PITTSBURGH — When the Pirates have traded away veterans over the years, whoever it may have been, they did so understanding that their returns in those trades wouldn’t show up until much later.
Let’s be clear, that work is not done. The Pirates are 33-47 after Tuesday night’s 5-2 win over the New York Yankees, and barring an otherworldly finish to the season, they will head into next year still trying to build a competitive team in the standings.
That’s for much further down the road. For now, the Pirates will take Tuesday, when a rookie Pirate acquired in a trade got one over on a former Pirate sent to another team.
In the fourth inning, with Yankees right-hander Jameson Taillon on the bump, pitching in PNC Park for the first time since 2019, when he was a Pirate, rookie left fielder Jack Suwinski dug in. The Pirates already had a one-run lead, and center fielder Bryan Reynolds had just roped a lead-off double off the Clemente Wall.
Suwinski, as he has done multiple times this season, worked a full count before flashing his power. On the 3-2 pitch, Taillon delivered a changeup off the outside edge and Suwinski somehow got the right leverage on it, ripping it 401 feet to the front row of seats in right-center.
The homer is Suwinski’s 14th of the season, the most among all National Leauge rookies and one behind Seattle Mariners slugger Julio Rodríguez for the MLB rookie lead. Additionally, Suwinski is setting himself up to perhaps break a Pirates franchise record. As things stand, his 14 homers are the third-most for any Pirates rookie before the All-Star break. Only Ralph Kiner, who hit 15 in 1946, and Josh Bell, with 16 in 2017, have bashed more.
The bomb was also another sign that Suwinski could be turning into something beyond what most would have expected from the 24-year-old, who finished last season as the No. 30 prospect in the Pirates’ system. He began the year in Class AA Altoona, and though he was on the 40-man roster, his call-up was borne out of necessity more than anything, it seemed. The Pirates had COVID cases and needed immediate assistance, and Suwinski had a shorter commute to Pittsburgh than a Class AAA Indianapolis player would have.
From that unceremonious beginning to what he’s turned into, with an .802 OPS — the highest in the Pirates’ starting lineup Tuesday — and one off the team-lead in homers, is rather remarkable.
Suwinski wasn’t the lone hero in this one, either. Left-hander José Quintana put together a five-inning gem against one of the best offenses in baseball. He struck out seven in that time, one off his season-high, issuing no walks along the way. The Yankees did put together six hits off him, three of them doubles, but those resulted in only one run, as Quintana kept the Pirates in a good position to win.
As for the Pirates’ runs, designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach got things going in the second. He, too, worked a full count before launching a fastball down the middle into the right-field seats, a solo shot to make it 1-0.
Then, after Suwinski’s bomb, the Pirates scrapped together another run. Shortstop Oneil Cruz reached on a fielder’s choice, setting the stage for returning outfielder Ben Gamel, who smacked a double into right. Cruz, stealing on the play, flew around the bases to cross home before the ball even got back to the infield.
Cruz added an RBI sacrifice fly in the sixth to finish off the run-scoring, while the Pirates’ bullpen finished off the job Quintana started. Wil Crowe tossed two shutout frames, Duane Underwood Jr., gave up a run but otherwise limited the damage, and David Bednar slammed the door with a 14-pitch, shutout ninth inning.
As everyone knows, one game doesn’t tell the story of a season. The Yankees, with the best record in MLB, will likely make a playoff run, while the Pirates still need much more to get on the same level as baseball’s elite. At the same time, in a long, tough season like this, the Pirates will take the positive moments when they come. Suwinski has provided several of them, and he did so again in a rather poetic way Tuesday.
