Pirates’ Strength Becomes Weakness in Loss to Blue Jays (+)
PITTSBURGH — All season long, the Pittsburgh Pirates have been one of the more aggressive teams on the bases — and it’s worked. That’s been a big reason as to why the Pirates started out the year on the right foot.
Entering play, the Pirates had 44 stolen, the most in the major leagues and were the only team with at least 40 in the category.
The Pirates, for the most part, have capitalized on the new rules which have encouraged more activity on the bases — whether with steals or advancing an extra 90 feet.
In their loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night, what has largely been a strength became a weakness and cost the Pirates.
The struggles began in the first inning, when with no outs and Bryan Reynolds at the plate, Ji Hwan Bae attempted and failed to swipe third base. A few pitches earlier, Bae stole second base but a big gamble didn’t pay off as Jays’ catcher Danny Jansen threw him out and took an RBI chance away from the club’s best hitter.
“I think Bae was safe and then overslid the bag – but still, with Reynolds at the plate and Bassitt was not in a rhythm and then he got into a rhythm. Yeah, I think we just got overly aggressive early,” manager Derek Shelton said.
The very next inning, Rodolfo Castro broke for home on a pitch in the dirt, but was thrown out relatively easily on a 2-1 putout.
“Yeah, I think in that situation right there he read the angle of the ball off but didn’t get a clean break on it,” Shelton said.
The woes on the basepaths still weren’t over, though.
In the fourth inning, Tucupita Marcano singled to left field. Carlos Santana, who was on first base after drawing a walk, raced towards third base but was gunned down by left fielder Whit Merrifield.
I think (Santana) was hesitant and once he hesitates he can’t go. Especially wither Merrifield because we’re talking about an infielder that plays the outfield, and he’s coming towards us and can shorten his arm stroke up,” said Shelton.
Over their last four games, the Pirates have been struggling to score runs. In those four games, they’ve only scored four runs — including Friday night’s shutout loss.
Sometimes when the team is struggling to find their groove at the plate, especially in the midst of a five-game losing streak, they start to press a little bit more. That may have been what happened in this one.
“I think we’re maybe pressing sometimes a little bit too hard, trying to create something that isn’t quite there… I think we just got to continue to keep doing what we do — play smart, go base to base, let the game unfold and let baseball be baseball,” Andrew McCutchen said.
There is such a thing as being overly-aggressive. On Friday night, that seemed to be what happened with the Pirates.