27 Comments

K Hayes might be on the trade block this seasons end. Triolo looks like his replacement. Given everyday play he seems to be a better hitter than Hayes and almost his equal with the glove. Also a way to save millions.

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Triolo is not a solution.

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Won't save anything because nobody's taking on that salary.

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The minimum I ask from the Pirates over the last 16 games of the year is to make sure Cook plays every game. I'd love for them to make sure Oneil Cruz is in CF for all 16 games as well, but just get Cook as much MLB experience as you can get. When he sits and you see the lineup with five spots where he could have filled in, it feels like an unnecessary waste. That's especially true considering the Pirates record.

Maybe Cook is just Connor Joe, but if that's true, then why wouldn't you have the player making minimum with extra control remaining in that spot, while putting the difference in salary towards your needed off-season improvements. Just put Cook out there so he goes into next year with added experience.

I feel like it's common sense to work towards the future (2025) instead of working towards a goal that has already passed you by (2024 playoffs).

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I'm all for giving him PT over the last few weeks but the presumption here that Connor Joe is Billy Cook's *floor* seems awfully optimistic.

Joe's struggled in the second half, no doubt. Maybe on the wrong side of 30.

But he's a big leaguer who projects to be roughly a league-average hitter and Billy Cook's gonna be a 26 yo rookie who it looks like will run a projection around 80 wRC+.

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The Joe/Cook comp has been used a lot when I talk about him. Most people even say that Joe might hit more, but Cook has more defensive value. I think included in that defensive value part is the hope that there's a better first baseman so someone like Connor Joe isn't playing 1/3rd of the season at first base.

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Exactly

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Love pulling for these unheralded, late bloomer types. 10th round senior sign making the bigs alone is a huge accomplishment.

I still don't know how much to trust such things but Cook is one of a bunch of Indy hitters to run super hot this year in terms of actual vs expected production.

Every single of of their top 10 hitter by wOBA outpaced their xwOBA by at least 20 points, and all but two of those by at least 30. That's enormous.

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Agree, but I think there is something funky going on with the stats. Gonzales was a -100 in AAA, just didn’t seem right. Yorke is currently a -34, but also a +34 versus Gonzales’s AAA xwOBA. My guess is that the system is inflating wOBA and deflating xwOBA as I’ve yet to see anyone with a positive spread, caveat that I’ve only looked at Indy.

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Right? Appreciate you chiming in, something just doesn't seem to add up.

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Your last sentence suggests credit is due, at least in part, to Erik Munson. I have no other evidence or knowledge pro or con for Munson, so if you or others have insight as to why the Indy guys produce more at the plate than the Pirates (other than "we hate Haines"), I'd love to hear it.

Is Occam's Razor in play here -- the simple solution is that Munson should be the guy in Pittsburgh?

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I will say in my conversations with Munson, he’s about giving tips, but allowing hitters just to be themselves. Comfort over tinkering. However, Munson and Haines are close. Haines was crucial in getting Munson to get into coaching with Indy. I’m not sure what it would look like with that hypothetical promotion.

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I read an interesting bit not too long ago about Scottie Scheffler's coach Randy Smith - same coach he's had since he was 7. A brief excerpt: once a player has the basics down, their swing must be their own creation, not someone else’s....Smith still spends more than half of his time at Royal Oaks working with kids and when he does, he first wants to see good contact. Then a good grip. Then a reasonable ability to aim the body at the target. Then comes the interesting part. “You see if they can create.” Instead of tweaking the form, Smith wants to see what’s in the instincts. He hands the player a 7-iron and asks, “How would you make the ball fly really high? How about really low?” He wants to see imagination before imitation."

Would love to see our hitters follow this approach.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5557301/2024/06/11/scottie-scheffler-us-open-coach/

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I really like Cook's potential, I think he's already one of the best outfielders in the organization, a threat on the base paths and enough versatility to play most positions. The only question is his bat, from my eye he's good middle down and mid outer third in. He struggles with pitches up in the zone and on the outer edge. I'm very optimistic he can develop into at least a quality 4th outfielder and has the chance to be a regular. The young man has steadily improved during his climb up the minors with the bat. I really hope he continues to get plenty of playing time to see if he can further develop as a major leaguer.

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How to build the club around Paul SKENES. Bats we have maybe 4.Pitching with SKENES we do have some good starters. How to get more hitters. 1st base, SS,3rd, RF

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Sorry gents I'm just not that impressed with Billy. He's got AAAA written all over him.

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AAAA can work just fine if you're sensible about it. First, you get a guy who actually IS AAAA, instead of Cherington's preferred model, which is more like AAa, or a completely washed-up or never-was major leaguer. You use him realistically and don't mistake him for a starter, the way Cherington has repeatedly. And you take age into account, especially the tendency toward a power spike around age 26-27. Cherington keeps going for guys past that point (or who just suck, of course). Cook is a good candidate to be an improved version of Connor Joe, if they don't get carried away like they did with Joe.

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Yes. It is one thing to have a 26-year-old AAAA player, entering his prime, making league minimum as a 4th OFer. It is quite another to pay one 4 million a year for a 30-year-old AAAA player to start and hit in the middle of the lineup.

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This evaluation seems fair. My initial reaction to Cook was that he was essentially a younger version of Joe. Hopefully he’s able to become a better hitter and more consistent offensively as he gains big league experience. From what I’ve seen, he looks like at least a slight improvement over him defensively.

Considering it’s highly unlikely they acquire a full time first baseman this offseason, the skill set is valuable on a major league bench.

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Statcast doesn't have any sprint speed yet, but I get the impression he's faster than Joe, and hopefully has better OF defense. He seems able to play CF some and has played a good bit at 2B, not that you'd want to make a habit of it, so he's more versatile than Joe.

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Definitely faster than Joe and his OF defense, including his arm, is vastly superior. It sounds like he was also a pretty good HS basketball player, so the athleticism is there.

The bat is the only real question mark (which is a big deal). If he can hit close to league average, he’s a huge upgrade for a roster spot over the likes of Joe, Olivares, and all the others they’ve tried out to be the 4th outfielder. His ability to step in at 1B, makes him even more valuable.

Maybe he won’t hit, but I’d like to see him get the opportunity to show us either way (and I say that as someone who’s meet Joe a number of times and think he’s an outstanding person).

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They both have grade 70 forearms

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Fan club checking in!

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This article got me thinking, which reminds me of a joke.

I get lost in thought, because I’m so rarely there.

Anyway, I was wondering if Pirates have designated certain players to be a new guys welcoming committee?

Seems maybe a player may perform better if he’s more comfortable. And getting comfortable in a new place is a process. Designing a system to expedite that process makes sense in my head.

I don’t ever remember reading anything about this in the past. Anyone have any insight?

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Give him a few months with Haines, and he'll regress to .200 with more pop at the expense of all his strengths at the plate.

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