Shane Baz went eight shutout innings today with nine strikeouts as the Rays swept the Royals. The incredible Rays are now a half a game back of the Yankees in the AL East.
Saw some stunning stats today. Since May 20 Rays are 25-9....that's the best record in MLB, most runs 201 scored, highest BA .280, highest oba .349, highest slugging .466, best team ERA 2.91 and best opp. Avg. .218 in MLB.
Kevin Cash is a 7 WAR manager. This team should not be this good.
They are today's Money Ball team.
Hoping we play them again this year, have no idea if we do.
Here are my 2nd inning observations from yesterday when the Brewers scored 4.
1) After walking Collins to lead off the second, Skenes threw over to first twice which allowed him to get an extra step and steal on the next pitch. Skenes then got the next hitter to hit into a tailor made double play to short, but IKF was breaking to cover the throw at second. Instead of two outs no one on, it was no outs and beginning of an ugly inning.
2) I might need some help on this one from someone watching on TV. With the bases loaded, a ground ball to Skenes he took the sure out to first, but from where I was sitting it looked like there was a sure out at the plate. Not a big deal, imo.
3) Bases loaded Nick did the complete opposite. He threw home with no chance of getting the runner at home when he had an easy out at first.
4) (Except for Skenes) Kelly and the team seemed to be playing like it was a tie game in the 9th. We gambled witht the infield in and the Brewers are one of the last teams you want to do that to. It seemed like we lost that gamble. I don't think the Brewers hit the ball as far as an outfielder on a fly that inning, but still got 4 runs.
5) It's hard for the Pirates to string together a big inning when you have 4 guys hitting under .210 while the Brewers have zero guys under .210 in the line-up.
6) Guys like Skenes and Keller are pressing or pitching differently because they are on a team that doesn't score.... to go along with a manager that has to manage like the game is on the line in the second inning.
7) Nevertheless, the trip to Milwaukee was fun... but could have been better if I found a way to meet up with HeyFred.
After reading all of the responses, it looks like 2) I am outvoted on Skenes not going home with the throw. I will respect that most everyone else's judgement on that throw is better than the one I made while drinking beer and eating brats.
Also, the Cruz not running hard to first drives me crazy and I'm glad Kelly took him out. As far as the fly ball that Cruz didn't quite catch, I'm not blaming him on that one. From where he was a few months ago, my expectations are that is he is not going to get those because he still has a ways to go learning the outfield. I'm also not sure if Pham or Reynolds were playing centerfield, they would have gotten to it either. I am actually encouraged at the progress Cruz has made out there.
I was down the 1st base side in the outfield loge. Your assessments are pretty accurate, although I didn't think Skenes had a chance at home. No choice but to get the out at 1st. Nick, yeah, that was obviously a bad decision.
I'll add -- as others here did yesterday - Cruz could've made that catch in that inning -- just bad form getting to the ball.
Hope you had a good day anyway -- I was with three old knucklehead friends from my softball days in Milwaukee and had a lot of fun. Maybe next time we can meet up.
Glad you both still had fun! Like a day of fishing with no bites; still better than most alternatives!
Stats’ point no. 5 is, IMO, the root cause of most everything else. No margin for error from the pitchers, fielders, or even the manager when you are playing from behind every game before the first pitch.
3) I watched the replay last night and it didn't appear Skenes had a chance at the runner. That 2nd inning he had some real bad luck...nothing hit hard.
#5 highlights the difference between the Pirates and major league teams. A real team would keep looking to plug those gaping holes. Cherington’s been happy, though, throughout his disastrous tenure to tolerate any level of awful performance. There’s no degree of failure he finds unacceptable.
Gaping holes and awful performance aside, kid on the mound was pretty good. He was doting the I and crossing the T with upper 90's juice and hitting 102. Really difficult to square him up evident by his .069 BABIP.
'27 Yankees would struggle hitting him.
I sure hope the kid holds up...he sure is fun to watch if you are a fan of pitching like me.
Skenes has lived up to being a "generational" talent. And one year later Mizz looks like he could be that, a ROY and/or CY candidate too. He's great for MLB and the Brew Crew.
Not quite ready to put him in the same company as Skenes. Mis is walking almost 4/9 and he weights a dollar 60. NMR gave him the perfect Glasnow comp. Mis has never thrown 100 innings in a season as a pro.
Yeah, durability is an ability. Glasnow, deGrom, Mark Prior, the list goes on. Here’s hoping part of Skenes’ generational talent includes being able to shoulder a full seasons’ worth of innings year-to-year.
