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Pirates Morning Report: Four Down 88 To Go

Final Score: Pirates 5 Orioles 4

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates were able to bunch 4 of their six hits together in the bottom of the 2nd to score 4 runs. Konner Griffin, in his first major league at-bat, took an outside curveball and drilled it into left center field for a double to drive in the first run. A single by Triolo, a double by Henry (I Can’t Believe Either) Davis, and a single by Oneil Cruz put 3 more runs on the board. Mitch Keller pitched an erratic but effective six innings. He gave up 2 runs on 6 hits. He struck out 3 and walked 3. He threw 88 pitches. Yohan Ramirez came on in the 7th and really did not pitch that badly. He was the victim of some bad luck and a little wildness. He gave up a bloop single and a double that led to a run. He got a fly ball to center before walking a batter to put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. Mason Montgomery came in and put out the fire. Griffin made a nice defensive play on a little dribbler to short that took a funny hop to get the second out. Montgomery struck out the next batter to end the inning. The Pirates scored what proved to be the deciding run without getting a hit. Two walks, a wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly gave them their 5th run. They needed that run when Gunnar Henderson hit a home run in the top of the 9th to make it 5-4. It was a nice opening day win for the Buccos.

Key Moment Of The Game: It came during Konner Griffin’s first at-bat. He kept swinging at sweepers that were outside the strike zone. He had a 1-2 count when he barely foul-tipped another outside pitch with the end of the bat. The Oriole catcher could not hold it, and Griffin had life. One more curve sweeper that was a little higher and just caught the outside of the plate was ripped into left center field. The Pirates ran the bases aggressively and scored 4 runs thanks to some Orioles’ offline throws. This was a game that the Orioles could have easily won.

Next Game: Today Orioles in Pittsburgh 4:05 PM. Carmen Mlodzinski will go for the Pirates. Baltimore will counter with Shane Baz, a former Pirate prospect who was given up in the Chris Archer trade. It will be interesting to see if Nick Gonzales will start tomorrow. I know we are still in small sample size mode, but Jared Triolo, even with 2 hits yesterday, has an OPS of .569. Nick Gonzales has a .764 OPS. Gonzales has 5 RBIs and Triolo 1. This team needs bats more than it needs gloves. One final thing: GET CRUZ OUT OF THAT LEAD-OFF SPOT. The Pirates put the anal in analytics.

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Golf: The Uniqueness Of Each Part Of Golf

As you play a round of golf, you are faced with different phases of the game. To divide them up, we have the driver, shots from the fairway, shots from the rough, less than full swing shots, special shots, sand shots, and putting. Seven different phases of the game that you encounter in every round of golf. What makes this important is that each phase has a unique quality. Because of this, a golfer cannot apply what they do in one phase to another phase. Certainly, there are some common ground elements that can be used, like keeping a good tempo, making sure you are aligned correctly, and a few other fundamental swing basics. One needs to be aware of these not-so-subtle differences in order to have success in getting around the golf course. I will start at the beginning and work my way through each part of the game you will run into as you play 18 holes of golf.

The Driver: What makes the driver unique is that it is the only club in the bag you are going to hit slightly on the upswing. Now I know you hear of pros hitting the so-called trap draw, and one can get away with hitting the driver slightly on the downswing, but if you want to get the most out of your driver, you will hit it slightly on the upswing. Also, what makes the driver unique is that you are not trying to hit it a particular distance. You are trying to hit it as far as you can, which can lead to swinging too hard at the ball, which can leak into the rest of your game. The driver is where tempo, rhythm, and balance are the most important. The driver is the one club that can set up your swing for the entire day. If you can keep your driver swing smooth and overcome the urge to KILL THE BALL, the rest of your game will fall into place. Even though you are not trying to hit the ball a particular distance, accuracy is still very important. The fairway is better than the rough, and the rough is better than the woods. Keeping your swing in control is most important with the driver.

