The Pirates have struggled lately, falling to 12-14, and seeing their playoff chances sink like a stone over the past week. To get a better idea of where the issues lie with the team, I took a look at where each position ranks compared to the rest of baseball, giving an idea of where they can improve, and what they need to continue going right.
Starting Pitching
We’re going to start here, because this team is built around their starters, and as we’ve seen in the last week, they live and die by the success of those starters.
The Pirates currently rank fourth in the majors and second in the NL (behind only the Reds) for their rotation with a 3.3 fWAR. They rank third in ERA (1st in the NL), but rank 15th in xFIP. They do rank fourth in FIP, and the difference between the two is simply that they have avoided home runs, with a current 8.8% HR/FB ratio (the league average is 14.5% this year). This could be a concern if they fall closer to the league average in the future, as it takes away a big strength.
We’ve already seen this in the last week, with an 11.6% HR/FB ratio, which has only been part of their issue during that span.
The Bullpen
The Pirates were supposed to have strength in their bullpen as well, giving them a complete pitching staff to lead the team. The bullpen hasn’t been bad, but also hasn’t been elite. They currently rank tenth in the majors with a 1.0 fWAR. The ERA ranks 13th and the xFIP ranks 5th.
That all looks good on the surface. However, the situational stats don’t look as good. The bullpen has a -0.81 WPA, ranking 23rd in the majors. They rank 19th in shutdowns, and have the 11th most meltdowns.
They could definitely see improvement in this area, with Keone Kela and Richard Rodriguez being the two struggling relievers, and Felipe Vazquez being the only reliever with a positive WPA and considerably more than a 1:1 SD/MD ratio.
The Position Players
Let’s take a quick run through each position, and where the Pirates rank in the majors by fWAR:
Catcher – 27th (-0.5)
First Base – 13th (0.6)
Second Base – 20th (0.1)
Shortstop – 27th (-0.2)
Third Base – 28th (-0.2)
Outfield – 21st (0.7)
That’s overall WAR, with first base being the only position in the top half of the league (unless you count individual outfield positions, where center field ranks 13th). The question is whether this is due to offense or defense. Here are the offensive ranks by position, based on wOBA:
Catcher – 30th
First Base – 6th
Second Base – 16th
Shortstop – 27th
Third Base – 27th
Outfield – 23rd
Again, first base is the standout. The outfield as a group is poor, although center field ranks 13th. Second base looks better offensively, but looking at the overall ranks above, you already know the defense will be poor. Let’s get to that:
Catcher – 19th
First Base – 14th
Second Base – 29th (Yep)
Shortstop – 26th
Third Base – 25th
Outfield – 3rd
Some pretty bad ranks there, although the outfield defense has been a strength for this team. Josh Bell continues to get attention for the need to improve his defense. He does need to improve, but looking at his offensive and defensive ranks, he is well down the list as far as players to focus on for improvement.
The summary for the position players is that it’s a nightmare. That can’t all be blamed on depth and injuries, since the Pirates have maintained most of their starters outside of the outfield, and the outfield is only struggling offensively.
The strength of this team was going to be pitching, and the offense and defense was a concern (Note: The team actually ranks 3rd in base running runs, although I didn’t do a positional breakdown). The early results are that the position player group is even more of a concern. Maybe that will be improved when players return from the injured list, but even then I think they will need some improvements from what has already been shown from the healthy players.
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates were off yesterday, as they traveled to Texas to play the Rangers in a quick two-game set beginning tonight. Jordan Lyles will go up against former Pirates prospect Adrian Sampson. Lyles allowed four runs over five innings in his last start, after giving up just one run in his first three starts. Sampson has a 4.50 ERA, a 1.45 WHIP and 14 strikeouts in 22 innings, covering two starts and four relief appearances. His last two outings have been in relief and he combined for four shutout innings in those games.
The minor league schedule includes the fifth start of the season by Cody Bolton. He is holding batters to a .163 average and hasn’t allowed more than one earned run in a start this season. Indianapolis has a morning start time with Eduardo Vera on the mound. This is his second start against Columbus. He threw six shutout innings against them in his Triple-A debut.
