DK: Nothing beats bats in our city's baseball lore
For the first century and a half of the Pittsburgh Baseball Club's existence, the franchise has been defined by the bats. The Hall of Famers, the World Series championships, the greatest home run in history, the labels of love like 'Lumber and Lightning' ... the offense has always taken center stage of any successes.
As such, I've believed since my own childhood of making heroes of Willie Stargell, Dave Parker and Rennie Stennett, that we really, really love our hitting around here.
The pitching?
Eh. Like, that Paul Skenes guy's fun to watch every fifth day, the hundred-degree heat, the seven-deep arsenal and all that. But at the same time, and respectful of Skenes' status as the best we've seen up-close, we aren't Atlanta or San Francisco or Houston or other cities where the pitchers are outright and out-loud embraced. We don't do the two-strike clap. We don't, except into later innings, rise up as the pitcher climbs down. We don't react much at all.
We get it. We appreciate it. It's just ... not our main squeeze in this thing.
As in, this Monday night at PNC Park would see 25 men from the home side alone reaching safely, home runs by Brandon Lowe and Spencer Horwitz, a team-first second consecutive five-RBI output for Lowe, a bases-clearing triple by Bryan Reynolds, a run-scoring double for Ryan O'Hearn, 13 singles that included an Oneil Cruz114-mph scorcher off the top of the Clemente Wall that later moved a grinning Don Kelly to suggest, "I'm kind of glad it didn't get out because that was heading for somebody out in the stands, and that would not have been good.”
And did I forget the first 10-run inning since 2017? The first here since 2009?
The whole sixth, uncut:
Wild, huh? From Major League Baseball's worst-by-a-million-miles offense in 2025?
Wilder still, specifically following Reynolds' triple into the right-field corner, the light by lively crowd -- paid attendance was 11,532 -- erupted into a spontaneous 'Let's go Bucs!' chant that had the place feeling surprisingly packed.
I mentioned this to Reynolds, and he'd characteristically dismiss it: "Everyone loves hitting."
Downplayed the 10-run inning, too, with this assessment: "Couldn't draw it up much better."
But one thing he wouldn't -- and couldn't -- shrug off came when I brought up the overall offense that's been generated, though he initially thought I was isolating on this game.
I could waste everyone's time by comparing those figures to last season, but let's instead illustrate the difference with this terrific pic of Lowe and Cruz upon scoring on Reynolds' triple:
JUSTIN K. ALLER / GETTY
Yeah. Like that.
I asked Lowe about the contagious feel to that inning:
"That's the best way to describe it: Hitting is contagious," he'd reply. "When multiple guys are going well, everybody's kind of itching to get up there and ready to go. It's kind of a tip to all the guys in here. Everybody's put their work in in the offseason. I think everybody's starting to see the rewards of everybody's hard work and, hopefully, start to understand what they have here in this clubhouse."
He'd add, "This was fun. It was electric. You see what good teams can do out there."
Good teams, huh?
Well, that'd involve a deeper discussion, as I see it, but here's an inspired start ...
MLB
... especially within a challenging schedule so far in this opening month. And good for them.
I'll reiterate what I'd written all winter: Skenes, Mitch Keller and the rest of this richly encouraging young rotation will lay a firm foundation, but it'll all go kablooey without the bats. And to date, even with Marcell Ozuna offering nothing and Konnor Griffin navigating through rough terrain for a 19-year-old, the bats have been more than some supporting cast. They've been superb, relative to any reasonable expectation: Cruz's 1.074 OPS ranks fifth in the majors, he's in the top 10 in nearly every category, and suddenly no one remembers whether or not he's wearing shades. Lowe's six home runs are tied for second, his 14 RBIs tied for eighth. O'Hearn's 13 RBIs rank 14th. Reynolds' rebound remains underway with an .859 OPS. Nick Gonzales has been swinging well along. Even Henry Davis has seen modest progress, with eight hits already.
Will it be sustained?
Could it be that much better, particularly if Ozuna and/or Griffin poke through?
On the morning of the season opener in New York, sitting in the dugout with Kelly, he told me he looks forward to the day the Pirates are the team that marches into other teams' stadiums, heads held high, with a completely authentic confidence that they're the ones to beat, that they're basically the bullies invading your block.
He didn't specify, but I'm pretty sure he was referencing the pitching.
Maybe not, though.
When I broached the fans' reaction to all the runs with Lowe, he'd reply, "We’ve all been told they’re here, they’re waiting. Well, we want to get them out here. We want them to be part of this. We want them to be as excited as we are about this team."
As an old satirical idiom of military origin once famously put forth, the beatings will continue until morale improves.
THE ASYLUM
DK: Nothing beats bats in our city's baseball lore
For the first century and a half of the Pittsburgh Baseball Club's existence, the franchise has been defined by the bats. The Hall of Famers, the World Series championships, the greatest home run in history, the labels of love like 'Lumber and Lightning' ... the offense has always taken center stage of any successes.
