Amid another blowout, Pirates need to reexamine this 'meritocracy'

Max Kranick could have started for the Pirates on this day. He didn’t.

Things might have turned out better if they did. Or maybe they wouldn’t have. I doubt anyone would object to any result other than the Pirates’ 11-2 blowout at the Brewers' hands Saturday evening at PNC Park. 

But Kranick, after throwing five perfect innings in his debut, was always planned to be up in the majors just that one day. It was the perfect intersection of needing a player for a day and wanting to give someone an opportunity. He made the absolute most of that shot in St. Louis, but even though the Pirates were going to utilize a six-man rotation through the All-Star break, they opted to bring up Cody Ponce instead.

“We wanted another bullpen arm,” Derek Shelton had said in Denver after Monday’s loss to the Rockies, the first of this now-six-game losing streak. “Ponce will be in the bullpen here.”

Ponce got the start Saturday. It didn’t go well. He retired only five batters, allowing five runs before being removed with right arm soreness.

Shelton said he was going to take Ponce out of the game at that point regardless, having thrown 59 pitches to that point. 

With the exception of 3 1/3 shutout innings from Duane Underwood Jr., who provided both length and an opportunity for the offense to try to claw back and make it a ballgame, and a quick seventh from Sam Howard, the rest of the pitchers the Pirates trotted did not fair much better. Two runs against Chris Stratton. Two against recently promoted Kyle Keller. Two more against Chasen Shreve.

Nine walks and 16 hits is a far from ideal combination.

“We were too much in the middle of the plate,” Shelton said. “We were in the middle of the plate or we were off the plate.”

If there was one thing Kranick did in that first start, it was attack.

I’m beating a dead horse.

But this strategy of bringing up someone from Indianapolis for one day, no matter what they do, flies in the face of what the leadership insists they are trying to establish. Last year, the word "meritocracy" was thrown around by Ben Cherington and Shelton often. Earn your keep and keep what you earn. The latter wasn't carried out with Kranick.

The same thing happened to Miguel Yajure in May. Instead, Trevor Cahill continued with his spot in the rotation. On Saturday, Cahill was transferred to the 60-day injured list because of his calf injury. That concession was made for a pitcher with a 6.57 ERA and probably limited opportunities to lower it.

This year, perhaps more than any other, is the most important for a lot of these players to make the most of their chances. With the possible exception of a very late-season promotion for Oneil Cruz or Roansy Contreras, none of the organization’s top prospects will make their big-league debut in 2021. It’s a chance for that next level of player to establish themselves in the majors so when those big-time prospects come up, there would ideally be a solid foundation already in place waiting for them.

It’s one thing to continue to trot out Kevin Newman, who now has the worst OPS (.514) among the 138 hitters across the National League who qualify for a batting title. His current competition is the now-injured Erik González and Cole Tucker. Neither has done any better. At some point, someone who can offer more will, whether it’s Cruz, Liover Peguero, one of the high school shortstops the club is considering for 1.1 or someone outside of the organization.

Newman went 1 for 4 with a bloop single Saturday. His only at-bat with a runner on base came in the second, when Ben Gamel bunted for a hit. Newman’s exit velocity on his batted ball had a significantly lower exit velocity (46 mph) than Gamel’s bunt (53 mph).

A good chunk of this team is in place not because of how well they played, but because of a lack of a better option. It's why they will pick up someone like John Nogowski off waivers, because it was either him or Will Craig. Nogowski is 1 for 18 this year as a 28-year-old rookie. New is always better, right?

Meritocracy doesn’t have to be instantaneous divine retribution for mistakes. Baseball is a game of ebbs and flows. Players will slump. That includes even Ke’Bryan Hayes, who is in his first genuine cold spell in the majors, 1 for 22 over this six-game skid.

Meritocracy means that if a player deserves an opportunity and there is one presented, they get that chance.

Don’t kid yourself that Kranick will be that untouchable each start. His first start back in Indianapolis didn’t go so well Saturday, getting tagged for a first inning grand slam and being pulled after three. With only four Class AAA starts under his belt, some more time there would probably benefit him in the long run.

It could have waited at least another turn in the rotation. That start shouldn’t have been in Indianapolis.

MORE FROM THE GAME

• Hey, at least Gamel is hitting. Not sure if that counts as glass half-full, one-thenth full, two percent full or what, but it's something.

In addition to that bunt single, he turned on Miguel Sanchez four-seamer and put it in the seats in right.

I wrote last night that he's been barreling the ball as of late. That applies for at least another day.

"We’re seeing really hard contact on the pull side," Shelton said. "It just looks like his contact point is out front. He’s driving the ball."

• I whipped up a couple separates today for you to check out. The first is on that Nogowski trade and Ka'ai Tom being sent to the injured list. The second is on Neil Walker making his return to PNC Park, and soon his debut in the broadcast booth.

• If you're looking for any hope with this club moving forward, Walker offered some. Here he is, without edit:

“Well, 2009 and 2010 remind me a lot of this group. Guys like Ke’Bryan Hayes remind me a lot of Andrew [McCutchen]. Bryan Reynolds kind of reminds me of myself, just from the hittability and playing good defense. He’s not flashy. The one thing that I take value from those years was just don’t rest on your laurels but also don’t assume that just because the team’s not doing well that your job is safe. You have to create this environment that losing is not OK. So you look at the minor league system. You look at the draft position from last year and this year, and they’re going to have some talent coming here. I’m hoping people don’t jump off board. I really hope that they understand that they’re doing things the way that it needs to be done right now from a standpoint of we need to acquire as much talent as we can. It may hurt now and it may hurt next year but we’re going to get over this hump. I think it’s going to be sooner rather than later. It wouldn’t surprise me to see a 2013 type of season sooner rather than later, whether that’s next year or the following year or the year after that. I think the way Ben is doing it makes a lot of sense right now. That’s kind of my two cents.”

Nice sample of what he can bring to the broadcast booth. 

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Adam Frazier, 2B
2. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
3. Bryan Reynolds, CF
4. Jacob Stallings, C
5. Ben Gamel, RF
6. Kevin Newman, SS
7. Phillip Evans, 1B
8. Jared Oliva, RF
9. Cody Ponce, RHP

And for Craig Counsell's Brewers:

1. Luis Urias, 3B
2. Christian Yelich, LF
3. Willy Adames, SS
4. Omar Narvaez, C
5. Avisail Garcia, RF
6. Jace Peterson, 2B
7. Keston Hiura, 1B
8. Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
9. Eric Lauer, RHP

THE SCHEDULE

The Pirates will try to snap the six-game skid and avoid the sweep Sunday at 1:05 p.m.. Tyler Anderson (3-8, 4.75) will take on Freddy Peralta (7-2, 2.17). DK and I will have you covered for it.

IN THE SYSTEM

• Mason Martin went deep three times in a doubleheader for the Curve Saturday. This one from the first game needs no further comment:

• Indianapolis
• Altoona
• Greensboro
• Bradenton

THE CONTENT

Visit our team page for everything.