After that Opening Day victory in Chicago, I suppose I’ll have to adjust my predicted win total for the 2021 Pittsburgh Pirates.
All the way up to 58 or 59.
My minimal expectations for this club aside, Opening Day is always looked upon as its own entity anyway. Almost as if every team, every year, plays one game. Then they take part in a separate season comprised of the next 161 contests.
So, I’ll play along. We’ll treat the Buccos’ 5-3 win over the Cubs on Thursday as if it was a Steelers football gameday here at “Breakfast With Benz.” We celebrate with a one-off “Opening Day Feats of Strength.”
Patience at the plate
The Pirates worked out 11 walks against a wild Cubs pitching staff.
Trying to work counts and showing more plate discipline was an emphasis of the Pirates in spring training. Their 167 walks last season were tied for 26th in the league. Only the Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies and Detroit Tigers had fewer.
“Some things we did really well in spring training kind of carried over to today’s game,” manager Derek Shelton said. “There are a few things we need to clean up. But it did carry over.”
Third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes credited the team’s refusal to chase out of the strike zone late in counts.
“It’s just battling with two strikes and looking for the ball over the plate,” Hayes said on AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh. “A lot of guys are trying to get you to swing at pitches you don’t want to hit. As long as you have a plan when you go up there and stick to it, foul a few pitches off and get a walk — that’s awesome. Once guys walk and you get a few timely hits, that’s how you win ballgames.”
Meanwhile, Pirates pitchers combined to strike out 13 Cubs while walking only four.
‘Key’ moment
Hayes’ first-inning two-run homer felt like a message sender.
Not just for the game. But for the season. As if to say last year’s stellar 24-game debut was no fluke.
The Pirates first home run of the year comes from rookie of the year candidate Ke'Bryan Hayes. The 2 run blast gave the Bucs an early lead on the Cubs in the 1st. pic.twitter.com/ryCNmVsI4t
— AT&T SportsNet™ PIT (@ATTSportsNetPIT) April 1, 2021
“To be in the position to be able to be in the Major Leagues, my first Opening Day, this is what I worked for my whole life,” Hayes said. “Anyone back home will tell you that I am 100% dedicated to getting myself to where I am today. Just to be able to start the season out like that and get a ‘W,’ it’s awesome for us.”
Hayes didn’t do much at the plate after the homer, winding up just 1-for-5 with a walk. But for him specifically, it feels like there is reason for optimism in 2021.
Leading off in style
Adam Frazier did his job in the leadoff spot.
The second baseman had two hits and two walks and gathered two RBIs. He scored a run, too.
Getting steady leadoff production from Frazier atop the order will be important if Hayes continues to be productive in the two-hole and if Bryan Reynolds returns to his rookie form in the third slot.
Props for the pen
The bullpen had a wonderful first effort. Six relief pitchers combined for six innings, allowing just one hit, one run and three walks.
Duane Underwood Jr. was the most impressive as he struck out the side in three-up, three-down fashion.
Sheesh, Duane 😳 pic.twitter.com/fvUHrNbmCP
— Pirates (@Pirates) April 1, 2021
“The bullpen was outstanding. It just came in and did a really nice job and controlled a pretty good offense. That was fun to watch,” Shelton said.
Richard Rodriguez polished off the game with a scoreless ninth inning to secure his first save of the season.
Kuhl heads prevailed
Starting pitcher Chad Kuhl managed to dance through the raindrops in the first inning.
After being staked to a 2-0 cushion courtesy of Hayes’ home run, Kuhl was in danger of giving that lead right back in the bottom of the first. He loaded the bases with one out.
But he held Joc Pederson to a sacrifice fly to left field and managed to coax Javier Baez to foul out to catcher Jacob Stallings.
Had the Cubs answered right back to tie the game or go ahead in the bottom of the first, the afternoon may have had a very different feel.
Were there “grievances that needed to be aired”? Of course!
The Bucs left 15 men on base. Dustin Fowler had a base-running error in the fourth inning when he didn’t tag up from third base on a Hayes line drive to right field. And the game took four hours to complete.
But for now, your Pirates are one for one on the year. And I predict we’ll have plenty of grievances to air over the next six months. So, we’ll let those slide.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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Opening Day Feats of Strength: Pirates did a lot right against Cubs, and managed to avoid what could've gone wrong - TribLIVE
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