Baseball's beautiful.
Yeah, I'll bet it didn't feel that way to the first-place Pirates or their 12,396 faithful at PNC Park on this Easter Sunday at roughly, oh, 4:24 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Because that's when Jung Ho Kang was thrown out at the plate for the final out of a 3-2 loss to the Giants, and he was out by such a broad margin that the fans' groans were legitimately audible even before Buster Posey's tag.
Seriously, check out Posey's eyes up there in the Matt Sunday photo. This is the figurative lion licking lips for the feast.
Then watch the actual sequence:
With two outs in the ninth and Kang at first, Bryan Reynolds oppo'd a double into the base of the Clemente Wall. And when the ball took a wild bounce upward, a tie seemed assured. But San Francisco's right fielder Steven Duggar impeccably handled the bounce, relayed to second baseman Joe Panik, and the next throw was equally precise to Posey. Kang, running as if he'd had his reconstructive knee surgery ... an hour before lunch, was out by 20 feet.
Game over.
But the game within the game, the baseball-based chess that incessantly takes place ... that never ends. And that's what's beautiful in this scene, regardless of outcome.
Ready to take a little ride?
OK, cool, let's start with this premise: Clint Hurdle could/should have done something, anything to avoid all of the above. Because let's face it, that's the first thought of a frightening fraction of the fan base in any situation anymore.
Next premise: Hurdle could/should have deployed a pinch-runner for Kang.
It's a fair thought. I had the thought myself, not just when Kang began huffing and puffing but beforehand. He's the potential tying run. He's got to be able to come all the way around on almost any extra-base hit. And since Hurdle still had Pablo Reyes on his bench, the next thought naturally followed, he must have blown it.
Hurdle's not the type to bring up stuff like this. Not on his own. He's confident and self-assured, and he lives with the decisions he makes as comfortably as anyone I've ever covered. So, knowing that, I thought I'd bring it up afterward, give him a chance to take us through the decision while, at the same time, acknowledging that my question was exactly the "classic hindsight or second-guess question" that managers tend to hate.
Did he consider pinch-running for Kang?
He lit up. He really did. In the good sense.
"Well, we talked about it," Hurdle began, referring to himself and Tom Prince huddling by the dugout railing. "But let's say the situation played out as it did. And let's second-guess that we keep 'em at second and third. Now Diaz comes to hit"
Whoa, whoa, hang on. I wasn't ready for an actual challenge. Why are we postulating that there are runners at second and third? If Reynolds is at second and a faster runner was at first, isn't the game tied? And what did Elias Diaz have to do with this?
Turns out, Hurdle and Prince had to flip ahead to one possible outcome and prioritize it, while keeping in mind that Bruce Bochy, whom Hurdle long has lauded as the best manager in baseball, was working the other dugout. And it was Bochy's hypothetical reaction to their hypothetical scenario that essentially wrote their own script.
From the Pirates' perspective, Hurdle would have had no choice but to pinch-hit the right-handed Diaz for the left-handed Jason Martin against San Francisco's lefty closer, Will Smith. Martin's got 26 total at-bats in the bigs, only three against lefties. Diaz, who destroyed lefties last summer with a .346 average and .925 OPS, would have been the only choice.
As Hurdle proceeded with me, "What do they do with Diaz? Do they pitch to him? Or do they put him on?"
I nodded tentatively, affirming they'd put him on and load the bases. And I did this, not fully absorbing that with which I was agreeing.
"That's when Reyes has to hit," Hurdle continued. "Because if we pinch-run Reyes, we don't have a hitter in the pitcher's spot. So if they walk Diaz, you're out of players. You'll have a pitcher hit with the bases loaded after an intentional walk. So that was why we chose not to pinch-run."
Wow. OK.
In the moment, whatever portion of my brain hadn't yet exploded tried to keep pace with a follow-up question: If a pitcher would come up with the bases loaded, why not just send Joe Musgrove up? He's hardly Babe Ruth when it comes to hitting pitchers, but he's 5 for 41 in his career and, as I'd confirm with Musgrove a bit later, he was "primed" for the opportunity.
"We'll never use a pitcher who's pitching the next day in the game today," Hurdle came back to that flatly.
Oh, right. Musgrove starts Monday against the Diamondbacks. No one sends their starter out to do anything the day before a scheduled start. Can mess with the whole rotation if he gets hurt.
That was about all I had, shy of possibly using Steven Brault to pinch-run for Kang and other sillier ideas.
Buster Posey tags out Jung Ho Kang in front of umpire John Tumpane. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPSAs for Kang being thrown out so handily, that's three-point academic:
1, I'm at least tied with a million others as Joey Cora's most ardent critic, but he's got no choice but to wave him in that setting. Do the math on the percentages between the Giants nailing the guy at home on a perfect relay -- particularly after that big bounce -- vs. the Pirates mustering up another actual base hit from someone, and it's the easiest call a third base coach will ever make.
