MILWAUKEE -- Yeah, it was a blast. It was five blasts, actually, including a Joey Bart grand slam that propelled the Pirates to possibly their most compelling performance of the summer in punching out the first-place Brewers, 12-2, on this Tuesday night here at American Family Field.
I'll get to it all, I promise.
Ride with me, first, through one fact for each of those blasts ...
Fact: I was told over the weekend by a high-ranking American League executive that, at some point in 2024, the Orioles approached the Pirates about a trade of elite prospects, one that'd send Jared Jones to Baltimore and 20-year-old infielder Jackson Holliday to Pittsburgh. I was further told that it was Ben Cherington who backed off. And as the opening sentence of this paragraph suggests, I've got no idea when within this year it occurred. Only that it did.
Fact: As I reported in my June 20 Friday Insider, there'd been tension mounting inside 115 Federal between the business and baseball sides, mostly because Cherington wouldn't budge toward adding a bat even after ownership, meaning Bob Nutting, had authorized a significant addition to payroll. This reporting was buttressed the next day when Nutting, in a session with reporters at PNC Park, spoke of the urgency to make a trade: “I think we should be prepared to move early. I think we should be prepared to take advantage of opportunities when they arise. So I know Ben has that flexibility to look across a broader range of alternatives, options, but also a timeline of when it makes sense to strike.”
Fact: Before Nutting had made that statement, every sentiment within what he was about to say had been discussed internally -- it always is, and that's the norm with any major-league franchise owner -- to ensure it aligned with the goals of Cherington and baseball ops. All agreed that it did. I confirmed this earlier Tuesday with a team executive who was directly involved.
Fact: According to ownership, according to Cherington, according to Travis Williams, according to absolutely anyone who'd matter atop this team's structure, the money's there to be spent. And again, it's significant money. I've communicated with those running the franchise more than any reporter in our region over two decades on the beat, and no one in that building would reject this, on or off the record. They know it's there. They talk about it openly. But they also defer to Cherington and don't want to force upon him a deal he'd find distasteful. And that's because Nutting, as I've written for years, for all his very real flaws, also delegates to a fault. As he once told me a decade ago, "When I start making baseball decisions rather than the baseball people, then I've got the wrong baseball people." So he doesn't. He watches it unfold.
We all clear on that now?
Cool, because I've got one more ...
Fact: Holy wow, all of a sudden, these dudes are really raking.
Like so:
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSmedia) July 10, 2024
That's Bryan Reynolds, hottest of the hot in Major League Baseball, whacking a two-run shot in the third inning off Colin Rea, owner of a 3.34 ERA fresh off seven scoreless innings in Denver.
And then, like so and so and so and so and so:
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSmedia) July 10, 2024
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSmedia) July 10, 2024
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSmedia) July 10, 2024
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSmedia) July 10, 2024
That's Bart and Rowdy Tellez and Jack Suwinski and Josh Palacios.
And it's all related, believe it or not.
Because that's now 15 home runs in the past five games for these Pirates. And 53 runs over the past nine games, by far the most productive stretch of 2024, to go with a .256 average -- 78 for 305 -- that's 25 points above the season bar.
Which led me to roam around the visiting clubhouse and ask what might've been unthinkable a few days ago: Is there more of this at hand?
"It's in here," Nick Gonzales would tell me after going 2 for 4 with a smashed RBI single and a walk. "You look at how we're swinging now. It's not just the runs. It's how we're going about it."
I asked Reynolds:
"Yeah, I mean, we've got a lot of talented guys," he'd reply. "We've shown it in spurts here and there. We've just gotta try to be a little more consistent and build off today, build off the game in the last series."
The seven-home-run 14-2 flattening of the Mets this past Friday at PNC Park, of course.
I asked Tellez, too:
“I mean, I think we’re in the playoff race, so I don’t think we've shown that we have such a bad offense," he'd reply. "I think we’re a really good offensive team. A lot of people can struggle, but when you get things going and you have good pitching, I think one or two runs is enough.”
I know, I know ... but let's take all those thoughts at face value and try, however futile it might feel, to put them in play.
What's needed for this offense to compete or even contend? Or better yet, what's been needed?
Catcher might've been the biggest disappointment for much of the first half, but Bart's been a fine find as a high-pedigree pickup from the Giants. All he's done when he's had his reps -- setting aside a recent IL stint -- is soar to a .798 OPS with five home runs, two of those now slams, in 79 at-bats.
"He's done the job," Derek Shelton would say of Bart's impact at the catching position. "It makes a difference."
No doubt.
First base might've been Exhibit A at other times, but Tellez has turned his resurrection into an outright resurgence, going 2 for 4 with a walk here to extend his latest tear to 15 for 41 with six home runs and 12 RBIs in the past 13 games. That's obviously elite offense at any position and plenty for the ultimate power position.
Second base might've been the most in-flux position out of spring training, but Gonzales has been the season's most pleasant development and, by now, has an iron grip on it. His average is up to .278, and his OPS of .741 trails only those of Reynolds and Oneil Cruz.
The two non-Reynolds outfield spots might've been little different, but Suwinski, who'd been this close to a demotion by June's end, went 2 for 5 with two RBIs and the home run here and, over his past 10 starts, he's got nine hits, three home runs, a double and seven RBIs. What's more, as he told me after this game, he feels he's found a levelness to his swing that'd been lacking most of the season. And Palacios, promoted from Indianapolis over the weekend, has four hits and five walks in his first 20 plate appearances, plus two home runs.
From there, presume that Cruz will be back soon from a slight hamstring strain after doing some running in the outfield before this game, and presume that Andrew McCutchen will keep being Cutch, and presume that Ke'Bryan Hayes will ... oh, I don't know. Maybe he can be the Pirates' best second-half hitter again, as he was in 2023?
Look, I get the leap of faith involved. I've been bitterly critical of this offense, of Andy Haines, of Cherington's personal preference for passivity at the plate. A few days of fun doesn't -- and shouldn't -- alter that.
Repeating from Tellez, when "you have good pitching, I think one or two runs is enough." It usually isn't, but the theme stands: When the Pirates score four runs -- four! -- they're now 36-11 amid an overall mediocre 44-47. That's math, not a mirage.
Am I still in favor of a trade?
Oh, hell, yes.
Am I in favor of one that sends Jones out?
Oh, hell, no.
Improve the offense, but don't do it by shipping out young talent. Do it by taking on money. Do it with the dollars, since they're really, really there. Because if this offense can rise up to being ... what, average or even a little below average? ... it'll apply that much more pressure to Cherington to make a move or two.
Yes, Cherington.
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