Admittedly it was against the Rockies, but Priester went seven innings of one hit ball tonight with 11 strikeouts. That is not the Quinn Priester that I remember.
Replaced his 4-seamer with a cutter. Works the cutter up in the zone to lefties to set up the curve and works his sinker in the lower middle of the zone to work with his curve. Improved his slider a little to get a touch more drop in it. Lives a little dangerously with the sinker, but he has been getting away with it. 94 %ile in groundball percentage.
He figured out a way to pitch without a 4-seam fastball to set up his curve by using a cutter instead: basically the most obvious route.
BC has a habit of acquiring prospects who’ve seemingly had breakout seasons, then quickly losing interest in them in favor of some sub-replacement veteran.
He seemed to have gotten it straightened out some. All the walks and I think all but one of the hits came in the first 1.1 IP. Of course, the pitch count was way high by then.
It's obvious Kelly manages this team differently than Shelton. The lineup changes, the way he handles his pitchers, his emphasis on manufacturing runs....it's great to see. Get him more hitting talent.
Also have to say that the Bednar revival is impressive. Most elite closers don’t falloff completely and then come back to elite form. Let alone in a relatively short period of time while on the same team in a season where you start off terrible and get demoted to the minors. Can’t remember it happening ever honestly
His arb for next year (Arb 3) is probably in the $7.5-$8 range. He doesn't offer much in the way of surplus value. It has to be all about right now to the team acquiring him, which is not going to return a power bat from the MLB team. I'd think a power AA bat and one other piece is what we're gonna get at best. Keller could net the power bat we need.
He has value because he is a top reliever, and those guys are always in demand for teams bound to the post-season. Would help a little if he were a lefty, but right now, Bednar is about as good as it gets for trade targets for the back of the bullpen.
That says more about the team's failure to develop hitting talent than it does about Cruz. The primary problem there is that the team isn't slump-proof because everyone has to be hitting for them to look good. They lack the necessary depth to insulate them when guys like Cruz or Reynolds slump or a dude like Gonzales is injured (since NickGon so far hasn't been peculiarly slumpy).
Does it? Cruz goes on 2 month long 69 wRC+ misadventures while also giving away 5 games in that stretch on defense and it's a depth issue and has nothing to do with Cruz?
The thing I love with GMNH's trades is that the ones that should've been like rounding errors are the best ones. the Watson trade was a pretty win-now trade for the Dodgers so I don't want to slap it down to too much. But there was also the McCutchen trade.
Then the big-big trades like the Cole trade were the ones you look at and go, "Oh . . ."
I've long figured that the Pirates were doing the 76ers rebuild (hopefully with better final results) in the sense that the folks who started were all going to be nuked before it came to fruition.
The only things that make me think GMBC has a snowball's chances in hell of coming back are:
1) Bob
2) Konnor Griffin
If Bob looks at Konoor Griffin as a potential Mike Trout type performer, that might buy GMBC a year to at least get the kid to the majors.
6.5 fWAR and counting is pretty derned good return for a rental reliever.
Yeah, Cruz is in a slump and needs to figure some things out. It happens to everyone. But 6.5 WAR would be a great return even if that's all the Pirates ever got.
Per the AP article on Parker’s death: after his Hall of Fame selection, he was quoted as saying “I never trotted to first base.” Amen to that.
Admittedly it was against the Rockies, but Priester went seven innings of one hit ball tonight with 11 strikeouts. That is not the Quinn Priester that I remember.
Wonder what he is doing differently or better?
Replaced his 4-seamer with a cutter. Works the cutter up in the zone to lefties to set up the curve and works his sinker in the lower middle of the zone to work with his curve. Improved his slider a little to get a touch more drop in it. Lives a little dangerously with the sinker, but he has been getting away with it. 94 %ile in groundball percentage.
He figured out a way to pitch without a 4-seam fastball to set up his curve by using a cutter instead: basically the most obvious route.
Yeah, but Nick Yorke is hitting .276 in AAA.
Makes you wonder how that trade actually materialized.
BC has a habit of acquiring prospects who’ve seemingly had breakout seasons, then quickly losing interest in them in favor of some sub-replacement veteran.
Bubba 3.1 IP, 3 hits, 4 walks, 6 strike outs and only 1 run. Someone needs to send him to see Nolan Ryan to learn how to harness that horsepower.
https://x.com/MLBPipeline/status/1939126829836915193
He seemed to have gotten it straightened out some. All the walks and I think all but one of the hits came in the first 1.1 IP. Of course, the pitch count was way high by then.
Won't be Moreta tomorrow. He threw two innings today. Six up six down, four Ks.
Hayes is batting .296 in his last 15 games. I feel like this is the deepest he’s been into a major league season without a trip to the IL.
