Quit Stallings

Today I talked about the Tigers, and how their youth movement and rookies are held back by the fact that there are so many veterans and older players holding them back and keeping the team down. The Pirates are...a similar case. Only 10 wins in a month and change, clobbered by teams all over the league, and though they've won a few series' and gotten a slight bit better than they started, they're still seriously held back.

Like...their pitching staff without Chris Archer, Joe Musgrove and Jameson Taillon is...dire. Steven Brault, Derek Holland, JT Brubaker and Trevor Williams are striking people out, but they all have ERAs over 4. Which isn't great. Chad Kuhl is at least pitching well, but it's a slim victory. And the bullpen has a lot of guys with inflated ERAs, a lot of people nobody's heard of, and a lot of dead weight. Last season there was the promise of rookies like Dario Agrazal and Mitch Keller inheriting the rotation, but neither are in the equation right now, so...they're back-pedaling.

And the lineup is similar. Jacob Stallings is a standout at catcher, and you still have Erik Gonzalez and Colin Moran doing what they can, but...a lot of low averages and underwhelming performances, even from Pirates heroes like Gregory Polanco and Josh Bell, are keeping this lineup from actually doing anything.

The case in point is Ke'Bryan Hayes, who was just brought up the other day, has 2 RBIs and a homer in his first 5 at-bats, and is already reinvigorating the team with his prowess and abilities. However, he's just one guy, and the rest of the team is still going in the opposite direction, so Hayes can only do so much. i imagine his last quarter of the season is going to look like Kyle Lewis' 2019 numbers- huge stuff in a small market that won't qualify for a rookie card until 2021.

The Pirates are gonna continue to do their thing, and even if Hayes keeps thriving there, I'm not expecting a great deal from the next month of Pirates baseball.

Coming Tomorrow- Speaking of the Mariners, a former Padres farmhand who is really wishing he was still pitching for SD right now.