The Pittsburgh Pirates just got swept by the St. Louis Cardinals and have dropped to 16-16 on the season. What looked like a great start to the season has quickly gone sour, so here are my top 3 concerns/takeaways from the four game series.
1. The pitching struggles
The season started with the pitching looking really good but the last four games they have struggled. In the first game Dennis Santana blew a save and allowed 4 runs in the ninth inning. While in two other games the pitching staff allowed 10 and 11 runs. The pitching used
to be the reason why the Bucs would win games but in this series it seemed like they were the reason they lost. Even former Cy young winner Paul Skenes struggled today allowing eight hits and four earned runs.
2. The offensive slow starts
The final three games of the series was a rough watch for the offense and when they did get going it was too little too late. Tuesday’s game Pittsburgh lost 11-7 but in that game they got down 6-0 and didn’t score till the sixth inning. Then in Wednesday’s game they didn’t score till the fifth inning when they were already down by three runs. Then in Thursday’s game they got down by four runs until they scored. The offense has not been strong enough in the early innings and if the Pirates want to get back in the win column they can’t start putting up runs while already down by multiple runs. Game one was the only game this series that the Bucs scored first and it was in the first two innings. Pittsburgh failed to score the rest of the game and left multiple base runners stranded.
3. The rise and dominanc of JJ Wetherholt
The Cardinals young star player and Mars Area High School graduate JJ Wetherholt had a monster series. It was quite the showing for the seventh pick of the 2024 draft. Wetherholt, who received audible cheers from friends and family in attendance when he came through, combined to go 6 for 16 with three doubles, two home runs, three RBI, six runs and two walks. It is tough watching a hometown kid come in and smash the ball like he was doing. He was honestly the best player in the series and the Cardinals as a team just simply outplayed the Pirates.
The Pirates are now on a 5 game losing streak and if the pitching struggles and slow offensive starts continue this is going to be a long season for the fans in black and gold.
