The Pittsburgh Pirates’ 4-0 shutout loss at home Sunday to the San Diego Padres was notable for a lot of reasons.
• It plunged the Pirates to 12-23 (.343). That’s the third-worst record in Major League Baseball.
• It’s the Bucs’ fourth loss in a row and their eighth in 10 tries. They’ve lost nine in a row to the San Diego franchise.
• San Diego completed a three-game sweep of the beleaguered Buccos by yielding just one run over the last 21 innings of competition. The Pirates have been shutout six times already this season. On Sunday, the Pirates went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left eight on base. Not to mention that the Padres got 5⅔ scoreless innings from Stephen Kolek in his first major league start.
“It’s frustrating,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said after the defeat. “Offensively, we need to be better. We haven’t been consistent. We haven’t been as good as we can be. There’s more in this offense.”
There is? Really? Are you sure, Shelty? Looking at the roster, this might be all you’ve got.
The Pirates are in the bottom five of just about every significant MLB offensive category, and I don’t think that’s a matter of underachievement. That strikes me as just the Pirates being who they are.
There might be more in the tank from some guys like Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz. But largely, the lineup is what it is. It’s not good. Guys such as Enmanuel Valdez, Tommy Pham, Jared Triolo and Alexander Canario are all getting regular playing time and hitting under .210.
That’s not a fluke. They are what they are. Maybe more was expected of Pham, but how much really?
“We’re trying different things. People don’t see the preparation or how it is. We’re mixing things up,” Shelton insisted. “Right now, we don’t have a formula, and we’ve got to figure it out.”
Have they tried just … hitting? Is that part of the problem, perhaps? Maybe it’s a case of trying to fit too many round pegs into square holes with one steadfast hitting approach.
Or, like I said earlier, maybe they just stink.
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Whatever the case, here’s one thing that is making matters worse for the Pirates. They are doing some of their worst work at home this season. Shelton’s club is now 7-12 at home. Those 12 home losses are the most in MLB so far this season. They lost five of six on this current homestand and have been swept twice in a series at home this season.
Not only did the Padres turn that trick against them, but so did the Cleveland Guardians earlier this season.
“Winning at home is important, and this homestand was tough,” Shelton said.
Not only is it important, the Pirates are uniquely bad at it. Even other mediocre or flat-out bad teams in baseball have managed to at least be representative at home.
• The St. Louis Cardinals are 16-19. They are fourth in the N.L. Central, in front of only the Pirates. They are now 12-6 at home, having just swept the N.L. East-leading New York Mets Mets in a doubleheader.
• Just a game in front of the Cardinals are the 17-18 Milwaukee Brewers. They are 10-6 at home.
• The 13-20 Miami Marlins are almost as bad as the Pirates. They were 9-9 at home before dropping a 3-2 decision to the Athletics on Sunday.
• In the American League, the Minnesota Twins are 15-20 (9-6 at home) and the 16-18 Toronto Blue Jays are 11-8 at home.
Yet the Pirates can’t manage any better play at PNC Park than they do on the road. Maybe that’s because the stadium is usually empty, and the “Sell the Team” chants don’t do much to rally the troops.
“I think we are trying to do a little bit too much,” Shelton added. “We’ve got to let the game come to us and not try to do too much.”
If he’s saying the Pirates are pressing, I don’t blame them. Particularly at home. There is a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg thing going here. Are the Pirates lousy at home because there is no atmosphere and the fans are bitter? Or is the atmosphere lousy, and the fans embittered because the team is rotten?
I think the answer to that either/or question is simply:” Yes.”
Either way, it’s true, and either way, it’s a big problem.
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Unfortunately, I expect it to remain that way for the next five months.