Pirates Hitting Woes Reaching New Lows

Story by Yinzer Crazy Contributor Donnie Roberts II. Follow him on Twitter @Onto74

I think it’s safe to say the Pirates have a hitting problem. During their series against the Marlins, the Pirates were out-hit 38-23. There are many reasons why, but we’ll start with the man on top. 

Derek Shelton manages the lineups day in and day out. The Pirates don’t have any major league hitters right now, outside of Andrew McCutchen and Henry Davis. Everyone else is batting under .250 which is a huge problem. Players like Bae, Castro, Hedges, Delay and Suwinski all need to step up and find their rhythm, or be at risk of losing their jobs. Especially because the starting pitchers allowed a total of five runs in the four-game series against Miami. Shelton needs to find a way to shake up the lineup to create an offensive spark.

Hitting coach Andy Haines needs his plane ticket revoked after that atrocity in Miami. The entire city wonders what he’s getting paid for. Fans watch at-bat after at-bat knowing that the results are either going to be a strikeout or ground ball. How much longer is Haines going to let the standard for hitting be well below average? He deserves to be on the hotseat for his lack of attention to detail. He deserves to be on the hotseat for not fixing these hitters and helping them get out of their unprecedented, historical slumps. It’s embarrassing how bad the Pirates hitting is right now, and Haines is the main culprit.

With every negative there must be a positive. The positive here is pushing the Dylan Crews agenda. If Crews wasn’t the obvious choice before, he sure is now. He just won the College Baseball Player of the Year award and is one win away from securing the coveted national championship. He would clearly help this team out immediately and should rise through the minor league ranks fast. I believe his bat is already major league ready, so it should just be a matter of time. 

The Pirates are likely to continue this poor hitting slump until their best hitters, Reynolds and Cruz, come back.

Until now we can only watch and wait … for 2024.