Perrotto: Pirates Disrespecting The Game of Baseball

Games finished is a statistic that few people care about.

I can say confidently that less than 1% of baseball fans know who leads the major leagues in that category this season. I would say just as confidently that less than 1% of baseball fans care.

The only time the stat matters is to pitchers who have performance clauses in their contracts based on the number of games they have finished.

Just so you can join the 1%, the Cleveland Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase has an MLB-leading 58 games finished.

Yet it is interesting to break down games finished by Pirates pitchers since Aug. 24.

Rowdy Tellez 3

David Bednar 3

Aroldis Chapman 2

Jalen Beeks 1

Domingo German 1

Dennis Santana 1

Tellez, of course, is a first baseman yet he has finished as many games as any Pirates pitcher in almost two weeks, including Bednar, a two-time All-Star.

On the surface, it seems like one of the many fun factoids provided by baseball over a six-month season. In reality, it is pathetic that the Pirates have reached the point of needing their first baseman to lob pitches at the end of three of their last 11 games.

I want to say the Pirates hit rock bottom Wednesday night when Tellez was called on to mop up in a 12-0 loss to the Cubs in Chicago. Making matters worse is that the Pirates were no-hit by three Cubs pitchers.

Yet anyone paying attention realizes that the depths the Pirates can reach are limitless.

And having to use Tellez says a few things about the Pirates.

One is that they have been in a freefall since the start of August, going from 2.5 games out of the last National League postseason spot to 11 games out. Secondly, it indicates the awfulness of the Pirates’ pitching staff that manager Derek Shelton keeps having to shift Tellez from first baseman to pitcher, a move more often made by American Legion ball managers.

I understand the logic of using Tellez in relief. It’s one less inning that the real pitchers need to absorb.

However, when a team uses its first baseman to pitch three times in 12 days, it’s an embarrassment to the organization for not having enough mound options.

Shelton ultimately decides whether Tellez pitches, yet general manager Ben Cherington is not blameless. He has built a pitching staff incapable of covering eight innings once and nine innings twice over the last two weeks.

Position players getting the chance to pitch can provide levity late in blowouts. However, using a position player to pitch three times in 12 games is overkill and the same joke gets old.

I learned early on as a baseball writer that there is an unbreakable tenant in the big leagues – don’t disrespect the game. That goes for everyone from the owners to the batboys.

Using Tellez to pitch three times in 12 days is disrespecting the game. It’s an insult to the sport.

However, one of the few things I’m certain of is that the Pirates are embarrassment-proof. It starts with Bob Nutting and trickles down throughout the organization.

It seems no amount of losing ever upsets the Pirates, though, Shelton got snippy with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Noah Hiles after Wednesday night’s debacle for rightfully asking about Tellez pitching yet again.

If you respect the game, the game will respect you. I’ve seen it up close for nearly 40 years.

If you disrespect the game? You choke in a pennant race and wind up with a 28^th losing season in 32 years.