MILWAUKEE -- Although there may not be such a thing as a "gut decision" in the modern game, sometimes a move can backfire so quickly that it's worth pondering whether it's time to go right back to the drawing board.
A few of these instances appeared as the Pirates were swept by the Brewers this weekend at American Family Field, which was concluded by a 5-2 loss Sunday. The streak is the longest of the season for the Pirates, who move to 23-41 on the season.
All season long, and the club has been honest about this, the Pirates and Derek Shelton have erred on the side of caution with their pitching staff. Most of their hurlers are younger and less experienced, and they've felt this was important for everyone coming out of the shortened season.
But sometimes the game laughs in the face of a plan. And when the proper strings aren't pulled, things can unravel.
The reality of the weekend series was that the team failed to produce in run-scoring situations. They went 5 for 28 with runners in scoring position and scored a total of 10 runs all weekend.
But there were a couple bullpen decisions that were curious to say the least. And leaves one to wonder if the club is being put in the right places to succeed.
After stumbling out of the gate Sunday, Wil Crowe seemed to hit that "domination stage" that he'd talked about after his last successful start in Atlanta on May 20. He retired 15 consecutive Brewers after allowing hits to Luis Urias and Daniel Vogelbach, the latter of which scored a run, to start the game. Crowe seemed destined for his first major-league win. So it was a surprise to see he had absolutely no breathing room in the sixth inning.
Crowe lost pinch-hitter Tim Lopes to a walk after a pretty impressive, 10-pitch battle to start the sixth. Then came the hook.
"If he gets him more efficiently, then he probably gets another hitter," Shelton said. "Just the pure execution of it. Also, mentally it’s challenging."
Crowe maintained that he was ready to go deeper into the game, but that he had tremendous faith in David Bednar and the other members of the bullpen -- and for good reason. Obviously it'll be rare for a player to call out their manager. Especially if that player is a rookie with a now 7.71 career ERA.
Obviously, there was good reason to be cautious with Crowe, specifically. Sunday's start was his first since being optioned back down to the minors less than two weeks ago. He entered the game with a 7.26 ERA in the majors this season and, as it was mentioned earlier, he's never been the pitcher of record on the long end of a major league contest before.
But things were clearly different against a limited Brewers' lineup Sunday. According to his catcher, Jacob Stallings, Crowe's fastball was the best it's been and he had terrific command of a fastball and slider. Even Shelton himself confirmed that Crowe needed to be trusted to get outs in the sixth. And that commitment wasn't only verbal.
"We were planning on running him through," Shelton said.
But that could have been surmised by the decision he made in the top half of the same frame.
The Pirates loaded the bases with two outs after Stallings' go-ahead solo shot. And rather than pinch hitting for Crowe with two outs, he left his pitcher in there to bounce the final out back to the opposing hurler, Brent Suter.
Had to be done, right?
The rookie was absolutely cruising through a first-place lineup. After a 26-pitch first inning, he needed only 56 more pitches to get to that point. He was literally perfect after the first two batters.
It was a gamble that absolutely did not pay off. Bednar, whose overall 2021 track record is much better than Crowe's, left a couple pitches center-cut and surrendered a game-tying triple to Urias and a two-run homer to Avisail Garcia to suffer his first loss of the season.
"When you leave balls in the middle of the plate in the big leagues, they’re gonna get hit. Both of ‘em got it," Shelton said.
Crowe had already labored through the first before putting together the best five innings of his major-league career. At least on Sunday, he proved he can snap back into form when things get a little out of control.
The Pirates have a long list of reasons for playing it safe, but the game should still dictate these decisions. That's the reason Crowe got the at-bat. Shelton said that the prospect of going through the order a third time did not factor into the decision, so since he earned the chance to get that far, he probably should have had some more wiggle room.
Bednar has shown up in Pirates' box scores more often that not this season. The same can be said about Clay Holmes and Sam Howard. The Pirates' first problem is the length they're getting out of their starters. Shelton said exactly that after Chad Kuhl had to be bailed out in the fourth inning Saturday.
"Our starters have got to give us more innings," he said. "We’ve got to get deeper into games with our starters. That’s extremely important because of the workload stuff with our bullpen guys."
