Month: July 2023

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Pirates Morning Report: The Final 72 Games

The Pirates begin the second half of the season tonight against the Giants at home with Rich Hill starting on the mound for the Pirates. That may tell you more about the remaining 72 games than anything else. It does not appear that management is going to do much to help this team. I say to hell with management and let’s have some fun. What would I do if I was running the Pirates right now. One thing is for sure I wouldn’t be starting Rich Hill to open the second half of the season. Keller pitched one inning in the All Star game on Tuesday. I can see him not pitching on Friday, but he is not scheduled to pitch this weekend. Here is what I would do with the team right now.

My trade chip would be Ke’Bryan Hayes if and when he ever gets healthy. If he does not get better, then that shoots that all to hell. I would send down Castro and Marcano. Bae has to come off the IL, then I would send him down also. I would bring up Ryan Vilade and Endy Rodriguez. I would be pitching Quinn Priester on Sunday. I would have Vilade play shortstop, Rodriguez would play 1st and left field. If and when Castro, Marcano or Bae start to show they are learning something by picking their games back up, I would bring up whoever that is, and then cut Hedges and/or Delay, with Rodriguez and Davis moving behind the plate where they belong. Once Hedges and Delay are gone then I think this is a lineup that can score some runs.

As much as that would be nice to see, we all know that this is not going to happen. There is no question the Pirates have had lots of hard luck with injuries from Cruz to McCutchen. The bullpen has had many on the IL. They have lost 3 starting or potential starting pitchers to Tommy John surgery this year. Max Kranick should be making a return during this 2nd half and should provide a big boost to the pitching staff no matter how they decide to use him. In February I wrote about what I called the unknown factors that would affect the season of the Pirates as it unfolded. First would management try and win games this year. Certainly, the first half they have but they could go back to losing on purpose in the 2nd half. Starting Rich Hill is an indication they just might. The 2nd unknown was just how good a manager Derick Shelton is? Right now, it doesn’t look like he is all that good. If fact. the whole coaching staff has really looked bad. The hitting has been awful and the digression of Roansy Contreras and Luis Ortiz is a big black eye to the staff. The final unknown was how these players would respond to playing meaningful games in August. It looks like they had major problems playing meaningful games in June and July. It definitely got too hot in the kitchen for a lot of the Pirate players. Maybe they will learn from this as they start the 2nd half.

I do not see much positive happening for the Pirates right now. They will get some players back in August and they may make a run for respectability. This season did start with such promise but injuries and managements lack of belief in this team after the injuries, by not providing any help to improve the team, turned the season into a downward spiral. If they play .500 ball the rest of the way I will be shocked. If they do make some of the moves I discussed earlier, then I may change my mind. But it is best to be prepared for the really down dog days of summer, as far as the Pirates are concerned.

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Pirates Morning Report: At The All Star Break

It’s time to look at these Pittsburgh Pirates at the 90 game mark, which just coincidently comes at the All Star break. Even though this has been an erratic year, the end point is very consistent. There is not one part of the Pirate game that is really bringing the team down or a part that is keeping them from being worse. In fact, it is rather freaky how the whole team is exactly where they belong. I don’t know if that is good or bad, but no one at least can point any fingers. The team is 23rd in baseball in the loss column. The Pirate offense is 22nd in runs scored, 21st in on base percentage, and 24th in OPS+. The Pirate pitching is 21st in giving up runs, 20th in Fielding Independent Pitching, and 17th in ERA+. Their Defense Efficiency Rating is 23rd. Overall, you could say that the pitching is the best part of the Pirate team, but they are still below league average. The concerning part of all this at the present moment is, the pitching seems to be in disarray. The next blog will cover this when I discuss what to expect the rest of the season. The Pirate team for the moment seems to be right where they belong in 23rd place out of a 30 team league.

