We didn't need Grandal in the first place. It's really no loss at all if he goes on the 60-day IL. Plantar is one of those things that can linger a long time and flair up whenever. Not a good injury espec for a catcher.
Could be. I wouldn’t be surprised if that top 10 changes a lot with college arms spiking into the top 10 if they stay healthy and pitch well. Hoping for Montgomery as well.
He played a good bit of outfield his freshman year, a few games his sophomore year. He looked fairly decent the 2 games I saw him play. It was left field, they had a pretty good center fielder then. It was in fall ball though.
BA did a top 10 early draft. Top 10 in order went Condon, Bazzana, Weatherholt, Jac, Smith, Montgomery, Kurtz, Burns, Caleb Lomavita, and Santucci. Both of the last two picks are in the top 30 of BAs current list, but will be significantly higher on their next update.
These were their personal picks (the two podcasters), not tied to teams in any way. Lomavita is a catcher from Cal, and would be the Bucs’ pick, if the draft went like this. Honeycutt, King, and Sirota are other top 10 guys who fell. They also mentioned Konnor Griffin as really the only possible HS player to crack the top 10. At this point, anyway.
Pretty good top 10, Sirota is the only one really playing his way out of that group. A couple others are playing their way in like Cozart from NCState and Prager from TexasAnM.
Davis made this comment after an earlier game and then again yesterday, that catching helps his hitting because of how many pitches he sees. That seems to go against conventional wisdom that catching takes its toll on hitting, which is likely true over a long season, but I find Davis's perspective particularly refreshing.
One of the primary purposes of minor league baseball is, in fact, seeing enough reps on both sides of the ball to develop. Something lost on the box-checker crowd.
The commitment required on defense, in both time and energy, tends to wear down the other aspects of a catcher's game.
Hank has seen so little game action thus far that his observation is understandable.
I'm sortof an amateur brain neurologist due to a family member. Henry is spot on about how seeing more pitches is helping him. It's training the brain as he's receiving pitches. Very observant on his part IMO.
I was a Catcher before switching to MI/CF in HS; both of my sons were Catchers - one stayed at the position through college and the other switched to MI in HS. Catchers are in every moment of every game and that keeps them mentally fresh even through 2 or 3 hour games. They have to be the coach on the field, have to know each pitcher they work with, read the facial expressions of the pitcher and know when he is cooked, and, if possible, know all of the nuances of every batter coming to the plate. And, he has to be the enforcer, if necessary.
Davis looks like he's been there before for all of that, and picking daisies out in RF is not how you stay mentally in the game like he has to as a Catcher.
Doesn't matter because he won't be here in ten years. You have to be extremely lucky in the injury department to play ten years for one and how many guys last ten years with the same team anymore.
Does anyone have an idea of what the Pirates management is planning for CF this year? Suwinski is more than capable in CF against RHP's, but against LHP's he was usually not in the lineup as the season progressed. The possibility of a RH hitting CF to alternate with Suwinski especially against LHP's was recognized. Olivares hits RH, but he is a corner OF, and, no to the idea Connor Joe can play CF.
Gilberto Celestino, 25, was signed as a FA, bats RH and and played CF well for the Twins in 600+ innings in 2022 due to an injury to Byron Buxton. Rated defensively, he was No. 15 of the 26 CF's who also had 600+ innings in CF, ahead of guys like Brandon Nimmo, Julio Rodriguez, George Springer, Mike Trout, and Bryan Reynolds to name a few. The ratings were in UZR/150 and Def, and he also was a +2 DRS. Celestino was signed as an IFA by the Astro's in 2015 for $2.25 mil, and was part of a trade to the Twins for Closer, Ryan Pressly in 2018.
After that solid 2022 season, he went to ST for the Twins in 2023 and in his 2nd game he tore the UCL in his left thumb while sliding into 2B. He did not return to the field until June, and spent the rest of the year at AAA. So far in ST for the Pirates, he has 10 hits in 23 AB, a HR, 7 RBI, 3BB/5K, and a slash of 435/500/565/1.065 OPS. With 15 days left in ST, he seems to be our best option to alternate with Jack in CF. CF is not very deep at the upper levels of the minors. My thought was that the Pirates would try to trade for a young CF at AAA or above, but who knows? Anybody have any better info?
This is just supposition, but this FO appears allergic to anything longer than a one-year deal on a FA over the age of 30 years old. Many of the FA leftovers that have been mentioned as “good fits”, particularly MAT in CF, are looking for a multi-year commitment. This also applies to the starting rotation with names like Lorenzen, Clevinger, etc.
I read somewhere that Taylor views himself as comparable to Kevin Kiermaier, who got $10.5 million. Somewhat understandably, teams don’t seem to view him as comparable to Kiermaier.
