On paper, Pirates-Mets should have been cut and dry. The Mets have more pieces, more momentum, more goodwill, and even if they've fallen out of 1st they're still hanging into the race. The Pirates have Paul Skenes and that's about it. So many of their best players just aren't hitting this year. They've been trying to build something and they haven't really gotten anywhere. And as an added bonus for the Mets, they didn't even have to play Skenes during this season. It should have been simple.
Instead, the Pirates scored 30 points, limited the Mets to four, and asserted absolute dominance over a genuinely good Mets team. It is...genuinely very funny. I think, because the Marlins are getting hot, people will try and pitch this as 'the Pirates are catching fire', but I think it was just a case of circumstances lining up. The Mets started two lower-tier pieces [Paul Blackburn and the just-promoted Frankie Montas], couldn't muster anything from their starters and thus got trounced.
Yet, at the same time, this series was also a showcase of what the Pirates can be when they choose to line up the moments where they're good at baseball. Bryan Reynolds. Ke'Bryan Hayes, Oneil Cruz, Andrew McCutchen, Tommy Pham and Mitch Keller all decided to come together over the course of this series and provide multiple great moments. Pham had a bunch of RBIs. Cruz had a two-homer game today. Hayes had a big day yesterday. Reynolds has slowly been gaining ground at the plate. Keller actually won a game for the first time since March. This is what the Pirates could be if they weren't so preoccupied with settling. Cause you're seeing even some younger players like Henry Davis and Mike Burrows, who are flirting with actually performing well but not ready to commit yet.
In the absence of truly overpowering seasons, a lot of simply good seasons are setting the tone in Pittsburgh. Bailey Falter isn't the showiest starter out there, and the Phils traded him for this very reason, but with the Pirates he's become a great 'room tone' pitcher. Falter is someone who just chugs along without striking too many people out or overexerting himself too much. He just gets the job done. Right now he's 6-3 with a 3.62 ERA and a 1.218 WHIP. For this team, that's pretty great. He's no Skenes, but Skenes is 4-7. Falter seems to be the guy the Pirates' offense shows up most often behind, and it's given him a season he can be proud of.
It also helps that the Pirates' bullpen is surprisingly really good. A lot was made of David Bednar's rough start but he's come back around, with a 2.83 ERA and now 11 saves. Dennis Santana and his 1.50 ERA have made a real difference with this team, and I can almost undeniably say that the Pirates are gonna miss him when he's unceremoniously traded to Atlanta in a month. Caleb Ferguson, Chase Shugart, Isaac Mattson, they've all been really nice in relief. Plus they just got Genesis Cabrera, and hopefully he becomes a nice guy for them. Hell, even rookie Braxton Ashcraft seems to be a keeper.
If anything, this weekend showed that even amidst the torture of the Nutting regime, there are still signs of life, and there are still moments where this team can come together. Just not enough of them. Enough to ensure they won't be the worst team in the league, but not enough to actually start anything.
Coming Tomorrow- A rookie power bat who, to his credit, did some damage against my team this weekend.
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