Because it is. It’s not that they don’t have some good players but they have too many bad hitters who negate the good ones. The pitching could certainly be better but the starting lineup today included batting averages of .217, .212, .207 and .185. That’s 4 out of the 9 hitters. How can that ever be expected to work? They were 1-14 with RISP and scored just 1 run despite having 9 hits because even when guys get on there’s no one to drive them in. They have to stop pretending and replace these guys with better hitters or this will simply continue.
Hard to complain about Reynolds hitting a little flair for our first hit with runners in scoring position. However, it was a poor first pitch to swing at, he was fooled and lucky. We need more out of BRey.
The Stoopid never stops with this team. Leadoff guy gets in scoring position, so Shelton decides he needs to be more in scoring position, even though nobody on this team ever gets a runner in from third with less than two outs. And like everybody on this team, Bae pops up the bunt.
Why do the Pirates lose? Bases loaded with two outs and the Pirates have their clean-up hitter coming up. What an opportunity. Except the clean-up hitter is hitting .089 this month and has easily been the worst hitter on the team for several weeks. Brilliant strategy Shelty, just feckin’ brilliant.
Jack is Exhibit A in the case against Haines. He clearly has a lot of ability, but he has the worst approach of any hitter I've ever seen. From Stumpf:
"Suwinski leads all of baseball with 52 called strike threes.
That's 13.2% of his plate appearances, or roughly once every 7.5 PAs"
He desperately needs a real hitting coach and a real manager. Not going to find either in Pgh.
I wish they'd get a real hitting coach as well, they can keep Shelton but in a new position say "player relations" he wouldn't talk baseball with the players just bourbon, music, fine dining, history and best vacation spots on a budget.
It's remarkable just how much Jack's first month is still propping up his numbers. Something needs to change, cause I've been thinking ahead to next season in terms of roster construction, and yuck
I see the Brewers that'll have Wiemer, Frelick, and Mitchell next year with Chourio in the wings. Then the Pirates with a corner OF in CF that's had a ~100 wRC+ since May 1st, and a catcher in RF. These are not the same.
I was selfishly hoping Twins would call up Anthony Prato (UConn product) so I could watch him play. Kid is tearing up AAA with St. Paul. Will have to settle for his playing vs Indy. Went 3-4 with a HR last night.
The league will have a book on Schanuel a lot quicker when he starts playing in the show as opposed to bouncing up the minors. If he is the deal, he should be able to adjust to what teams throw at throw at him as video against big league pitchers throw at him.
He could probably handle a corner outfield spot but not for sure, his position flexibility was the only reason I still liked Crews and Langford better than him though.
It would have been nice to have a 1st basemen penciled in for 6 or 7 years lol.
Shelton seemed to imply that he likes Williams’ defense at SS and still thinks he can hit well enough. I am a Triolo fan and I don’t have an issue with this move.
I'm fine with Bae being back, but I don't understand why Triolo was the one being sent down. Seems like Palacios and Williams were battling hard for that plane ticket back to Indianapolis
He had hamate surgery 4 1/2 months ago. It saps power for a year in most cases. He's not a huge power guy, but I wouldn't label him as a singles hitter. He's also got defense/versatility and some speed on his side.
Maybe Triolo's taking the high road, but he has stated somewhere that the hand is 100%, like sort of a pleasant surprise. Maybe that's from a pain perspective, maybe there is a strength issue too.
I just don't think Shelton can relax unless he has somebody in the lineup who can't hit. It's some expanded variant of Nichols' Law of Catcher Defense. Dredges is gone, so Williams is a vital cog.
I am fine too. Maybe after the long trip away will give Bae a better mindset coming back. Maybe the mistakes will diminish. We shall see.
As for Triolo, maybe they want him to play every day…..maybe at 1B so he will be a viable player there and he can be the super sub that will get consistent playing time next year and actually hit.
I agree- probably should have been Williams since he has basically been a zero at the plate the last few weeks. I look forward to seeing the Pirates be a little more aggressive on the bases, put some pressure
on the defense/pitchers and Bae should be a part of that. I read recently that the resurgent Reds and Cubs are near the top of the stolen bases chart, that was our Pirates early in the season.
