"It hits me hard," Roansy Contreras was saying late Monday night at PNC Park, and no, cynics, that's not because he'd just been carved up for seven runs in the Pirates' 8-2 annihilation by the Astros.
He was referring, of course, to Oneil Cruz.
And I've no doubt after witnessing this especially dismal display that it's hit everyone hard to lose a foundational, freakish talent -- not to mention a friend and teammate -- for at least four full months following the leg surgery of which they'd all learned on this same day.
As Rodolfo Castro would say before this game, "It hurts a lot because he's like my brother. And it hurts the team, too, because we all feel the pain."
More telling, there was no sign of Castro after the game, a time when he and Cruz are generally among the last to leave the clubhouse, sitting at their adjacent stalls and sharing thoughts on baseball, life, whatever. And they do this for all games, here or on the road or wherever.
This time, just two empty chairs.
"Nobody likes to see one of your friends get hurt," Bryan Reynolds would say. "But I've been saying since the beginning that I think our identity has been bouncing back from stuff. I think you've seen that in the games we've played so far. It's a test, but I think we're up for it."
Time will tell, of course.
Cruz's production can't and won't be replaced, to state the sadly obvious. I viewed him as someone who could hit 40 home runs this year ... by accident. Like, even if he slumped all summer. The pace he'd built up as a rookie, the promise he extended into this spring and even the pop shown in the first few games of the season ... yeah, the don't make Band-Aids that size.
Not to mention, in something I'd heard from several players in Bradenton, there's a certain swagger that comes with strutting into a stadium accompanied by the biggest, baddest man in that house. They knew it. They felt it. And that's because he knew it, he felt it.
But I dare say this bounceback -- or staying afloat while Cruz is out or however one might care to characterize it -- isn't inconceivable.
Let's suppose, for instance ...
1. Rich Hill and Vince Velasquez go.
Sooner rather than later, anyway.
Look, I liked this rotation when JT Brubaker was part of it, if only because I saw these first two guys as fungible and, to be blunt, dispensable as soon as Luis Ortiz, Quinn Priester or Mike Burrows came up from Class AAA Indianapolis. Well, here's my Super-2 cents: Bring one or more of them when they're actually ready, not when it saves a few bucks in 2029. If winning's the real priority, as we've all been repeatedly admonished, let's see it in this category, too. A strong rotation overcomes all. (And dare I even bring up Endy Rodriguez?)
2. Castro succeeds.
I'm a Castro skeptic, and I take no joy in that or his 4-for-18 start to this season. Tremendous kid. Infectious. And the bat's got bona fide pop. But if I'm wrong -- and our Alex Stumpf, a Castro believer -- is right, imagine the difference that alone would make for the lineup. It'd be something to see a slugger in the seven-hole.
3. Bae bats leadoff.
Not full-time. He's got to at least get a splinter on lefties. But if Ke'Bryan Hayes can carry that role against lefties -- that's where Derek Shelton's utilized him all season, including this game, and he made clear afterward it'll continue -- then Bae's a no-brainer to take the rest. He's been my pick to click since pitchers and catchers reported, and he hasn't exactly disappointed. The lineup's losing power galore, but it can still be productive in a 2023 shift-ban, steal-bases kind of way.
4. Hayes delivers. Eventually.
His uplifting spring's gone poof, as his 0-for-4 in this game now makes for an 0-for-11 in the past three games and a 5-for-40 for the season. That's No. 9 material there, not leadoff. In the same breath, though, there's no sense burying him over it. All that work in Florida wasn't a mirage, and we've already seen some of that in stung outs along the way. It's got to come for him. It just does.
5. Home runs from others.
This doesn't make for a long list, but hey, I'll take Ji Man Choi going 407 feet into the visiting pen, left-on-left, off the sport's premier lefty starter, Framber Valdez, as transpired in the second inning:
Choi can hit 'em out. Not at some great rate, but he's capable. So's Carlos Santana, who's looking more dangerous each day. And Reynolds. And Castro. And Jack Suwinski. And it's still what Andrew McCutchen does best, as well. Also and relevant, as pathetic as the Pirates' offense was in 2022, it still somehow produced 158 home runs, 18th-most in Major League Baseball, the literal only positive column on the ledger.
