Tommy Harrington really struggling to start the year, hope an injury isn't brewing. Or maybe I do? Better to have another explanation than stalling out as a quad-A arm.
While walking two and taking 70 pitches to get there. We all saw the stuff alone ain't gonna cut it and that's nowhere close to the big league command a guy like him needs.
True, but it was one outing. He struck out 4 and his ERA is 1.80. He wasn’t fantastic up here, but he also showed promise. Too early for me to be concerned.
There was something in that article about Skenes saying that he wants to take control of his own career: setting goals not just for games but for seasons and for his career. It may be that Skenes has told the Pirates that he is going to pitch every 5 days like every other ace in baseball, and the Pirates are going to like it that way... period.
See, if they did bump him up for this reason, I’m surprised they did, because they could have had themselves two big attendance bonanzas: one for bobblehead night with another starter and then one for Skenes’ start on Sunday. I guess they figure that since Sunday is Easter attendance is likely to be low even with Skenes on the hill. So why not try to hit the jackpot on Saturday?
Seems like... gasp.... urgency. While the "sell the team" chants are not going to convince Nutting to sell the team, they may have lit a little bit of fire under the seats of LIttlefield and Russell who finally seem to put winning somewhere above last on their list of priorities.
There’s an interesting article about Strom at DKPS. To some extent it falls into the “best shape of his life” type of stereotype narrative — old school, pitchers all learning a lot, etc. What caught my interest, though, was Solometo saying Strom made two adjustments to his delivery that he thinks are working. Results back him up so far. He’s going today, so that’s worth following.
Largely irrelevant isn't it? When a guy is hitting the cover off the ball with EV's like Gorski, let's look at his xwOBA, xBA, xSLG. He could be in the same boat Jack has been in, bad luck, not getting rewarded.
Williams talks about wanting to build a bond with the fans, but it's little things like sticking with the 6-8 week estimate well into ST when most of us knew that was unrealistic that makes it hard to trust this administration. Don't give us a range unless you're 100% certain that the upper bound is the upper bound. And if they honestly thought 8 weeks was the upper bound, then I'd question their competence. By my calculations we're at 10 weeks so it's not even like they just missed.
Im not sure where more offense is going to come from, Im somewhat confident Cruz will keep rolling and Reynolds will be better than he has been. Cutch will continue to be a professional hitter and Hayes will frustrate but continue to have bright spots. We badly need at least two of Yorke, Gonzales, Horowitz, Endy, etc. to come back healthy and be at least league average if not above
See I think that question is relatively easy to answer.
The club still "leads" the league in differential between expected and actual wOBA (-.57). We're not talkin' about the '27 Yankees, but we would be looking at *9th* best offense in baseball with a .322 wOBA if those were aligned.
I admittedly struggle to think they're actually a Top 10 offense, but clearly there's more juice to squeeze with a bit better batted ball luck.
I'm pretty confident in Bart too, but we clearly still need help from the players you noted and/or some combination of Davis, Suwniski, and Canario.
In terms of personality, I like Frazier and Pham. But every start Shelton gives each is a start where we miss out on seeing if a younger player with years of control might provide some impact. I know he hasn't had much of a choice at 2B with Gonzales, Yorke, and until the last couple of games Triolo out. But Pham getting four starts against the Nats while Suwinski got one and Canario got none just doesn't make sense to me.
Always nice to start the day after a win, especially how impressive Andrew Heaney was pitching into the 8th inning last night. With Jared Jones on the IL, He has stepped into that 2/3 SP role which means the Pirates can take more time in development with Bubba Chandler, Thomas Harrington and others. BC has put a very impressive group of Pitchers together since Sep 2024 - adding Heaney, and RP's Justin Lawrence, Caleb Ferguson, Joey Wentz, Tim Mayza, and returning Ryan Borucki.
