Pittsburgh Pirates Wake Up Call – Back-End Rotation Problems

Our daily Wake-Up Call gets you ready for the day with a look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates are in a bit of a skid right now. They’ve lost four in a row, and were just swept by the Dodgers after last night’s 5-2 loss. The team has many problems, but I want to focus this morning on the rotation. Heading into the season, there was some question on the back-end, but the top three certainly seemed set. And that top three had the potential to be very good, and, so far, they are living up to the hype. Gerrit Cole, after a rough start to the season, has turned back into the ace we saw pre-2016, and he’s getting better with every start. Ivan Nova is proving his time with the Pirates last season was no fluke, and he’s been arguably the steal of the off-season. And Jameson Taillon has had an up-and-down season, but the news about his cancer could explain that. If and when he gets back on the field, I fully expect him to return to form and pitch like a top-two starter in this league.

But the back-end of the rotation has not been good. Chad Kuhl could be a decent number-four starter, but he has not been that so far. Tyler Glasnow still has major issues, even though he is getting better, albeit very slowly. And the depth options behind those two are bad to say the least. With the way this season has gone so far, and the losses of Starling Marte and Jung Ho Kang, it may be an off year anyways. Thus, there’s no harm in sticking with Kuhl and Glasnow for the foreseeable future. That might mean not competing this season, though.

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Baseball Talk Around the Web

• Zachary Rymer of Bleacher Report has an intriguing piece. He lays out the 101 luckiest hitters of 2017 so far. Check it out here.
• And more from Bleacher Report, this time from Joel Reuter: He’s talking trades as he tries to find the perfect trade fix for every MLB team.

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