Gavin Adams is electric. Just wait till Pirates prospect fans get to see this kid pitch. It’s all straight nasty filth.
He sits 95-97 for multiple innings(t99-100) with a flat FB from a 3/4 slot. Nasty CH with fade and a ton of separation(89-91mph). SL is his 3rd best pitch but it’s a hard high 80s/low 90s SL with late bit.
The command isn’t bad either. It’s not like Cederlind or someone like that. The whole projection and profile is more in the Jacob Misiorowski boat.
Adams isn’t 6’7 and touching 104 like Misiorowski but he is long, lanky and lean touch 101 from a similar arm slot. Though Misiorowski extension is elite and Adams doesn’t seem to get down the mound as well.
He would’ve gotten a chance to start at FSU if not for injury(TJ) too so I still would like to see him get that chance to start. Although with the injury history and the control being average or slightly below, I could see letting him air it out 1 inning at a time from the start being the play.
They need to make the RIGHT trades with this pitching. I didn’t like the Patrick Reilly, Luis Peralta or Shim trades. I thought they should’ve gotten more.
Yorke for Priester was fine. Same with Delgado for Brubaker. They still need to swap one of Ashcraft/Harrington for a big hitting piece. But again, has to be the RIGHT deal.
Trading Solometo now would probably be tough and I don’t like trading low on a player/prospect. But there might be something to getting out while you still can. I think it’s getting to that point with Henry Davis🤷♂️
They could probably even afford to add one of Kennedy/Mueth/Reed to Harrington/Ashcraft if you can get a young MLB hitter with a track record and years of control.
I actually would be looking at a Lawerence Butler or Zach Neto or Brenton Doyle/Yanquiel Fernandez(seeing as Tover is already signed long term and imo is way more untouchable than the rest of these guys) for a package of Henry Davis, Harrington/Ashcraft and Mueth/Kennedy.
And Fuck Luis Robert btw!!
I’ll even take Jordan Beck from Colorado for one of Harrington/Ashcraft. I think that could be a good deal. I would leave Veen and Sterling Thompson alone though.
Maybe look at Minnesota(but Minn already has a lot of pitching prospects themselves too). But I have always liked and still really like Matt Wallner. Maybe Emmanuel Rodriguez. Maybe Kirilloff and Culpepper/Keaschall??
Honestly I look at this group and I think…maybe just find ways to make the defense even better and try to win games 3-2. Lordy, it makes your margin of error even smaller, but they have a lot of pieces in place for that.
Early to middle part of the season. I’m paraphrasing… it was something to the effect that they wanted to keep games close with good pitching and defense and hopefully string enough good at bats together to win games. They never planned on having a “good” offense or productive lineup.
Gavin Adams is electric. Just wait till Pirates prospect fans get to see this kid pitch. It’s all straight nasty filth.
He sits 95-97 for multiple innings(t99-100) with a flat FB from a 3/4 slot. Nasty CH with fade and a ton of separation(89-91mph). SL is his 3rd best pitch but it’s a hard high 80s/low 90s SL with late bit.
The command isn’t bad either. It’s not like Cederlind or someone like that. The whole projection and profile is more in the Jacob Misiorowski boat.
Adams isn’t 6’7 and touching 104 like Misiorowski but he is long, lanky and lean touch 101 from a similar arm slot. Though Misiorowski extension is elite and Adams doesn’t seem to get down the mound as well.
He would’ve gotten a chance to start at FSU if not for injury(TJ) too so I still would like to see him get that chance to start. Although with the injury history and the control being average or slightly below, I could see letting him air it out 1 inning at a time from the start being the play.
If they can’t be a playoff team in next year or two with this stable of arms, it will be the biggest disappointment of my 50+ year Pirate’s fandom.
Now that’s a bold statement.
They need to make the RIGHT trades with this pitching. I didn’t like the Patrick Reilly, Luis Peralta or Shim trades. I thought they should’ve gotten more.
Yorke for Priester was fine. Same with Delgado for Brubaker. They still need to swap one of Ashcraft/Harrington for a big hitting piece. But again, has to be the RIGHT deal.
Trading Solometo now would probably be tough and I don’t like trading low on a player/prospect. But there might be something to getting out while you still can. I think it’s getting to that point with Henry Davis🤷♂️
They could probably even afford to add one of Kennedy/Mueth/Reed to Harrington/Ashcraft if you can get a young MLB hitter with a track record and years of control.
I actually would be looking at a Lawerence Butler or Zach Neto or Brenton Doyle/Yanquiel Fernandez(seeing as Tover is already signed long term and imo is way more untouchable than the rest of these guys) for a package of Henry Davis, Harrington/Ashcraft and Mueth/Kennedy.
And Fuck Luis Robert btw!!
I’ll even take Jordan Beck from Colorado for one of Harrington/Ashcraft. I think that could be a good deal. I would leave Veen and Sterling Thompson alone though.
Maybe look at Minnesota(but Minn already has a lot of pitching prospects themselves too). But I have always liked and still really like Matt Wallner. Maybe Emmanuel Rodriguez. Maybe Kirilloff and Culpepper/Keaschall??
This is probably why Cherington is still employed
Honestly I look at this group and I think…maybe just find ways to make the defense even better and try to win games 3-2. Lordy, it makes your margin of error even smaller, but they have a lot of pieces in place for that.
I think they have a foundation in place for that...
C - Bart / Endy
1b - Reynolds
2b - Gonzales
3b - Hayes
SS - IKF
LF - Trade / FA
CF - Cruz
RF - Trade / FA
Need LF, RF & DH to thump. You could live with Hayes, Gonzales, IKF hitting 7,8,9 if you could supplement the rest of the order.
This WAS their strategy in 2024; BC explicitly stated this in an interview earlier in the year. And, they failed miserably…
When did he say that? During the season? I can’t see Rowdy being part of that strategy. It can work, if they get the right guys.
Early to middle part of the season. I’m paraphrasing… it was something to the effect that they wanted to keep games close with good pitching and defense and hopefully string enough good at bats together to win games. They never planned on having a “good” offense or productive lineup.
Some of these cats MUST be dealt to get some MUCH needed hitting!
One would think, but don’t underestimate how risk adverse this organization is.