Looking at baseball savant I see that Bryan Reynolds’ launch angle for the year is 4.3 after never finishing below a 9.4. His k rate is up to 27% and his hard hit rate is similar to his career. This matches what we have been seeing: too many k’s including missing a lot in the k zone, grounding out quite a bit even as he is often hitting the ball hard.
At least they see something is wrong, but as others have stated Mlod should clearly be in the pen. Maybe they see themselves moving multiple starters in the coming weeks so they have a need
I understand why Mlod wants to start. That’s where the money is. But everything I see screams RP. Seems to do great the first time thru a lineup. But the more they see him….
Even with the poor outing against the Phillies, he has a 3.95 ERA in May and even his last start in April wasn't bad. With the health concerns about Jones, Barco, and Oviedo, I like the idea of keeping him stretched out for now. Sending him to AAA may just be to give him a breather because he's already at 39.2 IP after only 50.2 IP all last year.
If Burrows pitches well enough to keep a spot in the rotation, then it may be time to consider moving Mlod to the pen. But for now I like how they're handling him.
Except there’s a lot more evidence that he just doesn’t have the arsenal to turn over a lineup enough times. He would be a good multi inning weapon in the bullpen though.
Yeah. There is no more clear-cut example of a guy who is bullpen only... based on his pitch mix, the obvious, starting-you-in-the-face data, and years of previous data.
So obviously, the Pirates are determined to make him a starter and in typical fashion, will not admit error... ever. So... Cherington. Fire Him Now!
This team refuses to put its best roster on the field. Bubba should have been up a month ago (if not from the beginning of the season) Mlod should be in the bullpen. Pham should never have been signed. There are other examples but that suffices for now.
Don't look now, but the Cardinals are weaving more devil magic.
Good article about their front office on MLB.com. Sure wish the Pirates had someone, anyone in their front office who knew what he was doing. The Cardinals just keep finding smart baseball people. They have pretty much had everyone who is anyone in baseball currently at one point or another under Mozeliak.
They've never rebuilt. They just had one down year (in the 30 or so years that Mozeliak has been with the organization as GM or head scout), and the "best fans in baseball" went into hyperventilate and throw tantrum mode.
"Rebuild" seems to imply something along the lines of a 5-year plan, which a GM must love because it buys them time. But rebuilds can happen in a year or two with either a very savvy GM or an owner willing to spend.
So, I agree on the cheap owner part. It's also a way for a GM to keep his job much longer than they should. I'm sure Cherington knew he had it easy when he was able to get Nutting to agree to the complete teardown, and he's functioned that way despite his claims that he feels urgency every freaking day.
Yes. It was a win-win for Nutting and Cherington. Nutting has an excuse to not spend any money, and Cherington has a job guarantee for 5-6 years, while they "rebuild."
No doubt, the next hire will sell the same line of crap to Nutting, and he will be more than happy to agree again.
Yeah, you can define “rebuild” in different ways, but the total-teardown, blow-off-five-seasons version is a fraud. It’s just an excuse for Nutwit to spend below his ability and Birdbrain to sit back and piddle with his laptop and not worry about winning games. I absolutely reject the notion that tanking has any legitimate baseball purpose.
Great pitching from Bailey Falter who has elevated himself to the No. 46 SP in MLB. Skenes is No. 8, Keller No. 27, and Heaney No. 52. Hard to imagine a better start of the season from the Rotation.
Alexander Canario is solidifying his position as the Utility OF for the Pirates. Excellent game ending running catch last night and the other guys given a chance (Gorski, Suwinski) have not done very well comparatively. Canario is out of MiLB Options, and got to the Pirates simply because the Cubs and Mets did not have an opening for him at the MLB level. Comes with a rep as a power hitter with swing and miss, and so far has 3 doubles and 3 HR's as a part-timer. Possible 15-20 HR guy with steady AB's? We will probably see very soon. He should complete his first year of MLB Service this year.
Why can we not bounce some folks around so that we can get Liover Peguero up for the rest of 2025? With the outlook that IKF and Frazier will be traded in a few months, it would benefit this lineup to have a SS ready to step in full time. We now have to be thinking about the future of this ballclub.
