Falter did do a good job of shaking off the disastrous 1st and getting thru 4 innings with just one additional run in frames 2 thru 4. That was needed and important... seeing the bright side🤷♂️😁
The only hit was a dribbler down the 3rd base line that the 3rd baseman had no play on so he let it roll hoping it would go foul. It didn't. The run was driven in with Peralta on the mound but of course Preister was charged with it as I believe he walked the guy before Peralta took over. I thought he looked real confident on the mound, like Jared Jones did yesterday.
I don’t care who they were playing, this was a flat out impressive performance by the bullpen. And they did it with two of their A relievers on the DL. I think today the line was 6 innings, two hits, one run, no walks (!), and eight strikeouts. It’s just one series, but they appear finally to have the depth in the bullpen to stand up to the grind of 162 games (and the grind of not having starters who routinely pitch into the late innings).
Bednar and Chapman have zero saves, one less than a guy who's now in Indy. Fleming and Stratton have two, one more than they had combined in the majors before this year.
Offense: ND. Miami's pitching is dinged up. So, we will need to see if the team can sustain this production going forward.
Starting Pitching; C÷ Perez and Jones were good. Jones was very good until the end. Keller and Falter were regrettable. If Miami had healthy starters...
Relief Pitching: A+ The relievers were nearly perfect the whole series. It's the strength of the team right now.
Fielding: D- Even Hayes had errors.
Running: D- TOOTBLAN anyone.
I'm looking forward to the Skenes and Priester promotions and, perhaps, Ortiz returning to the rotation. I'm optimistic.
Out of 5 categories, he gave a C, 2 D’s, and a no decision even when they went 4-0 on the road. Sorry, but this has all the makings of a review by someone who is biased against the Pirates. He has a long history of making negative comments towards the team.
My concern with the starting pitching is that there isn't enough of it. When Bailey Falter is your #5 SP, you're already asking for trouble when the injuries eventually come.
Falter is a seat filler until German/Lauer are stretched out. I also keep hearing Skenes is expected to be up sooner rather than later. I have zero issue with Falter being AAA depth. I also wouldn’t rule out Ro/Ortiz making a return to the rotation at some point should injuries/lack of performance occur.
Falter is proof that we're not quite yet done with the rebuild. Close, but not there yet. Oof. Hopefully Priester and Skenes keep doing well and make this all simple.
Okay so just for clarity. When Skenes dominates at Indy like he did for 4 innings yesterday, he’s a superstar. When Priester dominates at Indy the way he did today for 5.2 innings, you have to remember it’s only AAA hitters? Is that about right?
Priester has the ability to be a major league starter, he just needs to figure out his method and consistency. Skenes has the ability to be a major league ace, he just needs to get used to a professional schedule and fine tune his repertoire and sequence. They're where they need to be, both might be better than what we are currently seeing at the mlb level but as long as they're working to their optimal mlb ceilings, I'm with ya on seeing the positive of their current performances.
Priester has to find a way to convince MLB hitters to buy on his curveball.
I like what I've seen with Priester. But given his velo and stuff, he's always going to have to be a savvier SP than most. By the numbers, he should have won the last SP slot over Falter.
That's right! You got it Doc. It's a huge step up to getting MLB hitters out vs AAA. Skenes has the arm, and mental fortitude from all accounts of his past and present coaches. Priester isn't in the same class in either category.
They added Burger (30+ HRs) and Anderson, former All star if he can find his way back........sort of like a Bellinger. Their offense is not their problem.
Falter started because Quinn Priester has options and Falter doesn't. It was a purely roster construction issue that'll iron out soon enough when the injury bug arrives.
Should just sign Bauer and then mid June we have Keller, Skenes, Jones, Bauer and German. Who doesn't see a playoff run with those 5? Not a fan of Gonzales or Falter. Perez can be good depth as is Priester. Priester could be up when we lose Bauer next year.
Better late than never….. 4 down and 158 to go!
Falter did do a good job of shaking off the disastrous 1st and getting thru 4 innings with just one additional run in frames 2 thru 4. That was needed and important... seeing the bright side🤷♂️😁
Pirates and Yankees are both (and the only) 4-0 teams. 1960 called and wants a repeat.
My brother who is a Yankee fan texted with those very words earlier today,
Sweep, Battlin Bucs, Priester dominating with good velo and whiffs... all very nice!! Now if Falter can be replaced, that'd be fantastic.
Interesting minor league note:
Priester's best fastballs in Indy's game today were 96.4, 96.1 and 95.6 mph. All for swinging strikes. All with good vertical break.
For a guy who's earned a bit of a rep as a soft tosser with an unconvincing fastball, this is good.
Bonus: NickGon went 2/5, 2 runs, 2 doubles. OPS now 1.133
Peggy also managed a double, 1/5, RBI.
The only hit was a dribbler down the 3rd base line that the 3rd baseman had no play on so he let it roll hoping it would go foul. It didn't. The run was driven in with Peralta on the mound but of course Preister was charged with it as I believe he walked the guy before Peralta took over. I thought he looked real confident on the mound, like Jared Jones did yesterday.
Early in his career, Register could dial it up to the high-90s. He had his curveball since high-school. He seemed poised for great things.
PREISTER
Isn't auto-spellcheck great?
Yes. It often fails to correct my mistakes and turns correctly spelled words into nonsense.
