It’s the same topic we’ve been talking about for a while now. The Pittsburgh Pirates cannot hit the ball, and even in the rare times they can, it’s not enough to overcome their opponent.

Wednesday afternoon was a case study in that sad reality, with the Pirates losing 5-4 to the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim), dropping the series at home.

The series loss happened despite the Angels not having won more than one series all season long, not having won back to back games in over a month, and missing their best player in Mike Trout.

The Pirates fell down 2-0 after starter Martin Perez surrendered a run in the third and fifth innings, but things broke down for the Angels in the bottom of the fifth inning for Angels starter Jose Soriano, who had the bases loaded before allowing a double by Oneil Cruz to clear the bases, and eventually allowing another hit to put Pittsburgh in front 4-2.

But the pitching back on the Pirates’ side could not hold up. Perez suffered another bad sixth inning and Luis Ortiz was no better, as Pittsburgh handed the lead right back to the Angels, 5-4.

It was time for the Pirate offense to make one last stand, but they were nowhere to be found. No one wearing white made it on base after the sixth inning as the Angels held on for the win.

I’ve broken down the struggles of other Pirate batters before, but one person who sticks out to me right now is Jared Triolo.

Thee super utility man broke onto the scene last year in 54 games with the Pirates, where he slashed .298/.388/.398 while playing all over the infield. His unique versatility and success at the plate made him one of the more valuable Pirates down the stretch last year, and heading into this season we looked to be getting a repeat of that.

With Ke’Bryan Hayes back and fully healthy, Triolo’s best bet to be a permanent member of the roster was taking over the second base job, which faced some healthy competition between himself, Nick Gonzales, and Liover Peguero.

While they all had their moments making defensive plays, some particularly by Peguero and Triolo, Jared far and away led the group in batting performance, while also facing slightly harder pitching matchups. Their spring training results below:

Triolo: .310/.383/.500, .883 OPS, 8.0 OppQual

Peguero: .269/.345/.423, .768 OPS, 7.6 OppQual

Gonzales: .257/.297/.429, .726 OPS, 7.9 OppQual

So, the second base job went to Triolo, who brought great defense and a good bat with him into the regular season.

To his credit, the defense has, for the most part, stuck around. That bat, however, has evaporated completely. Triolo is slashing .208/.294/.250 on the season for the Bucs right now.

I know it’s not necessarily a fair comparison because Triolo had roughly 20 more games played last season, but this is not the same Triolo we saw in 2023 and it is beginning to become a real concern.

Despite Triolo’s batting average being pretty subpar, his numbers are still above a handful of everyday/almost everyday players for the Bucs. Rowdy Tellez (.200), Joey Bart (.195), Andrew McCutchen (.184), and Jack Suwinski (.178) all have lower averages among active players who have at least 15 games played.

The problem Triolo finds himself in however is his position. Unlike some of these other players who are in bad batting slumps, Triolo has lots of competition behind him who could get another chance at the major league level.

Andrew McCutchen is, well, Andrew McCutchen. He is a hero to this city and isn’t going anywhere. Jack Suwinski doesn’t have a lot of outfield competition behind him in the minor leagues who are succeeding right now. Joey Bart only has Henry Davis to keep an eye on.

Rowdy Tellez…well, he does have some competition, but the Pirates still seem unwilling to designate his signing as a mistake, and so poor Jake Lamb is stuck in Indianapolis.

Triolo has Nick Gonzales, Liover Peguero, and potentially Ji Hwan Bae all vying to get promotions. All three players have past major league experience and are exceeding at the Triple-A plate.

Gonzales in particular has been lighting up the International League in Triple-A. He currently sports a .358 batting average and an OPS of 1.039.

Among qualifying players, his batting average is second in the entire league, behind only his teammate in Lamb (wow ok, maybe I should talk a little more about him). Gonzales also leads the IL in doubles with 14.

Nick Gonzales does not offer as much in the defensive part of the game; Triolo definitely has the better glove, but the team needs to find a way to spark the batting for this team.

Gonzales played in 35 games for the Pirates last season, where he overall struggled after a hot start. His season average was .209, but his bat put up a .333 average through his first 13 games.

Even if he is not the long-term future at second base, the Pirates could sure use that spark he has provided them in the past.

Another potential option is Ji Hwan Bae, who offers more in the way of major league experience. Bae was with the Pirates almost all of last season, playing in 111 games for Pittsburgh.

Bae batted .231 for the Pirates last season, but has really found a groove in Triple-A after a delayed start. Bae is slashing .359/.481/.484 in Indianapolis during his 17-game run with them.

I personally like Bae much better in the outfield, where his speed can better be utilized and he suffers less defensive gaffes, but the Pirates have liked him at second base in the past.

Bae split almost exactly 50/50 between playing second base and the outfield last year, but with the addition of Michael A. Taylor, advertised as a strong defensive center fielder, Bae’s future with the Pirates is much more likely to be in the infield.

Liover Peguero gets talked about much less in an equation like this, because his numbers are much less impressive when looking at Gonzales and Bae. However, even Peguero is batting over .300 for Indy right now.

Last season, Peguero played in 59 games for the Bucs, batting .237.

He also has a bit more of the defensive prowess than Bae and/or Gonzales, but again his minor league batting stats have been far less impactful so far this season.

Bottom line: the Pirates have no shortage of options, and Triolo still has options that allow him to be sent to Triple-A. Something’s gotta give eventually, and if the players currently on this roster can’t figure it out, and/or the organization won’t make meaningful decisions, it won’t matter how dominant Paul Skenes will be…when he makes his debut Saturday.

(Featured photo by Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images)