Bubba Chandler’s disastrous starting debut Sunday was deflating, given that the Pittsburgh Pirates rookie right-hander was billed as baseball’s best pitching prospect.
He gave up four runs before he recorded his first out and lasted only 22⁄3 innings in the 10-2 loss.
Moving forward, Pirates manager Don Kelly said Chandler will be a starting pitcher. Kelly didn’t say whether Chandler would take his next turn in the rotation and cautioned that he still could see action in bulk relief but was adamant the 22-year-old has a bright future.
Chandler knows he has some work to do.
“I want to start,” Chandler said, “but I’ve got to be, I’ve got to do better.”
Chandler’s struggles in his first start might have had more to do with the Brew Crew.
1. Have a Brew
It was amazing to see the Pirates sweep the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers only to be swept by the NL Central-leading Brewers in back-to-back series.
Where the reigning World Series champions have MLB’s highest payroll, the Brewers have baseball’s best record and play a style the Pirates should want to emulate.
“They’re a good team. That’s certainly part of it. They’re holding the standard right now in the NL Central. We need to hold ourselves to that same bar,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said on his weekly radio show on 93.7 FM. “Over the years, I’ve had a chance to watch them a lot, including this year. They’re winning, and it’s a little bit of an old-school way in some regards: It’s pitching, it’s defense and baserunning. They’ve got a good, solid lineup depth, but it’s not like they’re loaded with superstars. They make a lot of contact. They can run. They run the bases really well. They play really good defense.”
That should be a model for the Pirates, but so should this:
“It seems what Milwaukee does is they’re ready for that one mistake. When you make that one mistake, they take advantage of it. And they don’t beat themselves,” Cherington said. “In some ways, really respect how they play.”
A day earlier, Kelly talked about what is special about the Brewers’ identity and why it has translated to success this season.
“They compete really well. They battle at the plate. They’re tough outs, and they play really good defense, which makes it really tough,” Kelly said. “Their ability to foul pitches off and work counts and find a way to wear pitchers down. Then they run. They’re aggressive on the bases, too.”
2. Tired outcomes
Cherington noted that despite the Pirates having a 25-22 record since the All-Star break, they have struggled against Milwaukee. They went 3-10 in the season series with the Brewers.
Two outcomes noted by 93.7 FM’s Dan Zangrilli that the Pirates should be tired of from the Brewers series: Over the three games, they had 14 innings where they went down 1-2-3. That included a stretch of 34 out of 35 batters being retired from the fourth inning of Friday’s 5-2 loss until the sixth inning of Saturday’s 4-1 loss.
The Pirates struck out 11 times in that span.
3. Identity theft
Kelly went deep into discussion about the type of identity he wants the Pirates to play with, and it starts with being aggressive in situations without being afraid to fail.
“It’s not always going to be perfect,” Kelly said. “We’re going to get thrown out. There’s going to be times when we try to steal, and we get caught. But how do we do it in the right way, to be aggressive and put pressure on the defense to stop us, basically?”
Kelly believes the turning point for the season came right after the All-Star break, after they were swept by the AL-worst Chicago White Sox by a combined score of 27-7.
The Pirates responded by sweeping the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers, starting with a 3-0 win with Paul Skenes pitching. That’s where Kelly saw Pirates players buy in to a team-first identity.
“That was the first time it was really evident to me, that series with Detroit after a tough series against the White Sox,” Kelly said.
4. Look like Bae
The Pirates’ emphasis on baserunning was evident in their recall of Ji Hwan Bae from Triple-A Indianapolis.
Cherington said the move was made because of the injuries to Jack Suwinski (groin) and Ronny Simon (shoulder) left the Pirates short of options in left field, and Bae “certainly can handle that position” at PNC Park.
That’s where Bae started Sunday against the Brewers, when he went 0 for 2 but drew a one-out walk in the eighth inning. Then Bae showed off what makes him special, using his speed to race from first to score on Cam Devanney’s pinch-hit double to left.
5. Road worriers
Despite being swept by the Brewers, the Pirates have a 42-33 record (.560 winning percentage) at PNC Park this season. That’s a 90-win pace over a full 162-game season.
On the road, however, the Pirates are 22-47 (.318). That’s a 110-loss pace. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they are on a 72-win pace heading into their trip to Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
Kelly was asked about the disparity of their home-away play, but he doesn’t have the answers or an explanation.
“I wish I knew, and I’ve been waiting for somebody to ask,” Kelly said. “It’s the elephant in the room. It’s something that’s mind-blowing when you look at it because we try to talk about things all the time: What is it? Why is it? What can we do different on the road? Is there something we do different at home than on the road? Do guys just feel better about being at PNC Park?”
Kelly pointed to signs of improvement. Since the All-Star break, the Pirates are 16-12 at home and 9-10 on the road.
Perhaps the upcoming opponents will help.
The Orioles are 33-38 and the Nationals 29-42 at home.
Not that it would provide much solace for the season, but the Pirates need to win 12 of their final 18 games — a dozen on the road — to match their 76-win total of the past two seasons.