Shots From The Fairway: These are the shots that you are going to hit the ball on a slightly descending blow. You must hit the ball before your swing reaches the bottom of the arc. As the clubs get shorter, the descending blow should increase. If you play public golf, you know that all fairways are not created equal. The shorter the grass, the ball will travel a little less distance for each club. The other thing that makes shots from the fairway unique is that now you are trying to hit the ball a certain distance. Even on par 5’s, you may want to hit your 2nd shot to a particular spot in order to make the 3rd shot easier. Trying to hit the ball a certain distance adds one element into what you are trying to achieve in a round of golf. Most golfers try to be way too precise when trying to accomplish this. The average length of a green from front to back is about 25 to 30 yards. That gives you a pretty good margin of error to get the ball on the green. This should be your thought process from 130 yards out and beyond. When you get closer, you can begin to think about where the pin is.

Shots From The Rough: This shot, even though the principle of hitting the ball is the same, is unique in two ways. First, the ball will fly further, and you will have less control over it. Depending on how the ball is lying and how deep the rough is, that will determine what club you will use. The worse the lie is, the more of a descending blow you will have to deliver to the ball. It is not a bad idea to literally think of the swing as a chop to get out of the rough. The main rule of thumb for hitting out of the rough is to lower your expectations and aim for the middle of the green and the fairway if this is a second shot on a par 5.

Less Than Full Swing Shots: This heading refers to short game shots that require less than a full swing, typically from under 80 yards to the green. These shots can be taken from both the fairway and rough, necessitating greater precision in distance and direction. For shots between 30 and 80 yards, you need a method to control distance. One way is to choke down on the club; the lower your grip is, the shorter the ball will travel, but this may lead to a lower trajectory that complicates shots over obstacles. Another method is to visualize a clock face, taking your left arm back to various positions (7, 8, 9, 10, or 11 o’clock) based on the distance you want to hit. This is known as the Dave Pelz method. Lastly, you can take a nearly full swing but slow down your pace depending on the distance, starting from your regular 100 MPH swing to 80, 60, and 40 MPH for shorter distances. Experimenting with these techniques will help you find what works best for you. Chipping and pitching around the green rely more on feel and practice, and you should aim to hit the ball with a descending strike, similar in principle for both fairway and rough, though with more control from the fairway.

Special Shots: These are the shots that you have to hit when you are on a severe slope, when in trouble, or in windy conditions. Essentially, this means dealing with slope or going high or low. This includes trying to curve the ball on purpose. There are many methods to try and do all of this. This is what makes this part of the game unique. Not everybody has the skill to work the ball. The most important of these is keeping the ball low. If you learn one basic thing in golf, it is to hit the low ball. There are many ways to do this. Find them on YouTube and pick one that will work for you. Playing from slopes requires certain changes from each situation. Ball above your feet; choke up on the club and aim to the right. Ball below your feet; bend over more, get closer to the ball, aim left, and take one more club. Downhill lie: take one less club, play the ball back in your stance, and aim left. Uphill lie: aim right, take one more club, and aim right. Make these adjustments, and you should hit reasonable shots from severe slopes.

Sand Shots: There are two kinds of sand shots: greenside sand shots and sand shots from the fairway. They are each unique. Greenside bunker shots are the only shot in golf that you don’t hit the ball. You hit approximately 2 inches behind the ball. Anytime you watch or read some instruction on greenside sand shots, they will talk about how easy they are. I guess this is some kind of psychological ploy to ease players’ anxiety over these shots. These are not easy shots. The PGA Tour average for getting up and down in two from the sand is 52% so far this season, which is what it was for 2025. Essentially, PGA Tour pros get up and down one out of two times. For us, the simple rule should be, when in the bunker, get it out of the bunker and onto the green. Again, there are lots of good instructions on YouTube, but don’t be fooled by the claim that these are easy shots. Hitting from fairway bunkers presents another problem. The basics are this: dig your feet into the sand, choke up on the club to compensate for the digging in, take at least one more club for the distance, and play it slightly further back in your stance to help with clean contact. Is that enough uniqueness for you?

Putting: Last but certainly not least, putting. What makes it unique is that it is the only shot in golf that does not get up in the air. Unless you hole out a shot from around the green or fairway, it is the way every hole finishes. Hogan said it was not even golf. I guess that makes it pretty unique. It usually has a unique grip. The club you use to putt with can be pretty unique. It can be even the longest club in your bag. It is probably the biggest reason people have quit playing golf: over their frustration with putting. It can save your game, making a long putt to save par. It can ruin your game when you miss a short putt after a great shot. Enough said.

