As the data and analytics are at an all-time high with information, I'm not sure how it affects the mental side of the game for players is taken in cosideration. We just assume these players are at a level they need to be tough.
IMO, every player should at least connect with a sports psychologist. I almost feel like theres a greater chance of getting a positive impact from him than marco
It's always good to have quality depth and they had it before adding Candelario. That move was superfluous. They now have Jonathan India as their DH and that is *after* the Marte suspension.
Ellie DeLaCruz, Matt McLain, Noelvi Marte all came up as shortstops. India was a rookie of the year at second base. and Spencer Steer had 23 homers with his primary positions being at second and third. Encarnacion-Strand came up as a third baseman that also plays some first. Do I even mention that Josh Harrison is on the team. I was surprised they signed Kemp, who's best position is second base. Locking up a .243 lifetime hitting in Candelario to a $60 million contract was puzzling.
OT, but the J.D. Davis saga is really interesting. Because he went to arbitration, his salary is non-guaranteed so the Giants could save several million because they couldn't/wouldn't reach an agreement outside of arb. However, what I hadn't been aware of is a clause in the CBA that states that this only applies to players who "failed to exhibit sufficient skill or competitive ability."
Will the Giants pay (my guess is yes--with the way they've been spending, why get on the wrong side of the MLBPA over a few million (we're not talking Nutting here)?). But it also could go to the MLBPA filing a grievance.
That MLBTR write-up on this is informative. A normal release during the year keeps the club on the hook for the balance of the contract, but this 'post-arb/pre-season' release reduces the club's obligation to only 30 or 45 days (depending on timing) termination pay. Davis is getting screwed here and MLBPA will certainly grieve. Giants should be on the hook for the full arb salary. Instead, Giants ran him thru waivers with a $6M price tag when he should be waived at the pro-rated minimum -- where some team would definitely claim him.
That's my read -- wonder how Ethan (or some other contract reader here) would see it.
Two weeks left in ST. I still can’t decide what the Pirates will do with the last spot. I’ve flipped to Bae who can play CF. But they haven’t been playing him much in ST. Perhaps they go with Celestino or Njigba. Grandal injury may open the door for Delay or Sanchez to start the season on the roster.
CSN made a nice diving shoe string catch in LF yesterday of a hard line drive. That was good to see his first step reaction and agility. He's built like a linebacker so good to see he can get to that ball.
Celestino makes sense because he has about 800 positive innings played in CF at the MLB level, and he is a RH hitter which pairs well with 'ski, and he has had a very strong ST at the plate. He is out of options so chances are we lose him if DFA'd.
Bae did well in CF, but he should have options remaining.
I wonder if the Pirates have even tried to talk to the Yankees about Everson Pereira, a 23 year old CF who posted .900+ OPS numbers at AA and AAA last year, but has no less than 4 CF's blocking him at the MLB level.
I think the Yankees really want to hang on that guy. The Yankees were able to not trade him with the Padres, yet they still brought back Soto. I don't think Everson is going anywhere.
Braxton Ashcraft will be starting baseball games for Pirates this season. Him being sent down to start season was a forgone conclusion. But I have confidence he’s going to force his way up long before AS break by pitching like a stud in the minors.
I hope not. He has potential for two plus breaking balls and a plus fastball. Why not let him stretch out again this year and allow him to compete for a spot in the rotation in 2025. I would rather see if he can be a strong mid rotation arm than a reliever. We have enough guys that can’t through a big league lineup twice to be relievers.
Agree with you and Scott - if he has the pitches and the confidence to throw those pitches we should reach for the highest level for him which would be a mid-Rotation SP. Could be a situation where, if successful at AAA, he could be one of this year's Greyhound folks - back and forth between Indy and the 'burgh.
I agree with this philosophy(managing innings) but wish they could do it while still stretching him out. IMO if a pitcher consistently knows they may be going 3 max do they 'learn' how to possibly pitch 5 or 6 (old school would be 7 or 8)? I say manage his innings by letting him start once a week (like a college pitcher) and build him up to 5 or 6 innings. He may be older but his MLB service clock has not started so maybe he is in their rotation from ages 28-32 instead of 24 - 28.. nothing wrong with that. I just hate to see a pitcher with starting pitcher stuff not be put in that situation. Second straight day of this rant... I'll go back to my corner!
Spring Training has gotten to that point where we (at least me) are no longer looking for who can break out and push their way onto the Active Roster. There are a few questions - do the Pirates place Yasmani Grandal on the DL? Either he or Jason Delay will join Davis at the Catcher position. In the OF do the Pirates go with the 3 - Reynolds, Suwinski, Olivares, and add Celestino as the RH hitting CF? The IF and DH are set with Hayes, Cruz, Peguero, Triolo, Joe/Tellez, and 'Cutch as the DH. That's all 13 - a lot of offensive and defensive talent that is good enough to provide at least a .500 season.
