PITTSBURGH -- Manager Derek Shelton has spoken many times this season about how the Pirates need to find consistency on offense. The word “consistency” has some ambiguity, sometimes being a shorthand for either being more aggressive in the box or getting out of a slump or just flat-out hitting better.
Because when you look at the Pirates’ offensive results, their greatest problem is the zeros have been too consistent.
Sunday marked the sixth time they were shut out this season, the most in the Majors, and this time resulting in a 4-0 loss to the Padres. It was the third time the Pirates have been swept this season, and their homestand was bookended by shutout losses.
The search is for consistency at the dish. How that’s achieved is unknown.
“I don't know. That's something I'm probably gonna think a lot about tonight and have been thinking a lot about, but there has to be some sort of consistency,” Shelton said. “This lineup's better than this.”
The lineup probably has more potential, and being without Nick Gonzales, Spencer Horwitz and Isiah Kiner-Falefa (the team leader in batting average) certainly doesn’t help. But now at 12-23 -- Pittsburgh’s worst start for a 162-game season since 2006 -- there needs to be improvement and soon.
Through 35 games, the Pirates rank 28th in runs scored (114), tied for 28th in home runs (25) and 28th in OPS (.641). Is there another gear for this group?
“I sure hope so,” Bryan Reynolds said. “I can hit better than I am, so there’s one. We obviously can. We’re just not.”
Sunday’s struggles started with Stephen Kolek, making his first career start for the Padres. An owner of a 5.21 ERA in his young Major League career (42 games), he pitched into the sixth inning, working around four hits and two walks. The Pirates had 10 runners reach base, but none of them crossed home.
Some of that was self-inflicted. Matt Gorski tripled in the seventh inning, but he was thrown out at home after making a poor decision to break for home on a ground ball to Padres third baseman Manny Machado. Shelton and the rookie had a conversation about him breaking for the plate and trying to force a rushed throw from the Platinum Glove Award winner.
Ke’Bryan Hayes was picked off second base in the second inning after appearing to position himself to steal third. Kolek held on to the ball longer, and Hayes paid the price for an errant first move. Hayes later grounded into a double play in the fourth inning (the 35th time that’s happened for the Pirates this year, the most in the Majors), erasing a potential rally.
It’s a struggle that’s become all too familiar. Shelton said the Pirates have looked at their prep work for games to try to generate something, but so far, it hasn’t.
“We're mixing things up, trying different things,” Shelton said. “Right now we don't have a formula, and we've got to figure it out.”
Sunday’s problems extended beyond the offense. Andrew Heaney had been the team’s best performing pitcher up until this homestand, but he took his second loss after allowing four runs over 3 2/3 frames. Shortstop Jared Triolo made a throwing error and had a tough time grabbing a hold of a Luis Arraez ground ball, turning what would normally be a bounce out into an infield single.
There are a multitude of issues that got the Pirates to this point. It’s going to have to be on them to rectify it.
“Nobody feels sorry for you,” Heaney said. “That’s your job, you gotta keep going. You gotta do the things that you know make you successful. You gotta come in with the same routine, same attitude and just keep forging on.”