{"id":644909,"date":"2026-05-15T15:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T15:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/644909\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T15:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T15:16:11","slug":"lets-dissect-the-pirates-rise-minor-league-nothing-night-is-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/644909\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s dissect the Pirates\u2019 rise. Minor-league Nothing Night is everything"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Windup Newsletter \u26be | This is The Athletic\u2019s MLB<\/a> newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Welcome to another Sliders x The Windup crossover event! Sliders is my weekly in-season MLB column that focuses on the timely and timeless elements of the game. You can read this week\u2019s\u00a0full story<\/a>\u00a0here. Up first, Pirates talk:<\/p>\n

Clicking: How offense, Skenes revitalized Bucs<\/p>\n

As long as Paul Skenes pitches for the Pirates, he will always be their headliner. He is just that good.<\/p>\n

Skenes is the constant from last season to this one, dominant as ever, leading the majors in WHIP (0.64), strikeout-to-walk ratio (8-to-1) and hits per nine innings (4.5) with a 1.98 ERA. But while the Pirates\u2019 thin offense\u00a0doomed him to a 10-10 record<\/a>\u00a0last season, Skenes is 6-2 in 2026.<\/p>\n

The vastly improved lineup isn\u2019t just making Skenes look better. It has helped the Pirates to a 24-20 start and positioned them as\u00a0true contenders for the first time in a decade.<\/p>\n

Through yesterday, Pittsburgh was averaging five runs per game. No Pirates team has finished a season averaging five runs per game since Debs Garms was winning the batting title in 1940. Generations of great hitters \u2014 from Kiner to Clemente to Stargell to Parker to Bonds to McCutchen \u2014 have come and gone since the Pirates produced like this.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe simplest thing is we\u2019re deeper, and we have fewer guys that are struggling as big-league hitters,\u201d manager Ben Cherington said. \u201cI think it\u2019s sustainable, because I actually don\u2019t believe we\u2019ve gotten to our best offense yet. We\u2019re not quite clicking against left-handed starters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Critically, though, center fielder Oneil Cruz is hitting .327 against lefties,\u00a0who held him to a confounding .102 average last season. Cruz still strikes out a lot, but he improved his defense over the winter (with help from four-time Gold Glover Kevin Kiermaier) and is close to a 40-40 pace for homers and steals.<\/p>\n

The 2025 season, when Cruz hit .200\/.298\/.378, was humbling and motivating.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just seems more mature, physically and mentally,\u201d Cherington said.<\/p>\n

Cruz bats leadoff because of his potential for damage, but behind him is a collection of patient hitters who have helped Pittsburgh to a .337 team on-base percentage, ranking third in the majors. The offseason additions to the lineup \u2014 second baseman Brandon Lowe, right fielder Ryan O\u2019Hearn and designated hitter Marcell Ozuna \u2014 have made the kind of impact the players expected.<\/p>\n

A few days after the opener, the Pirates added to that offense by promoting rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin and signing him to a club-record nine-year, $140 million contract. Griffin struggled as a teenager, hitting .182 with no homers \u2014 but\u00a0since turning 20 on April 24, he\u2019s batted .324 and gone deep three times. He also has 10 steals without being caught.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s, in our view, played very consistent, good defense,\u201d Cherington said. \u201cHe\u2019s run the bases well. And the offense, for the first three weeks or something, was going through some challenges, as you\u2019d expect, and it\u2019s pretty consistently trending forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pretty consistently trending forward could describe the franchise as a whole. After seven losing seasons in a row, the Pirates, at last, are more than just their ace.<\/p>\n

More Skenes:\u00a0Jayson Stark sets up what could be\u00a0the greatest National League Cy Young race ever<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Just Sport: Nothing but baseball<\/p>\n

The Louisville Bats, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, have a full slate of colorful promotions coming up. There\u2019s Dessert Day, where five fans will win Bundt cake for a year; Root Beer Float Day; Paw Patrol Night; Peanuts Halloween Night; and several games in which they will call themselves the Louisville Humidity.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday against Indianapolis, though, they tried something different: Nothing Night, an annual tradition at Louisville Slugger Field. The Bats\u2019 marketing director, Vincent Zielen, noticed the idea as an intern in the California League, where the Lake Elsinore Storm did it, and thought it offered\u00a0an ideal counterbalance to the usual minor-league mayhem.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople love it,\u201d Zielen said.\u00a0\u201cYou know, it is such the opposite of what you normally get in minor-league baseball that I think it sticks out enough and people rally behind it.\u00a0The great thing about it is, we spend all this time and effort into these big Bluey-theme nights, Nickelodeon-themed nights. And all we\u2019ve got to do is just open up the gates and let baseball happen. And the fans fall in love with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bats still operate a scoreboard and use their public-address announcer, so the players have the same information they\u2019re used to. The mascot still does his thing \u2013 \u201cBuddy Bat is the star of the show; we will always have him out and about,\u201d Zielen promised \u2014 but\u00a0there\u2019s no walk-up music, and for one precious night, nothing is sponsored.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have 75 home games,\u201d Zielen said, \u201cso we tell our partners, \u2018Hey, you get 74 home games, because that one home game is going to be Nothing Night.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Actually, it\u2019s 73 \u2014 this year\u2019s Nothing Night went over so well, Zielen said, that the Bats will stage another on July 8. But first, tomorrow, it\u2019s Star Wars Night in Louisville, which means 25 characters roaming the park, Ahsoka-themed jerseys, costume contests, droid racing and music from the Cantina Band between innings.<\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s nice to know that in an era of \u201clouder is better\u201d \u2014 this means you, Chavez Ravine and Yankee Stadium \u2014 there\u2019s still a night or two on the calendar devoted to the sounds of the sport.<\/p>\n

