NEW YORK -- "When you're in a funk like this, it feels like when you pitch you don't hit, and when you hit you don't pitch. Maybe that's just how it's going."
That was Jacob Stallings, talking to me after the Pirates' seventh loss in a row, their ninth in 10 games, and their 13th in 15 games since the All-Star break. This one, Saturday night at Citi Field, came by a 3-0 count to the Mets.
Maybe Stallings is right. Maybe that's just how it's going.
But how will it end?
How should it end?
The micro here is that Trevor Williams pitched probably his best game of 2019, but he still conceded a couple home runs, the offense was mowed down for a complete-game shutout by some dude with a 4.75 ERA, and the defense was ... oh, just watch:
That Jung-Ho Kang gem, as the baseball gods would have it, immediately preceded one of the home runs. And along the way, other bad stuff happened, too.
Whatever.
Forget the micro for now. The macro is infinitely more important. And, in turn, it's infinitely more depressing, if only because nothing will change.
Bob Nutting's been the controlling owner of the franchise since early 2007. Within months, he fired Dave Littlefield and installed a new front office with Frank Coonelly and Neal Huntington. And after dutifully sticking by John Russell for three years they'd all acknowledged were going to be bad, they hired Clint Hurdle in 2010.
In all that time, a decade and change, a grand total of one meaningful change occurred in the front office, that being Greg Smith's paper-move demotion from assistant GM to special assistant. At field level, too, it's been Hurdle and Ray Searage holding the two most pivotal jobs, with only the hitting and base coaches infrequently revolving.
In all that time, I needn't remind, there have been three playoff appearances out of ... well, soon it'll be 12 seasons. One actual playoff victory, the Blackout wild card over the Reds. Zero new flags of any kind to fly at PNC Park.
And all of these men remain not only gainfully employed but also signed for at least three years to come in most cases.
Process that for a moment.
Then, once you do, picture any other professional sports franchise, in Pittsburgh or elsewhere, that would put up with it.
None?
Nope, me neither. All anyone needs to know is that the Pirates currently employ the National League's most tenured GM, presumably because he's the architect of ... one awesome night in 2013.
Sure, there's some talent at hand. And that, in isolation, is to the credit of Huntington and his staff. There's also been a powerful bond built within the clubhouse. And that, in isolation, is to the credit of Hurdle and his staff. But team sports aren't competed in isolated accomplishments, and they sure aren't accounted that way. It's about wins and losses and precious little else.
Well, the Pirates' 46-58 record is now last in the Central, next-to-last in the league only to the charlatan Marlins. Their pitching is now next-to-last in the league only to the high-altitude Rockies. Their offense, among the most productive in all of Major League Baseball in June, is now two runs removed from the worst since the break.
Which one's the mirage?
I don't know. Candidly, I don't care all that much anymore. Not in any sample size smaller than a dozen years.
Or however many more years this goes on because, again, nothing will change. Nutting values loyalty above all else. That's true in his newspaper chain, his ski resort, in all his family businesses, and the Pirates are anything but an exception: Coonelly does his bidding, preventing any and all Matt Morris contracts from being issued. Huntington does his bidding, operating with one of the majors' smallest payrolls without a peep of complaint. Hurdle, on a personal level, is a dear and trusted friend.
So it won't matter to Nutting, not in the slightest, that Coonelly's contributed mightily -- with who-knows-how-many tone-deaf remarks and actions -- to the unprecedented civic savaging of the brand. Nor that Huntington and Kyle Stark have executed the exact opposite of what Nutting himself had declared as Huntington's top priority, that being drafting and developing internal talent. Nor that Hurdle has shed a lot of his mojo in recent years. He started out, if you'll recall his introductory press conference, as being the one who'd challenge Nutting and all the rest. He does anything but these days.
Now, I can type for possibly the billionth time that the Pirates need a whole new front office. I can even toss Hurdle into that, however unfair that might be given that he's the main reason these players have performed with unbridled unity and passion, as any new front office certainly would want a new manager.
But what's the point?
No, really, what's the point of any of this?
If the individual with the ultimate say doesn't use actual results as his guiding light after a dozen years of 75 percent failure, if that one individual instead values loyalty and profit -- not necessarily in that order -- then what the hell are we all doing paying attention to this as if it's some serious process?
That's the macro. That means something.
Anyone with the stomach for more micro, that's just below.
• Williams was way better than his sharp seven-inning line of three runs, four hits, seven Ks and two walks. He held the Mets hitless through 4 2/3 and, really, made one poor, costly pitch, this dangling changeup to Michael Conforto in the sixth:
The other home run, J.D. Davis' two-run shot that punished Kang for his lapse in the seventh, came off a decent sinker that went precisely where Stallings wanted it:
"The only one we'd want back is the one to Conforto," Stallings told me. "Trevor was awesome. I can't say enough about how great it was to catch him tonight."