Excellent pitching from Carlson Reed at GBO. A 4th Round pick in 2023 out of WVU, Reed is still only in his age 22 season, and came out of college as a Big 12 All-Conference Relief Pitcher. The Pirates converted him to a SP and he did very well in BRD last year, and is just getting started this year at A+.
Hard to understand why OF/1B Esmerlyn Valdez, 21, and C/1B Omar Alfonzo, 22, are still at A+. And then, is it really hard to understand? The writer on the Pirate page (Stumpf) was also wondering about why Valdez has not been promoted. It's a good read. We did manage to promote 3 or 4 pitchers to AA and a 9th Round MI, so it's still Pirate business as usual.
A lot could depend on what the plan is at the trade deadline. Perhaps they are going to try to acquire someone and could use Valdez and Alfonzo as trade pieces. If that’s the case, there is bigger risk to moving them up and having them struggle
Believe it or not, I actually saw them running it this spring.
It DOES seem to me that the minor leaguers throw away a lot of pickoff throws, but that may be a product of the new rules. I think they take pickoffs a lot more seriously than before. They don’t have the luxury of lobbing the ball over a few times to keep the runners honest. When they go to first, or second which they do a LOT, they’re seriously after getting an out. I think they’re naturally going to get more errors doing that I guess.
A surprising number of the really young pitchers have good moves. So that’s something positive.
Fielding slow rollers and throwing to a base, not as good from what I can see.
The better pick off moves can probably be attributed to the youth levels allowing leads - and pick offs- at a younger age. In the past, most leagues allowed leads in leagues post the equivalent of what is/was little league (13+). Now, there are tournaments allowing 9 year-olds to lead off the base, so pick off moves are being taught a lot earlier.
Shane Baz went eight shutout innings today with nine strikeouts as the Rays swept the Royals. The incredible Rays are now a half a game back of the Yankees in the AL East.
When he fired the last crew, Nuttin said the Pirates should emulate the Rays. Apart from the low payrolls, two teams couldn’t be run less alike.
Saw some stunning stats today. Since May 20 Rays are 25-9....that's the best record in MLB, most runs 201 scored, highest BA .280, highest oba .349, highest slugging .466, best team ERA 2.91 and best opp. Avg. .218 in MLB.
Kevin Cash is a 7 WAR manager. This team should not be this good.
They are today's Money Ball team.
Hoping we play them again this year, have no idea if we do.
Baz is just a throw in Player to Be named Later.
Here are my 2nd inning observations from yesterday when the Brewers scored 4.
1) After walking Collins to lead off the second, Skenes threw over to first twice which allowed him to get an extra step and steal on the next pitch. Skenes then got the next hitter to hit into a tailor made double play to short, but IKF was breaking to cover the throw at second. Instead of two outs no one on, it was no outs and beginning of an ugly inning.
2) I might need some help on this one from someone watching on TV. With the bases loaded, a ground ball to Skenes he took the sure out to first, but from where I was sitting it looked like there was a sure out at the plate. Not a big deal, imo.
3) Bases loaded Nick did the complete opposite. He threw home with no chance of getting the runner at home when he had an easy out at first.
4) (Except for Skenes) Kelly and the team seemed to be playing like it was a tie game in the 9th. We gambled witht the infield in and the Brewers are one of the last teams you want to do that to. It seemed like we lost that gamble. I don't think the Brewers hit the ball as far as an outfielder on a fly that inning, but still got 4 runs.
5) It's hard for the Pirates to string together a big inning when you have 4 guys hitting under .210 while the Brewers have zero guys under .210 in the line-up.
6) Guys like Skenes and Keller are pressing or pitching differently because they are on a team that doesn't score.... to go along with a manager that has to manage like the game is on the line in the second inning.
7) Nevertheless, the trip to Milwaukee was fun... but could have been better if I found a way to meet up with HeyFred.
After reading all of the responses, it looks like 2) I am outvoted on Skenes not going home with the throw. I will respect that most everyone else's judgement on that throw is better than the one I made while drinking beer and eating brats.
Also, the Cruz not running hard to first drives me crazy and I'm glad Kelly took him out. As far as the fly ball that Cruz didn't quite catch, I'm not blaming him on that one. From where he was a few months ago, my expectations are that is he is not going to get those because he still has a ways to go learning the outfield. I'm also not sure if Pham or Reynolds were playing centerfield, they would have gotten to it either. I am actually encouraged at the progress Cruz has made out there.
I was down the 1st base side in the outfield loge. Your assessments are pretty accurate, although I didn't think Skenes had a chance at home. No choice but to get the out at 1st. Nick, yeah, that was obviously a bad decision.
I'll add -- as others here did yesterday - Cruz could've made that catch in that inning -- just bad form getting to the ball.
