Cruz is Barry Bonds all over again IMO. He has talent and he knows it. But in the little ’Burgh he’s the big fish, so he gets a lot of rope, too much. He’ll probably play to his ability somewhere else where he has to compete for his spot.
In the meantime, I’m glad to see him benched, it was a longtime coming. And I really like what Don Kelly has been doing. He’s a keeper.
Make Cruz earn his spot and when he does, hit him 9th until he forces his way up the lineup. With his head on straight he’d be a masher and he and the team would be much more competitive. Also, if he doesn’t grow up, trade him in the off season. Even with his lack of focus now. He would bring back some good talent to fill his spot in the lineup.
We can dream he is Barry Bonds all over again. And in fairness to Cruz, Bonds pure instincts / talent (not sure the best word) were off the charts. His jump and accuracy of routes were things that are hard to teach. Outside of a weak arm he was just more gifted.
Comparing Barry Bonds to Cruz is absurd. What did Bonds ever do that approaches what Cruz has done in the couple past weeks? Bonds was arrogant as hell. He had supreme confidence in himself. But he always played his ass off and was one of the five greatest players ever. At Cruz’s age Bonds won his first MVP award.
Bonds played to his ability from Day 1 in the majors. The one time Bonds stepped out of line, Leyland challenged him and that was the end of that.
I can’t believe no one else on the board has pushed back against this ridiculous comparison. Cruz isn’t even on the same planet with Bonds as a player.
Met with my MD just now. He noticed my Pirates shirt and told me he was in Pittsburgh for his son’s little league. They went to the game where Cruz let the ball go to the wall and struck out bad in his first 2 AB. He said his son’s coach pointed to Cruz as the example not to follow if you want to be successful. Which IMO says it all. He’s got to be reigned in. They were counting on him to be a leader, and yes the season has not unfolded the way anyone wanted, but as a leader you had to shrug it off an go to battle next time determined to do better. Giving up is not an option. A couple win streaks and even this team could vie for a WC spot.
Mis? That's the comp. Most innings he has thrown as a pro is 97. As you mentioned bb rate has been an issue throughout his career. Hopefully today some of that luck goes away and we plate some runs off him and get Paul a win.
Happened to glance at the leaderboards today, and noticed that Ohtani has 76 runs scored. The entire Pirate team has 265. So he’s scored almost 30% of the Pirates’ run total by himself.
Babe Ruth holds the modern era single season record at 177.
The lack of hustle and baseball IQ has occasionally been a problem with this dude since he stepped on a field. Someone needs to get to him quickly or he's going to waste his God given talent.
I saw this with Altoona in the one game per year I attend in Bowie. Cruz was lolly-gagging it with fans on 3rd base side between innings, and Bae at 2nd base was noticeably irritated with him not taking warm-ups betw innings. So this is not a new development. Where have the coaches or FO been for 3-4 years? I diagnosed it as possibly ADD. But also that it's a reflection of Dominican Republic style of baseball and lack of teaching fundamentals.
Not going to excuse the lack of effort, but it’s an issue with players from all over, and to defend the players a little bit: you’re playing for an organization that doesn’t really seem committed to winning, during what amounts to a lost season. Yes, they are collecting a paycheck, and yes they should try, but I’ll admit it would be difficult to want to give 100% given the circumstances, if it was me playing.
Sorry, we must have watched 2 entirely different players. Marte beat out more infield hits than almost any Pirate I remember and didn't selectively run hard (sure one hopper to second hit 100 MPH probably didn't run full out). Did he occasionally show off the gun... sure.. but no more than Andy Van Slyke.. they won more than they lost doing that and both deterred countless baserunners.. He covered tremendous ground in left field. He DID test positive(a valid reason to not make him a favorite) and like everybody else claimed he did't know how it happened. He can point to the back of his baseball card and say his game did not drop off at all post suspension and I am sure he was tested.
You're probably right about his IF hits. But he had his moments of not running out ground balls, I believe he got benched for not doing so just like Cruz. His defense was poor going back to the wall. He often threw to the wrong base. And he often ran into TOOTBLANS while on the base paths. Overall great talent with the bat, but the rest of his game had some warts.
Pretty sure a quick google search could find us plenty of american-born players benched for similar reasons, fellas.
For me, Oneil is neither a lazy uncoachable malcontent NOR a player who has developed the mental strength required to be a star big league ballplayer.
He clearly has shown skill-based development over the years AND falls into funks where he takes plays off to a level that you just can't do in this league.
And these are grown-ass men, not little leaguers. Maybe you blame coaches for not bringing the hammer down on him sooner but let's stop pretending the players do not have free will and coaches have a complete ability to mold them into robots.
Damn right. Even Cutch was benched for not hustling early in his career. At this point, much of what Cruz does with his career is how much he smooths out the rough spots in his game.
