81 Comments

Shelton with another have-you-ever-watched-baseball-before? quote, on Falter:

"He executed pitches really well last year during the season."

The guy had a 5.58 ERA with the Pirates last year, including a colossal gopher ball rate. More like his pitches got executed.

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Shelton was channeling his inner Clint Hurdle with that comment. Don't believe what you see just believe what I tell you!

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His ERA in 6 of his Pirates games last year was around 1.55. Now his other 4 games, his ERA was around 15.00. His bad is so bad, on those days he should not go past the 3 batter minimum. This spring I actually felt bad for him he looked so helpless.

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If he could throw his fastball at the top of the zone 1-2 inches lower, he'd probably be more effective. But that's obviously easier said than done.

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Congrats to Nick Burdie for coming back

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By Murphy's law the Falter/Ortiz combo starter will definitely be our best starter.

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If it is, the Pirates are in serious trouble.

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Can someone tell me who the hell Ryder Ryan is and how he made the roster? He wasn't on any list on any site as an even longshot to make the team.......and how the hell did Bailey Falter get in there?

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You seem to have missed the part about half the pen starting out on the IL. Somebody's gotta pitch.

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I'll be honest, my problem here is falter being named a starter. There was at least 5 better options. If you want to keep falter, he's a long reliever/mop up. nothing more

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Oh man. I thought you were upset that he is on the roster. Now I just saw Shelton said he was named to the rotation. This makes no sense. I'm with you now.

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Falter’s out of options. Cherington traded for him and everyone knows he can’t be wrong. So, there’s that little dynamic going on. Could it also just maybe be the reason Williams is on the roster instead of Perguero? You decide, thinking about some of the things BC does give me a pain in the posterior.

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don't care if falter is a long man whom comes in when we are down 7-1 in the 3rd inning. Dont want him creating that problem. My guess is we hope he has a couple decent starts while we are waiting for Lauer to get ready then trade him. In the mean time we are quite literally tossing away 2-3 wins by having him pitch 5 times before then.

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I’m guessing the amount of rope falter has is <3 starts. Too much attention is being paid to the OD 26. It’s likely to change quickly.

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Peralta? recall Hernandez? Honeywell? in what world do you keep Falter on your roster and not just add Peralta or Honeywell to the roster?

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All of the RHP's we're actually sending two good LHPs (Hernandez and Lauer) to the minors because we have too many LHPs. Clint Hurdle would be rolling over in his grave.

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Lauer isn't ready yet. he needs about a month to ramp up

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I think BC made the correct choice on Quinn. He's a Huntington pick too......which may be an intangible that affects BC decision-making.

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His stuff is some of the best on the team, but he can't seem to put back to back good starts in a row. This is not just spring training, but most of last year in the minors. His Whip is only 1.11 in spring, but his ERA is 5.87. I am fine with him starting in the minors and hope he finds consistency.

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Has he given any reasons?

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I didn't hear Priester's name mentioned by BC, Brownie or Capps during the telecast......which seemed very odd.

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So what is Indy looking like?

2b nick

Ss peguero

3B Malcolm

1b beer

C Ali and bins

Lf Canaan

Cf bae / gorski

Rf palacios

Rotation: Skenes, German, Lauer, Quinn,

Pen: Shelby, Nicolas, Hernandez, Honeywell, Wolf

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you forgot Lamb

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I’m guessing he’s the DH in that lineup

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Mmmmm. Beer and lamb.

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According to the code in the Indianapolis Twitter feed, Skenes will start in Indy.

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So is the Cruz/Triolo double play combo the tallest, ever?

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Almost walk free from the pitching staff. Hopefully, an omen of things to come.

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Vogey makes another OD roster. Love that!

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NGL, OD bullpen looks putrid…Ro has absolutely no biz making this team. Swing men central up in here, guess they don’t have too much confidence in their starters.

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Contreras made the team based on stuff, which he has. The real question is how Falter made the team, he really has nothing

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Apparently he has enough to be part of the OD rotation, and whatever that is, it’s more than Ro.

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Actually there isnt anything stuff wise falter has that Ro doesnt but irrelevant as ro isnt the long man and everyone writing on the pirates knows that. I would expect ortiz to out pitch falter 8 times out of 10

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Somebody has to mop up when Gonzalez starts

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now we need a mop up for 2 guys

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that should be falter.

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Falter actually had 5 good games for the Pirates last year to go along with 7 that were awful. Going into spring training, I thought he could be a serviceable but man it has been painful to watch.

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yeah, and then we go and trade Brubaker, whom, assuming his recovery is going as advertised, is certainly better than Falter and Gonzales, German, and Lauer........for what exactly? I really don't understand the purpose of this trade, especially now. We literally have zero starting pitching depth because the only person other than Priester won't be stretched out (ortiz) because he's in the bullpen. None of this makes any sense at all

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Am I the only one thinking who the F is Ryan Ryder after a full ST? Maybe it's the complete lack of broadcasts. This is the first year in like a decade that I haven't been able to get a feel for the NRI guys.

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I could be wrong, but my thought is that Ryan Ryder is a place holder on the roster until Holderman or Mlodzinski comes off the injured list. He is a guy that they currently aren't concerned with his options.

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That's my expectation. He's just holding a spot till Mlod or Holderman are good to go.

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Yeah, i guess winning games isn't important. but losing garbage players like Falter is

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I don't have it in me to track these guys anymore. We hardly knew ye.

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White has a good arm.

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Great play on a ball he had to run to get to, drops in front of him and he still throws the guy out, lol.

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Yep, sure looked like the wind knocked it down.

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Ryan makes the team. That's a surprise. There's your article for tomorrow AM, tell us what his stuff and tendencies are!

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Going to do a complete roster breakdown tomorrow, but I could see a Ryan specific piece for the weekend as well

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Gausman looks sharp. Year 3 of 5 yr $110M contract, $24M this year. And he's not their ace!

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Does everybody remember that when the Pirates were looking for a #1 in the Rotation a few years back, the two names at the top of the availability list were Kevin Gausman, then with the Orioles, and Chris Archer, then of Tampa Bay.

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What do you mean he's not their ace?

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Not OD starter. It does seem he had some type of injury/setback.

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If things go well for Gausman, he will be ready to start the 5th game for the Blue Jays. According to fantasy leagues anyway, he is ranked as a top 10 starter in baseball.

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Ok. He's easily the best starter they have.

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I saw that Brent Honeywell and Billy McKinney did not make the roster. Does that mean they will begin in Indy or does it mean they are free agents?

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Honeywell has an opt-out today, haven't heard if he will though. Good sign he's pitching today.

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Pretty bummed about Honeywell not making the opening day roster, love his compete and idgafos attitude.

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Thanks. Just from the eye test in Bradenton, I thought he was a lock. I hope the Pirates are trying to buy a little more time to see if Falter and Roansy are going to stay on the roster. This spring Honeywell is 9 plus innings 5 hits and 1 walk.

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Even though I'm not optimistic about Falter or Contreras (though I think Contreras will ultimately benefit from a change of scenery and be okay), it wouldn't seem wise to DFA someone that you believed in prior to ST just because they had a rough ST. So yes, give them a few weeks to show what they can do with the adrenaline at a higher level and then make the decision.

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This^^^. Spring training is... well... spring training. I wouldn't use it to make many roster decisions unless it is 2 guys in about the same contract/ service time situation and about the same valuation in terms of metrics and scouting.

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