PITTSBURGH -- Seven months ago, general manager Ben Cherington was asked to explain the Pirates’ goal for the 2020 season. Cherington’s response began with three words: “Just getting better.

“That is not always a straight line, as we know,” Cherington said in January, “but … every day in 2020, we are going to spend on trying to get better.”

For all that’s changed since the beginning of the year, the Pirates always knew this would be a season built around evaluation and development. Cherington has often said the Bucs are building “toward” a winning team, in fact. But it’s hard to see much progress in their results, with their record standing at 4-16 after a 6-1 loss to Cleveland on Wednesday night at PNC Park.

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The Pirates have lost 16 of their first 20 games for the first time since 1952, when they got off to a 3-17 start. Ordinarily, teams might be able to shrug off any 20-game stretch, even at the start of the season. But in a shortened season, they’re one-third of the way through their schedule with only four wins and a number of games like this one.

"There's been some positive things. Obviously, the record's not a positive thing,” manager Derek Shelton said. “But we have a lot of teaching we still have to do and a lot of development we still have to do."

First and foremost, before considering prospect callups and roster shakeups, they must help their core players get back to the level they’ve previously shown they can play at. That specifically applies to their lineup, most notably the top six hitters in Wednesday’s game: Adam Frazier, Kevin Newman, Josh Bell, Colin Moran, Bryan Reynolds and Gregory Polanco.

Of that group, only Newman (.275) ended the night with a batting average above .215 and only Moran (.771) could claim an OPS above .700. They went a combined 1-for-21 against Cleveland starter Aaron Civale, who pitched the eighth complete game in the Majors this season. They are chiefly responsible for the Pirates having MLB’s lowest OPS (.603).

But without changing personnel, what’s the fix?

"We have to have more consistent at-bats. We have to be more aggressive on pitches in our zones,” Shelton said. “I think early in games, we're not as aggressive as we should be."

Catcher Jacob Stallings, who had two of the Pirates’ five hits against Civale, said some players may be putting too much pressure on themselves to shake out of their early slumps.

“Just naturally, it’s a lot easier to be negative with yourself. It’s a lot harder, especially when things aren’t going well, to be positive with yourself,” Stallings said. “And we’ve got a lot of young guys, too. Some of them, this is the first time they’ve struggled in the big leagues. That within itself has a lot of challenges that come along with it.

“If I had the answer, I think we’d probably be playing a little better. We have a lot of good players, so we’re going to get out of it. We just need to get out of it sooner rather than later.”

The season has not been completely devoid of silver linings, nor was Wednesday’s game. Left-hander Steven Brault continued to impress in a starting role, working five scoreless innings while allowing only two hits and a walk despite throwing 29 pitches in the first inning. Brault has now worked 12 scoreless innings in four starts this season, striking out nine while giving up three hits and four walks.

The Pirates played it safe with Brault as he returned from a strained shoulder, a concern validated by the number of pitching injuries they’ve dealt with, but the lefty said he feels like the build-up process is “pretty much over.” He threw 80 pitches on Wednesday, and he should be clear to throw six innings in his next start.

“I want to be able to do that, because I do believe I give my team a good chance to win, and that's how I approach [it],” Brault said. “That's the way I've always approached it, even when I've been less successful. I still have the feeling. I never go out there thinking, 'Ew, this is gonna be a tough one,' or anything like that.”

But this game, like several before it, got away from the Bucs’ injury-depleted bullpen. Dovydas Neverauskas gave up a three-run homer to Carlos Santana in the sixth, breaking the scoreless tie. Making his Pirates debut, Tyler Bashlor walked the bases loaded before Domingo Santana cleared them with a double to left field in the eighth.

Despite playing fewer games than most teams, the Pirates’ bullpen ranks third in the Majors with 56 walks on the year. Their relievers’ 5.96 ERA is the sixth-worst mark, and their 1.61 WHIP is better than only the Phillies’ bullpen.

"I think we have to be more aggressive,” Shelton said. “It's kind of an obvious statement, but we have to be more aggressive with going after guys and executing and making people beat us instead of putting free runners on."

As Shelton said, there is plenty of teaching and a lot of development still to come. But the most important question the Pirates are facing, boiled down, is a simple one: How can they use the next 40 games to get better?

Up next
The Pirates will wrap up their three-game series against the Indians on Thursday night at PNC Park, where right-hander Trevor Williams will take the mound for his fifth start of the season. Williams has given up four runs on 10 hits in 12 innings over his past two starts. He will line up against Cleveland righty Shane Bieber, who is 4-0 with a 1.30 ERA. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET, and the action will be live on MLB.TV.