"Work. That's it."
I'd just asked Rich Hill on this Wednesday afternoon at PNC Park, in a clubhouse that was silent as it was sullen, what it'd take to keep Pirates' chins up amid a losing streak that's now at nine following maybe the ugliest of them all via an 8-3 crushing by the Cubs. And he came back with what's above, plus a question of his own.
"Has that ever changed?"
I shook my head to express agreement, to which he knowingly mouthed, "No."
He then added, "That’s really the key identity to winning cultures and winning clubs, that they show up every single day. Failure is necessary in order to show everyone that the work is important. That’s really the key ingredient. And to continue to keep pulling for each other. We pull for each other, we play with that intensity and play with that aggressiveness, we’re going to be in good position."
Yeah, I know. But hear the man out. He's thrown more pitches in Major League Baseball than some of his teammates have taken breaths.
Also and related: He's right.
Because what he's espousing when he talks about "work" and "identity" and "winning cultures," my friends, that could easily be extrapolated. I could, for example, exercise a little license and couple that with this earlier sentiment from him: "We have a way better team than this last week and a half has gone. We know that." And from there, I could graft on watching Hill stride across the room to have a few words with another team leader, Carlos Santana, as well as offering a friendly pat on the rump on the way for Rodolfo Castro, who'd just had the most gawd-awful game and probably would've appreciated it more than anyone.
And from there, I could surmise that what's gone glaringly missing from this scene, maybe more than confidence, maybe more even than collective performance ... is accountability.
Now it's my turn to be heard out, OK?
Accountability can take countless forms. And in this environment, it can -- and must, to an extent -- be administered at the player level. To that end, this might be the one area where the Pirates remain fine, based on my perception. Their leaders -- Hill, Santana, Andrew McCutchen -- are both visible and vocal when and where it matters most.
But wanna take a crack at where that isn't happening? And where it's never happened since, oh, late 2019?
Who here talks about the urgency to win now?
Who here talks about the Central Division standings, from which these Pirates have pulled off the most Pirates-like plunge ever in falling from first place to fourth in the span of a week?
On the final day they were in first maybe for the foreseeable future, last Friday in Milwaukee, I'd asked Derek Shelton if the loss that night to the Brewers came with an extra sting because of the standings, and I got back, yet again, about how he's not focused on that, how "there's a lot of season to go" and all that. Same as when I'd asked something similar in Seattle a couple weeks earlier and got essentially the same answer.
He's entitled to his approach, and the candor's respected. But tell me, please, how that serves the interest of the 2023 Pirates. And what, exactly, the players are supposed to cull from that, other than that this just isn't the year.
Hell of a message there, huh?
Ben Cherington's been no different. From having blurted out on his radio show that his analytics people had advised him before the season that these Pirates were projected to be far worse than how they began, to not lifting a pinky finger to replace Oneil Cruz's offense amid a 20-8 start, to promoting everyone except his top talent to help when needed, to continuing to speak of nebulous goals like "we just need to keep getting better," it's affirmation galore that this just isn't the year.
Same message sent to those taking the field.
And what of hardcore accountability?
Quick, name one meaningful change Cherington's made since taking over as GM that didn't replace someone Neal Huntington had hired. And don't say firing Rick Eckstein as hitting coach because that was one of the few Huntington hires who'd been held over.
What's Andy Haines still doing here?
It's not about scapegoating. It's not even about blame. Stating this plainly, Haines isn't to blame, certainly not in the singular sense, for this outright pathetic offense that's produced all of 23 runs over the past 11 games, that's batting .179 with eight home runs in that same span, that spat out two whole hits in this game, that scored three runs only because the Cubs gift-wrapped two of them with one error, that can no longer step into the box with even the slightest semblance of an approach, that saw Castro take this full-count hack with bases loaded:
To say nothing of this:
Once more with gusto: When a player does that, it's on the player. Haines isn't telling Castro to go out there and take the ugliest swing of the summer. Nor to grossly overthrow an easy out at the plate.