There you have it. Every phase of golf and what you have to do and think in order to play to your best ability. It is the reason that golf is so hard. There are endless situations and problems in every round of golf. It makes it one of the most fascinating games man ever invented. I think the biggest problem for the average player is his lack of awareness of just how hard it is and then trying to get too much out of every shot. I will leave you with my one mantra: bogeys are not bad. Remember that the next time you play.

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Pirates Morning Report: Three Down 89 To Go

Final Score: Pirates 8 Reds 3

Why The Pirates Won: Despite a very strange lineup, the Pirate bats continued to score runs. No O’Hearn and no Lowe. I can see Lowe; he does have trouble against lefties. O’Hearn hits lefties better than righties. There is this thing today called a day off. I am not sure the Pirate management team knows what that means when a team has an off day. What it means to me is nobody is playing today and O’ Hearn did not need yesterday off. When you win, even stupidity is rewarded. Though the run total was the same, the Pirate pitching staff had a much better performance. Paul Skenes pitched 5 solid innings. Why just 5, I’ll never know, but maybe in the long run, it might be best. Skenes gave up 1 run on 3 hits. He struck out 5 and walked 2. He threw 77 pitches, but the Pirates felt he had thrown enough. Mason Montgomery gave up a 2-run homer after a walk, but the rest of the bullpen was superb. Isaac Mattson, Justin Lawrence, and Gregory Soto pitched the last 3 and 1/3 innings, giving up just one hit, no walks, and struck out 3. Soto looked a lot better than the game before. The Pirate offense put 8 runs on the board again with Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds hitting home runs for the 2nd consecutive game. The Pirates were clinging to a 4-3 lead going into the top of the 9th. They put 4 runs on the board, with Nick Gonzales and Bryan Reynolds getting the big hits and driving in 2 runs each. Those 9th-inning runs on the road are sure nice insurance.

The Key Moments Of The Game: In the first inning, the first two batters made outs. Bryan Reynolds singled to right. The struggling Marcel Ozuna worked a 6-pitch walk. Oneil Cruz hit a 2-1 knee-high curve out over the plate, 407 feet into the right field seats, to give the Pirates a quick 3-0 lead. This got the Pirates off to a fast start. Skenes had a good first inning, and the Pirates kept their early momentum going. After the Reds made it 4-3 in the 6th inning, the Pirate bullpen never really let the Reds put up much of a threat. The last 10 Reds batters all made outs. The Pirates had the big 9th inning for a series win.

Next Game: Tomorrow, the Orioles in Pittsburgh, at 4:12 PM. For the Pirates, it will be Mitch Keller starting the home opener. Let’s hope things go better for the home opener than they did for the opener of the season. Other than the first game’s disaster, the pitching has been pretty much spot on. They have not given up more than 3 runs in any of the last 5 games. The Pirates did finish the road trip 3-3, which is what you are supposed to do on the road. The Pirates are going to play 13 out of the next 16 games at home. We will see if the Pirates can get on a nice little run during this stretch.

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Pirates Morning Report: Two Down 90 To Go

Final Score: Pirates 8 Reds 3

Why The Pirates Won: The hitters won this one. The pitchers, even though they only gave up 3 runs, were shaky as hell. Bubba Chandler did not give up a hit but walked 6 batters in 4 and 1/3 innings. The Reds scored 1 run on a botched fly ball by Bryan Reynolds and O’Neil Cruz. All is forgiven when you hit 3 home runs between you and drive in 4 runs. The Pirates went long ball last night. Ryan O’Hearn got the big hit, a 3-run homer after 2 were out in the top of the 3rd to give the Pirates a 4-0 lead. Bryan Reynolds followed him with a homer to left. Cruz hit 2 home runs, one in the 4th and the other in the 9th to give some insurance runs. The way the Pirates pitched, it looked like they were going to need it. A little luck and some bad baserunning by the Reds helped keep them from making this a better game. Yohan Ramirez, who I did not think should make the team, continued to pitch great. Coming in with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 5th, he struck out Matt McClain and Elly De La Cruz to end the inning. It was the bottom of the 8th where things got interesting.

