PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – After an Opening Day win in Chicago, it looked bleak for the Pirates. They not only lost six straight but only one of those games was decided by one run. Bucs outscored in Cincinnati over three games 30 to 8.
“It’s a grind to do it (get back to .500),” said manager Derek Shelton. “When you lose six games in a row and to fight your way back. It’s a testament to the way we played. It’s a testament to how we have to play. We have to play fundamental baseball. We have to do little things.”
Bryan Reynolds would agree, adding they’ve also started to play well on both halves of the inning.
“Sometimes things don’t go your way, sometimes you don’t throw the ball and you hit,” Reynolds. “Sometimes you throw the ball and don’t hit. Right now, we are getting everything synched up.”
Reynolds is one of the reasons for winning three straight series on the road. The Pirates third year outfielder is hitting .310 over the span of winning eight of their last 12. Adam Frazier is hitting .353, Erik Gonzalez .317 with 8 RBI, Colin Moran with 10 RBI.
Over the same stretch, the bullpen has an ERA of 1.02 with 45 strikeouts in 44.1 innings. The defense has made one error in the last seven games.
“I think organizationally it’s important for us,” Shelton said of winning the right way. “Our guys throughout the Pirates organization need to know the way we are going to play and what our expectation is.”
“Ultimately it is about wins and losses at this level, but when you’re developing an organizational culture. It’s about how we played. The standard to what we play to. I think that’s what our fans are excited about. I think that’s what our fans deserve. I think that’s what we will continue to do.”
They are also doing it without their marquee player. Ke’Bryan Hayes hasn’t played since the third inning of the second game of the season. He’s return doesn’t appear to be imminent either.
“It shows that guys, when given opportunities, have stepped up,” Shelton said. “We’ve seen Phil (Evans) bounce around and do it. We’ve seen Gonzalez do some things. I think the last two games, Kevin Newman and Jacob Stallings have swung the bat more aggressively. Guys seizing opportunities with a key player out, no pun intended. I think it’s extremely important.”
And they are doing that with a couple of starting pitchers called up from the alternate site, one with no more experience than A ball. Yet these potential pieces to their future are showing something now in the majors.
“That’s huge for development,” Shelton said. “I think it’s important for our baseball ops group when we have guys that contribute. Organizationally we will have to continue to do that. I think that’s what Ben (Cherington) has put forth in terms of making sure we get better and we acquire players and develop players. When we have guys that do that. I think it’s a real shot in the arm.”
Wil Crowe is one of those players. He came over in the unpopular Josh Bell to the Nationals trade right before Christmas. The 26- year-old Crowe believes it’s simple why they are winning and will continue to do so.
“I think it’s a bunch of guys who are having a lot of fun,” Crowe said. “The locker room, the atmosphere, everything about us, the vibes are incredible. From the top to the bottom, we have a bunch of dudes that are really good baseball players.”
“We have a really good team. As long as people keep sleeping on us, we are going to keep surprising everybody. We are going to ride this wave. We are going to keep playing baseball like we know how to and keep winning games.”
Pirates host Kansas City Tuesday night at 6:35 and then St. Louis over the weekend.