What a difference a week makes.
The Pirates are desperately looking for a win after dropping their 8th straight on Monday night in San Diego.
Speaking during his weekly radio show on The Fan, Manager Derek Shelton says they need to catch a lucky break and the losing streak is “frustrating.”
“I think there’s a state of we need to catch a break,” said Shelton. “I mean it’s one of those situations where we haven’t played bad baseball you know, I think we’ve lost since the break nine one-run games, we’ve lost, during this straight of the eight, six one-one game.”
Joe Starkey said he believes the Pirates have been competitive but there have been signs of bad baseball.
“When you look at some of the game, whether its pitches you would want back or the Oneil Cruz game in Houston, I think there have been plenty of examples of bad baseball,” said Starkey.
“I mean your definition of bad baseball may be different than my definition of bad baseball,” said Shelton. “We haven’t executed, I think that’s fair to say.”
Bryan De La Cruz struggles:
Shelton also talked about Bryan De La Cruz, who has struggled since he came over to Pittsburgh at the trade deadline.
“Just putting a little bit too much pressure on himself and kind of going outside of the hitting zones that has made him successful,” said Shelton.
No benching of Hayes:
Ke’Bryan Hayes has improved a little, batting .259 over his last seven with a home run, but his extra base hit production is really struggling this season with nine doubles, zero triples and four home runs. He is batting .241 overall this season.
Starkey asked Shelton if he’s considered benching Hayes to give him a break.
“No,” said Shelton, saying they continue to work on his hitting an he provides “elite defense.
Henry Davis still a catcher:
Shelton says they still see Henry Davis as a catcher in the Major Leagues. “Just because Henry was one-one and got to the big leagues like, there’s a lot of Major League players that have struggled and it takes time and I think we still believe that Henry is going to be a really good Major League player.”
Bednar Still Closing:
The Pirates closer has struggled recently with a 5.75 ERA and has given up 26 earned runs, already a career high.
He’s blown two saves in his last three and gave up two runs on Sunday against the Dodgers.
Shelton says no extra pressure about job during losing streak:
“In terms of managing for my job, no, I don’t feel that any more so today than I did earlier in the year,” said Shelton. “I think anyone that’s in this position always feels that so, no I’m focused on winning games.”
Shelton was also asked if he was given an ultimatum by Pirates ownership before the season that this had to be a winning season.
“You know I’m not going to answer that question,” said Shelton. “You know we don’t talk about what we talk about in house.”