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PirateRican21's avatar

So Matoma couldn’t get it to a 100, kids today are lazy….

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Melkel's avatar

In his defense he only threw 13 pitches to get 5 outs, 11 strikes...maybe he isn't fascist...

I think Crash Davis said something about that.

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PirateRican21's avatar

13 pitches to get 5 outs, you are just making my point, lazy!

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PirateRican21's avatar

Back in my days pitchers used to throw 15-20+ to get 3 outs. We knew the meaning of hard work.

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Aurorus Borealus's avatar

Oh he's a fascist. They all are, and we all know who "they" are.

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StatsCbl's avatar

2023 Manager of the Year Brandon Hyde fired by the Orioles after their 15 and 28 start.

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JRC21's avatar

That’s ridiculous. They have no starting pitching due to injuries and the failure of Mike Elias to bring new guys in during the off season. Hyde is an excellent manager and should have no shortage of opportunities in the future.

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1979andCounting's avatar

Very surprising news! He weathered the 100 loss seasons as did Shelton, and then led the team to the AL East crown. He was publically critical about the starting pitchers this season, and maybe implying Elias didn't give him sh*t to work with. That and a new owner,

and it didn't end well for him. I would be texting him today and on the phone with him on Monday. Have all terms worked out in September, and announce his hire the day after season ends. But you're going to have to pay him to come to PIttsburgh.

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Aurorus Borealus's avatar

He got a team of mostly veteran guys who lost 100 games and had been losers for a long time to a winning record in 2022 and then 100 wins in 2023. You look at those Orioles rosters, and no one, except Rutschman, stands out. Adam Frazier, Jorge Mateo, Ramon Urias. These are the guys he led to 100 wins.

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StatsCbl's avatar

Not even Gunnar in 2023?

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Aurorus Borealus's avatar

Yeah, I forgot Henderson.

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1979andCounting's avatar

They had some nice pieces, credit to Elias, like Santander, Henderson, Hayes, Mountcastle, Mullins. Their lineup was solid without gaping black holes like BC's lineups.

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Aurorus Borealus's avatar

Yeah... it's the small market recipe.... 1-2 WAR players up and down with just a couple stars. Then a good management team that can get everyone to overperform. Not sure why you would fire that manager after 2 bad months, when this has been his track record.

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1979andCounting's avatar

It makes no sense. Maybe new owner got involved.

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Dave's avatar

Bring him here for a bench Coach. He could be our manager next year

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Frank Maraschino's avatar

He’d probably like to work in Major League Baseball though

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1979andCounting's avatar

Won't happen exactly for that reason. Kelly wouldn't want to work with him knowing they're both competing for the 2026 job.

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Dave's avatar

So Hayes won’t work with Triolo because of the same reason. Bart won’t work with David or Eddy? Guess I don’t understand

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WTM's avatar

So, in the major leagues, six bad weeks can lead to a change. On the Cheringtons, it takes six years of constant failure.

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Joel Lesher's avatar

You’re not squinting hard enough 😜😜😜

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JRC21's avatar

It could be worse: the Rockies lost last night to the D-Backs 8-0, getting two hits off Corbin Burnes. They are now 7-37, including 2-21 on the road.

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Mario's avatar

In Greensboro for a couple games. Kelly was impressive last night. If the gun was right he was sitting upper 90's throughout and working the off speed stuff well. 5IP, 0H, 1BB, and 8K.

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Anthony Murphy's avatar

Sounds about right for him. He hit 100 when I was there.

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WTM's avatar

AM tells me Irwin Ramirez reached 100 at least once today. Of course, he also walked five in 1.2 IP.

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StatsCbl's avatar

That means no batter is probably getting their feet planted for a good swing. :)

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Anthony Murphy's avatar

Give and take lol.

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Mel Schuster - emjayinTN's avatar

Nick Solak, 30, has done a good job at AAA Indy and could find himself an offer or two after the Bucs DFA him. I give him credit, but this is a team STILL REBUILDING, and that is never accomplished by getting some AB's for a 30 year old, regardless of how good his stats are at AAA. I think he was over 1.000 in OPS, but I would rather see them give some AB's to Malcom Nunez, 24, who has an OPS of over .800 at AAA.

Nunez was strong on both sides of the ball after the trade that brought he and Johan Oviedo to the Bucs from St. Louis. I think he was injured in 2023 but came back to AAA as a 23 year old last year and he struggled a bit offensively but was very good defensively in his 40 games at 1B (.992). 21 doubles and 11 HR's, 65 RBI. This year his slash at AAA Indy is 316/346/484/830 OPS. We need a RH hitting First Baseman to complement our LH hitting First Baseman, Spencer Horwitz. I love Triolo's D, but his sub .500 OPS leaves much to be desired - let's get a good long look at Nunez as a 1B/DH.

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pskell02's avatar

You can’t sign a veteran player to an MiLB contract with the promise to make the team with performance, and then not promote him despite being one of the top hitters in the league and expect to ever sign a decent free agent ever again.

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Aurorus Borealus's avatar

No one in this organization is being blocked by anyone. There are no young guys.

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StatsCbl's avatar

I didn't understand the Solak signing at the time for the reasons you said. Then when I saw him in spring training, he did the little things, knew when to move the baserunners and held his own wherever he played in the field. I know we look at him as an old guy blocking young guys, but he might be better than we think. His mlb lifetime average is better than the league average this year. I don't think he is the difference maker we need, but he plugs one less hole we have in the line-up. Let's give him a chance.

