Welcome to another fantastic edition of Stock Report presented by Pirates Breakdown! The Pittsburgh Pirates had a rough week against the division rival St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs, winning just two of their seven games last week. This week’s edition is going to focus on two starting pitchers who had great performances and two relief pitchers who struggled during their appearances in the last seven contests.
Whose Stock is Rising
Chad Kuhl did not come away with a win in either of his starts last week, through no fault of his own though. In his first start, in which the team lost 7-0, Kuhl limited the Cubs to just one run (a solo home run) on four hits and four walks over six innings with five strikeouts. Besides the home run, the only other blemish was the number of free passes he issued, but he obviously was able to limit the damage. He followed that up with another quality start on Saturday against the Cardinals, in which he allowed two earned runs on four hits and two walks to go along with five strikeouts. He was again tagged for a home run, but it was another home run that fortunately came when the bases were empty. Kuhl will likely toe the rubber again on Saturday against the Cubs in Wrigley Field, so hopefully he will be able to continue his success against the NL Central.
Joe Musgrove has been very impressive in the early stages of his career in Pittsburgh. He earned his second win in as many starts with a seven inning, one run performance against the Cubs on May 30th. He know has a 12/4 K/BB ratio so far this season and sports a 0.64 ERA heading into his next start which should be against the Los Angeles Dodgers this week. But Musgrove may have done something on the basepaths that meant as much as his quality start on Wednesday. After Josh Harrison hit into a fielder’s choice, Musgrove slid hard into second base, a move that Javier Baez did not like (which is surprising since his team has no problem with a large first baseman sliding into the opposing catcher’s legs. I’m being told now to get back on topic, my apologies). So whether or note Musgrove was told to do that, and he most likely was not, it was refreshing to see someone stand up the Cubs and show that this team is not going to be
Whose Stock is Falling
Felipe Vazquez hit quite a rough patch in the last two weeks as he has blown four saves. On May 27th he came into the game in the eighth inning with the Pirates leading by a run and he allowed three runners to cross the plate. He was charged with a blown save but did not see his ERA jump up because he inherited the runners from the pitcher that we will discuss in a moment. Then on May 31st he came into the game in the ninth inning with the Pirates sitting comfortably with a three run lead. While an error by Sean Rodriguez did not help, Vazquez still did not record an out and allowed five runs (four earned) on three hits and a walk. Most the damage in this outing came off of the bat of Yairo Munoz. Vazquez is not in any damage at the moment of losing the closer’s role, but one has to assume that this continues a change might be made.
Michael Feliz was one of the most consistent bullpen arms that Clint Hurdle could call on at the beginning of the season, but like Vazquez, he is mired in a stretch of horrible outings. In the last week, Feliz has pitched a total of 1.1 innings and gave up five runs on three hits and three walks. Equally concerning is that he has just two strikeouts in those two outings. Dating back to last week’s games, Feliz has given up runs in his last four appearances and all but one of those appearance saw him give up multiple runs. The bullpen, once one of the most steady areas of the team, is now showing a lot of concerning signs.
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