The Colorado Rockies (28-47) had the day off Thursday after an uneven road trip that took them from Las Vegas to Wrigley Field. They dropped two of three to the Athletics, with the lone win coming in a wild 23-9 game, then went to Chicago and again lost two of three.
Pittsburg, PA
Pittsburgh permitting problems | How one daycare had to struggle to reopen its playground
A playground popular with many children was held up by red tape for months in Pittsburgh’s Brookline neighborhood.
It’s a story at the confluence of disappointed children, a landslide, bureaucratic molasses, and a once vibrant playground in shambles.
Early last year, the playground at Little Village Learning Center on McNeilly Road was in a state of disrepair due to the fact that the land behind the fence was slowly but surely eroding – and did it ever.
“It was becoming questionable and felt a little unsafe,” said Ashley Landy, owner and director of Little Village Learning Center.
Now, it’s been going on 10 months since the kids at the learning center have been able to use the playground, and Landy said she knows what is needed.
“Right now, we need to build a retaining wall so that we can rebuild our playground,” she said.
As the kids go about their daily routines, confined to the building, Little Village secured funding and a contractor – then last March, they reached out to the city, and that’s where things got messy.
“[We were told] that it could take around 30 days, so our contractor was all-in and ready to go,” Landy recalled.
So, it got fixed, right? Well, the 30 days came and went.
“Every time we ask them about the permitting issues, they come back with another piece of paperwork that we need to submit, which takes another 45 days,” she said.
On Wednesday morning, we reached out to the city to try to get an understanding of what was going on, and just over three hours after we reached out, Little Village Learning Center was contacted by the city and told the permit was in the final stages of processing. We also got a lengthy email explaining the process.
For Landy, she just wants her 58 kids back on the playground.
“It’s crucial, they love to go outside and play and run around,” she said. “For them to just get a break from the building alone and get that fresh air, it’s definitely necessary.
Also, late on Tuesday, the center was notified that what was once an issue with the planned playground probably isn’t anymore, and more conversations on Grant Street will happen on Thursday. Landy said she hopes and would like to get the playground up and usable by early summer.
Finally, the question is, is what happened at Little Village the exception or the rule?
While you don’t want to call it the rule, but it is an issue. So much so that Mayor Corey O’Connor issued an executive order to take a look at and speed up the city’s permitting processes so that small businesses aren’t forced to wait months. He’s also setting up a development public liaison to serve as a point person for people who hit permitting road blocks.
Pittsburg, PA
Analysis: Most Pittsburgh‑area communities are losing residents — here’s why that might be OK
Pittsburg, PA
Colorado Rockies vs. Pittsburgh Pirates game discussion: Bubba Chandler vs. Kyle Freeland
That leaves the Rockies at 6-9 in June with a -7 run differential. Even that number is softened by the 23-run outburst against the Athletics. Colorado has been pesky and more competitive, which is an improvement from last month, but the results are still the results: they enter tonight with the worst record in baseball — if only by a game.
Cole Carrigg has brought energy since arriving, and Sterlin Thompson is coming off a two-homer game at Wrigley. There are plenty of reasons to keep watching. The problem is that the old bad-team tropes are still there: blown leads, rocked starters, missed chances, defensive mistakes, and poor execution. The Rockies have been in more games, but they are still too often finding ways to let winnable games get away.
Now they get the Pirates at home.
The Pittsburgh Pirates (38-37) arrive at Coors Field in fourth place in the competitive NL Central — and only 1.5 games out of a wild card spot. Pittsburgh gets plenty of attention for its hyped rotation, led by Paul Skenes, but the offense has been much improved. The Pirates rank third in MLB in batting average, third in on-base percentage, fourth in OPS, fifth in runs scored, and sixth in stolen bases.
Kyle Freeland takes the mound to open the homestand for the Rox. The left-hander enters at 1-7 with a 7.98 ERA, 49 strikeouts, and a 1.70 WHIP over 58.2 innings.
The fastball has been the biggest issue. Freeland is leaving too many four-seamers over the middle of the plate, and hitters have punished it. Opponents are slugging .794 against the pitch, which is especially damaging because he still throws it roughly 27-29% of the time.
