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 successfully weathered the emotional storm of a certain former face of the franchise’s return, and now can move on.
They can move on having banked another series win, though yesterday’s result was less than ideal.
They can move on, continuing to surprise and delight fans who may have forgotten the club existed once Andrew McCutchen was traded.
The club can move forward with their season, confident in the fact that theirs is a talented team with a long lineup and a talented — and yes, definitively flawed — pitching staff.
The Pittsburgh Baseball Club can continue in 2018 knowing that reinforcements are on the way. Josh Harrison begins rehab this week, joining Joe Musgrove. Jung Ho Kang will likely be heard from around midseason..a convenient time for a club that should be able to stick around until at least then.
Yes, this Pittsburgh Pirates club can now exhale.
Why not Glasnow?
There was one particular situation in yesterday’s game, a 5-0 loss to the Giants, that struck me as odd. And frustrating. Oddly frustrating, if you will.
With Pittsburgh Pirates starter Ivan Nova cruising through five innings, he was set to face the Giants’ lineup for the third time. Much has been made about the Times Through the Order Penalty. Much has been written about how starting pitchers are victimized from seeing hitters more than twice in a game. The general thinking is that the more comfortable a hitter is from seeing a starter twice before, the more likely the hitter will find success.
The truthfulness of this axiom has long been debated, but in Nova’s case, it is real thing:
This is batting average against Nova by times through the order. Rough.
Nova started struggling in the sixth inning, prompting Clint Hurdle to bring in Richard Rodriguez to stop the bleeding.
But, it’s an entirely fair question to wonder why Tyler Glasnow was not used in that situation. Yes, Glasnow came in later in semi-mop up duty, getting through two scoreless innings.
But here we have a 6-foot-8 fireballer who is figuring things out. Why not put him into a higher leverage situation in which his ability to miss bats would be most beneficial?
Nova was cruising before the sixth, yes, but the third time through order was coming up..you have Glasnow in the pen who has not pitched in a few days…an off day tomorrow…
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) May 13, 2018
Second-guessing is always easy, but it is hard to do so in this case. Rodriguez had been pitching very well as of late, and earned a shot at a higher leverage situation as well.
But the larger question is this: just what is the Pittsburgh Pirates’ long term plan with Glasnow?
It might be awhile before we get an answer.
Baseball talk on the web
Bringing you intriguing Pittsburgh Pirates — and MLB — content for your daily reading:
- Bleacher Report has superstar rankings for every team.
- MLB Trade Rumors asks what has previously been an unthinkable question; Will the Dodgers make the playoffs?
- At Bucs Dugout, Kurt Hackimer opines that the Pittsburgh Pirates can finally move on.
Pittsburgh Pirates fans – Subscribe, Rate, Review!
Locked on Pirates is the daily Pittsburgh Pirates podcast of choice for discerning Pirates fans.
Beginning with Opening Day, Jason Rollison from Pirates Breakdown and others will help you through the 2018 Pittsburgh Pirates season.
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