The sleeper out of the NRIs to me is Carson Fulmer. Not to pitch with expectations of a first round draft pick anymore, but just to be a solid part of the bullpen. 4 innings of work and only given up 1 hit and 1 walk.
Ben's thinking how can I kick this down the road? Option Mlod and let him start in Indy, option Nicolas to work on closing in Indy. Mayza, Wentz, and Ferguson as lefties. Holderman, Santana, Bednar, Lawrence, and Strzelecki as right handers.
That definitely would not be their best pen. At some point, winning games in Pittsburgh has to take precedence over building up educational credits at Indianapolis.
Every decision (good or bad) is justified because it is best for a certain player's individual development. How often do we hear, "We took a chance because we really needed a win."
Hope the pirates are a bit aggressive with the placement of Sanford and Griffin. Did it look like Sanford put on some weight?
Indy and Altoona should be loaded with starting pitchers. Indy could have Bubba, Harrington, Ashcraft, Burrows, and Oviedo. Altoona could have Barco, Solometo, Chen, Sullivan, and Reed (more likely someone other than Reed, just my want).
This is the deepest I can remember the upper levels and the big club having this many quality starters with others that have potential to come into the mix. Dotel, Ecrolani, Diamond etc....
It is much deeper in excellent, young pitching from both sides. One might think it to be a good time to identify a BAT, probably LH or even better a switch hitter, and then figure out how much we need to offer in pitching. I mentioned the need of the Athletics a few weeks ago - they have hitting we have pitching. There are many teams that would appreciate breaking into the Pirates treasure chest of Pitching - we just need to find the right one!
Amazed with the velo of Hunter Barco - was any of that post-TJ mph? Also like the increased velo of Anthony Solometo. He hit the wall last year at AA, and now that he is a much more mature 22 year old (WOW!), he can push it to AAA. Not sure he starts there, but hopefully get there after a solid performance at AA.
Like them both although Mauricio tore his ACL in the Dominican League and will miss all of 2025. Brito has a HR for Cleveland, but that has been his only hit so far in ST.
Mauricio missed all of '24, he is scheduled to be back in games mid March. I like him better against RHPing and think he could be a very good outfielder if he doesn't workout on the dirt. I think Brito could be a very good firstbasemen with an on base over power profile. PNC is perfect for his left handed swing.
Let’s try this in three categories:
Locks: Bednar, Holderman, Santana, Ferguson
Near-locks: Mayza, Mlod, Nicolas
Out of options: Wentz, Strzelecki, Lawrence
That’s ten, without Burrows or Ashcraft or any NRIs.
The sleeper out of the NRIs to me is Carson Fulmer. Not to pitch with expectations of a first round draft pick anymore, but just to be a solid part of the bullpen. 4 innings of work and only given up 1 hit and 1 walk.
Ben's thinking how can I kick this down the road? Option Mlod and let him start in Indy, option Nicolas to work on closing in Indy. Mayza, Wentz, and Ferguson as lefties. Holderman, Santana, Bednar, Lawrence, and Strzelecki as right handers.
That definitely would not be their best pen. At some point, winning games in Pittsburgh has to take precedence over building up educational credits at Indianapolis.
Every decision (good or bad) is justified because it is best for a certain player's individual development. How often do we hear, "We took a chance because we really needed a win."
I surely hope it's not their pen, just knowing Ben likes to wait to make a decision.
With the addition of Justin Lawrence, who is now not going to make the staff? Is there a trade coming?
Oviedo put on the 60 day looks like
Dang. Saw him pitch to live batters a few weeks ago. Now they are saying late May. Dang.
I think that was the plan all along with Ovieto. Slow build up due to TJ. Almost every pitcher in the league comes back slow.
Hope the pirates are a bit aggressive with the placement of Sanford and Griffin. Did it look like Sanford put on some weight?
Indy and Altoona should be loaded with starting pitchers. Indy could have Bubba, Harrington, Ashcraft, Burrows, and Oviedo. Altoona could have Barco, Solometo, Chen, Sullivan, and Reed (more likely someone other than Reed, just my want).
This is the deepest I can remember the upper levels and the big club having this many quality starters with others that have potential to come into the mix. Dotel, Ecrolani, Diamond etc....
It is much deeper in excellent, young pitching from both sides. One might think it to be a good time to identify a BAT, probably LH or even better a switch hitter, and then figure out how much we need to offer in pitching. I mentioned the need of the Athletics a few weeks ago - they have hitting we have pitching. There are many teams that would appreciate breaking into the Pirates treasure chest of Pitching - we just need to find the right one!
Amazed with the velo of Hunter Barco - was any of that post-TJ mph? Also like the increased velo of Anthony Solometo. He hit the wall last year at AA, and now that he is a much more mature 22 year old (WOW!), he can push it to AAA. Not sure he starts there, but hopefully get there after a solid performance at AA.
2 of the guys I was hoping they'd have targeted were switch hitters with positional versatility, Brito and Mauricio.
Like them both although Mauricio tore his ACL in the Dominican League and will miss all of 2025. Brito has a HR for Cleveland, but that has been his only hit so far in ST.
Mauricio missed all of '24, he is scheduled to be back in games mid March. I like him better against RHPing and think he could be a very good outfielder if he doesn't workout on the dirt. I think Brito could be a very good firstbasemen with an on base over power profile. PNC is perfect for his left handed swing.