Small Stuff

The Pirates have most of their 40 man roster up in Pittsburgh, yet it seems the Pirates are stuck with using the same players over and over again or falling into the same rut over and over again.

An example, why is Jeff Clement, who seems lost at the plate, the first pinch hitter off the bench? The next time he strides to the plate, the official scorer showed just put a K in the book and save us all a bunch of time.

Additionally another tactic that has grown old is that if a guy goes and gets two hits the day before, he will be put in the lineup once again the next day. Despite what the numbers might say, we need to bottle that lightning somehow. Case in point currently, Brock Holt. Nothing against Holt, I have felt that his performance has made him deserving of a shot in the show, but why would Jordy Mercer not get a shot with Walker out?

Furthermore in a year where there are more story lines than in a usual Pirate season, i.e. winning baseball, would the masses not be clamouring more and more for Mercer to get a shot somewhere? What has Mercer done that keeps him on the bench, especially when Clint Barmes was hitting horribly? Now Mercer is seemingly on the bench in case the game ever goes to 19 innings.

In the bigger picture these things are relatively small, as there are larger issues, mainly with the starting pitching and the hitting simply not coming through. Right now the offense appears to be just Garrett Jones up there. Andrew McCutchen has cooled considerably. The starting pitching has been hurting the team as well, the past few games are good examples.

In a season where it seemed a playoff appearance might be a possibility, that is slowly getting dimmer, though not out of the question. For the club to maintain that hope, they will need to right the ship, start to hit, start to pitch, and then the question of starting Brock Holt or Gaby Sanchez, will not be so big a deal.