I don’t care who they were playing, this was a flat out impressive performance by the bullpen. And they did it with two of their A relievers on the DL. I think today the line was 6 innings, two hits, one run, no walks (!), and eight strikeouts. It’s just one series, but they appear finally to have the depth in the bullpen to stand up to the grind of 162 games (and the grind of not having starters who routinely pitch into the late innings).
No jinx, No jinx, No jinx, lol.
More weird stuff.
Bednar and Chapman have zero saves, one less than a guy who's now in Indy. Fleming and Stratton have two, one more than they had combined in the majors before this year.
Baseball never disappoints.
Grades:
Offense: ND. Miami's pitching is dinged up. So, we will need to see if the team can sustain this production going forward.
Starting Pitching; C÷ Perez and Jones were good. Jones was very good until the end. Keller and Falter were regrettable. If Miami had healthy starters...
Relief Pitching: A+ The relievers were nearly perfect the whole series. It's the strength of the team right now.
Fielding: D- Even Hayes had errors.
Running: D- TOOTBLAN anyone.
I'm looking forward to the Skenes and Priester promotions and, perhaps, Ortiz returning to the rotation. I'm optimistic.
Wins -4
Losses -0
After reading your review, one would think it’s the exact opposite.
I didn’t get that at all. Seemed like a sober assessment of the series to me. 🤷🏻♂️
Out of 5 categories, he gave a C, 2 D’s, and a no decision even when they went 4-0 on the road. Sorry, but this has all the makings of a review by someone who is biased against the Pirates. He has a long history of making negative comments towards the team.
Raise it!
This offense man. Just doing everything right early this season.
The only “concerns” thus far have been the starting pitching and some shaky infield defense at times, but can’t complain too much when you’re 4-0.
On to Washington!
My concern with the starting pitching is that there isn't enough of it. When Bailey Falter is your #5 SP, you're already asking for trouble when the injuries eventually come.
Falter is a seat filler until German/Lauer are stretched out. I also keep hearing Skenes is expected to be up sooner rather than later. I have zero issue with Falter being AAA depth. I also wouldn’t rule out Ro/Ortiz making a return to the rotation at some point should injuries/lack of performance occur.
Falter is proof that we're not quite yet done with the rebuild. Close, but not there yet. Oof. Hopefully Priester and Skenes keep doing well and make this all simple.
Been out for a while and catching up. I see Quinn had a day.
It's worth remembering it's against AAA hitters plus 3 washed up MLB vets Ford, Wynns, EGon.
Okay so just for clarity. When Skenes dominates at Indy like he did for 4 innings yesterday, he’s a superstar. When Priester dominates at Indy the way he did today for 5.2 innings, you have to remember it’s only AAA hitters? Is that about right?
Priester has the ability to be a major league starter, he just needs to figure out his method and consistency. Skenes has the ability to be a major league ace, he just needs to get used to a professional schedule and fine tune his repertoire and sequence. They're where they need to be, both might be better than what we are currently seeing at the mlb level but as long as they're working to their optimal mlb ceilings, I'm with ya on seeing the positive of their current performances.
Well said.
Priester has to find a way to convince MLB hitters to buy on his curveball.
I like what I've seen with Priester. But given his velo and stuff, he's always going to have to be a savvier SP than most. By the numbers, he should have won the last SP slot over Falter.
Yep, method and consistency.
That's right! You got it Doc. It's a huge step up to getting MLB hitters out vs AAA. Skenes has the arm, and mental fortitude from all accounts of his past and present coaches. Priester isn't in the same class in either category.
So IOW, what Priester actually does, doesn't count, because you've already decided he sucks.
Didn't say he sucked. He has a helluva curve ball. He admitted he had to change his mental approach over the winter.
Still remains to be seen if he can be a #4 or #5.
Is there any baseball universe where he shouldn't already be the #5 over Falter?
Not sure that's much worse than the Marlins' lineup that got six off Falter.
Huh? Marlins have some very good hitters. Their gonna score A lot of runs. Just go down their lineup......
They were 26th in runs last year, four spots below the Pirates, and haven't added much.
They added Burger (30+ HRs) and Anderson, former All star if he can find his way back........sort of like a Bellinger. Their offense is not their problem.
To be fair, Josh Bell has more power than anyone Priester faced.
Davis "pitch-framing" was excellent by the way. Stole several strikes in crucial situations.
Lol... how dumb am I. It was Delay catching. Well.. both names begin with D... so it is easy for an old man to be confused.
The Pirates are to MLB to what UConn is to college basketball! OK, OK, I've had too much coffee today.
Now I know why Falter started: strategery.
Falter started because Quinn Priester has options and Falter doesn't. It was a purely roster construction issue that'll iron out soon enough when the injury bug arrives.
Should just sign Bauer and then mid June we have Keller, Skenes, Jones, Bauer and German. Who doesn't see a playoff run with those 5? Not a fan of Gonzales or Falter. Perez can be good depth as is Priester. Priester could be up when we lose Bauer next year.
It’s all about depth, we’ll probably use about a dozen starters this year. I’d prefer they bite on Clevinger, but he also comes with some baggage.
162-0 until they ain’t!
WHAT A SERIES!!!
#RaiseIt
Love the call Brownie! Sweep!
Stratton painting out there!