The Pirates’ seven-game losing streak is nothing new under Cherington, Shelton
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — David Bednar left an 0–2 fastball at the top of the zone on Sunday, and Teoscar Hernandez blistered a 103.6 mph ground ball into right field to score Kike Hernandez from second, capping off the sweep of the Pirates and sending them to their seventh straight loss.
Teoscar’s single finished off a series where he went 6–12 with a home run, 5 RBI and a stolen base.
It also marked Bednar’s second consecutive loss after allowing five total runs, four of which were earned, in just 2.1 innings against the Padres on Thursday and the Dodgers on Sunday. He’s now been scored upon more often (17) than he’s had a 1–2–3 inning (15) this season.
As of Monday, the Pirates sit at 56–61, last place in the National League Central and five games back of a Wild Card spot. Pittsburgh is just 1–9 in its last 10 games.
It doesn’t get any easier for the club as they head to San Diego for another three-game set with the Padres (66–53) before returning home to PNC Park for a weekend series against the Seattle Mariners (63–56).
So, where do the Pirates go from here? It’s year five under General Manager Ben Cherington and manager Derek Shelton. Stretches like this shouldn’t happen at all this deep into a rebuild, let alone during the most important stretch of said rebuild.
At the very least, one would think someone from the coaching staff would get axed (Andy Haines, Oscar Marin?). It’s also possible (but probably unlikely) that Shelton gets booted. I would put Cherington getting fired in the “extremely unlikely” category.
But this seven-game losing streak or even the 1–9 stretch in the last 10 games is not even close to the first putrid stretch under this management group. Let’s take a look at similar ones since 2020, Cherington/Shelton’s first year.
2020: July 24-Aug. 20. The Pirates went 4–17 (Note: 2020 season started on July 24 due to COVID-19).
2020: Sept.9-Sept.21. The Pirates went 1–13. They finished year one at 19–41 in the shortened 60-game season, the worst record in Major League Baseball.
2021: April 28-May 27. The Pirates went 6–19 after they were actually above .500 at 12–11.
2021: June 5-July 3. The Pirates went 6–19 again.
2021: July 18-Sept.5. The Pirates blew a 6–0 lead to the Mets on July 17, then went 12–33. They finished year two with 100 losses at 61–101.
2022: June 7-June 28. The Pirates were at 24–28 on June 5. They responded by going 5–17.
2022: July 24-Sept.23. The Pirates went 15–41. They finished year three with 100 losses again, going 62–100.
2023: April 30-July 18. The Pirates started out 20–8, then went 21–46. Year four showed improvement, as they finished at 76–86.
2024: April 9-May 3. The Pirates again started out hot, going 9–2. They then went 5–17.
2024: July 26-present. The Pirates climbed out of the 5–17 hole. On July 25, they were 52–50. Since then, they’ve gone 4–11 and are in the midst of a seven-game losing streak as of this writing (Aug.12).