Considering this is the state of their starting staff, attempting to formulate a plan that won't rely on these bullpen guys as often -- they've each appeared in at least 27 games this season -- is probably a fool's errand.
In Friday's 7-4 loss in the series opener, Shelton pulled Howard, who had recorded four outs on 12 pitches, in favor of Holmes. Shelton had conventional wisdom on his side: Use Holmes to face the righty pinch-hitter, Daniel Robertson, rather than the left-handed Howard. But that didn't pan out either.
Holmes' command was uncharacteristically erratic and four walks and a pair of hits later, the Brewers had taped together a five-run inning.
Caution should also be paid to those often-used arms in the bullpen. They've been excellent for most of the season, but that's not the sturdiest bridge to stomp over every day. So when the rare opportunity comes along -- like a rookie with very little track record for success retiring 15 in a row -- it might be beneficial to do something different. And ride the wave as far as it will go.
THE THOUGHTS
• This Pirates' lineup was probably the best they've put on the field all season. But hopefully those who enjoyed it got a good picture because it did not last long.
Moran scored the Pirates' first run but did not come back out for defense in the second inning. It was an unfortunate development for Moran, who was activated last week after a month-long stay on the injured list with a groin injury, then missed a couple days after taking a pitch off the hand in the Dodgers series.
This is something different.
They're calling it lower-back tightness, and he'll be considered day-to-day until the club provides more information.
This could be bad. There wasn't this much visible agony when he injured himself in Chicago, and he missed a month after that. It could perhaps be considered a good sign that he did stay in the game to score the Pirates' first run on Newman's groundout.
But for the better part of the week, references have had to be made back to this Alex Stumpf piece on what the Pirates will be without Moran's bat in the lineup -- again. But since then, Wilmer Difo, who was designated for assignment Tuesday to make room for Phillip Evans on the 40-man roster, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Indianapolis. He might get his roster spot back in some form.
• After a weekend where each of the regulars was given a day off, or at least a day out of the starting lineup, the Pirates were back to full strength for the first time since opening day. And the argument can be made that Ben Gamel is a preferable option to Anthony Alford. At least the major-league version of Alford, not the guy hitting .435 in June with Indianapolis.
Gamel performed well at the plate in the first series back at his old haunt in Milwaukee. He went 4 for 8 with a homer and a pair of doubles, and he filled in well defensively in center field for Bryan Reynolds on Friday. More importantly, he showed that should be getting the lion's share of the playing time in that third outfield spot.
The journeyman is hitting .243 in his first 70 at-bats with the Pirates, which ranks fifth on the team in the month-plus since he was claimed off waivers.
Ka'ai Tom has shown an aptitude for getting on base, but with Gamel there are more chances that a ball will be driven to a gap or hit with some sort of authority. He's also much more sure-handed in the field. Obviously, this is not any sort of long-term solution. But with this roster construction, Gamel seems to have earned his spot.
THE ESSENTIALS
Boxscore
Scoreboard
Standings
Statistics
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
Adam Frazier, 2B
Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
Bryan Reynolds, CF
Colin Moran, 1B
Jacob Stallings, C
Gregory Polanco, RF
Ben Gamel, LF
Kevin Newman, SS
Wil Crowe, P
And for bench coach Pat Murphy's Brewers (Craig Counsell had the day off for his son's graduation):
Luis Urias, 2B
Daniel Vogelbach, 1B
Avisail Garcia, RF
Willy Adames, SS
Jace Peterson, LF
Manny Pina, C
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
Pablo Reyes, 3B
Adrian Houser, P
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates head to Washington for a three-game set with Josh Bell and the Nationals. JT Brubaker is scheduled to face Jon Lester in the series opener with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
IN THE SYSTEM
• Carmen Mlodzinski spun another gem in Greensboro, yielding a run on six hits while striking out six over five innings. The 2020 CBA pick lowered his ERA to 0.84 in his fifth professional start. His effort was aided by a three-hit, three-RBI performance from Fabricio Macias, whose average improved to .304 on the season.
• Things are starting to come around with the bat for Hudson Head, who is finally over the Mendoza line in Brandenton. Head homered, doubled and drew a pair of walks, boosting his on-base percentage to .409 this season.
• Affiliate scores
• Indianapolis
• Altoona
• Greensboro
• Bradenton
THE CONTENT
Visit our team page for everything.
