41 Comments

Hmm, definitely did not pick up on Oneil's massive home/road splits this year:

https://x.com/TJStats/status/1821576728721887415

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Another rough loss in a string of them. Hindsight is 20/20 but it would’ve been nice to cash in on that reliever market at the deadline. What would Chapman have brought back in a trade?

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Bednar going full 2012 Joel Hanrahan stinks, but hard to complain about wringing three great years out of him.

Where have you gone Jerry Sands.

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Somewhere there is a pirate blog with my posts saying Stolmy will be as successful and durable as Derek Lowe, tough to take myself serious after that🤣🤣

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Too many Paczki in the offseason, I’m afraid.

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Didnt Hanrahan fully collapse in 2013, after we traded him, with some mini late season decline in 2012? Bednar really testing my irrational patience🤣🤣

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So we missed our opportunity to get peak value out of him? Boy i sure hope not

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Aug 8·edited Aug 8

We control Bednar for another two arb yrs, he, unfortunately, is atleast making 2025 arb salary cheaper on us🤷‍♂️😥😥

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Bingo, ted

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Too tired, bedtime, to lookup and remind myself what injury simply was hard stop end game for Joel, that must have been tough on him, sad👎

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Feels like that group of guys from the DSL just promoted to A ball is the best shot we have of a 'core' in the minors. Certainly not giving up on Termarr and I think cook/yorke might be able to both be big league average, but those are isolated players vs a group of talent

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I have to assume we did not make moves at the trade deadline to strengthen the lineup at AAA. With Yorke and Cook coming in and continuing to hit, we need to find out what we have.

There are 4 players (at least) on the 26 who are struggling - Bae is not the answer in CF or MI; MAT and Triolo are defensive specialists with questionable offense so far; and Connor Joe continues to drop from promising OPS numbers in Mar (.883), Apr (.845), and May (.737), to Jun (.572), Jul (.543) and he is currently 0 for his last 10 AB. Pick 2 (probably Bae and Tri because they have options) and give Yorke and Cook a shot - one in CF/RF and one at 2B.

BTW, did Triolo have that exaggerated hands held very high batting stance last year?

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Are Cook and Yorke on the 40 man?

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No. Both have to be added this fall.

My guess is we don’t see either this year.

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Yes

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Highly susceptible to high heat, and the amount of movement to get to the ready position causes a lot of unneeded and unwanted head movement, therefore, bouncing of the eyes, etc. Maybe it's just my old eyes. Mandatory viewings of "The Art of Hitting .300" video of Charlie Lau.

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Well..July was fun.

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It is amazing Shelton did not pinch hit Bart or de la Cruz yesterday as well as going with Holderman in the 10th instead of Nicolas. Its crazy how quickly they fell. The bullpen has been terrible, 4 games in the past week lost after the bullpen blew a late lead. That would make them 60-53 and in a great spot. The only chance they have now is if they rip off a 10 game winning streak or something. But I don’t see that happening. Very frustrating week and overall season.

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Shelton (stupidly used Nicolas for 45 pitches down three runs early on Tuesday. He was unavailable last night (and probably today.) That role should now be Holderman's. Put him in down several runs and hope he figures it out.

This last ten days have been a season killer.

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The bullpen was an area I thought needed serious attention at the deadline, but like the offense, Cherington didn't take it seriously. The relievers aren't as epically horrible as the typical Cherington hitter, but they're all mediocre. When you're using 3-4 relievers in every game, especially Marco starts, at least one of them is going to have a bad day, often more than one. But that's Cherington all over, aim for mediocrity and pretend you've done something great.

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Speaks volumes about DLC. He was supposed to be “the big bat” they were adding. Obviously even they don’t think he’s much of a hitter.

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BDLC is the Wish version of Jorge Soler and Randy A.

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Typical Cherington. Get some guy who'd resemble a good player if he was any good.

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Very demoralizing loss for the big league team. They definitely are giving good effort, but aren’t making the plays necessary to win, be it with the bat, glove, or arm, right now.

Bae looked like a kid whose dog died after he failed to drive in the runner from 3B in 9th inning. Definitely a sign he cares a lot…maybe too much.

Going to be tough to bounce back from this one. Need the vets to lead by example, kinda like Cutch did yesterday.

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Excellent post, such a nice read, couldnt handle another monday morning qb analysis, thanks Scott👏👍

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You score 8 runs with that freaking line up and lose....what a waste.....

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I agree, but they have been playing against two of the hottest teams in baseball the past week. If they can continue to stay around .500 they will have a shot at the playoffs.

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Stay around .500? That gives them zero shot Mel. The WC teams are 8-10 games over .500 and not going to regress.

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DBacks and Pad's are 16-4 in the last 20 games, and the Pirates are at their absolute low point of the season. Rotation has struggled since the AS Break, Bullpen is struggling even worse, and hitting is sketchy at best. Losing, but still in every game, and there are still 49 games remaining. I like the possibility of the Pirates finishing 7 or 8 over .500 - I think that will be enough.

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Aug 8·edited Aug 8

I should know better than to test you, but I'll bet ya 86 wins gets in this year.

That's one September hot streak if you can hang at .500 through the dog days. One two-week heater and you're in.

I do my share of good-intentioned jagging with Mel but if I can't get behind this then I don't know why I bother!

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Four months of actual games would suggest this team won't go on a two-week heater. Three game win streak is max (excluding the ChiSox). And even then, 14-4 and 86 wins is the bare minimum imo. The teams ahead are better after the deadline it appears.

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They've literally done it TWICE in those four months!

what in the world are you talking about.

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We have to go 4-2 or 4-3 for every remaining week left to approach 10 games over.....86 wins.

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AZ and SD are hot because they’re playing the Pirates. They’re the teams the Pirates had to beat and they’ve failed.

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Nope. Arizona is 10-2 since the break against teams other than the Bucs (who they went 4-2 against). San Diego is 11-3 against teams other than the Bucs (which includes going 6-2 against Cleveland, Baltimore and LAD). So while the Bucs have faded against the teams they’re chasing, Arizona and SD aren’t hot only because they’re facing the Pirates.

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The Pirates are certainly doing their part.

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No argument there.

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I'm glad you are an optimist but I can't see how you can sugarcoat this one. Three blown leads against teams you're chasing with seven straight games against "A" teams coming next is hard to digest.

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Axiel Plaz has found something in his swing in 2024 which produces HR's at an unusual pace for an 18 year old at A ball. Last year in the FCL he had almost 100 AB, but only hit 1 HR. This year after being "promoted" to A, he now has 15 HR in 177 AB - one HR for every 11.8 AB! And, he is not being overwhelmed - very good BB/K numbers of 11.5% BB/27.8% K. He has played 26 games at 1B with a .987 Fldg%, and 28 Games at C with a .986 Fldg%. He will turn 19 next week.

A play at Bradenton had me scratching my head. From the box score "plays" - in the second inning, Jhonny Severino hit a single to drive in a run, leaving runners at first and third with one out. The next batter was Javier Rivas and he sacrifice bunted, scoring the runner from 3rd, and Severino took 2nd Base. Did that really happen?

Exc stuff about the 3 batted balls over 100 mph by Severino and a 4th at 99 mph. He, YDLS, Caro, and Plaz are definitely guys to watch.

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Yes it happened. Lol. Don't worry. The Pirates will fix that. Can't have any player in the organization executing a sac. bunt.

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Nothing against sacrifice bunts, but in the 2nd inning with 2 runners on and a guy 6'6" 180 at the plate?

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