At just 75 pitches through six scoreless innings five days after firing 88, it’s natural for fans to question Pirates manager Don Kelly’s decision to remove Mitch Keller on Wednesday for the seventh inning.
The Padres, of course, scored four times in the seventh and never looked back, taking the series with an 8-2 victory at PNC Park. Pittsburgh also made three errors and went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, stranding seven.
Isolated to one day, yes, absolutely the loss felt frustrating. How could it not? But as the Pirates fly to Chicago for a weekend series against the Cubs, a bigger-picture view would be helpful.
"When we have games like this, it's easy to lose sight of how good we've been playing baseball," Kelly said.
It doesn't explain away the sloppiness. Kelly knows the Pirates need to be better and said as much. Kelly's quick hook on Keller also blew up when Justin Lawrence struggled to locate his sweeper and allowed four runs (three earned).
But the Pirates still went 4-2 against the Orioles and Padres. We still saw the MLB debut of Konnor Griffin, then he signed a record nine-year, $140 million long-term contract. There are also some individual performances worth noting.
Let's sift through it all in my nine observations.
1. Has anyone had a better week than Griffin? Surely someone has. But what he accomplished in a six-day stretch was pretty darn impressive: debuting, working out of a mini-slump, then signing the richest contract in Pirates history.
"This year is off to a great start," Griffin said. "This week has been amazing. I just try to give all the glory to God, trust his plan, and it’ll all work out."
Griffin has been in the big leagues for six games. Two have been extremely abnormal. Here's to the water finding its level this weekend at Wrigley Field.
2. Fan sentiment surrounding the Pirates has changed. Just one example: Chairman Bob Nutting was asked to sign autographs Wednesday morning.
But starting with the Pirates' offseason, continuing into Spring Training and certainly now, winning drives everything. Nutting made no bones about that in his comments during the Griffin press conference.
"I hope [the contract] comes across as a commitment from this organization ... and not only to the team but the city of Pittsburgh, to the fans, to reflect how serious I am, and we are, about building and sustaining a winning team in Pittsburgh," Nutting said. "The fans deserve it. The fans want it. We saw Opening Day, and we've seen in the ballpark already, the level of energy and excitement and passion and commitment that our fans have to this team. I could not be more appreciative of their support and their engagement."
3. That’s another way I'll remember this homestand: Opening Day was absolutely electric. It showed what's possible if this works. Players noticed. Coaches and front office members noticed. Just have to win.
4. Speaking of winning driving every decision, I found it interesting Marcell Ozuna was out of the lineup for a second consecutive game. The Pirates aren't benching him. That's not what you do with someone who makes what he does, who's accomplished what he has.
But they do need him to get right -- and soon. Coupled with Thursday’s off-day, it meant basically three days down. I’d expect Ozuna to be back in there against the Cubs, and it would help if production from the designated hitter spot followed.
5. As for Wednesday, Keller was another of my observations. Great stuff from him: scattering three hits, walking one and striking out four. Threw his sweeper more. Fired strikes on 49 of 75 pitches and got ahead a lot. Compiled 10 whiffs.
Keller opened the homestand with a quality start and finished with one, as well. In fact, all three of his starts have been quality starts, and he currently has a 1.00 ERA.
“I’m not really looking at pitch count or anything,” Keller said. “When they tell me my day’s done, I’m done. The time I’m out there, I give it everything I can. It sucks. I wanna be out there all the time. But do what I can do.”
6. Yes, Kelly was asked why he pulled Keller.
Here’s his answer: “He was nearing his pitch limit coming off the first time on regular rest and really felt really good about the pocket that Lawrence was going into. It didn't work out, but Lawrence has been so good for us. … I felt really good about putting him in that spot."
Kelly was then asked about Keller’s limit of 85 pitches.
"As with all these guys, when we say 85 [pitches], it's max 85," Kelly said. "We're not looking to start anything after 78. So if we're at 75, because if you get into a foul ball war, next thing you know it's a quick trigger. I think that with Lawrence being in that spot, again we felt really good about it."
7. The first piece of damage came on a sweeper Lawrence left out over the plate, the second a four-seamer that probably wasn't down far enough. Jake Cronenworth hit that one out.
Lawrence has thrown well, but it could further crystallize Kelly's bullpen usage, which is the point of this observation. The Pirates are using Gregory Soto and Dennis Santana in the top two leverage spots, plus Isaac Mattson in the third.
Yohan Ramírez has become a Swiss Army knife, Lawrence sort of backup leverage and Mason Montgomery the first lefty out.
8. There was also some ugliness to this one. Nick Gonzales' error to open the seventh opened the door to trouble. Griffin made an error. Nick Yorke, too, after he shifted to first base. It just wasn't a clean game, nor did the Pirates get much going offensively against Padres starter Michael King (six-plus innings, two earned runs).
Yorke finished with half the Pirates' hits. Oneil Cruz also smoked a double at 114.6 mph and continues to look much improved.
9. The chemistry with this group is really good. That's been evident for a while, but the Griffin extension adds another layer.
It could be awkward for a 19-year-old kid to make so much money. It's not. Far from it. Two reasons for that.
First and foremost, Griffin helps the Pirates win. That’s what everyone values most. He’s also genuinely himself: works out six days a week in the offseason, pausing only for church and to spend time with family.
Pirates players have welcomed Griffin with open arms and seemingly had 100% attendance for his presser.
“I think we have a bunch of mature, grown men in here,” Ryan O’Hearn said. “Everybody’s excited for him. A common thing I hear from all the guys was like, ‘Man, when I was 19, I was not even close to that.’
“I couldn’t be more excited for Konnor and his family and future. Now, he just gets to relax and compete, be himself on the field. That’s gonna be huge for us. He’s gonna help us win.”
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@Pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH.