“It was a really good bad day,” Jones said with a smile. Kid's a keeper but not saying that's what this club will do right away. I liked what he said about Davis catching him to Hannah during her interview.
BA has a piece up about guys impressing in minor league camp. There's a segment on the Pirates that raves about the usual pitchers, especially Bubba. But the best part is on Matoma. Throwing 95-96 with good movement and three good secondary pitches that he can throw for strikes. There's a link to a lengthy video clip that indeed shows him throwing a bunch of secondary pitches for strikes.
I figured that's why they didn't send to him to Indy to get more at bats, lol. Of course if a reporter were to ask Ben and Derek they would probably say they want him to get in some more work with Andy Haines🤣
Glad he’s not in the rotation. This means Jones has to be a lock. I think the rotation is Keller, Perez, Ortiz, Gonzales and Jones. German and Lauer will be in the rotation by May with Skenes coming sometime in June. If Gonzales can be decent I think the rotation can be solid. Not a fan of German the person, but if he is sober, he could be a good #2 and lauer has been a good starter most of his career with an injury plagued down year last year.
Another reason I really dislike the signing is because both McKinney and Olivaras deserve to be on the team. As it stands now, one will be in AAA and the other will get limited AB’s.
His stats against lefties have been solid. I wish they would just let him be a short side of a platoon and late game defensive replacement. His career against RH is a pretty ugly and large sample size story.
Limited players who come up with the Pirates with platoon splits (Jack) are good and should be given every chance to start. Limited players who are signed by the Pirates (MA Taylor) should never see the field and in fact shouldn’t be above Altoona.
? - I've consistently made the case Jack should be platooned as well. If they get occasional at bats against same sided pitchers for their defensive abilities so be it, but neither has shown they should get regular at bats against same sided.
Oh I’m not calling you out. More the overall group here who downplays any flaw of a player who comes up, and runs down any signing of an outside platoon type player.
I live in DC. I watched Michael Taylor for the Nationals for years. Come on— the guy can’t hit. Has he ever had an OBP over .300? He’s an excellent defensive outfielder who can’t hit. And he’s not going to be platooned. He’s the starting center fielder.
On a good team he’s a fifth outfielder, defensive replacement.
League average vs lefties for his career. I don’t think he should see the field against righties, except in an emergency. He’ll probably play more than he should, but he’s at least very good defensively. Which they have little of in the OF.
But this is the problem I have with the comment board complaining about players they sign. Everyone wants some sort of player without warts on the FA market for like 5 mil. Those players don’t exist.
yep, hope he’s a platoon+D kinda guy. Starts for suwinski in center against every lefty & a couple extra starts & late inning replacements for added defense.
Right now Taylor has .750 strike out average. None of us are big fans of the players signing so late, but he maybe Taylor is one of those guys that could cram for tests back in college.
I don’t get the love for Taylor. I think Pirate fans are going to turn on him quick when he’s getting on base at a .280 clip and striking out 35% of the time which would be right in line with career avg. For me he is a late inning defensive replacement and 2 day a week starter, nothing more
You're mistaking love for desire, the desire to see someone who can play defense at a position that hasn't had any for years. They already have decided to give us another year of a shit show at first base with Tellez and Joe.
In fairness, hedges was a predictable disaster waiting to happen if you checked the pre-2024 aging curve on his stats. He was already in a visible decline. But the FO really wanted an emotional support catcher because they couldn't trust the non-vets.
The Red Sox run came from a lead-off single out of Tellez's reach. My guess is the batter would have been out if Triolo was at first. Also, with guys on first and second Hayes tries to make the throw to first. With the throw being wide, I think a high percentage of first basemen would step over, catch the ball and save the run.
MY POINT: It won't show in the box score, but Tellez being bad at defense gave the Red Sox that run.
Absolutely, positively correct. That sort of thing is going to happen again and again as long as Tellez and Joe (who’s far worse than even Tellez) are over there and it will lead to losses that might have been wins.
And Joe is worse. Triolo at first and Perguero at second is the answer, but Cherington will keep those two at first for the simple reason that he’s paying them somewhere around $6 million a year despite their costing the team wins.
Is Oneil Cruz eventually going to use his speed to his advantage and at least try to beat out an infield hit (or at least put pressure on the defense)? Or do you think he has been told not to run hard?
Bello just signed 6 year $55M extension with Red Sox, with a 7th year $21M option. He's in his second year of service. Interesting deal, I'm thinking about our young arms, Jones could be a candidate for this next offseason.
The difference is that (I think) Bello is a kid from the DR that didn’t sign for much. Skenes was the number 1 pick from California that has a bank account in the 7 figures. People look at contracts like there is not variability person to person. Individuals have different levels of expectations and willingness to cut a deal and bet on themselves. Me thinks Bello and Skenes might as well be apples and oranges.
The counterargument is that Brownie rarely goes too far off the approved script from state-run media. It's why I get excited when they start talking about a dude I like in AA performing well. State-run media tends to walk the viewing public to conclusions, and Brownie is the mouthpiece.
“It was a really good bad day,” Jones said with a smile. Kid's a keeper but not saying that's what this club will do right away. I liked what he said about Davis catching him to Hannah during her interview.
BA has a piece up about guys impressing in minor league camp. There's a segment on the Pirates that raves about the usual pitchers, especially Bubba. But the best part is on Matoma. Throwing 95-96 with good movement and three good secondary pitches that he can throw for strikes. There's a link to a lengthy video clip that indeed shows him throwing a bunch of secondary pitches for strikes.
This Matoma thing has the potential to be amazing. A major league pitcher from Uganda? Seriously? There’s a long way to go, but I hope it works out.
I watched Gift Ngoepe from the time he showed up. It was fun to see. Looking forward to this.
Free Rinku Singh!
Looked like Andujar was going to get a shot with the A’s this season but…..he tears a meniscus and out 6-8:weeks……
That's a shame, hate to see that happen to these guys fighting to stay around.
Michael A. Taylor looking suspiciously like Michael A. Taylor.
I figured that's why they didn't send to him to Indy to get more at bats, lol. Of course if a reporter were to ask Ben and Derek they would probably say they want him to get in some more work with Andy Haines🤣
Looks like he’s been working with Haines his whole career.
Looks to me like, if we say Jones goes to Indy, we’re effectively saying merit is irrelevant.
Resulting…
Gee I wonder what reasons they would give, lol.
I mean it's painfully obvious what he has to work on.
Whether or not he's earned a spot over the other crappy 5th starter options is a fair question, but let's not delude ourselves here.
He needs to work on bibbledy bibbledy.
Red Sox Sign Chase Anderson...
Good one!!!⚾️😀
Glad he’s not in the rotation. This means Jones has to be a lock. I think the rotation is Keller, Perez, Ortiz, Gonzales and Jones. German and Lauer will be in the rotation by May with Skenes coming sometime in June. If Gonzales can be decent I think the rotation can be solid. Not a fan of German the person, but if he is sober, he could be a good #2 and lauer has been a good starter most of his career with an injury plagued down year last year.
And he gets a free bus ride to the Red Sox complex also, lol.
Also a Good one!!!⚾️😀
Bob splurged for a hospitality tent behind Hannah! Big spender!
I liked that Hannah Mears interview with Jones. She ask some really good and pertinent questions.
Me think that Jones’ curveball needs to be shelved. Fastball, slider, cutter, sinker and change is plenty, especially with a little better command.
His locker mate is Quinn, maybe he'll learn how to throw it from him.
I would be very happy with a .720 OPS for Taylor.
Not holding my breath though. Don't think that's likely.
Another reason I really dislike the signing is because both McKinney and Olivaras deserve to be on the team. As it stands now, one will be in AAA and the other will get limited AB’s.
I don't see anything special in Oliveras. I've been more impressed with McKinney
Someone used Marisnak as a comp which is a good call. As long as he's not Jarrod Dyson.
His stats against lefties have been solid. I wish they would just let him be a short side of a platoon and late game defensive replacement. His career against RH is a pretty ugly and large sample size story.
Limited players who come up with the Pirates with platoon splits (Jack) are good and should be given every chance to start. Limited players who are signed by the Pirates (MA Taylor) should never see the field and in fact shouldn’t be above Altoona.
-BoD Commenrariat, probably-
? - I've consistently made the case Jack should be platooned as well. If they get occasional at bats against same sided pitchers for their defensive abilities so be it, but neither has shown they should get regular at bats against same sided.
Oh I’m not calling you out. More the overall group here who downplays any flaw of a player who comes up, and runs down any signing of an outside platoon type player.
I live in DC. I watched Michael Taylor for the Nationals for years. Come on— the guy can’t hit. Has he ever had an OBP over .300? He’s an excellent defensive outfielder who can’t hit. And he’s not going to be platooned. He’s the starting center fielder.
On a good team he’s a fifth outfielder, defensive replacement.
League average vs lefties for his career. I don’t think he should see the field against righties, except in an emergency. He’ll probably play more than he should, but he’s at least very good defensively. Which they have little of in the OF.