Hope you had a good day anyway -- I was with three old knucklehead friends from my softball days in Milwaukee and had a lot of fun. Maybe next time we can meet up.
Glad you both still had fun! Like a day of fishing with no bites; still better than most alternatives!
Stats’ point no. 5 is, IMO, the root cause of most everything else. No margin for error from the pitchers, fielders, or even the manager when you are playing from behind every game before the first pitch.
My observations are that most everything you're referencing are the results of the Pirates being a bad baseball team.
#analysis
Perhaps we’re all overthinking this.
The record is the record.
i plead the 5th.
3) I watched the replay last night and it didn't appear Skenes had a chance at the runner. That 2nd inning he had some real bad luck...nothing hit hard.
Correct
#5 highlights the difference between the Pirates and major league teams. A real team would keep looking to plug those gaping holes. Cherington’s been happy, though, throughout his disastrous tenure to tolerate any level of awful performance. There’s no degree of failure he finds unacceptable.
It's like he refuses to believe that he could have made a wrong decision.
I'm convinced that his only criterion for determining whether a decision is right or wrong is whether the cash keep flowing. Nothing else matters.
Gaping holes and awful performance aside, kid on the mound was pretty good. He was doting the I and crossing the T with upper 90's juice and hitting 102. Really difficult to square him up evident by his .069 BABIP.
'27 Yankees would struggle hitting him.
I sure hope the kid holds up...he sure is fun to watch if you are a fan of pitching like me.
He’s allowed fewer hits through his first three games than any pitcher since the early 1900s.
that's wild.
Skenes has lived up to being a "generational" talent. And one year later Mizz looks like he could be that, a ROY and/or CY candidate too. He's great for MLB and the Brew Crew.
really is a phenomenal story. JC guy who blew up the draft combine and the rest is history.
Not quite ready to put him in the same company as Skenes. Mis is walking almost 4/9 and he weights a dollar 60. NMR gave him the perfect Glasnow comp. Mis has never thrown 100 innings in a season as a pro.
Yeah, durability is an ability. Glasnow, deGrom, Mark Prior, the list goes on. Here’s hoping part of Skenes’ generational talent includes being able to shoulder a full seasons’ worth of innings year-to-year.
Makes you really appreciate what Keller has done so far in his career.
Gotta root for him to win one of those awards and earn the full year of service time.
A 2nd place ROY would work too.
If a team looking to add hitting trades Valdez and Alfonzo then their incompetence is greater than we already know.
what did i miss?
I think he's referring to Phil's post below.
ah, duh, thanks for catching that for me!
Excellent pitching from Carlson Reed at GBO. A 4th Round pick in 2023 out of WVU, Reed is still only in his age 22 season, and came out of college as a Big 12 All-Conference Relief Pitcher. The Pirates converted him to a SP and he did very well in BRD last year, and is just getting started this year at A+.
Hard to understand why OF/1B Esmerlyn Valdez, 21, and C/1B Omar Alfonzo, 22, are still at A+. And then, is it really hard to understand? The writer on the Pirate page (Stumpf) was also wondering about why Valdez has not been promoted. It's a good read. We did manage to promote 3 or 4 pitchers to AA and a 9th Round MI, so it's still Pirate business as usual.
A lot could depend on what the plan is at the trade deadline. Perhaps they are going to try to acquire someone and could use Valdez and Alfonzo as trade pieces. If that’s the case, there is bigger risk to moving them up and having them struggle
Nice outing for Reed. I was hoping he’d open at Altoona. He was on the roster, but then went on IL.
He does apparently need some PFP. Had 3 errors yesterday.
Does the Pirates org even know what PFP is after the first day at ST camp?
Believe it or not, I actually saw them running it this spring.
It DOES seem to me that the minor leaguers throw away a lot of pickoff throws, but that may be a product of the new rules. I think they take pickoffs a lot more seriously than before. They don’t have the luxury of lobbing the ball over a few times to keep the runners honest. When they go to first, or second which they do a LOT, they’re seriously after getting an out. I think they’re naturally going to get more errors doing that I guess.
A surprising number of the really young pitchers have good moves. So that’s something positive.
Fielding slow rollers and throwing to a base, not as good from what I can see.
there was that weird period of baseball dev logic where the smartest guys in the room told pitchers to ignore runners like it didn't matter.
The better pick off moves can probably be attributed to the youth levels allowing leads - and pick offs- at a younger age. In the past, most leagues allowed leads in leagues post the equivalent of what is/was little league (13+). Now, there are tournaments allowing 9 year-olds to lead off the base, so pick off moves are being taught a lot earlier.
All 3 errors were throws to first, 2 on batted ball's, 1 on a pick off.