Probably a long shot but my hope is this could sort of be a 1987 season where we finish under 500 but finish strong with some young guys like Davis and perhaps Chandler establishing themselves as key pieces for future.
I know that Cherington is the biggest problem but I also think Shelton was a huge problem in and of himself. I'm not arguing Kelly is perfect but I believe Shelton was terrible handling young , unproven players. I also think he was a terrible leader who failed to ever take responsibility for anything of consequence .
With Shelton, it always seemed like there was some agenda driving things that had nothing to do with winning games. Like playing crappy veterans regularly no matter what it meant for the chances of winning. I doubt Canario, in particular, would ever have gotten a real shot. Under Shelton, who was manager for 38 games, he was 5-for-41. Under Kelly, 19 games, he's 21-for-67.
Hopefully, this is the beginning of the Hankening.
Worth adding that according to Baseball Savant, Hank is severely underperforming compared to his xwOBA and xSLG. His xwOBA currently is .359 and his xSLG is .466. Savant thinks he should be an .800 OPS guy right now.
Notably, his registered launch angle is much improves at 24.1, which is probably why Savant thinks he should he doing much better, but his hard hit rate isn't great. Also, his K rate is way down (36.9 last year to 15.8) If he puts that together . . . Hank could surprise.
The most interesting thing Savant is showing with Hank is he appears to be making contact deeper in the zone, an old-school approach meant to limit Ks and not the most popular these days.
It's likely limiting his power, but if he ends up being an average-to-above-average offensive catcher, maintains his current defense quality, and keeps improving as a framer/game caller, no one is going to care if he ends up limiting his HR upside to 10 to 15 HRs a year.
Improbable series win given we were down 6-0 mid game yesterday. Love the easy win. If any fanbase earned that it was us! Sorry Rockies and White Sox, you know it’s true.
Kelly is now 9-10. I'd like to get excited about that, but that's pretty much exactly what Shelton did the past two years. 9-10 over 162 projects to 76.8 wins.
There is only so much a manager can do! The roster is limited. If and when Nicky G comes back and hits a bit that will lengthen their lineup another spot. Not sure you can expect this bullpen to be super reliable. I can see a stronger, but still limited, lineup and starting pitching helping us climb close to .500. The dream scenario would involve Davis and Canario emerging as legitimate starting level players. Hayes would have to get up around .700 OPS and people would need to stay healthy. Of course Reynolds would need to continue his recent hitting. A lot needs to go right for the next 4 months even to be interesting…
I'm not going to get into detail, but let's remember that last year on Aug 2, the Bucs were 4 or 5 games over .500. While the hitting stayed just about where they'd been all season, the pitching from 8/2-October was a full run worse than they'd been the first 4+ months of the season. I think Shelton had a ton to do with that.
I'm also not sold on Nicky G being much more than a small increment better than Frazier, who's exceeding expectations. I'd actually rather see Yorke as I believe he has more upside. Hayes does need to start hitting. Hopefully Horwitz is as advertised. Chandler should be up in a couple weeks after Super2. This could be roughly a .500 team from here on out. I would also claim that it would be several games under .500 from here on out if Shelton was still in the dugout.
I’m counting on Reynolds to rebound (catch fire in June), Horwitz to give professional at bats, Cutch to plug along and Cruz to continue to develop to the point of being an absolute menace.
If Davis can develop into a middle of the order bat, that will change the entire outlook of this lineup and allow you to play Hayes at 3B because you’re making up for his bat at the C position. You hope/expect to get contributions from Gonzales, Bart, maybe Endy, but Davis is the key, especially given he looks far superior behind the plate compared to Bart. (Bart also needs a first baseman’s mitt to see if he can fake it and play against lefties, but I digress…).
Definitely! Bring on some good baseball. Even though contention seems beyond a dream at this point, I could see this season being the reverse of last season: terrible start, strong finish.
I would rather it be Wentz. I know he pitched 2 good innings yesterday after letting in 5 runs, but Rainey's stuff seems better, and Ferguson and Borucki have the lefty-lefty thing covered. I heard on NS9 that Wentz now has allowed 14 of 17 inherited runners to score. The man is a scourge on the ERA of the entire staff.
I'm not reading anything into this, but while the entire Indians team is wearing helmets with the Indy logo, Nicky G is wearing his Pirates helmet.
He's on rehab, as long as he's on the roster he can wear it. If optioned they can't.
I never knew that! Learn something new everyday.
I too had never heard that.
Probably a long shot but my hope is this could sort of be a 1987 season where we finish under 500 but finish strong with some young guys like Davis and perhaps Chandler establishing themselves as key pieces for future.
I know that Cherington is the biggest problem but I also think Shelton was a huge problem in and of himself. I'm not arguing Kelly is perfect but I believe Shelton was terrible handling young , unproven players. I also think he was a terrible leader who failed to ever take responsibility for anything of consequence .
With Shelton, it always seemed like there was some agenda driving things that had nothing to do with winning games. Like playing crappy veterans regularly no matter what it meant for the chances of winning. I doubt Canario, in particular, would ever have gotten a real shot. Under Shelton, who was manager for 38 games, he was 5-for-41. Under Kelly, 19 games, he's 21-for-67.
Griffin walks again
https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-s-top-200-draft-prospects-for-2025
Sounds like the industry is big on your boy.
Stole 2nd, went to 3rd on a throwing error, scored on a sacrifice fly.
Added a double and a single.
The bucs have one of the leagues best offenses over the last 48 hours #statistics
Hopefully, this is the beginning of the Hankening.