If they play Bae in center regularly it almost makes sense, but if he's taking time from Liover at 2nd, it's terrible. Williams at least has the D to warrant playing time hoping the bat plays. I would have rather seen Williams sent down with Triolo and Liover splitting time between short and 2nd.
It's hard to get excited about either Bae (.609 ops) or Triolo (.660? Ops) or Williams (sub Mendoza line). All replacement level players. We need to do better in '24.
I think Bae and Triolo have potential upside. Triolo had the hamate injury, so you can expect more power from him the longer we get away from that injury. Bae is better than what we have seen as well. I could be wrong on Williams, but I think what we are seeing is what we get from him.
Boy this team looks really really bad.
Because it is. It’s not that they don’t have some good players but they have too many bad hitters who negate the good ones. The pitching could certainly be better but the starting lineup today included batting averages of .217, .212, .207 and .185. That’s 4 out of the 9 hitters. How can that ever be expected to work? They were 1-14 with RISP and scored just 1 run despite having 9 hits because even when guys get on there’s no one to drive them in. They have to stop pretending and replace these guys with better hitters or this will simply continue.
Hard to disagree
Hard to complain about Reynolds hitting a little flair for our first hit with runners in scoring position. However, it was a poor first pitch to swing at, he was fooled and lucky. We need more out of BRey.
I wasn't a Bae fan before and I'm not a fan now that he's back. Sorry, just can't get on board.
The Stoopid never stops with this team. Leadoff guy gets in scoring position, so Shelton decides he needs to be more in scoring position, even though nobody on this team ever gets a runner in from third with less than two outs. And like everybody on this team, Bae pops up the bunt.
Why do the Pirates lose? Bases loaded with two outs and the Pirates have their clean-up hitter coming up. What an opportunity. Except the clean-up hitter is hitting .089 this month and has easily been the worst hitter on the team for several weeks. Brilliant strategy Shelty, just feckin’ brilliant.
Jack is Exhibit A in the case against Haines. He clearly has a lot of ability, but he has the worst approach of any hitter I've ever seen. From Stumpf:
"Suwinski leads all of baseball with 52 called strike threes.
That's 13.2% of his plate appearances, or roughly once every 7.5 PAs"
He desperately needs a real hitting coach and a real manager. Not going to find either in Pgh.
I wish they'd get a real hitting coach as well, they can keep Shelton but in a new position say "player relations" he wouldn't talk baseball with the players just bourbon, music, fine dining, history and best vacation spots on a budget.
IOW, he could keep his current duties.
Yep, but he needs to stop talking anything baseball related, that requires responsibility.
It's remarkable just how much Jack's first month is still propping up his numbers. Something needs to change, cause I've been thinking ahead to next season in terms of roster construction, and yuck
“Something needs to change”
Something like . . . I dunno . . . actual coaching?
Yes. Very much that.
I see the Brewers that'll have Wiemer, Frelick, and Mitchell next year with Chourio in the wings. Then the Pirates with a corner OF in CF that's had a ~100 wRC+ since May 1st, and a catcher in RF. These are not the same.
So you don’t think the Brewers will play all those guys at positions they’ve never played before? That’s not how it’s done?
Not arguing, but how is that on Haines? Suwinski and Davis are extremely passive with man on base, but is not a team wide problem.
Yes it is a team-wide problem.
Ortiz stinking up the place again. Down 0-4 after 2. My boy Prato already with a single & triple.
heck of a start by harrington. 7 scoreless with 8 ks
surprised he came out for the 8th. promptly gave up a home run lol. still a good start tho
Gotta show hes still human i guess lol
I was selfishly hoping Twins would call up Anthony Prato (UConn product) so I could watch him play. Kid is tearing up AAA with St. Paul. Will have to settle for his playing vs Indy. Went 3-4 with a HR last night.
Perhaps if I had referred to him as Andre ‘the Giant Hair Dude’ Jackson, I’d gotten a comment or two on my post below? 🥸🥸
Maybe Andre 'the barber' would have done it.
Bubba was pi$$ed when he was told he was done hitting. But he got over it spectacularly.
https://pittsburghbaseballnow.com/i-hated-it-at-first-bubba-chandler-adjusts-to-life-after-hitting/
Norkis Marcos was released today as a thanks for playing 12 games all year, while switching between Altoona and the Development List
Was he related to the Filipino dictator?