That continued in his last start, when Freeland allowed six runs on 10 hits over 5.2 innings. He gave up 12 hard-hit balls, with both the cutter and four-seamer taking damage. The cutter was his most-used pitch in that outing, but it did not solve the contact problem. His sweeper has been his best pitch, holding hitters to a .171 batting average and .371 slugging percentage with a 32.8% whiff rate.
The Rockies do not need Freeland to be perfect tonight, but they need him to avoid the middle-middle mistakes that have turned innings quickly this season.
Pittsburgh will counter with Bubba Chandler, a 23-year-old right-hander who enters at 2-7 with a 4.76 ERA, 68 strikeouts, and a 1.38 WHIP over 68.0 innings.
The record is not pretty, but the stuff is real. Chandler averages 98.5 mph with his four-seam fastball and topped out over 101 mph in his last start. He has used the fastball nearly half the time this season, pairing it most often with a changeup and slider.
The slider has been his best bat-missing pitch, generating a 37.9% whiff rate on the season. The changeup has also been effective, holding hitters to a .186 batting average and .288 slugging percentage. Chandler has walked 43 batters, so the Rockies’ best chance may be making him work instead of chasing their way out of innings.
Kyle Karros has been swinging it well lately, hitting .370/.442/.565 over his last 15 games and raising his season wRC+ to 90. Willi Castro has two home runs, nine RBI, and a .680 slugging percentage over his last seven games, while T.J. Rumfield is hitting .321 with a .750 slugging percentage and two home runs in his last seven games.
For Pittsburgh, Bryan Reynolds has been especially hot, hitting .414/.469/.828 with three home runs over his last seven games. Brandon Lowe leads the team with 18 home runs and 49 RBI while slugging .511, and Endy Rodríguez has played well from behind the plate while posting a 149 wRC+ in 76 plate appearances since returning to the lineup in mid-May.
For Colorado, the task is straightforward: get a steadier start from Freeland, make Chandler throw strikes, and turn the recent flashes from the lineup into enough sustained pressure to win a winnable game.
First Pitch: 6:40 p.m. MDT
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150
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The decision to trade catcher Joey Bart to the Braves gives the Pirates a solution to a problem that soon needed to be made.
Bart had been on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Indianapolis, working his way back from a left foot infection that kept him out of action for over a month.
With Bart nearing a return, the Pirates were going to have to figure out what to do at catcher with Henry Davis and Endy Rodríguez splitting time behind the plate in his absence.
Given how Rodríguez has been swinging the bat since he was recalled from Indianapolis to replace Bart on the active roster, there was no way the Pirates could’ve sent him down. In 23 games, the 26-year-old has a .267/.413/.467 batting line with three doubles, three home runs, eight RBI, two steals and a robust 19.7% walk rate.
Davis, meanwhile, has struggled to an anemic .138/.242/.285 batting line with four doubles, five home runs and 17 RBI in 47 games. While he hasn’t offered much with the bat, he’s been responsible for two defensive runs saved and leads MLB with a 55% caught stealing rate.
Now that Bart has been traded, Rodríguez and Davis will remain the catching tandem at the big-league level with Rafael Flores Jr. as the top backup option with Indianapolis. Flores is considered Pittsburgh’s eighth-best prospect on MLB Pipeline.
For the first time in the big leagues, Rodríguez is realizing the potential that once made him one of the top 100 prospects in baseball. Because of that, he should get the majority of the playing time with Davis continuing to catch Paul Skenes’ starts and filling in when needed.
As for the return, the Pirates known what to expect from Hunter Stratton, who spent nine seasons in the organization and made 47 appearances with the team from 2023-25.
The bullpen has been an obvious weak spot for the team this season, and while it was somewhat surprising to see the Pirates assign Stratton to Indianapolis, he improves the pitching depth and will almost surely be called upon at some point this year.
In 60 career big-league appearances between the Pirates and Braves, Stratton is 3-2 with a 3.75 ERA and two saves. The right-hander spent most of the 2026 season with Triple-A Gwinnett and went 2-4 with a 4.38 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 24.2 innings across 21 appearances.
One more important note about the trade is that the Pirates saved some money in the deal, which could be used later in additional trades to add to an already record-setting payroll. Stratton is a pre-arbitration player, while Bart is making $2.53 million this season.
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