CINCINNATI -- The Pirates' 2019 campaign is just... weird.
Fifty games into the season, the team has played .500 ball and sent player after player to the IL, resulting in unconventional lineups and questionable roster moves.
Particularly, the team's pitching staff has been devastated. Currently, they're down starters Jameson Taillon (60-day IL, strained right forearm flexor tendon) and Trevor Williams (10-day IL, right side strain), while relievers Nick Burdi (nerve injury), Keone Kela (shoulder inflammation) and Chris Stratton (strained right side) also sit on the sidelines.
Add in Corey Dickerson, who has been on the IL since April 4 with a right shoulder strain, and Francisco Cervelli, who is probably going to get struck by lightning on a sunny day here in Cincinnati, and the team's injury problem defines the early goings in 2019.
So I had to ask Clint Hurdle about it all Monday before the Pirates' Memorial Day doubleheader against the Reds. Yeah, you can't control injuries and these things happen in professional sports, but is this the biggest challenge he's had to tackle as a manager?
He had plenty to say in his response (embedded in full below) but let's focus on this zinger:
"This has probably been the [only season] where I don't know what's next," Hurdle said. "Sometimes you have a feel for things as you walk in the door, and after 20 games I said it was kind of crazy and maybe this is the new normal. [Now] we're 50 games in, and it's still crazy."
For now, Hurdle will do what he does: Stay positive. Talk to his guys. Keep them calm and forward-facing.
This mentality will be put to the test, as the team selected Alex McRae from Triple-A Indianapolis Monday to join the squad in Cincinnati. Last season, McRae made his MLB debut for the Pirates, going 0-1 with a 5.68 ERA and a 2.053 WHIP.
"This will be his second opportunity to come up here and show us what he's learned," Hurdle said.
So how does that work? The team is familiar with McRae and they've monitored his progress. Now that he's getting a second chance, does Hurdle go through a special briefing with him?
Yes, actually:
Maybe this second chance is what McRae needs. Maybe he's refined his craft, added tools and emerged a better pitcher for it. Based on what he was telling me in the visitor's clubhouse, that could be the case.
“I learned how to use my stuff a little bit more, using all my pitches in different ways and just kind of honed all my stuff,” McRae was telling me.
Or maybe McRae is just the latest stopgap for a Pirates team that can't catch a break, that won't get outside help and that doesn't develop the talent within its own system to stem the tide.
We have 112 games left to find out, starting today with two at the Great American Ballpark.
