The Pirates' offense was, once again, stuck in neutral Thursday night, dropping the series finale to the Indians at PNC Park, 2-0.
As far as game results go, the start of the Derek Shelton and Ben Cherington era has gone about as poorly as possible, sitting at a major-league worst 4-17. They will almost certainly finish in last in the NL Central and with one of the worst records in the sport, if not the worst. There's a case to be made that finishing last could be better in the long run if it leads to a high first-round pick and a larger draft bonus pool, but that doesn't make for particularly compelling baseball in 2020.
So why stick around and watch the final 39 games of the season?
I've gotten that question a lot in my weekly Live Qs, and it has popped up in the comments to live files and game stories. It's a fair question. Here's what I hope is a fair response.
Five real reasons why the Pirates are still worth watching this year, regardless of their record.
WHAT ELSE IS THERE?
To quote Jarrod Dyson during his introduction to the Pirates back during spring training, "Ain’t too much out there right now. You would love to explore, but at the same time, you’ve got to take what you can, take the good with the bad and roll with it. Make the most of it.”
This one is a bit of a cop out, but it's true. Just about everyone in Pittsburgh expected the Penguins to still be playing right now. They aren't. There won't be any preseason Steelers football, either.
So unless you're fine with Penguins-free hockey or the NBA playoffs, the Pirates will be the only game in town for almost all of the next five-and-a-half weeks. There will still be the Steelers on Sundays and Pitt football will kickoff in mid-September, but on the weekdays, it's baseball or bust.
And we're all still supposed to be semi-quarantining, right? So when you bring home your takeout and plop in front of the TV, live sports is king right now. There's one local team playing. Who knows, if you tune in, you might even see someone like Shane Bieber pitch.
THE KIDS ARE COMING...EVENTUALLY
It has to happen at some point. It just has to. At this point, it's basically the only way to salvage part of this season.
I wrote about this yesterday, but it's worth repeating. The Pirates shouldn't just start bringing up players from their alternate training site in Altoona because it would give these guys major-league reps, but because they're objectively better options at the moment.
The Pirates had runners on the corners with two outs in the sixth inning Thursday where a base hit would have tied the game. At bat was third baseman JT Riddle, who popped out to right. Third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes was almost 100 miles away.
Be honest, who would you rather taking those swings? Not just because Hayes is potentially part of the future and Riddle very likely isn't, but just from a pure talent standpoint. Hayes' swing isn't perfect, but he hits the ball hard. Hard-hit balls are in short supply for the Pirates right now.
Hayes' promotion is a matter of when, not if. Blake Cederlind, Nick Mears and Jason Martin should get looks too, and there is a chance for guys like Oneil Cruz and Jared Oliva to make their debuts at some point, too. When they do come up, it will be fresh blood.
Shelton and Cherington have talked about how important it is for this group to learn every day. They need to make sure to teach players like these this year too.
THERE'S SOME HOPE IN THE ROTATION
The pitching staff has been decimated with injuries, so as a whole, the numbers look pretty similar to last year's group. But ask someone how Steven Brault has looked this year, or Chad Kuhl or Thursday's starter, Trevor Williams. In the bullpen, Richard Rodriguez has regained his 2018 form, and Nik Turley and Geoff Hartlieb have been pleasant surprises.
Most of the pitchers who have been able to work with Oscar Marin and have stayed healthy have improved in 2020. The team stats are inflated because they have had to go to pitchers like Miguel Del Pozo out of necessity because of the volume of injuries, but look at the roster and think about the players who could realistically be back next year. Are they doing better than last year? In most cases, the answer is yes.
There is no quick fix to the team's pitching problems, but they're taking the right steps.
THEY HAVE TO BREAK OUT EVENTUALLY
Coming into the season, if there were two players who seemed like safe bets to produce, no matter what, they were Josh Bell and Bryan Reynolds.
Well, they haven't. They aren't the only members of the starting lineup who have struggled, but they are the two most surprising cases. Reynolds was Mr. Consistent in his rookie season, and while Bell had a prolonged slump in 2019, he was an All-Star. If this "five reasons" article came out before the season, those two would have probably been their own point.
But that doesn't mean it's going to be a year long slump. Both hitters are struggling, no way around it, but batters get hot. Kevin Newman had a switch flip for him, and now he has put together a nine-game hitting streak.
At some point, the offense is going to have to improve. It would just be too drastic for three or four hitters to nosedive this drastically all season.
"We’re not going to have guys swinging soft here, hitting .1-something [all season]," Bell said in Cincinnati last week. "That’s just not going to happen from us."
There's obvious room for improvement on offense. If it's Bell or Reynolds who spark that improvement, it should make for good television.
THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN, RIGHT?
Baseball is supposed a joy, an escape. If you're a baseball fan, do you really need a reason to watch baseball? This season almost didn't happen because of the labor dispute between the owners and players. This is far better than that alternative.
This applies to the players, too. Losing isn't fun, but they're trying not to wallow in it.
“It’s [about] getting to that point where baseball is fun again, everybody relaxes a little bit and you, hopefully, start a winning streak,” Kuhl said Thursday.
They know their record. They also know there are still 39 more games to play.
"We know that we need to be better. There’s no doubt about that," Williams said after the game. "However, we’re looking forward to the opportunity that the Brewers are going to present to us tomorrow, and we’re looking forward to starting that series off on the right track."
First pitch is at 7:05 p.m., in case you want to tune in.
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