As such, I've believed since my own childhood of making heroes of Willie Stargell, Dave Parker and Rennie Stennett, that we really, really love our hitting around here.
The pitching?
Eh. Like, that Paul Skenes guy's fun to watch every fifth day, the hundred-degree heat, the seven-deep arsenal and all that. But at the same time, and respectful of Skenes' status as the best we've seen up-close, we aren't Atlanta or San Francisco or Houston or other cities where the pitchers are outright and out-loud embraced. We don't do the two-strike clap. We don't, except into later innings, rise up as the pitcher climbs down. We don't react much at all.
We get it. We appreciate it. It's just ... not our main squeeze in this thing.
This is:
Oh, you bet: Pirates 16, Nationals 5.
As in, this Monday night at PNC Park would see 25 men from the home side alone reaching safely, home runs by Brandon Lowe and Spencer Horwitz, a team-first second consecutive five-RBI output for Lowe, a bases-clearing triple by Bryan Reynolds, a run-scoring double for Ryan O'Hearn, 13 singles that included an Oneil Cruz 114-mph scorcher off the top of the Clemente Wall that later moved a grinning Don Kelly to suggest, "I'm kind of glad it didn't get out because that was heading for somebody out in the stands, and that would not have been good.”
And did I forget the first 10-run inning since 2017? The first here since 2009?
The whole sixth, uncut:
Wild, huh? From Major League Baseball's worst-by-a-million-miles offense in 2025?
Wilder still, specifically following Reynolds' triple into the right-field corner, the light by lively crowd -- paid attendance was 11,532 -- erupted into a spontaneous 'Let's go Bucs!' chant that had the place feeling surprisingly packed.
I mentioned this to Reynolds, and he'd characteristically dismiss it: "Everyone loves hitting."
Downplayed the 10-run inning, too, with this assessment: "Couldn't draw it up much better."
But one thing he wouldn't -- and couldn't -- shrug off came when I brought up the overall offense that's been generated, though he initially thought I was isolating on this game.
"Tonight? It's been all season."
No question. Ranks among all 30 teams:
• OPS: .734 (7th)
• Average: .250 (7th)
• On-base: .342 (4th)
• Slugging: .392 (8th)
• Home runs: 18 (9th)
• Runs: 82 (7th)
Insane.
I could waste everyone's time by comparing those figures to last season, but let's instead illustrate the difference with this terrific pic of Lowe and Cruz upon scoring on Reynolds' triple:
JUSTIN K. ALLER / GETTY
Yeah. Like that.
I asked Lowe about the contagious feel to that inning:
"That's the best way to describe it: Hitting is contagious," he'd reply. "When multiple guys are going well, everybody's kind of itching to get up there and ready to go. It's kind of a tip to all the guys in here. Everybody's put their work in in the offseason. I think everybody's starting to see the rewards of everybody's hard work and, hopefully, start to understand what they have here in this clubhouse."
He'd add, "This was fun. It was electric. You see what good teams can do out there."
Good teams, huh?
Well, that'd involve a deeper discussion, as I see it, but here's an inspired start ...
MLB
... especially within a challenging schedule so far in this opening month. And good for them.
I'll reiterate what I'd written all winter: Skenes, Mitch Keller and the rest of this richly encouraging young rotation will lay a firm foundation, but it'll all go kablooey without the bats. And to date, even with Marcell Ozuna offering nothing and Konnor Griffin navigating through rough terrain for a 19-year-old, the bats have been more than some supporting cast. They've been superb, relative to any reasonable expectation: Cruz's 1.074 OPS ranks fifth in the majors, he's in the top 10 in nearly every category, and suddenly no one remembers whether or not he's wearing shades. Lowe's six home runs are tied for second, his 14 RBIs tied for eighth. O'Hearn's 13 RBIs rank 14th. Reynolds' rebound remains underway with an .859 OPS. Nick Gonzales has been swinging well along. Even Henry Davis has seen modest progress, with eight hits already.
Will it be sustained?
Could it be that much better, particularly if Ozuna and/or Griffin poke through?
On the morning of the season opener in New York, sitting in the dugout with Kelly, he told me he looks forward to the day the Pirates are the team that marches into other teams' stadiums, heads held high, with a completely authentic confidence that they're the ones to beat, that they're basically the bullies invading your block.
He didn't specify, but I'm pretty sure he was referencing the pitching.
Maybe not, though.
When I broached the fans' reaction to all the runs with Lowe, he'd reply, "We’ve all been told they’re here, they’re waiting. Well, we want to get them out here. We want them to be part of this. We want them to be as excited as we are about this team."
As an old satirical idiom of military origin once famously put forth, the beatings will continue until morale improves.
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