Pittsburgh Pirates Wake-Up Call – The Cubs are Good

In our daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates.

It’s difficult to figure out what precisely to take away from the Pirates series against the Cubs. After yesterday’s loss, the Pirates were officially swept at home in their first meeting of the season with the Cubs. The Pirates fell to 15-13, and their offense is clearly the only reason they have their collective head above water. The Cubs meanwhile sit at 20-6 with the best record in the majors and have an astounding run differential of +93. The Pirates now sit six games back in the division, which looks like even more of a pipe dream than it did at this point last season. How should we react to this disappointing series?

For one, it is definitely still early. But there are certainly trends emerging. The Cubs are for real, and are living up to all of the hype they had entering the season. They have quality hitters from one through eight, and their starting staff is working wonders so far. Jake Arrieta is his usual self, and the Pirates really shouldn’t feel horrible about losing to Arrieta, who doesn’t lose to anyone. Jason Hammel and Jon Lester have also been great so far. Essentially, it seems like the Cubs don’t truly have a weakness, even after losing Kyle Schwarber for the season. Yes, they are that good, and will continue to be for the rest of the year.

The Pirates certainly have their issues, and it showed in this series. Gerrit Cole hasn’t been his 2015 self this season, and although his ERA of 3.95 isn’t terrible, he hasn’t been very good in any start this year. Jon Niese started off the year well but has an ERA of 5.94, and Juan Nicasio, while good at times, can be inconsistent. He seems to be showing that he’d definitely be of better use in the bullpen. The team is banking on Tyler Glasnow and Jameson Taillon, that’s for certain. Can they survive until June? That depends on if their offense is legitimately good or if they’re playing above their heads.

Cutch calls out official scorer

#Pirates McCutchen on dropped fly: "Whoever scored that an error should be fired. That's unbelievable. I did everything I could to catch it"

— RobBiertempfel (@RobBiertempfel) May 4, 2016

At first, I was a little disappointed to hear that Andrew McCutchen called out the official scorer after Wednesday’s game. But then I realized how minor this truly is in the grand scheme of things. This was a frustrating series for the Pirates, and McCutchen hasn’t had a great start to the season. Many people count on the star of any sports franchise to say and do the right thing all the time. The truth is, we can’t always hold these guys to that standard. McCutchen probably said this out of frustration, and it’s not like he said anything egregious. He’ll get over this, as will the team, and move forward.

Baseball Talk from Around the Web

• The Dodgers have suspended minor league shortstop Erisbel Arruebarrena for the remainder of the season, the second consecutive season the team has done so, for “repeated failure to comply with the terms of his contract.” The exact details aren’t known.
• According the T.J. Quinn of ESPN, Major League Baseball is expect to announce more PED suspensions in the coming days. It truly is fascinating how deep PED use runs in baseball.
• And here’s a cool read from Fangraphs – “The Month Pinch-Hitting Got Easier.” Hint: pinch-hitting has seen substantial success this season so far.

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