Pittsburgh Pirates Offense Missing the Big Hit
By Matt Shetler
Friday night’s win for the Pittsburgh Pirates was just one of those wins that come along during the course of a season that makes you think that this is a special season for the Bucs.
Another come from behind win. Another game they had no business winning. Another win without getting a hit with runners in scoring position.
After watching the Pirates score 11 runs in the first two games of the series, despite going 0-for-19 with runners in scoring position, their lack of hitting with runners in scoring position would be more magnified had they not won both games.
It gets worse when you look back at the past eight games as the Pirates are a combined 5-for-37 (.135) with runners in scoring position. Naturally you won’t win many games that way, but the Pirates are 6-2 in that span.
This team just finds ways to win. Watching Neil Walker leave a small village on the base paths Friday night was frustrating, but the important part is that the Bucs found a way to win.
However, this is a trend that you don’t want to see continue.
The Pirates on the season are hitting .242 with runners in scoring position (14th in N.L.), but that also includes the miserable April and May this offense had. Those numbers look much better in June and July.
Individually, Andrew McCutchen is a .383 hitter with RISP on the year and Walker is hitting .306. No real surprise on either account there. The next highest averages among Pirates regulars belongs to Garrett Jones at .268 and Clint Barmes at .258, which means other than Walker and Cutch, there haven’t been many players in a Pirates uniform getting the big hits all year long.
That doesn’t mean they need to go out and get a bat.
A right fielder that has a nice OBP would be nice, but the main thing is the Pirates have been getting enough out of their offense to win and that’s the only stat that really matters.
However it would be nice to make things a little easier and getting hits with runners in scoring position will go a long way to solving that problem.