Heaney is the prize though, getting him for $5.25 mil, after he pitched '23 and '24 for Texas making $15.5 mil and $16.5 mil. Probably be lots of interest in him as mid-season comes around. He's a difference maker going down the stretch for pitching-strapped clubs who may have a hitting prospect or two they could make available to get a LHSP who could be a Top 3 in a Rotation.
Or, if the glass is half-full, maybe we don't start looking at potential trade values after 3 weeks of ball and maybe, once, this one time, in a blue moon, this guy can have value for our team down the stretch.
I agree and would love to have that type of positivity regarding the Pirates, but I have learned a few things about the Pirates of Nutting, Cherrington, and Shelton:
There is never going to be enough money available to build a Pirate playoff team unless all of our Draft Picks/IFA's develop better than every other MLB team. That has not worked so far.
BC has done excellent work with the Pitching - from a bottom 5 team in overall pitching to a No. 13 team in Pitching last year. Hitting remains down at the bottom end. The Pirates are very strong with young pitching received through the draft and developed well. While we have that in Chandler, Harrington, Barco, Ashcraft, etc. we can entertain the notion of trading veterans like Heaney or possibly even Mitch Keller.
But with Bubba and other options we could deal from a position of strength, BUT I get your argument. Would be so nice to work our way into a competitive team and not worry about trading away guys…
Watching MLB this AM I wondered how the Athletics have developed so many quality hitters in such a short period of time, and thought about how many on here tossed names out like Tyler Soderstrom as a lefty 1B possibility during the off season. The obvious is that they have drafted extremely well. But you also have to teach.
So I looked at the Coaching Staff of the Athletics and there are 12 names listed. MLB only allows 7 uniformed Coaches at games, but I am not sure there is a limit on the number of coaches a team can employ. For hitting alone, they have Darren Bush as the Bench Coach and Director of Hitting, and then they have Mike Aldrete as a Hitting Coach and Chris Cron also listed as a Hitting Coach. What are coaches paid? The general answer online was from around $100 K up to $1 mil.
So, two things - we have to be able to recognize the traits of what makes a strong hitter, and these people must have the physical and mental approaches to be able to accept instruction. And, it's not one size or method fits all - hitting coaches have to understand how to work with what every individual player brings to the table. If Hague cannot be in multiple locations at any given time, maybe a small cadre of knowledgeable personnel who can work for Hague and with hitters might help.
They didn't do much with Rooker other than give him playing time, which everyone else refused to do for some reason. I'm still very, very sore that Piccollo's first act as GM of the Royals was to waive him. That was a great acquisition by Moore.
Tommy Harrington really struggling to start the year, hope an injury isn't brewing. Or maybe I do? Better to have another explanation than stalling out as a quad-A arm.
He is? He went 3 innings yesterday and gave up 1 run….
While walking two and taking 70 pitches to get there. We all saw the stuff alone ain't gonna cut it and that's nowhere close to the big league command a guy like him needs.
True, but it was one outing. He struck out 4 and his ERA is 1.80. He wasn’t fantastic up here, but he also showed promise. Too early for me to be concerned.
Wait...Skenes is pitching tomorrow on 4 days rest? HAS SHELTON LOST HIS MIND! SKENES MIGHT DIE!
It’s his bobblehead night! What could be better?
please please tell me they bumped him up because of this lol
There was something in that article about Skenes saying that he wants to take control of his own career: setting goals not just for games but for seasons and for his career. It may be that Skenes has told the Pirates that he is going to pitch every 5 days like every other ace in baseball, and the Pirates are going to like it that way... period.
See, if they did bump him up for this reason, I’m surprised they did, because they could have had themselves two big attendance bonanzas: one for bobblehead night with another starter and then one for Skenes’ start on Sunday. I guess they figure that since Sunday is Easter attendance is likely to be low even with Skenes on the hill. So why not try to hit the jackpot on Saturday?
