Pirates Having Trouble Finding Fundamentals Early

With a team of young players like the Pittsburgh Pirates have, there are growing pains that you expect throughout the season. However, the team has been lacking in some of the fundamentals of the game and it has been hurting them in the long run.

It wasn't the Home Opener that the Pirates dreamed up on Thursday afternoon as they fell to the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park 4-2. The loss dropped their record to 1-6 on the season, and they have now lost six games in a row heading into today's off day. Now, with a young team, we didn't expect the wins and losses to matter as much as player development does. However, this game was just another example of how the biggest thing the Pirates lack is the fundamentals of the game. The Pirates had several opportunities throughout the game to break things open, but couldn't find the clutch hit they needed. Now, any close loss can be frustrating, but when it is a loss where the fundamentals have escaped you it is that much more frustrating for fans and players alike.

The Pirates had the bases loaded with less than two outs twice in the game, once in the second and once in the eighth, and couldn't bring home a run. In both instances, strikeouts at the bottom of the lineup have hurt the Pirates ending rallies. After a year where they committed the second-most errors in the league in 2020, the team emphasized defense this Spring Training. However, through the first seven games of the season, the Pirates are tied for the second-most errors committed with seven. Offensively, their team batting average also ranks them in the bottom half of the league with a team effort of just .202. With your offense and defense failing you, it is putting more pressure on your young pitching staff. Today, we look at what has gone wrong through the first seven games and how the Pirates can fix their woes.

Defensive Blunders

One of the most frustrating things for a young team, or any team for that matter, is defensive errors. Through seven games played this season, the Pirates have seen their share of errors with seven already committed. It is the second-most errors of any team in the league, leaving them right where they were last season in that category. Yesterday was one of only two games this season where the Pirates did not commit an error, but these defensive blunders have hurt the Pirates. This was especially prevalent in the series with the Reds where the Pirates got outscored 30-8. However, if the Pirates hasn't committed costly errors early in the game, the beatings might have not been nearly as bad as they were.

This was most prevalent in the finale of the three-game series where the Pirates lost 11-4. After Chad Kuhl gave up a lead-off home run to Tyler Naquin, the red-hot Nick Castellanos hit a groundball to third. Wilmer Difo air-mailed Colin Moran at first, and allowed Castellanos to get into scoring position. From there, things snowballed as Kuhl walked three straight batters before giving up a sacrifice fly and a bases-clearing double that made the score 5-0 Reds with just one out in the first inning. It is a small play at the time, but it is one that ended up making a big difference. If Difo makes that play, then it gets Kuhl a big first out with nobody on. This could change his approach and doesn't give the Reds the opportunity for the bases-loaded double that happens later in the inning.

Obviously, the Pirates are missing one of their top defensive players as Ke'Bryan Hayes is on the injured list. However, you have to take the next-man-up mentality and Difo needs to make that play. As a team, the Pirates have a fielding percentage of .970 and that isn't going to cut it over the course of a full season. Once Hayes comes back in a couple of weeks, the defense will look more sound and it will allow the Pirates to get comfortable in their positions. The defensive blunders just put more of a strain on a pitching staff that is already majorly overworked. The Pirates don't have anyone on their staff who is going to simply blow hitters away. So, if the defense makes all the routine plays in the field, that will significantly help out these pitchers down the stretch.

Too Many Left on Base

This was not just a problem in yesterday's home opener but has been a problem through the first seven games of the season. Too many times the Pirates have had scoring opportunities available to them, but just couldn't take advantage of them. It started from day one, as the team combined to leave 36 men on base, the official number was 15. Even though this was a 5-3 win for the Pirates it could have been, and probably should have been, a bigger win for the team. Twice in that game, they left the bases loaded and had nothing to show for their hard work. They need to find someone who is able to come up with the clutch hits in those situations as the team looks to score more runs.

Yesterday, Dustin Fowler had a chance to establish himself as that guy yesterday when he came up twice with runners in scoring position and a chance to break the game open. His first time up, runners were on second and third, and at least he was able to walk to load the bases. He added a sacrifice fly later in the game for his first RBI of the year. However, his big moment to shine was in the bottom of the eight when he stepped up with the bases loaded and one out. As a guy trying to win the starting centerfielder job, you would have loved to see him smack a bases-clearing, game-winning, double to lift the Pirates to victory. Even being able to put the ball in play would have helped him, but instead, he struck out. Wilmer Difo followed with a strikeout and what looked like a great opportunity for the Pirates was squandered.

If the Pirates want to win more ball games, they are going to have to get some guys who can come through in the clutch. Guys like Colin Moran (.280) and Phillip Evans (.368) have gotten out to a good start, but they haven't had anyone, aside from themselves to drive in. The bottom of the lineup especially is looking for a boost, and a promising performance from Gregory Polanco yesterday gives the Pirate hope. Polanco went 2-3 with a walk and a run scored and his one-out was on a ball that just missed being a home run by a couple of inches. If the bottom of the lineup can start hitting more consistently, we could start to see more out of this offense that is in desperate need of some big hits.

The Pittsburgh Pirates (1-6) are off today, but they return to action for game two of their three-game series with the Chicago Cubs (4-3) tomorrow at 6:35 pm. Mitch Keller (0-1, 9.00) makes his second start of the season for the Pirates against Zach Davies (1-0, 3.18) in a rematch of their Easter Day match-up.