ST. LOUIS -- My goodness, no, the Pirates didn't get cut up by the Cardinals, 9-1, on this Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium because of bad umpiring.
But it sure didn't help.
Time after time, key pitch upon key pitch, Adam Wainwright and/or Yadier Molina, St. Louis' battery who are both 38 years old and both headed to Cooperstown, visibly got the benefit of the doubt from home plate umpire Ed Hickox. With the most damning example by this second strike called against Kevin Newman with the bases loaded in the second inning ...
... that then forced Newman to swing out of the zone for the groundout that ended the inning.
I mean, look at that location up there. Look at Yadi's mitt. Look at Newman's reaction.
This went on all day, at least until Wainwright was out following six innings, a run, three hits and five Ks. After that, the strike zone seemed to be the same for everyone.
What a concept, huh?
Look, I get it. Wainwright and Molina are who they are, and Newman, even coming off a fine rookie season, is a relative nobody. I also get that respect plays a role across professional sports in influencing officiating. Tom Brady couldn't get hit. Wayne Gretzky couldn't get touched. Michael Jordan couldn't travel.
But how that's OK, I've never understood. A baseball strike zone, by the rules, is flexible only per the size of the batter, meaning vertically. Otherwise, it's black and white. And the plate isn't flexible at all. It's the same for everyone.
Umpires will always be necessary. No matter how much technology is embraced, there'll always be a need at field level for humans and, thus there'll always be value to what they bring. But sorry, seeing scenarios like this only remind me that when it comes to calling strikes, there's no reason to keep delaying what tennis has done forever by relying on technology to determine if a ball is on the chalk or out. We're way, way past wondering if such a process would be reliable.
Also, we don't have to wonder if that technology would get awestruck by a given participant.
• I couldn't help but ask Derek Shelton afterward if he'd noticed this trend over his years as manager and, to his credit, he instantly picked up on what I was really asking.
“I think when you execute pitches for a long time that you get balls and strikes, but I didn’t think there was anything egregious. I thought Eddie did a nice job behind the plate. I just think it was more Adam executing pitches.”
Shelton's a nice guy.
• He was even a nice guy after his first blowout loss as a manager, praising the quality relief performances of Chris Stratton and Nik Turley as "the key points in the game for me," adding, "They came in and threw the ball outstanding. They executed pitches."
He then praised Kyle Crick, who threw better than he had in exhibitions but committed two fielding miscues that got him charged with four unearned runs in the seventh.
Maybe realizing that wouldn't sound all that palatable, he added on his own, "As screwed up as it sounds in a 9-1 game, there was some encouraging things with those three guys.”
This is how the man rolls. Don't expect him to blow his top.
• Trevor Williams drew some praise, too -- "Trevor didn't throw the ball bad," Shelton said -- despite lasting 3 2/3 innings and serving up a Paul Goldschmidt solo shot in the first that hilariously was assigned an official estimated distance of 381 feet ...
... when that likely was how far the ball traveled before beginning to come down.
Williams wasn't satisfied, obviously, but he did acknowledge being good with the results of his first real foray with a curveball, a fifth pitch he added over the offseason. He threw eight curves among his 62 pitches, and of those, he got three called strikes, two fouls and an out.
Lots of diversity here, in general:
[caption id="attachment_1007818" align="aligncenter" width="440"]
BASEBALL SAVANT[/caption]
"It’s fun to have a new weapon in the repertoire, a weapon I can trust," Williams said. "We got the results with it that we wanted. We were able to land it. ... It’s something I look to supplement further. Obviously, it’s going to depend on the lineup."
• Why do pitchers' runs go unearned when they're the ones committing the error?
I've never understood this since childhood. I mean, that's very earned. It's the worst kind of earned, actually, as they're eminently responsible for fielding their positions beyond throwing the ball.
• I don't like benching Jose Osuna under any circumstance, let alone the day after he gets two hits and two RBIs. I'm aware that Shelton and Don Kelly, like most managers and bench coaches, script out the lineup far in advance, and Shelton, indeed, confirmed that being the case due to the night-day change. I'm also aware that most pencils come with erasers.
• Great news on Gregory Polanco. Health comes first, and it shouldn't be presumed.
• Anyone else uneasy about piggybacking ... for a home opener?
I know, I know, pageantry blows right out the window in a pandemic-shortened season. No fans. No fanfare. I get it. In the same breath, I'll confess to cringing at least a little at Shelton's announcement Saturday that Steven Brault will start Monday at PNC Park against the Brewers while adding, "There’s a chance it’ll be a piggyback situation." No details were divulged, not least of which whether Chad Kuhl or JT Brubaker would be the other piggy, but the first game on Pittsburgh soil in 2020 feels like it deserves better than Grapefruit League treatment.
Here's hoping Brault retires his first 12 batters and forces Shelton to awkwardly take the ball from him.
• First, one more right here Sunday, 2:15 p.m. Eastern, between two talented, young righties in Mitch Keller and Dakota Hudson.
This means more than a potential W when it comes to the franchise's future. Keller, like Joe Musgrove in the opener, will be eager to incorporate a high fastball into his arsenal for the first time in his career, this after months of work with Oscar Marin.
"That’s a really hard pitch to hit," Keller said Saturday morning. "Chances of you barreling up a high heater are lower than one that’s down in the zone, especially with the way some guys’ bat paths work. Just being able to change eye levels and change perception and the way breaking balls play off of that is huge. I think it opens up a lot of doors."
• I'll say it again: Compare watching this team to how you've spent your past four months.
MORE PIRATES COVERAGE
• Kovacevic: No panic? Why not?
• Polanco clears protocol
• 'Virtual fan experience' unveiled
• Live Qs at 5: DK's answers
To continue reading, log into your account:
