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Pirates Morning Report: No Relief in Sight

Final Score: Pirates 6 Cardinals 9

Why the Pirates Lost: The Pirates have lost 6 out of their last 8 games. In the 6 losses, the Pirates have given up 7, 10, 11, 6, 6, and 9 runs. Granted, they were shut out twice, 6-0. In the other 4 losses, they averaged just over 6 runs per game. You should win at least 3 of those games, if not all 4. The pitching has completely fallen apart, including the starters. What was supposed to be the team’s strength has turned out to be its biggest weakness. There does not appear to be any help on the way. The Pirate management team acts like it is not happening. The bullpen gave up 5 runs in a little over 3 innings as they blew another save. The offense, which went another 4 innings without scoring, managed to score 4 runs in the top of the 5th to take a 4-3 lead. They were helped along by pitcher Matthew Liberatore, who looked unhittable for 4 innings. He struck out a career-high 8 batters, including 5 out of the first 6 to start the game. In the top of the 5th, he completely fell apart. The Pirates got 3 big two-out at-bats from Bryan Reynolds (double), Marcell Ozuna (walk), and Oneil Cruz (single) to take a 4-3 lead. Alas, it was not enough, as the Pirates lost their 4th in a row.

Key Moments of the Game: It started with the lineup card as the Pirates elected to start Henry Davis for the third consecutive game. He did not disappoint, going 0 for 3 and not hitting a ball over 255 feet. His batting average is now .137. Through 4 innings, Mitch Keller had given up 3 runs on 4 hits, walking 1 and striking out 2. His 5th inning was his best; he retired the side in order. In the top of the 6th, he got the first out and then hit a batter. He got the dangerous Jordan Walker to pop out. He had thrown only 83 pitches. It looked like he was getting into a groove. Don Kelly elected to bring in lefty Evan Sisk. Sisk has decent numbers, but most of those have been in low-leverage situations. He has been in high-leverage situations 42% less than the average relief pitcher this year. This was just his 35th appearance in his long career. Keller is your number 2 starter. This was not a decision that was based on many facts other than the batter’s stats against left-handers. As Greg Brown was going through his long, boring reasons why Keller was taken out, Nolan Gorman took the 3rd pitch and hit it 437 feet to give the Cardinals a 5-4 lead. Where do the Pirates come up with this stuff?

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in St. Louis. Carmen Mlodzinski is listed as the starter for tonight’s game. It looks like the Pirates are not going with the opener that they have used twice when Mlodzinski has pitched with great success. No, you wouldn’t want to do that when you have given up 2 runs in 11 innings of pitching. Let’s keep trying to maintain our average of about 8 runs per game. They will probably start Henry Davis for the 4th game in a row. Would they really do that? I can’t wait to see.

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Golf: Game Improvement Irons, But Does Your Game Improve

Cavity back irons have been around for at least 40 years. The idea is to spread the weight of the clubface so there is a bigger “sweet spot.” This allows mishits to go just about as far as when you hit the center of the clubface, making them very appealing for a wide range of golfers. I feel these clubs are great for the weekend warrior, the beginner golfer, or someone who just wants to go out and have a good time playing golf without the pressure of trying to improve. However, if you are a single-digit handicap and want your game to improve, these irons, as far as I am concerned, will just slow down your progress since they may create a false sense of security. If mishits go about 90 to 95% as far as shots that you hit on the sweet spot, then how is your swing going to improve? Your whole brain function, when it comes to performing tasks, is a feedback system that thrives on correction and adjustment. If you do not get feedback that you are hitting the ball on the toe of the club, then how are you going to correct it? I have played with some forgiving irons for the last 25 years, and while they enabled me to enjoy the game, my iron game became one of the weakest parts of my performance, leading to frustration at times. This year, I went back to a traditional blade that was a 2025 model, opting for a more classic approach to my swing. The results have not been dramatic, but my iron game is slowly but surely improving, and I find that I am becoming more in tune with the feel of each shot. Have I been punished on mishits this year? You bet I have, but that’s precisely the point; through this struggle, my swing is responding much better, and my iron game is getting better as I learn to adjust effectively. Even though these clubs have weaker lofts than my previous set, I am starting to get just about the same distance, which is encouraging. I find that the clubs respond more consistently to pure shots, and I am getting the ball higher in the air, which translates to better control and precision on the course. My season, in general, has been off to a slow start, but that is due mostly to weather conditions and having some early vacation time during which no golf has been played, highlighting the importance of time on the course for improvement. As the year moves along, I will keep you posted on my progress, but I feel that in the long run, I will continue to improve with the irons as I embrace the necessary challenges and the learning experience they provide. In my view, feedback is a beautiful thing, enhancing our connection to the game. The only way to know when you are hitting a bad shot is to feel it, internalize the sensation, and then make the necessary adjustments. Once you do, the correction will take place automatically, leading to a more robust and skillful golfing experience overall.

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Pirates Morning Report: Rinse and Repeat

Final Score: Pirates 0 Phillies 6

Why the Pirates Lost: For the 2nd consecutive game the Phillies pitching shutdown the Pirate offense. This time it was Zack Wheeler who went 7 innings giving up 4 hits, walking 1, and striking out 8. It doesn’t help when you start Henry Davis and Jared Triolo both games. They went a cool 0 for 12 with 5 strikeouts. Davis is crushing it with a slash line of .141/.248/.239. This is one of the worst slash lines in all of baseball. The Pirates have not scored a run in 21 regular innings. They did score a run in the 10th in Fridays game with the help of a ghost runner. Paul Skenes seemed to be just a little off for the his 5+ innings of work. He finally walked a batter and had several 3 ball counts. It really did not matter since you can’t win when you don’t score.

Key Moments of the Game: The Phillies had nicked up Skenes for a couple of runs in the top of the 5th. Konnor Griffin made a great play at shortstop or the inning could have been worse. In the top of 6th the roof caved in. Bryce Harper led off the inning with a 400 foot home run. Alec Bohm singled and Brandon Marsh doubled. All 3 balls were hit over 100 MPH and Skenes was done for the day. Isaac Mattson came in, hit a batter and gave up a double to make the score 5- 0. Miraculously he got out of the inning with no more runs scoring, but you knew this game was over.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, Cardinals in St. Louis. The Pirates start a 6 game road trip going to St Louis and Toronto. This also starts a stretch where they play 12 consecutive days. This will throw the management team into another frenzy. I am not going to make any comment on what happened and why to the Pirates this weekend. It is pretty obvious what moves needs to be made. It is highly unlikely that the Pirates will make any of these moves but only time will tell. Tomorrow a golf blog.

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Pirates Morning Report: Sanchez Sets Down The Pirates

Final Score: Pirates 0 Phillies 6

Why The Pirates Lost: Cristopher Sanchez pitched a complete game shutout giving up 6 hits, walking none and striking out 13. Six of the 9 Pirates failed to get a hit. It really would not have made any difference what he did but Bubba Chandler had another poor outing Going only 3 innings, he gave up 5 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks. Nothing to feel bad about this game. The Pirates just got whooped.

Key Moment Of The Game: After the debacle on Friday night it was imperative that the Pirates get off to a good start. Trea Turner hit the first pitch of the game to right field for a base hit. In order to get his big bat in the lineup Jared Triolo was playing right field for the first time in his career. He almost made a diving catch. Kyle Schwarber walked on 8 pitches. Bryce Harper took a 3-1 fastball and hit it 457 feet. Before you could say Bubba needs to go to AAA, it was 3-0 Phillies. In the bottom of the first the Pirates never hit a ball past the pitcher and you knew this game was over.

Next game: This afternoon Phillies in Pittsburgh. I am not sure that even Paul Skenes can stop this series sweep. No matter what the outcome this will be the second consecutive disappointing home stand. The Pirates will be off on Monday. Ryan O’ Hearn left the game with a tight quad. Other than that possible injury move it will be interesting to see if the Pirates make any other moves. My guess is no.

