Pittsburgh Pirates Wake-Up Call – Bullpen Struggles

In our daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates are not playing well right now. Outside of a sweep of the Braves, they’ve lost every game. The guy that’s supposed to be their ace in Gerrit Cole has a 6.55 ERA in his first two starts. The guy they need to rebound in Andrew McCutchen is batting .250 and had just one RBI heading into Thursday’s action. They have only one player batting over .300 (David Freese), and their top prospect, Tyler Glasnow, didn’t make it through two innings in his debut. Everything the Pirates needed to go right this season isn’t in the early going.

Yesterday the Pirates held a 3-1 lead against the Red Sox in the 8th inning and gave up three runs to end up losing the game. Chad Kuhl had a quality start, yet the bullpen blew it for him. And it’s not just one suspect at the back-end. Everyone outside Tony Watson and Felipe Rivero has an ERA north of three. Yesterday, Daniel Hudson and Juan Nicasio happened to be the culprits. This bullpen, we knew, was going to take a step back from what it has been in the past. Daniel Hudson was an unknown, as was Trevor Williams. But if the Pirates want to compete this season, they need to take steps to improve in that area. Three of their starters in Kuhl, Ivan Nova, and Jameson Taillon have pitched great so far, and the bullpen hasn’t helped them out.

Antonio Bastardo has struggled mightily, and with his contract and the trade rumors surrounding him this off-season, you wonder if and when he could be moved. Outside of him, though, the bullpen seems set. Trevor Williams could be sent down, and A.J. Schugel is a good depth option at Triple-A. But overall, it seems like the bullpen will have to improve on its own.

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Baseball Talk Around the Web

• Dave Schoenfield of ESPN addresses the struggling teams in baseball and determines whether it’s time for themse teams to panic or not. What does he say about the Pirates?
• And want to know everything that happened in Thursday’s baseball action? Matt Snyder and R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports have you covered.

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