Welcome to this week’s edition of Pirates Breakdown’s Stock Report! The Pittsburgh Pirates continue to stumble their way to the end of the 2018 season, dropping three of their five contests last week. There were a few standout performances and a lot of poor outings from the bullpen.
Whose Stock is Rising
One player that has been taking advantage of his playing time as the season winds down is outfielder Pablo Reyes. The 25 year old outfielder was called up once the rosters expanded and he is certainly making sure that management remembers him when they start assembling their 2019 roster. In the last week Reyes went four for seven with a home run and two runs scored, but in his limited time with the club he has slashed .375/.474/.625. With the news that Gregory Polanco may potentially be sidelined until June, Reyes could find himself in the discussion for some of the innings if Polanco’s rehab goes well into the summer.
Ivan Nova turned in a second consecutive strong start on Saturday, earning his ninth win of the season in the team’s victory over Milwaukee. He tossed six strong innings and limited the Brewers to just one run (a solo home run by Christian Yelich). In his last two starts, Nova has allowed just the Yelich home run over 12 innings and has two walks to 13 strikeouts. Looking towards the rotation in 2019, Nova will certainly have some competition but strong outings like his last two will definitely solidify his spot in the rotation.
Whose Stock is Falling
The Pittsburgh bullpen did not have a good week for the most part. On Monday, Edgar Santana failed to record an out in the team’s loss to the Cardinals and allowed three earned runs (all from a home run by Matt Adams). Dovydas Neverauskas made two appearances, on Monday and Friday, and allowed two runs total. In Tuesday’s loss, Nick Burdi gave up four runs (three earned) on two hits and a walk in a third of an inning while Clay Holmes gave up two runs on four hits in two thirds of an inning of work. Friday’s loss saw Steven Brault give up two runs on three hits and two walks in two thirds of an inning.
Many of these relief pitchers could very well be in the mix for a bullpen spot next year, but their performances last week definitely did not help their cause. With the season now at the point that it is, there should be more opportunities for them to showcase their abilities to management. But they will need to perform better than they did in the last week to lock down a spot in the bullpen next year.
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