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Pirates Morning Report: It’s Official, The Pirates Bullpen Stinks

Final Score: Pirates 9 Phillies 11

Why The Pirates Lost: For the second time this week the Pirate bullpen could not protect big leads. In 3 and 1/3 innings of “work” the bullpen gave up 7 runs on 7 hits, walking 2 and striking out 2. As a group they were allowed to throw 75 pitches despite their ineffectiveness. Braxton Ashcraft threw 100 pitches over 6 and 2/3 innings. He was charged with 4 runs on 7 hits striking out 5 and walking 0. Not a bad outing. When compared to the bullpen he looked like Bob Gibson. All of this wasted a 3 home run, 9 run night by the Pirate offense. You lead 6-0, add two more runs during the game, and still lose 11-9. It is time to face facts. This bullpen is terrible and as usual the Pirates will do nothing about it

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates led 8-5 going into the top of the 9th. Gregory Soto came on to get the save. Konner Griffin dropped a routine ground ball for an error to start the inning. Soto got a ground out. He walked Adolis Garcia on 6 pitches. None of the 4 balls were close to the strike zone. Trea Turner singled to right to load the bases. Up stepped Kyle Schwarber who had hit 2 homers during the game. The Pirates showed what gutless wonders they are by walking him on 4 straight pitches. This brought up Bryce Harper who was 3 for 4 with the bases still loaded. Soto never threw Harper a strike either, but he swung at a ball below the knees and missed by inches of getting a grand slam. This tied the game but Schwarber was thrown out at 3rd base. The top of the tenth was worse. Dennis Santana faced four batters got no one out and the Phillies surged ahead 11-8. The Pirate broadcast booth made the comment in the bottom of inning that Isaac Mattson has “obviously” been shut down. He then got up to warm up. His lack of use has been a mystery. If he is injured why is he not on the IL. This is a team that is in total disarray. Welcome to rookie manager world.

Next Game: This afternoon, Phillies in Pittsburgh. Will the Pirates be able to come back from such a debacle or will this catapult the Phillies into a series sweep. Bubba (What’s The Strike Zone) Chandler will be going for the Pirates. I am sure no heads will roll despite all of these bullpen disasters over the last few weeks. This is just the Pirate way. We will see if the Pirates have the fortitude to come back from this. It may determine the rest of the season.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pirates Take Series, Avoid Embarrassment

Final Score: Pirates 7 Rockies 2

Why The Pirates Won: Openers Mason Montgomery and Evan Sisk mowed down the Rockies for the first 2 innings. Carmen Mlodzinski pitched an effective 5 innings, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks. The back end of the bullpen Dennis Santana and Yohan Ramirez pitched hitless ball over the last 2 innings. The offense scored 3 runs in the 1st and 3 runs in the 3rd to grab a quick lead. Endy Rodriguez making his season debut got 2 hits and knocked in 2 runs. Ryan O Hearn got 3 hits including a solo home run and had 2 RBIs. Overall a good day for the Buccos avoiding losing a series to a bad team.

Key Moments Of The Game: The bottom of the first the Rockies misplayed a fly ball by Oneil Cruz into a lead off double. The Pirates would have scored only 2 runs instead of 3. Endy Rodriguez got the big hit in the 3rd making it 5-0. Oneil Cruz drove in the 6th run on a slow roller to short. Another misplayed fly ball led to a lead off double for Spencer Horwitz. He came around to score on Jared Triolo’s 2nd hit of the game for the 7th run of the day. Thanks to the Rockies, the Pirates had a 5 run cushion rather than 3.

