PITTSBURGH — In two games against the Cincinnati Reds, the Pirates have gone 0 for 19 with runners in scoring position and have left 19 men on base. Wednesday, they lost their second straight game, 6-2 and again, as they had the night before, had several opportunities to push thought against the Reds’ pitching, but were unable to.
The trend is a disturbing one for a couple of reasons. Even though it’s very early in the 2017 season, it was something the Pirates struggled with all the way through 2016, as well. They finished that year one of the worst teams in the league as far as leaving men on base. Statistical theory dictates that hitting with runners in scoring position is largely a factor of having a good offense, not the other way around.
But with this trend now going beyond one complete season, are the Pirates doing something that’s hindering their offense’s ability to plate runners? Manager Clint Hurdle doesn’t think so.
“Guys’ intents are to go up there and move the chains,” he said. “They’re not to do anything more than that. I haven’t seen guys try to lift and separate. I haven’t seen guys trying to be a guy. I see guys going up and trying to put quality at-bats while we have men on base. 0 for 19 pretty much speaks for itself. We’re getting out there, we’re not getting in, we’re not touching the plate.”
Gregory Polanco also agreed that he doesn’t think there’s anything to the numbers other than some early season misfortune.
“It’s not going our way right now with runners on base at the start of the season,” he said. “I feel like with the at-bats, we’re taking them the same, it’s just not going our way right now. I know we’re going to get it. I trust myself, I trust the process and we’re going to get it, for sure.”
But one of the reasons the Pirates can’t afford to leave runners on base also might be part of the cause of their issues: They aren’t hitting for power. The Pirates are dead last in the National League in home runs. Their team ISO is a minuscule .072.
The Pirates lost a lot of power from a year ago. Jung Ho Kang, Matt Joyce and Sean Rodriguez have gone and were replaced on the roster by Adam Frazier, Phil Gosselin and Alen Hanson.
That’s a pretty significant drop-off. Home runs and extra-base hits can be a big factor in how efficient offenses are. They clear the bases, put up crooked numbers and most importantly — help the team win games.
It is most definitely early in the season and the Pirates do have many contenders to improve on their power figures from a year ago. But until some of those players start to perform, the Pirates are going to be reliant on sequencing and producing big innings to get enough runs across the plate.
HOME, STOLEN HOME
As I’ve already written this season, one of the ways to combat a lack of power is to play a lot of small ball. The Pirates have already shown a propensity to hit and run and take extra bases. Tuesday, they showed a new wrinkle: a double steal with runners on first and third that resulted in Starling Marte stealing home plate.
“It’s a play that we have,” Hurdle said. “We look for different opportunities to use it, whether it be a catcher, a middle infielder that we can take advantage of or the timing of the pitcher and the catcher. It was a play that we’ve worked on, a play that we’ve talked about putting in and talked about making it happen this year. We haven’t been able to do it the way we wanted to in the past. It was a very well executed play by Polanco and Marte.”
DIFFERENT REDS
Jameson Taillon has only made 20 MLB starts, but he’s faced the Cincinnati Reds three times now. But this iteration seems to have a lot more pop that the one he faced last year. Scooter Gennett had three hits, including a three-run home run from the No. 8 spot, Eugenio Suarez was 2 for 4 with an RBI and Adam Duvall was 2 for 3 with a walk and a home run.
“They have a good lineup,” Taillon said. “They’re deep. They have at three, four, five [spots], some guys that can thump. There’s home runs in there, there’s some speed, there’s some average, some slappy guys. It’s a good lineup. You can’t take them lightly.
“They don’t take at-bats off. They’re battling their way through. They’re watching, they’re paying attention, they’re focusing in. They play us really, really hard and we have to come ready and play them back just as hard as they play us.”
The Pirates play the Reds 17 more times this season, which could make their improvement a challenge in an already-deep division.
“They’re out in front in a good spot right now,” Hurdle said. “As we know, the season’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. They have a very athletic team and I think they’re feeling good about themselves right now. They should they’re playing good baseball.”
NOTES
Josh Harrison (right calf) returned to the lineup and went 2 for 4. … David Freese hit his 800th career hit in the eighth inning … Trevor Williams gave up the home run to Gennett. That was the only runs he allowed in two innings of work. … Juan Nicasio gave up an RBI single to Billy Hamilton in the seventh.