He hit HR's last year (21), but to be a veteran and strike out 130 times (a K for every 3 PA's) and Walk only 26 times is more than I would like to see coming up with runners on base - need somebody to put the ball in play! $10 mil? He was paid $4.5 mil the past 2 years!
I thought the Pirates would go after Everson Pereira, NYY or Ceddanne Rafaela, Red Sox. Rafaela has had a strong ST and should make the 26; Pereira did not do well and could probably be had for cheap. Both are 23 year olds with big upside.
Not a huge fan of Taylor because I’m skeptical of the ability of this lineup to score runs, and skeptical of Taylor’s ability to repeat what he did last year. Much preferred Kiermaier.
Grandal injury is unsettling due to his age and the fact it’s still ST. Whatever hope I had he would have a bounce back season is diminished.
But really it’s the Bednar injury which has me most concerned. The bullpen was supposed to be strength of team, but if Renegade is missing or less effective, it becomes a problem rather than a solution.
To state the obvious, if Bednar's injury persists and Holderman's struggles carry over to the regular season, our overall pitching could be ugly given how little Cherington did to address the rotation.
If that happens, I'm sure this administration will point to the injuries instead of their very lackluster offseason.
Sorry to hear that about Grandal - been there, done that with PF a few years ago - it is not fun, and PF takes time and patience to heal properly. Thankfully, Jason Delay caught the most games (68) for the Pirates last year, being the veteran tutor to Endy Rodriguez who caught 52 games. If Grandal is not ready, Delay will have that same role in 2024 with Henry Davis.
Abrahan Gutierrez is another strong Catcher behind the plate and as a hitter with power and VG K/BB percentages. Gute's and Carter Bins (if able) will probably start with our franchise pitchers at AA, and progress with them to AAA. The Pirates are loaded with Catching.
My mom had PF many years ago, actually kept her from deploying overseas. So whenever I hear someone is dealing with that I get worried. Then again, if I remember correctly, she waited way too long to do anything about it and made it worst. So I guess as long as you are on top of it, he should be fine
Joe Maddon has entered the chat.
Hey man, those ham-bone issues can be persistent!
We didn't need Grandal in the first place. It's really no loss at all if he goes on the 60-day IL. Plantar is one of those things that can linger a long time and flair up whenever. Not a good injury espec for a catcher.
Yeah I have to wonder how much JJ drops if the hammy issues persist.
I would like to see him fall to the pirates. I'd go off script and put him in centerfield if they didn't think he could handle short stop long term.
I’d rather have them take an actual, you know, outfielder. Rather than trying to shoehorn a guy into that spot.
I still like Montgomery as an outfielder but I don't think he'll make it to pick 9 now. JJ probably won't either.
Could be. I wouldn’t be surprised if that top 10 changes a lot with college arms spiking into the top 10 if they stay healthy and pitch well. Hoping for Montgomery as well.
Yeah a lot of season left, just starting conference play.
For sure. The good part of the college season is coming up.
He played a good bit of outfield his freshman year, a few games his sophomore year. He looked fairly decent the 2 games I saw him play. It was left field, they had a pretty good center fielder then. It was in fall ball though.
BA did a top 10 early draft. Top 10 in order went Condon, Bazzana, Weatherholt, Jac, Smith, Montgomery, Kurtz, Burns, Caleb Lomavita, and Santucci. Both of the last two picks are in the top 30 of BAs current list, but will be significantly higher on their next update.
These were their personal picks (the two podcasters), not tied to teams in any way. Lomavita is a catcher from Cal, and would be the Bucs’ pick, if the draft went like this. Honeycutt, King, and Sirota are other top 10 guys who fell. They also mentioned Konnor Griffin as really the only possible HS player to crack the top 10. At this point, anyway.
Pretty good top 10, Sirota is the only one really playing his way out of that group. A couple others are playing their way in like Cozart from NCState and Prager from TexasAnM.
Davis made this comment after an earlier game and then again yesterday, that catching helps his hitting because of how many pitches he sees. That seems to go against conventional wisdom that catching takes its toll on hitting, which is likely true over a long season, but I find Davis's perspective particularly refreshing.
Wisdom of our baseball elders strikes again!
One of the primary purposes of minor league baseball is, in fact, seeing enough reps on both sides of the ball to develop. Something lost on the box-checker crowd.
The commitment required on defense, in both time and energy, tends to wear down the other aspects of a catcher's game.
Hank has seen so little game action thus far that his observation is understandable.
I'm sortof an amateur brain neurologist due to a family member. Henry is spot on about how seeing more pitches is helping him. It's training the brain as he's receiving pitches. Very observant on his part IMO.
I was a Catcher before switching to MI/CF in HS; both of my sons were Catchers - one stayed at the position through college and the other switched to MI in HS. Catchers are in every moment of every game and that keeps them mentally fresh even through 2 or 3 hour games. They have to be the coach on the field, have to know each pitcher they work with, read the facial expressions of the pitcher and know when he is cooked, and, if possible, know all of the nuances of every batter coming to the plate. And, he has to be the enforcer, if necessary.
