In another inept display, the Pirates got stomped by Atlanta’s B team, 11-3. They’re now 4-10-2 on the spring.
Mitch Keller had a decent start, allowing two runs over four innings, on three hits and a walk, with four strikeouts. His first two innings were difficult, as he got two strikes on nearly every hitter but struggled to put them away. He then breezed through the next two innings. With all the talk of greater velocity and new pitches, the thing that struck me the most about Keller’s emergence last year was a newfound ability to battle through rough spells and take charge of a game. Hopefully this was more of the same.
After a scoreless inning by Wil Crowe, Angel Perdomo and Yohan Ramirez blew up the game. Perdomo faced four hitters, retiring two. Ramirez then got blasted, allowing both of Perdomo’s runners to score and three of his own. He retired only one of the five hitters he faced. The Pirates shouldn’t be facing a very difficult decision with either of these two.
Colin Selby and Yerry De Los Santos each threw a scoreless inning. Tyler Samaniego gave up four in the ninth while retiring only one batter. Cam Junker got the last two outs.
The offense was the usual futility — four hits, no walks, eleven whiffs. Bryan Reynolds hit his second home run to account for one run, Jack Suwinski his first to account for the other two.
The job competitions were anything but. Tucupita Marcano, Ji-Hwan Bae, Canaan Smith-Njigba, Miguel Andujar, Connor Joe, Rodolfo Castro, Drew Maggi, Cal Mitchell, Tyler Heineman, Jared Triolo and Travis Swaggerty combined to go 0-for-15 with seven strikeouts.
It’s not like the Pirates were facing the Braves’ frontline pitching, either. After their starter, the Braves used pretty much the same sort of guys the Pirates did, mainly minor league veterans and older guys trying to hang on, including the ageless Jesse Chavez.
Yes, it’s spring training . . . except no, it’s not just spring training. It’s identical to what Ben Cherington has produced throughout his tenure. In his first three years, the Pirates ranked 30th (by a lot) in runs, 28th in BA, 29th in OBP, 30th in SLG, 30th in HRs, 30th in wRC+, and 30th in fWAR. So far this spring, it’s déja vu all other again.
