September 12 – Neither the Pittsburgh Pirates nor the Kansas City Royals have played meaningful September baseball in recent seasons.
While the Pirates have played a full schedule again this year, the Royals are in playoff mode when the two teams begin a three-game series in Pittsburgh on Friday.
Kansas City (80-67) leads the Minnesota Twins by 1 1/2 games for the second of three wild-card spots in the American League.
The Royals are three games behind the Baltimore Orioles for a wild-card spot.
Kansas City’s mix of young talent and veteran talent has the Royals on the verge of making the playoffs for the first time since winning the World Series in 2015.
All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. is having an MVP-caliber campaign, though the 24-year-old will likely fall behind Aaron Judge as the New York Yankees slugger chasing a 60-homer season.
Witt, who leads the majors in batting average (.333), entered the majors on Thursday and was tied with Judge at 9.6 wins above replacement.
“Bob was incredible, not only at the plate but in the field and on the bases,” Kansas City lefty Cole Ruggans said. “… We got to watch him perform every day and enjoy it.”
The Royals are also having a productive season under 34-year-old Salvador Perez, who leads the team with 101 RBIs and 127 between catcher and first base, with only three turnovers committed in the game.
Perez, who lost two of three games against the Yankees earlier this week, went 7 of 9 with a home run and six RBIs.
“One of the things that’s been impressive this year is … he’s been more selective than he’s ever been in history,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “He understands his place in the order. He understands what other teams are going to do with him and he’s going to handle it.”
Pérez has a 6.9% walk rate, the highest since Statcast began tracking in 2015.
Kansas City will visit the Buccaneers, who are 14-22 and 10 games out of contention for the National League’s final wild-card spot through Aug. 4.
Although Pittsburgh (70-76) could miss the playoffs for a ninth consecutive year, general manager Ben Cherington said head coach Derek Shelton is fit to return in 2025.
“I think there’s a lot to this job, and I believe he does it very well, and I also believe he’ll do his best to continue to improve in a number of areas,” Cherington said of Shelton on Wednesday. “Looking at that, I believe he’s the right guy to run this team in 2025, so I’m very hopeful that happens.”
The Buccaneers are headed for their fifth losing season in as many years under Shelton, but the 54-year-old is optimistic about the team’s future.
“I think we’re getting better,” he said Wednesday. “We’re in a much better position now than we’ve been in the last two years in terms of our starting pitching. We’re deeper than we’ve ever been. We need to continue to build some things offensively and add depth. Because I think most of our depth is about our pitching.”
Shelton will send out right-hander Luis L. Ortiz (6-5, 3.26 ERA) on Friday as Pittsburgh looks to win its fifth consecutive game. The Pirates beat the Washington Nationals last Sunday and then swept the visiting Miami Marlins in a three-game series.
Ortiz, 25, threw a career-high 100 pitches last Saturday, allowing four runs on six hits (three walks) and two at-bats over 5 2/3 innings in a 5-3 home loss to the Nationals.
Last August, Ortiz pitched five innings of one-run ball in his only career start against the Royals and earned the win.
Kansas City has yet to announce any starters for Friday’s game.
–Visual-level media
