PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - While the Pirates troubles are many with the relief pitching being a focal point, but the team's offense has also been struggling mightily.
The overall record speaks for itself, the Pirates are 4-16 and the worst team in baseball. One of the main reasons for that stem from under-performing bats in the middle of the lineup (Bell, Reynolds, Polanco)
So far this season the pirates top hitters are all batting under .200.
Gregory Polanco: 3 for 43 .070 BA 2 HR 7 RBI 22 K
Josh Bell: .197 BA 2 HR 10 RBI 27 K
Bryan Reynolds: .176 BA 1 HR 1 RBI 24 K
Adam Frazier: .175 BA 3 HR 5 RBI 15 K
None of the players have more hits than K's.
But the team's troubles also go deeper than that.
The one positive to this team is the encouraging performances they've received from starting pitchers Steven Brault and Chad Kuhl, the latter returning from Tommy John surgery.
Both have been impressive at times and would represent a step in the right direction for an organization desperately searching for starting pitch.
As good as they have been though, the bullpen behind them has been equally as bad. Injuries decimated that group early on and exposed the lack of talent and depth they had to begin with.
As was evident Wednesday night, Brault threw 5 shutout innings but watched Dovydas Neverauskas enter the tied game with an ERA in the 6's, only to let up three runs and put the team behind.
This will continue to be a problem for any starting pitcher that goes out and keeps the team in a game.