I'm all in on this reply. I saw Hank jog to first base holding his bat representing the tying run in the ninth just this weekend because he thought he hit a homer. It was caught but could have easily banged off the wall and might of only ended up at first or squandered a chance to be at third. Crickets including from the announcers. . I saw superman (Griffin) jog to first as he was fooled on a spinner and the ball was in shallow right.. didn't drop.... could have. I am glad they pulled Cruz as they should have mostly because he did not know how many outs there were. This whole selective anger when someone doesn't run like Pete Rose is just silly. I DO NOT LIKE THE LOOK.. but either coaches (really league wide) are going to make it a priority or they are bought in on this is not the fight to choose. I posted about Oneil about 2 weeks ago when something boiled up.. I truly think there are 'knuckleheads' (maybe I was one) who whether ADD or who knows what just struggle at laser focus for an entire game and I base this off of competitive as well as beer league sports. Work with him yes... make these grand selective angry conclusions... pass.
No one should be advocating sprinting to first base like a 40-yard dash with a stop watch to be timed on a ball in play. But the Cruz play involved trying to beat out a double play ball. Everyone should be advocating hustle on that type of play, to keep the inning going, keep the line moving to the next batter. It's simply very basic.
Please re-read. My point was either we are mad or we are not at lack of hustle (and I'll even back off and say on plays or moments when hustling seemed call for). It is a full time thing in the league and my old school doesn't appreciate it. However, IMO people selectively call it out when if fits their narrative.
Pretty sure the Pirates have the SP positions well stocked for at least the next 5 or 6 years, and Barco is definitely going be a strong part of that. Right now, they are trying to build up his innings to prep him for being in the Rotation. Heaney was our $5.25 mil LHSP buy for 2025 and he has more than paid that back in fWAR Value and that is only for the First half of 2025. Some team will buy him from the Bucs for about the remaining $2 mil of his contract and a young player/pitcher.
Has anyone seen or heard anything regarding Matt Hague? By now we have usually roasted the Pirates Hitting Coach 7 or 8 times, but this guy must be in witness protection. Don't know who picked the hitting coaches for AA - Casey Harms and Scott Seabol. Harms was the hitting coach at the FCL level in 2021 and then the Bench Coach for GBO last year, and Seabol was the hitting coach at BRD in 2024. so, backgrounds of hitting coaches at FCL and A. Altoona has one hitter over an 800 OPS (Bowen) at AA; and I think only 2 others (TJ, Pichardo) over 700 OPS? That means a whole lot of players at 600 OPS numbers or lower.
When Theo Epstein was getting the Cubs out of their long irrelevance, his approach was to build the farm system with hitters and acquire pitchers later. Harder to do that with a Nuttin budget, but TINSTAAPP is a real thing.
You're absolutely right and yet I still go back and forth on whether that 4-yr year run was confirmation of the strategy or failure of it. This game is so damn hard. I love it.
I’m doing this from vague memories, but I think they ran into several factors. I think their farm system went downhill quickly. (Guess I could check that.). Some of the hitters didn’t age well, or just flopped, which, damn!, all prospects may do. And the owner cut back.
Anyway, the big lesson to me is there’s no such thing as a “build” or “rebuild.” Or a “window.” The only viable strategy is a sustained commitment to excellence. Pretty scary for fans of a Nuttin team.
Pretty sure Gonzales just yesterday sung Hague’s praises for helping him with his swing (think it was in the Trib). Only point it out because I just saw him mentioned.
Can’t look at this offense, though, and say he’s making much of a positive impact when looking at their performance.
Thank you, NG does seem to have a different approach. That said, his first Month last year was excellent, and then dropped mightily in the next few months. If he can maintain something near his present performance at the plate, it will be another building block for this franchise. Horwitz also seems to have himself in a good place - he probably worked with Hague last year.
Cruz is Barry Bonds all over again IMO. He has talent and he knows it. But in the little ’Burgh he’s the big fish, so he gets a lot of rope, too much. He’ll probably play to his ability somewhere else where he has to compete for his spot.
In the meantime, I’m glad to see him benched, it was a longtime coming. And I really like what Don Kelly has been doing. He’s a keeper.
Make Cruz earn his spot and when he does, hit him 9th until he forces his way up the lineup. With his head on straight he’d be a masher and he and the team would be much more competitive. Also, if he doesn’t grow up, trade him in the off season. Even with his lack of focus now. He would bring back some good talent to fill his spot in the lineup.
We can dream he is Barry Bonds all over again. And in fairness to Cruz, Bonds pure instincts / talent (not sure the best word) were off the charts. His jump and accuracy of routes were things that are hard to teach. Outside of a weak arm he was just more gifted.