Termarr and Gourson with 3 hits each for the curve.
Nice outing for Harbin. So far in AA, he's faced nine batters, retired them all, six on strikes.
Great start in Altoona. I saw him in Greensboro earlier this year, and he was sharp
It's obvious Kelly manages this team differently than Shelton. The lineup changes, the way he handles his pitchers, his emphasis on manufacturing runs....it's great to see. Get him more hitting talent.
Shelton would have needed 47 relievers to get through today. He’d have been panicked about tomorrow.
Kelly’s gotten max value from Santana.
In other words, Kelly is awake during the games.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 yes!!!
Bednar is straight nasty lately.
We appear to have entered the twilight zone.
18 runs in 2 games, one HR.3 doubles, 20 singles, 10 walks.
That's fun, but somehow does not seem sustainable.
It's not. They need to figure out a way to make a trade for more power. I do think Cruz will come around, but this lineup needs more.
BOOYAH!!!!! Bucs clinch the series against the Mets!!! In the words of Marshal Nathan Van Cleef, “How rhe hell did that happen?” Raise it!!!!
Jeesh, BC should’ve said he still believes in the offense about 2.5 months ago.
Big hat tip to Santana, Ferguson, and Bednar. 4 2/3 innings of lights out relief pitching.
The Pirates have returned to their natural habitat: 16 games below .500.
The series is ours! Raise it!!!!
Also have to say that the Bednar revival is impressive. Most elite closers don’t falloff completely and then come back to elite form. Let alone in a relatively short period of time while on the same team in a season where you start off terrible and get demoted to the minors. Can’t remember it happening ever honestly
Well, folks kept saying his stuff was still there. No idea what was happening, but suddenly, yeah, he's elite again.
The Statcast data isn't quite at 2023 level, but it IS at 2022 level.
I want to go on record as officially being opposed to any trade of Bednar that is not a gross overpay.
I'm confident we can rely on Cherington to overpay.
His arb for next year (Arb 3) is probably in the $7.5-$8 range. He doesn't offer much in the way of surplus value. It has to be all about right now to the team acquiring him, which is not going to return a power bat from the MLB team. I'd think a power AA bat and one other piece is what we're gonna get at best. Keller could net the power bat we need.
He has value because he is a top reliever, and those guys are always in demand for teams bound to the post-season. Would help a little if he were a lefty, but right now, Bednar is about as good as it gets for trade targets for the back of the bullpen.
The question is: is it impressive enough to get a real overpay from a contender? Is there a Tony Watson trade lurking out there?
We're kvetching about the guy who we got from the Tony Watson trade almost nightly here. Let's not do that one again.
That says more about the team's failure to develop hitting talent than it does about Cruz. The primary problem there is that the team isn't slump-proof because everyone has to be hitting for them to look good. They lack the necessary depth to insulate them when guys like Cruz or Reynolds slump or a dude like Gonzales is injured (since NickGon so far hasn't been peculiarly slumpy).
Does it? Cruz goes on 2 month long 69 wRC+ misadventures while also giving away 5 games in that stretch on defense and it's a depth issue and has nothing to do with Cruz?
Unfortunately NH is no longer in charge so I doubt it.
The thing I love with GMNH's trades is that the ones that should've been like rounding errors are the best ones. the Watson trade was a pretty win-now trade for the Dodgers so I don't want to slap it down to too much. But there was also the McCutchen trade.
Then the big-big trades like the Cole trade were the ones you look at and go, "Oh . . ."
I believe this trading period will seal BC's fate one way or the other.
I've long figured that the Pirates were doing the 76ers rebuild (hopefully with better final results) in the sense that the folks who started were all going to be nuked before it came to fruition.
The only things that make me think GMBC has a snowball's chances in hell of coming back are:
1) Bob
2) Konnor Griffin
If Bob looks at Konoor Griffin as a potential Mike Trout type performer, that might buy GMBC a year to at least get the kid to the majors.
In regards to Griffin I think he's BC proof. Nothing is going to stop this guy.
Bay too
Coming or going? There's a lot to parse there.
NH's Bay trade was worse than his Cole trade
That Watson trade is looking worse by the day.
6.5 fWAR and counting is pretty derned good return for a rental reliever.
Yeah, Cruz is in a slump and needs to figure some things out. It happens to everyone. But 6.5 WAR would be a great return even if that's all the Pirates ever got.
Slumps don't usually go April to end of June.
Oneil apparently heard you today.
I won't hold my breath that he'll hear me again tomorrow.
Fair points. But it's still looking worse by the day.
The sad sorrowful faces of the Mets scum who invaded PNC have me smiling like the Butcher’s Dog (credit the one and only Mike Lange)
So they didn't know whether to cry or wind their watch?
I'd like to thank them for their revenue.