Andrew McCutchen is tagged out on a steal attempt by the Tigers’ Jose Iglesias Wednesday night. — GETTY
BY JOHN PERROTTO
Sights, sounds and the scene at PNC Park …
• The Pirates seemingly bought enough currency with back-to-back postseason appearances that a 3-6 start to the season should not be cause for concern. Yet on nights like these past two, it’s hard not to wonder if they are about one more bad offensive output from backsliding to those bad old days of 20 straight losing seasons.
It is, perhaps, an overreaction, but the bats have been so feeble that you almost think Tike Redman has returned to supplant Andrew McCutchen in the No. 3 spot of the order.
Last night, the Pirates were checked on two hits by the Tigers’ Alfredo Simon and Joakin Soria in a 1-0 loss, which is one fewer hit than in the 2-0 loss the previous night to Shane Greene and Soria. Simon and Greene are talented, but it’s not like the Tigers brought Jack Morris and Dan Petry out of retirement, though Morris was in the house as a television analyst. After all, the two starters combined for just five strikeouts in 16 innings.
“You respect what the other guy can do,” Clint Hurdle said. “We had chances to get some hits, but we didn’t square balls up. We’re not getting the at-bats we need. We obviously need some work on the offensive end, but they pitched well, too.”
The offense has been either been great or awful in the first week and a half. The Pirates have scored 21 runs in their three wins, eight runs in their six losses.
The most distressing statistic: The Pirates have now gone four straight games without a walk, a streak right out of the dark era of 1993-2012.
“The others guys are throwing strikes,” Hurdle said. “They are on the edges, they’re close. They’re making pitches and getting ahead in the count. Simon can manipulate the ball with spin on the sinker. And we’re not on top of our game. It’s tough when you’re not on your game.”
• Starling Marte saw his batting average fall to .103 as he went 0 for 3 in his return to the lineup after getting Tuesday off for a mental break. Yet it wasn’t all that bad of a night. He didn’t strike out after whiffing 14 times in his first 26 at-bats, and he saw 14 pitches in his three plate appearances.
“I didn’t swing at bad pitches or pitches I couldn’t (handle),” Marte said. “I’ve been putting in a lot of work in the (batting) cages and it is starting to pay off. I felt a lot more comfortable tonight.”
While Marte saw nearly five pitches per plate appearance last night, don’t expect him to join the National League walk leaders anytime soon.
“Every pitcher is different,” he said. “Some of them give you a good pitch to hit early in the count, and some don’t. If there is a good pitch to hit early, I’m going to swing.”
• Francisco Liriano took a hard-luck loss, giving up Rajai Davis’ leadoff home run on a hanging slider in the sixth inning that turned out to be the game’s only run.
Liriano allowed four hits and one walk while striking out seventh. Most impressive, he cut through one of the major leagues’ fiercest lineups despite having eight days off because he spent time on the paternity list.
While back home in the Dominican Republic for the birth of his daughter, Liriano tried his best to stay on his regular routine.
“I played catch and worked out and moved around and tried to keep things as much as the same as I could like if I were here,” he said. “I felt good, but you can’t make too many mistakes against that lineup. I hung a pitch, and (Davis) put a pretty good swing on it, and that ended up being the difference.”
Of course, it could have been worse. Davis could have hit his home run off Matt Morris.
• Tony Sanchez will almost certainly be heading to Class AAA Indianapolis tomorrow if, as expected, backup catcher Chris Stewart is activated from the disabled list.
While I am not ready to buy into the idea that Sanchez is about ready to morph into the second coming of Johnny Bench, he is hitting well enough to help the Pirates as a pinch-hitter. He has gone 3 for 8 after a fine spring.
This leads to the problem of Jung-Ho Kang being on the roster.
The Pirates already have a utility infielder in Sean Rodriguez, and Kang is duplication in that department. Though he was the MVP in the Korean Baseball Organization last year, Kang does not look ready for the major leagues and would better served learning the American game in a less-pressurized environment at Indianapolis.
The Pirates would be better served having Sanchez’s bat on the bench than Kang’s right now.
• It would be interesting to count the number of injury updates the Pirates have provided on Charlie Morton since they acquired the right-hander from the Braves in the Nate McLouth trade of 2009.
Is it 100? Maybe 1,000?
It sure seems like it.
The latest is that Morton will pitch Sunday morning in an extended spring training game against the Yankees’ minor-leaguers in Tampa, Fla.
He is expected to pitch four innings. Of course, nothing is ever certain with Morton.
John Perrotto is a freelance writer for DKonPittsburghSports.com.
