The Pirates have already put their trade deadline plan into action with two trades over the past two days. And on Saturday night at PNC Park, Pittsburgh's most valuable trade asset, José Quintana, turned in a superlative seven-inning performance -- four hits, four strikeouts, no walks -- in a 1-0 victory over the Marlins.
This was coming off two starts in which Quintana surrendered 10 earned runs over 9 1/3 total innings.
"He was really good," Derek Shelton said after this one. "I think the previous two outings, the execution of the offspeed stuff wasn't where it was. Tonight against an entirely right-handed lineup, with the exception of Joey Wendle, I thought he went out and executed. He moved the fastball around. He was extremely efficient."
Quintana needed only 81 pitches to get through the seven innings, which made the increasingly rare sight of a complete-game shutout an actual possibility. Shelton, however, went to Wil Crowe and David Bednar for the final two innings with the Pirates up, 1-0.
Quintana always wants the ball for another inning, but he didn't question the manager's decision to go to his bullpen.
"We were getting the stretch of right-handers," Shelton explained. "Then the fact that even though we didn't score, we had some lengthy innings where there were guys on base. (We’re also) coming out of the All-Star break."
With Ben Cherington already beginning to move pieces in an effort to improve the club beyond 2022, there is a chance -- however great or small -- that Saturday night was Quintana's last in a Pittsburgh uniform. And regarding a performance like this, fans might celebrate because it'll raise his trade value.
Let's look beyond that. Sure, seven scoreless innings helps the recency bias variable in what is always a volatile trade market. But, let's focus on what Quintana means to the Pirates, and how a start like this embodies the perfect example a pitcher can set for a young group of arms.
"I think, when we signed him, we knew he was a good veteran presence in the clubhouse, and he's even better than advertised there," Shelton said. "And he was advertised pretty well."
Shelton also pointed out how Quintana's taken the ball every fifth day and been able to put together good starts more often than not.
One thing that stood out in this one was how Quintana escaped trouble. For so many young pitchers, most everything is fine when nobody is on base and there are no leverage situations. But as soon as they have to pitch out of the stretch, the pressure rises and they struggle with executing pitches.
Quintana handled this masterfully Saturday. On three different occasions, Quintana thwarted any attempt by the Marlins with ground balls in critical spots.
First, the third inning, where Quintana had runners on the corners with one out and a full count:
He escaped the fifth with another double play, then ended his outing in style in the seventh:
This is when Quintana is at his best -- when he's able to either limit damage in tough spots or avoid it completely. Of course, he's a veteran guy. He's been there, done that. But how can the younger pitchers watch him tight-rope out of danger like this three times and actually learn how to do the same?
"He doesn't go to the middle of the plate," Shelton explained. "He throws strikes, but he executes strikes on the thirds of the plate and when you do that, it's hard to hit. The other thing is, he takes advantage of when guys maybe get out of their approach and try to do a little bit too much. Because he's able to execute on the thirds, he gets those ground balls."
It's called "pitching" for a reason. And Quintana knows how to pitch. That's why he'll be a commodity for the Pirates until the Aug. 2 trade deadline.
"Right now, I’m focusing on starting the second half strong," Quintana said. "I know [there are] a lot of rumors around me. I’ve been in this situation before. I don’t pay attention to that right now. I just want to keep throwing the ball well. Today, I was focusing on executing my pitches and trying to spend fewer pitches per at-bat. That’s all I have control of. I want to keep focusing on that."
Man, when Quintana is traded, his presence in the rotation will be sorely missed.
• For those who still wanted to see Quintana go further than seven innings: Miami starter Max Meyer left the game with an elbow injury with two outs in the first. So there was also a good 20-minute stretch where Quintana sat in the dugout between his first and second inning. Monitoring a pitcher's ups and downs plays a role alongside pitch counts in determining when he might be pulled.
Like it or not, it's part of the strategy in today's game.
