Know Your Enemy: Pittsburgh Pirates
Your Enemy
Welcome to Pittsburgh. As nice as PNC Park looks, I'm a little sad that there's not more pirate decor around, or that it isn't shaped like a pirate ship.
First things first: Carson Fulmer was picked up by the Baltimore Orioles after being placed on waivers by the Pirates. At this rate, Fulmer is on track to hit all Central and East teams by the end of the season.
Since the Pirates came to town, there was a Giolito no-hitter and the Sox picked up Jarrod Dyson from Pittsburgh.
It's a rough season for the Pirates of Pittsburgh. They're sitting at dead last in the NL Central and have a run differential of -52. The only teams worse in terms of run differential are the Rangers and the Red Sox. The Pirates shouldn't feel too bad about themselves — at least they aren't the Red Sox.
One fun thing about teams being dead last and out of contention is when they call up players like rookie Ke'Bryan Hayes, who is currently batting .389 in 18 at-bats since he debuted on September 1.
Enemy's current record
13-26
The Pirates played the Reds this past weekend, with a doubleheader Saturday, and split the series. Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader was a win after facing big dumb Trevor Bauer, who allowed four runs, six hits with two walks and seven strikeouts before exiting the game. Sunday's game was won in walk-off fashion with a ninth-inning rally spurred by Josh Bell and Hayes.
With a handful of wins since leaving Chicago, the Pirates aren't coming to this series in the lopsided position they were when we last saw them. They've called up Hayes and have managed to cobble together some exciting victories. The Pirates are a team with nothing to lose right now, which will make for an interesting matchup with the White Sox, who have a playoff spot to lose.
Enemy pitchers
First up is Dylan Cease vs. Joe Musgrove. Cease hasn't seen the Pirates yet in his career, and is making his ninth start of the season. He's 0-2 with a 4.15 ERA in his career interleague starts. Musgrove, meanwhile, returned last Wednesday from a 10-day IL stint. He struck out four and threw 36 strikes through four innings; it's important to note that the Pirates haven't won any of his starts this season.
Next up is Dane Dunning vs. JT Brubaker. Brubaker is 1-0 with a 3.96 ERA so far this season. He earned his first career win, against the Cubs, on Thursday. He made his debut on July 26 and pitched two scoreless innings against the Cards. Brubaker is looking to solidify his spot in the 2021 rotation.
Roberto Clemente Day
Wednesday is Roberto Clemente Day across the league, and MLB announced that Puerto Rican players can wear "21" in his honor. Players are also being given the option to wear patches to commemorate him. Clemente spent much of his time during the offseason devoted to charity, and in 1973 the Commissioner's Award was re-named in his honor.
Clemente was the first Latin American player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The baseball writers agreed to waive the waiting period due to the circumstances around his death (a plane crash while flying relief supplies to victims of an earthquake in Nicaragua). Clemente was a 15-time All-Star, 12-time Gold Glove winner, member of the 3,000-hit club, four-time batting champion and National League and World Series MVP. His 3,000th hit was a double off of Jon Matlack of the Mets on Sept. 30, 1972 in Three Rivers Stadium. On July 25, 1956, in a 9–8 Pittsburgh win against the Chicago Cubs, Clemente hit the only walk-off, inside-the-park grand slam in history.