But this is the problem I have with the comment board complaining about players they sign. Everyone wants some sort of player without warts on the FA market for like 5 mil. Those players don’t exist.
yep, hope he’s a platoon+D kinda guy. Starts for suwinski in center against every lefty & a couple extra starts & late inning replacements for added defense.
Right now Taylor has .750 strike out average. None of us are big fans of the players signing so late, but he maybe Taylor is one of those guys that could cram for tests back in college.
Make that an .800 strike out average.
I don’t get the love for Taylor. I think Pirate fans are going to turn on him quick when he’s getting on base at a .280 clip and striking out 35% of the time which would be right in line with career avg. For me he is a late inning defensive replacement and 2 day a week starter, nothing more
You're mistaking love for desire, the desire to see someone who can play defense at a position that hasn't had any for years. They already have decided to give us another year of a shit show at first base with Tellez and Joe.
Those same people most likely desired Austin Hedges, the top rated defensive catcher in the majors, and we all saw how that worked out
In fairness, hedges was a predictable disaster waiting to happen if you checked the pre-2024 aging curve on his stats. He was already in a visible decline. But the FO really wanted an emotional support catcher because they couldn't trust the non-vets.
The Red Sox run came from a lead-off single out of Tellez's reach. My guess is the batter would have been out if Triolo was at first. Also, with guys on first and second Hayes tries to make the throw to first. With the throw being wide, I think a high percentage of first basemen would step over, catch the ball and save the run.
MY POINT: It won't show in the box score, but Tellez being bad at defense gave the Red Sox that run.
It also won't show in the defensive metrics or fWAR or bWAR. It's a reason why Tellez is actually much worse than his career 0.0 fWAR would indicate.
Is this the part where we hear the canard about 1B defense being more important than 3B?
Only if you want to hear it.
Nah, cause the rest of us know it isn’t true.
Absolutely, positively correct. That sort of thing is going to happen again and again as long as Tellez and Joe (who’s far worse than even Tellez) are over there and it will lead to losses that might have been wins.
Yeah the Pirates have decided yet again that you can put a stiff at first base as long as he hit over 25 home runs at sometime in his life.
They gave the error to Key but Tellez sucks athletically.
And Joe is worse. Triolo at first and Perguero at second is the answer, but Cherington will keep those two at first for the simple reason that he’s paying them somewhere around $6 million a year despite their costing the team wins.
Put the BIG kid at 1B, and Triolo moves permanently to SS to win Gold Gloves, along w Key at 3B
Fred with multiple bad takes in one sentence. Impressive!
Rowdy might keep Hayes from getting a gold glove.
Sad but true and I can also see a tremendous uptick in throwing errors from ss and 2nd, lol.
Is Oneil Cruz eventually going to use his speed to his advantage and at least try to beat out an infield hit (or at least put pressure on the defense)? Or do you think he has been told not to run hard?
Bello just signed 6 year $55M extension with Red Sox, with a 7th year $21M option. He's in his second year of service. Interesting deal, I'm thinking about our young arms, Jones could be a candidate for this next offseason.
I'm thinking more of Skenes.
The difference is that (I think) Bello is a kid from the DR that didn’t sign for much. Skenes was the number 1 pick from California that has a bank account in the 7 figures. People look at contracts like there is not variability person to person. Individuals have different levels of expectations and willingness to cut a deal and bet on themselves. Me thinks Bello and Skenes might as well be apples and oranges.
We'll have Skenes for hopefully 5.5 or even 6 years. That's best case.
I am a little more optimistic than that. :)
Jones did a good job of keeping his composer after the walk.
Bach or Beethoven?
Brahms, he likes those mid-romantic Germans.
I really need to check my spelling more often.
Was going to put Pachelbel but I was probably going to spell it wrong.
Kinda feels like he's getting squeezed a bit at times. So there's that extra frustration with it, and he's working around it.
Two of the walks could have been strikeouts, only missed his spots on one of them. Davis did a good job of coming out and getting back on track.
Brownie starts the broadcast talking about Jones making a strong case to make the team. Maybe he has some inside intel?
Brownie is a heckuva nice guy but he's more of a frying pan to the head type vice reading the tealeaves.
The counterargument is that Brownie rarely goes too far off the approved script from state-run media. It's why I get excited when they start talking about a dude I like in AA performing well. State-run media tends to walk the viewing public to conclusions, and Brownie is the mouthpiece.
He might have thought twice about Jone's spring time performance.