39 Comments

Shelton is about to break out the speed hitter or he already has and it's like the clay Haines uses to mold his hitting philosophy, a huge pile of shit.

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stoy of joshua palacios is closed?

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May 13·edited May 13

what I dont get about the whole thing about the hitting is that over the years, with the bullpen, they have gone overboard with the indy express with shipping in fresh arms with a hot hand

why is it with all the infielders we have (and left handed out fielders), why is it that they are so gun shy to make a swap? and then swap constantly?

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I can't speak to Marin's amount of input into a 6 man rotation but Shelton has no clue how to manage one!

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May 13·edited May 13

Solometo is what I thought he is. A sidearm LOOGY who nibbles corners and gets hit over the plate. 4 walks and 2 Hrs yesterday in 3 IP.

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Hoby Milner

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GM for a day post:

1. DFA Tellez and call up Lamb.

2. Open up BOD and enjoy the accolades from the fanbase.

3. Think about the best time to do the same thing with Grandal and Davis.

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Send Jack down and call up Bae. The assumption that Jack will necessarily return to last year's overall level is . . . dubious. He needs to try to rediscover some sort of approach at the plate. His plan now is --

1 -- Get in batter's box

2 -- ?????

3 -- Success!

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Cannot do that or you screw up all of my effort to identify a young RH hitting CF to complement the LH hitting JS. The RH hitting CF list includes Everson Pereira 23 (AAA/NYY), Jorge Barrosa 23 (AAA/MLB/D-Backs), Alex Ramirez 21 (AA/NYM), and I'll add another Jonatan Clase 22 (AAA, Mariners). I think Barrosa and Clase are switchhitters. C'mon Ben, do something to add to this roster offensively and defensively.

If we can unload MAT, then Bae would be a good add for CF, but not as an infielder. Cruz is doing well at the plate and defensively he is nearing his fielding percentage from 2023. Coming back from a full year without reps is difficult. Triolo, Williams, and Gonzales can field well at 2B, and Triolo is the wild card who steps in and plays GG-like D at 3B when Hayes is out. And that is not even mentioning the youngest of our strong group of MI's, Liover Peguero, who is still only 23 and working at AAA. I expect that Gonzales, Williams, or Bae will be used in trades to add a young RH hitting Center Fielder and possibly another hitter/1B/DH. There are also a few SP's that will not be seen as Rotation pieces for the Pirates in '24 or '25, and could help to swing a good return.

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also would like to see Canaan when straws are drawn

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Jack wouldn't be the first player to struggle the 1st quarter of the season and then turn it on. This is kinda what he does.

Bae is k'ing in AAA 30% of the time and running a .522 babip.

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Suwinski hit .130 in the month of August last year. He’s a .209 career hitter who has occasionally hit a few home runs in short stretches, which is the one thing that has hooked some people into believing he could a good hitter. His down stretches are often prolonged and very low. Is he better than what he’s showing right now? Maybe, but he’s never been a major contributor even at his best and his mean is well below average. Love on him if you must, and seemingly some believe they must, but at he moment his WAR is virtually the same as Rowdy’s -0.7 and that kind of lead weight around the neck of the team is not acceptable.

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He also wouldn’t be the first player the pitchers figured out and totally tanked, so that’s a meaningless observation.

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I took a short tour around BR looking at Ski's splits. In 2022 he batted 237 in 228 AB against RHP's and only about .122 against LHP's in 98 AB. In 2023 he hit .232 in 332 AB against RHP's and .200 in 115 AB against LHP's. Big difference in the power, but he was making improvements against LHP's. This year he has a.129 in 93 AB against RHP's and .381 in 21 AB against LHP's. in fact, his OPS against RHP's is 438 and his OPS against LHP's is 981.

Play the kid and stuff the Platoon theory where the sun don't shine! While the league's pitchers were figuring him out they served up 26 HR - he's just going through a rough patch - play it out!

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3. This one might be awhile as he's really struggling. I read that Davis had the least amount of minor league AB's for a 1-1 since 1979.

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Davis didn't magically hit a button and get better in the minors. He isn't batting well. I wouldn't mind him going to the complex to re look at some stuff (and I'd be even more OK if that complex was located at Driveline :)

I'd love to hear Pirates using biomechanical information to adjust / evaluate swings during poor stretches / hot streaks...

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Unfortunately, Davis spent the offseason at Driveline. Driveline hyped his revamped swing design on its social media all the way through ST, until the regular season started and he looked awful

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It’s plainly obvious the new technology being used at places like Driveline is helping pitching more than hitting. And unfortunately in some cases, like Davis, the distinction is significant.