Greensboro will send out Brad Case, who threw six shutout innings on one hit and no walks in his last start. Altoona’s Scooter Hightower goes up against Matt Manning, the 49th best prospect according to MLB Pipeline. Manning allowed one base runner (a single) over seven innings against Altoona earlier this season. He struck out ten batters that day.
The full 2019 Pirates Prospects Prospect Guide is now available, up to date as of April 3rd, with every player in the minor league system. Includes full reports on the top 50 prospects, reports on over 150 other players, as well as looks back at the recent drafts and international signing classes.
MLB: Pittsburgh (12-14) @ Rangers (14-13) 8:05 PM
Probable starter: Jordan Lyles (2.05 ERA, 21:5 SO/BB, 22.0 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (13-10) vs Columbus (14-10) 11:05 AM (season preview)
Probable starter: Eduardo Vera (4.05 ERA, 15:7 SO/BB, 20.0 IP)
AA: Altoona (11-12) vs Erie (10-10) 6:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Scooter Hightower (5.71 ERA, 9:3 SO/BB, 17.1 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (16-8) @ Jupiter (7-16) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Cody Bolton (0.82 ERA, 23:6 SO/BB, 22.0 IP)
Low-A: Greensboro (14-9) vs Rome (9-14) 7:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Brad Case (1.59 ERA, 15:2 SO/BB, 22.2 IP)
HIGHLIGHTS
From Indianapolis on Sunday, Erich Weiss with a tie-breaking home run in the ninth
16 innings? Let’s play 9 and call it good.
In Altoona, Hunter Owen hits his sixth home run of the season
Home run, @Hunter_Owen11! His sixth round tripper extends our lead to 6-2 in the seventh. #FullSteamAhead pic.twitter.com/7awfGAl7JY
— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) April 28, 2019
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
4/28: Oneil Cruz placed on injured list. Deon Stafford activated from injured list.
4/28: JT Brubaker placed on injured list. Dario Agrazal promoted to Indianapolis. Angel German added to Altoona roster.
4/27: Chris Archer placed on injured list. Pirates recall Michael Feliz
4/26: Stephen Alemais placed on injured list. Adrian Valerio promoted to Altoona. Gavin Wallace added to Bradenton roster.
4/23: Nick Burdi placed on injured list. Pirates recall Steven Brault.
4/23: Brandon Maurer placed on injured list. Montana DuRapau added to Indianapolis roster
4/23: Kevin Newman sent to Indianapolis on rehab. Nick Franklin assigned to Indianapolis
4/23: Oneil Cruz assigned to Bradenton.
4/22: Blake Weiman added to Altoona roster. Angel German assigned to Extended Spring Training
4/22: Joel Cesar added to Bradenton roster. Gavin Wallace assigned to Extended Spring Training
4/22: Jose Osuna assigned to Bradenton on rehab
4/22: Gregory Polanco activated from injured list. Steven Brault optioned to Indianapolis
4/21: Elias Diaz activated from injured list. Jacob Stallings placed on injured list.
4/20: Starling Marte and Erik Gonzalez placed on injured list. Cole Tucker and Bryan Reynolds added to Pirates
4/20: Alfredo Reyes promoted to Indianapolis. Ryan Peurifoy assigned to Altoona
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Three former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, including second baseman Phil Garner. He spent five seasons in Pittsburgh, with the highlight being his role during the World Series winning season in 1979, when he played 150 regular season games. Garner went on to hit .417 during the NLCS and .500 in the World Series. He had 12 hits and drove in five runs against the Baltimore Orioles. Garner helped the Pirates when he was traded to the Houston Astros, bringing back second baseman Johnny Ray in the deal. With Pittsburgh, Scrap Iron played in two All-Star games and hit .267 over 664 games.
Other Pirates players born on this date include 2003 infielder Jeff Reboulet and 1921 catcher Tony Brottem.
On this date in 1887, the Pirates (then known as the Alleghenys) played their first National League game. For five seasons, the franchise played in the American Association, which was a rival Major League to the NL at the time. The Alleghenys switched leagues for the 1887 season and opened up against the Chicago White Stockings (now the Cubs). The Alleghenys played at Recreation Park and 10,000 fans showed up for that first NL game to see Pittsburgh take a 6-2 victory. This link here has the highlights from that game, but unfortunately the pictures were lost last time we changed servers. Our Facebook Pirates history page has many of the scans that were shown in the article.