Andrew McCutchen will be out for at least this homestand with an ” avulsion fracture involving the costochondral cartilage of the left 11th rib”, Neil Walker is out of the lineup with back problems and Gerrit Cole is making another rehab start in the minors. These injuries come at the most inopportune time as the Pirates are only 2 1/2 games out of first in the NL Central and 1 1/2 games out of the NL wild card thanks, in part, to the continued stellar play of these three.
In 109 games played this season, McCutchen is hitting .311/.536/.947 with 32 doubles, five triples, 17 home runs, 67 RBI and 68 walks. His 5.2 WAR is first is the NL. Walker is having a breakout season posting a slash line of .278/.457/.805 with 15 doubles, 16 home runs and 50 RBI in 96 games while Cole was having a solid season before injuries have kept him out more than a month. He is 7-4 with a 3.78 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 14 games.
Those are some tough shoes to fill, but if the Pirates want to stay in the playoff race, they will have to do so. They do have the pieces to keep themselves a float.
The Pirates need the continued success of players like Josh Harrison (.304 BA) and Russell Martin (.281 BA). Starling Marte is back from the 7-day concussion DL and will step in at centerfield while McCutchen is down. Marte had been bringing his average up since the middle of June and needs to continue to get on and steal bases.
The first base tandem of Ike Davis and Gaby Sanchez cannot afford to be inconsistent anymore. Sanchez is batting .220 with 5 home runs and 18 RBI in 89 games while Davis has started to come on in the second half, but still is batting .242 with 6 home runs and 28 RBI in 90 games as a Pirate. This is a position that had a question mark beside it prior to the season and needs to succeed if the team wants to make a run.
Once Pedro Alvarez comes off of the bereavement list, he will have to start contributing. His inconsistency on offense and defense has cost the Pirates a couple of games which is the difference in the division and playoff races. Alvarez had a great June hitting .299 with five doubles, three home runs and 14 RBI, so he is still capable of breaking out of his funk.
Manager Clint Hurdle believes times like these are why you have experienced players on your bench and in the minors.
“With injuries, your depth is tested,” said Hurdle. “The next man up mentality that we have had here for a number of years has played well for us. These guys were prepared in the minor leagues and when they come up it’s not to just occupy locker space. If they come up, it’s to meet the demands of the position and the spot in the order that you’re in and whenever you’re asked to compete to go out and play.”
The “next man up” mentality is working in Pittsburgh, but their chances would be better if they had an extra Major League bat or two on the bench.
The pitching rotation has been good in Cole’s absence keeping the Pirates in most games. The bullpen, however, has not been as effective ranking seventh in the NL in bullpen ERA (3.49). That’s 0.60 higher than last year’s bullpen ERA which ranked second in the NL. A return to last year’s form would help the club a long way with less fire power than usual to put up bigger numbers.
With the Pirates approaching a stretch against the Tigers, Nationals and Braves before facing NL Central contenders in the Brewers and the Cardinals, they will have to find a way to replace the “big three” or this season may be done for.
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