Off the Grid: Traded for a bag of baseballs?<\/p>\n

If you want your team to trade a player, and don\u2019t care what it gets in return, there\u2019s a baseball saying for that: \u201cTrade him for a bag of balls.\u201d\u00a0It actually happened to Tim Fortugno.<\/p>\n

Before his three-team tour in the 1990s \u2014 with the California Angels, Reds and Chicago White Sox \u2014 Fortugno was pitching for the independent Reno Silver Sox. The Milwaukee Brewers wanted to buy his contract, and offered Reno $2,500. That wasn\u2019t enough for the Silver Sox, but when the Brewers also offered a dozen baseballs, they got their man.<\/p>\n

After three seasons in Milwaukee\u2019s farm system, Fortugno got a chance with the Angels in 1992. Late that season, at home against the Kansas City Royals, Fortugno surrendered George Brett\u2019s 3,000th career hit. Then he did this:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI was the most surprised person in the ballpark,\u201d Brett said later, as quoted by the Los Angeles Times. \u201cI was right in the middle of a sentence to (first baseman Gary) Gaetti and they picked me off. He asked me if my wife was here and I said, \u2018Yes, and I had friends here from Kansas City.\u2019 \u2026 He didn\u2019t even let me finish the sentence. Believe me, my mind wasn\u2019t on being picked off.\u201d<\/p>\n

(A couple of points about that night: Future Mets All-Star Rick Reed threw a shutout for the Royals, and Brett had four hits in the game. He also had four hits in Game 7 of the 1985 World Series.)<\/p>\n

Fortugno stayed in baseball as a scout, signing players like C.J. Wilson and Scott Feldman for the Texas Rangers. For much more on his fascinating life, here\u2019s a gripping\u00a0Bleacher Report profile<\/a>\u00a0from 2015 by Danny Knobler.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Read this week\u2019s\u00a0full Sliders column<\/a>\u00a0for more nuggets from Tyler, and\u00a0follow all his work here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Handshakes and High Fives<\/p>\n

At 41, Justin Turner is now the star player for the Tijuana Toros after he couldn\u2019t get an MLB gig. Sam Blum and Dennis Lin went to Tijuana to understand why he\u00a0refuses to let his baseball career die<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Keith Law published his\u00a0top 100 prospects for the 2026 MLB Draft<\/a>, led by UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky.<\/p>\n

Reds star Elly De La Cruz is becoming an MVP candidate by\u00a0prioritizing consistent results<\/a>\u00a0over flashy Statcast metrics, as Ken Rosenthal explains.<\/p>\n

Don and Preston Mattingly are embracing a unique partnership in Philadelphia as what\u2019s believed to be the first father-son manager-GM duo in MLB history.\u00a0A little awkward<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Before the Subway Series starts tonight, our Mets and Yankees beat writers put together\u00a0a primer on where each team stands<\/a>. Related news: Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez\u00a0underwent knee surgery yesterday<\/a>, and the team is hopeful he can return in about eight weeks.<\/p>\n

A fan was hospitalized after\u00a0falling more than 10 feet<\/a>\u00a0and landing in the visiting bullpen at a White Sox game on Wednesday. The fan\u2019s condition was unknown as of yesterday morning.<\/p>\n

Cal Raleigh went on the injured list with an oblique strain just two days after busting a career-worst slump.\u00a0His return timeline is TBD<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On the latest \u201cRates & Barrels,\u201d Eno Sarris, Trevor May and Derek VanRiper discussed how music \u2014 specifically, microtonal math rock \u2014 might help us understand more about the possibilities in pitch design.\u00a0Listen or watch here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most-clicked in our last newsletter:\u00a0Tarik Skubal\u2019s newfangled loose-body surgery,\u00a0explained<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb Love The Windup? Check out\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Windup Newsletter \u26be | This is The Athletic\u2019s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":644910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-644909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=644909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/644910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}