In our Daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have a problem.
They have had a problem for some time now.
That problem is their incumbent closer, Tony Watson.
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After tacking on an insurance run in the top of the ninth off of the bat of Josh Harrison, the Pittsburgh Pirates took a 5-3 lead into the Baltimore Orioles’ half of the last frame.
After recording an out, Watson served up one of the most hittable changeups in history to Orioles’ second baseman Jonathan Schoop.
That second pitch in the at bat was clocked at 86.2 mph.
The home run may have been the final nail in the coffin for Watson as Clint Hurdle‘s primary closing option.
We will form a more nuanced look at the closing position – and the bullpen as a whole – in another post. But for the wake up call, we will simply underscore just how bad Watson has been in 2017.
- He has logged a total of four 1-2-3 innings.
- Dating back to May 1, hitters are slashing .309/.338/.515 against the left hander.
- Since May 1 – a total of 16 innings – Watson has given up four home runs, 21 hits and 10 earned runs.
- Hitters have a line drive rate of 26 percent against him since May 1.
- Despite all of this, Watson has been lucky. His ERA stands at 3.94, but his FIP rates at 5.43; showing that he has benefitted from good defense, luck and ballpark factors.
Tony Watson is a mess right now, and Pittsburgh Pirates fans can only hope that Hurdle ditches the loyalty that he shows to some of his stalwarts and make the needed moves while the club is still theoretically in contention.
Baseball Talk On the Web
- Major League Baseball has plans on bringing baseball to Europe in 2019, beginning in London.
- Albert Pujols became the ninth player to join the 600 home run club and first since 2011.
- Former Arizona Diamondbacks player Luis Gonzalez pulled a woman from a car after a head on collision Friday in Phoenix.
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