When asked about a stretch in which the Pittsburgh Pirates lost seven of nine games, Ben Cherington resorted to using a line that the Pirates general manager admits he stole: You need to be urgent every day and not in a rush.
The Pirates (12-22) had fallen 10 games below .500 entering Sunday’s three-game series finale against the San Diego Padres when Cherington was asked on his weekly radio show about the team’s struggles.
“We shouldn’t be patient. We should not be patient about getting better today, whatever that is,” Cherington said on radio flagship 93.7 FM. “It certainly starts with me. It doesn’t end with me. It’s got to extend to everybody on our team, our staff, etc. We all have to be urgent and not patient about getting better.”
Cherington warned that the urgency must come with the discipline to do things better “in a way that adds up to win over a long time” so that they avoid rushing into a mistake that would make things worse long-term.
“It’s doing both all the time,” Cherington said. “No, we shouldn’t be patient. We dug ourselves a hole. It’s not where we wanted to be at this point. I also still believe and really believe that we’ve got good baseball ahead of us. We’ve got to go do our jobs to make that happen.”
The Pirates have preached patience while awaiting the return of key players from the injured list. Cherington expressed optimism about starting right-handed pitcher Jared Jones (elbow) beginning his throwing program and the eventual returns of projected starters in first baseman Spencer Horwitz (right wrist) and second baseman Nick Gonzales (left ankle). Horwitz, who missed all of spring training after surgery, is on a rehabilitation assignment at Double-A Altoona. Cherington said the Pirates hope Gonzales, who left the season opener with a non-displaced fracture, is “days away” from starting one of his own.
Cherington also discussed some lineup decisions. He explained why 2024 NL Gold Glove utility infielder Jared Triolo was making his fourth consecutive start at shortstop while Liover Peguero hasn’t played since being recalled Friday from Triple-A Indianapolis.
With starting shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa dealing with a right hamstring strain, the Pirates promoted Peguero because they needed a backup shortstop. Kiner-Falefa was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday, which Cherington said he hopes is a “short-term” stay.
“We brought up Z (Tsung-Che Cheng) earlier this year, so it was Peggy’s turn. I expect at some point we’ll see him in there,” Cherington said on 93.7 FM. “But ‘Tri’ is going to get the majority of those starts while Izzy is out. And Tri has consistently showed us the defensive quality of his game. He can handle that position at a high level.”
Triolo was batting .059 before going on the 10-day injured list with low back discomfort but is hitting .212 (7 for 33) with two doubles over the previous 15 games entering Sunday.
“Really have liked where Tri’s at-bats are turning to,” Cherington said. “It was a tough start to the year with him, but I feel like in the last 10 days or so, he’s starting to get into some balls, hit a couple balls that maybe would have been home runs in other spots. So we feel like he’s in a good spot offensively, too.”
Shelton expressed confidence in Triolo’s defense, given that he has performed well no matter where the Pirates have played him. And Triolo has started at every infield position and in right field.
“There’s really no place that I feel uncomfortable with Tri defensively — and that includes, well, not catcher — but even in the outfield,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “We saw him a little bit in the outfield last year and in spring training. He’s just a really good defender. I’m comfortable with him there. He does a good job of getting his work done in all the different places. After going back and watching the game last night, he made the nice play in the hole. He’s got the arm strength for it. His feet move well. He’s good around the bag. No issues with it whatsoever.”
Cherington also addressed why outfielder/first baseman Matt Gorski has played in only four games since hitting a home run in his first plate appearance in his major league debut at the Los Angeles Angels on April 24. Cherington said “it’s not an easy situation” but he expects Shelton to use Gorski against the St. Louis Cardinals.
“It’s not easy for sure, but that is the situation that sometimes young players sometimes find themselves in,” Cherington said. “In his case, he’s on the team partly because he’s a threat offensively from the right side but also because he can play first base and not just corner outfield. If he was just a corner outfielder, he probably wouldn’t be on the team. That’s the bottom line. But he can play some first base. That allows him to fill a role right now. I’m sure Shelty is going to continue to try to pick his spots.”
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Shelton picked his spots in left field, by sitting starter Tommy Pham for three games after a start in which he was hitting .170 with a .460 OPS. His replacement, recent acquisition Alexander Canario, was batting .074 through a dozen games with the Pirates.
“We believe in the offensive traits. We believe that he’s capable of producing offensively. He’s shown some flashes of that,” Cherington said of Canario. “At the same time, we signed Tommy Pham for a reason, because we believe in him, we believe in the quality of at-bats he’ll give over the course of the season, the track record, the toughness, what he brings to our clubhouse and on the field. We want to see that through. So I think what Shelty is doing is trying to give both of them the best chance to get going.”