Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Pirates fans fuming about Mitch Keller, Paul Skenes skipping Phillies

The Pittsburgh Pirates finished the first half of the season on a positive note to pull their record to .500 for the first time since April 27, giving fans a glimmer of hope they could be a playoff contender.

By taking two of three at the NL Central first-place Milwaukee Brewers before a three-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox, the Pirates (48-48) have won four consecutive and six of their past seven games to start the second half 1 1/2 games out of wild-card contention.

Now comes the challenge of opening the second half against the Philadelphia Phillies (62-34), who own the best record in baseball, and St. Louis Cardinals (50-46), who are two games ahead of the Pirates, before visiting the Arizona Diamondbacks (49-48) and Houston Astros (50-46).

“The biggest thing is our starting pitching’s been good,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said Sunday on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “We’re in a good spot. We’ve got a tough road at home coming out of the break because we have Philly and we have St. Louis, then we get Arizona. We have some teams that are in front of us, so we need to play well coming out of the break.”

Of course, the Pirates could capitalize on their hot streak by countering a Phillies team that has eight All-Stars and boasts the top run differential (plus-110) in MLB with a starting rotation that features rookie phenom Paul Skenes and 2023 All-Star Mitch Keller this weekend at PNC Park.

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Instead, the Pirates announced that left-hander Martin Perez, righty Luis Ortiz and lefty Marco Gonzales will be the probable starters against Phillies righty Aaron Nola, lefty Cristopher Sanchez and righty Tyler Phillips for the three-game series. That had fans fuming, given that Keller was limited to 57 pitches over three innings Sunday at the Chicago White Sox and Skenes needed only 16 pitches to complete the first inning of Tuesday’s All-Star Game.

And fans have the right to be even angrier that the Pirates wouldn’t reveal when Skenes will make his next start, failing to take advantage of the interest in the pitcher who has become baseball’s biggest story.

1. Rotation reset

Where it appears the Pirates are backing into the second half by starting Perez, Ortiz and Gonzales against the Phillies, it also sets the stage for a showdown with a division rival.

Now, Keller and Skenes are expected to face the Cardinals with a chance to cut into their lead in the divisional and wild-card races.

Left-hander Bailey Falter (triceps) also is eligible to come off the 15-day injured list Monday, so if he’s ready to return it could allow the Pirates to have a six-man rotation with Keller, Skenes, Falter, Perez, Ortiz and Gonzales.

That would give Keller and Skenes longer rests between starts while rookie Jared Jones is out with a right lat strain, and the workload management is an important consideration if the Pirates are going to make a playoff push and postseason run.

2. There’s a catch

Based on offensive numbers, a case could be made that Joey Bart should be seeing more time behind the plate than Yasmani Grandal.

Where Grandal is batting .178 with six doubles, three homers and 17 RBIs in 43 games, Bart has a .236/.330/.472 slash line with three doubles, six homers and 20 RBIs in 33 games.

Bart hit a grand slam in the 12-2 win July 9 at Milwaukee and a three-run shot in the 9-4 win over the White Sox on Sunday.

“He can drive the ball out of the ballpark,” Shelton said. “I think we saw it. He got a 3-2 pitch from (Chad) Kuhl and was able to get it up, and that was a big momentum swing in the game.”

But Grandal has caught Skenes in nine of his 11 starts, and the rookie right-hander raved about the veteran catcher to MLB Network at the All-Star Game.

“Being able to have a catcher like him to show me the reins is unbelievable because I’ve never been around anybody who thinks the game like he does,” Skenes said. “He makes it easy. I don’t have to shake a whole lot when he’s catching, so I’m getting there with reading swings because it is a little bit different, from the lower levels of college. I’m trying to read it as much as I can but when in doubt, trust Yaz.”

With Henry Davis and Jason Delay at Triple-A Indianapolis, catcher is a position of depth for the Pirates so it will be interesting to see what they do with Grandal in the second half.

3. Hot for Hayes

One of the biggest keys for the Pirates in the second half will be the play of Hayes.

After winning his first Gold Glove at third base last year, Hayes hoped to take another step forward and become an All-Star this season. Instead, his back continues to be bothersome. He’s batting .244/.297/.311 with nine doubles, three homers and 21 RBIs.

But Hayes ended on a hot streak, batting .400 (12 for 30) over his final eight games. He had three consecutive multi-hit games at the White Sox, including 3 for 5 with two RBIs in Sunday’s 9-4 win.

Hayes kept swinging through his scuffles and said he “felt like I was on a better track” after making hard contact and putting the ball in the air in Milwaukee before finding holes in Chicago.

Shelton credited Hayes for taking “really good swings” and suggested “it’s a good time for Ke’ to get hot.”

If Hayes can replicate his production of the final two months of 2023 — when he slashed .299/.335/.539 with 15 doubles, two triples, 10 homers and 29 RBIs — the Pirates are a different team.

4. Trade talk

During his weekly radio guest appearance Tuesday on flagship 93.7 FM, Shelton said the Pirates could be in the market to add a bat by the July 30 trade deadline.

“That’s something we’ve talked about. Continuing to add offense to our group is important,” Shelton said. “Offensively, we need to continue to get better. … I know Ben (Cherington) is always looking at ways we can make this team better. To say that we’re done or happy where we’re at, no. We’re trying to get better.”

The Pirates could be in the market for a center fielder, given that the platoon of Michael A. Taylor (.203 batting average) and Jack Suwinski (.174) hasn’t provided any consistency at the plate. But acquiring Luis Robert Jr. or Jazz Chisholm could be pricey.

The most likely position of interest would be a corner outfielder to play opposite All-Star Bryan Reynolds.

Among the players expected to be available are Randy Arozarena of Tampa Bay, Taylor Ward of the Los Angeles Angels, Brent Rooker of the Oakland A’s and Tommy Pham of the White Sox.

But a name to consider — one that might be a better fit — is Jesse Winker. The lefty is slashing .260/.374/.432 with 18 doubles, 11 home runs and 43 RBIs in 94 games for the Washington Nationals this season and has plus-1 defensive runs saved in left field.

Winker spent five seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, where he batted .305/.394/.556 with 32 doubles, 24 homers and 76 RBIs and was an All-Star in 2021 before spending the next two seasons in Seattle and Milwaukee.

Plus, he’s on an expiring $2 million contract so it might not take as much of a bounty to acquire him as Arozarena, Chisholm and Ward, who still have two years of club control remaining.

5. Internal improvement

Cherington has beat the drum that the Pirates’ best upgrades could come from within, if they get better production from players who are underperforming.

Where Grandal, Hayes, Suwinski and Taylor already have been mentioned as obvious candidates for improvement, two players the Pirates are counting on have been struggling this month.

After being their most consistent hitter through the first month-plus by batting .292/.370/483 with eight doubles, three homers and 14 RBIs, Connor Joe batted .169 in June and is 3 for 18 (.167) in July. Joe is batting .226 and striking out at a 25% rate against righties.

Andrew McCutchen has a .328 on-base percentage with 11 doubles, 12 homers and 25 RBIs this season but is batting .191 in 11 games in July. The designated hitter has played in 81 of the Pirates’ 96 games despite batting .195 against lefties.