PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Pirates general manager Ben Cherington believes there are a number of reasons for the Pirates struggles with the offense. He remains confident the answers are there, especially as players return from injury.
Currently the Bucs are the only team in the National League with a team batting average under .200. Only the White Sox are worse than the Pirates .197 average, Chicago is .196. The on-base percentage is 27th (.283), OPS is 28th (.585) and they are 23rd in the majors in runs. Where Cherington has optimism is in being 20 games into the season and believing they have options who have yet to play due to injury.
Not lining them up as excuses, Cherington said of a few reasons for struggles.
· Based on their internal measurements, the Pirates have a number of players who are hitting into bad luck (quality of contact isn’t consistent with results)
· Injuries, reinforcements coming to help with a deeper lineup. He admits at times it’s been hard to field a lineup.
(Nick Gonzales, Spencer Horwitz)
· Several players haven’t hit to their career norms at this point (Jack Suwinski, Adam Frazier, Tommy Pham, Bryan Reynolds would likely fit into this category)
· The work is there, but the consistency hasn’t translated yet
Last year the Pirates were excruciatingly patient with a couple of players. Cherington didn’t say they would be as tolerant this year, he said the context matters as to the individual player, the team situation, what the alternatives are matters.
“As a general rule, we believe the length of the season really tells the best story,” Cherington said before the Bucs-Guardians game Friday. “The earlier we are in the season, the more careful we are going to be in making any conclusions. That’s generally going to lead to giving guys time. We also know that hitting’s just hard period these days, especially early when it’s cold and the stuff is as good as it is these days. It’s not just the Pirates who have players whose numbers don’t look great yet.”
Cherington is pleased with what he’s seen from new hitting coach Matt Hague. He said Hague is secure in his knowledge and that he’s not looking to impose his will. He said Hague has the same approach win or lose and understands the mindset of the hitters. He knows what you need to be successful over the course of a season.
With the number of rainouts to start the season, it’s been hard for the hitters at AAA to get traction. He believes they are starting to see some results, but he doesn’t necessarily want them to just knock on the door, rather knock the door down. Overwhelm Pirates management and force them to call up different players.
While Gonzales remains early in his process to return as he’s still unable to put weight on his foot, potential starting first baseman Spencer Horwitz is cleared to participate in every baseball-related activity. Horwitz will head to Florida in the next few days so he can get consistent work. He’ll start getting into games with the extended program and then they will build a rehab calendar. Cherington would expect Horwitz to have to work about a full Spring Training schedule, which should be about a month of game action before he would be ready to join the Pirates.
“We can’t force things,” Cherington said. “It’s April, most teams are going to rely on the players that are inside the organization. We certainly have an eye out and already we have an eye outside the organization. We will keep an eye on things. We keep having conversations, but trades don’t usually happen this soon.”
“We got to rely on the guys that are here. We believe in the guys that are here. Some guys have stepped up. We are going to get healthier. And then over the course of the season if we do what I believe we will do, then they’ll be opportunities to add to it at some point.”