Hurdle went further, calling it "Trevor's best start of the season," and there was cause: He'd reached seven innings only two other times -- both exactly seven, April 23 against the Diamondbacks, May 10 against the Cardinals -- and he was clearly in better command in this one.
• Williams, befitting his genuine team-first attitude, looked borderline despondent afterward. Specifically, as he'd admit to me, he was bugged by his inability to get down a bunt after Stallings' leadoff double in the sixth:
With a full count, he bunted foul. Stallings never advanced.
"At that point in the game, it's something that needs to be executed," Williams said. "Unfortunately, the Mets executed on their side tonight, and we didn't."
• Speaking of which: I asked Kang, through an interpreter, whether he'd lost the ball or whether he'd deferred to Newman, as he'd glanced once to his left toward Newman while the ball was still in the air.
I fully expected it to be the former. It wasn't.
"We missed the call with each other looking for the ball," Kang replied. "That's what happened."
I asked again, to be clear: Did he lose it?
"No."
OK, that happens, but connecting it to Newman is plain crazy. The ball plopped no more than 10 feet behind where Kang had been positioned at short. Newman, in a shift, was behind second base. Hurdle, too, stated it was Kang's play all the way.
• There's no reason whatsoever for Kang to be on this roster, much less getting playing time, much less getting starts. That long ago stopped being an opinion. He's batting .174 after another 0 for 3.
• Hurdle was ejected, third time this season, in the first inning after Starling Marte became visibly displeased with Hunter Wendelstedt's called third strike that appeared to be inside. Hurdle emerged from the dugout to join Kimera Bartee in calming Marte, but Hurdle then looked over Marte's shoulder, motioned with his hands about 6 inches apart toward Wendelstedt, and the right arm was raised.
The pitch was No. 4 on this matrix:
MLB.comNot quite 6 inches, but it was a miss. Hurdle would explain later that he also didn't like Kevin Newman getting rung up with the game's opening at-bat, his on a pitch well above the zone.
"I felt that two of our first three hitters of the game got clipped on called third strikes, and I wanted to stop a trend," Hurdle said. "That was basically it. I felt that our guys got punched out on strikes that weren't strikes."
• Steven Matz, by the way, was New York's pitcher. Nearly forgot to mention him. Over nine innings, five hits, seven Ks, no walks and just 99 pitches. The cool kids now call a shutout of less than 100 pitches a 'Maddux,' after Greg Maddux, which actually is really cool.
“To do it in 99 pitches is something else,” the Mets' manager, Mickey Callaway, told reporters down the hall. “That was tremendous. That was unbelievable.”
It sure was.
“Honestly, this is what I try to do every game,” Matz said. “I finally did it.”
He finally did.
• It didn't help the visitors that Bryan Reynolds and Melky Cabrera, two of the Pirates' still-hitting hitters, both bounced into deflating, inning-ending double plays.
"Feels like we've had a lot of those for about a week now," Hurdle said.
• The Dodgers have four excellent prospects, and the Pirates covet two of them in any trade involving Felipe Vazquez, per MLB Network's Jon Paul Morosi, one of the nation's best baseball reporters. I could keep repeating that I don't trust this front office to make moves of this scope, or I could simply state that, if the Dodgers do part with two of those four prospects, the best two will stay in Los Angeles.
• Corey Dickerson's injured left groin isn't serious at all. He was right back in the indoor cages Saturday afternoon, and he might even have been an option to start the game but for the Mets throwing a lefty. They'll throw another lefty Sunday. This is a glaring positive for his being available for trade ... assuming a fair return can be found, and he doesn't just get dumped for dollars.
• Directly from Dumpster Dives R Us, here's a 28-year-old journeyman named Parker Markel claimed off waivers from the Mariners. Clip and save if he winds up in Cooperstown, but this is precisely what they do rather than pursuing known commodities. They try to look and sound like they're outsmarting everyone else. And that's how they'll keep right on flailing -- and failing -- right through 2020 and beyond.
• Way, way beyond.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE INJURIES
• Clay Holmes (10-day IL, triceps)
• Steven Brault (10-day IL, shoulder)
• Gregory Polanco (10-day IL, shoulder)
• Francisco Cervelli (60-day IL, concussion)
• Jameson Taillon (60-day IL, elbow)
• Erik Gonzalez (60-day IL, hamstring)
• Rookie Davis (60-day IL, forearm)
• Lonnie Chisenhall (60-day IL, conscience)
Here's the most recent full report.
THE SCHEDULE
These teams go at it one final time Sunday, 1:10 p.m., with Chris Archer (3-7, 5.40) facing lefty Jason Vargas (5-5, 3.96). Say this for Archer, even if it isn't much: He hasn't allowed more than four runs in any of his past seven starts. It's something.
THE COVERAGE
All our expanded baseball coverage, including Indy Watch by Matt Welch, Altoona Watch by Jarrod Prugar, and Mound Visit by Jason Rollison, can be found on our team page.
