29 Comments
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Catch22's avatar

Old buddy Tim getting real dark on X

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1979andCounting's avatar

Eddy 99.7......it's time.

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AdministrativeSky236's avatar

Keller and bednar for Duran… is that enough for the Sox?

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Green Weenie's avatar

Imo, Keller is enough.

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bmcferren's avatar

rather have Mayer

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HeyFred's avatar

True or false: Aaron Rodgers will be the Steelers version of Tommy Pham.

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Green Weenie's avatar

I say false because I don't see Rodgers making jerk-off gestures to fans or telling a fan he's got a small dick.

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WTM's avatar

“telling a fan he’s got a small dick”

He admitted that? 🙂

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Darren's avatar

False. As Rodgers is way more annoying. Just won't shut up. Anything short of a Super Bowl will make this season more torture than it is worth. At least I have a successful baseball team to ease my suffering 😉

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Tim's avatar

This is not really an apples-to-apples comparision. QB is the central focus of the offense. He takes every snap. Part time LF is on both offense and defense, but only a part. QB sets the tone for the whole team. Think of the popular QBs in the league and then see how their teams tend to be molded to the QB.

Steelers are totally screwed. Totally. Pham is a nuisance, an annoyance, but he will be gone soon.

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WTM's avatar

Tanner Rainey elected free agency. And a tree fell in the forest . . . .

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<Joe solo's avatar

Looking back on recent international signings by the pirates, I see Brazoban, Mola, Oviedo and the senior De lo Santos, (forgive misspellings), all top dollar bonus players and wonder why in a quarter century none of them could hit or made it to the majors. Okay there was Marte and Polanco but little to no one else, yet coaches and scouts remain. How is this possible? Well in the past they went quantity over quality. and that was a failure. Then they signed high end athletes but none of them can hit. So now I am thinking money kickbacks to the team. Sign a player, announce a large bonus yet get back some of the money. It is impossible to be so bad at what you are paid too do and continue to do it. When will this disaster stop. It isn't luck to get these players to the majors but I guess for the pirates it is!????

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WTM's avatar

Oviedo is here at Pirate City throwing to hitters.

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Tim's avatar

When is he projected back? Trade deadline?

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WTM's avatar

No projection yet.

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Anthony Murphy's avatar

Eduardo Oviedo?! lol

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WTM's avatar

No, they’re pitching to him, poor guy.

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StatsCbl's avatar

He was close to our best starter the second half of 2023, if not the best.

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Cobra 39's avatar

My favorite starter to watch that season. Love his compete level. Really battled when he didn’t have his best stuff to keep us in games. And had a few starts where he just looked dominant.

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StatsCbl's avatar

Mine too. And 100% agree.

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WTM's avatar

Says something that the Pirates’ outfielders are batting 7-8-9.

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Mel Schuster - emjayinTN's avatar

Top Hitter for the Pirates in the FCL, Edward Florentino, is deserving of a promotion to A Ball to join key players like Konnor Griffin, Wyatt Sanford, and Axiel Plaz. He is a 6'4" 200 LH power hitter. In his age 18 season he leads the Pirates with a slash of 276/391/552/943 OPS in 69 PA/58 AB. He has 4 HR to date which is about a HR for every 14 AB with 10 BB/17 K. He has played all of the OF positions and some games at 1B.

Getting him some games with the better players at A would be a benefit for him and the Club.

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Scott Kliesen's avatar

Chandler’s numbers don’t look good, but are they a true reflection of how he pitched? Or was he a victim of well placed grounders?

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John_Dreker's avatar

Here's a split of Bubba Chandler's first six starts and last six starts for Indianapolis:

1-6: 25.1 IP, 1.42 ERA, 19 runners (H/BB/HBP), .392 opponent's OPS

7-12: 25.1 IP, 3.55 ERA, 43 runners, .694 OPS

No other regular IL starter works less per game, even if you give him credit for three more IP lost due to rain last night.

He reminds me a lot of Mitch Keller and Tyler Glasnow right now in that they put up good stats at AAA without looking good, but people weren't watching, so everyone wanted them called up anyway. I haven't watched Chandler closely like the other two back then, just scouting the boxscore (not for actual scouting reports on stuff) and seeing a little bit here and there. When guys are struggling with pitch counts and control, that's not the ideal time to call them up. 43 runners in his last 25.1 innings are not "he's ready" numbers.

I'm still fine with calling him up during a lost season if it happens next week, but I don't expect him to dominate. I'm also fine if he works it out in AAA like you're supposed to do. Are you bouncing Mike Burrows for him? Because he's a better control pitcher, with more AAA experience and basically the same overall numbers for Indy this year as Chandler. Right now that's just a sideways move. Seems counterproductive at this particular moment.

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Scott Kliesen's avatar

Thanks for your valuable insights John. Always good to hear from you.

I don’t think bringing up Chandler will meaningfully impact the 2025 Pirates fortunes, but it could help them next year. I personally would rather see him come up and see 1st hand how his arsenal plays vs top competition, in order to make adjustments necessary to kick ass and take names starting on day 1 next year.

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Mel Schuster - emjayinTN's avatar

My whole basis for Chandler is that he has the stuff, but does have good days and bad days. I am of the opinion that if we do not trade Mitch Keller at the deadline, we will never have enough money to play in the FA Market. That and the fact that Mitch deserves the opportunity to go to a contender, combined with the fact we have guys like Chandler, Burrows, Ashcraft, & Oviedo (thanks for the update), and it makes perfect sense to me that Keller and Heaney are gone before Aug 1!

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HeyFred's avatar

Was just coming here to make the case that super-2 cutoff has probably passed (about 115 days left in the season and the cutoff typical is 2.120 - 2.135) and, dammit, we want Bubba! But your take -- and Burrows' good work - makes a lot of sense.

Now, if one of Keller/Falter/Heaney get traded soon, then heck yeah, bring the kid up.

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Melkel's avatar

Totally agree.

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Mel Schuster - emjayinTN's avatar

Glad to see it was a rain delay causing him to only throw 2 innings. When I saw it in the box score my immediate concern was an injury. He'll be in Pittsburgh soon and taking his place in the Pirate Rotation.

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