The year is 2059. The Pittsburgh Pirates just finished off their 40th consecutive losing season. Ben Cherington signed another long-term deal to remain the General Manager of the organization. The basis of the contract being that he remains the lowest paid GM in major league baseball. Bob Nutting, the Pirates owner and baseball’s biggest embarrassment, wins again as the Pirates’ payroll still sits below $100 million.
The loser talk and underwhelming feeling behind the team is all too normal in Pittsburgh with the Pirates. Fans are blessed to have watched the Steelers and Penguins win multiple championships within the last 20 years. The Pirates have won exactly three playoff games in that span. That is a frightening and jarring sentence.
The Pirates are on an eight-game losing streak. They have scored two runs in the last 37 innings offensively. The once untouchable pitching staff is now exactly who we thought they were, to borrow the famous Dennis Green quote if I may. The 20-8 start to the season is a distant memory as the Pirates have gone 14-30 since then. They’re losing two-out-every-three games they play. It’s embarrassing.
Cherington was hired on November 18th, 2019. Since that day, he preaches and utters the motto of “get better every day”. The tired quote has been recited more times than the lyrics to an angry Taylor Swift song. It’s getting redundant and has become stale in its meaning.
But “Bottom Line Bob” Nutting couldn’t care less about the teams’ success. This has set a poor precedent down the managerial chain. It doesn’t seem very likely to change anytime soon. It’s time to highlight the glaring failures of Cherington’s early Pirates tenure.
I feel like being a Pittsburgh Pirates fan is continuing to go back to the same ex thinking it'll be different but it never is.
— Hunter (@HunterHodies) June 20, 2023
Ben Cherington’s Grace Period is Over
Service Time Manipulation
The latest collective bargaining agreement went a long way to prevent teams from manipulating players’ service time. However, just as any good plan, there are certainly loopholes. The Pirates, one of MLB’s cost-effective teams, will go to great lengths to save those dollars down the road.
Ben Cherington signed catcher Austin Hedges to a one-year, $5 million deal in the offseason. His career .170 average would slot into a Pirates lineup filled with some intriguing veterans. The selling point on signing Hedges was his defensive prowess and handling of a pitching staff. Hedges has been a miserable disaster this season.
The 30-year old catcher is batting .172 with a .465 OPS. Hedges doesn’t have enough plate appearances to qualify but his OPS is 105 points lower than the lowest qualifying average. He’s got more catchers interference calls against him than he does runners thrown out trying to steal.
Henry Davis and Endy Rodriguez are two of the Pirates’ top prospects. Both are catchers. They are in the minors to work on their catching abilities. Davis, the 2021 first overall pick, was just called up on Monday to the big leagues. The assumption was that the Pirates would use him to play behind the dish. You know what they say when you assume.
Instead, Hedges and Jason Delay remain the catchers. Davis is being thrown in right field because management doesn’t believe he’s ready to be behind the plate everyday. How can you get better if you don’t play where you’re supposed to?
The Pirates made a reactionary decision to bring him up based off the losing streak and are going to give Hedges at-bats over guys like Jack Suwinski and Andrew McCutchen? Smells fishy to me.
Here's the full answer. Joe Block asked Pirates GM Ben Cherington how the organization determines callups to the major league team whenever development might not be 100% complete. Ben's answer: pic.twitter.com/6HgiVkCu53
— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) June 18, 2023
Non-MLB Players Receiving Too Much Playing Time
The 2022 season was treated as a complete joke by Cherington and Co. On a routine basis, guys like Josh VanMeter and Yoshi Tsutsugo were given ample playing time. It was made clear pretty early that they weren’t a part of the solution. It made consuming Pirate games more of a chore than anything. Sure, Bryan Reynolds‘ star power came to light and earned him a nice payday. However, the majority of the lineup was made up of has-beens and never-will-be’s.
In 2023, the Pirates have given near everyday playing time to players such as Mark Mathias and Josh Palacios. Mathias, 28, and Palacios, 27, are who they are at the major-league level. They aren’t prospects with high ceilings. They aren’t contributing much in the way of solid, everyday production. Yet, this is what Ben Cherington has at the disposal of the on-field product.
