×

Pirates’ offense has improved

By John Mehno

For the Mirror

PITTSBURGH – Some of the numbers through 10 games validate the Pirates’ new offensive approach.

They’re second in the National League in hits and on-base percentage, and third in batting average.

They’re getting hits, and they’re getting on base.

The problem is they’re not scoring enough runs, and leaving large numbers of runners on base.

“It’s like building sentences in English class,” manager Clint Hurdle said before Friday’s game against Milwaukee at PNC Park.

“You turn them into paragraphs, then you turn the paragraphs into books. Right now we’re building sentences. From my standpoint, what we’re doing to create these innings, we need to do the same things to finish them.”

The Pirates altered their approach out of necessity after trading Neil Walker and not offering Pedro Alvarez a contract. Walker hit 16 home runs, and Alvarez led the team with 27 last season.

Minus that power, the Pirates believed they had to emphasize on-base percentage and bunching their hits. To that end, John Jaso was installed as the leadoff hitter for most games, and Andrew McCutchen was moved from third to second in the order.

The team just went through a frustrating four-game series against Detroit in which they left too many runners on base.

Overall, though, Hurdle believes the Pirates are on the right track with their approach.

“We’ve done a lot of good things,” he said. “Only one (opposing) starter has seen the seventh inning. We’ve seen over 150 pitches a whole bunch. We saw 170 the other day.

“That exclamation point at the end of the sentence is that one at-bat that could really flip it the other way, put more than a one or two (runs) up. We haven’t had consistency with that.”

Filling in

Bullpen coach Euclides Rojas moved into the dugout Friday to fill in for pitching coach Ray Searage, who was absent for personal reasons.

Scott Mitchell, the organization’s assistant pitching coordinator, took Rojas’ place in the bullpen.

Day of honor

It was Jackie Robinson Day throughout MLB, commemorating the anniversary of baseball’s color line falling in 1947. Robinson made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15 that season.

All uniforms bore Robinson’s No. 42 for the occasion. McCutchen and Josh Harrison wore special spikes for the game that had been decorated with a tribute to Robinson.

“It’s definitely exciting to get to wear something that honors him,” Harrison said.

McCutchen said, “It’s awesome. It’s great to be representing a guy who stood for everything in this game. He’s the reason why I’m playing this game. It means a heck of lot to me. We only do this one time a year, so I cherish it.”

By the way, Robinson was a Pirates killer in his career. In 202 career games against Pittsburgh, he batted .342 with 32 home runs and 127 runs batted in. His home run total and .990 OPS were his best against any opponent.

New Brew

The Brewers came into the game in last place in the Central Division, and with a radically overhauled team.

The big changes started last year when Craig Counsell replaced Ron Roenicke as manager.

Despite the transition, Hurdle said the Brewers are a formidable opponent.

“This should never be a team taken lightly,” Hurdle said. “It’s a dangerous team from my standpoint.”

Mehno can be reached at johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.39/week.

Subscribe Today