Kevin Gorman's Take 5: Pirates trying to figure out the fallout of another late-season collapse
With the Pittsburgh Pirates in wild-card contention, general manager Ben Cherington became a buyer for the first time at the trade deadline and dealt for three players to make a push for the playoffs.
The acquisitions of left-handed reliever Jalen Beeks, outfielder Bryan De La Cruz and infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa — all for prospects — addressed the team’s needs for bullpen help, a power-hitting corner outfielder and a versatile veteran middle infielder.
That the Pirates (76-86) went into an immediate tailspin has mystified Cherington, who addressed the collapse that involved nine one-run losses between July 30-Aug. 21 and a 10-game losing streak that caused them to drop into last place in the division.
“Trying to figure that out,” Cherington said Wednesday afternoon in a news conference to wrap up the 2024 season. “If you had told me on July 30 that we were about to have nine one-run losses, I would’ve said, ‘No, that’s not going to happen.’ But it did happen, and we’ve got to own that and live with that and figure out what we need to do about it.”
Cherington couldn’t pinpoint one reason why the Pirates performed so poorly after making the additions. Instead, he brought up multiple problems. One was a gauntlet of a schedule, as they faced three playoff teams and another that missed by one game. The Pirates played the Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers and Padres again, losing 12 of 13 games from July 31-Aug. 14.
“It’s always more than one thing,” Cherington said. “I think that at some level, we went into August believing that we could make a push for the postseason. We also went into August ending up playing really good teams that happened to be hot, and we came up short way too often.”
That stretch reinforced to Cherington that he must do a better job of building a roster that can “withstand those hot spots in a season and come out on top.” While Cherington said he plans to address their shortcomings through trades and free agency, he discussed some of the moves the Pirates made once they were out of contention.
1. Cruz control: When the 6-foot-7 Cruz made a dozen errors in the span of a month, the Pirates finally pulled the plug on him at shortstop.
After a 4-3 walk-off win over the Cincinnati Reds on Aug. 25, the Pirates informed Cruz that he was switching to center field. After two days of working with outfield coach Tarrik Brock and 2021 AL Gold Glove winner Michael A. Taylor, Cruz made his debut in center.
Cruz committed two errors in 23 games, with one a questionable throwing error on a one-hop that skipped past catcher Yasmani Grandal on a play at the plate. Cruz also used his elite arm and sprint speed to his advantage, giving the impression that he can handle the transition.
“I would sum it up as that he absolutely showed us that he can do it, and that we should be confident that he can do it going into 2025,” Cherington said. “That’s partly because of the metrics that we track. How we measure how he’s moving out there, which balls he’s getting to and how he’s getting to them.
“And, as we all saw, there is more room to grow. Largely, I think that’s in how he’s using his arm as a weapon and how he’s just thinking about the role as a communicator. It’s sort of the two things we expected to take more time when we did it. … So we’ll have a full offseason and full spring training to work with him on that. I think he’s developed a good connection with Tarrik, and we’ll get together this offseason and keep working on it.”
Now, the Pirates have to get Cruz’s bat back on track. He led the team in doubles (34) and was second in home runs (21), RBIs (76) and OPS (.773) this season but slashed .200/.306/.337 with four doubles, three home runs and 11 RBIs over his final 25 games.
2. Short-sighted: With Cruz in center, the Pirates tried four players at shortstop. Kiner-Falefa saw the most action, making 21 starts, followed by Nick Gonzales (five) and Liover Peguero and Alika Williams (three each).
“When we made the move, we thought IKF would slide into shortstop,” Cherington said. “That’s primarily what happened to start. Then, later in the season, we were just trying to get guys in there for playing time, so you saw a little more of a rotation later in September.”
Adding the disclaimer that he doesn’t make out the starting lineup, Cherington said he was confident the Pirates would have “more than one option going into 2025.”
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Kiner-Falefa has played more games at shortstop in his six major league seasons than any other position, including 341 starts. He didn’t commit an error in 28 games at short for the Pirates.
“I’d also say that right now, IKF is by far the most proven option at shortstop,” Cherington said. “So we’re happy he’s on the team.”
That doesn’t rule out the other three. Gonzales put himself in position to play on either side of the bag, Williams is probably their best defender at short and the 23-year-old Peguero has the most potential at the position after a strong season in Triple-A.
3. Key to third: The greater concerns are at the corner infield spots, especially whether third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes can overcome his back issues to return to his Gold Glove form and be a reliable hitter.
“He’s, obviously, really important. We need him on the field. Period,” Cherington said. “We need him on the field, doing the things he’s capable of doing in order for us to be the team that we want to be next year. He knows that, he feels that and feels some form of responsibility for that. We got to keep working to help him be that.”
Hayes went on the injured list with low back inflammation Aug. 19 and didn’t return. After Hayes had five stints on the IL, the Pirates have their fingers crossed that since seeing a spine specialist, he has a “more clear” understanding of how to overcome his back pain.
“Until he’s doing all the things we expect he’s going to do on the field, there’s always some level of concern,” Cherington said. “That’s just natural.”
4. Who’s on first?: After Rowdy Tellez and Connor Joe split playing time at first base, the Pirates could attempt another platoon situation there by using Billy Cook and Jared Triolo.
But All-Star left fielder Bryan Reynolds took grounders with infield coaches Don Kelly and Mendy Lopez in August and September and seems open to the idea of a position switch.
Cherington sounds a little more reluctant.
“We have not had any formal discussions, certainly no decisions about Bryan Reynolds playing anywhere else than left field,” Cherington said. “Bryan Reynolds is a really good baseball player, and I think he likes doing baseball things and so he likes taking ground balls at first base. It could just be that.”
Cherington said the Pirates haven’t begun internal discussions about roster construction for 2025 yet, something that will start as it gets deeper into October, but it would make sense as Reynolds approaches his age 30 season to consider the move given their eight-year, $106.75 million investment in him.
“The great thing about Bryan is that he is just a really good baseball player, and I think he badly wants to win,” Cherington said. “I know that. And, at some point in the future, if it gave us a better chance to win, would he do something else? I’m sure he would. But we haven’t gotten into that with him.”
5. Return of Renegade: David Bednar’s decline from two-time All-Star closer who led the majors in save percentage in 2023 to someone who struggled in high-leverage situations was stunning.
But Cherington doesn’t expect Bednar’s late-season demotion to be a permanent move.
“I do think he could be our closer next season,” Cherington said.
Cherington couldn’t explain whether the left oblique strain Bednar suffered in spring training affected him all season or if there was another explanation for his 5.77 ERA.
“It’s certainly possible,” Cherington said. “Nothing is usually the single reason for anything. He would understand better than I would. I think that, with relief pitchers especially, things can snowball. One thing can lead to another. I certainly felt like that’s what happened with David.”
Cherington was encouraged that, after posting a 10.97 ERA in 11 appearances in August, Bednar had a 3.38 ERA in a dozen outings in September.
“We’re still seeing, as I’ve talked about before, the pitch qualities are there. He knows they’re there, which probably helps him feel good,” Cherington said. “It also probably frustrates him, given that he knows they’re there and he couldn’t solve this. It’s a tiny sample, and that’s really dangerous. …
“He’s got some ideas on how to get after his offseason in a way that sets him up even better. But from the person, the brain that’s inside that head and the talent, the arm and the pitch qualities, absolutely, I think he can be pitching at the end of the game.”
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
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