Seems like... gasp.... urgency. While the "sell the team" chants are not going to convince Nutting to sell the team, they may have lit a little bit of fire under the seats of LIttlefield and Russell who finally seem to put winning somewhere above last on their list of priorities.
💀💀💀
There’s an interesting article about Strom at DKPS. To some extent it falls into the “best shape of his life” type of stereotype narrative — old school, pitchers all learning a lot, etc. What caught my interest, though, was Solometo saying Strom made two adjustments to his delivery that he thinks are working. Results back him up so far. He’s going today, so that’s worth following.
there was a somewhat prevalent stream of thought out there in the media sphere that they should just let Solo be Solo and my god was that dumb.
Not saying they should turn him into Nolan Ryan but that clusterf*ck of a delivery was never going to work.
I'm thinking I need to watch the Altoona webcast tonight.
Please report back!
Is Solometo the guy they all turn to for pitching help? I seem to recall it was him or Harrington that everyone sought out.
Thought it was Harrington.
It is.
Everyday there is Gorski, top of the list!!
with an 85 wRC+
Largely irrelevant isn't it? When a guy is hitting the cover off the ball with EV's like Gorski, let's look at his xwOBA, xBA, xSLG. He could be in the same boat Jack has been in, bad luck, not getting rewarded.
So he’d bat third on the Pirates.
And play second base.
If he could play second, he'd have made his debut years ago.
Not exactly apples to apples
Not sure I'd refer to any of these guys as apples.
they are the forbidden fruit
That’d be anybody who can hit.
too many worms
The worms are scared when Buccos batters are at the plate…
Do we have any possible return dates/timelines for Nick G and/or Spencer Horowitz? How is Horowitz not rehabbing yet?
Haven’t seen any timeline on Nick. I’d rather get him back than Horwitz just to cut into Frazier dead time.
i'm a Gonzo supporter but I'd be equally happy - maybe more - with Nick Yorke getting his turn.
Their insistence on playing Frazier's remains and Valdez over Yorke is one of the great mysteries of our times.
yep, 9+ weeks after the 6-8 week estimate for Horwitz. Last i heard the team said he’d be starting a rehab assignment “later this month or early May”
Williams talks about wanting to build a bond with the fans, but it's little things like sticking with the 6-8 week estimate well into ST when most of us knew that was unrealistic that makes it hard to trust this administration. Don't give us a range unless you're 100% certain that the upper bound is the upper bound. And if they honestly thought 8 weeks was the upper bound, then I'd question their competence. By my calculations we're at 10 weeks so it's not even like they just missed.
yep, transparency would go a long to solving a lot of the Pirates perception issues. that, or winning more
Gotta learn to under-promise and over-deliver.
Right, it would have done Horwitz a favor to say 12-15 weeks and have him back in 10--look how hard he worked to get back early!
well said!
What a fiasco. Such a truly Pirate scenario. Makes me worry things are not going well…
Yeah, it may be fine I guess, but I don’t believe anything they say.
Im not sure where more offense is going to come from, Im somewhat confident Cruz will keep rolling and Reynolds will be better than he has been. Cutch will continue to be a professional hitter and Hayes will frustrate but continue to have bright spots. We badly need at least two of Yorke, Gonzales, Horowitz, Endy, etc. to come back healthy and be at least league average if not above
See I think that question is relatively easy to answer.
The club still "leads" the league in differential between expected and actual wOBA (-.57). We're not talkin' about the '27 Yankees, but we would be looking at *9th* best offense in baseball with a .322 wOBA if those were aligned.
I admittedly struggle to think they're actually a Top 10 offense, but clearly there's more juice to squeeze with a bit better batted ball luck.
Well lets hope they start squeezing away!
I'm pretty confident in Bart too, but we clearly still need help from the players you noted and/or some combination of Davis, Suwniski, and Canario.