April 16, 2015
Perrotto on the scene: Nine more eggs
39by Dejan Kovacevic • On the scene • Tags: Pirates
Andrew McCutchen is tagged out on a steal attempt by the Tigers’ Jose Iglesias Wednesday night. — GETTY
BY JOHN PERROTTO
Sights, sounds and the scene at PNC Park …
• The Pirates seemingly bought enough currency with back-to-back postseason appearances that a 3-6 start to the season should not be cause for concern. Yet on nights like these past two, it’s hard not to wonder if they are about one more bad offensive output from backsliding to those bad old days of 20 straight losing seasons.
It is, perhaps, an overreaction, but the bats have been so feeble that you almost think Tike Redman has returned to supplant Andrew McCutchen in the No. 3 spot of the order.
Last night, the Pirates were checked on two hits by the Tigers’ Alfredo Simon and Joakin Soria in a 1-0 loss, which is one fewer hit than in the 2-0 loss the previous night to Shane Greene and Soria. Simon and Greene are talented, but it’s not like the Tigers brought Jack Morris and Dan Petry out of retirement, though Morris was in the house as a television analyst. After all, the two starters combined for just five strikeouts in 16 innings.
“You respect what the other guy can do,” Clint Hurdle said. “We had chances to get some hits, but we didn’t square balls up. We’re not getting the at-bats we need. We obviously need some work on the offensive end, but they pitched well, too.”
The offense has been either been great or awful in the first week and a half. The Pirates have scored 21 runs in their three wins, eight runs in their six losses.
The most distressing statistic: The Pirates have now gone four straight games without a walk, a streak right out of the dark era of 1993-2012.
“The others guys are throwing strikes,” Hurdle said. “They are on the edges, they’re close. They’re making pitches and getting ahead in the count. Simon can manipulate the ball with spin on the sinker. And we’re not on top of our game. It’s tough when you’re not on your game.”
• Starling Marte saw his batting average fall to .103 as he went 0 for 3 in his return to the lineup after getting Tuesday off for a mental break. Yet it wasn’t all that bad of a night. He didn’t strike out after whiffing 14 times in his first 26 at-bats, and he saw 14 pitches in his three plate appearances.
“I didn’t swing at bad pitches or pitches I couldn’t (handle),” Marte said. “I’ve been putting in a lot of work in the (batting) cages and it is starting to pay off. I felt a lot more comfortable tonight.”
While Marte saw nearly five pitches per plate appearance last night, don’t expect him to join the National League walk leaders anytime soon.
“Every pitcher is different,” he said. “Some of them give you a good pitch to hit early in the count, and some don’t. If there is a good pitch to hit early, I’m going to swing.”
• Francisco Liriano took a hard-luck loss, giving up Rajai Davis’ leadoff home run on a hanging slider in the sixth inning that turned out to be the game’s only run.
Liriano allowed four hits and one walk while striking out seventh. Most impressive, he cut through one of the major leagues’ fiercest lineups despite having eight days off because he spent time on the paternity list.
While back home in the Dominican Republic for the birth of his daughter, Liriano tried his best to stay on his regular routine.
“I played catch and worked out and moved around and tried to keep things as much as the same as I could like if I were here,” he said. “I felt good, but you can’t make too many mistakes against that lineup. I hung a pitch, and (Davis) put a pretty good swing on it, and that ended up being the difference.”
Of course, it could have been worse. Davis could have hit his home run off Matt Morris.
• Tony Sanchez will almost certainly be heading to Class AAA Indianapolis tomorrow if, as expected, backup catcher Chris Stewart is activated from the disabled list.
While I am not ready to buy into the idea that Sanchez is about ready to morph into the second coming of Johnny Bench, he is hitting well enough to help the Pirates as a pinch-hitter. He has gone 3 for 8 after a fine spring.
This leads to the problem of Jung-Ho Kang being on the roster.
The Pirates already have a utility infielder in Sean Rodriguez, and Kang is duplication in that department. Though he was the MVP in the Korean Baseball Organization last year, Kang does not look ready for the major leagues and would better served learning the American game in a less-pressurized environment at Indianapolis.
The Pirates would be better served having Sanchez’s bat on the bench than Kang’s right now.
• It would be interesting to count the number of injury updates the Pirates have provided on Charlie Morton since they acquired the right-hander from the Braves in the Nate McLouth trade of 2009.
Is it 100? Maybe 1,000?
It sure seems like it.
The latest is that Morton will pitch Sunday morning in an extended spring training game against the Yankees’ minor-leaguers in Tampa, Fla.
He is expected to pitch four innings. Of course, nothing is ever certain with Morton.
John Perrotto is a freelance writer for DKonPittsburghSports.com.
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