In addition to proclaiming this a make-or-break week, Neal Huntington shouldered blame for the Pirates' roster failing to exceed external expectations. Young pitchers entrusted with roles in the rotation and bullpen have been wildly inconsistent, while the offensive has flatlined over the past seven weeks.
All involved hoped to gain ground in the standings this week. However, the same weaknesses that caused them to plummet in the standings were at the center of another loss Tuesday night.
Joe Musgrove, a starter-turned-reliever-turned-starter acquired for Gerrit Cole, struck out a career-high nine, but he gave up a two-run homer and lasted only five innings. Steven Brault, one of two young starters in the bullpen, gave up three more runs and the offense did not have an extra-base hit in a 5-1 loss to the Nationals at PNC Park.
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCORE, STANDINGS, VIDEOThe Pirates will try for a series win Wednesday afternoon, yet nothing they do this week will change the fact this is a flawed roster that will undergo change this month. They're again at seven games under .500, 42-29, and 12 1/2 games back in the Central Division.
"It‘s just a frustrating night," Musgrove said afterwards.
Musgrove, activated from the disabled list earlier Tuesday, again showed his limitless potential. The 25-year-old used his five-pitch arsenal to produce 12 swinging strikes, and he struck out Bryce Harper three times. He also had three strikeouts in the first, and two in the fourth and fifth innings.
On the other hand, he again had trouble generating quick outs. Musgrove pitched seven scoreless innings against the Padres on June 29, but this was the fourth time in six starts he failed to pitch into the sixth inning. The Nationals, one of five teams ahead of the Pirates in the Wild Card race, fouled off 30 of Musgrove's 96 pitches.
That forced him to throw 27 pitches in the first, 21 in the second, 19 in the fourth and 21 in the fifth. He generated only three ground-ball outs and was behind in the count for much of the night.
"That was some of the best stuff I’ve had all season," he said afterwards.
Clint Hurdle had a similar assessment: "I think it was a combination of them being able to fight off some tough pitches in the zone, no doubt. There was swing-and-miss stuff. May have been some misfires a little bit, you know. However, what an attack. ... He threw it all out there tonight. There’s no doubt about that."
Musgrove loaded the bases in the first with a hit-by-pitch, single and walk, only to strike out Trae Turner with this cutter on the outer edge:
He allowed a leadoff double in the second, only to get three consecutive outs, capped by a strikeout of Adam Eaton. Musgrove retired six of the next seven he faced before bad luck and one bad pitch resulted in two runs. Juan Soto reached on a one-out infield single in the fifth, despite Colin Moran making a diving stop. Ray Searage made a mound visit with Musgrove at 91 pitches, and the right-hander's next one was a cutter right down the middle:
"It was a bad pitch," Musgrove said. "It was right down the middle."
That two-run homer broke a scoreless tie, and he struck out Harper for a third time to end his outing. The Pirates are averaging just 5.3 innings pitched per game started — tied for the fifth-worst mark in the majors — after ranking above league average last season.
Their starters also rank 21st in ERA, 22nd in hits allowed, 25th in home runs allowed and 18th in WHIP. Also, they have a combined 4.1 fWAR, which ranks 22nd, after Cole registered 3.3 alone last season. To better prepare for such short outings, Huntington and Hurdle chose to carry two young starters — Brault and Tyler Glasnow — in the bullpen, rather than signing a veteran free agent or picking up the club option for Wade LeBlanc.
The promising yet volatile arms had shown promise at times, but neither had a track record of consistently throwing strikes in the major leagues. That's continued throughout the season. Brault allowed back-to-back singles in the sixth after walking Matt Adams on four pitches with one out. With the bases loaded, Brault issued another four-pitch walk to score a run.
"Right now, the way the command is going, it’s not where it needs to be," Brault said. "We’ve been working on getting a consistent kind of thing. … It’s just something that needs to be fixed now. That’s what I’m going to be working on."
Adam Eaton then drove in another run with a single and Brault walked in another run before he was removed from the game with the Nationals leading 5-0. Brault, 26, recorded only one out despite throwing 27 pitches, 10 of which were strikes, and has a team-high 40 walks in 62 1/3 innings this season. To compare, Jameson Taillon has 28 walks in 100 innings.
Brault and Glasnow each has an ERA over 5, while ranking first and second on the team, respectively, in wild pitches. The Pirates' bullpen ranks 23rd in both ERA and WHIP after Huntington chose to not sign one free agent to a major-league contract. Brault's short outing forced Hurdle to use Glasnow for 1 2/3 scoreless innings, including 23 pitches, which will make both of their long relievers unavailable for the series finale.