2. Kang made a Magellan-like turn between second and third base. Not sure if it was caught on TV, but I saw it.
3. As Bochy himself worded it, the relay home was "a catcher's dream." Not a hitch anywhere along the way.
But the rest of it, that's fascinating. And fun.
Not going to lie here: I've still got questions.
Was the potential single really the priority in the planning rather than an extra-base hit that gets it done with a solitary swing?
Would Hurdle really have needed to take the bat out of Martin's hands?
Would any of the above really have taken place, or did Bochy's reputation precede him and prompt some overthinking on the Pittsburgh side?
Those are the three that stand out at the moment, and I'm sure others will arise. The subject wasn't broached in Bochy's press conference down the hall, though, so the bottom line is that, by the time any additional answers might be available, all concerned will be right back Monday with the pieces all reset.
• The Pirates are 12-7. They've got the best record in the National League. They're missing their entire outfield. Their perceived strength has proven to be a real strength, with a staff-wide 2.54 ERA that's by far the best in Major League Baseball.
There's no context in which all of that isn't a positive. No qualifiers needed. No fear or fretting over the future, either. That's what's there right now. Enjoy it.
• Remember Josh Bell being my pivotal player for 2019?
And our long talk on that down in Houston a month ago?
This is what Bell did to an 84-mph meatball served up and over by the Giants' Dereck Rodriguez, and it's exactly what he should do with that pitch, upper riverwalk and all:
That was his fourth home run, a two-run shot that raised his RBI total to 15, as well as his incredible eighth hit in 13 at-bats with a runner in scoring position, Cole Tucker having been standing on third.
I'm not a believer in clutch as a talent or even a trait. But when an athlete is producing across the board, clutch comes with the territory. And having Bell's bat be a big one, right there at cleanup, is by far the most encouraging development for an offense that hasn't had many.
I asked him about all the feels:
Work in progress. But it's a hell of a start.
• Much more on Bell's start -- why it's happening, technically -- in a terrific Mound Visit this morning by our Jason Rollison.
• On that note, would it be out of line -- or too late -- to advise going a little easy on the expectations for Tucker?
He had a wonderful weekend. He had a strong start in Indianapolis, slashing .333/.415/.579. He's got a bubbly personality, and he's bound to be among the most recognizable Pirates before long with all that bouncing hair, as Sunday captured on this day:
Cole Tucker trots off the field Sunday. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPSBut we're talking about a 22-year-old who's now logged a grand total of 15 games above the Class AA level, and the past two seasons in Altoona, he slashed .258/.337/.361. And as enthralling and emotional as that home run was Saturday night, he hit exactly seven of those in 760 total plate appearances with Altoona.
Not trying to be the downer here. Ideally, it's just being fair to the kid.
• The Rays' even better start at 14-8, leading the American League East, has fed a steady stream of national stories about what 'a steal' Tampa Bay got in the Chris Archer trade. And there's merit to that: Austin Meadows, before going on the 10-day IL Sunday, was among the most productive hitters in the game at .351/.422/.676 with six home runs and 19 RBIs. Tyler Glasnow, after another strong start Sunday, is 4-0 with a 1.53 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 29 strikeouts in as many innings. Both look like stars in the making.
I liked the Archer trade at the time, although I worried that Meadows was one piece too many. I'm open to changing my mind about that -- or any -- trade over time. Maybe it'll be a steal. Maybe it'll be worse.
But if Archer helps these Pirates, the ones right in front of us, to some stunning contention this summer, then he'll have bolstered the foundation of that, meaning, of course, the rotation. That's not a small thing. As I wrote back when the trade was made, we're way, way past the point where this front office should be valuing the present at any level. It can't always be tomorrow around here.
Don't discourage them, for crying out loud.
• Archer hadn't pitched in eight days because of the suspension, and he bluntly acknowledged he wasn't at his best with another five-inning line of three runs, all on Posey's winning blast:
One glance at Francisco Cervelli's mitt there screams that the pitch was meant to go tighter. Instead, it found landscaping.
To Archer's credit, he didn't exactly cringe when I brought it up:
He needs to go deeper, but it's not like he's been a disaster. He's got a 2.74 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. If he finishes the year with those two figures, everything, including the trade, will be fine.
• Love this room. So healthy. Great to be around.
• Sure hope you have a chance to check out my What's Brewing today. A World War II veteran celebrated at PNC Park on this day is the father of one of our subscribers, and he's got something to share with you.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Pirates vs. Giants, PNC Park, April 21, 2019 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS