PITTSBURGH — In the Pirates’ just-completed three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals, they scored just three runs.
The problem has not been that the Pirates’ offense has been historically inept. They’re getting runners on base. They just keep leaving them there. They left 31 men on base in three games, including twice with the bases loaded in late-game scenarios.
The Pirates’ numbers on the season in run-scoring situations aren’t pretty. In all situations, the team has a .229/.302/.342 triple slash line. With men on base, that falls to .199/.294/.306. With men in scoring position, it’s .197/.326/.308. With the bases loaded, they’ve somehow managed to hit just .059/.105/.059.
There’s obviously a good bit of small sample size going on there. They’ve managed only 19 plate appearances thus far with the bases loaded, so one extra hit — Gregory Polanco’s shot down the first-base line that Matt Carpenter snared comes to mind — would have made a big difference.
In general, the team has been a victim of some poor BABIP outcomes. In those 19 plate appearances with the bases loaded, the teams’ BABIP is .067. In none of the runner-on-base scenarios I broke out above is the team hitting better than .229 on balls in play.
That should normalize over time, and this is a conversation that’s come up many times since the Pirates chose to focus on offense based more on on-base percentage than power.
But more so than they have in the past, the Pirates are relying on some young hitters for a good bit of their offense. Josh Bell and Adam Frazier have become important cogs and while the stats show that there is no magic formula to be a clutch hitter, it’s certainly possible that the young players on the team are getting out of the approach that’s made them successful when there’s the added pressure of a big situation. Avoiding the temptation to do to much is something that can take some young players some time to learn.
“I’ve played long enough and I’ve tried to be that guy before,” Andrew McCutchen said. “I know it doesn’t work more times than not.”
Manager Clint Hurdle said he’s sure to look for the signs of that, and he said what he looks for is players trying to unnaturally lift the ball.
“Lift is usually your front foot hits, your shoulder is elevated, backside is lower than your front side and you’re trying to lift the ball and trying to separate the ball – really, just tank the ball, hit the ball out of the ballpark,” he said. “You’re not trying to hit it over the wall; you’re trying to hit it out of the ballpark. More often than not, it’s powerless effort. When your swing is synchronized, you’re seeing effortless power. Everything works together and it comes out free and easier. I wasn’t seeing guys putting their foot down, trying to create lift and ride a ball out of the ballpark for no particular reason. That’s one thing that we are continuing to work on – hitting the ball where it’s pitched.”
So Hurdle isn’t seeing hitters trying to be “that guy,” as McCutchen put it. I went to the team’s youngest hitters for their take.
“I try to take every at-bat and treat it the same,” Frazier said “I think we did a good job in Chicago, but it was the other way in St. Louis. You have to treat it the same every time you get up to the plate. If you get a hit, you get a hit and if and guys are on, even better.”
“It definitely stinks not pulling through in those situations, but at the same time, we have so many opportunities to pull through,” Bell added. “I feel like you can’t let the season be a roller coaster ride or it’ll drive you insane.”
Frazier was also cognizant of the fine line between what’s now a disturbing trend from being a relative non-issue.
“If I get a hit in the second game in St. Louis, we probably win that game and we’re probably not talking about it right now,” he said. “We were one hit away that whole series. That’s just baseball. Who knows, we could blow out the Yankees and then we’ll be talking about it the other way.”
STARTING LINEUP
Game 16: #Pirates (6-9) vs Yankees (10-5)
C.C. Sabathia on the hill for the Bombers. pic.twitter.com/J3wSZYk8Md
— Alan Saunders (@ASaunders_PGH) April 21, 2017
NEW FACE IN RIGHT
Jose Osuna will make his first major-league start in right field. Hurdle said he’ll continue to be a part of the rotation at that spot, especially against left-handed pitching.
Osuna will join John Jaso and Adam Frazier as the players to start a game in right since the suspension of Starling Marte, and Hurdle said it might continue to be a rotation for some time.
“There’s a couple different guys that can play out there,” Hurdle said. “We’ll wait and see how it plays out. If somebody can step up and shows us the reasons he can play right field, go ahead and do it.”
Hurdle said that the ability to keep Jaso and Osuna involved as starting position players should give them a boost when it comes to pinch hitting, as well.
“This gives them the opportunity get four at-bats [in a game],” Hurdle said. “Osuna’s going to get four at-bats. Jaso got some the other day. If you want your bench players to be productive, you’ve got to find the opportunities for them to play and engage rather than just coming off the bench.”