Add up all of those, include both Ben Cherington and Shelton behaving more aggressively than at any point in their tenure here to affect change like what's listed above and ... I don't know, doesn't that feel feasible?
For four months, anyway?
Presuming the bullpen remains the strength it's been to this very early point?
Oh, and one other thing's a must that I probably should've included: Chins up. All the way up.
Contreras might've scripted this sentiment best: “Definitely a big loss not having Oneil today and who knows for how much time. But we have to go out there and we have to compete and do our best every day.”
JOE SARGENT / GETTY
Mark Mathias throws to first base in the third inning Monday night at PNC Park.
• I've got a Freeze Frame on Contreras' awful start. And by start, I'm talking the very first pitch.
• Recalling Mark Mathias from Indianapolis because, as Shelton worded it, "He can hit," sure leaves me wondering how far Tucupita Marcano's fallen after a miserable spring. Because on the same day Mathias arrived, bringing along a 10-for-30, two-RBI start in the minors, Marcano was named International League Player of the Week by going -- sit down for this -- 10 for 19, a .526 average, with a home run, five doubles, a triple, seven RBIs ... in just five games? And he can play short? Hello?
• Mathias went 0 for 3 in this game, including two terribly non-competitive plate appearances. Just saying.
• One reason people speak as passionately as they do about Shelton the person is that he respects and trusts his players. No hype. No sappiness. It's evident all the time.
When the Latin American contingent in his clubhouse late last season clamored to take injured Yerry De Los Santos along on trips, he easily conceded, though it's uncommon for coaches and managers in sports to want injured players hanging around, as they can remind active players of their absence. Kind of a mental thing.
Well, Shelton also made clear on this day, to his team and to Cruz himself in a FaceTime call -- after having been with Cruz the previous night at the hospital pre-surgery -- that he'll do his rehab work in Pittsburgh and that he'll be around his teammates at the first possibility.
The reasoning was exquisite.
"My solace is in the fact that he’s OK," Shelton said. "The biggest thing for me today was when we FaceTimed him and he smiled. That smile is infectious. Just to see that out of him a little bit ... that’s where I’m more concerned. We’re talking about a 24-year-old kid here. When you have children, and I do, my concern is more about the kid than worrying about a timetable or what’s going on."
• Everyone will talk about the absence of Cruz's bat, but who'll replace him in the field?
If Castro's in the conversation, then take a violent U-turn and restart the conversation. He ain't it, even if he hits.
• Almost nothing else to say here. Contreras had nothing. Valdez is the best pitcher in his league, the best anywhere at getting ground balls, and he'd go seven innings with two runs, three hits and a trademark 11 groundouts. Also, most of the players in the other dugout were raising a certain hunk of metal a few months ago.
• Crafty split I've concocted: The Pirates are now 6-3 against teams that didn't win the World Series in 2022, 0-1 against everyone else.
• The hardy fans among the 10,122 on hand who hung around just to boo Alex Bregman with each at-bat ... a toast to you all from this part of the press box. Never let cheaters feel comfortable about cheating.
• Thanks for reading my baseball stuff. I'll be on hockey for quite a while after this ... or not. Let's see how it all plays it over there.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 7-day concussion list: C Austin Hedges
• 10-day injured list: SS Oneil Cruz (ankle), RHP Robert Stephenson (elbow)
• 60-day injured list: RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
2. Bryan Reynolds, CF
3. Andrew McCutchen, DH
4. Carlos Santana, 1B
5. Ji Man Choi, DH
6. Connor Joe, LF
7. Rodolfo Castro, SS
8. Mark Mathias, 2B
9. Jason Delay, C
And for Dusty Baker's Astros:
1. Chas McCormick, CF
2. Alex Bregman, 3B
3. Yordan Alvarez, LF
4. Jose Abreu, 1B
5. Kyle Tucker, RF
6. Jeremy Peña, SS
7. Corey Julks, DH
8. Mauricio Dubón, 2B
9. Martin Maldonado, C
THE SCHEDULE
Two more against the Astros, with Mitch Keller facing Cristian Javier in the Tuesday game, 6:35 p.m. Alex will have it. I'll be across the river.
THE MULTIMEDIA
THE CONTENT
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