Despite Pittsburgh seeing a huge surge on offense since the month of June, the Pirates are still looking to acquire a bat by the trade deadline. Manager Clint Hurdle said that even though the club has been better offensively, it has not changed their decision to actively pursue at the trade deadline.
“We’re in a buying mode,” Hurdle said. “I think we need to be optimistic, but realistic on who are, what we are, what we need to do to take another step. That doesn’t take away from what’s been done. That’s not to say the people here aren’t good enough. You look to get better. How can you improve, where can you improve? That doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.”
The Pirates offense in the month of April and May hit just .228 and .210 as a team. They combined to score 147 runs in the first two months of the season, while the club was able to stay above .500 due to their impressive pitching. However, that changed drastically in the month of June and so far in July heading into the All-Star break.
The offense exploded in June and the Pirates started to click on all cylinders. They hit a combined .268 — which was seventh-best in the Majors during that span. They also scored 146 runs — just one shy of their first two months total. They belted out 39 long balls — the most in the National League and their impressive numbers continued into the All-Star break in July.
Pittsburgh’s left fielders have combined for just a .204/.250/.336 line so far this season. The Pirates have been linked to several players recently such as Chase Headley, Carlos Quentin, Justin Upton and Shane Victorino that could fill that void.
The addition of an outfield bat would move Drew Sutton to a bench role, which gives them better matchups in the late innings due to being a switch-hitter. The Pirates also have an exciting player in Starling Marte, who would be an upgrade in the outfield as well should they choose to go internally. He’s hit for a .288/.349/.487 line in Triple-A Indianapolis.