Some injury updates:
Termarr’s x-rays were negative. Day to day.
White is in concussion protocol, so I guess he got beaned. They expect him to be cleared this weekend or early next week.
I was debating road tripping to Rome to see Greenville next week for Bubba's start. But need more than just Bubba to make the trip. Heal fast Termarr.
As the Duke brothers said after reading the fake crop report—“Wonderful News!!”
Loved that movie.
Melkel hasn't commented about his boy making his debut for the Angels tonight batting leadoff. Talk about aggressive.
Kid is leading off tonight.
Been on the road and out of cell service most of the day. It probably ends my unrealistic dream of us trading for him lol.
Nice piece of scouting there, you were on that kid early and often! Well done.
He mentioned something on one of the other threads. Perhaps he has flown out to see his first game? 😛😛
The Angels went through such a run of developmental futility that they appear to have given up trying.
The league will have a book on Schanuel a lot quicker when he starts playing in the show as opposed to bouncing up the minors. If he is the deal, he should be able to adjust to what teams throw at throw at him as video against big league pitchers throw at him.
I didn’t realize that he was first base only.
He's made a couple nice plays defensively at first tonight and got his first hit, a line drive the opposite way with 2 strikes on him.
He could probably handle a corner outfield spot but not for sure, his position flexibility was the only reason I still liked Crews and Langford better than him though.
It would have been nice to have a 1st basemen penciled in for 6 or 7 years lol.
He’ll be available in about three years after the Angels ruin him.
James Loney
Did not know that either.
Im probably in the minority, but not a happy camper seeing bae is back
Shelton seemed to imply that he likes Williams’ defense at SS and still thinks he can hit well enough. I am a Triolo fan and I don’t have an issue with this move.
I'm fine with Bae being back, but I don't understand why Triolo was the one being sent down. Seems like Palacios and Williams were battling hard for that plane ticket back to Indianapolis
Triolo has to hit more if he’s going to be on the MLB roster. It’s that simple. Hitting a bunch of singles is not going to get it done.
He had hamate surgery 4 1/2 months ago. It saps power for a year in most cases. He's not a huge power guy, but I wouldn't label him as a singles hitter. He's also got defense/versatility and some speed on his side.
Maybe Triolo's taking the high road, but he has stated somewhere that the hand is 100%, like sort of a pleasant surprise. Maybe that's from a pain perspective, maybe there is a strength issue too.
I just don't think Shelton can relax unless he has somebody in the lineup who can't hit. It's some expanded variant of Nichols' Law of Catcher Defense. Dredges is gone, so Williams is a vital cog.
I am fine too. Maybe after the long trip away will give Bae a better mindset coming back. Maybe the mistakes will diminish. We shall see.
As for Triolo, maybe they want him to play every day…..maybe at 1B so he will be a viable player there and he can be the super sub that will get consistent playing time next year and actually hit.
I agree- probably should have been Williams since he has basically been a zero at the plate the last few weeks. I look forward to seeing the Pirates be a little more aggressive on the bases, put some pressure
on the defense/pitchers and Bae should be a part of that. I read recently that the resurgent Reds and Cubs are near the top of the stolen bases chart, that was our Pirates early in the season.
If they play Bae in center regularly it almost makes sense, but if he's taking time from Liover at 2nd, it's terrible. Williams at least has the D to warrant playing time hoping the bat plays. I would have rather seen Williams sent down with Triolo and Liover splitting time between short and 2nd.
It's hard to get excited about either Bae (.609 ops) or Triolo (.660? Ops) or Williams (sub Mendoza line). All replacement level players. We need to do better in '24.
I think Bae and Triolo have potential upside. Triolo had the hamate injury, so you can expect more power from him the longer we get away from that injury. Bae is better than what we have seen as well. I could be wrong on Williams, but I think what we are seeing is what we get from him.
7 dingers in 36 games with Indy, where the heck did that come from.
That's a great question. He was probably wondering the same thing...
Sameon Williams, he occasionally shows good place discipline and he needs to be more of a slap hitter. His lazy flyballs drive me crazy.
Sameon Williams, I believe, is a defensive end for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Bae is leading off and playing CF tonite.
Let's hope he has progressed after the injury.
Oh boy! Andre ‘The Hair Man’ Jackson. I’d hate to run into him in a dark alley. 😹😹