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Ben Clemens chat comment today on Nick G:

I'm forever gonna be a Gonzales truther b/c the first college baseball model I ever made thought he was the best hitter in a generation (yes, my park factors might have been off)

2:20 I think that he's on an unsustainable contact hot streak, but that his approach of elevating to maximize his contact is gonna work great

and that there's room for him to improve his chase rate a little, which makes me think a tailwind in walks and favorable counts could offset a babip slide

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I wish Hank would take a little bit of a look at Gonzales stance. Hanks wound so tight in a crouch, I can't see him being able to adjust to mlb pitching currently. I think he needs to loosen up and be taller, taking some stress off his legs, raising his hands to keep his bat on a cleaner path and using an up the middle approach instead of trying to pull everything.

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You're basically describing the driveline swing he came into 2024 using.

I, too, think that was a better overall swing. But it also required a huge change in timing. Thrown straight into big league action, he just could not sync up. Wish instead of abandoning it in AAA they used the time there for his to get reps with the new swing.

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Only real difference (from driveline) is taking an all fields approach and getting his hands up a little higher. Totally think he needed to work it out in Indy and they did him no favors. His timing is a mess and he just looks so tightly wound that he can't control his swing well.

Sorry got long winded but I agree.

Just went back and watched a couple of his spring training at bats, his hands were higher then, he started holding them a little lower around the Baltimore series.

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Trade thoughts

Tellez has bought himself at least a few weeks as the big side platoon at 1st.

We need a good defensive left handed bat or a good everyday right handed bat for center.

A good left handed bench bat.

Another decent bullpen arm preferably left handed or another mid rotation starter which would move Perez to the long man out of the pen.

1st rain check for a few weeks.

Unrealistic move for center Robert, a little more realistic but not very Jazz, realistic but not likely JJ Bleday, worth kicking the tires Alex Thomas and unproven but probably available Barrosa.

Nardi jumps out as a potential lefty reliever, probably because he resembles Holderman lol.

Only starter I'd really look into is Crochet and he's not very realistic.

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Bleday is from the area

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Titusville.

His Dad is/was an orthopedic surgeon. They moved to Florida when JJ was in 10th grade.

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Yep

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I want to believe BC will do something to help this team but I really don't think he will. My son loves Jazz, he'd be through the roof if we landed him

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Ashcraft going to Indy.

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rather Ashcraft and Delgado instead of Brubaker

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Highly necessary. Needs work in AAA ASAP to be prepared for a likely emergency callup at some point this season. In this day, teams just can't afford to carry pitchers on the 40-man who are not prepared to be called up at some point in the season.

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My guilty pleasure, yearly irrational focus on getting Jurickson Profar, seems would have finally been right move this offseason, interesting guy🤷‍♂️

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He's one of the OOTPB guys who you can always sign for cheap and expect him to overperform. Every game that I play, I just assume Profar is on my roster when I start the game.

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should have let hank or oneil pitch last night

it worked for wakefield´s career...

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I know Ashcraft is doing well, but he might be the exact trade bait the Pirates need to swing a solid trade in the next few weeks.

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At the moment, Ashcraft represents the starting pitching depth in the organization... all of it... at least all of it close to being MLB-ready. Basically, they can't trade him at this juncture. Maybe when some guys get healthy and show that they can perform (i.e. Gonzalez and Priester)... but not now.

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That's right. I was thinking the headline on a Crochet trade.

And they can find some b-grade offense to shore up 1B.

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What the offense needs is a new philosophy. I mean Haines hasn't got it, and these lineups need some tweaks too.

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They'd need a starter back if he's traded, ex Crochet.

Very unlikely he's getting traded.

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Basically, Gonzalez would have to come back... be super sharp for 15 games or so... and they decide to pick up his option. That is the only scenario in which I see them trading Ashcraft.

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And Gonzalez isn't even throwing yet, I think

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I don't know, but it sure looks like July at the earliest, which means that I don't see him getting much more than 15 more starts this season. It would have to be that number, and they would have be quality for the Pirates to pick up a 12-million-dollar option on him.

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He'd almost have to restructure his contract to stay in Pittsburgh regardless in my opinion. I just can't see $12 mil for his last 2 injury filled seasons.

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here is the list of prospect I see as should be available

Harrington, Ashcraft, Cheng, Jebb, Forrestor, Bowen, Reilly, Terrero, Castillo, Tres

that is enough for B level ringer

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I'd check out the white Sox. They have a lot of MLB now players, and should be in fire sale mode. They may get someone there.

And they should kick the tires on Crockett. He'd be the best counterbalance they could want for their current top 3.

