Pirates Staff and Players See Slump as a Growing Opportunity (+)
PITTSBURGH— It’s no secret that the Pittsburgh Pirates are in a major slump as of late.
After their loss on Sunday to the Toronto Blue Jays 10-1, the Pirates had scored just nine times during their seven-game losing streak and allowed 44 runs in that same span.
This entire team is starting to learn the hard way of what riding a valley can be like, but more so, the younger core players. Guys like Rich Hill, Carlos Santana, and Andrew McCutchen have ridden those valleys and know what it’s like to get out of them.
The learning curve can be a cruel mistress to some, but the Pirates seem to have high expectations of themselves and are holding each other accountable from what I can see.
There are going to be times when you have extreme highs and extreme lows in baseball, but it’s how you deal with the two extremes that determine what kind of club you will be.
Pirates general manager, Ben Cherington spoke Sunday on his radio show, and during the first segment, he discussed what a losing streak like this can teach a ball club.
“Absolutely, there are things to be learned,” said Cherington. “Some would say that good teams develop, and there are lots of different parts of that development, and certainly players on the roster and the maturation of the roster is a big part of it. Good teams also have to experience different things and conquer different things on the way. Good teams face tough stretches, learn from that, get better, and be that much more prepared to deal with that next time around.”
Cherington then spoke about the last few days.
“There is a lot we can learn here from the last few days. We know during the season, we’re going to face some adversity, and we’ve already faced some this week. We are playing really good teams, but we also want to focus on ourselves and what we can control and get better at. I’m very encouraged by what I’m hearing from players and staff in the clubhouse. Nobody likes to lose, but I’m very encouraged by how we’re responding to that, coming in the next day, learning, and getting prepared.”
After Sunday’s game, Pirates manager, Derek Shelton spoke with the media and gave his thoughts on the losing streak and what it takes to ride the wave, so to speak.
“I think the biggest thing is when it’s going really good, you can’t get too high; you can’t ever believe that’s the way it’s going to be. When it’s too low, you can’t get too low. The second part of it is, we’ve played two really good teams. We played the best team in baseball in Tampa. Toronto came off a tough stretch, and we caught them when everything their doing is right. It’s kind of those ebbs and flows, and you just need to make sure you stay as consistent as possible.”
Eventually, I caught up with Rich Hill and wanted to get his perspective on the younger core and what the message has been in the clubhouse from veteran leaders like himself, Andrew McCutchen, and Carlos Santana.
“The biggest thing we continue to harp on is the consistency of the work we put in every day. We need to make sure we’re doing that work and doing properly and make sure the effort continues to stay high because it’s easy to get down in moments like this. Everybody just needs to make sure they stay on top of things and do what they need to do to be ready and stay consistent. The other part of the equation is going out there and getting back into the moment-to-moment places that the game offers. One pitch, one swing, one play, and it’s really just simplifying it as much as you can.”
Hill continued to discuss that he’s been in many skids on great teams that have lost 10-12 games in a row, but we’re able to bounce back because of the consistency and the high energy they’d put into their work.
Whether or not the Pirates get out of this slump and start making waves remains to be seen, but it seems as though the staff and players are well-equipped to handle this bad stretch, and there seems to be no panic.
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