• Quintana didn't get much help from the lineup in this one. While the Pirates more than quadrupled their hit total from the night before, they went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. The lineup had prime opportunity after prime opportunity to give Quintana run support, but couldn't cash in.
Of all people, Yoshi Tsutsugo finally broke through with this two-out RBI single for the evening's only run:
"He's been grinding a little bit," Shelton said of Tsutsugo. "I thought he had three really good at-bats tonight. ... It’s one of those things where we’ve seen Yoshi take good swings, so tonight is really a move in the right direction because we saw not one but we saw three."
It sounds like Yoshi will continue getting at-bats if it appears he's trending in the right direction.
• The Pirates had some weak contact end up as hits, including three infield hits. This one from Oneil Cruz, however, stood out:
How did that ball roll right on top of the chalk for that long?
Did anyone else immediately go back to the infamous Taijuan Walker play? The one where Walker swatted Kevin Newman's tapper away from the chalk that turned out to be a fair ball, resulting in three runs for the Pirates?
There's something special about the playing surface at PNC Park.
• Bednar looks like he is getting closer to the form he was in during the first two months of the season. Bednar did walk a batter in the ninth, but struck out two and was able to get strikes with his fastball, curveball and splitter.
"I thought the split was probably about as good as we've seen it in a while," Shelton said. "He got swings and misses on it, and not good swings. It's good to see. Over the last probably 10-14 days in the execution of his pitches has been way better."
In addition to "Renegade" playing throughout PNC Park as Bednar trots from the bullpen to the mound, the lights flickered around the ballpark to add to the excitement.
"Yeah, that was new, huh?" Shelton said. "You make the All-Star team, you get a light show. I like it."
• After battling back through two hamstring injuries, Greg Allen finally made his official Pirates debut. He started in center field and hit second in Shelton's lineup, going 1 for 4 with two strikeouts.
More important than results, Allen was happy to be back and playing baseball again. I talked to him prior to the game, hitting on his return, what he learned during the road back and how he can impact this lineup:
• Former Pirates closer Jason Grilli was in attendance, supporting a Rocket League video game tournament hosted by the Pirates and Pittsburgh Knights in the Left Field Lounge.
Grilli spoke with a few reporters, and I couldn't help but ask him about the 2013 team that snapped the 20-year drought of losing seasons, now nine years later:
Grilli's fondness for Pittsburgh goes beyond wearing black and gold during his playing days. He purchased a farm in Wexford, and has remained a resident of the Pittsburgh area since his major-league career ended after the 2017 season.
"Just enjoying the free-and-easy life," Grilli said. "I love the community. I love the people. ... It was good for my kids to be here. I didn't want to go any place where I didn't feel like I belonged."
THE ESSENTIALS
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 10-day injured list: OF Bryan Reynolds (right oblique)
• 15-day injured list: RHP Chase De Jong (knee)
• 60-day injured list: OF Canaan Njigba-Smith (wrist), RHP Blake Cederlind (UCL), RHP Nick Mears (elbow surgery) RHP Max Kranick (elbow), C Roberto Pérez (hamstring)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Kevin Newman, SS
2. Greg Allen, CF
3. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
4. Ben Gamel, LF
5. Cal Mitchell, RF
6. Josh VanMeter, 1B
7. Oneil Cruz, SS
8. Yoshi Tsutsugo, DH
9. Tyler Heineman, C
And for Don Mattingly's Marlins:
1. Miguel Rojas, SS
2. Nick Fortes, DH
3. Jesús Aguilar, 1B
4. Brian Anderson, 3B
5. Avisaíl García, RF
6. Joey Wendle, 2B
7. Bryan De La Cruz, CF
8. Luke Williams, LF
9. Jacob Stallings, C
THE SCHEDULE
Rubber match is Sunday, with first pitch at 1:35 p.m. Mitch Keller (3-7, 4.55) faces Miami ace Sandy Alcantara (9-4, 1.76). While I'm getting ready to head to Latrobe for Steelers training camp, DK and Alex Stumpf will have you covered from PNC Park.
THE CONTENT
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