Jim Sankey: Extra Innings: Eckersley just agreeing with Pirates fans
Aug. 23—"You talk about a no-name lineup. There's no team like this," current Boston Red Sox color commentator Dennis Eckersley said about the Pirates last week.
"This is a hodgepodge of nothingness," he added during his sadly accurate description of the Bucs. "It's ridiculous. It really is. Pathetic."
And while some of the current Buccos took exception to Eckersley's evaluation, the numbers would seem to be lopsided on his side.
During the 15 years since Bob Nutting became CEO in 2008, the Pirates have averaged a 74-88 record. and that includes the three playoff seasons of 2013-2015 when they averaged a 93-69 record, 24 games above .500. Minus those three seasons, the average record takes away six wins for a 68-94 average.
Spotrac lists the Pirates 28th out of 30 MLB teams in its 2022 payroll, and ESPN lists PNC Park attendance as 27th in the majors this summer, averaging just over 16,000.
With the Bucs dead last in the National League, and although it was just one game, Eckersley had seen enough. Starting pitcher Nick Pavetta, 0-4 in his previous eight starts, beat a Pirates team that didn't exactly scream All-Stars: Pittsburgh trotted out four players with a batting average below .189: Kevin Padlo at .160, Josh Van Meter at .188, and Bligh Madris and Greg Allen, both at .176. During the game, the quartet went a combined 0-for-8.
In addition, the team's best player made an error which led to a Boston run and went 0-for-3 at the plate, with two strikeouts and four left on base, while its expected next superstar struck out twice and went 0-for-4 as his average sank to .195.
And its starting pitcher, a longtime expected ace who is inconsistent on performance, lost his ninth game while lasting just two innings, giving up five runs (four earned).
For those of who still keeping score at home, we're talking about Brian Reynolds, Oneil Cruz and Mitch Keller, respectively.
In addition, third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes and closer David Bednar couldn't do much to help from the injured list, and neither could three of the team's top home run hitters: the traded Daniel Vogelbach (12 taters in 75 games) and two rookies (10 by Diego Castillo and 84 games and 14 by Jack Suwinski in 72 games), both of whom the team sent down lest they accrue too much service time in the big leagues.
Eckersley saw a roster of pitchers with at least 14 starts with these scary numbers: J.T. Brubaker 3-10 with a 4.19 ERA, Zach Thompson 3-10 with a 5.51 ERA, Bryce Wilson 2-7 with a 5.74 ERA and Keller 4-9 with a 4.49 ERA. Relievers this season have included Anthony Banda, Heath Hembree, Beau Susler, Cam Vieaux, Eric Stout, Aaron Fletcher, Austin Brice, Jerad Eickoff, Yohan Ramirez, Cam Eldred and Sam Howard. Now if that isn't that the epitome of a "no-name" pitching lineup, what is?
And while we common fans have said pretty much the same thing over the years, it is more jarringly effective and newsworthy when those remarks comes from a 24-year veteran of the major leagues, who compiled a career that included a 197-171 won-loss record, 361 games started, 100 complete games, 1,071 games pitched, 390 saves, 2,401 strikeouts and a 3.50 ERA.
Eckersley is the only pitcher to win 175 games and save 350 games.
The first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee (2004) was the first pitcher to finish in the top five in Cy Young voting as both a starter and a reliever and the first to make at least two All-Star teams as a starting pitcher and a relief pitcher. He was the first pitcher to win 20 games in a season and save 40 or more games in a season and was the first to save at least 45 games in four seasons.
He will retire this October after working radio games for 20 seasons for the Red Sox.
Perhaps he will apply to Nutting for a job.
Jim Sankey is the Pittsburgh Pirates columnist for Allied News. His thoughts on the Bucs run weekly during the Major League Baseball season.
