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I’m not often a fan of discussing a team’s postseason chances in June due to the up and down nature of a baseball season, but as the Pittsburgh Pirates continue to lose games as well as key players, they may be too far behind when October approaches.
Prior to Tuesday night Pittsburgh had lost five straight games and, despite holding second place in the NL Central for a considerable amount of time, have been leapfrogged by the St. Louis Cardinals and dropped 11.5 games back of the Chicago Cubs with a record of 32-31.
There was little cause for optimism with No. 1 pitcher Gerrit Cole and starting catcher Francisco Cervelli both out multiple weeks due to injury. Cervelli isn’t having the offensive season he had in 2015, but he’s a stable backstop and great leader on a high-character team.
The more devastating injury, though is to Cole, who has been pitching well after a shaky start to the season. He was placed on the 15-day DL this week with a triceps strain and, with an inconsistent rotation and lousy bullpen, he’s one of the guys the team can least afford to lose.
In his absence, the team made the decision to recall righty Jameson Taillon from Triple-A Indianapolis. It was Taillon’s second appearance after making a spot-start last week against the New York Mets. The rookie gave up six hits, three earned runs and picked up a no-decision in a 6-5 loss. His second start was a lot better as he took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning. In total, he surrendered just two hits and walked one through eight innings in a 4-0 shutout win.
That’s the kind of effort Pittsburgh will need from the former No. 2 overall pick if they hope to stay afloat in the NL Central. Taillon isn’t the only heralded pitching prospect in the system, as fans also hope to see appearances from Tyler Glasnow and Nick Kingham. The latter was set back by Tommy John surgery, but he should be back on track in the second half of the season.
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