The Pittsburgh Pirates ended the 2016 with a disappointing week, dropping the majority of their games to the division rival Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. Here are the top performances from their games between September 26 and October 2 including a game that ended in a tie, the first in the MLB since 2005.
John Jaso
The highlight of John Jaso‘s week, and his season, came on Wednesday when he hit for the cycle in the 8-4 win over the Cubs. Jaso got the most elusive hit, the triple, in his last at-bat. He hit a deep fly ball to center field that somehow ended up wedge between the warning track and the base of the wall. Jaso ended his season with a home run in the last game of the season on Sunday.
[mlbvideo id=”1194290083″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]John Jaso Weekly Snapshot
[table id=198 /]Jameson Taillon
Jameson Taillon ended his season the same night of Jaso’s heroics, and certainly concluded his rookie campaign with a stellar outing. Taillon limited the Cubs to just one run, a solo shot by Anthony Rizzo in the first inning. If we are to find one negative in Taillon’s performance, it is the three walks that he issued. But considering that this is the first time that he allowed three free passes and in general had spot on control, this shouldn’t be read into too deeply.
Jameson Taillon Weekly Snapshot
[table id=197 /]Matt Joyce
Matt Joyce did not see a lot of action last week, but when he did he made it count. He blasted this 13th home run of the year in the loss on the 26th, making up half of the runs the Pirates would score in the 12-2 defeat. Joyce had a great season compared to his 2015 campaign and should have plenty of offers on the table this winter when he tests free agency. It would be great if the Pirates could bring him back in a fourth outfielder role, but that seems highly unlikely given his success this season.
Matt Joyce Weekly Snapshot
[table id=199 /]Tyler Glasnow
Tyler Glasnow turned in the best performance of his young career on September 30th. He allowed a solo home run to Jedd Gyorko in the third, but after that he kept the Cardinals from scoring. He did walk for batters, which is something that he’ll need to work on to reach the success that he is capable of at this level. But he did strike out four and seemed to make better pitches as the game went on. It’s just a shame that the offense couldn’t pick him up and get him his first win.
[table id=200 /]Thanks for reading this column throughout the second half of the season, keep coming back to Pirates Breakdown this offseason for news, analysis and opinions!
Photo Credit – Daniel Decker Photography
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