Pirates win 4-3 on a day behind one third of The Allegheny Electric Company. J. Jones went 7 innings after a first inning that clearly struck fear into the hearts of the Rays. O’Cruz whacked one into the river. And The Bullpen did what The Bullpen is supposed to do. The Bucs are in third place, 6.5 games behind the first place Brewers and one game ahead of the last place Reds in the Logjam Central.
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CARROTS ON THE HOUSE!!!!!
@>O’Cruz for that long bomb. Only the sixth player to hit one into the drink on the fly!
@>@>The Bullpen, accepting for the Gas Company will be ChapMan, who moves up into a tie with HodorMan. Not sure why Bednar was unavailable, but his turn is coming soon, methinks.
@>@>@>J. Jones for a gutty 7 innings and a quality start.
____________________________
“There’s just somethin’ ‘ewwww’ ‘bout a kid who doesn’t play baseball.”
Great story in the PG this morning about Holderman and his dedication to his sister and, on her behalf, raising awareness and money for Angelman syndrome.
I think he's got a good shot to hit, potentially the opposite of Triolo, a bat first super utility player. He was my favorite bat they took last year, even posted during the draft on PP last year around the 8th round selection about him still being available lol.
Time will tell but it should start clarifying now that he's at AA. There's still the question of what's the Pirates plan for him. He's listed and looked on as an outfielder and that's where he played mostly in college, but he's only played a handful of games in the outfield in the Pirate system with two-thirds of his time at 3rd and more at other infield positions than in the outfield this year. Are they planning to play him in the infield going forward or is this just another example of the Pirates being weird?
How can it not? Some players can do it later in their careers when they’ve developed the confidence in their ability to play and hit in the majors, but expecting a young guy to bounce around and still focus on hitting, which is by far the hardest part of the game, has to be a problem.
I still wonder how much throwing Davis into the outfield last year with virtually no preparation and then throwing him back behind the plate this year to “prove” he can catch has impacted his hitting. “Everyone knows he’ll hit” became the mantra but hitting in the majors is hard especially when you’re being distracted by having to learn or prove you can do something else.
They’re professional hitters. When they are on the box, the last thing they’re thinking about is what position they’re playing in the field. Additionally, if you have a kid that can play multiple positions, it’s easier to find a spot in the lineup. Unless, you’re a blue chip, elite prospect, it would behoove you to be versatile.
I swear 70% of you guys make things up in your mind to make a shitty org look even shittier.
So I’m not sure we know the answer to this, but I think your response is probably a little too dismissive. The mental aspect of the game is one which we don’t fully understand yet. But there is an argument that routine and repetition matter, as well as breeds confidence. If you try to be good at everything, there’s an argument that you’re actually good at nothing. That’s why so many professions specialize. You don’t usually see heart surgeons removing wisdom teeth.
Practically speaking, when these guys are training, there’s only so many hours in a day. Trying to prepare to play 5 positions has to cut into your time developing your core competencies. So I don’t know if it’s as clear as “these guys are professionals.” Take any professional and ask them to do too much and you’re potentially setting them up for failure.
No dismissive at all. Your top prospects aren't being groomed to play multiple positions. Prospects like McAdoo, the fringe guys are being groomed by all 30 teams to play multiple positions. Makes it much easier for them to crack a lineup if they can play multiple positions. If you groom McAdoo as 3b only, he's going to have a difficult time getting in the lineup.
Given the 50,000 times I’ve seen players and coaches talk about “carrying problems over” from the field to the plate and vice versa, this post is not well taken.
That would apply to making an error in the field and carrying it into the next ab. Like Pedro throwing one 10 rows deep and striking out on three pitches leading off the next inning.
McAdoo sure as hell isn’t at the plate thinking - I wish I was playing 3rd instead of LF. All teams deploy this strategy of making fringe guys versatile.
There’s a difference between “professional” and “robot”. A young player butchering a play in the field because they’re not playing their natural position and then be expected to bat immediately after can manifest in negative ways. Not every player can immediately flip that switch. Especially if they’re young and not established.
Yes. Well put. One of the follow up points I was going to make is questioning whether it’s better to expose guys to the multi-positional aspect of the game after they’ve gotten their feet wet and established themselves a bit.
