Walking the Plank: Weekly Review: July 15-21: Cardinals and Phillies

St. Louis Cardinals Series Record: 1-2 (*Rolls eyes*)
Philadelphia Phillies Series Record: 1-2 (*Rolls eyes even more*)

Pirates Record and Standings: 46-52, 4th Place NL Central

Trivia Question of the Week: Which Pirate pitcher has given up the most walks this season? (Answer at the bottom).

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Disappointment.. total disappointment. That is the best way to describe the second half of this season. Am I surprised the Pirates went down hill after the All-Star break? Nope, not at all, but never the less, I am still extremely disappointed. The Pirates are on a downhill spiral as they lost both series this week and it is a tough time yet again to be a Pirate fan.... Here are my 3 big takeaways from this week's games: 

1. Time to Sell

Going in to the week, I was still up in the air whether the Pirates should be buyers, sellers, or stay put, but this week shows the Pirates need to be sellers. With a strong young core of Bell, Reynolds, Newman, Williams, and Musgrove, the Pirates have some strong pieces for the future, so they will not need a complete sell. Players that can be traded for assets are Jordan Lyles, Melky Cabrera, and Francisco Liriano. I would love to see the Buccos hold on to Dickerson and extend him, but if the plan is to not sign him, then it is best to trade him also. This frees up a rotation spot for Mitch Keller and the Pirates can focus on the future.

2. Bullpen Is Killing the Team

As of right now, Vazquez, Rodriquez, and Liriano are the only reliable arms in the bullpen. When you can only rely on three bullpen arms, it makes it very difficult to win, especially when we expected Crick to be very good. With Kela returning this week, hopefully he can provide a boost to the bullpen and take over the role as the set up man.

3. Offensive Woes

The Pirates offense was HOT heading into the All-Star break for about a month, but right now they are about as cold as a Pittsburgh winter. The Pirates scored 1 run or less in 3 out of 6 games this week, and these games were not even against elite pitching. As of now, no player on the team is on a hot streak and they badly need someone to break out over this next week if they want to start winning any games (I am looking at you, Josh Bell). 

Position Player of the Week (Last week: Starling Marte): Corey Dickerson. There were not many great position player performances this week, but Dickerson did go 7-12 and drew a handful of walks with three doubles. Dickerson is finally finding himself after spending most of the season on the IL and his average is now at .305 on the season. 

Pitcher of the Week (Last Week: Chris Archer): Dario Agrazal. Agrazal has been the best starter for the Pirates and he did it again this week pitching 6 innings with 1 earned run against the Cardinals on Tuesday AND the Phillies on Sunday; and those are not JV lineups he was up against. On the season, Agrazal has a 2.25 ERA through 5 starts with the Buccos; although it is a small sample size, he has given the Pirates some much needed innings. Honorable Mention: Joe Musgrove

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Moment of the Week (Last Week: Marte 3-Run Game Tying HR vs. Cubs): 1979 World Series Celebration.. and the uniforms!! As a young Pirate fan who has not seen much success, it was awesome to see the celebration of the 1979 world champs on Saturday night. So many great players that I always heard about growing up such as Dave Parker being in PNC Park made for a special night. Also, how about those uniforms! They need to be the Pirates everyday jerseys!

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Who Walks the Plank (Last Week: Jordan Lyles): Kyle Crick. Crick has been a disappointment this year after an amazing 2018 season. Since May 5th, Crick has only had three clean innings pitched since May 5th and that just can't happen from your set up guy. With Kela coming back off the IL this week, it may be time to take Crick out of high leverage situations. Enjoy your swim, Mr. Crick

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Trivia Answer: Chris Archer. Archer leads the team with 45 walks with Lyles being second with 32. The only thing making up for Archer's high walk rate is how he leads the team with 106 strike outs, with Musgrove being next closest at 98 strike outs. 

Upcoming Games: Home: 4 Game Series vs. Cardinals. Away: 3 Game Series vs. Mets

Record Prediction (Last Week: 4-2.. yikes!): Sadly, I am losing hope in these Buccos. I want to be positive, but there is not much to be positive about. With that, I predict the Pirates to lose 3 out of 4 against the Cardinals and win 2 out of 3 against the weak Mets to finish the week at 3-4.

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think in the comments below. Try to stay positive Pirate fans and Lets Go Bucs!!

-Aaron, TGYK