Pirates Takeaways: Bucs Fall Flat in All Three Facets in Loss To Braves (+)
PITTSBURGH — Hitting, pitching and defense. Good teams excel at two of these. Great teams excel at all three.
In the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 14-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday at PNC Park, they fell way short in all three.
“This one got out of hand quickly and then it got out of hand even more,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said.
The Pirates were shut down by Kyle Wright (16-5). He went seven scoreless innings and only allowed a pair of singles. Wright was efficient, needing 73 pitches to get through his outing.
Their first run of the game for Pittsburgh didn’t come until the ninth inning when Kevin Newman hit a solo home run to left field.
Pitching-wise, not much needs to be said other than that the Braves scored 14 runs. Nine of those runs were earned and the pitching staff issued eight free passes.
Defensively, the Pirates committed three errors, two by first baseman Josh VanMeter and one by left fielder Tucupita Marcano. VanMeter’s two errors both came with two outs in the fourth inning, and cost the Pirates five runs.
“It’s a ball that we just got to catch. If that’s the case, we’re out of the inning and it’s 3-0, and we go from there. After that, the inning didn’t go as we wanted it to,” Shelton said.
Additionally, Marcano misplayed a ball in left, which was followed by a William Contreras two-run home run. To make matters worse, Tyler Heineman was charged with a passed ball.
Saying Pittsburgh’s play of late has left a lot to be desired would be an understatement. The Bucs have dropped five straight and 11 of their last 13 games.
Even with the big loss, which has happened too frequently this season, Shelton feels a loss like that just the same as any other.
“I don’t think any one of those weighs anymore than any other loss. When games get out of hand like that, you flush them,” said Shelton.
Everything that has gone wrong for the Pirates this season was magnified in Wednesday’s loss.
JVM’S Days Should Probably Be Numbered
VanMeter made his first start for the Pittsburgh Pirates since Aug. 11. In fact, entering play, VanMeter had only recorded 12 plate appearances during the month of August, the last of which came on Aug. 16.
VanMeter got the start at first base. It didn’t go well.
The sparse playing time was clearly evident for VanMeter, who went 0 for 4 with a strikeout and committed a pair of crucial errors at first base.
Whether it was rust or simply poor play, VanMeter had a chance to make a statement for more playing time, but he did quite the opposite.
With playing time coming as rarely as it has of late, and what was on display on Wednesday, one has to wonder why the Pirates continue to use a roster spot on VanMeter.
Would that spot on the roster not be better served to a younger player such as Triple-A Indianapolis outfielder Travis Swaggerty who hasn’t received much of a chance at the big league level this season (nine plate appearances)? Maybe infielder/outfielder Ji-hwan Bae, who is also at Indy and seems overdue to make his debut?
Oh My, Oneil
In case you haven’t heard by now, Oneil Cruz is capable of hitting a baseball very hard. That was on display on Wednesday afternoon when Cruz smacked a liner off the Clemente Wall.
Cruz’s line drive was recorded at a Statcast-record 122.4 mph. It’s something you have to see to believe.
The lined shot would have been a home run in 24 of the 30 major league parks, but the 21-foot-high fence kept it in the yard, and it was hit so hard that Cruz could only manage a single.
“That ball was scorched. It was a good swing by him, a really good swing,” Shelton said.
The laser resulted in some high praise from his teammate Ke’Bryan Hayes.
“I feel like [Cruz] has the chance, as he keeps maturing, as he keeps facing guys over and over, he has the chance to be the best hitter in baseball,” Hayes said.
Unusual Role For Hayes
Hayes appeared as a designated hitter for the first time in his major league career. To play the part, the usual slick-fielding Hayes had two hits, including a double.
“I kind of in a sense just got to focus on my at-bats today. I had a little more time when we were on defense to look at sequencing and all that stuff,” Hayes said. “The more and more at-bats I get after missing all that time just trying to get back more comfortable in a rhythm up there, today I felt a little better.”
Hayes was in his second game back after sitting 10 days with a back injury and Shelton wants to ease him back into action. Hence, the DH day Wednesday after he played his usual position of third base Tuesday night after being activated from the injured list.
Coming off the injury, Shelton hasn’t talked to Hayes about if he might get more time as a DH.
“I didn’t really talk to (Shelton) about having a certain amount of off days, Hayes said. “I just go out there and do my job every day. If they want me to DH I’ll DH.”