Takeaways from Pirates Opening Series vs. Marlins

The Pirates began the season with a four game sweep against the Miami Marlins. This marks the first 4-0 start since 2018 and only 14th time since 1900. This 2024 team looks and feels different from teams in the past. They have a good team and through four games, it's showing. Baron and Tyler will explain their takeaways from the Opening Series vs Miami.

Hot Hitter

The Pirates bats throughout the whole series were hot, from the leadoff spot, all the way down to the nine hole hitter. However, the most impressive hitter of this four game series was Gold Glove 3B, Ke’Bryan Hayes. Hayes continued his hot spring training campaign getting two hits in each of the four games. Hayes ended the series 8-18 with four RBI’s. Hayes notched two doubles and also drew four walks. He ended the series with a .444 batting average and a 1.078 OPS. 

Hot Starting Pitcher

Going into the season, many fans were skeptical about how good the Pirates starting rotation would be. After one series, they were average. One pitcher that stood in front of all was Jared Jones. In game three, Jones made his Major League Debut and did amazing. In 5.2 innings of work, Jones struck out 10 batters and allowed three hits, two walks, and three earned runs. For a first start in the majors, this is very impressive and huge for this team. This start gave him his first career win, making him 1-0 with a 4.76 earned run average and a 0.88 WHIP.

Hot Reliever

Despite starting the season with two injuries in the bullpen, the Pirates relievers came out strong with some dominant outings. The most notable reliever in this series was Luis Ortiz who dominated in two appearances. Ortiz came into game one in extra innings and quickly got a double play to end the tenth. Then in the eleventh, he got another double play to send the Pirates to the twelfth. He intentionally walked two batters in game one as well. In his second outing, he pitched another two scoreless innings. This strong start gives Ortiz a 1-0 record with a 0.00 earned run average and a 0.75 WHIP.

Notable Stats

Not only was this a great first series of the 2024 campaign with the Pirates sweeping the Marlins. However, there were a lot of memorable moments during this series. To piggyback off the hot hitter of the series section, Hayes became the first Pirate player since Barry Bonds in 1988 to have four straight multi-hit games to start a season. Along with that, the Pirates offense scored 31 (!) runs in the series against Miami. 

On the flip side of the field, the Pirates pitching staff had a first memorable moment in each game. On Opening Day, Jose Hernandez notched his first MLB save. Following that, on Friday, Ryder Ryan notched his first MLB win. Jared Jones followed up with his first MLB win on Saturday. Then lastly, on Sunday Hunter Stratton notched his first MLB save in extra innings. According to OptaStats on Twitter/X, they’re the only team to have a pitcher earn their first win/save in each of the first four games of the season. 

The Pirates will take on the Washington Nationals in their second series of the season. This three game series will begin on Monday, but Tuesday will be an off-day. The final two games will be on Wednesday and Thursday. The expected starters on the mound for the Pirates will be Marco Gonzales in game one, Mitch Keller in game two, and Martin Perez for game three.