36 Comments

I don't watch too many teams besides the pirates regularly but I went to see the dodgers play the nationals yesterday for ohtani. I saw Pittsburgh earlier in the month in DC as well. I know they are the favorites to win it all but watching each of their at bats and overall offense was really eye opening when compared to Pittsburgh. It definitely felt like the teams are not in the same league. I guess to read about it is one thing but to see it in person really drives home the differences.

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Anyone else just completely done with the Rowdy experience at 1b? Also I don’t get the keeping Cutch out of the lineup after homer in two straight games. I can’t understand the load management for a DH

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THE BEATINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES.

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Did I miss an explanation for why Priester wasn't used?

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Believe they said yesterday would have been four days rest and wanted to extend him to six days rest so he would go against San Fran. Real story probably more aligned with SouthernBuc below.

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Apparently he gives up too many runs. I’ll be here all day with more expert responses as needed.

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Hahaha, but also accurate.

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Apr 25·edited Apr 25

Im pretty sure that we will not have an above average offensive team this year but there is hope, if key folks stay healthy, some improve, we can battle to be slightly below average, fine🤷‍♂️.... It doesnt matter too much, we will be compelling because of our pitching. The rotation of Jones, Falter, Skenes, Perez, and Keller (marco as well) will be the best in baseball and get us to wildcard series or better...with Jones and Skenes we could be a scary 'out' in playoff series🤔

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Hope can only get you so far. You have to score runs to win games and, while pitching can keep you in the game, 1-2 runs doesn’t result in many wins especially with some of the defensive holes the Pirates continue to have. Two unearned runs cost them the game last night because their first baseman couldn’t soft toss the ball accurately from a few feet away. Lack of hitting and bad defense are problems and cannot be wished away.

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I think we're going to see a lot more from Cruz and Suwinski than we've seen so far, and one way or another we'll get more production from 2B than we've gotten (either Triolo starts hitting or he's replaced by Gonzales, Bae, or Peguero). But we'll be limited as long as we have such a big hole at 1B.

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I think Triolo is better than his topline stats indicate. He has been snakebit like Suwinski, but I don't think 2B will be an offensive dynamo no matter who is manning the position. I know everyone is hot to trot for Gonzalez right now, but Lamb is actually hitting better than him at Indy, and Lamb has had an OPS of about 60 in the MLB the past 3 years. I doubt that Lamb found some new juice at age 33. 1B could improve some if roly poly walks the plank and Joe takes over fulltime. Davis is going to have to start to hit if they want any production from C. Grandal is not going to improve the offense from that position. I think we should be starting to see that Hayes' 2 months of last season were mostly the mirage of a couple week hot streak. He is back to pounding the ball into the ground, eating sunflower seeds, and looking generally disinterested in baseball.

The unwillingness and lack of imagination or courage to trade prospects to upgrade (or even fill capably) the positions of need in the offseason by Cherington is really starting to hurt, and I don't see much medication for the pain on the horizon.

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I'm probably in the minority but Suwinski looks like he is becoming a more complete mlb hitter. He's had some bad luck on his balls in play. He's starting to find the barrel and will hopefully go on an extended hot stretch soon.

Triolo seems to be very predictable on where he hits the ball lately. Right Center in the air, just right of 2nd base on the ground when hit well. When hit poorly lazy pop ups or rolled over on the left side.

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I'm a big Suwinski fan, except for those few seconds after he K's on a ball in the dirt. I feel like he's still making up for playing so little the first week of the season due to all the lefties that we were facing, and he'll break out soon.

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I agree 100% on Suwinski. I don't think Haines is helping Triolo. It is the standard fare of trying to make a guy into something he is not. It has been the Pirates' way for some time now.

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Doesn't it go beyond Haines in Triolo's case, though? His batting profile seems similar to what I recall from his minor league days--he doesn't generate the power that you'd hope for from a guy with his frame.

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Yeah this is who Jared Triolo is, same dude as he was in the minors.

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Hayes is trying to help him generate more power. The lazy popups and rollovers to the left side may be the result of this attempt: trying to get the bat started earlier for more pull. He needs to spray the ball and be who he is: a good OBP guy who doesn't have much power.

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I'd be happy to see Lamb replace Tellez. As for Triolo, I had the impression that there are a lot of line drives that are not that well hit. I just checked Statcast, and in fact he's in the 20th percentile in average exit velocity and 37th percentile in hard hit %. The latter isn't that bad for someone breaking into the majors, but to this point the numbers match what I'm seeing--mostly weak contact. On a positive note, he is in the 73rd percentile in sweet-spot % (which seems weird given that he's only in the 32nd percentile for barrel %) and the 70th percentile in BB %.

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There are lies, damned lies, and people of mediocre intelligence who play with statistics. The upper range of launch angle for what is considered a barrel changes with exit velocity. So if you hit a high-fly ball hard enough, it is considered a barrel while a soft-liner, even though it had a launch angle of 10 degrees is not. That entire system is set up to validate a preconceived point of view.

Sweet-spot % is a lanch-angle only metric. So he is hitting a lot of soft liners: mostly right at people. His BA will improve as more of these should be falling in. He is never going to hit for power though... despite Haines' best efforts. He is what he is: a utility infielder and a pretty good one, but don't expect a major OPS contribution.

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I didn't understand sweet spot but now reading the glossary, I understand the difference. Sweet spot seems pretty useless, but barrel percentage has meaning because it's based on expected BA and SLG. This actually makes me less optimistic about Triolo, though at least he draws walks.

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I have the opposite opinion. Barrel rate was a statistic designed to support the system of expectation stats. The whole thing is a statistical construct built around the idea that selling out to hit the ball hard is good. Much of modern baseball is built around this idea, which is why Ks are so common; BBs more common; and BA is down every year. Most of the league is selling out for power and then designing a statistical system ex post facto to justify it.

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The Brewers tried to hand the game to the Pirates late but the Pirates said "hold my beer" earlier in the game.

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Hunter Barco on the fast track to promotion? Also, only giving up 3 runs for the arms we put out there yesterday was honestly better than I expected. Needed more offense, but can't hold the pitching accountable for that one

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I don't see much need for advanced college arms in A-ball.

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I hope Barco will get plenty of his innings in Altoona this year. The faster they get him out of that bandbox in Greensboro the better.

As for offense, I’d say if things don’t improve by the time they get back from the impending road trip, then look for Grandal and Gonzales to be promoted.

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His command seems to come and go so, yeah, innings vs higher level hitters are needed in good supply.

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