In terms of personality, I like Frazier and Pham. But every start Shelton gives each is a start where we miss out on seeing if a younger player with years of control might provide some impact. I know he hasn't had much of a choice at 2B with Gonzales, Yorke, and until the last couple of games Triolo out. But Pham getting four starts against the Nats while Suwinski got one and Canario got none just doesn't make sense to me.
Damn, KG is really seeing it well!
Always nice to start the day after a win, especially how impressive Andrew Heaney was pitching into the 8th inning last night. With Jared Jones on the IL, He has stepped into that 2/3 SP role which means the Pirates can take more time in development with Bubba Chandler, Thomas Harrington and others. BC has put a very impressive group of Pitchers together since Sep 2024 - adding Heaney, and RP's Justin Lawrence, Caleb Ferguson, Joey Wentz, Tim Mayza, and returning Ryan Borucki.
Heaney is the prize though, getting him for $5.25 mil, after he pitched '23 and '24 for Texas making $15.5 mil and $16.5 mil. Probably be lots of interest in him as mid-season comes around. He's a difference maker going down the stretch for pitching-strapped clubs who may have a hitting prospect or two they could make available to get a LHSP who could be a Top 3 in a Rotation.
Or, if the glass is half-full, maybe we don't start looking at potential trade values after 3 weeks of ball and maybe, once, this one time, in a blue moon, this guy can have value for our team down the stretch.
I agree and would love to have that type of positivity regarding the Pirates, but I have learned a few things about the Pirates of Nutting, Cherrington, and Shelton:
There is never going to be enough money available to build a Pirate playoff team unless all of our Draft Picks/IFA's develop better than every other MLB team. That has not worked so far.
BC has done excellent work with the Pitching - from a bottom 5 team in overall pitching to a No. 13 team in Pitching last year. Hitting remains down at the bottom end. The Pirates are very strong with young pitching received through the draft and developed well. While we have that in Chandler, Harrington, Barco, Ashcraft, etc. we can entertain the notion of trading veterans like Heaney or possibly even Mitch Keller.
But with Bubba and other options we could deal from a position of strength, BUT I get your argument. Would be so nice to work our way into a competitive team and not worry about trading away guys…
Or trade Bubba for Brenton Doyle.
Watching MLB this AM I wondered how the Athletics have developed so many quality hitters in such a short period of time, and thought about how many on here tossed names out like Tyler Soderstrom as a lefty 1B possibility during the off season. The obvious is that they have drafted extremely well. But you also have to teach.
So I looked at the Coaching Staff of the Athletics and there are 12 names listed. MLB only allows 7 uniformed Coaches at games, but I am not sure there is a limit on the number of coaches a team can employ. For hitting alone, they have Darren Bush as the Bench Coach and Director of Hitting, and then they have Mike Aldrete as a Hitting Coach and Chris Cron also listed as a Hitting Coach. What are coaches paid? The general answer online was from around $100 K up to $1 mil.
So, two things - we have to be able to recognize the traits of what makes a strong hitter, and these people must have the physical and mental approaches to be able to accept instruction. And, it's not one size or method fits all - hitting coaches have to understand how to work with what every individual player brings to the table. If Hague cannot be in multiple locations at any given time, maybe a small cadre of knowledgeable personnel who can work for Hague and with hitters might help.
So let's become trade partners with the As. We ship them some pitching, they ship us some hitting. Buy your 2026 world series futures for both today!
Man I loved this reply, Mel.
Soderstrom, Butler, and Langeliers are pretty clear dev wins especially with their improvement at the big league level.
Throw in Rooker as well.
Totally forgot how he exploded last year.
No clue how far back their current dev group goes but Olson, Chapman, and Murphy were also huge hits regardless of who gets credit.
They didn't do much with Rooker other than give him playing time, which everyone else refused to do for some reason. I'm still very, very sore that Piccollo's first act as GM of the Royals was to waive him. That was a great acquisition by Moore.
I still think Moore should be GM of KC... lol.