MILWAUKEE -- Adam Frazier will be the Pirates' second baseman in 2019.
Heck, he might be that already.
And no, I'm certainly not forecasting that just because his three-run, golf-shot, moon-shot home run sealed the 9-1 annihilation of the Brewers on this Saturday night at Miller Park, although that was quite the sight:
I'm not even forecasting it just because Frazier's been excellent at the plate since returning July 25 from a month-long go-figure-it-out stint with Class AAA Indianapolis: He's batted .346 -- 27 for 78 -- with three home runs, 11 doubles and 15 RBIs. He's also shown poise, patience and all the other tools that never should have allowed his 2018 to twist southward as it had.
No, I'm actually forecasting it because there are some dots to be connected here.
Start with this: After this game, I asked Clint Hurdle, who again didn't start Frazier, if he's seen enough improvement defensively to make it easier to put his name in the lineup every day.
"He's working hard," the manager began.
Then came a pause.
"And the future could bring different opportunities. When he went down to Indy, he worked hard on his defense, as well."
Another pause.
"We'll see what the future brings for him. But he sure has shown up well since he's been back."
I've spent a ton of time around Hurdle these past few summers. I know his pauses. When he's on a verbal roll, which is usually, it all flows. When he's choosing his words carefully, he pauses.
Now let's connect the dots:
1. Frazier's doing well, to repeat. He's hitting so well, in fact, that he really should be starting regardless of his glove. The bat plays, as the old baseball men like to say.
2. Frazier's young, cheap and locked in for four years. That's not some Bob Nutting knock. It's a bona fide positive. He's currently making $571,000, he'll have another year of that, then three years of arbitration. If he can hit anywhere near his current rate, he's a steal and a half.
3. Josh Harrison might be done starting in Pittsburgh.
Yeah, you knew I'd get to him eventually.
Oh, J-Hay might get out there another time or two or even a few. But his wonky right hamstring won't allow him to do much, his current protestations and the Pirates' respectful plan to allow him to tough it out notwithstanding.
"I've got to be out there for my guys," he told me this weekend in describing how he was going to adjust his running style to keep the hamstring. "I can do this."
I laughed at him. He's got no chance of holding himself back.
"You'll see. I can do it."
No, he couldn't. In this game, he doubled and walked. After the latter in the eighth inning, he had to sprint to third on a Colin Moran double and, on the final couple strides, came up lame. Joey Cora, the third base coach, smartly signaled to the dugout for Hurdle and the athletic trainers. Predictably, J-Hay waved them off. Just as predictably, he had to leave at inning's end for what the team would later call "precautionary measures."
I said it to him, and I'll say it to you: He's got no chance. Not with his DNA.
But beyond that -- and this is the part nobody would want to discuss -- there's an extraordinary chance J-Hay won't be back at all in 2019. He's currently making $10 million, second-most on the roster, and his contract calls for club options of $10.5 million each in 2019 and 2020. If this front office picks up either option, it'd be stunning.
Again, that's not some Nutting knock. It would simply be impossible to justify when J-Hay's 31 years old and coming off back-to-back injury-marred seasons. He's already missed more than a quarter of this one, with 85 games played and 314 at-bats, and neither his stats -- .258/.300/.366, seven home runs, 19 extra-base hits -- nor his spunk come close to nullifying that.
By putting Frazier out there now, preferably beginning with this Sunday finale here at Miller Park, the Pirates can give him six weeks of gaining comfort there, then a full spring training to work with whoever winds up at shortstop when Jordy Mercer leaves through free agency.
Those dots work for anyone?
• Back to Frazier's home run. It came in the eighth inning off a Taylor Williams slider, one that hung enough that he could cut well underneath it for the loftiest of launch angles. Actually, with the roof open on this pea-soup humid Wisconsin night, it initially felt like it might not return.
"Yeah, you never know what can happen up there, right?" Frazier came back when I broached that concept. "I'm glad it came down where it did."
It was his sixth home run of the season, one fewer than J-Hay in 98 fewer at-bats.
• If you missed my recent column on Frazier's adjustments while in Indy, don't. Because then his dad won't get the proper credit.
• Oh, hey, the Pirates won. Snapped a four-game losing streak and shook off that excruciating 15-inning loss the previous night.
Also, they had hits. There were 14 more in this one after 17 the previous night. Four came from Moran.
"All good," Hurdle said. "Nice to see."
None nicer than this winning, if somewhat weird, stroke by Polanco to break the 1-1 tie in the seventh:
Man, that's ugly but pretty, right?
Some context is critical here: The Pirates had opened the seventh with runners at second and third -- Frazier walk, Starling Marte double -- when Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell thought it'd be a good idea to give a free pass to struggling Josh Bell so that he could summon a lefty to face the sizzling Polanco.
Dan Jennings' pitch, a sinker on the outer half, wasn't exactly awful. But that's the problem with choosing to face someone who's sizzling. Polanco defended the plate with a one-handed, Corey Dickerson-looking chop to shoot the ball over shortstop for a 3-1 lead.
"Look, when you bring in a guy with bases loaded, nobody out, you're not thinking you'll get out of it with nothing," Counsell explained in the Miller Park interview area. "I mean, he got out of the jam. We got the double play with the next hitter. We were just down two."
From the other perspective ...
"Love the swing from Gregory there," Hurdle said. "Found a way to put wood on it."
• Speaking of sizzling, this was Jameson Taillon's six-inning line: One run on a solo home run by Christian Yelich, who does that a lot, on five hits with eight strikeouts, no walks and a whole lot else.
Specifically, as Chad Kuhl was sharing with me afterward, Taillon was exceptional in keeping Milwaukee batters guessing. It wasn't the fastball-curve combo he'd been using in his recent starts -- though they've all been solid -- but more a mixture of ... well, everything.
Here's how he explained it to me:
Ha!
Did you pick up the "two crappy changeups?"
That's also a big part of what 's made Taillon successful in 2018. He's had to overcome way more than most in his career, but he's absorbed each step, each lesson as a chance to get better, stronger.
• Get this: Taillon has now given up three or fewer earned runs in his past 16 starts. The only others to achieve such a streak in the majors this season are Jacob deGrom (22), Ryne Stanek (21), Justin Verlander (17) and Luis Severino (16). That data, culled by the Pirates' Dan Hart, so moved Hurdle that he brought it up in his postgame: "That's an incredible number. Incredible company. Tells you a lot about who Jameson is."
• One more to go Sunday.
