There were two moments on Tuesday where Paul Skenes really stood out as the real deal.
In the fifth inning, with Miles Mikolas throwing a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates offense, Skenes ran into his first trouble of the day against the St. Louis Cardinals. He allowed two singles to start the inning, putting runners at first and third with no outs in the scoreless game.
Skenes battled back with strikeouts against veteran Matt Carpenter and catcher Pedro Pages, before getting Michael Siani to ground out to first.
In the sixth inning, he allowed a one-out single, before getting Paul Goldschmidt to ground into a double play to end the frame. The game was still scoreless at the time, with Mikolas still holding the no-hitter.
We can debate whether the Pirates offense should have been shut down by Mikolas. The fact is that this was a rare start where Skenes didn’t get an abundance of offensive support. He needed to keep his team in this pitcher’s duel, and he did just that.
Skenes returned for the seventh inning, getting his final strikeout, before allowing a double to Nolan Arenado. The Pirates turned to Aroldis Chapman, who got the final two outs of the frame.
Skenes finished the day with 6.1 shutout innings, allowing five hits, no walks, and striking out eight. His fastball averaged 99.1 MPH, topping out at 100.4. He had 14 whiffs on the day, with four each from his fastball and curveball, and three each from his splinker and slider. This was his most frequent usage of the curveball, and that pitch looked like another above-average or better offering in an arsenal of above-average or better pitches.
Paul Skenes is looking like the real deal.
Why Bunt?
Pirates manager Derek Shelton can be too conservatively predictable at times. In the eighth inning, Nick Gonzales led off the frame with a double on the first pitch thrown by reliever JoJo Romero. Gonzales reached second base, turned to his teammates in the dugout, and signaled for them to get up and active.
Shelton called on Michael A. Taylor to pinch hit for Rowdy Tellez against the lefty. He also had Taylor showing bunt, in an attempt to move Gonzales over to third. The second bunt attempt was fielded by a charging Arenado, who turned to catch Gonzales at third base, killing the momentum created one batter earlier.
Even if the bunt worked — and it was so obvious that the corner infielders were crashing the plate — it’s not the best strategy.
For one, after being shut down by Mikolas, the Pirates got to the new pitcher on his first pitch. That could be enough to knock Romero off his game. Instead, he was gifted a free out, to extend the double he allowed into a triple.
If the bunt had worked, the Pirates would be looking for a hit or a sacrifice from Yasmani Grandal, who has a .163 average and a .468 OPS this year. If Grandal didn’t score the runner, the Pirates would need a hit out of Jack Suwinski, who had two strikeouts on the day.
The better move would have been allowing the offense to build momentum and go for a big inning against the new pitcher. That’s better than putting pressure on the bottom of the lineup to perform in a single, predictable way.
In the ninth inning, Suwinski led off with a walk, followed by a single from Andrew McCutchen and a walk from Bryan Reynolds to load the bases. The Pirates scored two runs on a Connor Joe fielder’s choice, and a sacrifice fly by Oneil Cruz.
The Pirates ended up winning 2-1. The extra run in the ninth helped, as Nolan Gorman hit a homer to lead off the bottom of the frame. That further underscores the poor decision of playing for just one run in the eighth inning with the bunt attempt. With six outs still remaining on the other side of a scoreless game, the Pirates shouldn’t have been settling for just one run.
Rebuilding the Triple-A Pitching Staff
After a day of minor moves on Monday, the Pirates remained busy shuffling their upper-level depth on Tuesday.
The Pirates signed RHP Luis Cessa to a minor league deal. They also claimed RHP Dennis Santana off waivers, designating LHP Jose Hernandez for assignment. In addition to those moves, they called up RHP Ryder Ryan to the big leagues.
Cessa is in his age 32 season, and has spent parts of eight seasons in the majors. He has a 4.43 ERA in 425 innings during that time. This year he has been pitching in Triple-A, with a 3.89 ERA 39.1 innings across 11 appearances, ten of those being starts. He was released by the Royals on June 1st, which means he might have had an opt-out clause. The Pirates have a need for depth out of Triple-A, and Cessa can fill that role.
Santana is in his age 28 season, and has pitched parts of seven seasons in the majors. That includes a 6.26 ERA in 27.1 innings across 23 appearances this year with the Yankees. He gets his fastball up to the upper 90s, and can be optioned to the minors as depth.
Ryder Ryan is now in his fourth appearance with the Pirates. He’s been optioned three times this year, and the Pirates can only send him down two more times before putting him through waivers.
As for Hernandez…
The Weird Handling of Jose Hernandez
The move to designate Jose Hernandez for assignment was a strange one, finishing off unusual usage from the lefty. The Pirates added Hernandez in the Rule 5 draft prior to last season. He pitched 50.2 innings in the majors, being used as more than a Rule 5 option to be stashed away. This year, Hernandez was clearly not in the plans for the Pirates.
Hernandez didn’t make the Opening Day roster, but was added to the team as a replacement for Roansy Contreras being on the paternity list. He pitched two shutout innings in two appearances, while picking up an early-season save. The Pirates sent Hernandez back down, only to have him return about a week later. He was then sent back down with one earned run in 4.1 innings, following his first two bad outings of the season.
This is where it gets interesting. Hernandez was called up on May 23rd, and allowed a run in 0.2 innings. From there, he wasn’t used until being sent down on June 4th. His next game would be on June 7th in Triple-A, where he allowed a run in a single inning. This past Sunday, as the Pirates were giving Ben Heller a shot in the majors, Hernandez threw 1.1 scoreless innings in his second outing in 17 days. He was then designated for assignment.
The Pirates gave Hernandez a full year to retain him as a Rule 5 pick, only to almost immediately give up on him this season. He wasn’t pitching well in Triple-A, and his velocity was down 2.7 MPH in his final appearance. It’s possible something was going on behind the scenes, or that they just lacked trust in his abilities going forward. The fact that they’re giving opportunities to guys who have performed worse than Hernandez in the majors is what makes this situation so weird.
Pirates Prospect Watch
Charles McAdoo has been the most consistent hitter in Greensboro this year. On Tuesday, he hit his ninth homer of the year, while knocking in five runs in an 11-5 victory. McAdoo is now batting .337/.410/.560 in 222 plate appearances this year, and looks like a promotion candidate to Altoona. Read more about McAdoo in the latest Pirates Prospect Watch.
Pirates Prospect Watch: Charles McAdoo Is Greensboro’s Most Consistent Hitter
The latest Statcast Heroes looks at a potential contending rotation forming in Pittsburgh, along with the best results in Triple-A and Single-A over the last week.
Statcast Heroes: The Pirates Have a Rotation That Can Contend in the Playoffs
