For all the prospect talk surrounding Griffin, it's worth taking a minute to look at Esmerlyn Valdez and Will Taylor doing good things at that level. Valdez has had a wRC+ of 100 or higher at every level, a profile that has good odds of making the majors. Taylor already looks like he might have more pop than people expected, too.
It would be hilarious if the hitting in the system finally arrived after Cherington got canned.
SKENES, Keller, Falter,Harrington,Burrows, Chandler, Ashcraft. Then add in Barco, Johan Oviedo, JJones, maybe even Mlod. This is how we’re going to get our hitters. At least that’s my pipe dream
So the way I look at it we’re gonna have about 9 to 11 quality pictures next year. We need at least 2 outfielders, 1 3rd basemen , and one middle infielder that plays above average. These are gonna be young players who are still cheap. Heaney will be traded but by himself isn’t bringing back a good hitter. ,
I think Ben was all over that. If we had Devers, Ben would probably have use trade Devers to any team that would take him and his contract, even if we had to throw in Griffin, Bubba and Pham.
Told the wife we were going to Rome for Fathers Day. She wasn't as happy after I packed her bags but I headed north to Rome, GA instead of south to the airport. So I have a Grasshopper update typed under duress. ONE GAME so this is more of a memory dump and not the thorough reviews you get from the smarter crew on this board.
Griffin AB's. 1) Walked without seeing much to hit 2) popout reaching for some type of off speed pitch 3) hit a bomb!!! 4) fooled again on spinner and reached on fielders choice. All other ABs really don't count as Rome pitched a position player tossing in the 40s and 50s.
We only stayed for one inning of the comedy show with the positional player pitching so I missed the Rivas and Valdez homers but they really don't 'count' as it was just ugly at that point.
Other quick takes, Rivas did not look good against real pitchers but Valdez did. Alfonzo looked good once but bat looked slow (late) in another. Taylor squared one up and looked the part of a ballplayer (I had a similar one game review for Triolo years ago). Castillo layed down a sweet bunt basehit down the third base line.
On the hill Kelly went from looking really good to falling behind batters and giving up some hard hit balls. It was truly a batter to batter thing. He hit 97 but I saw mostly 95 or 94 on the fastballs. I didn't sit where I could see other pitches but I could see where he has potential. Only other pitcher I saw was Walsh and he was quick and efficient. He was mostly 93 or so but batters seemed to make him look faster.
If anybody was following online I was the guy in the black Clemente shirt wearing recent Cataract surgery babe magnet black wrap around sunglasses. We moved around some but were behind home plate for about an inning but mostly behind the home dugout.
One of the first times I remember being disappointed in Kelly’s refusal to be aggressive on the basepaths. The cubs were able to manufacture all their runs with stolen bases in the 1st and 10th inning. Yet the Pirates get on and insist on going back to Shelton ball station to station with no imagination and double plays abound. Go down being aggressive because it’s obvious they cannot hit a lick
If they only had a few hitters they would have swept the Cruds. Instead three losses. I bet if the pirates could score four or five runs a game they would be leading the division instead of looking up from the bottom.
That’s 18 out of 73 games that have been one-run games with fewer than five total runs scored. It’s beyond belief how bad this offense is. The Cubs score nine runs the entire series and still win three out of four. How and when is this going to end?
It ends when they get a new GM that makes the right decisions to improve the offense. The guy should have been fired with Shelton. Nutting is risk averse to a fault. He worries that firing the GM now would cause people in the front office to be less productive for the rest of the season. Instead he should be worried about allowing a failing GM to make important decisions regarding the draft and trade deadline. His own indecisiveness is wasting a year or more of Skenes, Cruz, Reynolds, Keller, Ashcraft, Burrow....
I said prior to game one that I didn't care what the record was after this series. I just wanted to see this team play competitive baseball. They did just that. I'm not going to fault these players for their limitations. Instead I'll applaud them for playing hard and for playing solid baseball against a more talented team. Kelly can only do so much.....
For all the prospect talk surrounding Griffin, it's worth taking a minute to look at Esmerlyn Valdez and Will Taylor doing good things at that level. Valdez has had a wRC+ of 100 or higher at every level, a profile that has good odds of making the majors. Taylor already looks like he might have more pop than people expected, too.
It would be hilarious if the hitting in the system finally arrived after Cherington got canned.
Here’s something interesting — a couple weeks ago, Valdez had a huge H/R split. Now he has almost none. Always a concern with the Hoppers.
SKENES, Keller, Falter,Harrington,Burrows, Chandler, Ashcraft. Then add in Barco, Johan Oviedo, JJones, maybe even Mlod. This is how we’re going to get our hitters. At least that’s my pipe dream
Heaney could be used as part of a three team deal to help sweeten the pot for a hitter.
Shouldn't be a pipe dream at all if they had a competent organization.
