There must have been an injury along the way because he was playing at AA/AAA for the Astro's in 2022, then some games in the FCL? If he can keep his K/BB at less than 2/1 he can be a wild card for the Pirates. Just turned 24 a week or two ago. In 2021 he showed power at A+ Asheville with 11 doubles and 8 triples in less than 100 AB. The same year at AA he had 19 doubles and 8 HR in 280 AB, playing 3B mostly with each team.
Like the get, but just another player blocking the advancement of Jase Bowen, 22, who has hit well and has played all 3 OF positions at A+.
He needed TJS when the Astros drafted him, which they did not view as a problem because they wanted him at thirdbase instead of pitcher. Then, after he recovered from that, he had a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder, so he played almost no professional baseball until 2021. In 2021, he was healthy and rocketed up the Astros system. They considered him as good a hitting prospect as they had in the system. In 2022, he struggled early on with a strained oblique until he finally went on the IL for almost 2 months. He is now finally healthy again and doing the same things in Altoona that he was doing with the Astros when healthy. If he can stay healthy, he is probably the best hitting prospect in the Pirates' system, except for Termarr: that is until the Pirates development team and/or Haines get his ear. I wouldn't worry about him blocking anyone. He is the best the Pirates have (except for Termarr).
He might not be the second best hitter in similar profiles, D Lopez, M Nunez potentially G Forrester are similar with the exception of Forrester being more hit over power. I like the pirates signing Perez and he's performing well but that's a bit high to only have Termarr ahead of him. Let's hope for health for Perez because he might be something as soon as next year. Agree he should be getting time at 1st.
The Astros considered him equal to their top hitting prospects just last year, before he battled an oblique strain most of the year. Since the Pirates do not have a single player on their 26-man roster that they have drafted after 2015 (and only 3 in total, two of which they acquired via trade from other teams: McCutcheon and Joe), there is no reason to assume that he is not among the top prospects in the PIrates system, one which has had far, far fewer successes than the Astros system.
Well, I guess now that you put it THAT way, lol. It’s like a back handed compliment, tho. We have a dearth of hitting prospects. After Termarr, we got zip. Which is why I wanted Crews. But, Skenes is looking like the real deal, so I ‘can live’ with him.
As an aside, the Astros deemed him as a liability at thirdbase owing to a lack of infield range and penchant for throwing errors. He was in the process of moving to the OF when the Pirates acquired him. He will be limited to a corner OF or DH spot, but the real question is why is he not playing 1B? He would fill an immediate need, and if he is healthy, he could actually be the best firstbaseman the Pirates have anywhere in their organization.
I agree 2024 is BC's make or break year. The guys he's acquired during his attempt to rebuild are starting to filter their way to the big leagues. Based on his statements, and murmurs from those who cover the Pirates, this would be that around this time the Pirates would increase payroll. So, in 2024, it's time for BC to ensure the young players develop and show progress and to supplement them with trades for big league contributors/signing of at least mid-tier free agents. A team that has Hayes- Cruz (? hopefully), Peguero, Reynolds, Suwinski, Davis, Endy, Mitch, Oviedo, and this bullpen, plus some pitching at the upper levels you can at least hope is ready to contribute, has enough interesting and talented players to be competitive if reasonable progress from the young guys is made and the addition of some decent FAs/trades.
That said, I don't expect this to happen, but that's a reasonable expectation if the team actually cared about winning. If 2024 is more of prospect regression, stop-gap FAs, replacement level fill-ins during injury, and stretches of not even attempting to be competitive, then it's time to move on. Not that they would most likely.
Just two things: 1. Who’s gonna “break” Cherington? Only Nutting can do that and as long as he’s happy things will never change and 2. Why is Suwinski on that list of keepers?
If you read paragraph 2, I don't expect that BC will do what he should do, or that it will cost him his job if he doesn't. So your question is has already been answered.
Second, he just turned 25 and has an .825 OPS against righties. Further, he has excellent batted ball profile and plate discipline. There's a strong chance he's a good strong-side platoon player, which has use. Finally, if he's not, move on.
I mean of course, but its not like joe perez is likely ever going to be a top prospect for us or probably contribute at the mlb level for that matter, but might as well have a guy whos going to help altoona win rather than the heap of non prospects that are mostly taking playing time
What streaming network is the Bucs on now? Sheesh!
I just checked MiLB.com. It doesn’t say that tonight’s game is free like it did for the Bradenton game.
MILB.com live stream has it as the free game of the day.
Thx. I checked about an hour ago and it wasn’t listed. Now it appears. My life is now better.😁😁
It's my understanding he signed a two year MiL deal, which makes sense given the time he signed.
So, despite being eligible for MiFA, he won't actually make it to the open market this offseason.
‘an added bonus for a front office that emphasizes having as much MINOR LEAGUE depth as possible.’
If only he emphasized major league impact players. Too few and far between.
