ATLANTA — Rowdy Tellez went to bat searching for a splitter up, however did not strike when he bought it the primary time in his fifth-inning at-bat towards Spencer Schwellenbach.
Schwellenbach couldn’t get away with a pitch there twice, although. He went up once more with the break up, and Tellez wasn’t gonna let it sneak by, crushing it 421 toes, as projected by Statcast, for a two-run shot — the insurance coverage runs the Pirates would want to beat the Braves on Sunday, 4-2, at Truist Park.
It additionally put a pleasant bow on Tellez’s month of June. After struggling by the primary two months of the season, he was one of many workforce’s most dependable and finest hitters in June. His .333 batting common was third amongst all first basemen this month (min. 50 plate appearances), and it translated to a .925 OPS.
“It feels good,” Tellez stated. “It was a protracted highway. Lot of labor, lot of time put in, however it’s what it’s. It is good for me, however we’re simply centered on profitable video games. That is what we did this month. I believe we had a stable month.”
The Pirates went 14-12 in June, a step in the fitting course and a month that definitely retains them within the Nationwide League’s playoff dialog because the season rolls into the second half. They’ve been carried by pitching up to now, particularly the rotation.
The Pirates are additionally getting some excellent news relating to bullpen accidents, with guys like David Bednar and Hunter Stratton trending in the fitting course and Ryan Borucki probably coming back from his rehab project quickly. Plus, they’re getting high quality contributions from younger center relievers who scuffled early, like Carmen Mlodzinski and Kyle Nicolas, who mixed for 3 scoreless innings after Bailey Falter went 5 innings with one run allowed.
The offense, alternatively…
“The position-player facet is probably going the place there’s room for enchancment,” common supervisor Ben Cherington stated on his weekly 93.7 The Fan radio present Sunday morning. “That’s probably not new. We’ve recognized that and proceed to work on that.”
The Pirates’ workforce .655 OPS ranks twenty eighth in baseball, and their 333 runs scored are the sixth-fewest as of Sunday’s remaining out. Offense is down throughout the league considerably this yr, which explains a number of the struggles, however there are positions and gamers that haven’t produced almost sufficient to make for a constant, high quality offensive assault.
There are calls from followers for the Pirates to make an enormous splash or two within the commerce market to assist rectify that, however it’s exhausting to think about the workforce dealing its top-line prospects earlier than the July 30 Commerce Deadline. That doesn’t imply they’re going to be quiet, and in the event that they’re nonetheless in it, they’ll be wanting so as to add.
Nevertheless, as Cherington put it, “now we have extra gamers that may enhance by far than the quantity we are able to purchase.”
“I actually consider the present group of place gamers could be higher within the second half of the season than they had been within the first,” Cherington stated.
It’s exhausting to argue that any commerce acquisition could be a lot better than if some mixture of Jack Suwinski, Michael A. Taylor, Jared Triolo or Ke’Bryan Hayes had a Tellez-like turnaround, and even hit like they did in 2023. The workforce has seen what that kind of inner spark can deliver.
“It feels good to have Rowdy hitting for us,” Oneil Cruz stated, by way of interpreter Stephen Morales. “He is an awesome hitter. It does not take simply Rowdy. Generally we get Taylor, [Edward] Olivares and all these guys if you’re not sizzling, that they will all contribute.”
One might embrace Cruz within the combine of fellows who might do extra within the second half. He acknowledged it’s doable. Cruz’s .723 OPS is okay, particularly when taken within the context of him lacking virtually all of final season, however he was the one who put the Pirates out in entrance within the fifth inning with a two-run blast that left the bat 117.3 mph and traveled a Statcast-projected 452 toes. The outcomes have been wonderful, however his potential is immense.
The Pirates confirmed religion in Tellez and had been rewarded for it handsomely this month. There’s religion that this membership can produce sufficient offense to win extra within the second half.
“It is the large leagues,” Tellez stated. “At any level, anyone can take off. At any level, one swing can change a hitter. I believe if we simply give attention to the little issues and take wins at-bat by at-bat, we’ll be in a great place.”