Comparing Barry Bonds to Cruz is absurd. What did Bonds ever do that approaches what Cruz has done in the couple past weeks? Bonds was arrogant as hell. He had supreme confidence in himself. But he always played his ass off and was one of the five greatest players ever. At Cruz’s age Bonds won his first MVP award.
Bonds played to his ability from Day 1 in the majors. The one time Bonds stepped out of line, Leyland challenged him and that was the end of that.
I can’t believe no one else on the board has pushed back against this ridiculous comparison. Cruz isn’t even on the same planet with Bonds as a player.
Met with my MD just now. He noticed my Pirates shirt and told me he was in Pittsburgh for his son’s little league. They went to the game where Cruz let the ball go to the wall and struck out bad in his first 2 AB. He said his son’s coach pointed to Cruz as the example not to follow if you want to be successful. Which IMO says it all. He’s got to be reigned in. They were counting on him to be a leader, and yes the season has not unfolded the way anyone wanted, but as a leader you had to shrug it off an go to battle next time determined to do better. Giving up is not an option. A couple win streaks and even this team could vie for a WC spot.
Looks like the Brewers found a gem with Mizourowski. 2nd rounder, signed him away from LSU by more than doubling his slot value
$2.35 vs $1.1M slot value.
Not only with Misiorowski, but they turned Quinn Priester into a STEAL in the trade from the Red Sox.
sounds alot like Jared Jhones.
makes me feel old not seeing him used as the obvious comp but this is Tyler Glasnow through and through.
Stupid stuff but will need to figure out how to throw more strikes to be a star.
Mis? That's the comp. Most innings he has thrown as a pro is 97. As you mentioned bb rate has been an issue throughout his career. Hopefully today some of that luck goes away and we plate some runs off him and get Paul a win.
Even though hes in the division, I want the best for this kid. Being built like a stick an 92+ mph sliders has me terrified for his future health
"like" for the yinzer phonetic spelling.
Wouldn't that be "MizzerAHski?"?
n'at
Bench Cruz for a series
Happened to glance at the leaderboards today, and noticed that Ohtani has 76 runs scored. The entire Pirate team has 265. So he’s scored almost 30% of the Pirates’ run total by himself.
Babe Ruth holds the modern era single season record at 177.
The lack of hustle and baseball IQ has occasionally been a problem with this dude since he stepped on a field. Someone needs to get to him quickly or he's going to waste his God given talent.
I saw this with Altoona in the one game per year I attend in Bowie. Cruz was lolly-gagging it with fans on 3rd base side between innings, and Bae at 2nd base was noticeably irritated with him not taking warm-ups betw innings. So this is not a new development. Where have the coaches or FO been for 3-4 years? I diagnosed it as possibly ADD. But also that it's a reflection of Dominican Republic style of baseball and lack of teaching fundamentals.
I'm not sure it's the Dominican style of baseball but the coaching in this organization definitely has been a huge problem for years.
Not going to excuse the lack of effort, but it’s an issue with players from all over, and to defend the players a little bit: you’re playing for an organization that doesn’t really seem committed to winning, during what amounts to a lost season. Yes, they are collecting a paycheck, and yes they should try, but I’ll admit it would be difficult to want to give 100% given the circumstances, if it was me playing.
Starling Marte has left scar tissue. Loads of gifted talent, but a lackadaisical style of play.
Sorry, we must have watched 2 entirely different players. Marte beat out more infield hits than almost any Pirate I remember and didn't selectively run hard (sure one hopper to second hit 100 MPH probably didn't run full out). Did he occasionally show off the gun... sure.. but no more than Andy Van Slyke.. they won more than they lost doing that and both deterred countless baserunners.. He covered tremendous ground in left field. He DID test positive(a valid reason to not make him a favorite) and like everybody else claimed he did't know how it happened. He can point to the back of his baseball card and say his game did not drop off at all post suspension and I am sure he was tested.
You're probably right about his IF hits. But he had his moments of not running out ground balls, I believe he got benched for not doing so just like Cruz. His defense was poor going back to the wall. He often threw to the wrong base. And he often ran into TOOTBLANS while on the base paths. Overall great talent with the bat, but the rest of his game had some warts.
To me Marte was a better player than Cruz up to this point in their careers.
Definitely.
Pretty sure a quick google search could find us plenty of american-born players benched for similar reasons, fellas.
For me, Oneil is neither a lazy uncoachable malcontent NOR a player who has developed the mental strength required to be a star big league ballplayer.
He clearly has shown skill-based development over the years AND falls into funks where he takes plays off to a level that you just can't do in this league.
And these are grown-ass men, not little leaguers. Maybe you blame coaches for not bringing the hammer down on him sooner but let's stop pretending the players do not have free will and coaches have a complete ability to mold them into robots.
Damn right. Even Cutch was benched for not hustling early in his career. At this point, much of what Cruz does with his career is how much he smooths out the rough spots in his game.