I'd sell the farm for Crockett personally.

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I’m pretty sure Crockett will end up in Texas.

Edit: I know you mean Crochet and I agree with you on trying to snag him.

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This is where it gets tough and I sympathize with Cherington. To bring back an impactful player probably will take parting with two out of Ashcraft, Harrington, and Chandler but we'll likely need pitching reinforcements in the next couple of years and easily could regret parting with those guys. But in the end, if that's what it takes to win now, that's what we need to do.

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The reality is, the system is too weak to permit trades for impactful players. BA just did a top 100 update. The Pirates have Skenes at 1, Chandler at 71, and that’s it. Keith Law wrote Termarr up the other day as essentially a non-prospect. White is hitting .160, Solometo can’t find the plate.

Their best option for a non-waiver-type acquisition is to take on a salary dump. Think Nuttin will do that?

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What was Law's main reason? I just can't see opinion changing that much for such a young player.

And I'm not too concerned about the lack of pitchers in the top 100 since I like Harrington more than Chandler and the sentiment at this site seems to place Ashcraft above Chandler too, not that we don't all like Chandler.

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Defense was poor (which he never seemed great at anyway) and he was missing too much in the zone. And not enough impact contact. Great zone judgment, though. Seems like the stat line kinda bears that out.

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The assessment on defense was “needs to move to left.”

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If that bat is more similar to last year, then wherever he can play passable defense is a fit. Lot of ifs here though

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This is what happens when your player development sucks. I know you can't hit on every player but the Pirates seem to miss on most.

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I’m not sure it’s even development. Termarr, like Davis, looks more and more like another massive Cherington scouting fail.

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Is that a Ben scouting fail, an industry scouting fail, or a mix? It’s not like either of those two were off the wall overdrafts by BC. Davis has been handled incredibly poorly (now you’re an OF, oh wait, now you’re not!) by this organization and he needed more time in the minors.

Termarr…I’m not quite ready to write off a guy who turns 20 tomorrow and is still in high A. Not to say I’m not concerned about him a bit, but it’s still early and it looks like he’s more of a project then anticipated when he was drafted.

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The industry didn’t use a 1-1 and a 1-4, plus a fortune in ultra-rare Nuttinbucks, on these guys. Ben did.

And if Termarr needs to be an avg age for his level to perform well there, then he’s not remotely the guy they supposedly drafted. The real talents don’t advance like that.

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But Gonzales!

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Yeah, we have one month of Nick vs. an encyclopedia brittanica of failures.

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I have PDS, so no way im trading anyone substantial🤣🤣... Im set to go the distance with mid prospect deals, but none of the elite pitching prospects involved... why im not a gm🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤣🤣

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the rule against position players pitching should be strengthened and should only allow a fan in seat number F13 in section 331 to be the only option

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We know where you sit...

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best seat in the house

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Ben Heller is in the major leagues.

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Why MLB doesn’t allow replay review challenges on foul tips is inexplicable. Maybe it’s because they can’t fathom a MLB umpire not being able to distinguish between the sound of a ball hitting a bat or a glove?

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They can review catchers interference with the bat, but not the baseball with bat!

By the time the umps huddled and talked w Shelty, we would have had a NY overturn. How many games have reviews, non-reversals, or non-calls cost us the ballgame? I'm not counting because it's offensive ( but I think 3 now).

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Especially strange that none of the other umps heard the sound or noticed the extreme reflection.

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I've seen a lot of foul 'nips' where the ball glances off the bat and it still changes the ball direction a little but this was as flush a hit as you can get and the deflection was so obvious. Unless the home plate ump had earplugs in and the first base ump was sleeping it has to be the worst missed call of the year!

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Puzzling that it's not reviewable considering how easy it would be to get it right.

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Shelton said that he asked the umps if he challenged the play as a hit by pitch, which he could have done, and they saw a foul ball would they overturn it and was told no. Regardless of the rule about not challenging foul tips it makes all the replay support for "getting it right" seem pretty shallow. I still think he should have challenged and made these umps openly admit how badly they blew the call.

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Getting it right is not a thing in Manfred’s MLB.

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Exactly, you simply, for me, cant error on the side of NOT getting it right... If I had my way, extreme tedwins, there would never be a non reviewable play in baseball, could give two sh*ts for those who like the "human element", 🤔🤣

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I’m pretty much with you. Bring on robo umps. My only caveat is eliminating the slide rule. I miss seeing base runners trying to break up double plays.

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And games would be nine hours long, even with a pitch clock!

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Wouldn’t add but a few minutes a game at most, especially now that Angel Hernandez has retired.

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All automated, like Tennis, goes quicker than those huddles

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