ST. LOUIS -- In the grand scheme of things, Ildemaro Vargas’ run-scoring single in an otherwise disappointing loss comes with minimal significance. Especially as the club is in the middle of something much larger that -- barring some fascinating development -- will not include Vargas.
But as the club attempts to bridge the gap from the current roster to whatever’s waiting on the other side of the rebuild, there will be some interesting characters getting chances with the Pirates.
Vargas brought the game to its final score with an RBI single in the seventh and went down swinging to record the final out of Wednesday night’s 8-5 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Pirates have lost three in a row and were swept in the short, two-game series to fall to 17-25 on the season.
Most of the damage followed an injury to another journeyman, Trevor Cahill, and done against another veteran in Duane Underwood Jr. These are not the names that should be filling the box scores and lineups in the future. And, sure, the argument can be made that there’s not much reason to wait any longer for that future to arrive.
But the Pirates’ plan has obviously been to use these veterans as a means to bridge the gap. Vargas is the latest to get a shot. Though it’s obviously a chance that comes in what’s nearer his last MLB game than his first, he brings a unique perspective as a man that didn’t know he’d still have a life in this game.
“It's been a rough journey, and I'm sitting here before you guys wearing a uniform of an organization, I just can't help but be grateful,” Vargas said through team interpreter Mike Gonzalez on Wednesday afternoon. “I can't help but be who I am. I'm grateful, I'm glad, I'm happy. Naturally, it's how I'm wired, but at the same time, life experiences has helped me cherish moments like this and just remain positive, because life is short and we've got to appreciate every opportunity we have.”
It’s important to remember these are human beings. As a 16-year-old in 2008, Vargas signed his first professional contract with the Cardinals out of Venezuela. Fast forward seven years, and he’s a father to a three-month-old working in landscaping in West Palm Beach, Florida, after being cut by St. Louis when the team broke camp from that same city.
“I needed to make money for my family,” Vargas said. “I was cutting lawns, and I'm very grateful for that experience, because it made me a stronger man. It made me a better man. Those are life journeys that we go through that help you appreciate life even more.”
His next opportunity came less than two months later when he signed a minor-league deal with the Diamondbacks. But Vargas had no idea if he'd get another life in baseball. He’s since bounced from Arizona to the Twins and Cubs, and now, after the club designated Troy Stokes Jr. for assignment Monday, the Pirates.
“I'm going to be honest with you guys, I don't want to be the first ballplayer that plays for 30 teams,” the affable Vargas said.
Sure, why should the average fan, who just wants to see the Pirates win games, care about how grateful these guys are to be getting a shot?
Well, if the Pirates insist upon go through a revolving door of reclamation projects, waiver claims and players whose careers are on their last legs, it’s important for this to be a nurturing environment. Not just on the off chance they find a diamond in the rough, like Tyler Anderson. But as a team whose future depends on the grooming of impressionable youngsters, it can only help to make sure the organization can be an attractive destination for players that can actually provide some success. And not some factory of despair that will chew a player up and spit them out without exhausting all options to let them prove why they were given a shot in the first place.
Less than two months into the season, a number of these players have already come and gone. Expect more of this until whatever's being built closer resembles a finished product. Hopefully, it'll add some perspective to the difficult times ahead.
• Part of that nurturing can come from how the team handles some of these veterans who have truly struggled so far this season.
There’s nothing to celebrate in regard to Cahill’s left calf injury -- remember these are human beings. But if any sort of hiatus provides more chances for a younger pitcher, say Miguel Yajure, there’s an undeniable effect on the quality of the on-field product.
The Pirates don’t have any answers regarding the severity of the injury nor have they yet identified the actual ailment. The usually talkative Cahill didn’t have much to say about the effects of the injury on his difficult outing other than to admit that he did try and adjust around not being able to put too much weight on his plant leg.
In hindsight, it’s difficult to watch that outing and not see a guy who knows that his chances in the big leagues are limited, trying to pitch through something when he shouldn’t have. Hopefully, for his sake, he’s right in his insistence that this will not keep him out for a long time.
“I don’t think it’s anything serious,” Cahill said. “It wasn’t really all of a sudden, so I don’t think it’s anything serious. It’s just something that I couldn’t get through.”
Cahill gave up four runs on two hits and two walks while striking out a pair, including a red-hot Nolan Arenado in the opening frame. The 33-year-old fell to 1-5 on the season while his ERA ballooned to 6.81 through eight starts this season. Should he need to miss extended time, there might not be a spot in the rotation waiting for him when he returns.
• Most of the runs charged to Cahill were scored while Underwood was on the mound. It was an extremely difficult spot for the reliever to come into the game -- bases loaded and nobody out in the second inning. He’s allowed to take all the time he needs to get ready, but he’s clearly in a rushed situation in front of 14,667 in attendance watching him warm up.
But even without the unique circumstances, Underwood has failed in just about every chance he’s had in the fireman role so far this season. The 26-year-old righty has allowed 10 of his 11 inherited runners to score, a list which does not include the automatic runner on second base that scored on him in the extra inning last week against the Reds.
Underwood has been scored upon in five of his past eight outings, and his ERA now sits at 4.74 in 17 appearances this season.
