the 2022 Pirates, 40 Games In

Well, actually, the Pirates are only 37 games into the season, but a round number like 40 looks better in the headline, so, close enough for government work, as the saying goes.

The Pirates are not quite a quarter of the way into the season (23%), and they sit at 16-21, five games under .500, in third place in the NL Central, and on pace for a recored of 68-94.  That is a marginal improvement over last year's terrible club, but still nothing to celebrate.  Consider the following team stats:

.224 BA - 24th in MLB

.641 OPS - 26th in MLB

4.68 ERA - 27th in MLB

$66.2 million payroll - 28th in MLB

That last figure speaks volumes, but I'm not an economist, so I'll let you all draw your own conclusions.  Besides, the rankings in the three previous categories are depressing enough.

On any given night, you can count on getting reasonably major league quality offense from only three players:  Ke'Bryan Hayes (.286, 9 RBI), Ben Gamel (.270, 3 HR, 15 RBI), and Daniel Vogelbach (.252, 6 HR, 14 RBI).  Brian Reynolds, the best player on the team last year and a guy who received MVP votes in 2021, is off to a miserable start at the plate, hitting .214 with 4 HR and 6 RBI., but you have to assume (hope?) that he will snap out of that.  After those four guys, though, the lineup is filled with guys hitting in the low .200's, and even below that.  Why, for example, is Yoshi Tsutsugo and his .167 BA still starting regularly, or, for that matter, why is he still on the team?

As for pitching, well, super prospect Mitch Keller, who seemed to be facing a shit-or-get-off-the-pot season is currently 1-5 with a 6.37 ERA, and he has been bumped to the bullpen.  He seems to be another super big pitching prospect for the Bucs who is just not going to pan out.  The best starting pitcher - and the Pirates did not have a starter win a game until the season was well over a month old - is journeyman Jose Quintana, 1-1, 2.94, and .194 BAA.  Given his status as an experienced veteran, if he keeps this up, he will surely be flipped at the trade deadline for, you guessed it, "prospects".  

There has been one element of this Pirate team that has proven to be both exciting and good - the back end of the bullpen, which consists of Chris Stratton (2-1, 5.40), Will Crowe (2-2, 2.74), and, especially, David Bednar (below).  Bednar is 0-0 with an ERA of 0.90, 27 K's in 20 IP, opponents are batting .132 against him, and he has eight saves in eight opportunities.  If the Bucs manage to have a lead after seven or eight innings, these guys, and Bednar especially, will hold it for them.  He is a sure fire All-Star at this point in the season.

I can only hope that as the season progresses, Ben Cherrington will begin to sprinkle in some of these young prospects that we have been hearing so much about for the last few years in real games on the major league level and start weeding out the guys who are placeholders.   I mean,  let us see Oneil Cruz and Roansy Contreras soon.  Throw us a bone to gnaw on as the team marches on, struggling to avoid another 100 loss season.