I’ve always despised the obsession with “positional flexibility”. I can only imagine learning to adapt to the next level of pitching being difficult enough, let alone playing second base today, sitting tomorrow, playing left field the next day, etc..
I understand the value of having utility type players, but I don’t think every player is capable.
Keep in mind Jack was an emergency - we have no other outfielders on the 40 man - callup. He was not tearing it up in AA but was holding his own. Having said that, full credit to Jack for taking full advantage of the situation. Net: I don't think Jack coming from AA is a good reference point as I don't think it was because they felt he was ready.. and my opinion (basing it off of the excitement around Matt Fraizer a few years ago), let's see McAdoo hit in AA for an extended time before we think he can remotely help at the major league level. As boring as it seems, we have Bae and Palacios who have shown they can hit at AAA as possible candidates first.
I think that we are are all so accustomed to not having any hitting prospects or any prospects perform at the MLB-level that folk are ready to hope that anyone who hits the ball hard for a month above the complex league could be a starter in Pittsburgh next week. It's like some alternate form of Stockholm Syndrome or some such. Anyway, hope McAdoo does well and does well in Pittsburgh (starting next week... lol).
Yeah when it comes to the offense I have seen lots of people ready to anoint literally anyone as a solid contributor based on the smallest of sample sizes. It’s frustrating because we have a very smart fan base (just read the comments here) that I wouldn’t expect this from.
You missed Marco Gonzalez will begin throwing BP in Altoona. Good step forward for him.
*
The Carrot Tally So Far:*
Keller 25
J-Jones 18
BabySkenes 16
B.Rey 14
Falter 12
Nick the Stick 12
Cutch 11
O’Cruz 11
L’Ortiz 10
Tellez 10
Joe 8
Oliveras 7
HodorMan 7
ChapMan 7
M. Gonzales 6 injured
M. Perez 6 injured
Bednar 6
Suwinski 5
Flemming 5
Granny 3
Triolo 3
Hayes 3
R.Ryan 2 minors
Davis 2
Bart 2 injured
Williams 2
Bae 2
Contreras 1 traded
J. Hernandez 1 minors
M A Taylor 1
Delay 1
*
*updated 6/22/24
Saturday, June 22
37 down. 44 to go.
*
Pirates win 4-3 on a day behind one third of The Allegheny Electric Company. J. Jones went 7 innings after a first inning that clearly struck fear into the hearts of the Rays. O’Cruz whacked one into the river. And The Bullpen did what The Bullpen is supposed to do. The Bucs are in third place, 6.5 games behind the first place Brewers and one game ahead of the last place Reds in the Logjam Central.
*
CARROTS ON THE HOUSE!!!!!
@>O’Cruz for that long bomb. Only the sixth player to hit one into the drink on the fly!
@>@>The Bullpen, accepting for the Gas Company will be ChapMan, who moves up into a tie with HodorMan. Not sure why Bednar was unavailable, but his turn is coming soon, methinks.
@>@>@>J. Jones for a gutty 7 innings and a quality start.
____________________________
“There’s just somethin’ ‘ewwww’ ‘bout a kid who doesn’t play baseball.”
-Wabbit
#FREEPEGUERO
788ops vs lefties in indy this year
Boruki and M Perez take Santana and Jefferies place in the bullpen
Marco ends the opener experiments
make a trade or two to replace Fleming and maybe Nicolas
Great story in the PG this morning about Holderman and his dedication to his sister and, on her behalf, raising awareness and money for Angelman syndrome.
👍
McAdoo…is he the real deal?
I think he's got a good shot to hit, potentially the opposite of Triolo, a bat first super utility player. He was my favorite bat they took last year, even posted during the draft on PP last year around the 8th round selection about him still being available lol.
Time will tell but it should start clarifying now that he's at AA. There's still the question of what's the Pirates plan for him. He's listed and looked on as an outfielder and that's where he played mostly in college, but he's only played a handful of games in the outfield in the Pirate system with two-thirds of his time at 3rd and more at other infield positions than in the outfield this year. Are they planning to play him in the infield going forward or is this just another example of the Pirates being weird?
I’ve often wondered how much, if any, jerking these guys around from position to position affects their development.
