MILWAUKEE — There’s plenty about the Pirates that has seemingly become clear. Their offense has been blue-collar effective: hitters working counts, getting on base, taking some chances and doing enough to cobble together runs. Their bullpen has been solid. Even the fielding has improved.
A lingering question mark, however, remains the starting pitching. What will the Pirates get on a given night? Show up, close your eyes and think positive thoughts.
Nobody has done that Jekyll-and-Hyde impersonation better thus far than Trevor Cahill, who lasted just four innings and allowed seven runs (six earned) during the Pirates’ 7-1 loss to the Brewers on Saturday at American Family Field.
Last time out, the 33-year-old was excellent, allowing an earned run over five innings while striking out eight. It looked like what the Pirates thought they were getting all along. The problem is that start is now sandwiched by two others where Cahill has allowed 13 earned runs over eight innings.
Zoom out to examine the entire rotation, and the juxtaposition is equally as pronounced. Mitch Keller has enjoyed a gem, two duds and is lugging around a staff-worst 8.74 ERA. Chad Kuhl has had control issues while walking 15 in his three starts, none of which have been particularly impressive.
Meanwhile, JT Brubaker has basically become the staff ace, winning two of his three starts while pitching to a 1.76 ERA. Tyler Anderson (4.02 ERA) has also been solid, working 5 1/3 innings each of past two starts and allowing just four runs.
The Pirates should be happy with what they’ve gotten out of Colin Moran, Adam Frazier, Phillip Evans and others to this point. Their record (now 6-9) is better than many probably expected.
Milwaukee didn’t necessarily tee off on Cahill — the Brewers’ average exit velocity was 88 mph — but won with volume, converting six first-inning hits into five runs and ending the game shortly after it started.
Right fielder Avisail Garcia’s broken-bat, bloop single scored one. Left fielder Billy McKinney made it 2-0 with a base hit barely inside the first-base bag. Shortstop Luis Urias brought home another run with his line drive to center, and another run scored when Anthony Alford bobbled the ball.
Second baseman Jace Peterson’s bouncer up the middle gave the Brewers a fifth run in the first.
Some louder contact followed in the second, as center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. tripled and scored on first baseman Keston Hiura’s double. Garcia brought in Hiura with a sacrifice fly.
Perhaps not wanting to overtax his bullpen, or aware Kuhl (Sunday’s starter) has totaled 10 2/3 innings over three starts, Pirates manager Derek Shelton did not immediately dip into his bullpen, instead counting on Cahill to wear this one for a little.
A slight credit to Cahill, he did, ending his outing with seven straight outs, five via strikeout. It won’t wash away what happened before it, but it did add to the ying-and-yang nature of Cahill’s Pirates tenure so far.
The terrific, scoreless debut in spring. Then three runs allowed over 1 2/3 innings four days later. The regular season has been the same deal, with Cahill becoming the first Pirates pitcher to allow seven runs in two of his first three starts since 1950 (Vernon Law).
Pittsburgh scored its only run in the fourth, when Bryan Reynolds singled and scored on the first of three errors charged to Urias, on a scary play where Jacob Stallings collided with Hiura at first. (Both were OK.)
Sean Poppen, added to the active roster Friday, relieved Cahill and was effective, giving the Pirates a pair of scoreless innings while striking out two, but he likely doesn’t profile as a long-term solution. Neither does Clay Holmes, who delivered two more.
One option would be to ride it out with Cahill, believing he can look more like he did in his last start than the other two. An argument there would be that the Brewers, again, did not hit Cahill particularly hard on Saturday; they simply found a lot of holes.
Or the Pirates could make a move with Cahill, likely shifting him to the bullpen or taking one of several routes to remove him from the roster in favor of someone younger.
First choice there would likely be Miguel Yajure, who’s currently on the taxi squad and made three appearances with the Yankees last season. Yajure looked excellent in spring training and certainly deserves a chance at some point.
But as far as the Pirates staying competitive, they obviously can’t have starts like the one Cahill gave them Saturday … and haven’t recently.
In fact, after pitching to a 6.99 ERA through their first seven games, the starters had a 4.01 in the seven contests before Saturday’s game, a big reason why the Pirates won five of those.
Offensively, the Pirates couldn’t get much going against the Brewers, who before Friday had an eight-game run where their starters pitched to a 0.59 ERA. Lefty Brett Anderson allowed an unearned run over seven innings, walking one and striking out three.
Reynolds and Adam Frazier had two hits apiece, but that was pretty much it. The Pirates did not have an extra-base hit.
