Pirates Q&A: Offense, Paul Skenes Velo, Spending (+)
The Pittsburgh Pirates are in California for the start of a six-game road trip — three with the Los Angeles Angels followed by three with the Dodgers.
The schedule for the next of April and into May is tough, but it’s an important stretch for the Pirates, who are last in the National League Central with an 8-15 record.
If the Pirates have any hope in avoiding digging a whole too deep to get out of, they’ll have to play their best baseball to date against three of the National League’s best (Dodgers, Cubs and Padres) and an Angels team playing well early on.
Let’s get into this week’s questions from all of you.
I’ve always thought that Pirates batters take too many pitches – especially 1st pitch fastballs down the middle. Last night seemed different. The team seemed to be more aggressive early in the count for a change. Could this be a change in philosophy or was this just an aberration? – Dave Povenski
This question followed a rare good night from the Pirates’ bats, so it in a way has answered itself. But I hope I can provide you with some more context.
Derek Shelton said that the Pirates need to be more aggressive at the plate and they have showed more of that recently, but they still seem far too passive. That’s just how it goes sometimes when a team is in a slump. But the Pirates have continued to come out slow against the other team’s starting pitching which has to change.
If the Pirates are going to break out offensively, they will need to continue to be more aggressive, especially in scoring chance since they don’t have many. The Pirates rank 21st in baseball with 161 at-bats when runners are in scoring position. But in those chances, their overall numbers have been solid.
I’ve always thought that Pirates batters take too many pitches – especially 1st pitch fastballs down the middle. Last night seemed different. The team seemed to be more aggressive early in the count for a change. Could this be a change in philosophy or was this just an aberration? – James Johnston
It’s true, the Pirates offense is worse than last year through the early portion of the season, but to be perfectly honest, I don’t feel like Matt Hague deserves the biggest share of the blame.
The Pirates new they had a suspect offense entering the season and did almost nothing to address it. Spencer Horwitz was the biggest splash. He hasn’t played yet. Tommy Pham was coming off a down season and is 37 years old but he was deemed the best option for the outfield. Enmanuel Valdez has actually been pretty good.
But Hague can only do so much with a lineup that often consists the likes of Jack Suwinski, Adam Frazier, Jared Triolo and other players who don’t bring much to the table. The Pirates need Horwitz and Nick Gonzales back healthy.
Whether it’s Hague or Andy Haines, the lowly offensive performance goes well beyond one coach.
What do you think about the way Paul Skenes has not thrown a pitch over 100 mph yet this year? Is this something that he is doing or is it something that the team is doing? It just doesn’t seem like he’s the same picture so far. Is it him or the team? – Richard C Jovan Jr.
This is a great question and one that I’m sorry to say I don’t have an exact answer to, but I will try to address it the best I can.
Last season, Skenes averaged 98.8 mph on his fastball. This year, it’s 97.9, which is down a tick but is still in the 95th-percentile among all Major-Leaguers.
I can think of several reasons for the slight dip in velocity. For one, he’s incorporated some more pitches, one of which is a sinker which counts towards fastball velo. His four-seamer averages 98.0 mph, so up a tick than his fastball velocity overall.
Another reason? Skenes is an extremely intelligent player. He knows it’s a long season. Between that and the cold weather, Skenes could be choosing to not max out on every pitch to help his longevity this season and to avoid injury risk until the weather is warmer. But it’s something to monitor as the season goes on.
Why is the organization so steadfast at NOT spending money on quality players? – Kathy Wassel
Unfortunately, Kathy, it’s just how they operate. The biggest free agent contract ever given out by the Pirates is three-years and $39 million to Francisco Liriano. They also haven’t signed a free agent to a multi-year deal since 2016.
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