Key Moments Of The Game: Hunter Barco came out for his third inning of work in the bottom of the 8th and gave up two home runs. One was a real fluky by De La Cruz. He hit a high fly ball down the right field line that looked like it had to go foul. However, it just went over the fence about a foot inside the foul pole. That was followed by another opposite-field blast by Sal Stewart to make the score quickly 6-3. Don Kelly got ejected on a non-check swing call on Eugenio Suarez. Suarez then proceeded to get a single to right. Barco was replaced by Dennis Santana. He gave up a single to put runners on 1st and 3rd with no outs. Noelvi Marte popped out to short with no advancement by the runners. Nathaniel Lowe pinch-hit for catcher Jose Trevino. Lowe, after falling behind in the count 0-2, worked it out to 3 and 2. Lowe hit this very soft 59 MPH liner between 1st and 2nd. Brandon Lowe made a very nice diving catch and the runner was easily doubled off 1st to end the inning. It was a big base running blunder by the Reds. If there was ever a time for the Reds to really put the squeeze on this struggling Pirates team, this was the inning to do it. They essentially came up empty. Cruz hit another homer in the top of the 9th with a man on base to give the Pirates a little more breathing room. The way Gregory Soto pitched, I would not have wanted to see the inning unfold with only a 3-run lead. Soto gave up a leadoff single to Ke’Bryan Hayes. By the way, Hayes is batting 9th for the Reds, something he never did for the Pirates. After one out, Soto hit the next batter. He got the second out when Nick Gonzales made a nice play on a ground ball in the hole to force the runner out at third. Soto walked the next batter to load the bases. He struck out Suarez to end the game. The last two innings could have been disastrous for the Pirates.

Next Game: Today, the Reds in Cincinnati at 12:40. Paul Skenes goes today for the Pirates. Let’s hope he has better luck today. Nick Yorke started at 3rd base for the Pirates last night. He did not get a hit but hit a sacrifice fly to start the scoring. I will be surprised if Triolo is not in the lineup today, but we will see. After all the trials and tribulations of this early season, the Pirates have a chance for a .500 road trip. The Reds are sending Andrew Abbott to the mound. He had a nice opening day start. In 6 innings, he got touched up for 7 hits and a walk but did not give up a run. Hopefully, the Pirates will be able to ride Paul Skenes to a series win.

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Pirates Morning Report: A Familiar Tune, No Offense

Final Score: Pirates 0 Reds 2

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirates scored 0 runs, and the usual suspects were present. Henry Davis went 0 for 3 with 3 strikeouts. He faced 15 pitches and only made contact with the ball twice. Jared Triolo, hitting 6th, went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts, bringing his average down to an explosive .118. Hopefully, he will be batting cleanup tonight. Oneil Cruz went 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts. I am sure he will continue to leadoff with his splendid .143 average. Ryan O’Hearn and Brandon Lowe continued to do well. O’Hearn went 1 for 2 with 2 walks. Lowe did exactly the same. It makes you wish they had traded the whole team. Manager Don Kelley pretty much sat on his hands most of the night. There were times when he could have pinch-hit for Davis or Triolo in some big situations and decided not to. It was also revealed today that the Pirates are one of the worst teams in baseball in utilizing the new ABS challenge system. Man, is that a shocker. It makes you wonder what they did all spring training. The pitching was good but not good enough. Braxton Ashcraft pitched well, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits. He did walk 4 and struck out 3 in 6 innings of work. The bullpen pitched 2 scoreless innings.

Key Moment Of The Game: The Reds tried to give the game to the Pirates but to no avail. They brought in an inexperienced pitcher, Connor Phillip, to try and close the game out. Marcel Ozuna walked on 4 straight pitches. Ryan O’Hearn would have done the same thing if he had used the challenge system. He eventually walked, but it took 8 pitches instead of 4. Jared Triolo came to the plate. He must have been sleeping in the dugout and on-deck circle. Here is a pitcher who technically has not thrown a strike for 12 pitches. Triolo swung at the first pitch that was over a foot outside. He swung and missed again, but at least this was in the strike zone. Then he took a called third strike to complete a perfect Pirate at-bat. Spencer Horwitz then flew out to left field. He had gotten his first hit of the season, looking a little better at the plate. Nick Gonzales hit a little blooper over the second baseman’s head, but Matt McLain made a nice running catch while avoiding a serious collision in the outfield to end the game.

