In our daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates.
After coming within one-half game of the NL Wild Card as recently as August 28th, the Pittsburgh Pirates were eliminated from playoff contention after yesterday’s 6-4 loss toe the Chicago Cubs.
For the first time since 2012, fans will not have ‘Buctober’ to look forward to as summer gives way to fall.
We will save the bulk of our analysis for a deeper postmortem piece coming next week. But, it is easy to pinpoint the exact time when the wheels began to fall off of the Pirates’ postseason wagon.
On August 19th, the Pittsburgh Pirates had just completed a 5-1 stretch on the road against the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. They were headed back to PNC Park for six winnable games – three versus the Miami Marlins followed by three versus the Houston Astros. They responded with a 1-5 record in those six games.
Again, the team was within a half game after that 6-6 stretch, but if the club could have kept that hot streak going, they may have been able to control their own destiny rather than needing help along the way.
Home Cooking Tastes Awful
With last night’s loss, the Pittsburgh Pirates clinched their first losing record at PNC Park since 2011. Their best home finish will be 39-42, should they win the final two games of the Cubs series, which is a tall order.
It is a stark reversal for a club that has historically been fantastic at their home park. The Pirates have won at least 50 games at PNC in each of the last three years.
Yet another oddity as we look at the Pirates in 2016: In 2015, the team won 98 games but never beat any one opponnent more than nine times. In 2016, they have beaten Milwaukee and Cincinnati each 10 times, but may finish the season under .500.
So, Who is to Blame?
When things go wrong in sports, many like to assign blame. While we can all agree that there is plenty of blame to go around for a disappointing year, who deserves the lion’s share?
Could it be the front office in Bob Nutting and Neal Huntington? That is the easy answer for many. Could it be manager Clint Hurdle? That’s an interesting choice, as many took issue with his lineup creation on a seemingly daily basis. Could it in fact be the players, personified by Andrew McCutchen, Gerrit Cole and Francisco Liriano all suffering through bad seasons?
That is a tough call, and we want to hear your take. Hope over to our twitter feed and vote in our poll.
Who is CHIEFLY to blame for the #Pirates missing the playoffs in 2016?
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) September 28, 2016
Baseball Talk On The Web
- Yahoo Sports has a season-ending look at another enigmatic team in the Chicago White Sox.
- Stephen Strasburg may not be ready for the Nationals’ NLDS series.
- Sometimes, high-profile trade deadline deals just won’t work out. Drew Pomeranz has struggled for the Boston Red Sox this season, and now he is being shut down.
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