Next Game: Tonight, Phillies in Pittsburgh 6:40. This is rivalry weekend and they should have some nice crowds at the stadium this weekend. The Pirates will throw Ashcraft, Chandler, and Skenes at the Phillies. The Phillies will counter with Nola, Sanchez and Wheeler. This Phillies team got off to a horrible start, fired their manager and are coming back with a record of 20-23. This series is going to tell a lot about both teams. Let’s hope it will be something positive for the Pirates. They need it bad.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pitching Gets Racked Again

Final Score: Pirates 4 Rockies 10

Why The Pirates Lost: The pitching performed badly again. What was supposed to be this teams strength may need to be reevaluated or restructured. For the 11th time this season the Pirates have given up 6 or more runs. That’s 25% of the games played. They have fallen all the way to 17th in baseball in runs allowed per game. This time the culprit was Mitch Keller. Of course the bullpen contributed too. Keller looked like he was going to repeat the Skenes performance until the roof caved in during the 5th inning. He had thrown 4 perfect innings. The Rockies lit Keller up and took no time to do it. After 12 pitches in the 5th the Rockies had 3 singles, a double, and another single and the game was tied 3-3. Things seem to settle down a bit as the Pirates threw a guy out at the plate and a soft liner to Konnor Griffin put 2 away. Keller grooved a 2-2 sweeper to Mickey Moniak and he did not miss it, hitting it over the Clemente wall for a 3 run home run to give the Rockies a 6-3 lead. The bullpen gave up 4 more runs with Justin Lawrence leading the way. His throwing error on a routine 1-6-3 double play ball allowed the Rockies to score 3 runs and wrap up the game.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates had a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the 3rd thanks to heads up base running by Brandon Lowe and a botched run down by the Rockies. Konnor Griffin led off the inning with a double. Bryan Reynolds singled him home to make it 3-0. Marcell Ozuna miraculously singled and the Pirates had 1st and 2nd with no one out. At this point the Pirate broadcast booth was absolutely giddy. Ryan O’ Hearn hit the ball hard but unfortunately right at the 1st basemen T J Rumfield and the Rockies turned a sweet 3-6-1 double play. The 6 run 5th happened and the Pirates went down the drain.

Next Game: This afternoon Rockies in Pittsburgh. There has been a lot written about how tough the Pirate schedule has been and when the Pirates play lesser teams how their record will improve. Well, if the Rockies win today the Pirates will have lost 2 series in a row to teams with a combined record of 35-51. So much for that theory. It says that Mason Montgomery is going to start. Does that mean Mlodzinski is going to be the bulk guy. This formula was so successful resulting in a 3 hit shutout that it took the Pirates only 25 games and over a month to repeat it. I really don’t know if they are or is this a true bullpen game. I can hardly wait.

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Pirates Morning Report: Skenes Throws Another Gem

Final Score: Pirates 3 Rockies 1

Why The Pirates Won: Paul Skenes spun another 8 inning gem taking a no hitter into the 7th. He gave up 2 hits, struck out 10 and gave up 0 walks for the 5th consecutive game. He started the game by striking out the first six batters he faced. Gregory Soto gave up back to back doubles in the top of the 9th to make it interesting but got the save to start the home stand off on the right foot. The Pirate offense was not great but went 4 for 12 with runners in scoring position and scored all 3 runs after 2 were out. Maybe they will go on a bit of a run.

Key Moments Of The Game: For Skenes it was the 3rd inning. He was able to retire the side on just four pitches. This enabled him to get through 8 innings throwing 98 pitches. In the bottom of the 5th the Pirates had 2 outs nobody on. Oneil Cruz, who went 3 for 4, took a grooved 0-2 pitch and lined it into left center field for a double. Brandon Lowe took a 1-0 pitch and lined it into right field just soft enough to allow Cruz, who was running like the wind, to barely beat the throw to give the Pirates a 2 run cushion. They added another run in the 7th which made one breath easier with this bullpen.

Next Game: Tonight Rockies in Pittsburgh 6:40. Mitch Keller is going for the Pirates tonight. So far he is having his best season as a pro. He has had only one bad outing in 8 starts. Even though everyone has been clamoring for this I think it is a bad break that Joey Bart had to go on the IL because of a foot infection of all things. He was swinging a very hot bat. I was mildly surprised that the Pirates brought up Endy Rodriguez rather than Rafael Flores. Hopefully Rodriguez will be the catcher tonight.