Next Game: Tonight, 6:40, the Reds in Cincinnati. Bubba Chandler takes the hill tonight for the Pirates. Lefty Brandon Williamson will be going for the Reds. We might see Cruz in the lineup tonight because he did get a hit off a lefty the other day. I suspect we will see Jake Mangum in the lineup. I am sure they will move Triolo up to 5th or lead him off; he has been doing so well. This is essentially the third game in a row that the Pirate bats have done very little. Hopefully, things will begin to pick up, but it may not until some replacements are called up from AAA. By then, it may be too late. By the way do you think Konner Griffin would have done worse than Jared Triolo so far?

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Pirates Morning Report: One Down 91 more to go.

Final Score: Pirates 4 Mets 3 in 10 innings

Why The Pirates Won: The bullpen did the job pitching the last 5 and 2/3 innings and not giving up an earned run. A couple of nice bounce-back performances by Mason Montgomery and Isaac Mattson. I will say this, Yohan Ramirez is making me eat a little early-season crow. He had his 2nd consecutive scoreless outing, going 1 and 2/3 innings this time. Mlodzinski had a decent outing, striking out 8 but threw 85 pitches in just 4 and 1/3 innings. The Pirates’ bats were not great again, leaving 12 on base and going 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position. They did just enough with their 7 hits and 8 walks to pull this one out. Brandon Lowe hit his 3rd home run. Ryan O’Hearn got 3 hits and drove in 2 runs.

Key Moments Of The Game: It all boiled down to the 10th inning. After O’Hearn drove in Reynolds from 2nd in the top of the 10th, Jared (Why Am I Batting Fifth) Triolo promptly grounded into a double play. The Mets helped the Pirates out by walking the next two batters. Wouldn’t you know it, Henry (I Can’t Believe It Myself) Davis laced a line drive into center field to drive in the deciding run of the game. The Pirates brought in Jose Urquidy to pitch the bottom of the 10th and did he ever make it interesting. He started by walking Francisco Lindor. Juan Soto lined a drive into the left-center field gap to the wall. Despite what the Pirates’ broadcast booth said, it was far from a perfect relay, but it got the job done. Triolo had to short-hop Cruz’s throw, and then his relay was up the third base line. Davis was able to get to home plate and tag Lindor right on the chin on a play that was not even close. Bo Bichette then grounded to short for the 2nd out, with Soto moving to third. Jorge Polanco took Urquidy’s first pitch and hit it deep to right field. Billy Cook made the catch with his back to the right field wall. The Pirates head to Cincinnati 1 and 2.

Next Game: Tonight, the Reds in Cincinnati at 7:40. Braxton Ashcraft will make his first start of the season. He will go up against Chase Burns, who has only thrown 43 major league innings. He is only 23 years old and made 8 starts last year. He is a right-handed thrower, so expect the opening day lineup. God knows where they might bat Triolo. In the first 3 games, he batted 6th, leadoff, and 5th. He should never bat higher than 8th. I don’t know why the Pirates think Triolo can hit; in the last 3 years, he has had 3 good months of hitting. The last 2 years, his OPS has been .611 and .667. What are the Pirates looking at when they bat him 5th? It was nice to see Davis come up with the big hit. Spencer Horwitz is 0 for 7 at the plate and looks bad doing it. Hope he will snap out of it soon. If they can take 2 out of 3 from the Reds, it will be a .500 road trip. I can’t wait to see where Triolo bats next.

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Pirates Morning Report: The Art Of Leaving Men On Base

Final Score: Pirates 2 Mets 4 in 11 innings

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirates had 12 hits, 4 walks, plus a Met error, but could only manage 2 runs, and that was because of the ghost runner. They left 17 men on base and were 2 for 18 with runners in scoring position. WOW and DOUBLE WOW. In the first two innings, they went 6 up and 6 down. In other words, they left all those men on base in just 9 innings. Triple WOW. All of this hitting ineptness wasted a great performance by Mitch Keller. He went 6 innings, allowing no runs on 3 hits while striking out 3 and walking no one. The bullpen would not be so stingy. In 4+ innings of work, they walked 5. Hunter Barco came in the bottom of the 10th and promptly hit a batter, then gave up two singles, and the Mets had tied the game 1-1. Miraculously, he got out of the jam on two ground balls and a fly out. In the bottom of the 11th, he walked the leadoff hitter. Next Luis Robert Jr. golfed one out of the ballpark for a 4-2 Mets win. This is only the 2nd game, and I still think this team is going to be pretty good, but did this game ever remind you of 2025?