But the charge of any positional coach in any sport is to get the most out of the athletes. To make them the best they can be within their own abilities.
Which hitter, pray tell, fits that description on this roster?
Cutch?
Sorry, but nobody in this decade's taking credit for that guy.
Jack Suwinski for the 15 bombs?
OK, but be sure to account for his latest -- and ongoing -- 0-for-21 stretch of nothingness, the kind that always seems to put the brakes on any optimism about him. Because there are still no answers for that.
Ke'Bryan Hayes for that Haines-advised toe-tap which had him on a tear earlier this month?
Awesome. And he's right back to zero extra-base hits over his past 11 games, pretty much where he was before. Because the adjustment didn't stick, because opponents adjusted to the adjustment, or both.
Bryan Reynolds for one brilliant week in April?
Ji Hwan Bae for being electric all of that month, unplugged ever since?
Any others?
Didn't think so.
For fairest context, neither Cutch (elbow) nor Reynolds (back) was available for a second straight game, and Chicago starters Marcus Stroman and Kyle Hendricks both showed why they're again among the National League's ERA leaders. Shelton said "no excuses" when both of those came up, though, and I'm inclined to agree. We're talking about two years, not two games.
As for how to remedy this, Shelton would say, "Andy and the hitting group are having constant conversations. The hard part of hitting at the major league level is that ... it’s the big leagues. When you’re here, it goes really fast at times. I think for a good chunk of our group right now, it’s going really fast.”
Maybe for the coach, too.
So, boomeranging back: If Haines isn't helping players get better, it doesn't require expertise to see he's not succeeding at what he's being paid to do. He isn't helping anyone. Not this year. Most definitely not last year. And again, it's not about blaming him. It's about, ideally, finding someone who can do that job, who can make hitters better.
And you know what?
It's also about accountability.
Because, regardless of how the players might or might not feel about Haines professionally or even personally, they'd sure as hell take notice if Cherington finally made his first meaningful personnel move over their heads. Particularly if it's on merit, as this would be. And there'd be no doubt left in any corner about management's seriousness toward 2023 after that.
Whatever. Won't happen. The precedent's as set as the analytics staff's prediction: This was how it was supposed to be, so this is how it'll be.
Unless the players change it. And yeah, that'll mean toughening up, not lugging lousy hitting into the field, not showing bad body language on those final few strides to first base, all that intangible stuff that poked up in this game and some others of late.
"It's a long season," Santana'd tell me as I approached his stall. "We have a bad moment right now, but I think it can change. Everything can change. Keep your head down, keep working, and take it one day at a time. Just think about that."
Makes a lot more sense than being slave to a single springtime spreadsheet.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 15-day injured list: LHP Jose Hernandez (calf), RHP Colin Holderman (wrist), LHP Rob Zastryzny (forearm), RHP Vince Velasquez (elbow)
• 60-day injured list: SS Oneil Cruz (ankle), 1B Ji-Man Choi (Achilles), RHP Wil Crowe (shoulder), RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Ji Hwan Bae, 2B
2. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
3. Jack Suwinski, CF
4. Connor Joe, 1B
5. Josh Palacios, LF
6. Henry Davis, DH
7. Cal Mitchell, RF
8. Rodolfo Castro, SS
9. Austin Hedges, C
And for David Ross' Cubs:
1. Nico Hoerner, SS
2. Seiya Suzuki, RF
3. Christopher Morel, 2B
4. Trey Mancini, 1B
5. Ian Happ, LF
6. Yan Gomes, C
7. Miguel Amaya, DH
8. Mike Tauchman, CF
9. Nick Madrigal, 3B
THE SCHEDULE
Four games in Miami begin Thursday with Mitch Keller (8-3, 3.60) facing lefty Braxton Garrett (3-2, 3.88). First pitch is 6:40 p.m.
THE MULTIMEDIA
THE CONTENT