Pirates Q&A: How Long is Ozuna’s Leash? Trade for Starter Eventually Possible?

If Jones struggles, they will absolutely be in the market for a starting pitcher. Even if he doesn’t, the Pirates should still be looking to trade for a veteran.

I was pretty surprised the Pirates didn’t make another veteran addition to the staff in the offseason. Don’t get me wrong, they still have a strong rotation, but the depth is a huge concern. I’m not high on Thomas Harrington. What Hunter Barco did last night was commendable, but he’s looked overmatched at the big leagues. José Urquidy was bad to start the year and got sent down. Mike Clevinger settled for a minor-league deal for a reason and is hurt.

If the Pirates ultimately get where they want to go, which is the postseason, Paul Skenes, Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler will all have to far exceed their career innings totals and Jones will be on an innings limit That’s a lot to ask, and a lot of wear and tear on an overall young rotation.

Why does Don Kelly still have a job. This team wins in spite of him. He SUCKS – Bradley Bostjancic

Have I agreed with every decision Don Kelly has made? Of course not. There are several decisions I’ve questioned over the first month of the season. But if I’m being frank, I think people are being far too hard on Kelly.

He has the Pirates over .500 over a month into the season. Their ability to bounce back after tough games for most of the season speaks to the culture that’s been established. I often find that managers are the scapegoats when things don’t go well — look at Alex Cora in Boston and Rob Thompson in Philadelphia. I also feel like managers are the true deciding factor in only a handful of games over a 162-game season.

Players have to execute, and the roster construction is not perfect. There are tons of factors that go into a decision, some which aren’t as obvious to see.

Has Kelly been perfect? No. Do I think he’s still doing a pretty good job overall? I do. Calling for his job a month into the season when the team is largely performing well doesn’t make any sense.

How long do you give Ozuna before you make a move? – Derf Esurk

It looked like Marcell Ozuna was starting to turn a corner but he’s fallen into another slump. Over his last six games, the veteran has one hit in 18 at-bats and has struck out eight times.

I asked Kelly before yesterday’s game what he has to do to get back in a groove. Here’s what he said:

“Continue to go. I don’t know if you guys saw his work [on Monday], it was amazing. Didn’t translate as well to the game, but he’s right there working on the right things, has continued to do that. Just continue to work and the hitting group have been diving into.”

The Pirates have continued to applaud Ozuna for his work ethic, but eventually that work will have to translate to results. Through 25 games, he’s hitting .160 with a .470 OPS and carries a -0.9 bWAR. The sample size of 102 plate appearances is large enough to be concerned.

Are we at the point where the Pirates will cut ties? Not quite. $12 million is a steep investment the Pirates made. They’ll give him some more time to work out of his struggles, but the Pirates aren’t in a position this year to continue to give him a long leash like they could’ve in prior years.

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