Opinion
Perrotto: Pirates’ Jake Woodford Has Experienced Even Worse This Year
The Pittsburgh Pirates are going through hard times.
Their losing streak reached eight games on Monday night when they lost to the Padres 2-1 in San Diego. It was also the Pirates’ 10th loss in the last 11 games.
The skid has effectively ended the Pirates’ hopes of reaching the postseason for the first time since 2015. They have dropped to six games out of the National League’s third wild-card spot and fallen into the NL Central basement as they trail the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers by 11 games.
The Pirates’ chances of finishing with a winning record are dissipating. They are now 56-62 and would need to go 26-18 to end up over .500.
However, Pirates right-hander Jake Woodford has seen worse this season. Much worse.
Honestly.
Woodford attended spring training with the Chicago White Sox and began the season in the minor leagues. He was called up from Triple-A Charlotte and started two games on May 28 and June 6, losing both.
The Pirates have been pitiful in August. The White Sox have been woeful all season.
Their 29-91 record is the worst in the major leagues, and they are on pace to break the modern-day major-league record for losses in a season of 120 set by the 1962 New York Mets.
However, Woodford won’t pile on the White Sox.
“It’s been a tough year for them, but I will say it’s a super professional clubhouse,” Woodford said. “People showing up day in and day out and working their butt off and doing whatever they could to help the team. It’s just kind of one of those years where nothing seems to be going their way.”
Just as August has been that kind of month for the Pirates.
Woodford, though, provided a bit of good news Monday night when he made a spot start and was a tough-luck loser. His overall season record fell to 0-4 despite allowing only one run in a career-high six innings. The five-year veteran gave up three hits, did not walk anyone and struck out two.
Woodford, 27, has made two starts and two relief appearances since being promoted from Triple-A Indianapolis on July 31. While he is 0-2, his ERA is just 3.07 and he has no walks in 14.2 innings.
The Pirates signed Woodford to a minor-league contract on June 10 after he had been designated for assignment by the White Sox and sent him to Indianapolis.
“I feel like I’ve been throwing the ball well,” Woodford said. “I’ve got a lot of pitches that are moving the way they are supposed to, and I’ve been attacking hitters and getting weak contact and just getting some things to go my way. I’ve just got to keep sticking to the process and keep doing what I’m doing.”
Woodford is doing pretty much what he did at Indy, where he was 1-1 with a 2.29 ERA in seven starts.
Woodford had spent his previous four seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, who selected him in the first round of the 2015 amateur draft following his senior year of high school in Tampa. Woodford debuted with the Cardinals during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and became a free agent last November after being dropped from the 40-man roster.
“They wanted me, so that always helps,” Woodford said with a smile about signing with the Pirates. “They called and I’ve always heard good things from playing against them a lot when I was with St. Louis. I’ve always seen how they’ve developed pitching. And they are in the hunt this year.”
The Pirates are getting further away from the hunt by the hour, but Woodford has been a bright spot. And at least he is no longer pitching for the dreadful White Sox.
That is a testament to the notion things can always be worse.