Key Moments Of The Game: This is really painful, but I’m doing it. Top of the 3rd, 1st and 2nd with one out, 0 runs. Top of the 4th, 1st and 2nd, 0 outs, 0 runs. Top of the 5th, bases loaded, 2 outs, 0 runs. Top of the 6th, 1st and 2nd, 1 out, 0 runs. Top of the 9th, runner on 2nd, 1 out, 0 runs. Top of the 10th, able to get the ghost runner in with a one-out single, but then had 1st and 2nd, 1 out, and bases loaded, 2 outs, no further runs scored. Top of the 11th, singled in the ghost runner with 2 outs, then had 1st and 3rd, but could not add any runs. Whew, I did it. I don’t feel all that bad either, certainly not as bad as the Pirates must feel. This was a game of missed opportunities for the beleaguered Pirates.

Next Game: Today, Mets in New York, 1:40. Carmen Mlodzinski will take the hill for the Pirates. We will see if he is better at getting through the lineup more than once. He has added pitches to his arsenal to make that more of a possibility. Hopefully, the Pirates can avoid the sweep. The Mets, who are not afraid to use young players, will send 24-year-old phenom Nolan McLean. It will be interesting to see who the centerfielder will be today. It should be Jake Mangum, and he should lead off. Even if the Pirates go with Cruz, he should not lead off. Of course, even Cruz is better than 2 for 10 Triolo leading off. Talk about crazy batting orders. Can the Pirates get out of New York with a win? Let’s hope so.

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Pirate Morning Report: Giving The Opener Away

Final Score: Pirates 7 Mets 11

Why The Pirates Lost: A disastrous 1st inning that saw Oneil (I Don’t Need Sunglasses) Cruz misplay one ball and lose another in the sun. This accounted for 3 of the Mets’ 5 first inning runs. The Pirates’ pitching staff helped the Mets along by walking 9 and hitting one batter. The Mets’ pitchers did not walk a batter. The Pirates did score 7 runs. Last year they scored 7 or more runs 24 times and managed to lose 3 of them. Only 2 more losses to match that record. Paul Skenes did not look sharp, but with any luck, he would have gotten out of the inning with only 2 runs scoring. The Pirates did manage 10 hits, with Ozuna and Horwitz the only Pirates held hitless. It was not a good opening day for the Pirates as the pitching and defense were pretty putrid. The Pirates did hit 3 home runs, two by Brandon Lowe and one by Ryan O’Hearn. The bullpen tried to keep the Pirates in the game, with Yohan Ramirez pitching 2 and 1/3 innings of shutout ball. However, Isaac Mattson had a rough outing. In 2/3 of an inning, he gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks. One of the walks was with the bases loaded. The Mets went long ball off Justin Lawrence to round out the scoring. The bullpen’s line was 8 and 1/3 innings, giving up 6 runs on 7 hits while walking 7. Thanks to the Pirates’ inept pitching, the game was 3 hours and 8 minutes long. The Pirates made it a little interesting in the top of the 9th but fell well short of making a game of it.

Key Moments of the Game: It was the shocking 1st inning after the Pirates had grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the 1st on Lowe’s 2-run homer. Skenes set the tone for the day by walking the leadoff hitter, Francisco Lindor. Juan Soto looped an 83 MPH line drive to center for a single. Lindor tried to go to third and just barely made it on a bang-bang play. I was a little surprised the Pirates did not challenge. Bo Bichette hit a sacrifice fly pop down the right field line. Jorge Polanco hit a check-swing dribbler at 44 MPH down the 3rd base line for an infield hit. Luis Robert Jr. had what I thought was the key at-bat of the inning. After 3 pitches, he was behind in the count 1 and 2. He then fouled off 4 more pitches and was able to work a 10-pitch walk. This loaded the bases and set up the Cruz missile misfiring. Brett Baty hit a 103 MPH liner out to Oneil Cruz, where he took a fatal step in before going back and never came close to catching the ball. The ball only traveled 369 feet to straightaway centerfield. This cleared the bases, and then things got worse. Marcus Semien hit an 82 MPH pop-up out to center that Cruz let drop because he lost it in the sun. Skenes struck out the next batter and hit the following one. After 37 pitches, Skenes was removed. The Mets had scored 5 runs with only one ball hit over 83 MPH and none that traveled over 369 feet. From that point on, the bullpen allowed another 6 runs, helped along with all those walks.