• Derek Shelton did not have any plans for how to or if it were even necessary to replace Cahill in his next turn of the rotation. The only definitive is that Chad Kuhl, the opening day starter, will not be the one to fill that spot.
Kuhl threw 42 pitches and struck out five and yielded a walk over three innings in a rehab start for Class AAA Indianapolis on Wednesday. Considering the short workload, he will make another rehab appearance before re-joining the big-league club.
“[He] threw the ball really well from all indications,” Shelton said. “As we've always talked about, tomorrow's the most important day because he pitched and then how he feels and and goes about it.”
• Adam Frazier collected the two hits he needed Wednesday to reach 500 total for his career. This milestone comes in the midst of a season in which he’s batting .325 and leading the National League with 54 total hits. Frazier is one off Boston’s Xander Bogaerts for the MLB lead.
The 29-year-old has hits in 17 of his past 19 games and is 11-for-22 (.500) during his present five-game hitting streak. Frazier had a 12-game hitting streak snapped last week after he entered as a pinch hitter for the injured Phillip Evans.
• Something truly encouraging is going on at the plate with Gregory Polanco.
He homered in the fifth inning off Jack Flaherty and reached base three times on Wednesday night. Polanco added a run-scoring single in the seventh inning. All of this took place after his night began with an eight-pitch walk his first time up against Flaherty in the second.
“That sets you up for a good game,” Polanco said. “You’re seeing the ball good, and you’re trying to put a good swing on it, not try to do too much. You’ve already seen like every pitch.”
Polanco had four hits in seven at-bats with four RBIs in the two games at Busch Stadium. He also had hits in four consecutive games on the homestand in addition to his walk-off sacrifice fly Friday night.
It hasn’t been the easiest year for the Pirates’ longest-tenured and highest-paid player. He’s batting just .231 with four homers and 11 RBIs during a season in which he’s already been sidelined seven days likely for a COVID-19 related issue.
The lanky, 6-foot-5 Polanco explained that he and Rick Eckstein have worked to shorten his swing lately. They’ve started using a drill that has Eckstein set up behind a screen throwing full speed at a short distance to Polanco to simulate the potential triple-digits heat he’ll face in the game and force him to be quicker to the ball with his swing.
“Right now, I’m making more contact, because my swing has gotten shorter,” Polanco said. “From opening day to today, I’m making good progress, making adjustments and not trying to do too much. Just be short to the ball, because now, everyone is throwing 100, you know?”
Polanco bounced into a fielder’s choice on an elevated fastball similar to the one he sent 395 feet over the fence in the seventh. Knowing that Yadier Molina liked to call for pitches that worked to get outs in previous at-bats, Polanco sat on the heater in that spot and did not miss it.
“I’ve got to be ready for the fastball because I know Flaherty, he likes his fastball a lot, like up in the zone,” Polanco recalled. “So I was ready for it, trying to stay short and put a good swing on it.”
• Sam Howard has had an excellent start to his season, and his outing Wednesday night was among his most impressive. He stumbled out of the gate with a lead-off walk to Tommy Edman in the seventh, but recovered to strike out three tough right-handed hitters in Dylan Carlson, Paul Goldschmidt and Arenado.
“[He] came back and really executed the fastball and threw some really good sliders,” Shelton said. “To go through Goldschmidt and Arenado, that's tough for a lefty and he really executed pitches. That was big for us. He gave us a chance to stay in the game.”
It was the fourth time and second in as many outings that Howard recorded all three outs in an inning via the punchout. He’s got a 3.14 ERA in 14 ⅓ innings this year.
• It’s basically impossible to be having a worse time at the plate than Michael Perez in the month of May. The club’s backup catcher is hitless in his past 26 appearances after going 0-for-3 with a couple strikeouts Wednesday night.
Shelton came into St. Louis with the plan of giving Jacob Stallings consecutive days off after he took a foul ball off his thigh and was removed early in Sunday’s game. He had hoped that having some more regular at-bats might knock something loose for Perez, but that little experiment didn’t yield much success.
Despite this ugly skid, Perez still reached base on an intentional walk in the second inning with two outs and runners in scoring position. Mike Shildt opted to pitch to Cahill instead of Perez. It worked out for the Cardinals, as Flaherty set Cahill down swinging. But it was an ugly look for those that oppose the designated hitter.
THE ESSENTIALS
Box score
Video Highlights
Scoreboard
Standings
Statistics
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
Adam Frazier, 2B
Kevin Newman, SS
Bryan Reynolds, CF
Gregory Polanco, RF
Will Craig, 1B
Ben Gamel, LF
Wilmer Difo, 3B
Michael Perez, C
Trevor Cahill, P
And for Mike Schildt's Cardinals:
Tommy Edman, 2B
Dylan Carlson, RF
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
Nolan Arenado, 3B
Yadier Molina, C
Harrison Bader, CF
Justin Williams, LF
Edmundo Sosa, SS
Jack Flaherty, P
THE SCHEDULE
It'll be something of a homecoming for a number of the Pirates, including Frazier, Underwood and Howard as the Pirates keep the road trip going with a four-game series against the Braves this weekend. Wil Crowe is scheduled to pitch against Drew Smyly with first pitch Thursday set for 7:20 p.m. I'll be with you all weekend in Atlanta.
THE CONTENT
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