes, unusual defensive alignments and pointless replay reviews … I’m on board with these lovable losers to continue to be just that — in record-breaking style.”

A lot of that is right. Except the lovable part. Yes, the team is chock-full of likeable players.

But I’m not quite sure any of this is lovable. I mean, I certainly enjoy having baseball back as opposed to its absence during the coronavirus shutdown.

Unfortunately, this team has been brutal to watch so far. Consider some of these statistics — all of which were compiled after team’s loss to the Twins Tuesday evening.

• The Pirates owned the worst on-base percentage in baseball (.262). They were 28th in batting average (.194), OPS (.575), and slugging percentage (.313).

•Pirates hitters have 58 strikeouts during the six game losing streak.

• Pirates pitchers have yielded 58 walks, most in the National League in 2020. And their collective 1.47 WHIP was the second highest in baseball.

• With two more errors Tuesday, that’s nine total for the club. The San Francisco Giants (13) are the only National League team with more.

Tuesday’s loss was tough to swallow since it was the third loss in as many outings for the team’s “ace” Joe Musgrove. The right-hander was pulled with one out in the fourth inning after allowing six hits and five walks. He’s now 0-3, with an ERA of 6.75 after being tagged with five earned runs Tuesday.

“I expected them to be a little more aggressive early in counts,” Musgrove said. “They did a really good job of laying off pitches. In 0-0 spots, 1-0 spots I expected to get a little more chase out of them.

“Tough at-bats all day. I didn’t command the ball very well, falling behind hitters.”

Shelton addressed all the walks his staff has been granting to opposing hitters.

“We get ourselves to good counts,” Shelton said. “Then we get a little too fine. Instead of executing the pitches that we have executed, we try to go to quadrants of the zone that are balls, instead of getting chases.”

That compounded with a batting order that featured one player, Phillip Evans, in the game-ending box score with a batting average above .275. With three hits Tuesday, his average jumped to .393. Seven of the remaining Pirates were hitting between .063 and .250.

So no wonder ESPN’s prediction for the Pirates is as dismal as it is.

And no wonder the drone left in the top of the fifth. I’m stunned it showed up at all to watch these guys.