94 Comments

I was thinking that 58 years ago when I was 22 I was keeping score while my team mates were getting 'bested' by the other local sandlot teams in the Harrisburg, PA area, lol. I almost hope they trade this kid so he can reap the rewards he deserves rather then potentially be destroyed by an incompetent owner and his pathetic coaching staff!

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That would be 48 years ago, lol. This further proves why stats are tough on me.

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Looks like after this series we have 4 straight series against teams with losing records. Sounds like a perfect time to find our stride... or at least not play like shit every day

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In theory, lol!

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Apparently the coaching staff doesn't see a problem between 'Cy Jones' throwing 59 pitches in five innings of shut out ball compared to 91 pitches in six innings of one run ball and neither do I, lol. The Pirates may have finally got something right but this kid has to be scary good to survive this organization, lol.

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Love Jones performance. But that was a gamble I did not like Shelton taking, leaving him in with 2nd and 3rd, and again with bases loaded in 6th, over 90 pitches, signs of fatigue and effectiveness decreasing that inning.

It worked but it doesn't mean it was the right call.

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Since the Nats series, MAT is 4-for-32 with 16 Ks. Regression is a bitch.

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Still has value if used the right way, but that means that tonights big games from cruz and cutch need to be signs of things to come

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Feels good to be back in the winning column, lets keep it rolling boys

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Whoop Whoop!!! Raise it!! Finally 12 down and 139 to go!!

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The Catch22 reverse jinx is money this year! All in good fun dude.

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Raise it! I'll take the W.

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Couldn't agree more and especially since it's against the Brewers. Those caffeine pills I suggested really worked for the offense, lol.

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Bednar still looks like shit.

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Still working his way back to where he was last year.

Chapman is the one I’m concerned with.

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That’s true. It’s funny how they’ve ended up 12-11, with the bullpen blowing several games they had in hand to win. On the flip side, the hitting has been so anemic, they’re a bit lucky to be 12-11.

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Better than he has looked so progress??

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Any way you get off a skid is a good way, but I struggle to feel reassured when Alika has the best OPS in the lineup.

Also, I think I've seen enough Rowdy Tellez. I swear the IT team installed a block that prevents the FO from seeing Fangraphs.

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I think it was a good pass on Santana. He's 38 and under .400 OPS with Twins.

Who did you have in mind?

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The guy who just homered against us while playing first base for the brewers on a very reasonable deal seems okay.

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Reasonable means less than $10M in Pittsburgh. Hoskins got $34M for 2 years with an option for a third year. Plus he can opt out after year 1. That's in another league from BC offer.

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No doubt. Hoskins would’ve looked so good in the middle of the order of this lineup.

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I've given up having thoughts about who should play 1B for the Pirates. The job is cursed.

I just know that Rowdy's season to date was a fairly predictable outcome if you have access to Fangraphs and understood basic calculus. Which opens its own set of questions about the "analytics" happening in the FO.

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There’s only one analytic. He was cheap.

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I dunno. I feel like there were still better band-aids on the shelf. Hell, just sticking with Conner Joe seems like a better plan.

This FO has long has an odd obsession with having enough leftie bats. That has led to some odds choices where Vogelbach was really the only one remotely supported by a real analytic argument. Maybe Santana, but that's only for people who think a 90s OPS+ in a "bounceback" season for a 1B is good. Also, it always felt a little weird to platoon an alleged switch hitter.

My complaint is predominantly that I never thought it was that hard to see the second derivative looking at the graph of an MLB player's career performance. And even if it is hard for a specific person to do that, there's open-source code that'll do it for you. You can look at painfully obviously decline players like Tellez and Austin Hedges and see it. Even if no one ever taught you first-year calculus, just the general sagginess of the "he's getting old" side of the graph should be obvious.

I sometimes wonder how much of an informational bubble that sports teams operate in that it feels like they've just missed the entire first quarter of the 21st Century inside their analytics departments. I mean, whether Nutting's Wallet is the main problem or not, you can run this stuff on a laptop.

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That's the bottom line Wilbur. While none of us were there for those organizational talks about needs for the 2024 season it's fairly obvious first base wasn't considered a hot corner. This is organization is more of a public relations firm then a sports organization, lol. Let's ride the Jared Jones train while promising some Paul Skenes in the near future and that will distract everyone from the fact that even really good pitchers need offense and defense behind them. I'm not sure having a Mendoza lineup behind a Jones and Skenes is a winning formula, lol.

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Oh, the best hope for this team is that it becomes a pitching factory and then a couple of the hitters in the pile of Termarr, Hank, Endy, Polanco and White have their peak seasons concurrently before all the good pitchers disappear into FA.

Unfortunately, I think the ceiling for this team might be like the recent Brewers squads. Good enough pitching to win the season marathon, but not enough power to win the postseason sprint.

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Ready for Davis to go down to AAA.

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I bet Jared Jones wants him in the majors.

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I’ll take that bet, his offense is worse than Delay and he can’t be that much better if he’s better than Bart.

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All I am saying is Davis and Jones have a good rapport, while I wouldn't want to mess up Jones right now. 29 innngs 20 hits 4 walks 39 strikes outs.

Now I also know what you are saying about it just keeps getting more painful to watch Henry at the plate. Whatever he is trying is not working. That being said, he still has a higher obp than Rowdy, Cruz and Juwinski.

As much as I am pulling for Bart, his obp last year in 87 at bats was lower than Henry in his 58 at bats this year.

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Have they given a timeline on Mlod? Could use some reinforcements for the pen.

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Too bad the baseball rulebook states bans the use of your best reliever per team until the 9th inning. Sure would be helpful here to bring in your best guy.

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We don't have a best guy right now.

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They might have done that. Stratton has pitched 10 games, 9 of which have been quite good. He gave up 4 ER in one game and 1 ER in the other 9 appearances. IMO, given Bednar's issues the 3 best relievers (knowing they run hot/cold) right now may be Holderman, Stratton, and Fleming. btw.. I get your point.. in your proposal Bednar would have come in.

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So... a guy with 20 IP in the majors, whom the Pirates DFAd in the offseason and brought back on a minor league contract is better than David Bednar, who has single-handedly carried this bullpen for 3 years. Stop smoking that stuff. It will ruin your mind.

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Chapman gonna blow another one? A short reliever who can’t throw strikes is way beyond useless.

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Especially at $10 million!

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We are seeing bad Chapman today- all over the place

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