Looking at the Pirates on a position by position basis shows a completely different story. You can see exactly where the problem is with this team and who the culprits are. In order to evaluate the Pirates position players, we will use Wins Above Replacement or WAR. Now I know WAR is not infallible, but it does a good job of evaluating the overall play of any player. It is a great comparison stat. It takes in all aspects of his game, hitting fielding, and running the bases. It is also adjusted for the ballpark he is playing in, the competition, and the amount of time he is on the field. When you compare the Pirates players with other teams the worst positions are catcher(29th), Right Field(26th), 2nd base and shortstop(25th). The Pirates best positions are 1st base(9th), DH(13th), 3rd base(14th) and Left Field(15th). None of this is surprising. Despite managements propaganda on pitch framing, pitcher handling and clubhouse presence, the Pirate catchers stink. Jason Delay since June 1 has had 4 hits in 31 at bats to go along with 3 walks. Austin Hedges has not hit all year but what is a bigger mystery to me is where did all his power go. In 2017 and 2018 he hit 32 home runs in 211 games in San Diego, in a ballpark that was not considered a hitter’s park. He has hit 1 home run this year with the Pirates. The sad thing is that the Pirates have two young catchers that could infuse a lot of offense into this team, and they refuse to use them. Henry Davis is up now, but he is not allowed to catch. With the two present catchers in the lineup, the Pirates may as well not even have a DH, because they hit worse than pitchers. The other big problem for the Pirates is 2nd base and shortstop. These positions have been manned mostly by Rodolfo Castro, Ji Hwan Bae and Tucupita Marcano. Marcano is the only above average fielder and all of them are all well below average hitters. The mystery man here is Bae. In the minors this man was a walking machine. In 315 minor league games he walked 144 times for an on base percentage of .373. In 86 major league games he has walked only 20 times for an on base percentage of .315. What the hell is going on? Does he need glasses? He swings at a lot of pitches outside the strike zone but unfortunately does not get the results that Yogi Berra did. The bottom line is none of these players can hit and hopefully they will be playing for Indianapolis by the end of the month. They are all young, so it is way too early to give up on them, but they need to work on their games at the AAA level, especially Bae.

So, is all lost for the Pirates? Well, maybe, maybe not. Here is one interesting stat that has nothing to do with the Pirates. The division leading Cincinnati Reds pitching, and defense are ranked 27th and 25th respectively. There is no question why the Reds are leading the division, hitting, pure and simple. As we all know, hitting can be a sometime thing. Will the Reds make a big move to improve their pitching at the trade deadline. I would hope so, but you never know about management teams. Speaking of management teams, the Pirates’ management could do a lot of things to help this team. That will be subject of the next blog, as we head to the final 72 games. The Pirates have a lot of good parts but are they going to get rid of the very bad parts? Only time will tell.

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Golf Diary: Three Rounds

Rounds: No. 1 North Park Score 85 Greens In Reg. 6 Putts 35

No. 2 Hartmans Score 83 Greens In Reg. 4 Putts 34

No. 3 South Park Gold Score 75 Green In Reg 14 Putts 35

The Good: My iron play at South Park was as good as it was all year with 14 greens in regulation. I drove the ball well. It was good to get back to playing after a 10 day layoff with the grandkids that I loved. My driving was decent most of the time particularly today at the Park. I had some good short game shots all three days.

The Bad: Obviously my putting was pretty bad. I had 5 three putt greens in the 3 rounds and missed many short putts some for birdies. My short game was not good and my driving at Hartmans was very erratic. My irons at North Park and Hartmans were bad as I could not get my irons on line which I corrected today at South Park.

The Luck Of The Rounds: Mostly bad luck on the greens. At Hartmans especially I had many lip outs and edge burners The last 6 holes on the front 9 at Hartmans are very tight and when my drives went off line just a touch I wound up with shots to the green that were not normal. I either had to keep it low or bend it around something. The ball striking really improved today so there is future hope.

Next Round: Thursday South Park.

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Pirates Morning Report: Diamondbacks Acting Like Pirates.

Final Score: Pirates 4 Diamondbacks 2

Why The Pirates Won: The Diamondbacks took a page out of the Pirate offense by not being able to take advantage of opportunities. Twice they led off innings with doubles and could not score despite being able to move the runner over with less than 2 outs. Four other innings they got the leadoff man on and could not score. They were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position. They scored their 2 runs on a home run and the Pirates throwing the ball around again. Does anyone know of any 8 foot tall infielders around? If you do, contact the Pirates immediately. The Pirate offense was not great, but everyone contributed in a small but effective way. Ji Man Choi hit a 2 run home run and every position player either got on base or contributed to scoring. As you will see, even Austin Hedges. It was a bullpen game for the Pirates, and they came through, shutting out the Diamondbacks over the last 6 innings and limiting them to only 4 hits for the game.

