ATLANTA — Jack Suwinski has insisted that he either can’t or doesn’t care to hear the noise. The increasing amount of attention that’s being paid to his offense … yeah, he can’t afford to think about it. He’s too busy sticking to the process.
It’s a terrific way of answering the question, but it won’t prevent those on the outside from taking notice of what Suwinski has done. Although the Pirates suffered a 3-1 loss to the Braves on Thursday at Truist Park, one where they had the unfortunate task of trying to win a battle against Max Fried, the bigger-picture focus should be Suwinski.
He’s here to stay, right? Forget that. Is it crazy to start talking about National League Rookie of the Year consideration?
OK, that second one may be a little strong, especially with Suwinski needing an eight-game hitting streak and an uptick in results recently to nudge his average up to .235, but he’s still been really good. Enough to warrant playing time every day, for sure. And possibly more.
As for Thursday’s game, it was a tough one. Fried began this one sporting the lowest batting average (.157) and OPS against (.176) with runners in scoring position in the NL, and that held true to form. The Pirates left two in the first and third innings, then one more in the fifth, when Fried induced an inning-ending double play.
Suwinski’s homer was all Pittsburgh could get against Atlanta’s terrific lefty, and the Pirates (24-31) dropped their third in a row. They’ve scored just 10 runs over their past five games. Another bright spot in this one was Bryan Reynolds, who enjoyed his first three-hit game of the season.
Suwinski’s homer came in the fourth inning, with the Pirates in a 3-0 hole at the time. He worked a full count. On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Suwinski caught a slider from Fried that he sent soaring toward the right-field seats.
It was the third home run in five games for Suwinski and his eighth on the season, moving him into a tie with Bryan Reynolds for the team lead. What’s more, Suwinski is now tied with Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena for the lead among rookies in either league.
The homer stretched Suwinski’s hitting streak to eight games, and it gave the Pirates at least one home run in nine straight and 12 of their last 13.
Most impressive for Suwinski might’ve been the battle he won against Fried. Of Suwinski’s eight home runs, half have come in at-bats where he’s seen at least seven pitches. It’s also not exactly easy hitting off Fried (2.64 ERA), who had stretched his scoreless innings streak to 16 before Suwinski put an end to it.
To add further context to some of the impressive stuff Suwinski has done this season, he’s already tied for third among Pirates rookie left-handed hitters when it comes to homering against southpaws (since 1974). Garrett Jones (six in 2009) has the most. Suwinski, Barry Bonds (1986), Nate McLouth (2006) and Austin Meadows (2018) are tied for second, with Suwinski having plenty of season left.
Suwinski’s eight home runs are tied for the eighth-most by a Pirates rookie before the All-Star break (since 1933). They’re also most since Colin Moran hit eight in the first half of 2018. Josh Bell leads that group with 16 in 2017.
A leadoff walk burned JT Brubaker in the second inning, as the Braves grabbed an early 1-0 lead. After the Pirates turned a double play, left fielder Adam Duvall’s single to center field should have been harmless. Instead, it scored catcher Braves Travis d’Arnaud.
The Braves got two more runs in the third inning, starting with Brubaker hitting right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr., who stole second and scored when shortstop Dansby Swanson fought off a sinker and singled into right field. Two batters later, d’Arnaud ambushed a first-pitch sinker from Brubaker and pulled it into the left-field corner for a double, scoring Swanson.
Brubaker’s start was a strange one. Because after d’Arnaud doubled, the spigot basically turned off. He and Tyler Heineman began working up in the zone more, and Brubaker allowed just two more baserunners the rest of the way, retiring 12 in a row at one point.
The Pirates pitcher finished the game with 16 whiffs on 99 pitches, a terrific number. Although he’s normally been more sinker-slider this season, Brubaker threw his curveball 13 times on Thursday, and the Braves missed on five of those. In all, Brubaker went seven innings and allowed three earned runs on six hits with two walks, a hit batter and seven strikeouts.
The seven innings matched Brubaker’s career-high (April 23, 2021 at Twins) and tied Jose Quintana (May 15 vs. Reds) for the longest outing by a Pirates starter this season.