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Yeah, they need to exhaust every option to get him on track.

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author

Leaving Bradenton today, want to take the time out to thank everyone here that supports the site, you made this possible.

That was easily the funnest week of my life.

I have so much content to go through when I get back, my work has just begun.

Looking forward to showing everyone everything I got.

Also, I miss my dog (and girlfriend, of course) lol.

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As I was looking at AA thinking what may transpire with their pitchers, I didn't realize Eddy Yean was still with us in AA, keeping the Josh Bell trade alive and kicking...

...you are now welcome for thinking through Wil Crowe again

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The past ball by Grandahl was so costly. poor defense is not what we need right now

Further sign I have no idea what’s going on in baseball Max Kranick cleared waivers and wasn’t claimed

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Not just the passed ball, but also the dropped foul tip for strike 3. The homer followed. He holds onto that ball and the inning is over.

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Not to mention the other game where cruz made the relay throw on the money to home plate where Grandal made the lazy one handed tag where the ball fell out.

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In about 5.3 years of service time, Rowdy Tellez now has 0.4 bWAR including -0.4 this year. His career oWAR — offense only — is 1.4. It’s time to cut bait. It was a no upside signing snd he’s well below replacement in 114 PAs. DFA him and call Lamb up.

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Agree completely but Cherington has said multiple times that he believes in this lineup and he’s going to stay the course. It’s just another way of saying he’ll never admit being wrong and thumbing his nose at fans or anyone else who questions him. He signed Tellez, Chapman and Grandal to trade them at the deadline but no one’s going to want any of them now. It’s what you get with a GM who’s simply doing what ownership tells him and unfortunately that’s not build a winning team.

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If this is what ownership is telling him it makes little sense. They could waste far less money on better players.

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I'm fine with Chapman signing honestly. We knew he was wild, but lets realize he is more wild than he was as a rookie in 2011. HIs 11.2 BB/9 is crazy.

Because of this, the swingrate for him is at an all time low at 36.6%. He has the lowest swing% of any pitcher with 10 IP this year. (Cool note that Jared Jones is the leading qualified SP at swing % at 57%). They are basically daring him to throw 3 strikes in a row before 4 balls, and frankly they aren't wrong right now, since literally the majority of pitches are outside the zone. I think he will regain some of previous years form.....

Also - I looked today....Josh flemming is #4 of least pitches seen in the zone at 41.4%. I'm sure his walks didn't help in the game but yea...lets bring in THIS GUY for the bases loaded walk-fest

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I'm also fine with the Chapman signing. It's all about proper usage with him. He was lights out in early April with a fresh arm and rest days. You can't use him on back-to-back days.....and Marin, Shelton haven't learned that yet.

But a 6-man rotation isn't going to allow the optimum usage, unless starters go 7 and we give Chappy two days off between appearances.

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Agree and why i was shaking my head when they pulled Falter after 6 with 81 pitches. And what is up with Reynolds. Two rollovers and literally the worst thing you can do with bases loaded and one out. No clutch thus far this year.

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I mean, honest question - why isn't Connor Joe the everyday 1b right now? Is Tellez actually a better 1b fielder to be a defensive substitution in the late game even? Outs above Average puts Joe as a slight positive at 1B at +1 with Tellez at -2...but maybe like the short hop Rowdy is better?

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How they’ve handled 1B is worthy of firing people by itself.

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sources say the Giants are calling about Michael Taylor

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Sell, sell, but do the Giants have anything we want?

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I don't think he can be traded until after 3 months from his signing date.

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requires his permission?

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Bubba to AAA?

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His last start he gave up 4 runs and 7 base runners and didn't make it through 4 innings. Hopefully, he will pitch a gem his next start.

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The Marauders have truly turned it around. A few weeks ago I pointed out there were 6 or 7 batters in the lineup under .200 - a look yesterday had one hitter under .200, Javier Rivas. In your listing of pitchers who have done well this week, the guy you highlighted, Peyton Stumbo, pitched 4 innings during the week with only 2 hits, 0 runs, 8 K. After being down there watching, how good is Omar Alfonzo?

At A+, nice days by Charles McAdoo and Maikol Escotto (Taillon trade). Not sure about the experiment that is Josiah Sightler. After 4 K's yesterday he is now carrying a K rate of 40.6%, and not many HR in his repeat at A+. And, a game where Jack Brannigan and Termarr Johnson both had hits.

So you think Sean Sullivan is one of our 6 SP's at AA? He may be a Closer - interesting to see him get the Save yesterday in the second game after Harrington and Dombkowski both had good outings of 3 innings apiece. Probably had some pitches left on his arm and a day off today?

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