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Pirates Morning Report: Mismanaging a Bullpen

This report is coming from the west coast may be even early afternoon before I’m done with it, so you will just have to deal with it. The Pirates bullpen has been mishandled from the first day of the season. I debated on how to go about writing this blog. At first I thought I would go with a game by game description of when there were bullpen blunders. Then I changed my mind and decided to show how it affected each player who has been in the bullpen and how this has contributed to many lost games. The biggest challenge of this blog is to keep it at some reasonable length. Before I list the members of the bullpen. There were two glaring errors that I have to mention. First there was the opener game. Mason Montgomery opened the game and pitched one inning. Carmen Mlodzinski came in and pitched his best ball game of the year giving up 2 hits. This led to a 2-0 shutout win over the Nationals. They never did this again. Then there was the famous bullpen game when the Pirates thought of innings instead of pitches. If they had thought of pitches they might have only used 4 pitchers instead of 8. This led to the Pirates saying the bullpen was exhausted when in reality it was not. More on that later. Now to the bullpen members since the season started. The list includes Gregory Soto, Yohan Ramirez, Isaac Mattson, Dennis Santana, Justin Lawrence, Mason Montgomery, Evan Sisk, Hunter Barco, Wilber Dotel, Jose Urquidy, Cam Sanders, and last but certainly not least 35 yr. Old Chris Devinski. Let’s get Devinski and Sanders out of the way first. They are an example of mismanagement just by the fact that they are on this team at any point of the season. The Pirates have to have someone better than these two or you can kiss this season goodbye. Now to look at each pitcher

Soto: He seems to have been the least affected by the bullpen blunders. The same cannot be said of the team. The bullpen game was game 29. He did not pitch again till game 34. Game 31 and 32 were winnable but Soto did not appear. In game 34 the Pirates were ahead 17-7. He now needed work. Great time to put in your best reliever. This was one of many times this year that the Pirates put their A relievers in games that were not close.

Ramirez: In game 19 Ramirez had thrown 17 pitches. In game 21 that went into extra innings they made Ramirez go 3 innings and throw 44 pitches. You have to wonder how that has led to his ineffectiveness lately. There were plenty of other options that game. Montgomery had thrown 7 pitches in game 18. Even Santana could have come later in the inning.

Mattson: Over a period of 4 games, 28 through 31, Matttson had thrown 3 pitches. On his appearance in game 32 he got 2 outs and gave up 5 runs. Since then he has only been used twice in the last 8 games. They have used Devenski and Sanders more than that. They used Mattson 13 times in the first 22 games. He seems thrive on work so they decide to stop using him. He then became ineffective. Good job.

Santana: He has been mishandled from opening day. He has been put in more low leverage situations for a guy that was supposed to be one of your best relievers and basic closer.Not only that but twice he has had 5 days rest and once 4 days rest. Four times this year he has been brought in when the Pirates were behind or ahead by more than 3 runs. He lost the bullpen game fiasco when if the pitchers would have been used correctly, he would have not even been used. It was obvious he did not have it and Ramirez was available which may have kept the score2-2

Lawrence: Another pitcher who’s lack of work may have negatively affected him. After throwing only 9 pitches in the bullpen game where he was very good, he has only made 3 appearances in the last 12 games. He had 6 days rest coming off 2 outings where he gave up 0 runs. With 6 days rest he gave up 3 runs.

Mason Montgomery: Even though he has been very effective he by far has had the most missed opportunities. Twice he has not pitched for 6 days and once for 4 days. He has only pitched in two games in a row twice. In the bullpen game he threw only 7 pitches. Since then he has pitched in only 3 of the next 12 games. He was certainly needed more than that as the bullpen faltered badly.

Sisk: He came on the team in game 16 and has done well in mostly low leverage situations. Has not had any prolonged rest periods and pitched only once in consecutive games. Gee I guess one out of twelve is not bad. Will see how the Pirates try and screw him up.

