The Pittsburgh Pirates were swept by the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, with even staff ace Paul Skenes failing to secure a win for the Buccos. That was Pittsburgh’s third straight loss, as they sit tied in the basement of the NL Central with the St. Louis Cardinals, both with 24-23 records on the year. But they got some evern worse news on Sunday, when they were forced to place outfielder / first baseman Ryan O’Hearn on the 10-day DL with a strained right quad. Jake Mangum was called up to replace O’Hearn.
O’Hearn has been one of the Pirates’ key offseason acquisitions, batting .289 for the year with 7 homers and 29 RBIs for the season, becoming a key cog in Pittsburgh’s offensive resurgence this season. However, according to Bucs GM Ben Cherington, the quad strain is moderate and will sideline O’Hearn for about four weeks. So that’s a full month without their one of the top bats for the Buccos. It’s an unfortunate injury for Pittsburgh’s second best batting average.
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His replacement Mangum was also an offseason acquisition for the Bucs, though he came over in trade, while O’Hearn signed as a free agent. Mangum can get it done in the field, but the Bucs will take a hit at the plate when Mangum plays over O’Hearn. Mangum is hitting .253 on the season with no homers and 3 RBIs in 75 at bats. He was 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout on Sunday.
Last season, with Tampa Bay, Mangum played in 118 games in did hit .296, but with 3 homers and 40 RBIs. He can get it done in the average department, but the Bucs are definitely going to take a power hit.
The Pirates are now off today after being swept, but they’ll return to action on Tuesday, when they will head to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals in what will be a battle for one of them to get out of the basement of the NL Central. The first game of the three-game set starts at 7:45pm Tuesday.
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