72 Comments

Great game by Johan and so glad he got the chance to bring the game home. He definitely deserved the chance considering how efficient he was tonight. Should give him a big boost in confidence that he can be efficient and attack the zone. Can’t wait to see how he comes out his next start. Will be very happy if he can be efficient again and just have a solid outing and hopefully a quality 7 and give the Bucs a solid chance to win. 😁

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raise it!

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Little confused why they are letting one of their few healthy starting pitchers try to finish this one out with a 5-0 lead

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Was efficient and effective. No reason to take him out. Had pitched over 100:pitches before but never got past the 7th. Glad they let him finish it and get the CG shut out. Keep him pumped to finish the year well to have some things to hang his hat on going into next season.

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agreed

now is a good time to wind him down

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Oviedo needs a nickname like "El Caballo" or "Tiro Loco"

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Rivas hurt

Call up Mason!

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This has been a bad season, in so many ways, from all the TJ surgeries, to the crash after the amazing start, to the rookies not playing to most of our expectations (fair or not). But if we go into next year with Keller and Oviedo as two 2-3 quality starters and Hayes playing the way he’s playing right now and Reynolds not falling any further I will once again have hope.

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Based on his recent writing, I'd wager that Dreker's 2024 pre-season write-up will include a suicide prevention number.

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For reals! Can’t tell him apart from WTM anymore! Not picking on them.

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I'd rather have the skepticism and sarcasm which is based in reality rather then the "fluff pieces" from the beat writers!

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WTM sarcastic post game write ups over at P2 a couple of years ago got me through the season, so I get it.

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meh

our poor expectations that half our roster will compete for rookie of the year

next year with a number of reps under their belt will make a difference

here´s hoping they make some real trades this winter

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I want Trout and Schanuel from the Halos. Probably not going to happen but I still want them lol.

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With the Angels paying 80% of Trout salary!

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I want Ben to do it for no money from the Angel's, just to see the look on Bob's face at the press conference. What would happen, Ben being fired or Bob having a heart attack.

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You really just want Schanuel, and absorbing Trout salary to get him.....

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Maybe...yeah you got me. He's still got a hit in every game he's played in the majors, walking more than striking out and I think he's about to start getting some extra base hits.

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I want vinnie P from the royals for 1b next year

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I don't think the Royals will be moving him any time soon with Pratto's struggles, but then again, you never know. They refuse to move Perez and allow Melendez to underperform in the OF instead of playing C where he belongs (sound familiar?).

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Pratto migth be easier to get!

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Do you really want a guy who is striking out over 30% of the time? People here are fed up with Suwinski, and Suwinski is a monster compared to Pratto at this point.

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Completely agree- would be a legit 1b to grow with this core

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A guy that the Pirates could get from the Royals who might really help next year is Matt Beaty. He could be the ultimate "moneyball" type guy.

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i want Ivan from arizona

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Living in Braves country there was a time I really wanted Cristian Pache or Drew Waters in a trade. Both still young but not sure either will live up to their Braves farm system hype.

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Pache can play a great centerfield, he hit in Philly in a small sample this year. I wouldn't mind seeing him in a pirates uniform in spring training. Don't want to give up much or anything to aquire him though.

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The Pirates need a real CF desperately, and I am not sure why no one seems to mention this or be concerned about it. The Pirates are the worst defensive team in baseball and have been for some time. This really needs to change and CF is the place to start.

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CF and 1st base are the two big positions of need.

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1-8 RISP. About our norm.

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Who has the better OPS by the end of the season, ke or jack?

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Ke. Won’t be close. Jack will be under .700.

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Pete alonso looks to be up for scooping this winter, what are your sources saying Bmac?

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sources saying Neil Walker will be making a comeback

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To the booth, no please, I’m begging you!

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owners box

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As a guess?

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oh, I thought you were talking about me

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Please let this be Hayes from now on!

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That impostor needs to get out of my country!

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Some sort of body snatcher......

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Hell yeah Ke! @melkel

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Williams v Greinke.....Williams hitting comp over at Fangraphs, Greinke!

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Come on now Fangraphs, Greinke won 2 silver sluggers, Williams isn't ever going to do that.

Fingers crossed 🤞 Williams will now win 2 silver sluggers.

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The Pirates lineup tonight has 8.3 WAR on the season. That has them tied for 11th all-time in franchise history among single season WAR for position players with Honus Wagner (1904)...wait, that's not how it works, is it?

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True or false. The only interesting thing about tonight's game is the possibility of McCutchen hitting home run #300? I say true. I have Gameday up, but I've not following closely.

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False. The Pirates get to play their mirror image. Just like the Pirates, the Royals will have a catcher playing in the OF, because they refuse to trade Salvador Perez and use the 20 million they save on his contract to acquire some pitching. Just like the Pirates plan to do when Cruz returns, the Royals have the better defensive player (Maikel Garcia) at 3B and play Witt at SS, when he would be better at 3B. Just like the Pirates, they have no starting rotation and were expecting a guy who throws only sinkers and sliders to be some kind of ace instead of a solid bullpen piece. Just like the Pirates, they brought in "veteran leadership" in Greinke so that the pitchers could perform worse than last year and the Royals could give him 39 runs in support all season.

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It's interesting to see a team as bad as the Pirates play the Pirates? Definitely not the answer I was expecting. I figured Endy and Peguero would be the reason for some people. It's hard to take anything away from playing a 100-loss team, so even positives come with asterisks

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Like every mirror image though some things are reversed. For example, the Pirates seek hitters and train hitters to watch very hittable pitches sail by for strikes if these are not in the "hot zone" of the hitter. The Royals like guys who swing at anything, and I mean anything.

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Well, we get to see Bobby Witt Jr. I imagine there will be a piece on the Negro Leagues HOF. That said, this would've been a good game for Capps to be in the booth instead of KY. You know Capps would be talking barbecue.

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Bobby Witt is going to be a monster. His top line stat numbers are not great this year, but if you look under the hood, you will see that he is smashing the ball to all fields, and it is sort of a statistical quirk that he is not among the league leaders in OPS+. On top of that, he is above average in the field at SS and borderline elite at 3B (just as good as Hayes really).

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Some what true, but I enjoy watching Endy and Peggy! Still a believer in Oviedo going forward as well

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There was nothing against Oviedo, just that this is a nothing on the line game for either team, with Palacios batting cleanup and Rivas/Williams 8/9 draining the soul from the lineup

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why do they let Oviedo call his own pitches?

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I don’t know why the dugout doesn’t call games if they gonna used the pitch comm.

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id pay a dollar for each pitch they´d let me call from my laptop

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I’ll pay it!

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