I'm all in on this reply. I saw Hank jog to first base holding his bat representing the tying run in the ninth just this weekend because he thought he hit a homer. It was caught but could have easily banged off the wall and might of only ended up at first or squandered a chance to be at third. Crickets including from the announcers. . I saw superman (Griffin) jog to first as he was fooled on a spinner and the ball was in shallow right.. didn't drop.... could have. I am glad they pulled Cruz as they should have mostly because he did not know how many outs there were. This whole selective anger when someone doesn't run like Pete Rose is just silly. I DO NOT LIKE THE LOOK.. but either coaches (really league wide) are going to make it a priority or they are bought in on this is not the fight to choose. I posted about Oneil about 2 weeks ago when something boiled up.. I truly think there are 'knuckleheads' (maybe I was one) who whether ADD or who knows what just struggle at laser focus for an entire game and I base this off of competitive as well as beer league sports. Work with him yes... make these grand selective angry conclusions... pass.
No one should be advocating sprinting to first base like a 40-yard dash with a stop watch to be timed on a ball in play. But the Cruz play involved trying to beat out a double play ball. Everyone should be advocating hustle on that type of play, to keep the inning going, keep the line moving to the next batter. It's simply very basic.
Please re-read. My point was either we are mad or we are not at lack of hustle (and I'll even back off and say on plays or moments when hustling seemed call for). It is a full time thing in the league and my old school doesn't appreciate it. However, IMO people selectively call it out when if fits their narrative.
ADD?!?! DR style of baseball and lack of coaching!
Shit like this fucking triggers me. Such a lazy, ignorant take.
Facts hurt sometimes, huh.
excuse me...facts? what flipping facts? your ignorant opinion is not a fact!
Nice start by Barco. Good to see him pitch well. He’s who I hope is starting in one of the two LHSP roles for Pirates in 2026.
Use the $$$ used in recent years for LHSP reclamation project towards a better hitter.
Pretty sure the Pirates have the SP positions well stocked for at least the next 5 or 6 years, and Barco is definitely going be a strong part of that. Right now, they are trying to build up his innings to prep him for being in the Rotation. Heaney was our $5.25 mil LHSP buy for 2025 and he has more than paid that back in fWAR Value and that is only for the First half of 2025. Some team will buy him from the Bucs for about the remaining $2 mil of his contract and a young player/pitcher.
Has anyone seen or heard anything regarding Matt Hague? By now we have usually roasted the Pirates Hitting Coach 7 or 8 times, but this guy must be in witness protection. Don't know who picked the hitting coaches for AA - Casey Harms and Scott Seabol. Harms was the hitting coach at the FCL level in 2021 and then the Bench Coach for GBO last year, and Seabol was the hitting coach at BRD in 2024. so, backgrounds of hitting coaches at FCL and A. Altoona has one hitter over an 800 OPS (Bowen) at AA; and I think only 2 others (TJ, Pichardo) over 700 OPS? That means a whole lot of players at 600 OPS numbers or lower.
Hague always has that drunken sailor sh*t faced grin on, so he could be fooling us all, or he could suck as a hitting coach??
No team in baseball is “well stocked” in pitching for the next 5-6 years. It’s too unpredictable for that.
When Theo Epstein was getting the Cubs out of their long irrelevance, his approach was to build the farm system with hitters and acquire pitchers later. Harder to do that with a Nuttin budget, but TINSTAAPP is a real thing.
You're absolutely right and yet I still go back and forth on whether that 4-yr year run was confirmation of the strategy or failure of it. This game is so damn hard. I love it.
Probably both, really.
I’m doing this from vague memories, but I think they ran into several factors. I think their farm system went downhill quickly. (Guess I could check that.). Some of the hitters didn’t age well, or just flopped, which, damn!, all prospects may do. And the owner cut back.
Anyway, the big lesson to me is there’s no such thing as a “build” or “rebuild.” Or a “window.” The only viable strategy is a sustained commitment to excellence. Pretty scary for fans of a Nuttin team.
Right on again.
And Ben Cherington of course famously hired John Baker from that Cubs diaspora to run his player development.
Yeah you can ask the Dodgers about that very thing.
Pretty sure Gonzales just yesterday sung Hague’s praises for helping him with his swing (think it was in the Trib). Only point it out because I just saw him mentioned.
Can’t look at this offense, though, and say he’s making much of a positive impact when looking at their performance.
Thank you, NG does seem to have a different approach. That said, his first Month last year was excellent, and then dropped mightily in the next few months. If he can maintain something near his present performance at the plate, it will be another building block for this franchise. Horwitz also seems to have himself in a good place - he probably worked with Hague last year.
It was his post-game interview with Hannah also.
Can’t make chicken salad out of chicken shit.
Nick gave Hague credit for his success the night before last in the in field post game interview
Thank you.