Pirates GM Issues Message Amid Pittsburgh’s Slow Start

The Pittsburgh Pirates are in a very tough position almost a quarter into the season.

Sunday’s 4-0 loss to the San Diego Padres sent the Pirates tumbling to 12-23, which puts them alone in the basement of the National League Central and it’s also good for the third-worst record in MLB.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington understands the predicament the club is in at the moment, and that to get out of it, he’ll have to act almost immediately to try to turn things around.

“We shouldn’t be patient. We should not be patient about getting better today, whatever that is,” Cherington said on 93.7 The FAN, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Kevin Gorman. “It certainly starts with me. It doesn’t end with me. It’s got to extend to everybody on our team, our staff, etc. We all have to be urgent and not patient about getting better.”

Cherington also expressed that he needs to couple the urgency with discipline in order not to make mistakes. The Pirates, who have scored the second-fewest runs in the NL, are awaiting the returns of first baseman Spencer Horwitz (right wrist) and Nick Gonzales (left ankle) from the injured list. Jared Jones is still pretty far from returning from the IL.

But perhaps those reinforcements along with the Pirates finding their footing on their own is what has Cherington optimistic despite the rough start.

“We dug ourselves a hole. It’s not where we wanted to be at this point,” Cherington said. “I also still believe and really believe that we’ve got good baseball ahead of us. We’ve got to go do our jobs to make that happen.”