Davis looks like he's been there before for all of that, and picking daisies out in RF is not how you stay mentally in the game like he has to as a Catcher.
To be young!!! See if he feels like that in 10 years.
Doesn't matter because he won't be here in ten years. You have to be extremely lucky in the injury department to play ten years for one and how many guys last ten years with the same team anymore.
Does anyone have an idea of what the Pirates management is planning for CF this year? Suwinski is more than capable in CF against RHP's, but against LHP's he was usually not in the lineup as the season progressed. The possibility of a RH hitting CF to alternate with Suwinski especially against LHP's was recognized. Olivares hits RH, but he is a corner OF, and, no to the idea Connor Joe can play CF.
Gilberto Celestino, 25, was signed as a FA, bats RH and and played CF well for the Twins in 600+ innings in 2022 due to an injury to Byron Buxton. Rated defensively, he was No. 15 of the 26 CF's who also had 600+ innings in CF, ahead of guys like Brandon Nimmo, Julio Rodriguez, George Springer, Mike Trout, and Bryan Reynolds to name a few. The ratings were in UZR/150 and Def, and he also was a +2 DRS. Celestino was signed as an IFA by the Astro's in 2015 for $2.25 mil, and was part of a trade to the Twins for Closer, Ryan Pressly in 2018.
After that solid 2022 season, he went to ST for the Twins in 2023 and in his 2nd game he tore the UCL in his left thumb while sliding into 2B. He did not return to the field until June, and spent the rest of the year at AAA. So far in ST for the Pirates, he has 10 hits in 23 AB, a HR, 7 RBI, 3BB/5K, and a slash of 435/500/565/1.065 OPS. With 15 days left in ST, he seems to be our best option to alternate with Jack in CF. CF is not very deep at the upper levels of the minors. My thought was that the Pirates would try to trade for a young CF at AAA or above, but who knows? Anybody have any better info?
This is just supposition, but this FO appears allergic to anything longer than a one-year deal on a FA over the age of 30 years old. Many of the FA leftovers that have been mentioned as “good fits”, particularly MAT in CF, are looking for a multi-year commitment. This also applies to the starting rotation with names like Lorenzen, Clevinger, etc.
I read somewhere that Taylor views himself as comparable to Kevin Kiermaier, who got $10.5 million. Somewhat understandably, teams don’t seem to view him as comparable to Kiermaier.
He hit HR's last year (21), but to be a veteran and strike out 130 times (a K for every 3 PA's) and Walk only 26 times is more than I would like to see coming up with runners on base - need somebody to put the ball in play! $10 mil? He was paid $4.5 mil the past 2 years!
I thought the Pirates would go after Everson Pereira, NYY or Ceddanne Rafaela, Red Sox. Rafaela has had a strong ST and should make the 26; Pereira did not do well and could probably be had for cheap. Both are 23 year olds with big upside.
Not a huge fan of Taylor because I’m skeptical of the ability of this lineup to score runs, and skeptical of Taylor’s ability to repeat what he did last year. Much preferred Kiermaier.
I still like Jorge Barrosa as a trade target, much cheaper than Pereira with better defense and on base skills without the power potential.
Grandal injury is unsettling due to his age and the fact it’s still ST. Whatever hope I had he would have a bounce back season is diminished.
But really it’s the Bednar injury which has me most concerned. The bullpen was supposed to be strength of team, but if Renegade is missing or less effective, it becomes a problem rather than a solution.
Get well soon DB.
To state the obvious, if Bednar's injury persists and Holderman's struggles carry over to the regular season, our overall pitching could be ugly given how little Cherington did to address the rotation.
If that happens, I'm sure this administration will point to the injuries instead of their very lackluster offseason.
Sorry to hear that about Grandal - been there, done that with PF a few years ago - it is not fun, and PF takes time and patience to heal properly. Thankfully, Jason Delay caught the most games (68) for the Pirates last year, being the veteran tutor to Endy Rodriguez who caught 52 games. If Grandal is not ready, Delay will have that same role in 2024 with Henry Davis.
Abrahan Gutierrez is another strong Catcher behind the plate and as a hitter with power and VG K/BB percentages. Gute's and Carter Bins (if able) will probably start with our franchise pitchers at AA, and progress with them to AAA. The Pirates are loaded with Catching.
My mom had PF many years ago, actually kept her from deploying overseas. So whenever I hear someone is dealing with that I get worried. Then again, if I remember correctly, she waited way too long to do anything about it and made it worst. So I guess as long as you are on top of it, he should be fine
My Podiatrist recommended wearing the New Balance 900 series in wide for the support. Helped my feet, but not my pocketbook!