I believe BC cares more about his future than the organization’s future. Always has.
His decisions will be made with trying his level best to scratch out 76 wins in hopes of saving his job. And if that means sacrificing young players like Peguero, so be it.
When Cherington was hired, he said his reason for taking the job was to show that he could build a team from the bottom up--it was all about him and his ego, and nothing about the honor to work for an organization with a proud history in a great city with passionate fans.
If he had been up to the task, I wouldn't have cared much. But given his inability to produce a competitive team in 6 years, the focus on himself without any regard to the fans is annoying.
Don't know what he can do until we get him steady play, which will not happen as long as Pham is still with the club. Not sure we have anything at AAA other than Jack, and Siani and Bowen are the best we have at AA. 85 PA's with 3 doubles and 3 HR is promising, and his times in MLB with Chicago were strong also. The swing and miss is not as bad as I thought at 7 BB/22 K.
The Pirates have trades coming in July (either before or after the AS Break, so who knows?
There was an even more surprising 1-0 outcome last night--the White Sox beating the Mariners 1-0 with Houser returning to the majors after being dropped by the Rangers with a 5+ ERA in AAA.
Also, the Dodgers scored 3 in the bottom of the 10th to win after the Dbacks had scored 2. The Dodgers' tying and winning runs were set up by _intentional_ walks to Ohtani and Freeman. Ohtani became the winning run while Freeman's IBB loaded the bases and led to the tying run when the next batter, Smith, was hit by a pitch.
Just a couple of weird outcomes, but of course that's baseball.
Anyone that watched the SNP pregame & broadcast notice that they seemed to making a big deal about Skenes pitching Friday night?
I mean, that's his normal turn in the rotation. Maybe it's just me, but it seemed like they were making a big deal of it for some reason, like he wasn't supposed to start but now he is....
Williams has to be worried about how bad attendance has been and Skenes is really all they have to push other than the bobblehead nights.
But then Williams has also said that it's about entertainment more than the quality of baseball, so maybe they should be pushing that Livvy Dunne will be in the park (if in fact she will).
I think I heard one of the Reds broadcasters say at the end of the game that they now lead the league in being shutout. BR has them at 8, the same as us. Kind of hard to believe given their ballpark.
Also, even though they must feel pretty good about their season so far (25-25), they're 4 games behind their Pythagorean record of 29-21.
And their Pythagorean record supports that. Hard to believe that they were only a game better than us last season. Or maybe not hard to believe given how Cherington treated the offseason.
Jones to have surgery.
So Indy and Altoona are playing right now, tuned to watch Indy only to watch Suwinski! Gorski and Peguero go down swinging…..😫
Looking at baseball savant I see that Bryan Reynolds’ launch angle for the year is 4.3 after never finishing below a 9.4. His k rate is up to 27% and his hard hit rate is similar to his career. This matches what we have been seeing: too many k’s including missing a lot in the k zone, grounding out quite a bit even as he is often hitting the ball hard.
Burrows coming up to start tomorrow.
Pirates sending Mlodzinski to AAA, not the bullpen
I feel like this supports our “shopping Mlodzinski as a starter” theory
Mlod > Mattson for the major league bullpen. And no roster move would have been necessary. Just more dumb management.
At least they see something is wrong, but as others have stated Mlod should clearly be in the pen. Maybe they see themselves moving multiple starters in the coming weeks so they have a need
I understand why Mlod wants to start. That’s where the money is. But everything I see screams RP. Seems to do great the first time thru a lineup. But the more they see him….
Even with the poor outing against the Phillies, he has a 3.95 ERA in May and even his last start in April wasn't bad. With the health concerns about Jones, Barco, and Oviedo, I like the idea of keeping him stretched out for now. Sending him to AAA may just be to give him a breather because he's already at 39.2 IP after only 50.2 IP all last year.
If Burrows pitches well enough to keep a spot in the rotation, then it may be time to consider moving Mlod to the pen. But for now I like how they're handling him.
If you take out his bad starts, he’s pretty good!