So the way I look at it we’re gonna have about 9 to 11 quality pictures next year. We need at least 2 outfielders, 1 3rd basemen , and one middle infielder that plays above average. These are gonna be young players who are still cheap. Heaney will be traded but by himself isn’t bringing back a good hitter. ,
sources saying Harrington is heading to Boston for Chapman
Why? Aroldis is a pitcher who only makes sense on a contender. We are, decidedly and sadly, not that.
Tell your sources we decline their offer.
The Bucs should have been in on this Devers chap who just got traded.
I think Ben was all over that. If we had Devers, Ben would probably have use trade Devers to any team that would take him and his contract, even if we had to throw in Griffin, Bubba and Pham.
Big trade, Boston sends Devers to San Francisco for Hicks, Harrison and others.
Now there's a team (Giants) with some balls.
Don’t they know you can’t make trades now?
BC is calling them now to enter his complaint.
Told the wife we were going to Rome for Fathers Day. She wasn't as happy after I packed her bags but I headed north to Rome, GA instead of south to the airport. So I have a Grasshopper update typed under duress. ONE GAME so this is more of a memory dump and not the thorough reviews you get from the smarter crew on this board.
Griffin AB's. 1) Walked without seeing much to hit 2) popout reaching for some type of off speed pitch 3) hit a bomb!!! 4) fooled again on spinner and reached on fielders choice. All other ABs really don't count as Rome pitched a position player tossing in the 40s and 50s.
We only stayed for one inning of the comedy show with the positional player pitching so I missed the Rivas and Valdez homers but they really don't 'count' as it was just ugly at that point.
Other quick takes, Rivas did not look good against real pitchers but Valdez did. Alfonzo looked good once but bat looked slow (late) in another. Taylor squared one up and looked the part of a ballplayer (I had a similar one game review for Triolo years ago). Castillo layed down a sweet bunt basehit down the third base line.
On the hill Kelly went from looking really good to falling behind batters and giving up some hard hit balls. It was truly a batter to batter thing. He hit 97 but I saw mostly 95 or 94 on the fastballs. I didn't sit where I could see other pitches but I could see where he has potential. Only other pitcher I saw was Walsh and he was quick and efficient. He was mostly 93 or so but batters seemed to make him look faster.
If anybody was following online I was the guy in the black Clemente shirt wearing recent Cataract surgery babe magnet black wrap around sunglasses. We moved around some but were behind home plate for about an inning but mostly behind the home dugout.
Hot take: Konnor Griffin added to this roster, and they’re a playoff contender.
Need 2 corner infielders who can hit for power.
You don't feel Tommy Pham fills one of those holes? /s
(I'll see myself out.)
Need 3 or 4 of him.
I said it was a hot take.
One of the first times I remember being disappointed in Kelly’s refusal to be aggressive on the basepaths. The cubs were able to manufacture all their runs with stolen bases in the 1st and 10th inning. Yet the Pirates get on and insist on going back to Shelton ball station to station with no imagination and double plays abound. Go down being aggressive because it’s obvious they cannot hit a lick
If they only had a few hitters they would have swept the Cruds. Instead three losses. I bet if the pirates could score four or five runs a game they would be leading the division instead of looking up from the bottom.
If we had some hitting this team would be a legit contender.
That’s 18 out of 73 games that have been one-run games with fewer than five total runs scored. It’s beyond belief how bad this offense is. The Cubs score nine runs the entire series and still win three out of four. How and when is this going to end?
The how is Konnor Griffin. The when is 2026!
The problem is if this org lets Griffin play in 2026, it's going to be a cup of coffee at the end of the season.
Don’t you mean 2025?
It ends when they get a new GM that makes the right decisions to improve the offense. The guy should have been fired with Shelton. Nutting is risk averse to a fault. He worries that firing the GM now would cause people in the front office to be less productive for the rest of the season. Instead he should be worried about allowing a failing GM to make important decisions regarding the draft and trade deadline. His own indecisiveness is wasting a year or more of Skenes, Cruz, Reynolds, Keller, Ashcraft, Burrow....
Agree 100%
The Cheringtons now rank dead last in MLB in runs.
They look at it as leading the league in least runs scored.
4 competitive, well pitched games, but losing 3 of them. Very much on brand for this team.
Again highlights the uniquely unbalanced roster BC has put together. And this was the year we were going to be competitive???? Goodness.
The hard part has been done (putting together a pitching staff). Now opening the wallet for hitters I guess was never part of the plan.
I said prior to game one that I didn't care what the record was after this series. I just wanted to see this team play competitive baseball. They did just that. I'm not going to fault these players for their limitations. Instead I'll applaud them for playing hard and for playing solid baseball against a more talented team. Kelly can only do so much.....
Of course it was Happ
Quite possibly the greatest Pirate killer of all time. The fact that he is from Mt. Lebanon intensifies every freakin’ thing he does against us.
That was a mistake pitch given the 0-2 count.
Less than optimistic here
Cmon here IKF need a knock
Missed by inches
Nice play by Hoerner, thought we had one there