How can it not? Some players can do it later in their careers when they’ve developed the confidence in their ability to play and hit in the majors, but expecting a young guy to bounce around and still focus on hitting, which is by far the hardest part of the game, has to be a problem.
I still wonder how much throwing Davis into the outfield last year with virtually no preparation and then throwing him back behind the plate this year to “prove” he can catch has impacted his hitting. “Everyone knows he’ll hit” became the mantra but hitting in the majors is hard especially when you’re being distracted by having to learn or prove you can do something else.
They’re professional hitters. When they are on the box, the last thing they’re thinking about is what position they’re playing in the field. Additionally, if you have a kid that can play multiple positions, it’s easier to find a spot in the lineup. Unless, you’re a blue chip, elite prospect, it would behoove you to be versatile.
I swear 70% of you guys make things up in your mind to make a shitty org look even shittier.
So I’m not sure we know the answer to this, but I think your response is probably a little too dismissive. The mental aspect of the game is one which we don’t fully understand yet. But there is an argument that routine and repetition matter, as well as breeds confidence. If you try to be good at everything, there’s an argument that you’re actually good at nothing. That’s why so many professions specialize. You don’t usually see heart surgeons removing wisdom teeth.
Practically speaking, when these guys are training, there’s only so many hours in a day. Trying to prepare to play 5 positions has to cut into your time developing your core competencies. So I don’t know if it’s as clear as “these guys are professionals.” Take any professional and ask them to do too much and you’re potentially setting them up for failure.
No dismissive at all. Your top prospects aren't being groomed to play multiple positions. Prospects like McAdoo, the fringe guys are being groomed by all 30 teams to play multiple positions. Makes it much easier for them to crack a lineup if they can play multiple positions. If you groom McAdoo as 3b only, he's going to have a difficult time getting in the lineup.
Given the 50,000 times I’ve seen players and coaches talk about “carrying problems over” from the field to the plate and vice versa, this post is not well taken.
That would apply to making an error in the field and carrying it into the next ab. Like Pedro throwing one 10 rows deep and striking out on three pitches leading off the next inning.
McAdoo sure as hell isn’t at the plate thinking - I wish I was playing 3rd instead of LF. All teams deploy this strategy of making fringe guys versatile.
There’s a difference between “professional” and “robot”. A young player butchering a play in the field because they’re not playing their natural position and then be expected to bat immediately after can manifest in negative ways. Not every player can immediately flip that switch. Especially if they’re young and not established.
Yes. Well put. One of the follow up points I was going to make is questioning whether it’s better to expose guys to the multi-positional aspect of the game after they’ve gotten their feet wet and established themselves a bit.
I’ve always despised the obsession with “positional flexibility”. I can only imagine learning to adapt to the next level of pitching being difficult enough, let alone playing second base today, sitting tomorrow, playing left field the next day, etc..
I understand the value of having utility type players, but I don’t think every player is capable.
If he hits well in AA, would McAdoo be considered for a call-up to the Bucs from Altoona, like they did with Suwinski?
Keep in mind Jack was an emergency - we have no other outfielders on the 40 man - callup. He was not tearing it up in AA but was holding his own. Having said that, full credit to Jack for taking full advantage of the situation. Net: I don't think Jack coming from AA is a good reference point as I don't think it was because they felt he was ready.. and my opinion (basing it off of the excitement around Matt Fraizer a few years ago), let's see McAdoo hit in AA for an extended time before we think he can remotely help at the major league level. As boring as it seems, we have Bae and Palacios who have shown they can hit at AAA as possible candidates first.
Suwinski was also in AA ball the year before. The difference between AA and AAA is not nearly as great as between AA and A ball.
I think that we are are all so accustomed to not having any hitting prospects or any prospects perform at the MLB-level that folk are ready to hope that anyone who hits the ball hard for a month above the complex league could be a starter in Pittsburgh next week. It's like some alternate form of Stockholm Syndrome or some such. Anyway, hope McAdoo does well and does well in Pittsburgh (starting next week... lol).
Yeah when it comes to the offense I have seen lots of people ready to anoint literally anyone as a solid contributor based on the smallest of sample sizes. It’s frustrating because we have a very smart fan base (just read the comments here) that I wouldn’t expect this from.
As in if he hits well in AA again today call him up for Jack tomorrow?
I’m in!