Pirates finished April with an overall 11-13 record after a lot of wildness, which included sweeps for weeks it seemed. This usually doesn't look like an encouraging sign for a team, but upon consideration of what happened to the Pirates in April, I at least feel like the team came out okay.
It all started with Jung Ho Kang. It was reported towards the tail end of Spring Training that Jung Ho Kang was denied a visa request to return to the United States. This was followed by reports stating that Jung Ho Kang may not return this season at any point. This, of course, dealt a major blow to the Pirates plans this season of re-installing a premier power threat into this lineup.
Then came Marte news. The news of Starling Marte's PED suspension shook the baseball world. Marte was reportedly busted in Spring Training and did not appeal the suspension that was announced hours before a game in St Louis. The Pirates didn't only get swept in that series, but they lost their best player for a major chunk of the season as he won't be eligible to return until late-July.
Next came the onslaught of injuries. Yes, I know every team goes through injuries, but to pile them on to losing two of a team's best players is a tough pill to swallow. The injury bug began with Adam Frazier going down to an injury. After that, it was Bastardo. Then, it hit Pirates third baseman David Freese, who was filling in for Kang (so much for that).
But how did the Pirates fill in for these players? Well, for Kang, they went with Freese as I said, but now Freese is hurt as well, so we are seeing a return of Josh Harrison at 3rd base. And with Harrison at 3rd and Frazier not active, a combo of 25th man Alen Hanson, role player Phil Gosselin, and Gift Ngoepe (not even seen as a prospect anymore as much as a career minor leaguer to many) will have to do. To handle outfield duties without Marte, we have seen an array of guys play RF while McCutchen has moved back to center. Pirates called up Jose Osuna to play a majority at RF, but John Jaso has seen a pretty good bit of time out there as well; they even called up career minor leaguer Danny Ortiz to handle some outfield.
In addition, the Pirates have had to juggle the bullpen around with all the roster moves. Bastardo went down and since that point, we have seen both Dovydas Neverauskas and Johnny Barbato spend time in the Pirates bullpen at various times.
Even recently catcher Francisco Cervelli was banged up and will miss a few days but not expected to hit the DL. That caused the Pirates to call up Single-A backup catcher John Bormann just because he was the closest to Miami at the time. Additionally, Chad Kuhl took a liner drive, off the bat of Dee Gordon, to the knee, but that too doesn't appear to be serious, one would hope.
Besides having to juggle the roster around because of injuries that pushed many replacement level players into action, the Pirates have had to navigate possibly the most brutal April schedule in all of baseball. Just looking at the schedule, you can see the toughness it held. Going to Boston, facing the Cubs twice (once at Wrigley and once at PNC), having to face the Yankees, going to Busch Stadium, and even the Reds were tearing it up when the Pirates faced them early on, and the Marlins aren't an awful baseball team by any stretch. The schedule was full of tough games, and while every game in the league is tough, the schedule the Pirates had to push through was especially so.
Between all the injuries and roster shuffling and playing games with a roster containing a few minor leaguers, as well as having a brutal schedule, it's a surprise that this team is even 11-13. The way I see it, when challenges like this occur, a team can run from it and use it as an excuse, or they can embrace it and drive forward and get stronger, even without their best being present. Right now, the Pirates have shown that they aren't backing down just because of the harsh circumstances they've been placed under. The Pittsburgh Pirates are not even close to finished yet, and considering the situation, I am even sort of shocked. This baseball team weathered the April showers, and you know what they say about April showers bringing May flowers.
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