This is a new feature that I am trying this week to correspond with my “Week in Review” episode on the Bucco Fever Podcast. In this series, I will be taking a look 3 things that went well and 3 things that didn’t for the Pirates over the past week.
Ups
Phillip Evans has been one of the bright spots for the Pirates this season. Evans was off to a great start last season before breaking his jaw by running into Gregory Polanco attempting to catch a fly ball. Coming into Spring Training, Evans was in competition for a bench spot. Due to an injury to Ke’Bryan Hayes in the 2nd game of the season, Evans has seen regular playing time and has taken full advantage of the opportunity. Since last Sunday, Evans is 11 for 28 getting his average to .393 with 3 homers. With Hayes coming back soon, Evans needs to stay in the line-up and could see more time in LF.
Colin Moran continues to show good patience at the plate drawing 7 walks while collecting 10 hits with a .313 average on the season. Moran is a lot more selective at the plate so far this season than in the past. Although, he did have a hard time on Sunday with 3 Ks.
JT Brubaker has been the best starter for the Pirates this year so far. Over his two starts, he has a 1.93 ERA with 10 Ks. His walks were up in his first start with 4, but Sunday only saw one. He did hit two guys though. Brubaker looked different in Sunday’s start than I think I have seen him. He was poised. He was like a veteran. When he got into jams, he got himself out.
Downs
Anthony Alford is off to a rough start. He has yet to collect a hit and has struck out in 12 of his 15 at bats including all four on Saturday. With Hayes coming back soon and Evans playing well, Alford may be the odd man out when a spot needs cleared off of the roster.
Gregory Polanco continues to struggle. He has 4 hits in 28 at bats with 11 strikeouts. He came close to several home runs this week, but was always just short of the wall or just under the ball. Hopefully, he dials in soon and can get a nice streak of production to give him some kind of trade value.
Trevor Cahill was terrible in his first start. Granted, he didn’t have a ton time in Spring Training to get stretched out and he had to eat some innings in this start to reduce stress on a taxed bullpen. He was still bad. With 7 runs over 4 innings, Cahill was hit and hit hard. He’ll look to improve on his 15.75 ERA moving forward. Hopefully, this was just a blip and he can get on track with some more innings.
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