"Brault was in there to give us some length," Hurdle said. "To get to where he did and the two left-handers, it was just a rough outing and now it made us spend Glasnow with a 12:30 game [Wednesday.] So, it complicated some things."
In addition to failures on the mound, the offense continued to be unpredictable. The Pirates finished with only seven hits, four of which were infield singles, and went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position, stranding nine on base, including the bases loaded in the ninth inning. Their only run came in the seventh when Josh Bell reached on an infield single, took second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on an error and scored on a groundout by Max Moroff.
As a result, they failed to win three games in a row for only the second time since mid-May. Even if the Pirates manage to finish strong before the break, it's looking increasingly unlikely Huntington will hold on to his veterans. After all, this roster showed again why it will need to be overhauled for it to compete in the National League.
1. Decision day coming for Meadows.
Austin Meadows has started only two games in the past week. However, he entered as a pinch-hitter in the seventh and remained in the game as part of a double-switch. The 23-year-old went 2 for 2 with a pair of infield singles, including one in the ninth to load the bases for pinch-hitter Francisco Cervelli, although Cervelli struck out on three pitches to end the game.
Corey Dickerson could be traded by the end of the month, but the Pirates must find a way to get Meadows involved. I suggested earlier this week they send him back to Triple-A and that's becoming increasingly more likely with the way Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco have played lately.
Plus, the Pirates may want to have Meadows play during the All-Star break next week. He could use the at-bats, so it could be wise to send him to Triple-A Indianapolis for at least a few days. After all, he had only five hits in 25 at-bats this month entering Tuesday. Meadows doesn't want to sit. He explained to me before the game that he hasn't restructured his pregame routine since his role has changed.
Instead, he's trying to learn in the major leagues while not receiving regular playing time. That's not easy for a young player. He's no longer the rookie just happy to be here. Meadows wants to play, and the fact he belongs on the 25-man roster is one of few silver linings through the first half of the season.
2. Harrison's value dropping.
As the Pirates' infielders took ground balls before Tuesday's game, Josh Harrison was in the cage with hitting coach Jeff Branson. Since recording four consecutive multi-hit games early last month, Harrison has batted just .182 (16 for 88) with a .189 on-base percentage — 16 strikeouts to zero walks — in his past 22 games.
His drop in production led Hurdle to move him down to seventh in the lineup, and Harrison was given an off-day Wednesday. Following his make-or-break proclamation Sunday, Huntington indicated he'd gauge whether or not veterans under contract beyond this season will want to remain with the Pirates.
Harrison doesn't want to be part of a rebuild. He made that abundantly clear upon reporting to spring training in February, and yes, unloading contracts of players such as Cervelli and Dickerson would move this franchise towards that process. However, the Pirates could have trouble finding a suitor for Harrison.
He has two team options remaining at $10.5 and $11.5 million, although he can be bought out for just $1 million this offseason. They'd have to accept a return to similar to what they received for Tony Watson last July — two low-level, high-upside, lottery-ticket prospects. This after they reportedly asked for outfielder Brandon Nimmo in trade negotiations with the Mets this past offseason.
Plus, there isn't a natural replacement for Harrison on the roster. Adam Frazier has slashed only .231/.291/.321 in 21 games with Triple-A Indianapolis and Kevin Kramer is still striking out too often. The Pirates could chose to hold on to Harrison and buy him out, or take 10 cents on the dollar for a two-time All-Star.
"This game doesn't care about your feelings," Harrison said when I asked about the trade rumors.
3. Moran hasn't been much better.
Moran was lauded as a possible middle-of-the-order hitter when the Pirates acquired him along with Musgrove, Michael Feliz and Jason Martin for Cole this past offseason. After all, Moran hit a career-high 18 home runs in an injury-shortened season at Triple-A in 2017,
It hasn't translated to the major leagues, and he is struggling in what should be an impactful spot in the order. Moran, starting his 19th game as the cleanup hitter, went 0 for 2 and is now 3 for 21 over the past eight days. The 25-year-old ranks fourth among NL rookies with 36 RBIs and third in total bases, but he ranks 27th among qualified major-league third basemen in fWAR.
Moran was much more productive lower in the order, batting .304 in 102 at-bats in the seven-hole, but Bell's struggles led Hurdle to experiment with a rookie cleanup hitter. It's time for a change, yet who should he put there? Bell doesn't seem to be ready to move up, and Cervelli, who was out of the lineup Tuesday, has batted just .187 over his past 22 games.
"I'm in one of those tough times right now," Moran said. "My pitch selection has been all right. I'm not swinging at bad pitches. I'm just hitting too many ground balls on good pitches, so I'm trying to do a better job getting behind the ball better."