The Pirates head into Nationals Park this weekend with a rotation plan in place, and the assignment is clear: start cleaning up the mess.
Pittsburgh opens its three-game set against Washington on July 3 with Mitch Keller on the mound, followed by Braxton Ashcraft on July 4 and Bubba Chandler on July 5. The matchups line up like this: Friday, July 3: RHP Mitch Keller vs.
LHP Foster Griffin; Saturday, July 4: RHP Braxton Ashcraft vs. RHP Zack Littell; Sunday, July 5: RHP Bubba Chandler vs.
RHP Miles Mikolas.
The timing matters for a Pirates club sitting at 43-44, three games out of the final Wild Card spot in the NL. With the August 3 trade deadline creeping closer, this series offers a chance to make a little ground in a hurry. Washington is just 1 1/2 games ahead of Pittsburgh, which only sharpens the urgency.
That urgency has a very real baseball reason behind it, too. Pittsburgh has allowed seven or more runs in four of its last five games, so the pitching staff is walking into a weekend where better execution is non-negotiable. The Nationals, powered by James Wood, have scored the most runs in the league with 470.
Keller gets the first shot at steadying things, and his recent work suggests some progress. He endured a rough stretch from May 13 to June 11, when he posted an 8.70 ERA in six starts across 30 innings. But over his last three outings from June 16 to June 28, he has looked more like himself, turning in a 3.63 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings.
The season numbers still need to move in a better direction, and there’s no sugarcoating the challenge ahead. Even so, Keller has at least started to settle in.
Ashcraft has been one of the more encouraging stories in the rotation this season. In his first full year as a major league starter, the 26-year-old right-hander has put together a 3.33 ERA with 115 strikeouts in 102 2/3 innings. He did take a hit in his last outing against the Phillies, giving up five earned runs in six innings during Pittsburgh’s 11-7 win, but that came after a strong run in which he allowed two or fewer earned runs in six of seven starts.
Chandler brings a different profile to Sunday’s game. The 23-year-old was widely considered one of baseball’s top pitching prospects entering the season, but his rookie year has been uneven, reflected in a 4.62 ERA over 17 appearances, including 16 starts. Command has been the sticking point, with a 12.7 percent walk rate, though he has trimmed the damage lately by allowing two or fewer walks in six of his last seven starts.
Before Philadelphia got to him for five runs in 6 1/3 innings on June 30, Chandler had held opponents to two or fewer earned runs in his previous four outings.
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