Same Old Song and Dance for Pirates’ Bullpen

When I was listening to music in my car driving to PNC Park on Saturday, “Same Old Song and Dance” by Aerosmith was one of the songs that came on my shuffled playlist. As it turns out, the song served as a bit of foreshadowing. The Pittsburgh Pirates looked well on their way to a splitting a doubleheader against the Washington Nationals with a two-run lead entering the final inning of the nightcap.

The Pirates blew a lead earlier in the game after Mitch Keller delivered a strong start but rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to go ahead 6-4. With David Bednar out of the closer role, Aroldis Chapman was brought in to seal the win. A save situation is nothing new for Chapman, a 15-year major-league veteran who is third among active players with 327 career saves.



However, Chapman suffered the same fate that has plagued the Pirates much too frequently this season. The Nationals scored four times in the top of the ninth inning and sunk the Pirates 8-6 . “Just watching from the side, having seen the video of it, we got to two outs and it just looked like, you know, balls that were hittable, which has been kind of rare with him lately.

” said manager Derek Shelton following the loss. While Chapman has been good for much of the season, especially so of late, he has now blown five save opportunities in 11 chances this season. All four of the Nationals’ runs on Saturday night came with two outs.

James Wood opened the floodgates with an RBI-single the other way. Pinch-hitter Ildemaro Vargas hit a sinking liner to right field. The ball popped out of the glove of the diving Connor Joe, resulting in two runs for the Nats.

Keibert Ruiz then ripped a double to left to tack on an insurance run. There have been several reasons for the Pirates’ second-half collapse, but bullpen struggles are at the top of the list. Bednar’s aforementioned role change was the result of blowing six save opportunities, three of which came since the start of August.

As a team, the Pirates have blown 28 save chances this year. “It’s definitely frustrating,” said Shelton. “We’ve gotta figure out the answer to it because it seems too often that we’re one strike away, one pitch away, definitely one out away from getting out of it, and we’ve not done it.

” At the beginning of the season, if someone would have said the Pirates would be 10 games under .500 with 20 games to go, I would never have imagined the bullpen would be a major reason why. It looked like Pirates’ relief pitching would be the team’s key strength in 2024, but injuries, inconsistences and downright poor performances have made the bullpen a liability.

Shelton and the coaching staff will continue to search for answers, but there’s no clear fix. Bednar has already been taken out of the ninth inning. That hasn’t been the answer.

Ryan Borucki returned from the injured list but has struggled, including on Saturday when he allowed a game-tying two-run homer in the seventh. He hasn’t been the answer either. It’s hard to blame Shelton for some of what’s transpired from the bullpen.

His gameplan on Saturday, at the very least, was logical. He used Dennis Santana in the eighth and Chapman in the ninth for a save situation against mostly left-handed hitters, but the 36-year-old couldn’t get the job done. The pieces are largely in place, but execution has eluded the Pirates’ bullpen for much of the year.

It’s a big problem that hasn’t gone away. This article first appeared on Pittsburgh Baseball Now and was syndicated with permission..