Barco and Urquidy: I grouped them together because they started out the season with the team and were mismanaged the same way. Both were starting pitchers that the Pirates moved to the bullpen. I did not have a problem with that. If used in the right situation they would get some innings and give the bullpen a periodic rest. The Pirates used them like they were veteran relievers and put them in late inning high leverage situations for the first time in their careers. Of course they failed. Because of the phantom exhausted bullpen they let Barco take a beating in a game they still had a chance to win. They allowed Urquidy to pitch two games in a row where he threw 22 and 31 pitches. This for a guy who had not pitched for essentially 2 years because of Tommy John Surgery. We love you Urquidy, take one for the team. They are both back in AAA trying get themselves back together as starters. So far not all that successfully.

Dotel: In a nutshell. Made 3 appearances. All good or great. Sent back AAA not heard from since. Maybe he is just walking around in daze on the streets of Indianapolis while the Pirate bullpen continues give games away.

There you have it. How to lead a team to be one of the worst save percentage teams in baseball. In a nutshell use good pitchers in low leverage situations and bad pitchers in high leverage situations. Give lots of rest to pitchers that don’t need it and watch their performance deteriorate. To sum it up, when you need one of your better relievers he is not available because you used him when you were way ahead way or way behind. What an analytic department. That’s why I always write brain in quotes when I’m writing about the Pirates.

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Pirates Morning Report: Borucki’s Revenge

Final Score: Pirates 6 Giants 7 in 12 innings

Why the Pirates Lost: A bullpen that is in complete disarray gave up two 2-run leads. The Pirates were leading 4-2 going into the bottom of the 6th inning. Isaac Mattson came in and quickly got knocked around, giving up 3 doubles wrapped around one out. The Giants tied the game 4-4. The Pirates scored 2 runs in the top of the 10th to take a 6-4 lead. Yohan Ramirez, with the ghost runner on 2nd base, struck out the first batter in the bottom of the 10th. He walked Rafael Devers to put runners on 1st and 2nd. Heliot Ramos hit a slow roller to short, and Konnor Griffin made a nice play to throw him out. This moved the runners up to 2nd and 3rd. Willy Adames wasted no time, hitting the first pitch into left field to drive in 2 runs to tie the game. The bullpen continues to blow games. The tale of the tape: Ramirez ERA 4.13, Mattson ERA 4.67, Dennis Santana ERA 3.63, Justin Lawrence ERA 6.46, Cam Sanders ERA 10.80. This was a game of disasters for the Pirates, with disastrous baserunning to go along with disastrous hitting. The Pirates were 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position and left 13 men on base. The Pirates finish the road trip 3-3, but this still does not take the sting out of this loss. They gave another game away, plain and simple.

Key Moments Of The Game: Ryan Borucki got his revenge after being roughed up in the previous game. Yesterday, he entered the 11th inning with runners on 1st and 3rd and no outs. He struck out Oneil Cruz and then got Brandon Lowe to hit a soft liner to short while Henry Davis attempted to steal second. This resulted in an easy double play for the Giants. The reason Davis was running, only the Pirate “brain” trust would know. In the 12th inning, Borucki danced through the raindrops, finally loading the bases but managed to get Konnor Griffin to hit a soft liner to Matt Chapman, ending the inning. The Giants won in the 12th, sending the Pirates home defeated and securing the victory for Borucki.

Next game: Tuesday night, Rockies in Pittsburgh. The morning report will be late morning and early afternoon as I am headed to San Diego to watch a real franchise, the Padres. Paul Skenes will pitch for the Pirates on Tuesday, hoping to get the homestand off to a good start. The Pirates will play three games against the Rockies, and then the Phillies come in for the weekend. The Pirates just can’t seem to get on a roll. The bullpen is in trouble unless these guys start to pitch a lot better. There does not seem to be much help, but it would be nice to see Dotel come back up. Maybe the team will break out this week.