MILWAUKEE -- The Pirates and Brewers swapped the lead three times in the final three inning halves Saturday, eventually ending on an Eric Sogard two-run walk-off homer off Richard Rodriguez in a 7-6 loss at Miller Park.
In the process, the Pirates' record dropped to 9-21, the worst in Major League Baseball.
And for those of you doing the head math, that marks the midway point in the 60-game season.
Derek Shelton and Ben Cherington have both said repeatedly this season that they are not happy with that win total. This season was always going to be a year of internal evaluation and teaching, but Cherington went out of his way to make sure most of last year's team returned rather than trade the core and start fresh in his first year on the job.
Once the pandemic hit and the season was shortened, the discussion turned to treating the campaign like a sprint. The mindset became that anything could happen in a drastically shortened season and with an expanded postseason. Even now with how this season has gone, the Pirates currently sit just five games out of a playoff spot. With a handful of flipped results, winning games they shouldn't have lost or pitched Miguel Del Pozo in, they could have technically still been in the hunt for the lesser divisional automatic playoff berth at the season's midway point.
But those games were losses. That's why Cherington has been in sell-mode ahead of Monday's trade deadline, with one deal down and almost certainly multiple more to go.
The dreams of a sprint have long been dead. That means it's all about self-evaluation and trying to get better internally.
So how does one assess the process at the season's midway point?
"Obviously, offensively we have to get better," Shelton said. "We’ve had some guys who are off to slow starts so we need to continue to get better there."
That goes without saying. What was perceived to be a strength entering the season has been by far their greatest weakness. Thus far, the offense's production has been so poor that it is threatening to be one of the worst in baseball not only for this season, but since the beginning of the live ball era.
Josh Bell, Adam Frazier and Gregory Polanco in particular have all slumped for almost the entirety of the season. If they are not traded before 4 p.m. Monday, it will be because Cherington couldn't find someone willing to give up the prospects he feels he would need in return to make a deal.
Not to mention that if they and other sluggers like Bryan Reynolds, Jose Osuna and Kevin Newman hit like they had last year, the club likely would have banked those extra wins and perhaps wouldn't have to be sellers yet. Delay the inevitable, even if for just one shortened season.
On the pitching side, the numbers look similar to last year's, most notably having a 5.16 staff ERA compared to 2019's 5.19, but that is partially due to injuries the staff has undergone.
The turnover has been high. All told, 10 different pitchers have been placed on the injured list at one point. The only National League teams with more have been the Marlins (17) and Cardinals (11), who both had COVID-19 outbreaks in their clubhouse.
"We have so many new arms with all of the injuries," Jacob Stallings said. "We’re just kind of learning each other."
But amid those trips to the injured list and going to the alternate training site in Altoona more than anyone could have expected, the Pirates have unearthed a few productive players by giving them opportunities they might not have been afforded otherwise.
"Really excited about some of our pitchers and the steps they’ve taken," Shelton said before the game. "We can talk about [JT] Brubaker. We can talk about [Nik] Turley. We can talk about [Chris] Stratton. There’s a lot of positive things."
Shelton has tried to focus on the positives this season, even through the bad times. Find positives, and find teaching points to try to grow.
"We have to identify every night things we do," he said. "... Part of my job and our staff’s job is to identify things we can do nightly to get better and make sure we use those as teaching points.”
It's going to be an ongoing process. One of Cherington's mottos is learning everyday. Shelton hopes to be a better manager in 2021 than he was this season.
Growing isn't contingent on winning.
"Whether you’re doing poorly or well, if you’re at least taking advantage of your failures, you’re still growing," Stallings said.
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