Only two players in the Pirates’ bullpen are homegrown. Their best arms are guys from other organizations. There isn’t anyhting wrong without. However, the majority of the bullpen is made of former ‘DFA’ pickups and waiver claims. These are essentially players cast away from clubs because they aren’t deemed good enough.
The current losing streak is on the shoulders of the dormant offense. The pitchers relieving the starters haven’t quite made things any easier and kept games close. Most of the leagues’ best teams have shutdown bullpens. It’s a requirement to win games. This goes doubly the playoffs. The Pirates aren’t at that level yet but they won’t get there without splurging for a bullpen arm or two in free agency or developing one in house.
Wouldn’t it be funny if the NL Central changed the game a bit. Each team bringing up top prospects like this, showing that guys like Mark Mathias shouldn’t be in the bigs. #LetsGoBucs
— Blaise Anthony (@BlaiseBanko) June 19, 2023
Derek Shelton’s Extension Proving to Be Costly
Upon Ben Cherington signing manager Derek Shelton to an extension, I wrote a column praising the move. This was on the heels of the Pirates’ hot start. The timing lined up perfectly. Going into the season, Shelton was without a team commitment beyond this season. Had the season started poorly, Shelton’s extension may not have happened.
I’m here to admit that I’m walking back my reactionary take.
Shelton’s management of the pitching staff is mediocre at best. His placing of lackluster pitchers into big spots out of the bullpen is a fireable offense. Shelton’s offense is colder than the city of Pittsburgh during a snowstorm. Except a snowstorm actually provides some excitement.
Shelton continues to allow hitting coach, Andy Haines, to have a job despite showing multiple seasons worth of ineptitude to adjust mid-season when the team needs it. Shelton even had the audacity to bat Palacios lead-off on Tuesday night before the Pirates lost their eight consecutive game.
The constant forcing of Hedges in situations that he shouldn’t be in. An outright refusal to play his best nine guys on a nightly basis, instead moving guys to three or four different positions a week. Forcing Rob Zastryzny – yeah I wouldn’t know him either if I didn’t watch the Pirates – into close games just to allow multiple earned runs and walks in less than an innings work. The list goes on an on.
Genuine questions for Derek Shelton:
You were a hitting coach. You see what Haines is doing IS NOT working. Do you talk with him about his approach? Do you ask him to change it? Do you make suggestions? Do you think another hitting coach would be a better option? Do you care?
— Lexi (@__87__lex__) June 21, 2023
It’s Time to Improve…and Fast
The National League Central is as winnable a division as there is in baseball. Not a singular team stands out as a clear favorite. The Cincinnati Reds are hot right now, but can it last? The Chicago Cubs are starting to play better ball but they’re an incomplete roster. In Milwaukee, you’ll find a very middling team at the moment. St. Louis? They’ve been a total disaster.
The Pirates aren’t without their flaws but the team is semi-exciting…when they’re playing well. The roller coaster season has been the highest-of-highs and lowest-of-lows-type of season. 20-8 followed by 14-30. a 6-3 home stand immediately followed by an eight-game losing streak. It’s the Millenium Force at Cedar Point, if you’re into that type of thing.
Instead of trying to compete, Ben Cherington un-seriously allows the VanMeter’s and Palacios’ to play. He’ll let his manager make in-game blunder after in-game blunder. Upper-level prospects Henry Davis, Quinn Priester, Endy Rodriguez, and Nick Gonzales all stayed down in the minors long-enough to get past the Super-2 deadline. I wouldn’t be surprised if they magically start trickling to Pittsburgh alongside Davis over the next few weeks.
In short, Ben Cherington’s “get better everyday” mantra is tired especially when there are no improvements. His Pirate teams have performed to a 176-279 record, a winning percentage of .387 in four seasons. That’s as close to tanking as you’re going to find.
Unserious. An unwillingness to try and move the team ahead. A banking of prospects and kicking the perpetual can of hope down Federal Street further and further away from PNC Park.
Maybe, just maybe, 2060 is their year.
Photo Credit- Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Players Mentioned- Austin Hedges, Jason Delay, Henry Davis, Endy Rodriguez, Jack Suwinski, Andrew McCutchen, Josh VanMeter, Yoshi Tsutsugo, Bryan Reynolds, Mark Mathias, Josh Palacios, Rob Zastryzny, Quinn Priester, Nick Gonzales
