Perrotto: Pirates Have Shown Great Improvement in One Offensive Category (+)
PITTSBURGH — Don Sutton once summed up the Pittsburgh Pirates’ lineup in easy-to-understand terms.
“Some teams say, ‘oh good, here comes a fastball.’ Other teams say, ‘oh good, here comes a curveball,’” the Hall of Fame pitcher said. “The Pirates say, ‘oh good, here comes a baseball.’”
That was more than 40 years ago, and it was meant as a compliment to a loaded Pirates batting order that includes such stars as Willie Stargell, Dave Parker and Bill Madlock. Basically, there was no easy way to pitch the Pirates.
In recent seasons, the Pirates again took the attitude of “oh good, here comes a baseball.” But it wasn’t in the good sense.
It meant the Pirates would swing at ANY pitch – in or out of the strike zone. Most often they were pitches out of the zone.
However, things have changed in 2023 for the Pirates.
They are no longer consistently getting themselves on bad pitches. They are making opposing pitchers work.
In fact, it was quite interesting to hear Texas starting pitcher Dane Dunning talk about facing the Pirates on Monday night. Though Dunning allowed only one run in 5.2 innings, he gave up six hits and three walks.
The right-hander needed 97 pitches to get 16 outs in a game the Pirates eventually won 6-4 at PNC Park.
“They kind of squeezed their zone a little bit, were really good at not chasing stuff off the plate,” Dunning said. “I elevated a few sliders, elevated a few pitches and they had a good approach and took advantage of it. They really battled me.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts echoed similar sentiments last month when Los Angeles visited PNC Park.
“You used to be able to get the Pirates to chase balls out of the zone,” Roberts said. “They don’t do that anymore.”
The Pirates are third in the major leagues by walking in 9.9% of their plate appearances. They trail only the Dodgers (11.4%) and San Diego Padres (11.0%).
Conversely, the Pirates are just 18th in strikeout percentage as they are punching out in 22.4% of their trips to the plate. The Pirates were 29th of the 30 major-league teams in that category last season at 25.3%, second only to the Los Angeles Angels (25.7%).
Manager Derek Shelton believes there are three reasons for the Pirates’ improved plate discipline. At the top of his list is hitting coach Andy Haines being in his second season.
“(It) is really important, because you’re going to be able to have different conversations and teach differently the first year,” Shelton said. “When you’re a hitting coach, you’re finding your way with a group. So, the fact that Andy has been here for a year, I think that’s the first thing, and there’s credit in coaching there.”
Secondly, Shelton feels his younger hitters have stopped swinging at so many bad pitches just by gaining more major-league experience.
“The more pitches you see at the major league level, you get better at it,” Shelton said.
Finally, Shelton gives credit to general manager Ben Cherington for adding veteran hitters in the offseason. Outfielder/designated hitter Andrew McCutchen was signed as a free agent along with first baseman Carlos Santana and catcher Austin Hedges while outfielder/first baseman Connor Joe was acquired in a trade with the Colorado Rockies.
McCutchen’s 13.9 walk percentage is second on the team to Jack Suwinski’s 16.2% among players with at least 100 plate appearances. Santana’s 17.7% strikeout rate is second to Ke’Bryan Hayes’ 14.5%.
“Last year, a lot of our young kids hit in the first four spots in the order. That’s a lot more pressure, too,” Shelton said. “So, now we’re able to stretch it back out a little bit and then you see the patience and at-bats that Cutch has, that Santana has, that Bryan (Reynolds) has, now. So, that makes it a little bit easier.”
From an aesthetic standpoint, not seeing Pirates hitters flailing wildly has been one of the best parts of their surprising season so far.
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