With DH on horizon, Pirates could shake up how they use pitchers at plate taken in Cincinnati (Pirates)

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JT Brubaker in Monday's loss to Reds.

CINCINNATI -- The click off José De León’s bat could be heard through Great American Ball Park Monday. Not a crack. A click. 

He got just a piece of JT Brubaker’s slider in the dirt, and since he squared up with two strikes and it went foul, he went back to the dugout, but not before tapping the bat on home plate. He couldn’t move up the runner, the most common of duties for a pitcher at the plate. An audible groan could be heard from the home crowd.

As it would turn out, that failed bunt didn’t have any bearing on the final outcome. The Reds didn’t record another hit that inning anyway, and the Pirates would wind up losing, 5-3

De León can get a bye for not advancing the runner, since in the second inning, he got the Reds on the board by rolling a grounder just past Adam Frazier for a base hit. 

"When I put it in play, I knew we needed a base hit, so I hustled down the line," De León said. "I was like, 'Is this really happening?"

To lead off the top of the third, Brubaker tried to spark a rally to get the run back with a hit in the exact same spot. It was hardly worth of the #PitchersWhoRake hashtag, but they definitely helped their own cause.

It was the first base hit for both young pitchers, marking the first time opposing pitchers recorded their first major league hit in the same game since July 7, 2008.

It was Brubaker’s first official at-bat since he debuted in 2020, the first year with a universal designated hitter.

“It’s exciting,” Brubaker said, cracking a smile. “It’s possibly the last year for pitchers to be able to hit, so to be able to check that off of the first list, it’s pretty special.”

That last part is worth lingering on, because while 2020 was the first year with a universal designated hitter, it is more inevitable than ever. It will likely be a part of the new collective bargaining agreement between Major League Baseball and the player’s association this winter. The league offered several proposals to players last offseason that involved the National League adopting the DH, but the union didn’t bite on any.

So pitchers are still batting. For now. The pros and cons of letting pitchers swing have long been discussed. It’s traditional National League baseball. It hurts offenses. It’s an unnecessary risk for pitchers. It forces managers to be more creative with their bench and bullpen. Regardless of how you feel about it, this is probably the last time pitchers regularly hit.

And the Pirates might get weird with it. That includes maybe having them hit eighth this season.

"I think at some point that will happen,” Derek Shelton said at the onset of the season. “I don't know when… At some point during the regular season, you could possibly see that."

Shelton experimented with that in the final spring game in Fort Myers, Fla., putting Brubaker in the eighth spot.

“It was a little different,” Brubaker said. “Have to pay attention to where you are in the lineup. Not just knowing that you're last.”

So far, the pitcher has batted ninth in all four games, but Shelton wasn’t afraid to mix up lineups last year, writing up 58 different combinations for the 60 game season. Like the DH, this seems like an inevitability at some point this season. Perhaps it will even stick.

Aggressiveness wise, in the first bunting opportunity in the opener last Thursday, the Pirates opted to let Chad Kuhl swing the bat rather than square up. He hit it hard -- the exit velocity was measured at 99 mph -- but at an infielder. It wasn’t a double play, but Kuhl took an elongated tumble after hitting the bag.

That might be a point in favor of the DH, on second thought.

"I couldn't really tell where Rizzo's foot was at,” Kuhl said after the opener, describing the play. “So it was just more of a safety play where I try to overextend over him and not clip an achilles and be that guy that takes out an ankle.”

A point against the DH? Steven Brault. He’s been shelved for the time being because of a lat injury, but he’ll step back into a batter’s box in 2021. He’s one of the league’s best hitting pitchers, and recorded a .777 OPS in 2019. That was good for an OPS+ of 103. That’s not weighted for position. That’s against all hitters. Not too shabby.

Of course, one slightly above-average hitter, without the context of being a pitcher, doesn’t exactly make for a particularly compelling case for National League baseball. Perhaps the best case to defend the National League style of baseball is that it can be weird, even if it’s mostly bunt attempts and pitchers who would really rather be anywhere else than in a batter’s box. 