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StatsCbl's avatar

Nunez was the guy my Cardinal friends were upset about losing in that trade because of his power. 2024 Nunez looked slow and and out of shape. It seemed he lost quite a bit of weight and in shape this spring, a different guy than we traded for. Even though he is hitting .316, he only has 2 homers. I am not counting him out as a major leaguer, but I would not rush him.

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WTM's avatar

Nunez is on IL.

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Buccoholic's avatar

That seems to be what Nunez does every time he is close to being promotable. I think he’s allergic to opportunity.

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WTM's avatar

Sanford with a bomb — early Sat start in FCL. Tyler Samaniego rehabbing.

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Anthony Murphy's avatar

Wyatt Sanford just hit his first pro home run. 98.9 mph off the bat

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MB 21's avatar

The timing of Bae's up and down from Indy (apart from the first demotion after his baserunning misadventures) has been strange. They promote him rather than Solak earlier and now after his first bunt single they demote him for Solak. And the Solak promotion comes right before Horwitz comes off the IL. Since Cruz pinch hit, he obviously isn't going on the IL so who goes down now? Gorski? The obvious cut would be Pham but we all know that's unlikely. I hope they keep Canario in the lineup but will they? This GM is a nightmare! How long before Kelly loses sleep over the next idiotic move by his boss?

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1979andCounting's avatar

Bae is the poster boy for what a 27th (or 28th) roster space looks like. He is not MLB caliber, so really he should become a permanent org player in Indy.

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StatsCbl's avatar

This is where I think MLB could gain a little fan interest by increasing the roster back to 15 hitters. Guys like Brandon Belt, CJ Cron and other mashers or base stealers may be your bench guys instead of a bench of utility players. Just my suggestion for the next CBA. :)

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Melkel's avatar

Especially with the DH now throughout. 28 man rosters 15 position, 13 pitchers is reasonable.

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Aurorus Borealus's avatar

Very bad for the Pirates. More payroll, and fewer players on the waiver wire. Where would the Pirates be without their waiver wire guys?

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Steven Flamm's avatar

Wait until he moves to another organization. When he is used in a way that increases his chances of success, he very well may excel. Good coaching, appropriate line-up placement, facing the right pitchers, etc - the guy has certain skills that a real organization may develop and capitalize on.

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Al Oliver's avatar

I disagree about Bae. Horrible swing, horrible against lefties, horrible against velocity, and horrible baseball instincts. He would need a complete rework.

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Steven Flamm's avatar

Maybe. But that is where the coaching and appropriate usage comes in. He seems to do well in AAA. He has the upside of a versatile, speedy contact hitter (perhaps a platoon option) that I think can contribute to a winning team. I think he is more than a AAAA player. The problem is we see him in Pittsburgh, with his weaknesses highlighted.

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1979andCounting's avatar

Preach Al! TY!

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MB 21's avatar

Oh, and it's my opinion that last night's loss was predicated by Pham's inability to catch that ball in the outfield while Holderman was still out there. The only redeeming quality of Pham has been his defense and if he ruins a game that way, it just proves how idiotic it is to keep running him out there. Hopefully Kelly doesn't play him again until he's cut. At least he wasn't on the field for a couple games prior to Friday. This is nothing personal about Pham (although I don't really like what I've seen in public) but simply recognizes it might be time to hang them up. It really is a shock that he was signed to a major league contract.

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StatsCbl's avatar

I also put some blame on Kiner-Falefa, who it looked like was calling for it. Pham has been difficult to watch, but has been one of our better defensive players this year.... so I am going to give him a pass on that one. As far as his hitting, he has been bad the last several years, except when it is show time. He might have been Arizona's best hitter in the 2023 world series and the Royals best hitter in the play-off series for them...... so back to your point I guess, no need for the Pirates to keep him. :)

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Slider71's avatar

I also thought it was interesting how there was no interaction between the two after the play. They just walked by eathother without so much as a glance or word to one another. To me that indicates something is off

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Aurorus Borealus's avatar

IKF seems like a decent guy. I doubt that he wants anything to do with Pham.

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1979andCounting's avatar

IKF contributed to the drop. He needed to gtf out of Pham's way.

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WTM's avatar

Not that I’ve got any inclination to defend Pham, but overall he’s played well defensively.

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Memories of 71 and 79's avatar

I'm not sure if anybody else caught it but one of last night's highlights was Braylon Bishop nailing a guy at home with an absolute bullet from right field. He was just inserted into the game for defensive purposes in the later innings. It will be interesting if he makes it to G-Bo later in the year.

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Anthony Murphy's avatar

Didn’t get to watch last night. But doesn’t surprise me. He’s got a strong arm and the defense has gotten much better this year.

I think they’d like to push him to GBO this year, just needs to keep playing well

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Melkel's avatar

I think he was a multi sport guy in high school, sometimes it takes longer for the hit tool to come if ever. I'd like them to give him a push as long as he's hitting the ball hard often (preferably over .250). His strikeouts may still be an issue though. Between Bishop, White, and Polanco I'm hoping one if not all can have a breakthrough in the batters box.

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Green Weenie's avatar

Any word on Hunter Barco?

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Steven Flamm's avatar

Hopefully not his elbow again

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1979andCounting's avatar

Congressional hearings begin next Wed. to investigate.

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PirateRican21's avatar

😂. They are just gonna plead the 5th.

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