Where Things Stand
Well, that one last night sure got the blood pressure up, huh? I wouldn’t mind just forgetting that everything from the fifth inning on actually happened and saying that the Bucs won 7-1. Sound fair? I have to admit that there was a point in that ninth inning where I became ever so slightly concerned that the Pirates were going to blow a 7-1 lead. I should know better than not to have faith in David Bednar. There was never a doubt. The pitching last night wasn’t great. A stretch of Borucki, Mlodzinski, and Holderman provided three solid innings. Outside of that, it was kind of rough. The offense looked really good early but only managed one hit after the fourth inning. Fortunately, they managed seven runs in those first four innings. Reynolds hit a two-run home run. Everyone in the starting lineup had a hit outside of Endy Rodrigue and Jared Triolo. It turned out to be good enough. The drama came in the ninth when David Bednar was kind of struggling. At least struggling by David Bednar standards. He allowed one run, two hits, and two walks and got the final out with the bases loaded. He didn’t have much help defensively, but he also didn’t have much command. Not his best outing, but good enough for his 34th save of the season. I’ll let Jim and Neil walk you through the rest of the juicy details.
Up Next
With the Pirates leading the series 2-1, the final game will be today at 12:35 P.M. EDT. Mitch Keller will get the start with an extra day of rest and he’ll face off against Josiah Gray. Keller got lit up in his last outing, but that was against the best offensive team in the league. I expect he’ll fare much better in today’s game. In his last seven games, Gray is 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA. He’s only pitched over four innings in three of those starts. The biggest concern for tomorrow is that these afternoon games closing out a series are when we see the most awful Pirates lineup cards imaginable. I still think that this team is playing well enough that even if multiple strong starters are sitting they should still be able to get to Gray. Well, what do you guys think? Will they pull off the series win? Will Keller bounce back in a big way? Let me know in the comments.
Quick Hits
First off, we have this new piece from Connor Williams. You all know Connor as one of the NS9 Podcast gang, but he is also a contributor to Bucs Dugout. In his latest piece, he’s talking about the Pirates not deserving the benefit of the doubt with regard to their roster management this season. I’ll clip a couple of paragraphs, but you should click through and read the entire thing.
Now could a team, especially one in the Pirates position, have reasonably replaced, or filled all of those holes on their roster with enough quality to make the playoffs? No, they could not have. It was simply too many injuries, too many poor performances, too much... everything to overcome. But it is still not an excuse for giving up.
Not only is the benefit of the doubt harder to give, but it should not be given when the team doesn’t try.
Last night the Pirates pitching composed of Andre Jackson, a failed reliever waiver claim turned starter with an ERA over 5.5, Hunter Stratton, a AAA call up walking nearly five batters per nine innings, Cody Bolton with his 6.50 ERA and Jose Hernandez, a Rule-5 lefty.
We’ll close things out with this from ESPN. Ben Cherington feels that Andrew McCutchen can still help the Pirates after his Achilles injury.
Cherington said Wednesday he believes McCutchen, 36, will be able to "help us" in 2024 after he recovers from a partially torn Achilles tendon in his left foot that cut short his homecoming season.
McCutchen, who is sitting on 299 career home runs, is scheduled to be a free agent in the offseason after signing a one-year deal to return to Pittsburgh last winter. The five-time All-Star and 2013 NL MVP made it clear he wants to finish his career with the Pirates and said last week, "It's not going to feel right anywhere else."
Pittsburgh is in the midst of a massive youth movement designed to return the franchise to contention. McCutchen, who hit .256 with 12 homers and 43 RBIs in 112 games primarily as a designated hitter, provides a veteran voice who knows what it's like to win in Pittsburgh after helping the franchise to three straight playoff berths from 2013 to '15.
While he lamented a dip in his power numbers, he surpassed 2,000 career hits earlier in the year and posted a .378 on-base percentage.
"[His approach] has helped our lineup," Cherington said. "It's helped us, and I don't see any particular reason why that can't continue."
Alright. That wraps us up for today. We’ll be back here again tomorrow closing out the Nationals series and looking ahead to the weekend series against the Yankees. As always, #LetsGoBucs!