But they still have a bat in their hands, and Monday showed they can contribute offensively, even if it’s rarity. One that’s days could be numbered.

MORE FROM THE GAME

• The Pirates got off to a good start in the first, with Phillip Evans crushing a 445-foot home run to left and Colin Moran following shortly after with a homer to right. But with the exception of Brubaker's base hit, that would be all the offense the Pirates would produce until the ninth. Bryan Reynolds did open the final inning with a homer and Moran followed with a single, but pinch-hitter Kevin Newman could not come through with two on and two out at the end.

"I thought the middle part of the game, we were a little bit late to hit," Shelton said. "I think that was the thing that stood out. Evans and Moran had a good at-bat, Reynolds had it, but I thought in the middle of the game, we were a bit tardy to hit."

Pirates hitters struck out 15 times on the night, and everyone in the starting lineup -- besides Brubaker -- punched out at least once.

After drawing 11 walks and scoring five runs in the opener Thursday, the Pirates haven't done much on offense during their current three game skid, plating just seven runs.

"We put up a good fight," Moran said. "Just keep battling. We have a lot of really talented hitters, so just keep going up there and putting up good at-bats. We’re going to score runs."

• On the mound, Brubaker allowed just one run, but lasted only four innings because he walked four.

"I just tried to expand [the zone] too much," Brubaker said. "Got ahead of guys, but then fell right back behind instead of just being aggressive over the middle of the plate."

On two occasions, Brubaker got ahead 1-2 and then let the count run full, and all four of his walks came on full counts.

"I thought the breaking ball was good until he got two strikes, and then the execution of it wasn't as sharp as we would have want it," Shelton said. "Overall, not a bad outing, but something that we can definitely learn from and grow from because he's got good stuff. We just have to make sure with two strikes he can effectively use it in the zone."

• Brubaker was relieved by Luis Oviedo, who, despite surrendering the game-tying home run to Mike Moustakas in the fifth, showed some good stuff and struck out four over his two innings pitched.

"Execution of pitches, execution of timing in his delivery, it was really good," Shelton said. "To go out and throw two innings and essentially get through the lineup, with the exception of the one homer, definitely a step in the right direction for a kid like that."

The big blow of the night came in the seventh on a go-ahead no-doubter by Nick Castellanos off Sam Howard:


Castellanos showed off a left-handed bat flip on his way to first, screaming at his dugout to pump them up. The right fielder was in the news this weekend for being at the center of a benches clearing incident with the Cardinals after he celebrated scoring on a wild pitch.

“I’m happy for players on any team to show emotion,” Reds manager David Bell said. “It takes a lot to play this game and play it well. To be able to enjoy when you do well, it’s a good thing.”

The Reds got two more runs off Michael Feliz in the eighth, giving them insurance runs that closer Amir Garrett would need to complete the save.

• The Pirates went 0-for-4 with runners with scoring position Monday and are 5-for-32 (.156) in those situations this year.

• Factoid of the night: As previously mentioned, the last time opposing pitchers both recorded their first major league hit in the same game was back in July 2008. Coincidentally, the Pirates were part of that game too, beating the Astros, 10-7.

In the game, Pirates starter Phil Dumatrait picked up an RBI single in the first, and Runelvys Hernández followed with a single in the fourth.

It was the only hit for either player in their careers. 

THE ESSENTIALS

Boxscore
Video highlights
Scoreboard
Standings
Statistics

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

Adam Frazier, 2B
Phillip Evans, 3B
Bryan Reynolds, LF
Colin Moran, 1B
Erik Gonzalez, 3B
Gregory Polanco, RF
Jacob Stallings, C
Dustin Fowler, CF
JT Brubaker, P

And for Bell's Reds:

Tyler Naquin, LF
Nick Castellanos, RF
Joey Votto, 1B
Eugenio Suárez, SS
Mike Moustakas, 3B
Nick Senzel, CF
Jonathan India, 2B
Tucker Barnhart, C
Jóse De León, P

THE SCHEDULE

Trevor Cahill will try to snap the Pirates' three game skid Tuesday, taking on Wade Miley at 6:40 p.m. I will have you covered for that one.

THE CONTENT

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