Worth adding that according to Baseball Savant, Hank is severely underperforming compared to his xwOBA and xSLG. His xwOBA currently is .359 and his xSLG is .466. Savant thinks he should be an .800 OPS guy right now.
Notably, his registered launch angle is much improves at 24.1, which is probably why Savant thinks he should he doing much better, but his hard hit rate isn't great. Also, his K rate is way down (36.9 last year to 15.8) If he puts that together . . . Hank could surprise.
All small sample size warnings apply, tho.
Hanks for the warning.
I’ll keep voting for my own Hanksgiving, but our sentiments are the same.
I just looked at Savant yesterday and was surprised. There apparently was something to it with Canario. Hopefully Hank, too.
The most interesting thing Savant is showing with Hank is he appears to be making contact deeper in the zone, an old-school approach meant to limit Ks and not the most popular these days.
It's likely limiting his power, but if he ends up being an average-to-above-average offensive catcher, maintains his current defense quality, and keeps improving as a framer/game caller, no one is going to care if he ends up limiting his HR upside to 10 to 15 HRs a year.
Six series under Kelly and we’ve won three, split one, and lost two. All decent teams too. In all but one of those series, we lost the first game.
Booyah!!!! 2 in a row and another series win! Having some offense is fun 😁😁. Raise it!!!
Improbable series win given we were down 6-0 mid game yesterday. Love the easy win. If any fanbase earned that it was us! Sorry Rockies and White Sox, you know it’s true.
Best series win so far!
And how nice of MLB to schedule the Pirates for an off day in SoCal for Skenes’ birthday. Even better now that he got the W!
I think it is quite possible that if Skenes played on the Dodgers he might have yet to lose a big league game.
15 more in a row and they are back to
.500
In time for the draft. Easy peazy.
Kelly is now 9-10. I'd like to get excited about that, but that's pretty much exactly what Shelton did the past two years. 9-10 over 162 projects to 76.8 wins.
That’s a full ten games better than Shelton’s winning percentage of .410 (which is 66 games over a full season). They’re playing decent ball, man.
But you have to admit, it would be hilarious if the team caught fire under Kelly in a way that was never possible under Sheltie.
There is only so much a manager can do! The roster is limited. If and when Nicky G comes back and hits a bit that will lengthen their lineup another spot. Not sure you can expect this bullpen to be super reliable. I can see a stronger, but still limited, lineup and starting pitching helping us climb close to .500. The dream scenario would involve Davis and Canario emerging as legitimate starting level players. Hayes would have to get up around .700 OPS and people would need to stay healthy. Of course Reynolds would need to continue his recent hitting. A lot needs to go right for the next 4 months even to be interesting…
I'm not going to get into detail, but let's remember that last year on Aug 2, the Bucs were 4 or 5 games over .500. While the hitting stayed just about where they'd been all season, the pitching from 8/2-October was a full run worse than they'd been the first 4+ months of the season. I think Shelton had a ton to do with that.
I'm also not sold on Nicky G being much more than a small increment better than Frazier, who's exceeding expectations. I'd actually rather see Yorke as I believe he has more upside. Hayes does need to start hitting. Hopefully Horwitz is as advertised. Chandler should be up in a couple weeks after Super2. This could be roughly a .500 team from here on out. I would also claim that it would be several games under .500 from here on out if Shelton was still in the dugout.
I’m counting on Reynolds to rebound (catch fire in June), Horwitz to give professional at bats, Cutch to plug along and Cruz to continue to develop to the point of being an absolute menace.
If Davis can develop into a middle of the order bat, that will change the entire outlook of this lineup and allow you to play Hayes at 3B because you’re making up for his bat at the C position. You hope/expect to get contributions from Gonzales, Bart, maybe Endy, but Davis is the key, especially given he looks far superior behind the plate compared to Bart. (Bart also needs a first baseman’s mitt to see if he can fake it and play against lefties, but I digress…).
At least they have been watchable during Kelley's tenure thus far. There were long stretches under Shelton where they were not.
Big, big hole….
No shit. The season is cooked, but we can still enjoy a good stretch of ball with maybe a glimmer of hope, no?
Definitely! Bring on some good baseball. Even though contention seems beyond a dream at this point, I could see this season being the reverse of last season: terrible start, strong finish.
Season is back on my man!
raise it!
Borucki is going through it.
could use a breather on the IL
Gene Lamont can work sunflower seeds like nobody's business. Takes years to master.
Every time they show a shot of him it warms my heart.
Get the feeling that Rainey was getting in a last inning before trading places with Moreta.
I would rather it be Wentz. I know he pitched 2 good innings yesterday after letting in 5 runs, but Rainey's stuff seems better, and Ferguson and Borucki have the lefty-lefty thing covered. I heard on NS9 that Wentz now has allowed 14 of 17 inherited runners to score. The man is a scourge on the ERA of the entire staff.
Oneil has such a sweet swing.
That swing looked different, short upper cut is not what we normally see from him……or maybe I just need glasses….
He kept both hands on the bat.
That’s it. They pitch him in a lot, hopefully that’s an adjustment.
Wondering what a D'backs/Pirates trade would look like to get us a legit bat.
Or they could've just made an effort to sign Naylor as a free agent. Spend some money instead of trading off assets.
Dbacks traded for Naylor. He's a free agent this coming offseason.
Don’t let things like facts get in the way of a good narrative.
That’s not allowed in Nutting World.
Ashcraft and Solometo for Ivan Melendez and Drew Jones