Morning Rundown: Pirates hire new Assistant GM, Thomas Hatch heads overseas, Reds make another signing
Pirates add another to the front office while releasing a pitcher.
The Pittsburgh Pirates haven’t done much regarding signing on-the-field talent, but they have positioned themselves with some front-office additions.
Thursday, they hired Sarah Gelles as Assistant General Manager.
What turned out to be a great coincidence was that The Athletic posted an article highlighting ‘12 potential future stars in management’, with Gelles taking the top spot.
Gelles started as an intern for the Pirates before working for the Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros.
One specific part stands out in the article: “The Astros during her time have solidified their reputation as the standard for player development and the implementation of proprietary research up and down the food chain.”
It also points out that she received the most votes from their pool, which included ‘rival executives, analyst who have worked with her and independent contractors who saw value in her work.’
This move came after the Pirates hired Justin Horowitz as their Director of Amateur Scouting.
The Pirates have released Thomas Hatch so he could sign with a team overseas. The 29-year-old Hatch was claimed off the waivers during the 2023 season, and in 12 games, two of which were starts, he posted a 4.03 ERA in 22.1 innings pitched.
With that, the Pirates’ 40-man roster is now at 36 players.
Emilio Pagan being the highest-paid Cincinnati Red lasted less than 24 hours, as they signed right-handed pitcher Nick Martinez to a two-year contract worth $26 million.
Martinez opted out of his contract with the San Diego Padres and will get an opportunity to should get a chance to start with the Reds.
That’s another free-agent pitcher off the market and heading to the NL Central.
Every Monday during the offseason, we will be doing a mailbag article. You can send your questions to bucsondeckqa@gmail.com or leave a comment with ‘mailbag’ written in it. The email would be easier to track, but you can comment, and I will add it to the list.
The signing of Nick Martinez was a good move by the Reds, but possibly costly for a guy heading into his age 34 season. Using Statcast, Martinez was a +1 RV in 2022 due mostly to his -13 RV for his 4 Seamer. So in '23 the Padres cut usage of the 4 Seamer from 26% to 13%, and upped usage of his better pitches - a Changeup that was a +6 RV in '22 and a +10 RV in '23, and increased usage of his Sinker which was a +4 in '22 and a +2 in '23. The new mix of pitches, with more emphasis on his better pitches resulted in an overall +8 RV in '23. That's what earned him the 2/$26 mil contract.
Good coaching can make that happen. Andre Jackson is a good case. He was a + 8 RV in '23 with 3 pitches, but then one dud pitch that was a -7 and dragged all the rest down. That -7 RV pitch is his Changeup and he threw it 32% of the time. He had a +1 RV Curve that he only threw 6.5% of the time, a 4 Seamer that was a + 5 RV that he threw 44.6%, and a Slider that was a +2 RV that he only threw 17% of the time. Who kept calling the Changeup? Why not more emphasis on the Curve and Slider and cut that percentage of 32% Changeup back to 20% or less. Do the Catchers call the pitches or is it the Coaches who call the majority of the pitches - I think the latter is the case.
The star though in my opinion in '23 was Carmen Mlodzinski, drafted and started 36 games and 155 IP in his first two years, and then switched to a RP in '23. He threw 36 innings and did so with 4 pitches all in the + RV column. 4 Seam was a +5 RV (49.8%), Cutter +2 RV (13.1%), Sweeper +1 RV (22.0%), and a Changeup +1 RV (14.7%). That's a total of +9 RV.
Luis Ortiz was a +8 RV with his Sinker +9 RV (28.3%), Slider -1 RV (32.7%), and Changeup 0 RV (13.8%). But then he had a 4 Seam that was a -14 RV (24.8%). Who kept calling the 4 Seam?
Are these numbers not available to our coaches? The Pirates have pitching resources - we just need to be better able to make adjustments as needed. I'll bet that opposing batters know that Ortiz will throw the 4 seam 1 of every 4 pitches, and that Jackson will throw the Changeup 1 of every 3 pitches.
Ali Sanchez, catcher, signed to a MLB contract! Talk about a surprise! So who gets traded......Delay, Hank, Endy?
Something's brewing.