The 2017 season for the Pittsburgh Pirates did not start off well, to say the least. It started in the summer, when the team was actively shopping around star center fielder Andrew McCutchen, almost dealing the center fielder for now Chicago Cubs starter Josè Quintana. Then the Pirates found out that third baseman Jung Ho Kang was having trouble receiving a visa, following some DUI problems in his native country of South Korea. If that was not bad enough, left fielder and two-time Gold Glove Winner Starling Marte was suspended 80 games for his use of performance enhancers. Through all that, the Pirates have remained in the thick of the National League Central race. The things that jump out as why they can not get over the hump are countless, but this season has not been all bad. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly are what we are going to look at. The basics are the fans of Pirates baseball are loyal but are getting fed up with the ownership, and that is apparent in the increasingly dropping numbers both in attendance and viewership. What do you think is it an ownership issue, refusing to spend money to improve? Could it be that Clint Hurdle has lost his power in the clubhouse? I think it is the first of the two but what do you think?
The Good
After many years of platooning players, the likes of Gabby Sanchez, Garret Jones, and that failed experiment with Pedro Alvarez at first base. The Pittsburgh Pirates seem to have found their long time starting first baseman, Josh Bell. Bell has grown in the position throughout the 2017 season and although he has not perfected it yet, the upside with Bell seems to be great. At the age of 24, the young first basemen has provided a much needed offensive spark to the Pirates lineup, batting .264 with 118 hits and 22 home runs. Bell has only 9 errors while posting a .991 fielding percentage, not to bad for an outfielder who was converted out of necessity. Look for Bell to continue to improve his fielding, while continuing to provide an offensive spark for the “Battling Buccos”.
The other bright spot for the 2017 Pittsburgh Pirates is the bottom 3rd of the starting pitching rotation and closer. Trevor Williams and Chad Kuhl have provided stability at the bottom half of the rotation and continue to improve; they need to get better at working deeper into games would be the knock against them. What they provide the Pirates with is a chance to get a W on the 4th and 5th day when the top 3 starters on the mound. If these two can bring the earned run averages down from the slightly above 4.00 they are at now and work deeper into games, these two could be a dangerous end to a pretty solid pitching rotation the Pirates have. The other brilliantly bright spot has been closer Felipe Rivero. The 26-year-old Venezuelan has been all but lights out coming out of the bullpen. Rivero has a 1.25 ERA and is under contract with the Pirates through 2022. Things are looking up if the Pirates can utilize the young closer effectively.
The Bad
The Bad must start with Gerrit Cole, who wants to be called an ace and be paid as such and he is the outright ace for this Pittsburgh pitching staff. Cole has been inconsistent at best and seems to still allow small things to adversely affect him throughout the game. A call does not go his way, a play does not get made on the field or he gives up a homer, and it is a toss-up what Cole you will get on the mound for the rest of the game. I understand that his frustration level must be high given last season and this season out comes, but to be an ace you must be the man the club knows is going to give them the best chance to win. For a large portion of this season, it was a toss up between Cole and counter part Ivan Nova for the title of ace. Cole through this point has a 3.99 ERA and a 11-8 record. If Cole wants to be a true star in the league he will need to improve his numbers. It is also unlikely that Pirates fans will see Cole in a Pirate uniform after this season, as he has expressed little interest in returning when his contract expires in 2020. The Pirates have to hope that opinion changes or they will have to move him and get something worthwhile in return, not just prospects, the Pirates norm for star caliber players when moving them.
Lack of effort to improve the team at the trade deadline is the other Bad for this list and probably could and should be above the Cole issue. At the trade deadline, the Pirates were right in the thick of the Central race, sitting in third or fourth but within striking distance of the division title. Neal Huntington who has over priced and valued many of his prospects stood firm as the deadline approached. On the day of the trade deadline, the only moves that were made was adding Joequin Benoit from the Phillies, who has just been completely awful. Then while players like Neal Walker, and Jay Bruce were being claimed on waivers the Pirates decided to bring back a familiar face in Sean Rodriguez. This is pretty much par for the course for a General Manager who has had his budget from ownership and over value of prospects hinder his ability to improve the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Ugly
The inconsistency of the team, one week they can win 6 of 8 and the following week they will go 1-8. The fact that Clint Hurdle is forced to trot out the likes of John Jaso, David Freese on a regular basis, Sean Rodriguez and a handful of minor leaguers. These guys are good, solid bench players but are not every day players. The fact that Hurdle’s hand was forced after losing third baseman Jung ho Kang and Gold Glover Starling Marte due to off the field issues. Gregory Palanco, who when is in the lineup shows he can anchor the bottom part of the batting order, but has been injured and inconsistent at his best. You cannot blame Hurdle for this season because of what he had to work with, but some of his in game decisions making has been questionable at best.
This brings me to the biggest Ugly of them all, Bob Nutting refusing to do anything financial to improve the club, with a payroll of $109,154,936, ranking the Pirates 23rd of 30 teams. It is like watching the movie Major League in real life, and then to put the icing on the cake, Mr. Nutting and company have recently came out and publicly said they are disappointed in the Fan Base. No Mr. Nutting, the Fan base is disappointed in you. You continue to grow your wealth, but show no interest in improving your ball club and put a worth while product out on the field; it is an embarrassment and you should be disappointed in only yourself. What is next, are you going to hire Ricky “wild thing” Vaugh from the California Prison League and Lou Brown to manage after he sells those whitewall of course?
In closing, the Battling Buccos are not quite mathematically eliminated yet with 30 games left to play, but the window is closing and the things mentioned above are factors. The true fans will stick around for another year of hopes and dreams, but I think it is growing more and more obvious that the fan base has become disheartened and fed up with the lack of effort from the front office and above; the team and fans are suffering from the higher ups’ incompetence or just lack of care. That is what I think, let me know what you think!
Written by
Carlo Guadagnino
Edited by
Daniel Bishop
Reference
http://www.espn.com/mlb/team/_/name/pit/pittsburgh-pirates
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/belljo02.shtml
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/riverfe01.shtml
http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/payroll/
