PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – When asked during his weekly appearance on 93.7 The Fan about his team’s hitting issues, Bucs manager Derek Shelton admitted he doesn’t have a great answer as to what to do to fix their struggling offense.
Not exactly an encouraging message a former MLB hitting coach. Shelton did say on the Cook and Joe Show he’s seen situations like this before, been a part of it on teams before. There is, though, something different about this.
“We are going through a stretch that is pretty rare where no one is hot,” Shelton told Joe Starkey and Ron Cook on 93.7 The Fan. “Usually you see like one guy gets hot and he can carry you a little bit.”
Here are stats for the month of May
· Bryan Reynolds hitting .234/.294 OBP with 3 RBI
· Ke’Bryan Hayes .235/.299 with 1 RBI
· Carlos Santana .150 with 2 doubles
· Jack Suwinski .137, 1 HR (only extra base hit), 2 RBI
· Ji Hwan Bae .222/.276, 3 stolen bases, 3 caught stealing
· Connor Joe .200/.282, 2 RBI
· Andrew McCutchen .214, 2 HR (only extra base hits)
Specifically with Reynolds, he doesn’t have a home run since April 7. Signed to a huge contract last month, Reynolds had 51 home runs in his last two seasons. Shelton said it’s a timing issue where he needs to get in front of the ball and get it elevated.
“I do think the off-day (Monday) for us to get away from it is something,” Shelton continued on 93.7 The Fan about their team issues. “Guys do tend to put pressure on themselves and make every at bat a lot bigger than it is. I do think the more you start to stress about runners in scoring position or talk about it, the pressure builds up. We need one of those games where four or five guys get multiple hits and it takes a little bit of that pressure off. We do have young hitters who put a little more pressure on themselves.”
Some of it is what doubters pointed to even during the 20-8 start, they weren’t playing the better teams. This losing stretch started when playing Tampa Bay and Toronto and continued against the Orioles.
“We haven’t played well and we’ve played good teams,” Shelton said on the Cook and Joe Show. “You get into the American League East and those teams right there. We did not make our own breaks. We did not create our own situations. We did a good job in the first 28 games of doing that. That’s what we need to get back to.”