The Pittsburgh Pirates may have dropped the first series last week to the Houston Astros, but they bounced back and won all four games in Milwaukee, going 5-2 in last week’s games.
The Pittsburgh Pirates will head into this week’s action coming off of their first four game sweep at Miller Park. Between the series there and the previous series at PNC Park against the Houston Astros, the Pirates received some great production throughout the lineup. Here are the four stand out performances from last week.
Andrew McCutchen
Andrew McCutchen was the one player that, if he started hitting like he did in previous seasons, the Pirates would be in much better shape. It seems like McCutchen has turned a corner lately, and the last week was a great example of that. He collected nine hits over the last seven days including his 18th home run of the season. He and his teammates will face a tough test at the beginning of the week when the face the Cubs at Wrigley, but McCutchen’s been one of the hottest hitters on the team as of late and hopefully will carry that into the series that starts on Monday.
[mlbvideo id=”1095504283″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]Andrew McCutchen Weekly Snapshot
[table id=179 /]Gregory Polanco
Gregory Polanco has also been on a tear the last few weeks, and did not slow down against the Astros and Brewers. Like McCutchen, he also tallied nine hits in last week’s games, however he slugged three home runs to give him 20 for the season. He also added to his RBI total, as he drove in nine runs in the past seven games. Polanco is making a very strong case to be left in the cleanup spot, because right now he is showing the most consistent power out of anyone in the lineup.
[mlbvideo id=”1100490083″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]Gregory Polanco Weekly Snapshot
[table id=180 /]Josh Bell
Josh Bell is the third and final position player to make the list this week. He did not have as many at-bats or big hits as McCutchen and Polanco, but he continues to show great patience at the plate. In addition to driving in two runs, Bell drew five walks over the course of last week. He is making the case that he, not John Jaso, should see the lion’s share of playing time at first base. The league will eventually adjust to him, but right now he is showing why the team would not part with him in any trade over the last few seasons.
[mlbvideo id=”1103710583″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]Josh Bell Weekly Snapshot
[table id=181 /]Ivan Nova
Ivan Nova rounds out our top players of the last week as he continued to show how dominant he can be since switching teams. Nova received two starts last week and won both, including a magnificent nine inning performance against the Houston Astros. He followed it up with six good innings against the Brewers on Sunday before being removed due to injury. Nova will be a free agent at year’s end, but he should be at the top of the list of players the Pirates want to bring back.
[mlbvideo id=”1087042983″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]Ivan Nova Weekly Snapshot
[table id=182 /]With all of the great performances last week, it’s not as easy to identify the best player of the last seven days. Take a second to vote in our Twitter poll and let us know who you think had the best week!
Who is your #Pirates player of the week?
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) August 29, 2016
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