Ke’Bryan Hayes has returned to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
About a week ago, I looked at the talent level for this offense, noting how few regular starters there were among the group. At the time, Hayes and Bryan Reynolds were both injured. Tonight, they lead off the top two spots of the Pirates’ order.
Things are slowly trending in a positive direction for the offense. The Pirates have recently added Henry Davis and Nick Gonzales, who are both getting the opportunity to be everyday players. Davis is batting .288/.354/.390. Gonzales is hitting .333/.372/.615 in 43 PA, and is on a heater right now. In his last four games, he’s 9-for-17 with a homer, two doubles, and a walk.
Jack Suwinski is on a hot streak lately, batting .370/.553/.852 with four homers in 38 PA over his last nine games. He’s also walking more (23.7%) than he’s striking out (21.1%).
Carlos Santana gets a night off the field, playing as the designated hitter. Andrew McCutchen gets a night off. On a normal night, those two are a great addition to the five above.
When Oneil Cruz returns, and Endy Rodriguez arrives, this will be a very interesting lineup from one through nine.
It’s a big change from where this team was a few weeks ago.
PIRATES (40-46) AT LOS ANGELES
Game Time: 10:10 PM EST
Pirates Starter: Johan Oviedo, RHP (3-9, 4.61)
Dodgers Starter: Julio Urias, RHP (5-5, 4.94)
Pirates Lineups:
One more on the West Coast.
Dodgers Lineups:
Tonight's #Dodgers lineup vs. Pirates: pic.twitter.com/dzbFQZYBuA
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 6, 2023
DAILY PIRATES NEWS
Today’s Prospect Watch features a report on Kyle Nicolas and two lefty pitchers.
**Prospect Watch: Kyle Nicolas, Nick Dombkowski, Tyler Samaniego
The Pirates made a few roster moves, including the return of Ke’Bryan Hayes.
**Pirates Activate Ke’Bryan Hayes from Injured List; Option Roansy Contreras to Indianapolis
**Indianapolis Places Duane Underwood Jr and Daniel Zamora on the Injured List
There has been a lot of draft coverage today. We started with our Roundtable look at the non-LSU draft prospects.
**Pirates Roundtable: The Players Who Would Go First Overall in a “Normal” Year
From there, I looked at the important question of “How” when projecting out the future for draft prospects.
**Pirates Prospects Daily: The How of the MLB Draft
ESPN and Baseball America have new draft prospect lists.
**New Draft Prospects Lists from ESPN and Baseball America
Keith Law has a new top 100.
**Updated Top 100 Draft Prospects List from Keith Law
MLB Pipeline has Paul Skenes in their latest mock draft.
**New Mock Draft from MLB Pipeline Has the Pirates Going for Pitching Over Hitting
More Recent Pirates Features
7/2: Derek Shelton’s Difficult Job
6/30: Williams: Tathata and the Present Day Grades of the Pirates Position Players
6/29: Jared Triolo Has Positive Recovery From Negative Start to the Year
6/29: This May Be Exactly What This Team Needed
6/28: The Key To Success For Nick GonzalesPIRATES RECAP
By Jeff Reed
Final Score: 5-2
Player of the Game: Nick Gonzales, SS (1-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI)
Recap:Johan Oviedo entered the evening with an 8.47 ERA in the first inning this season. The struggles would continue with him giving up a lead-off double that was immediately followed by a two-run home run.
Oviedo settled down and fired four scoreless innings, before giving up a lead-off double in the sixth — where he had an elevated 6.00 ERA on the year — that was immediately followed by another two-run home run. He almost made it through seven innings, but left after giving up a two-out double, before Angel Perdomo entered and gave up a RBI single. Oviedo’s night ended with five earned runs across 6.2 IP and six strike outs.
Pirates offense struggled against Los Angeles starter Julio Urias. They managed only three hits and a walk, with the three hits all coming consecutively in the second inning while they were down 2-0. Jack Suwinski followed up a Connor Joe single with a liner to left field that David Peralta misread off the bat, and went to the wall for a double. Nick Gonzales then continued his tear by pulling a first pitch slurve down the left field line for a two-run double that would tie the game at two at the time.
With Oviedo out of the game and a 5-2 deficit, the offense didn’t show much life. The most emotion shown was when hitting coach Andy Haines was tossed from the game arguing balls and strikes after Suwinski was unhappy about a called third strike (it was a strike).
Tucupita Marcano did get a lead off infield single in the seventh when he pinch hit for Rodolfo Castro, but was erased almost instantly on a ground ball double play.
Yerry De Los Santos pitched a scoreless eight to drop his ERA to 0.82 in 11 IP.
Pirates will now head to Arizona for their final three game series leading up to the draft and All Star break.
