If I had time to write a preview for yesterday’s game, I would have said that I was a bit concerned about this Pirates/Indians series as the Indians have a pitching staff that strikes hitters out like crazy and the Pirates have an offense that tends to stall out against high-strikeout pitchers by striking out like crazy. The Pirates had some trouble with Trevor Bauer yesterday, but they didn’t actually strike out a ton, which I suppose could be considered to be a minor victory. The long rain delay in the bottom of the seventh inning certainly stalled the game some, and Arquimedes Caminero serving up a couple of the runs in the top of the eighth didn’t help. It is, of course, just one game, but finding some way to win yesterday would’ve been a big boon to getting two wins in three games in this three-game set.
There was other news yesterday on the Pirate pitching depth front. Clayton Richard has been traded to the Cubs after a clause triggered in his contract on July 1st that said that the Pirates had to either put him on the active roster or trade him to any team that would (this is how they acquired Jason Grilli in 2011). The Cubs have a spot for Richard (he’ll start today) and the Pirates don’t, so the Pirates made the deal. This was sort of a Catch 22 situation for the Pirates — they really need the starting pitching depth (more on this in a second), but they don’t need Richard right at this exact second in time. On top of that, it’s hard to say what they have in Richard, as he’s having a low-strikeout, low-ERA season in Triple-A and hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2013. Having to face the situation in a 72-hour window makes it a tough one, and it’s hard to say the Pirates did the wrong thing, despite Richard making his way to a club that’s competing with the Pirates for a playoff spot.
There’s more bad news on the pitching depth front, though, as Jameson Taillon needs hernia surgery that will more or less keep him out for the entire 2015 season. This means that Taillon will miss all of 2014 and all of 2015, which is a really tough blow to absorb for a pitching prospect. I hate to speculate about this sort of thing; Taillon’s talent obviously won’t go away, but he’ll begin next year as a 23-year old that only has six career Triple-A starts. Obviously I’m hoping for/wishing him the best for his recovery here, but this pretty obviously changes the Pirates plans for 2016 and potentially even down the stretch in 2015.
If you’re keeping track at home (and, I mean, you are or you wouldn’t be reading this), the Pirate pitching depth situation stands like this: Locke and Worley in Pittsburgh for the fifth and sixth spots, Cumpton and Kingham out with Tommy John surgery, Taillon out with a hernia, Richard traded to the Cubs, and Sadler on the DL with “forearm tightness.” That leaves Chris Volstad, who made it through waivers back to Indianapolis, and Radhames Liz pitching well as a starter in Triple-A. To put it simply: this makes me nervous.
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