There has been a lot of discourse around the offense, or lack thereof, of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the early goings of this season.
The topic has only raged on as the Pirates have continued to crumble, falling now to 14-16 on the season with their series opener loss to the A’s in Oakland.
The Pirates recorded just two hits in that game, and only notched a single one against a pitcher who was coming into the affair sporting a 1-4 record and a 7.06 ERA for Oakland.
The worst part about all of this? Had he not thrown a wild pitch, the Pirates likely would have been shut out all together.
Joe Boyle, for his part, did all he could to boost the Bucco offense. He walked 4 batters and made the aforementioned wild pitch, but the Pirates refused to take anything more than a 1-0 lead after the first, which was quickly relinquished by a bad day at the office from Bailey Falter.
For Falter, it was something that I personally kind of saw coming. I’ve well chronicled his Pirates career in recent weeks, and this performance from him (6.0 innings, 6 hits, 5 earned runs) follows the pattern he was long established on the mound.
I wrote this after his last start, which was a quality outing vs Milwaukee:
“His time in Pittsburgh really established a trend and an odd career path for Falter. He genuinely can be a very good pitcher at times. His ERA is heavily inflated due to certain very poor starts, and unfortunately for him, that clouds some very solid performances over his career, especially as a Pirate.“
That trend has definitely continued here in 2024. Bailey Falter gave up 5 runs to the first 5 batters he faced to start the season, and it was an absolute nightmare.
Since then? Falter has a 1.38 ERA over his last 26.0 innings pitched.
In Pittsburgh’s win over the Milwaukee Brewers tonight, Falter went 7.0 innings, allowing just 1 run while matching his career high of 8 strikeouts. Had the Pirates not sent him back out for the eighth inning, his stat line would have looked even better.
His game against the Brewers was his fourth good start in a row, and as I have detailed, Falter never strings together more than five quality starts in a row. This happens to him every now and again, and usually when it rains, it pours for Bailey.
Don’t be surprised, however, if he rebounds quite well in his next outing. That’s just the kind of pitcher he is.
As for the other players on this team, it would have been nice if they could have helped out their struggling pitcher and add some runs to make it a competitive ballgame.
But with the way this offense has looked recently, that’s far too much to ask.
The Pirates have scored two runs or less in eight of their last eleven games. Calling that “concerning” would be a gross understatement, and even in low-scoring affairs, it has put the team at a serious disadvantage.
And it’s a real shame, because when the season started, the biggest question about these 2024 Pirates was the starting rotation. That rotation has been just fine. Has it been perfect? Absolutely not, but it has been serviceable.
Pittsburgh’s starting rotation has a collective 3.65 ERA, which is currently the 9th best in Major League Baseball.
Falter having a poor night does not support the narrative, but overall, the Pirates have squandered good starting pitching by being completely incapable of driving in runs.
There’s an eerie feeling about the rotation. Maybe we underrated it when the season started, but it’s not yet fully known if we can trust this early success. Is it sustainable?
If this rotation begins to implode, it only becomes that much harder to string together wins for this club. It’s something that will become virtually impossible if this team can’t hit.
I know the topic of Pirates hitting coach Andy Heines is a popular topic right now, and he is probably public enemy number one. He has given both Matt Canada and Todd Reirden a serious run for their money in terms of ineptitude.
Heines, and what his future should be/will be is a topic I want to dedicate a separate piece to, and that’s something I hopefully will have the time to tackle tomorrow. Until then, my friends.
(Featured photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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