Key Moment Of The Game: With the score tied going into the 5th inning, the Pirates actually manufactured a run. Tucupita Marcano and Nick Gonzales started the inning by each getting singles. Austin(Designated Sacrificer, DS For Short) Hedges bunted the runners over to 2nd and 3rd. Jack Suwinski hit a fly ball deep enough to score Marcano easily and the Pirates had a 3-2 lead that they protected the rest of the way until adding on in the top of the 9th, to make the score 4-2. They finished the road trip 2-5 and are 41 and 49 at the All Star break.

Next Game: Friday, Giants in Pittsburgh. This week there will be 2 blogs on analyzing what the Pirates did over these first 90 games and what to expect the rest of the season.

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Pirate Morning Report: Half The Losing Formula

Final Score: Pirates 2 Diamondbacks 3 10 innings

Why The Pirates Lost: The normal formula for Pirate baseball is to have poor starting pitching with very little or no hitting to ensure a loss. Mitch Keller messed that all up yesterday, by pitching a stellar 7 innings, shutting out the Diamondbacks on 1 hit. The only thing negative about his performance was that he walked 5, that pretty much kept him from going more than 7 innings. Bottom of the 8th and enter Colin Holderman the man with 99 to 100 MPH fastball. What does he throw for his first two pitches? Two rinky dink cutters, the 2nd one right down the middle, and Alek Thomas knocks it in the stands, tying the game. The Pirate offense kept up their end of the bargain of the losing formula. In 10 innings they got 4 hits, struck out 15 times and managed just 2 walks. It’s good to know that at least one aspect of this team won’t let you down.

Key Moments Of The Game: It all came down to the 10th inning. The Diamondbacks played some defense and the Pirates did not. In the top of the 10th the Pirates got the runner on 2nd home and had 2nd and 3rd with two outs. Josh Palacios hit a hot smash down the first base line, that first baseman Christian Walker made a spectacular diving stop, and with the pitcher covering got the final out of the inning. In the bottom of the 10th the first Diamondback batter bunted to move the runner over to third and the Pirates botched the play. You can argue that Gonzales was late getting over to 2nd but the bottom line was the Diamondbacks were giving the Pirates an out and they refused to take it. That’s why they call it a sacrifice. That runner scored the winning run of the game sending the Pirates to their 5th loss on this road trip.

Next Game: This afternoon, Diamondbacks in Phoenix. When the Pirates embarked on this western road trip, I wrote I would be mildly surprised if they won 2 games and shocked it they won 3. These Pirates do not disappoint. If they lose today (if?), they will be 20-42 in their last 62 games for a grand winning percentage of .322. This is the last game before the All Star break, Thank God.

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Pirates Morning Report: Throwing The Game Away.

Final Score: Pirates 3 Diamondbacks 7

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirates continue to follow the formula for defeat. Poor starting pitching, this time supplied by Rich Hill. He turned in a dominate performance of going 4 innings throwing 95 pitches, giving up 5 runs, on 7 hits, walking 4. Remember he did all this in four innings. The offense put 3 runs on the board getting only 6 hits to go along with 2 walks and a hit by pitch. There were lots of collars worn last night. Going that magical 0 for 4 were Bryan Reynolds, Ji Man Choi, and Nick Gonzales. Henry Davis would have done the same thing except he got hit by a pitch to go 0 for 3. The Pirates had 2 throwing errors that led to some runs but their entire game pretty much stunk.

Key Moment Of The Game: The bottom of the 3rd was pretty much a disaster. This is how you do not play baseball. Walking the first batter. Then allowing him to steal 2nd without throwing the ball to home plate. This exact same thing happened the next inning, which led to their 5th run. Then you misplay a bunt which allows the first run to score. You throw a 72 MPH curveball right over the middle of the plate and it is hit for a 3 run home run. Four batter equals 4 runs when you are playing the Pirates.

