255 Comments

Just saw the Braves bring in a relief pitcher named Jesse Chavez, lol. Ahh, memories!

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OMG it was THAT Jesse Chavez.

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Yep, that 40 year old guy who if I remember right made his mlb debut in 2008 with the Pirates, lol.

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May 18Edited

I saw him pitch at Three Rivers. Or at least it seems like it.

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He actually was a good asset during the three years the Pirates were winning under the direction of Shelton's step-dad Clint Hurdle whose post game comments seem etched in Derek's psyche!

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It be nice if Bubba can start to harness his control and command, starting tonight.

Well Bubba pitched 2/3 of an inning, 0 hits 5 earned 5 walks 1 strike out.

Reliever gave up a grand slam.

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10 straight balls to start.

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I actually am glad he can see some of that adversity

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2 innings into the replay and it’s like Skenes is a high school senior pitching to little league players.

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Had the same reaction. The hitters had no chance. With his splinker they can’t sit on the fastball. Everyone was late. Not sure I’ve ever seen major league hitters swing so consistently late on fastballs. It was an awesome sight.

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Bats have been slowly picking it up over the last week or so. Just in time for the bullpen to get shaky. Life as a pirate fan.

Only caught the highlights from today, but Skenes looked dominant. Nice to see the bottom of the lineup contributing for a change. Got a tough one tomorrow. Taking at least 3 out of 4 against the Cubs would be a step in the right direction.

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I'm sad that I missed this one.

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Yep. I was at half the FCL game, but spent the rest of the day on yard stuff and errands, all unavoidable.

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I give the kid credit because he never once looked frustrated or showed the umpire up when he was getting all those bad calls. I found that very impressive for a kid his age. I just got done watching a replay of his seven straight strikeouts and he actually had to throw several extra pitches before he even got to that ten pitch at bat against Busch in the second inning where he threw six extra pitches after he had him looking on another strike the ump missed. I'm very glad he's a Pirate but I would have enjoyed watching that performance by any 21 year old in mlb.

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Pirates employ a Pitcher by the name of Paul Skenes, AKA, Maverick. But in actuality he’s an AI version of Nolan Ryan!

For those of you too young to remember Ryan, take a good look, Skenes is as close as you’ll likely ever get.

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But we probably should remember that Nolan Ryan was not a dominant pitcher until age 25.

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No disrespect to Ryan, but the better comp is Roger Clemens. The body type, the bulldog unflappable competitor, throwing the hard stuff with the lower body legs coming at the batter.....aka Skenes.

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Skenes is no Clemens until he throws a bat splinter at some guy for no good reason at all.

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Balogna, Nolan Ryan's fastball had WAY better shape.

;)

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Skenes has more pitches and a little better command lol

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And he also could kick Robin Ventura's ass

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That was epic.

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Yeah... Skenes isn't legit until he pummels some rando charging the mound.

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I'm sure he had a little bit of hand on hand combat training at the Air Force Academy. Pretty sure it required for students trying to be fighter pilots.

He's probably really good at that as well lol.

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raise it!

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Just find a way to win one more over the weekend.

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We get to see Imanaga tomorrow. This series is really a showcase of All-Star caliber pitching. Best pitching in baseball this weekend.

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Let's hope ACE Mitch shows up tomorrow.

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He's going Sunday I think.

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Booyah!!! #21 down and 116 to go!! Raise it!!!!!

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If I was Clearasil, I'd be signing Skenes with Livvy to seven figure ad campaign. Do these companies even know what they could have?

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ive popped every pimple ive ever had

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Skenes is watching a replay of how his own pen can blow a huge lead! I don't think we can be successful with 4 rookies down there.

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Lol thought for a minute we could get through a game without any clown show, and yet...

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Maybe burning through all our pitching depth without options to jam Mlodzinski, who has options, into the bullpen wasn't such a great idea.

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BC is really approaching Littlefield territory as a GM.

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Rider has options too, right? I mean what is the compelling case for Ryan Rider that you dump two of your depth relievers to have him in the bullpen. I just don't get it.... none of it.

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Yep

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I met some person getting a library card with the last name Littlefield the other day. I cringed a little. Then thought grow up dude.

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Why would think that?

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Brought back memories of Dave seeing the last name. So i said to myself, "self, get over Dave Littlefield ruining a chunk of your Pirate fandom years". And I've felt better since.

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Jesus h., what's with this bullpen. Up 8 and walking guys?

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The bullpen is largely not comprised of major league pitchers. Last week they walk in 6 runs in one inning (with 2 outs). Today, even a 9 run lead in the 8th inning is not safe.

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Fans here are going nuts like they took the lead.

Lee Elia was right

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He was pitching like garbage in AAA, but they couldn't get Contreras and Fleming out of here fast enough to bring him up.

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No one else gonna say it? CUTCH!

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