Morning Rundown: Pirates lose 8-5 to Tigers, Yasmani Grandal dealing with Plantar Fasciitis
Henry Davis homers again, Grandal dealing with injury.
Talking to the media on Saturday, Pirates manager Derek Shelton said that catcher Yasmani Grandal is dealing with Plantar Fasciitis, which is why he hasn’t been catching recently.
The expectation is that he will return to game action soon.
The same tweet from Jason Mackey also mentioned that there will be an update on David Bednar on Sunday.
The Pirates dropped their game on Saturday against the Detroit Tigers by the score of 8-5. They continued their home run barrage, going deep four times in total.
Canaan Smith-Njigba, Henry Davis, Jake Lamb, and Abrahan Gutierrez all went deep for the Pirates, accounting for all five of their runs on the day.
Sergio Alcantara went 2-2 with a double, and Shalin Polanco also picked up a two-bagger, which was the only time he came to the plate.
Fighting for a rotation spot, Luis Ortiz allowed three runs on three hits and walks in three innings but did strike out six.
Colin Holderman also got roughed up, allowing three earned runs in his only inning of work (he did strike out three).
Paul Skenes was scheduled to pitch on Saturday but was scratched due to an illness.
Top Exit Velocity
Henry Davis - 109.4 mph - Home Run
Abrahan Gutierrez - 103.7 mph - Home Run
Shalin Polanco - 102.8 mph - Home Run
Sergio Alcantara - 98.3 mph - Single
Grant Koch - 95.6 mph - Groundout
Pitch Velocity
Aroldis Chapman - 100.8 mph
Aroldis Chapman - 100.6 mph
Aroldis Chapman - 99.8 mph
Colin Holderman - 99.3 mph
Colin Holderman - 98.5 mph
Most Whiffs (Whiff%)
Luis Ortiz - 7 (31.8%)
Colin Holderman - 6 (54.5%)
Wily Peralta - 4 (44%)
Ryan Borucki - 3 (37.5%)
Justin Meis - 3 (37.5%)
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Davis made this comment after an earlier game and then again yesterday, that catching helps his hitting because of how many pitches he sees. That seems to go against conventional wisdom that catching takes its toll on hitting, which is likely true over a long season, but I find Davis's perspective particularly refreshing.
Grandal injury is unsettling due to his age and the fact it’s still ST. Whatever hope I had he would have a bounce back season is diminished.
But really it’s the Bednar injury which has me most concerned. The bullpen was supposed to be strength of team, but if Renegade is missing or less effective, it becomes a problem rather than a solution.
Get well soon DB.