PITTSBURGH — “Nothing builds confidence like a little success.”
That was manager Clint Hurdle’s message about his team’s offense in a 2-1 win over the New York Yankees on Sunday.
When he said “a little,” he wasn’t kidding. The Pirates twice had the bases loaded with nobody out, but came away with just one run — a sacrifice fly by David Freese. Gregory Polanco added an RBI double that scored Andrew McCutchen for the only other offense.
The Pirates continued to struggle with runners in scoring position, going 1 for 10 on the afternoon, leaving seven men on base and getting into three double plays. The team’s offensive struggles in the early going have been an overall malaise, but if the Pirates could hope for one player to catch fire, it would probably be Polanco, who snapped on 0 for 15 streak with his RBI double and finished 2 for 4.
Polanco has hit cleanup all 14 of his starts this season, and having a player in that spot hitting .143 with runners in scoring position can be awfully detrimental to an offense’s success. Polanco’s RBI was just his fourth of the season.
What’s holding Polanco back isn’t immediately clear. His strike out rate is down to 19.7 percent after sitting at 20.3 last season. He’s walking more — 9.8 percent compared to 9.0 percent. His BABIP is hovering right around average at .302.
Part of the issues might be more exposure to left-handers. Polanco has faced a left-hander in 11 of his 15 games played and has 23 plate appearances against southpaws, which would put him on pace for 207 on the season — nearly double his total from 2016.
That could be just because the Pirates have randomly faced more lefties early this season, but Polanco had frequently been placed farther down the lineup against left-handers last year. This year, he’s stayed in the No. 4 spot. He also wasn’t held out of the lineup against tough lefties like Chris Sale and C.C. Sabathia.
Polanco told me he’s feeling better about his approach to lefties, but it can still take him an at-bat or two to really start to see the ball well against some. Sunday’s Yankees starter Jordan Montgomery was able to take advantage of that, striking out Polanco with the bases loaded in the first.
“It’s coming and I feel a lot more comfortable in the box with a lefty [on the mound],” Polanco said. “Right now, I’m missing a lot of balls and I’m having a hard time [in general], but I’m feeling more comfortable with lefties.
“I didn’t know [Montgomery]. He pitched me the first ball in the corner for a strike. It was a tough pitch to hit and then he threw a couple sliders. He got me hard away. He was quick pitching. I wasn’t able to get ready. That’s how it feels. He got me.”
The next at-bat, Polanco jumped on the first pitch, driving it the other way into the right-field corner. While it’s disappointing that he wasn’t able to take advantage of the first opportunity, Hurdle was pleased with the bounce-back.
“To hit the double there [after] coming up the first inning with the bases loaded, we had two bases loaded opportunities today and we cashed in one run. That’s not the way you draw it up, but those things can all build together,” Hurdle said “He’s done it before. A little something like that every once in a while something like that will light a spark light, light a fire and get some momentum.”
NOVA FOILS FORMER TEAMMATES
Ivan Nova pitched seven innings of one-run ball against his former teammates, giving the Pirates a quality start and the kind of performance they’ve come to expect from the man who is now unquestionably the leader of the rotation.
Hurdle said that wasn’t something that happened right away, but the 30-year old Nova has enjoyed being the elder statesman of a group that includes three players 25 or younger.
“I think he gave it a little time, because he just wanted to make sure his game was in check, get in a good place and settle in,” Hurdle said. “He got a good vibe with the guys. He got a good vibe with the clubhouse. As he’s told anybody that’s asked, he liked it here. He liked leading those young guys and giving them some direction at times as they asked some questions. He leads by example as much as anything and he’s very impressive the other four days when he doesn’t have the ball.”
Nova added that while he did make the trip over to the visitor’s clubhouse to see some of his old friends this series, the was more focused on not letting his new teammates down.
“Everybody here treats me really well,” he said. “[The Pirates] give me the confidence to go out there and perform. I’m just trying not to let them down, go out and pitch.”
NOTES
Tony Watson and Daniel Hudson both escaped jams to pitch scoreless innings of relief. Watson loaded the bases with one out with the help of a Josh Harrison error that should have gone for a game-ending double play. … David Freese had a sacrifice fly and now has RBIs in three straight games. … Nova walked his first batter of the season; his mound opponent, Montgomery.