Pitching, Pitching, Pitching! Keller, Gonzales, Perez, and going into ST it was Contreras, Jones, Falter, or Ortiz completing the 5 man Rotation. Looks now like Jones is going back to AAA, and the other 3 of that last group will make the active roster due to injuries in the BP. The signing of Aroldis Chapman, which was first seen as just adding strength to strength, has now taken on a much higher importance for the Pirate BP. And, the decision to promote Mlodzinski to get 30+ innings in the Pirate BP last year is also huge for this 2024 team.
They have enough to compete for the playoffs in 2024. The Major Issue for this ballclub will be how effective will Gonzales and Perez be in the first few full months, and can the BP be the difference maker it was in 2023?
TY. I cannot remember a Pirate team this good defensively, and the numbers they started to put up offensively in 2023 "should" improve. Hayes is in his prime, the offensive numbers should only get better, and he is elevating on a regular basis with big EV numbers. Reynolds is coming off a 60 EBH season with 84 RBI and the added year of MLB experience for Suwinski, Peguero, Davis, and Triolo should provide positive results. Last but certainly not least the Pirates regain the services of Oneil Cruz, the biggest bat in our order - we only had him for 32 AB in 2023!
The Pirates did take a big hit defensively at first base. Peguero and Cruz's throws aren't always on target. Santana was good at catching those. Rowdy has some work to do.
Having, arguably, the best defender at any position in all of baseball skews our perception of our overall defense. Last year, for example, Fangraphs ranked us in the bottom third and we'll likely take a step back at 1B and C while not having significant improvements at SS, LF, CF, or RF.
According to FG, our best defensive team in the last decade was 2018 when we had an elite defender in CF (Marte) with Cervelli, Dickerson, Frazier, and Mercer also providing above average defense at key positions (talk about strong up the middle with the added bonus of plus defense in LF; it's a big reason that team was the best team we've fielded since 2015). We're not there. Hayes is elite, Triolo has that potential, and then we hope that every other position can be average.
I see a lot of questions on the defense. An above average centerfielder would have really helped, pushing Suwinski to a corner would increase his defensive value. Second looks to be average or above, first and short not so much. I'm giving a free pass for a couple of months on catcher. Davis looks competent if not better but I've only seen a small sample. I could see him shocking us and be a little above average defensively.
Endy was a 0 run framer last year and if the Tank can frame similarly this year I’ll be more than happy.
Davis still looks a bit boxy and stiff behind the dish, though to my recollection not as hard-handed as the two inning cameo he had last year.
But I think fans need to be prepared for him to be negative run framer his year and to pass some balls. Obviously he can more than make up for that with his bat. Not every team is going to have Patrick Bailey behind the dish.
Guys with soft hands really help pitchers out, not just by dragging balls into the zone but giving them greater comfort throwing stuff on the edge of the zone, stuff with a large amount of break, etc.
There’s also the leadership factor as well, and Davis is a prototype leader. The kid’s just a ballplayer. He oozes baseball. No one‘s going to outwork him.
I noticed during Ortiz’s last outing he started well, then began throwing crap balls. Oh shit, I thought, here we go again.
Davis came out to the mound. I have no idea what he said to Ortiz but Ortiz immediately resumed pitching well and finished fairly strong, IMO.
I think when the young pitchers come up to the majors, they will embrace Henry's energy and enthusiasm. My guess is he is keeping it low key around some of the veterans right now.
Yes, from what I've read and what little I've seen, I'm optimistic about Davis at C. But that's not to be confused with him being a plus defender, just that the defense will be playable which would be a big net positive given his leadership skills and bat.
Good article on Eric Lauer on pirates.com.
Brewers may have mis-diagnosed his injury. And
Lauer began working with a sports psychologist.
He may be a good Plan B behind the 2 LHers signed if he's healthy again.
As the data and analytics are at an all-time high with information, I'm not sure how it affects the mental side of the game for players is taken in cosideration. We just assume these players are at a level they need to be tough.
IMO, every player should at least connect with a sports psychologist. I almost feel like theres a greater chance of getting a positive impact from him than marco
Imagine being really good at your job and failing >70% of the time.
Completely unrelated but, it appears that the Reds knew something was up with Marte.
Why else would they sign Candelario when they have 41 infield options and no desire to trade India?
Sign a 3-yr deal with a club option for a 4th because a prospect is gonna miss half the season?
Yes. Candy man can be traded. Makes no sense to have that many infielders...You can't play them all.
I know depth is a foreign concept to Pirate fans but having one extra good player is not a sign of organizational failure.
It's always good to have quality depth and they had it before adding Candelario. That move was superfluous. They now have Jonathan India as their DH and that is *after* the Marte suspension.
