A Clemente Day embarrassment: 16 more strikeouts

NEW YORK -- Since his call up to the majors, Oneil Cruz has wowed crowds with his eye-opening exit velocities. But Thursday at Citi Field, his most notable exit velocities were how quickly the bat left his hands.

Facing Mets starter Carlos Carrasco in the third inning, the veteran right-hand pulled the string against Cruz, who whiffed spectacularly at the changeup. He would leave the at-bat empty-handed, as he lost control of his piece of lumber, sending it 10 rows deep into the crowd behind the home dugout.

"I think it just slipped out of his hand," Derek Shelton said. "As much force as he creates swinging, sometimes it just comes out."

Cruz would lose control of his bat yet again in his final at-bat in the eighth in another plate appearance that resulted in a punchout.

Those two strikeouts were the most notable of the night, but just two of the 16 times the Pirates fanned in a 7-1 loss to the Mets Thursday.

It matched the Pirates' season-high for strikeouts in a nine inning game, also done June 11 against the Braves. They also played three extra-inning games from June 24 to July 24 where they struck out at least 16 times.

The strikeouts were enough of a problem on their own, but they accounted just four hits and two Cal Mitchell walks on offense. According to Stathead, since at least 1901, there have only been three other times in franchise history where the Pirates struck out at least 16 times in a nine inning game while producing six or fewer base runners.

And while we're on the subject of history, it was the 29th time this season the Pirates struck out at least a dozen times in a nine-inning game. The most such games in a season in franchise history before this was 22 in 2012. If you're willing at to add extra-inning games, no Pirates team had even struck out at least 16 times in five separate games in a season before this one.

So was Thursday a case of Carrasco excelling on the hitters not executing?

"I think it's a little bit of both," Shelton said. "I think we got a little bit aggressive and then he executed pitches. He's a veteran guy and he executed pitches to younger players."

Carrasco has been one of the game's more underrated pitchers for some time, showing he can keep even the biggest hitting threats like Cruz off balance. In the micro-sense, it's some bad swings and a bad night for the offense.

On the macro, it's still shaping up to be one of the worst offensive seasons in the franchise's history. They had struck out 1,343 times, the second-most in franchise history behind only the 2012 team with 1,354. They'll will break that record before they leave Flushing. 

With a 4-for-35 performance, the team's batting average dropped to .222. Ever since they joined the National League, the only team in franchise history with a lower average was the 2020 team, who hit .220 over an abbreviated 60-game season.

And if you'd prefer something more traditional, an 83 OPS+ entering play Thursday was the 11th-lowest for the team in the live ball era. It's also a slight step forward from last year's 81 OPS+, but that's not saying much. They're once again near the bottom of the league.

Some of this was expected coming into the year. Five rookies got an at-bat Thursday (Cruz, Mitchell, Diego Castillo, Jack Suwinski, and Jason Delay), which doesn't even count Rodolfo Castro who barely shed his rookie status last year. Those six players went a combined 0-for-17 with 10 strikeouts. Half of the lineup cannot produce those results if you're looking to win.

"With young guys, they have to figure out approach, and sometimes that's a learned thing," Shelton said in defense of the young hitters.

It's not the first time young hitters have been cited as the reason for inconsistent or poor offense, but they don't get that asterisk in the record book, and this offense is on pace to be remembered for the wrong reasons.

GETTY

The Pirates all line up for the anthem on Roberto Clemente day.

• It was a short night for JT Brubaker, who was removed after the third inning with left lat muscle discomfort.

After getting tagged by Daniel Vogelbach for a two-run double on a sinker that was left up, he allowed three more to score in the third, where he started to feel the discomfort.

The injury impacted what he wanted to do on the mound, forcing him to pitch to his hand side more than his glove side, taking away almost half of the plate.

"He has the ability to execute that front door fastballs to left-handers and then the fastball away to right-handers," Shelton said." He couldn't extend it, couldn't feel it, so he ended up leaving the ball armside and up."

Francisco Lindor was able to take advantage of a limited Brubaker, launching a two-run shot to put the Pirates in a deep hole early.

"Being able to eliminate that inner half because I wasn’t able to execute it makes it a lot harder on me to face lefties," Brubaker said.

He is considered day-to-day.

• Mitchell walked twice and is on a nice stretch at the plate since being recalled as part of the September roster expansion.

"[He's] making them execute pitches," Shelton said. "... I think he's being aggressive on the right pitches."

Michael Chavis had a pair of hits and an RBI double. Bryan Reynolds had a pair of singles for the other two Pirate hits.

• Thursday was Roberto Clemente day. More on that here.

• Before the game, the Pirates designated Tyler Beede and Dillon Peters for assignment, and activated lefty Eric Stout from the taxi squad. Shelton cited wanting to give younger players more opportunities as the reasons for the moves.

For Beede, it is fair to wonder if the Pirates perhaps flew a bit too close to the sun with him. Through his first 17 appearances from mid-May to the end of July, he recorded a 2.64 ERA with a .209 batting average against. In his final eight appearances -- five of which were starts as part of an experiment to get more innings out of him -- he allowed 21 earned runs over 21 innings with a .355 batting average against. Even in his most recent outings out of the bullpen, he did not look as sharp.

"I think that's a good question," Shelton said when I asked if moving him into the starter role had a negative effect. "It's something that when we did explore it we talked about it. It wasn't like, 'Hey, we're going to make you a starter.' We asked his opinion on it, he was all for it. I think as we showed yesterday [against the Reds], he still has the ability to get major league hitters out. It's just that the time where we're at right now, we're going to give the opportunity to other places."

Peters was returned from a rehab assignment as well. He allowed two runs in his most recent appearance Tuesday.

Stout pitched two innings of two-run ball Thursday, walking and striking out a pair.

The roster is now at 38 players.

• The four-game winning streak has been snapped. The Pirates haven't won five in a row since April 14-20, 2019.

• With the loss, the Pirates fall to 55-89 on the season. They need to go at least 8-10 down the stretch to avoid a second straight 100-loss season.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• 15-day injured list: RHP David Bednar (back)

• 60-day injured list: RHP Yerry De Los Santos (lat), OF Canaan Njigba-Smith (wrist), RHP Colin Holderman (right shoulder), RHP Blake Cederlind (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow), C Roberto Pérez (hamstring)

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Oneil Cruz, SS
2. Bryan Reynolds, CF
3. Rodolfo Castro, 2B
4. Ben Gamel, DH
5. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
6. Cal Mitchell, RF
7. Michael Chavis, 1B
8. Jack Suwinski, LF
9. Jason Delay, C

And for Buck Showalter's Mets:

1. Brandon Nimmo, CF
2. Francisco Lindor, SS
3. Jeff McNeil, RF
4. Pete Alonso, 1B
5. Daniel Vogelbach, DH
6. Luis Guillorme, 2B
7. Eduardo Escobar, 3B
8. Tyler Naquin, LF
9. James McCann, C

THE SCHEDULE

The Pirates and Mets will return to action Friday when Mitch Keller (5-10, 4.01) will take on Taijuan Walker (11-4, 3.48). First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. I'm staying in Flushing for the week.

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