It has been 31 consecutive days where the Pirates have been required to be inside a major league clubhouse,and that streak will come to an end tody.
Today, the Pirates flew to New York for a series against the Mets.
“It’s not something we’re used to,” Chris Stewart admitted. “We’re used to a mental and physical break every once in a while. It seems like the entire last month, we’ve been in the field or traveling or some sort of baseball activity. It’s definitely been a grind but each day we come in trying to win a ballgame. We just try to take care of that day. It will be nice to have tomorrow off and have the chance to breathe.”
Rob Scahill has been up and down during this time period, but he has experienced a similar struggle.
“Even in Indianapolis they don’t have many days off,” he said. “I haven’t had a day off in a while other than the days I took when I got optioned.”
The longest stretch Scahill has played is 30 consecutive days.
“Usually in the jungle of the minor leagues, they don’t care too much about how the players feel, so you’ll get a good stretch of 28-30 straight,” he said.
Injuries have certainly complicated the stretch as a wide variety of corresponding moves have been made during the past month-plus.
It complicates the on-field product, but does not change the ultimate goal.
“Guys aren’t going to stay healthy the whole season, we know that going in,” said Stewart. “Francisco Cervelli going down is unfortunate, but it’s up to those guys on the bench or in Triple-A to be ready when their names get called to do whatever it takes to win ball games.”