Ellie DeLaCruz, Matt McLain, Noelvi Marte all came up as shortstops. India was a rookie of the year at second base. and Spencer Steer had 23 homers with his primary positions being at second and third. Encarnacion-Strand came up as a third baseman that also plays some first. Do I even mention that Josh Harrison is on the team. I was surprised they signed Kemp, who's best position is second base. Locking up a .243 lifetime hitting in Candelario to a $60 million contract was puzzling.
Good catch.
Thats a good point, did feel like they were really overstocking an already full position group but now it seems like itll fit much more
Not to mention, they signed Tony Kemp?!?!?
OT, but the J.D. Davis saga is really interesting. Because he went to arbitration, his salary is non-guaranteed so the Giants could save several million because they couldn't/wouldn't reach an agreement outside of arb. However, what I hadn't been aware of is a clause in the CBA that states that this only applies to players who "failed to exhibit sufficient skill or competitive ability."
Will the Giants pay (my guess is yes--with the way they've been spending, why get on the wrong side of the MLBPA over a few million (we're not talking Nutting here)?). But it also could go to the MLBPA filing a grievance.
That MLBTR write-up on this is informative. A normal release during the year keeps the club on the hook for the balance of the contract, but this 'post-arb/pre-season' release reduces the club's obligation to only 30 or 45 days (depending on timing) termination pay. Davis is getting screwed here and MLBPA will certainly grieve. Giants should be on the hook for the full arb salary. Instead, Giants ran him thru waivers with a $6M price tag when he should be waived at the pro-rated minimum -- where some team would definitely claim him.
That's my read -- wonder how Ethan (or some other contract reader here) would see it.
Bench battles……….original……now
11. Liover Peguero………….90%…..90%
12. Edward Olivares……….90%…..90%
13. Ji-Hwan Bae……………..60%…..60%
————————————————————
14. Nick Gonzales…………..80%…..50%
15. Gilberto Celestino……….0%…..20%
15. Canaan Smith-Njigba..10%…...10%
16. Josh Palacios……………40%…..10%
17. Jake Lamb…………………..5%…..10%
18. Jason Delay……………….10%……10%
19. Ali Sanchez………………..10%…….5%
20. Alika Williams…………….10%…….5%
Two weeks left in ST. I still can’t decide what the Pirates will do with the last spot. I’ve flipped to Bae who can play CF. But they haven’t been playing him much in ST. Perhaps they go with Celestino or Njigba. Grandal injury may open the door for Delay or Sanchez to start the season on the roster.
CSN made a nice diving shoe string catch in LF yesterday of a hard line drive. That was good to see his first step reaction and agility. He's built like a linebacker so good to see he can get to that ball.
Celestino makes sense because he has about 800 positive innings played in CF at the MLB level, and he is a RH hitter which pairs well with 'ski, and he has had a very strong ST at the plate. He is out of options so chances are we lose him if DFA'd.
Bae did well in CF, but he should have options remaining.
I wonder if the Pirates have even tried to talk to the Yankees about Everson Pereira, a 23 year old CF who posted .900+ OPS numbers at AA and AAA last year, but has no less than 4 CF's blocking him at the MLB level.
Mel,
I think the Yankees really want to hang on that guy. The Yankees were able to not trade him with the Padres, yet they still brought back Soto. I don't think Everson is going anywhere.
"I wonder if the Pirates have even tried to talk to the Yankees about Everson Pereira"
No, but you have certainly talked about it.
Braxton Ashcraft will be starting baseball games for Pirates this season. Him being sent down to start season was a forgone conclusion. But I have confidence he’s going to force his way up long before AS break by pitching like a stud in the minors.
Just about every pitcher on the 40-man stands a good chance of seeing some action during the regular season... every season.
I think Ashcroft will be this years mlodinski. He will be a lights out reliever for the them about halfway through the year.
I hope not. He has potential for two plus breaking balls and a plus fastball. Why not let him stretch out again this year and allow him to compete for a spot in the rotation in 2025. I would rather see if he can be a strong mid rotation arm than a reliever. We have enough guys that can’t through a big league lineup twice to be relievers.
Agree with you and Scott - if he has the pitches and the confidence to throw those pitches we should reach for the highest level for him which would be a mid-Rotation SP. Could be a situation where, if successful at AAA, he could be one of this year's Greyhound folks - back and forth between Indy and the 'burgh.
I think they stated they're going to manage his innings in long relief or as an opener, not completely sure though.