Next Game: This afternoon, thank God no more late games, Diamondbacks in Phoenix. The Pirates are now 1-4 on this road trip and spiraling into oblivion. In a nutshell, the pitching as totally collapsed. Only 2 games until the All Star break, and we all need a break from these Pirates. I know there have been a lot of injuries, but bad baseball is bad baseball. During this latest bad stretch, the Pirates have given away about half the games they lost. Can they somehow, someway win one of the these next 2 games. The so-called ace is going today. This should be their best chance, but I would not bet any appendages on it.

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Pirates Morning Report: Routine Loss

Final Score: Pirates 2 Dodgers 5

Why The Pirates Loss: The Pirates followed their typical formula for defeat. They barely hit and pitched mediocrely. The Pirates put together a nice 2nd inning getting a single, double, and another double to tie the game 2-2. It took them 17 batters to get another hit. They did manage one walk during that stretch. They only left 2 men on base, because hardly anyone got on base. Johan Oviedo pitched better than most starters lately but was done in by the home run ball. You could say the double and home run ball. The Dodgers scored 2 runs in the 1st and 2 runs in the 6th exactly the same way. Leadoff double and boom a long home run. The Dodgers added an unnecessary run in the 7th, because you knew on this night, the Pirates were not going to score anymore runs. Castro particularly looked bad at the plate against a left-hand pitcher, who Castro is supposed to crush. He struck out both times. The first at bat he swung at 2 balls in the strike zone, took one for a ball, but swung at a ball way inside. On the second at bat, he was even worse, fouling a strike, taking a strike, and swinging at a ball way low. He looks completely lost and needs a ticket to Indianapolis.

Key Moment Of The Game: Freddie Freeman, after he fouled off the first pitch by Oviedo to start the bottom of the 6th, got into a discussion with the umpire, most likely about the pitch clock or calling timeout. Nobody was sure what it was about, but it brought Derick Shelton out of the dugout, along with Dave Roberts. The umpires got in a huddle, then talked with both managers. This only caused a delay of about 2 minutes but when you are throwing pitches every 15 seconds or less it might have had an effect on Oviedo. It is only speculation, but the next pitch went for a double and 2 pitches later Max Muncy parked it, to give the Dodgers the lead they never relinquished.

Next Game: Tonight, Diamondbacks, in Phoenix. The Pirates are 1-3 on this road trip. I expected them to go 1-6 or even 0-7. However, there is some hope to be a little, and I do mean very little, optimistic. The Diamondbacks have lost 4 in a row, so maybe the Pirates are catching them at the right time. Plus, the Diamondbacks have a better road record than home record. I know it is not a lot, but for us Pirate fans we grab on to anything. Even so, if they win 2 out of 3, I will be shocked.

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Pirates Morning Report: What A Debacle

Final Score: Pirates 4 Dodgers 6

Why The Pirates Lost: Poor starting pitching again contributed to a loss. Given a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the of the 4th inning, Osvaldo Bido decided to give the Dodgers 2 runs on a silver platter. He walked 2 and hit a batter to load the bases. A sacrifice fly scored one run and moved a runner to third, setting up the possibility that the Dodgers would score 2 runs without the benefit of a hit. Bido gave us some hope when he struck out the next batter, but then gave up a single and the score was 4-2. The Dodgers were right back in the game and virtually did nothing. Then Roansy Contreras came in the fifth inning to seal the deal. After getting one out, he walks the next 2 batters. Three pitches later, J. D. Martinez blasts one to left center field for a home run giving the Dodgers the lead 5-4. The Dodgers scored those 5 runs on just 2 hits. Make them work for those runs Pirates. Two pitches later, David Peralta homers and the Dodgers take a 6-4 lead. That would be the eventual final score. Late in the game the Dodgers decided they wanted to be gift givers, but the Pirates could not take advantage.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates loaded the bases in the 7th and 9th innings with nobody out and failed to score. The Dodgers returned the favor by walking 2 batters each inning to help load the bases. What makes this even more galling is that in the 7th the Pirates had the 2, 3, and 4 hitters batting and in the 9th the 3, 4, and 5 hitters. Bryan Reynolds hit a fairly hard 98 MPH line drive but right at the shortstop in the 7th. Henry Davis hit a soft 78 MPH line drive to the second baseman after taking 2 called strikes. His at bat was even worse in the 9th, as he took a called third strike to make the first out. Carlos Santana popped out twice once to end the 7th and make the 2nd out of the 9th. The Pirates could not take advantage of 2 golden opportunities and went down to their 2nd loss on the road trip.

