If you hear a collective sigh of relief at 4:01 p.m. Friday, it probably will have come from the Pirates’ clubhouse.
After suffering another lopsided defeat to the Brewers Thursday night at PNC Park – this one the most lopsided to complete the sweep, 12-0 – the Pirates are at least afforded a little bit of assurance. The next time they take the field, the trade deadline will have passed, and the players they have in place will, more or less, be the group they cross the finish line of this season with.
“You do get some finality to it, and I think once we get through it, kind of regroup, that’s important,” Derek Shelton said about getting through these final hours. “The trade deadline is difficult for any team, and I think throughout baseball, there’s a lot of stuff going on. But I think it will be nice to have some finality to it and to know who is going to be on our club for the next 60 games.”
“Hopefully whoever is in that clubhouse tomorrow, we're going to roll with,” added Ben Gamel.
How active these final hours are is still yet to be determined. The Pirates have already two of their most marketable players in Adam Frazier and Tyler Anderson, while closer Richard Rodriguez has drawn interest from clubs. Monday’s trade that sent Clay Holmes to the Yankees, though, shows that there is plenty of potential for a wild card trade.
Except for Bryan Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes, just about anyone could be either dealt or be brought up in a rumor between now and then.
“A lot of young guys are going to get an opportunity now,” Chad Kuhl said. “It’s being handled very well by the guys in that room.”
Kuhl, a starting pitcher with one remaining year of control, fits the mold of someone who could be brought up in trade talks. He didn’t have his best stuff Thursday. Neither did Chris Stratton, another potential trade chip. Kuhl was tagged for three runs on six hits over 5 1/3 innings. Stratton allowed an inherited runner to score and then four more charged to himself while only getting four outs.
Kuhl’s name hasn’t been brought up in any reported trade rumors, but there is an outside chance that Thursday was his last start of his Pirates career.
“I haven’t heard anything,” Kuhl said when asked if thought he might get traded. “It’s really not my place to know. If it happens, Ben [Cherington] or Shelty will let me know, and we’ll go from there.”
MORE FROM THE GAME
• A 12-0 loss. A sweep where they lost by a combined score of 28-3.
Both sides of the ball are equally to blame for this one.
The Pirates mustered just three hits -- all singles -- and one walk in this one. On the series, the only extra-base hits they had were Rodolfo Castro's two home runs Wednesday night and a couple of doubles from Bryan Reynolds.
"It's baseball. It's a long season," Gamel said. "We've been facing some pretty good arms out there, too. It's not like we've been just getting rolled up by anyone. They've got a good team over there. We've just got to go back to the drawing board and keep making adjustments."
Pitching wise, the bullpen was mostly at fault Thursday, with Stratton giving up four runs and Austin Davis surrendering two more.
"I think for [Stratton] and Davis both, it was just rust," Shelton said. "They hadn’t thrown in four days, and I think we saw the effects of that."
Davis ended up needing to throw 27 pitches to get out of the eighth and was a batter away from Rodriguez entering. Instead, John Nogowski was asked to finish the ninth, where he lost his perfect ERA by allowing three runs.
• One night after injecting a little excitement, Castro had a couple plays that reminded us that he's still a 22-year-old who skipped Indianapolis.
In the second with a drawn in infield, he tried to get the play at the plate even though he had to go to one knee to field the ground ball. It was a strong throw, but a poor decision since Tyrone Taylor was almost to home before the ball left his hand.
In the eighth, he threw away a routine grounder, which led to a run against Davis.
Rookie mistakes. It comes with the territory.
Hey, at least he is continuing to hit the ball hard. He drove one 386 feet to the wall in center in the second inning, and crushed a lineout with a 102.1 mph exit velocity in the fifth that also died on the warning track. So even though he didn't get a hit, the bat is in a good spot right now.
• Make that three leadoff hitters in three days since the Frazier trade. It was Kevin Newman Tuesday, Gamel Wednesday and Wilmer Difo Thursday.
Difo went 0-for-4 on the night.
Shelton had been pretty steady with the top third of his lineup once Hayes returned from the injured list, but expect that top spot to rotate.
“I don’t know if I’m searching for one that sticks. I’m just trying to run the best matchups throughout the lineup for us out there," Shelton said. "If someone solidifies themself there, great. If not, we’ll probably continue to mix and match, depending on the pitcher matchup.”
• No roster transactions today? Is that allowed?
Some quick injury updates: Colin Moran is Indianapolis bound to start his rehab assignment, and Jarrod Prugar caught Oneil Cruz doing fielding drills and throwing at People's Natural Gas Field in Altoona, Pa. Thursday:
ONeil Cruz taking some grounders prior to today’s Curve as he works his way back from a forearm injury pic.twitter.com/OjREvbWSCH
— Jarrod Prugar (@jprugar26) July 29, 2021
Director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Wednesday that Cruz was asymptomatic after being shut down with a forearm strain for a couple weeks. Him getting back to throwing is a big step in his recovery.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Wilmer Difo, SS
2. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
3. Bryan Reynolds, CF
4. Ben Gamel, LF
5. Rodolfo Castro, 2B
6. Gregory Polanco, RF
7. Phillip Evans, 1B
8. Michael Perez, C
9. Chad Kuhl, RHP
And for Craig Counsell's Brewers:
1. Kolten Wong, 2B
2. Willy Adames, SS
3. Avisail Garcia, RF
4. Rowdy Tellez, 1B
5. Tyrone Taylor, LF
6. Lorenzo Cain, CF
7. Luis Urias, 3B
8. Manny Pina, C
9. Freddy Peralta, RHP
THE SCHEDULE
The trade deadline is at 4 p.m. Friday. I'll keep you up to date on anything happening with the Pirates. There will also be a baseball game at PNC Park at 7:05 p.m. Wil Crowe (2-5, 5.89) will take the bump against Vince Velasquez (3-5, 5.54).
IN THE SYSTEM
• Indianapolis
• Altoona
• Greensboro
• Bradenton
THE CONTENT
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