Except there’s a lot more evidence that he just doesn’t have the arsenal to turn over a lineup enough times. He would be a good multi inning weapon in the bullpen though.
His ERA is improving because they are taking him out in the 4th inning now, instead of watching him get blown up in the 5th and 6th.
Yeah. There is no more clear-cut example of a guy who is bullpen only... based on his pitch mix, the obvious, starting-you-in-the-face data, and years of previous data.
So obviously, the Pirates are determined to make him a starter and in typical fashion, will not admit error... ever. So... Cherington. Fire Him Now!
Every move that they make, makes no sense at all. They have steaming piles of junk lying all over their bullpen, and they send Mlod down. Ridiculous.
This team refuses to put its best roster on the field. Bubba should have been up a month ago (if not from the beginning of the season) Mlod should be in the bullpen. Pham should never have been signed. There are other examples but that suffices for now.
It really feels like they're actively tanking at this point.
Boy I really wish they would toss Mlod in the pen…further it would be great if we could have all of our best arms in the bigs
Everyday Adam in there again with his friend Tommy
Don't look now, but the Cardinals are weaving more devil magic.
Good article about their front office on MLB.com. Sure wish the Pirates had someone, anyone in their front office who knew what he was doing. The Cardinals just keep finding smart baseball people. They have pretty much had everyone who is anyone in baseball currently at one point or another under Mozeliak.
https://www.mlb.com/news/rob-cerfolio-making-impact-as-cardinals-assistant-gm
Hard to believe they finished behind us two years ago and it's not like they went out and spent big.
Hopefully they waved as they passed us on their rebuild.
They've never rebuilt. They just had one down year (in the 30 or so years that Mozeliak has been with the organization as GM or head scout), and the "best fans in baseball" went into hyperventilate and throw tantrum mode.
hyperventilate and throw tantrum mode.
Sounds familiar
Good example of how the teardown-type rebuild is just a cheap-owner scam.
"Rebuild" seems to imply something along the lines of a 5-year plan, which a GM must love because it buys them time. But rebuilds can happen in a year or two with either a very savvy GM or an owner willing to spend.
So, I agree on the cheap owner part. It's also a way for a GM to keep his job much longer than they should. I'm sure Cherington knew he had it easy when he was able to get Nutting to agree to the complete teardown, and he's functioned that way despite his claims that he feels urgency every freaking day.
Look at how quickly the Tigers have turned things around. And that’s been somewhat in spite of their spending, rather than because of it!
Yes. It was a win-win for Nutting and Cherington. Nutting has an excuse to not spend any money, and Cherington has a job guarantee for 5-6 years, while they "rebuild."
No doubt, the next hire will sell the same line of crap to Nutting, and he will be more than happy to agree again.
Yeah, you can define “rebuild” in different ways, but the total-teardown, blow-off-five-seasons version is a fraud. It’s just an excuse for Nutwit to spend below his ability and Birdbrain to sit back and piddle with his laptop and not worry about winning games. I absolutely reject the notion that tanking has any legitimate baseball purpose.
My entire life involves piddling at a computer at this point. Does that qualify me?
Great pitching from Bailey Falter who has elevated himself to the No. 46 SP in MLB. Skenes is No. 8, Keller No. 27, and Heaney No. 52. Hard to imagine a better start of the season from the Rotation.
Alexander Canario is solidifying his position as the Utility OF for the Pirates. Excellent game ending running catch last night and the other guys given a chance (Gorski, Suwinski) have not done very well comparatively. Canario is out of MiLB Options, and got to the Pirates simply because the Cubs and Mets did not have an opening for him at the MLB level. Comes with a rep as a power hitter with swing and miss, and so far has 3 doubles and 3 HR's as a part-timer. Possible 15-20 HR guy with steady AB's? We will probably see very soon. He should complete his first year of MLB Service this year.
Why can we not bounce some folks around so that we can get Liover Peguero up for the rest of 2025? With the outlook that IKF and Frazier will be traded in a few months, it would benefit this lineup to have a SS ready to step in full time. We now have to be thinking about the future of this ballclub.
