3 storylines for Pirates' final month of '23 season

This story was excerpted from Justice delos Santos’ Pirates Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The final full month of the regular season has, at long last, arrived.

There’s no neat and tidy way to summarize the last couple of months of Pirates baseball, but it’s difficult to contend that it’s been uneventful. There have been milestones. There have been walk-offs. There have been callups, and there’s been the Draft.

With just a couple of weeks remaining, here are three things to watch in these upcoming weeks:

1. McCutchen’s March Toward 300

It’s been a summer of milestones for Andrew McCutchen. He recorded his 2,000th hit, 2,000th game played, 1,000th walk and 400th double. Now, he’s got just one more box to check off: 300th home run.

On paper, McCutchen will have plenty of opportunities down the stretch. The Pirates have 27 games remaining, and McCutchen won’t be in the lineup for every game, but he should have roughly 80 plate appearances left in his season, assuming healthy. McCutchen, though, is doing his best to keep the looming milestone out of mind.

Earlier this season, McCutchen went through a lengthy home run drought. After hitting his 297th career home run on June 30, McCutchen didn’t clear the fences again until Aug. 19. Three days later, McCutchen connected on his 299th home run.

There was also McCutchen’s chase for 2,000 hits, a pursuit that became agonizing down the stretch. McCutchen entered a nine-game homestand only five hits away from the milestone and needed all nine games to get there. After the fact, McCutchen joked that he felt “horrible” as the homestand winded down. So, naturally, McCutchen isn’t getting ahead of himself in regard to No. 300.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” McCutchen joked after hitting his 299th home run. “We’ll talk about it when it happens.”

2. Mitch Keller and Johan Oviedo’s workload

Mitch Keller and Johan Oviedo are the only starters who have been in the rotation for the entire season. In a year when the starting depth has been affected by injuries, trades and underperformance, Keller and Oviedo have provided much-needed stability. Going forward, the Pirates will be cognizant of how much they ask of their rocks.

Keller and Oviedo have thrown 169 2/3 and 154 1/3 innings this season, respectively, the most that both have thrown in a professional season. Keller ranks fifth in the sport in innings pitched, trailing only Zac Gallen (173 1/3), Gerrit Cole (174), Sandy Alcantara (176 2/3) and Logan Webb (180 1/3).

“I think we have to monitor it, and we will monitor it probably appearance by appearance,” said manager Derek Shelton. “Some of the bigger things is giving them five days off at times -- put ‘em on a six-day rotation. We’re through a stretch where we can do that and be a little more aggressive with that. But I do think we’ll monitor that because their overall health is the most important thing.”

Keller has an outside shot at becoming the first Pirate to eclipse 200 innings in a season since Cole in 2017. There is a milestone that Keller should easily reach: 200 strikeouts. With eight strikeouts against the Cardinals on Friday, Keller sits at 186 strikeouts and stands to become the first Pirate to strike out 200 since Cole and Francisco Liriano in 2015.

3. Oneil Cruz and Roansy Contreras’ short-term futures

Oneil Cruz, who had surgery in early April to repair his fractured left fibula, was expected to return to action in August. It’s September and Cruz has yet to begin a rehab assignment.

Cruz recently experienced a setback in his rehab, jeopardizing his ability to play another game this season (his long-term prognosis remains fine). The 24-year-old has yet to resume a running progression, and with only three weeks remaining in Triple-A Indianapolis’ season, it appears unlikely that Cruz will have enough time to fully rehab his injury before the season’s end.

“It’s too tough to tell, but I think we’re running out of days,” said Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk on Aug. 23.

Roansy Contreras, on the other hand, is healthy and has been pitching for Indianapolis over the last several weeks. In four appearances (three starts), Contreras has allowed five earned runs across 16 innings (2.81 ERA) with 15 strikeouts to six walks and three home runs (5.47 FIP). The Pirates could benefit from more starting depth at the Major League level, but given how turbulent this season has been for Contreras, a return this season isn’t a guarantee.