Jim Sankey: Extra Innings: Bucs go fishing to end 2023 and begin 2024
Oct. 3—The Pirates last major league baseball game of 2023 was against Miami at home, and after 179 off days, they'll go fishing again, this time in South Beach. Opening Day 2024 will be only the second time that the Pirates will open the season against the Marlins.
This year, the Bucs opened with a 20-8 stretch and closed with a 35-32 split. Had they played about .500 (33-34) during the other 67 games, their record would have been 88-74, a better mark than three of this year's postseason teams.
The Bucs closed out the 2023 home season the way they began it: with a win. The Pirates next home game will follow a scheduled seven-game road trip next spring to Florida and Washington to begin the season. The April 5 game will mark the first time that the Baltimore Orioles will oppose the Bucs to open the home season.
While the Pirates improved by 14 games from last year, they still finished 10 games under .500 at 76-86. The average age of the team was 25.9 years old, and 14 players made their big-league debuts, including nine of the team's top 30 prospects this season for the Pirates.
And despite being top draft picks and ballyhooed callups, unfortunately none of those 14 players neither distinguished himself with a jaw-dropping page of stats nor falls under consideration for rookie of the year awards. And ex-Pirates prospects Cal Mitchell and Travis Swaggerty are no longer with the organization. Rookies Endy Rodriguez, Henry Davis, Liover Peguero, Quinn Priester, Nick Gonzales, Canaan Smith-Njigba, Ji Hwan Bae and others enjoyed limited "success" in The Show. And while we admittedly are talking about young players, it's disconcerting that their lofty credentials in the minors have not yet translated to the majors.
However, four Pirates blossomed into the type of player the Pirates need.
Ke'Bryan (not-certain-why-he-needed-to-be-"rested"- in-two-of-the-Pirates-final-four-games) Hayes still finished first with 21 defensive runs saved among all MLB third baseman and ranked fourth in outs above average. He is considered a shoo-in to win his first Gold Glove this year.
Offensively, his 132 hits are the most by a Pirate third baseman since Andy LaRoche had 134 in 2009. Hayes led all MLB third basemen with seven triples and ranked third among NL third basemen in extra base hits (53) and third among NL third basemen in total bases (222).
Saving more than one-half of Pittsburgh's total wins, closer David Bednar recorded his NL lead-tying save on Sunday. Bednar was 39-for-42 in saves, ending up fifth among the team's single-season leaders since it became an official stat in 1969. Only Mark Melancon (51 in 2015), Mike Williams (46 in 2002), Jose Mesa (43 in 2004) and Joel Hanrahan (40 in 2011) have more.
Bednar led MLB with nine saves in 12 appearances in September while pitching to a 1.59 ERA; he converted his last 15 save opportunities (longest active in baseball), ranked sixth best in the NL with a 2.04 ERA and led MLB with 21 saves since the All-Star break. His last blown save was on Aug. 8 and was tops in all of baseball with a 92.9 converted rate of save opportunities.
Starter Mitch Keller earned his first All-Star appearance and reached career highs in wins, starts, innings pitched, and strikeouts, setting a single-season record with 210 strikeouts by a right-handed pitcher.
His 13-9 record was marred only by dropping all four of his post-All-Star Game starts with a 6.28 ERA, but rebounded with a record of 4-2 over his final 10 starts.
Centerfielder Jack Suwinski ended the year with an eight-game hitting streak, and 12 of his last 13 games. Since August, the 25-year-old is hitting almost .300, seemingly figuring out that it is possible to register a hit off a lefty. He led all NL centerfielders in home runs, and the Bucs were 36-15 when Suwinski has an RBI.
Certainly the Pirates must use these 179 consecutive off-days to figure out how to get more performances like these from the rest of the current roster and substitute (through trades, free agency, or miracles) others who can help move the team into a postseason of their own.