Next Game: Tonight Dodgers in Los Angeles. The Pirates sent down Luis Ortiz yesterday to AAA and should do the same thing with Roansy Contreras. Both pitchers have lost considerable velocity on their fast balls, and nobody seems to be able to do anything about it. They do not seem to be hurt. If this was something done by design, why keep it a big secret? It doesn’t seem to be working. This has to be one of the big coaching failures so far this season. Both pitchers looked so good last year. Johan Oviedo who is pitching tonight seems to be going in the wrong direction also. Why can’t the coaching staff seem to straighten these pitchers out. They are all 25 or younger and seem to be really talented. Player development in reverse. If it is not corrected soon, then the season could get very ugly.

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Pirates Morning Report: Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

Before I get to the synopsis of the game, I know I wrote that I was going to take a couple of days off because of traveling, but I could not pass up such a stirring come from behind victory. Besides, just like people who drink say “It’s 5 o clock somewhere” I can write that it’s morning somewhere. Now to the game.

Final Score: Pirates 9 Dodgers 7

Why The Pirates Won: The bullpen came through after Luis Ortiz had a horrible start. In 3 and 1/3 innings Ortiz gave up 6 runs on 9hits and 1 walk. In the last 5 and 2/3 innings the bullpen game up 1 run and 2 hits while walking 2. The Pirates bats came alive and scored 9 runs including 3 in the 9th to turn a 7-6 deficit into a 9-7 lead. For the game the Pirates had 12 hits to go along with 7 walks. This was a game of missed opportunities for both teams. The Pirates left 10 men on base and the Dodgers 8, going 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position. The Pirates were able to survive giving up 4 home runs to the Dodgers. At the end the Pirates were able to come through and get a win on this road trip that I thought they might not be able to do.

Key Moment Of The Game: The 9th inning saw the Dodger closer, Evan Phillips walked 2 Pirates in a row after striking out Carlos Santana. Jared( I’m The Real Third Basemen Of The Future) Triolo singled to left to drive in the tying run and getting to second on a poor throw by the Dodger centerfielder. Josh(I Know You Just Wish That I Would Go Away) Palacios doubled, down the left field line to drive in runs 8 and 9. He made a base running blunder on the next play just to remind us why we want him to go away. But when you knock in the go ahead runs in the top of the 9th for a victory over the Dodgers all is forgiven.

Next Game: Tonight, Dodgers in Los Angeles. In order to win the last 2 out of 5 games the Pirates have had to score 3 runs in the 9th inning. You can look at this two ways. It’s great that they have been able to do comeback wins and both times against better than average teams. However, if this is what it takes every time just to win a game, then their luck is going to run out. I still don’t see them winning more than 2 games on this road trip but I will gladly be wrong. The starting pitching is going to have to step up, if that is going to happen.

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Pirates Morning Report: Jet Lag Loss

Final Score: Pirates 2 Dodgers 5

Why The Pirates Lost: It was a team just going through the motions. Mitch Keller pitched like a non All Star getting ripped for 5 runs on 3 doubles and a home run, giving up 8 hits and a walk overall, in just 5 innings on 101 pitches. One of the runs was unearned on a Carlos Santana error but overall a pretty pathetic performance by the starting pitcher. The top 3 batters in the Pirate order were 0 for 11 with 1 walk and Jack Suwinski got hit by a pitch twice. It’s hard to move out of the way of the ball when your body is telling you it’s after 11PM.

Key Moment Of The Game: Trailing 5-1 going into the top of the 6th the Pirates got something going with 2 hits and a walk sandwiched around one out. They allowed Austin Hedges to bat and yes he did get a sacrifice fly to drive in a run, but at that point in the game the Pirates needed so much more. Obviously Derick(The Dunce) Shelton didn’t think so and did not make a move to try and win the game for the 2nd day in a row. I guess you could blame this on jet lag but 9 losses in a row is still the most likely outcome of this road trip.

Next Game: Tonight, Dodgers in Los Angeles. The morning report will be taking a one or two day hiatus because I will be flying in from the west coast today and have early golf commitments for Wednesday. Since the Pirates are really not busting their ass, neither am I.