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Had a pretty good scare a bit ago. Internet completely crashed, at least the provider the house I’m staying at is using, all over the Florida area.

Thought I was going to be left in the Stone Age for the last part of my trip lol

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Hopefully they can get someone interesting for Ro. If they lose him for cash consideration or a nothing prospect, just another notch in the stick for reasons to fire the GM. I wish Ro well, although I don't like how they handled him, Ro didn't take his opportunities and run with them.

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At some point, the players have to take some responsibility for their own careers. They are professionals.

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I agree, but there are really 2 options. 1. He wasn't as good as many of us thought when he came to the majors or 2. He needed at least 100 innings above A ball before he was brought to the majors.

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Yeah. They rushed him up, because they refused to put MLB players on the team for 4 years. They did this with multiple prospects. A lot of guys are not ready for MLB until 24 or 25, especially pitchers. How many guys have we seen skip AAA or get just cup of coffee there before jumping up to the show. Just awful GMing all the way around for 4+ years now.

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I would add to this that the Yankees snookered Cherington twice into taking guys that would have been rule 5 eligible who were marginally MLB-ready, which alleviated the Yankees 40-man problems and caused the Pirates to overloaded their 40-man with borderline 22 year olds: Castillo; Rodriguez; Contreras. Add to these guys like Marcano and Suwinski. It has just been awful roster construction and unthinking acquisitions for years now. To make matters worse, in the shuffle of borderline MLB-ready players, they lost a couple guys, i.e. Sabol, who could really help them now.

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Yep, he definitely had opportunities, I just wish they didn't mess with him the way they did in 2022. 2023 was on him as well as this year. His control was looking better his last few times out but giving up that 2 run homer didn't help a few days back.

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Hypothetical question from someone that understands how the options work.

The Pirates sent Contreras to the minors his rookie season, probably because of service time. If the Pirates didn't send him down then, would the Pirates still have an option left with him where he could be sent to the minors now instead of getting DFA'd?

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That’s more of an Ethan question but I believe so yes, he’d have one more option left

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DFA the most likely outcome? Too bad, so much potential just two years ago

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Two years ago he was 22 and now he is still only 24. It is easy to forget he is younger than guys that we think of as prospects like Triolo, Bart, Suwinski, Stratton etc.

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Sounds like Ro doesn’t have a locker in the Pirates clubhouse

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Just the next step toward stardom with the Rays,

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May 11·edited May 11Author

I JUST sent in a group chat with Nola and Cody that he’ll be the Rays closer next year haha

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I hope they try for Tre Morgan if the Ray's are interested lol. Nola and I would approve.

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On the positive, worth noting was Oneal Cruz last night hitting the other way. There was a play hit to left field where Cruz hustled all the way to the left side ready to play the bank off the left field wall. Most impressively was the relay throw he took along the right field line and threw a perfect strike home to Grandal. Glad to see him playing with some baseball smarts and running well.

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I agree, Jones and Cruz were the bright spots last night. NickyG's first 2 at bats looked good before they went to all breaking pitches against him. Still can't believe Shelton put him in between Tellez and Suwinski, really put him in a position to fail.

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At Pirates City watching Zander Mueth pitch. Struggling to find the zone but the ball explodes out his hands and it basically seems like he’s throwing side arm

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I was wondering before the start how many times Jones would hit 100, thinking a young guy might get hyped up a bit starting before Skenes. I was surprised it was once, though that one pitch was the Bellinger bomb, so it might be good that he took something off after that :)

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May 11·edited May 11

Now at 13 games with only having scored in 13 innings (excluding extra innings). And people think soccer is boring because you might only see one goal? How about our version where you might only see runs in one inning, and if you’re lucky then two innings but you might not see any?

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The Cubs last night looked so much better on the bases. They beat out potential double play balls. got the extra base on a single, advanced runners and hit the ball in the right direction. When we were losing 3 to 2, we could have easily been winning 4 to 1. A team like ours has to do the little things. If not, we will be scoring in 13 innings in 13 games.

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The Pirates are a slovenly outfit. If they had a president of operations or an owner or anyone in a position of importance who knew anything about baseball, they would see this as plainly as many of the fans. Unfortunately, they do not, and the Shelton circus continues.

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slovenly

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If you look at the lineup, it’s a wonder they scored in 13. It’s the most pathetic lineup I can remember a Pirate team fielding, and that’s a high bar.

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Worst part? This was totally foreseeable to anyone who cared to see it.

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Hmph. Couple-a-things.

Walk was commenting on the batting order last night in re the 4-5-6 hitters. Need some production there and he's right. Combined, Tellez, Gonzales and Suwinski were 1 for 11 with 4 strikeouts. Only a two-run single by Nick the Stick.

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What stood out to me was Nick G and Suwinski (who I've been a big booster for) had some pretty bad swinging strikeouts.... Breaking pitches away... Ooof!

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Jones was good enough. He gave up four extra base hits including a long bomb off a 100 mph offering. Still and all, he took the loss on what was marginally a quality start. Cubs hitters were quite good.

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Grandal was a little disappointing. Hey, he got one of our 7 hits, but... he was doubled up on a play that most baseball players would have been safe on. My goodness, the infielder who knocked the ball down could have thrown the darn thing out to center and the center fielder might have gotten a put out. AAAaaannnnd I was perturbed that the Cubs second run was unearned on an error to Grandal. The relay in the 5th from BRay was good and the throw from medium right from Cruz was something else, getting the runner by 10 yards. Of course Grandal drops the ball on the tag. Jesus.

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Are Jeral Toledo and Jarrod Triolo cousins or something?

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Their long reliever, Brown, was very good with a difficult knuckle curve. Dude went like 3.2 innings and struck out six.

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Home plate ump was calling strikes balls down and in to right handers and was calling balls low strikes all night.

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The Bucs at least worked a lot of counts (if you can call 12 strikeouts working) and got Assad out of the game early enough that we should have put something on the Cubs pen.

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Cutch, BRey and Cruz 1-2-3 looked hopeful.

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Tonight should be good.

I'm looking for Nick the Stick to hit a curveball. I'm looking for Skenes to go 7, allowing 2 hits and a walk and striking out 8. Goddam offense needs to wake up.

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That is all.

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___________________________

"Look, Doc. Do I go around nailing signs over your house? Do I?"

-Wabbit

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You see how one more bat would change everything.

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Happy Paul Skenes Day!

Cue Danger Zone, cause Maverick is letting out his wings to fly today!

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