Priester, Rodríguez, young Bucs experience growing pains

PITTSBURGH -- The mood in the Pirates’ clubhouse was somber following their 11-0 loss to the Guardians on Monday night at PNC Park, a bitter contrast to the enthusiasm and hope and optimism that defined the afternoon. Quinn Priester (the Bucs' No. 4 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline) allowed seven runs in his debut; Endy Rodríguez (Pittsburgh's No. 3 prospect) went hitless in his. For as bad as the series opener unfolded, Rodríguez -- perpetually charismatic, perpetually joyful -- ensured the forest wasn’t lost for the trees.

“The future is here, man,” Rodríguez declared. “I know we’re going to do something special with this team. … I know we have a lot of younger players here and I think we have the talent. We’re going to do something special.”

Over the past couple years, the Pirates have spoken ad infinitum about the importance of their farm system, iterating that their homegrown talent is going to be invaluable to bringing winning baseball back to Pittsburgh. With the debuts of Priester and Rodríguez and the promotion of infielder Liover Peguero (No. 7 prospect), the Bucs penned another chapter in their rebuild.

Pittsburgh’s starting lineup on Monday featured rookies Priester, Rodríguez, Henry Davis, Nick Gonzales and Jared Triolo, along with Peguero, who exceeded rookie limits in 2022. Carmen Mlodzinski didn’t appear, observing his teammates from the bullpen. Last season, they all played for Double-A Altoona. They’ve all been teammates with one another in the Minors, in some capacity, for years. Now, there’s no more climbing left to do. They’ve arrived in Pittsburgh, and they’re being thrown into the fire.

“I think that the organization trusts us,” Rodríguez said. “They think we can help the team to win in games. We’re here for that. We have our careers to prepare for being here now and winning again. The organization trusts us.”

Added Peguero, “It's something that you don’t see very often. I feel like we are very lucky to have each other around. It obviously brings a lot of energy for all of us, but just being around these people, they make me feel like home.”

The group climbed the ladder and made it to the Majors, but now comes the growing, the learning. Priester and Rodríguez learned firsthand just how cold, how unforgiving this level can be.

Priester, 22, cruised through the first three innings. He retired the first nine batters that he faced, eight of them coming by way of the groundout. He was cruising, until he wasn’t. He allowed a two-run home run in the fourth, one run in the fifth and four more in the sixth, including Andrés Giménez’s two-run homer that zipped over the Clemente Wall in a hurry.

“In those first three innings, I definitely proved to myself that I belong,” Priester said. “The later three innings, couple of walks, I let myself fall behind. It’s more about doing what I did in the first three than the last three and being able to repeat that, find those things out of the stretch and feel real confident there. [There's] always going to be things to work on. From this start, we saw a couple things that definitely need to be worked on.”

Rodríguez fared no better, going hitless in four at-bats. In his final at-bat of the night, Rodríguez found himself opposite of Emmanuel Clase, one of the American League’s best closers. Clase fed Rodríguez a diet of biting triple-digit cutters and sharp low-90s sliders before getting the young buck to flail out a slider out of the zone, punching out the rookie and ending the ballgame. Priester and Rodríguez understand that there will be growing pains, and so do their fellow rookies.

“We obviously know that when a guy comes to the big leagues, they’re not going to be completely done,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “In that regard, there’s going to be fundamental work. You may see more teaching than there was previously, just because we have to play to our personnel.”

The group of 20-somethings that took the field on Monday represented a version of the idealized future, but there were some notable names out of action. Oneil Cruz has been on the injured list since April and has yet to really ramp up baseball activities. Ke’Bryan Hayes is on the injured list with a back ailment. JT Brubaker and Mike Burrows both underwent season-ending surgery to reconstruct their ulnar collateral ligament (UCL).

While Pittsburgh is missing those aforementioned names, the vision is coming into focus. Some of the rookies who took the field for the series opener might have more days in the Minors ahead as players return from injury, but generally speaking, the next wave has arrived. In time, they’ll show whether they can achieve that “something special” that Rodríguez envisions.