Next Game: Tomorrow, Mets in New York at 4:10 PM. Mitch Keller will make his first start of 2026. Let’s hope he can get out of the first inning. Right now, the Mets are going to throw lefty David Peterson. It will be interesting to see if Cruz is in the starting lineup. In my opinion, he should not be. What a first inning to start the season. Better to have a first inning like that to start the season rather than one in an elimination game. Not that it would have made any difference, but the opening day batting order was a bit of a head scratcher. I still don’t think that Cruz should lead off. Jared Triolo batting 6th? I don’t know. However, let’s face it, the offense did not lose this one; pitching and defense just fell flat on their faces. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.

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Pirates Morning Report: Can This Team Contend

Tomorrow the Pirates start the 2026 season against the New York Mets. This has been their busiest offseason this century. Optimism is high that the Pirates can make the playoffs. I have written about this before, but the Pirates have to do three things in order to make the playoffs. They have to pitch like they did last year. They need to be an average offensive team. This would be a gigantic improvement over last year’s league-worst offense. They were a better-than-average defensive team last year. There will be some drop-off in that performance this year, but as long as they remain around an average defensive team, they should be fine. How do the Pirates go about achieving those goals, thus contending for a playoff spot?

Let’s do the easy one first, the pitching. The Pirates should pitch at least as well as they did last year and maybe even better. Everyone seems to love the new pitching coach, and the Pirates have lots of young arms ready to take the mound. As well as the Pirates pitched last year, there is room for improvement. They were 7th in ERA. They were 5th in runs allowed. They were 3rd in Fielding Independent Pitching, FIP. All good numbers to be sure, but it is not inconceivable to think they could be the top pitching staff in all of baseball. As long as the injury bug does not get them, they should be a very reliable group. The challenge for the Pirates will be how to go about limiting the innings of Bubba Chandler and Braxton Ashcraft. According to reports, they want to keep them right around 150 innings for the season. This is where Hunter Barco, Jose Urquidy, and the return of Jared Jones should help. The bullpen looks stronger than it was last year at this time. The other good news is that there are lots of arms in AAA that can come up if needed. The Pirates should be able to survive if there are some minor injuries along the way. The one man that needs to stay healthy is Paul Skenes. If everything goes well, it looks like he will be throwing a 200-inning season. If everyone stays relatively healthy, this will easily remain the strongest part of this team.

The offense is another story. Can they become average? It may not be as easy as you think, despite the acquisitions over the off season. The Pirates added Brandon Lowe, Ryan O’ Hearn and Marcel Ozuna as big bats. Add that to Spencer Horwitz, Oneil Cruz, and Bryan Reynolds and you have a formidable front 6 to the batting order. The last 3 not so much. Jared Triolo and Henry Davis/ Joey Bart are pretty pathetic. Nick Gonzales could be a sleeper here. He seemed to be making progress through the 2024 season. Somehow to start the 2025 season the Pirates allowed him to play about 6 spring and regular season games on a broken foot and ankle. Great medical staff there. In my view I do not know if he truly ever recovered from the injury. If he can become an average major league hitter or better then it will be a bonus for this team. The other thing that has to happen is Oneil Cruz needs to have a bounce back year at the plate. He seems to have had a good spring and looked pretty good in the World Baseball Classic in a limited capacity. The media like to say that Brian Reynolds needs to have a bounce back season. I think he just needs to hit like he did after the All Star break last year. For 63 games he slashed .276/.364/.453 for an OPS of .816, which is pretty darn good. If he can continue to do that and Cruz is able to become an all around good hitter, then this will be a much improved lineup even with Triolo and the catchers. The other good news is there are plenty of bats to replace these guys. The bench I feel is solid and there are guys in AAA that are just itching to get to the show. That’s not to say there are not potential problems. Lowe may not be able to stay on the field. Ozuna is 35 years old. O’Hearn is not a very good outfielder. I feel that most of these potential issues can be dealt with if the Pirates move to deal with them. That is main reason that I think there is real reason for hope. This is by far the most depth the Pirates have ever had at the Major League Level. There was a time not long ago, like last year, that you could say the only reason that this guy is in the big leagues is because he is playing for the Pirates. That statement is no longer true, not even close.