I agree with this philosophy(managing innings) but wish they could do it while still stretching him out. IMO if a pitcher consistently knows they may be going 3 max do they 'learn' how to possibly pitch 5 or 6 (old school would be 7 or 8)? I say manage his innings by letting him start once a week (like a college pitcher) and build him up to 5 or 6 innings. He may be older but his MLB service clock has not started so maybe he is in their rotation from ages 28-32 instead of 24 - 28.. nothing wrong with that. I just hate to see a pitcher with starting pitcher stuff not be put in that situation. Second straight day of this rant... I'll go back to my corner!
I would imagine the Pirates won’t let him throw more than 100 innings this year?
Sound about the general area.
Spring Training has gotten to that point where we (at least me) are no longer looking for who can break out and push their way onto the Active Roster. There are a few questions - do the Pirates place Yasmani Grandal on the DL? Either he or Jason Delay will join Davis at the Catcher position. In the OF do the Pirates go with the 3 - Reynolds, Suwinski, Olivares, and add Celestino as the RH hitting CF? The IF and DH are set with Hayes, Cruz, Peguero, Triolo, Joe/Tellez, and 'Cutch as the DH. That's all 13 - a lot of offensive and defensive talent that is good enough to provide at least a .500 season.
Pitching, Pitching, Pitching! Keller, Gonzales, Perez, and going into ST it was Contreras, Jones, Falter, or Ortiz completing the 5 man Rotation. Looks now like Jones is going back to AAA, and the other 3 of that last group will make the active roster due to injuries in the BP. The signing of Aroldis Chapman, which was first seen as just adding strength to strength, has now taken on a much higher importance for the Pirate BP. And, the decision to promote Mlodzinski to get 30+ innings in the Pirate BP last year is also huge for this 2024 team.
They have enough to compete for the playoffs in 2024. The Major Issue for this ballclub will be how effective will Gonzales and Perez be in the first few full months, and can the BP be the difference maker it was in 2023?
Why is Jones going back to AAA? Did I miss an announcement?
Love the enthusiasm, Mel. Keep on speaking Pirates contention for playoffs into existence.
Hope Springs Eternal!
TY. I cannot remember a Pirate team this good defensively, and the numbers they started to put up offensively in 2023 "should" improve. Hayes is in his prime, the offensive numbers should only get better, and he is elevating on a regular basis with big EV numbers. Reynolds is coming off a 60 EBH season with 84 RBI and the added year of MLB experience for Suwinski, Peguero, Davis, and Triolo should provide positive results. Last but certainly not least the Pirates regain the services of Oneil Cruz, the biggest bat in our order - we only had him for 32 AB in 2023!
The Pirates did take a big hit defensively at first base. Peguero and Cruz's throws aren't always on target. Santana was good at catching those. Rowdy has some work to do.
Having, arguably, the best defender at any position in all of baseball skews our perception of our overall defense. Last year, for example, Fangraphs ranked us in the bottom third and we'll likely take a step back at 1B and C while not having significant improvements at SS, LF, CF, or RF.
According to FG, our best defensive team in the last decade was 2018 when we had an elite defender in CF (Marte) with Cervelli, Dickerson, Frazier, and Mercer also providing above average defense at key positions (talk about strong up the middle with the added bonus of plus defense in LF; it's a big reason that team was the best team we've fielded since 2015). We're not there. Hayes is elite, Triolo has that potential, and then we hope that every other position can be average.
I see a lot of questions on the defense. An above average centerfielder would have really helped, pushing Suwinski to a corner would increase his defensive value. Second looks to be average or above, first and short not so much. I'm giving a free pass for a couple of months on catcher. Davis looks competent if not better but I've only seen a small sample. I could see him shocking us and be a little above average defensively.
Endy was a 0 run framer last year and if the Tank can frame similarly this year I’ll be more than happy.
Davis still looks a bit boxy and stiff behind the dish, though to my recollection not as hard-handed as the two inning cameo he had last year.
But I think fans need to be prepared for him to be negative run framer his year and to pass some balls. Obviously he can more than make up for that with his bat. Not every team is going to have Patrick Bailey behind the dish.
Guys with soft hands really help pitchers out, not just by dragging balls into the zone but giving them greater comfort throwing stuff on the edge of the zone, stuff with a large amount of break, etc.
There’s also the leadership factor as well, and Davis is a prototype leader. The kid’s just a ballplayer. He oozes baseball. No one‘s going to outwork him.
I noticed during Ortiz’s last outing he started well, then began throwing crap balls. Oh shit, I thought, here we go again.
Davis came out to the mound. I have no idea what he said to Ortiz but Ortiz immediately resumed pitching well and finished fairly strong, IMO.
I think when the young pitchers come up to the majors, they will embrace Henry's energy and enthusiasm. My guess is he is keeping it low key around some of the veterans right now.
Yes, from what I've read and what little I've seen, I'm optimistic about Davis at C. But that's not to be confused with him being a plus defender, just that the defense will be playable which would be a big net positive given his leadership skills and bat.