PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Baseball is a marathon, not a sprint. You’ve heard that a thousand times. It is true, especially when you are rebuilding. However, this little sprint the Pirates are on is different. It’s playing right into GM Ben Cherington’s plan.
Fans were upset just two weeks ago when Cherington said on his radio show, on 93.7 The Fan and the Pirates Radio Network, they had seen improvements before a game they would go on to lose 18-4 to St. Louis. What is was referring to is what we’ve seen over the last week. It’s not just winning, but who is producing in the wins.
Sunday, 3-0 over Arizona
· Young righty Zach Thompson (Jacob Stallings trade) pitched five scoreless innings while rookie OF Cal Mitchell hit his first MLB homer and rookie OF Jack Suwinski (Adam Frazier trade) had three hits. In his last six starts, Thompson (under team control until 2028) has given up seven earned runs in 29.2 innings with 22 strikeouts to seven walks. David Bednar (Joe Musgrove trade) the save, he is 2-1 with a 1.33 ERA, 10 saves, 37 strikeouts to five walks and a 0.778 WHIP. Bednar is a free agent in 2027.
Saturday, 2-1 over Arizona
· Suwinski, 23 years-old, hit a walk-off home run, his sixth, to continue to lead National League rookies in homers. RHP Roansy Contreras (Jameson Taillon trade), 22 years-old and under team control until 2028, pitched 5.2 innings allowing four hits, no earned runs and struck out eight to lower his ERA to 1.93.
Wednesday, 8-4 win at Los Angeles
· Rodolfo Castro homered and drove in four runs. Bryan Reynolds homered and drove in two runs. Jose Quintana gave up two runs in 4.1 innings. Reynolds, 27 years-old signed away two years of arbitration this Spring, maybe signaling an opportunity for a longer contract in the future. Reynolds has hits in eight of his last 10 games. The 21-year-old Castro has been sent back down, but won’t be a free agent until 2028. The switch-hitter has six home runs in 52 career MLB games. Quintana is a free agent signing with the fourth best ERA in the National League and could fetch a nice return at the trade deadline.
Tuesday, 5-3 win at Los Angeles
· Michael Chavis (Austin Davis trade) and Tucupita Marcano (Adam Frazier trade) each hit two-run home runs. Wil Crowe (Josh Bell trade) earned his second save. Chavis is 26 years-old and won’t be a free agent until 2026 and is hitting .280 with five home runs. The 22-year-old Marcano will be a free agent in 2028 is hitting .276 with a pair of homers and a .364 OBP. Crowe is 27, won’t be a free agent until 2027. The righty has allowed multiple earned runs in a game once in 22 appearances.
Monday, 6-5 win at Los Angeles
· Ke’Bryan Hayes with three hits. The 25-year-old, signed until 2029 with a team option for 2030, leads the Pirates in hits, RBI, batting average, runs, walks, stolen bases.
It’s the youth, those under control for several more seasons, that are driving the winning ways. With the exception of Quintana, it’s a group that could help form the core and they are doing it in the majors. These are not projections, but actual results.
There are several other prospects as former first-round pick, CF Travis Swaggerty was called up on Sunday. SS/OF Oneil Cruz and 1B Mason Martin are at AAA. First-round picks INF Nick Gonzales, RHP Quinn Priester and C Henry Davis at AA along with INF Liover Peguero and RHPs Kyle Nicolas and Mike Burrows.
Cherington decided quickly after he was hired in November of 2019 that this organization needed to be built from the ground up. He traded away some good players, but now the returns are starting to make noise.
The Pirates also had arguably the best top-end draft in 2021.
This team will have another losing streak, if not losing streaks. The Bucs are not perfect nor contenders. What we’ve seen in the last week at least shows there is some optimism and talent in the organization. It’s not a group of ‘has-beens’ or ‘never-was’ or soon-to-be-traded players leading the way.
It just might be the flickering light to the brighter future we were promised.