Where are you finding the starting pitcher rankings? I know Bill James used to rank starting pitchers but his site doesn’t exist anymore.
One place is Fangraphs where you can subset by SP or RP.
Team rankings (we're 9th in starting pitching):
https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2025&month=0&season1=2025&ind=0&team=0%2Cts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&stats=sta
Individual rankings:
https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2025&month=0&season1=2025&ind=0&stats=sta
Exactly - Fangraphs
I believe BC cares more about his future than the organization’s future. Always has.
His decisions will be made with trying his level best to scratch out 76 wins in hopes of saving his job. And if that means sacrificing young players like Peguero, so be it.
When Cherington was hired, he said his reason for taking the job was to show that he could build a team from the bottom up--it was all about him and his ego, and nothing about the honor to work for an organization with a proud history in a great city with passionate fans.
If he had been up to the task, I wouldn't have cared much. But given his inability to produce a competitive team in 6 years, the focus on himself without any regard to the fans is annoying.
Careerists are generally incompetent people, and Cherington outing himself as a careerist from day one.
I'm sure you mean Canario as Utility OF when we get a legitimate 3rd OF to go with Cruz and Reynolds, right? :)
For now he's our best option as that 3rd OF.
Don't know what he can do until we get him steady play, which will not happen as long as Pham is still with the club. Not sure we have anything at AAA other than Jack, and Siani and Bowen are the best we have at AA. 85 PA's with 3 doubles and 3 HR is promising, and his times in MLB with Chicago were strong also. The swing and miss is not as bad as I thought at 7 BB/22 K.
The Pirates have trades coming in July (either before or after the AS Break, so who knows?
A win?! Feels kinda naughty.
There was an even more surprising 1-0 outcome last night--the White Sox beating the Mariners 1-0 with Houser returning to the majors after being dropped by the Rangers with a 5+ ERA in AAA.
Also, the Dodgers scored 3 in the bottom of the 10th to win after the Dbacks had scored 2. The Dodgers' tying and winning runs were set up by _intentional_ walks to Ohtani and Freeman. Ohtani became the winning run while Freeman's IBB loaded the bases and led to the tying run when the next batter, Smith, was hit by a pitch.
Just a couple of weird outcomes, but of course that's baseball.
Stupid outcome of Manfredball. Recent article on FanGraphs about the extra inning craziness induced by the runner rule.
I could so without the Manfred Man on second base to start extra innings. That was a solution in search of a problem.
Agree. That rule has always felt very church/beer softball league to me.
Can't blame Dbacks there. Freeman is the hottest hitter in baseball not named Judge. It's just Murderers Row there for Lovello.
Anyone that watched the SNP pregame & broadcast notice that they seemed to making a big deal about Skenes pitching Friday night?
I mean, that's his normal turn in the rotation. Maybe it's just me, but it seemed like they were making a big deal of it for some reason, like he wasn't supposed to start but now he is....
Williams has to be worried about how bad attendance has been and Skenes is really all they have to push other than the bobblehead nights.
But then Williams has also said that it's about entertainment more than the quality of baseball, so maybe they should be pushing that Livvy Dunne will be in the park (if in fact she will).
I think I heard one of the Reds broadcasters say at the end of the game that they now lead the league in being shutout. BR has them at 8, the same as us. Kind of hard to believe given their ballpark.
Also, even though they must feel pretty good about their season so far (25-25), they're 4 games behind their Pythagorean record of 29-21.
Still hilarious how they were falsely touted for their young offensive core and now they have the 3rd best pitching staff in the game.
They seem like they should be better.
And their Pythagorean record supports that. Hard to believe that they were only a game better than us last season. Or maybe not hard to believe given how Cherington treated the offseason.
Lobo for the win!
Call me crazy, but relying on pitchers to hold the opposition scoreless to win isn’t a sustainable model for success.
Especially when your offense is so putrid that it makes the 3 and 4 in the opposition’s starting rotation look like a 1 or 2.
Maybe today will be the day, if they get a full game in. Singer has a 5.01 ERA.
It's not looking promising at this point...
Hey you need some breaks to keep streaks going. The stars have to line up.