I really did not delve deeply into the defense because that can be such a subjective part of the game. I have always used Baseball Reference’s defensive metrics not because I think they are the best but just to be consistent. There is no question that the defense is going to suffer just a bit, but the key will be how much. I still feel it will not be significant. So, how do I think this team is going to do? I think if they stay healthy and Konner Griffin eventually makes a big contribution to this team; I can see them winning over 90 games. Even if things do go a little haywire, I feel they can right the ship and at least play over .500 ball and have a chance at the playoffs. I was very pessimistic going into last season, and I was right. This year I may be overly optimistic, but here is the final reason I feel the Pirates have a real chance. The manager’s name is not Shelton. I do not know how good a manager Don Kelly will finally be, but you can tell this team feels really good that he is the manager. Speaking of shocks, I still cannot believe that The Shadow got another managerial job with the Twins. I send all my condolences to the Twins faithful. The adventure begins tomorrow. I am gearing up for a wild ride.

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Pirates Morning Report: The 2026 Roster, Going By The Book

The season is now just 2 days away with the 2026 roster all set: thirteen position players and thirteen pitchers. On the whole, I do not have a big problem with what the Pirates have done. The Pirates use spring training performance as a reason for some of their moves. The reality is that the Pirate management had their minds pretty much made up before spring training started. Spring training stats are pretty much meaningless despite what the Pirates may say. According to them, it was Konner Griffin’s poor finish that led the Pirates to feel he should be sent down. However, having a slash line of .405/.463/.595 like Jhostynxon Garcia did was not good enough to make the team. Henry Davis and Joey Bart hitting .138 and .147, respectively, was enough for them to keep their jobs. Spring training had no affect on who was going to make this team. Let’s take a look at this mighty roster the Pirates concocted.

The biggest surprise is Billy Cook. In fact, he is such a big surprise he is not even listed on the depth chart on the Pirate website. He, along with Nick Yorke, spent almost the entire year at AAA Indianapolis in 2025. They were acquired at the trade deadline in 2024. The reason they made this team is because it is time to see what they can do. Although the sample size is small, neither one has been very impressive at the major league level. Essentially, there is nothing else left to do with them other than trade them or cut them loose. The rest of the team is made up of the off-season acquisitions and returning veterans. The roster was decided probably on February 1st. The pitching staff has one major shocker as the Pirates continue to feel that Yohan Ramirez has some kind of value. They signed him in the off-season, so I guess they felt he had to at least be on the team at the start of the season. Again, the Pirate website is short on information. This may be on purpose to make the Pirate management look not quite as bad for keeping this guy. On the Pirate website, it lists 3 teams that he has pitched for: the Pirates, Mets, and Mariners. He really has pitched for the Mariners, Guardians, White Sox, Mets, Orioles, Dodgers, Red Sox, and the Pirates doing 2 stints. He has a lifetime ERA of 4.71 and averages 4.5 walks per 9 innings. Maybe the new pitching coach will make a difference, but in a so-called pitching-rich franchise, there has to be somebody with a better record than this guy. At least he did not knock Hunter Barco off the team. Other than Ramirez, the same pattern: acquisitions and veterans. Despite Ramirez taking up a spot, the pitching should be very strong.

There you have it, the 2026 edition of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Not on the team from last year are Andrew McCutchen, Tommy Pham, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Alexander Canario, Jack Suwinski, and Adam Frazier. Not one of these players had an OPS over .700. Andrew Heaney, Bailey Falter, Mike Burrows, David Bednar, Chase Shugart, Caleb Ferguson, and Johan Oviedo are not on the pitching staff. It will definitely be a new-look Pirate team on Thursday. Just how will this Pirate team perform? I will dive into that tomorrow. One final note as we evaluate the teams’ and players’ performance throughout 2026: I am not going to use OPS+ and ERA+ as stats as I have in the past. I feel there is too much subjectiveness, or maybe not enough, when evaluating a player’s performance with this method. This year, I am going to stick to raw numbers. Can this team make a run at the playoffs? Stay tuned for the answer tomorrow.