There must have been an injury along the way because he was playing at AA/AAA for the Astro's in 2022, then some games in the FCL? If he can keep his K/BB at less than 2/1 he can be a wild card for the Pirates. Just turned 24 a week or two ago. In 2021 he showed power at A+ Asheville with 11 doubles and 8 triples in less than 100 AB. The same year at AA he had 19 doubles and 8 HR in 280 AB, playing 3B mostly with each team.
Like the get, but just another player blocking the advancement of Jase Bowen, 22, who has hit well and has played all 3 OF positions at A+.
If Jase can play 3 OF positions, he won’t be blocked. We have LOTS of OF openings. From Altoona up, they are all 5th OFer wannabes.
He needed TJS when the Astros drafted him, which they did not view as a problem because they wanted him at thirdbase instead of pitcher. Then, after he recovered from that, he had a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder, so he played almost no professional baseball until 2021. In 2021, he was healthy and rocketed up the Astros system. They considered him as good a hitting prospect as they had in the system. In 2022, he struggled early on with a strained oblique until he finally went on the IL for almost 2 months. He is now finally healthy again and doing the same things in Altoona that he was doing with the Astros when healthy. If he can stay healthy, he is probably the best hitting prospect in the Pirates' system, except for Termarr: that is until the Pirates development team and/or Haines get his ear. I wouldn't worry about him blocking anyone. He is the best the Pirates have (except for Termarr).
He might not be the second best hitter in similar profiles, D Lopez, M Nunez potentially G Forrester are similar with the exception of Forrester being more hit over power. I like the pirates signing Perez and he's performing well but that's a bit high to only have Termarr ahead of him. Let's hope for health for Perez because he might be something as soon as next year. Agree he should be getting time at 1st.
If Joe Perez, if healthy, is our best hitting prospect outside of Termarr, then our farm system is in worse shape than I thought.
The Astros considered him equal to their top hitting prospects just last year, before he battled an oblique strain most of the year. Since the Pirates do not have a single player on their 26-man roster that they have drafted after 2015 (and only 3 in total, two of which they acquired via trade from other teams: McCutcheon and Joe), there is no reason to assume that he is not among the top prospects in the PIrates system, one which has had far, far fewer successes than the Astros system.
How to lie with statistics :)
Well, I guess now that you put it THAT way, lol. It’s like a back handed compliment, tho. We have a dearth of hitting prospects. After Termarr, we got zip. Which is why I wanted Crews. But, Skenes is looking like the real deal, so I ‘can live’ with him.
As an aside, the Astros deemed him as a liability at thirdbase owing to a lack of infield range and penchant for throwing errors. He was in the process of moving to the OF when the Pirates acquired him. He will be limited to a corner OF or DH spot, but the real question is why is he not playing 1B? He would fill an immediate need, and if he is healthy, he could actually be the best firstbaseman the Pirates have anywhere in their organization.
He and Nunez might be equal in that category?
Even just having a player that plays well and helps the team play competitive ball is important for the system imo
Why? Isn’t it more important to contribute to the MLB team winning? Littlefield was all about having teams win in the minors. Where did that get us?
2024 is, to me, going to be Ben’s make or break year. If we continue to lose like we have since he took over, he needs replaced.
I agree 2024 is BC's make or break year. The guys he's acquired during his attempt to rebuild are starting to filter their way to the big leagues. Based on his statements, and murmurs from those who cover the Pirates, this would be that around this time the Pirates would increase payroll. So, in 2024, it's time for BC to ensure the young players develop and show progress and to supplement them with trades for big league contributors/signing of at least mid-tier free agents. A team that has Hayes- Cruz (? hopefully), Peguero, Reynolds, Suwinski, Davis, Endy, Mitch, Oviedo, and this bullpen, plus some pitching at the upper levels you can at least hope is ready to contribute, has enough interesting and talented players to be competitive if reasonable progress from the young guys is made and the addition of some decent FAs/trades.
That said, I don't expect this to happen, but that's a reasonable expectation if the team actually cared about winning. If 2024 is more of prospect regression, stop-gap FAs, replacement level fill-ins during injury, and stretches of not even attempting to be competitive, then it's time to move on. Not that they would most likely.
Just two things: 1. Who’s gonna “break” Cherington? Only Nutting can do that and as long as he’s happy things will never change and 2. Why is Suwinski on that list of keepers?
If you read paragraph 2, I don't expect that BC will do what he should do, or that it will cost him his job if he doesn't. So your question is has already been answered.
Second, he just turned 25 and has an .825 OPS against righties. Further, he has excellent batted ball profile and plate discipline. There's a strong chance he's a good strong-side platoon player, which has use. Finally, if he's not, move on.
Your second paragraph nailed it for me. As for ‘reasonable expectations’ they seem to never apply to the Bucs.
Because competing at the mlb level costs Nickels dimes.
I mean of course, but its not like joe perez is likely ever going to be a top prospect for us or probably contribute at the mlb level for that matter, but might as well have a guy whos going to help altoona win rather than the heap of non prospects that are mostly taking playing time
Even if he gets to PNC, he's got Andy Haines lying in wait for him.
Hopefully by the time Joe will get there Andy will be gone. Speaking of Joe, did you read where Connor Joe thanks Andy for improving his hitting?