Each Monday for the rest of the season, Pirates Breakdown will give you their Pittsburgh Pirates of the Week. This week we picked the four players who did an outstanding job from July 25-31.
To say last week was rough for the Pittsburgh Pirates would be an understatement. While the team still has an outside shot to earn a playoff berth this fall, last week’s 1-4 record against the Seattle Mariners and Milwaukee Brewers did not help. But even though the team lost almost all their games last week, there were still a handful of players that performed well. Let’s take a look at last week’s notable performances.
Gerrit Cole
Gerrit Cole tossed an absolute gem last Wednesday when he went the distance for the first time in his career. Limiting the Mariners to just three hits and one run over nine innings. He also struck out six and needed just 94 pitches (69 for strikes) to notch his first career complete game. This was hopefully the first of many for the right hander and the way the pitching staff has performed lately, the Pirates may need him to do this every time he gets the ball. The complete game was Cole’s sixth win on the season.
[mlbvideo id=”978204283″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]Gerrit Cole Weekly Snapshot
[table id=159 /]Jameson Taillon
Making the list for the second straight week is Jameson Taillon. Taillon took a hard luck loss against the Brewers on Friday even though he pitched very well. He turned in a quality start with six strong innings, keeping the Brewers to just two runs on six hits to go along with six strikeouts. This was also the fourth consecutive start for Taillon where he did not issue a walk. One area that Taillon can improve on is limiting home runs, as this was the second straight start where he gave up at least a home run.
[mlbvideo id=”990121483″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]Jameson Taillon Weekly Snapshot
[table id=160 /]Gregory Polanco
Gregory Polanco did not play in all five games last week, but he made his appearances count when he was on the field. Outside of a hitless night on July 29th, Polanco hit home runs in the other three games he played in against Seattle and Milwaukee. He most impressive performance last week was in the first game against Seattle, when he collected four hits in five at-bats, including his first of three home runs on the week. In the series in Milwaukee that saw the Pirates get swept, Polanco was one of the few players who was a threat with the bat.
[mlbvideo id=”989839083″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]Gregory Polanco Weekly Snapshot
[table id=161 /]Starling Marte
Starling Marte is the fourth and final player to make the list this week. Unlike many of his teammates, Marte was a hit machine last week. He recorded at least one hit in each game and in three of the games collected multiple hits, including three doubles and a triple. He also swiped two bases, giving him 36 on the season. At the pace he is on, 50 stolen bases is almost a given and he’ll have a good shot at reaching 60 this season.
[mlbvideo id=”985795183″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]Starling Marte Weekly Snapshot
[table id=162 /]So who do you think turned in the best performance last week? Check us out on Twitter and let us know!
Who is your #Pirates Player Of the Week?
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) August 1, 2016
Featured Image Credit – Daniel Decker Photography
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