Well, it’s official. The Pirates were swept in Oakland by the A’s being dunked on by an organization that is currently so backwards they have replies off on all of their posts.

To the A’s players credit, they played some good ball, but Pittsburgh did everything in their power to hand Oakland that series. The Pirates scored a total of 3 runs in as many games, finishing their pathetic showing out west by suffering a 4-0 shutout.

Now 14-18, the Pirates are last place in the NL Central and their pitiful excuse of an offense has derailed their entire season.

Yesterday, I chronicled the thought process behind a hypothetical firing of hitting coach Andy Haines, who has given Matt Canada and Todd Reirden a real run for their money in the category of offensive ineptitude.

But I prefaced that entire topic with the statement that any talk surrounding firing Haines was almost entirely moot.

However, a legitimate option could be in the form of some roster management. So who could the Pirates swap between the major leagues and their Triple-A team in Indianapolis to try and spark something, anything, on offense?

A week and a half ago, when the Pirate bats were still cold, I published a piece calling for Nick Gonzales to be called up. At the time (April 21st), Gonzales was slashing .385/.435/.590, with a 1.025 OPS.

Those numbers have held up, now slashing .374/.436/.606 with an OPS of 1.040.

The major league success has, so far, eluded the former seventh overall pick from 2020, but he really can’t do anything more in Triple-A this season. He deserves another look at the MLB level, especially as basically the entire Pirates roster can’t hit anything.

But he isn’t the only player who is exceeding at the Triple-A level. Liover Peguero is also batting well, slashing .309/.346/.464, but given that Gonzales is far out-playing him, and the Pirates aren’t really in the position to send down multiple, if any infielders.

Even for Gonzales, the decision is tricky. Before the season started, Alika Williams would have been the go-to guy to send down, but Williams is one of the few Pirates actually hitting, albeit in limited action.

For some other positions, the decision is a lot clearer. Ji Hwan Bae, who played 111 games with Pittsburgh last season, started the year on the Injured List, and was then assigned to Triple-A. In 12 games with Indianapolis, Bae has a line of .393/.509/.565, with 2 home runs in the early goings.

Bae served as a utility player for the Pirates last year, serving in both the outfield and infield last season. His work at second base was shoddy at times, so my personal preference is for him to play the outfield if he’s in the lineup.

Last year, the Pirates deployed him in center field, but with Michael A. Taylor taking that role, it will be up to the Pirates if they like him in one of the corners or if they would prefer to give him another look in the infield.

In any case, the Pirates could probably option Edward Olivares out for Bae. Olivares started the year hot, but in his last 7 games he is averaging an abysmal .095 at the plate.

Elsewhere, Henry Davis clearly isn’t right at the moment. With Yasmani Grandal rehabbing well in Triple-A, this might be the time to swap Grandal for Davis.

Davis is having a miserable time at the plate. His batting average has stayed stagnant all year, currently sitting at .162. His swing often looks desperate, like one big powerful hit could fix all his problems. That may very well be the case, but that hit he is chasing hasn’t happened.

He has seen his role as starting catcher diminish as Joey Bart has proved to be a better option at bat, and Davis has been pinch hit for on several occasions, evident that the coaching staff doesn’t have fill faith in him late in games.

Grandal’s numbers in Triple-A haven’t been outstanding, slashing .250/.294/.375, but with 10 RBI in 8 games, he looks to be finding a groove with Indy.

A tandem of Grandal and Bart behind the plate isn’t terrible for a brief time, which would hopefully allow Davis to regain some confidence down in Triple-A. Demoting Davis is not writing him off for his whole career, and does not mean that the first overall pick from three years ago can’t turn into a great big leaguer. But right now, his struggles are harming the team and himself.

Lastly, Jake Lamb has had a terrific start to his minor league season. The 33-year old journeyman has skyrocketed to a line of .391/.481/.609 with 3 home runs and 14 RBI in 20 games. Lamb could help provide some offense from a position that has abhorrently lacked it: first base.

Lamb has shifted to first base almost entirely in the last few years, and with Rowdy Tellez continuing to suffer, Lamb could help provide a spark.

This scenario is the least likely, because it would involve the Pirates DFA’ing Tellez, which they don’t seem to be in any hurry to do despite that being a popular pick among fans.

Honestly, take your pick with any or all of these moves. The very notion of a change would mean the team is doing the bare minimum and acknowledge that there is a serious problem here. Time will tell if any of these happen, and if they can actually help.

(Featured photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)