With the MLB Trade Deadline less than a week away, the Pittsburgh Pirates have made it very clear what they need from general manager Ben Cherington: hitting.
The Pirates’ pitching has been great, but their offense hasn’t. That was perfectly summed up during Friday night’s frustrating and historic 1-0 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at PNC Park.
Pittsburgh managed just one hit — a second-inning Tommy Pham triple — in its 11-inning defeat. According to OptaSTATS, the Pirates became the first MLB team in the modern era (since 1900) to lose a game 1-0 in 11-plus innings while managing one hit or fewer.
Pittsburgh went an astounding 1-for-33 (.033/.175/.091) at the dish, going 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and leaving nine men on base. The Pirates failed to get the automatic runner home both times in extra innings, squandering a brilliant start from Mike Burrows (six scoreless innings) and five strong innings from their bullpen.
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Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, performances like that have been too common this year. The Pirates have been shut out 14 times this season (including four times in July), resulting in four 1-0 losses. They’re averaging just 2.6 runs per game in July and 3.4 runs per game for the year — the fewest in baseball.
Pittsburgh also has MLB’s lowest slugging percentage (.340) and OPS (.639). No wonder the team is last in the NL Central and 20 games below .500.
Earlier this month, Cherington said he planned to prioritize adding offense at the deadline. The Pirates have made it abundantly clear that hitting is exactly what they need, even if it means surrendering some of their prized prospects or pitchers to acquire it.
They already have the arms, but now they need some bats.
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