Month: June 2024

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Pirates Morning Report: Sixty-Five Games In

We are about 40% into the season and the Pirates continue to swim in the waters of mediocrity. It is amazing how consistently mediocre they are in all phases of the game, except one. Their starting pitching is now ranked 6th in all of baseball according to wins above replacement. All other parts of their team are ranked anywhere from 11th to 25th. The Pirates have played 33 games since the last evaluation of the team. Amazingly they have a record of 17-16. It is amazing because in every important team category they have gotten worse or essentially stayed the same. In runs scored they went from 21st to 20th. In on base percentage they went 15th to 24th. In the comparison stat of OPS+ they went from 24th to 27th. What this tells us, that despite all the rhetoric in the Pirate broadcast booth, the offense still stinks and has gotten worse. On the run prevention side of the ball the Pirates have fallen also, but not quite as far. In runs allowed the Pirates went from 15th to 19th. In fielding independent pitching, they went from 17th to 19th. In the comparison stat ERA+ they went from 12th to 14th. In an area where I thought they would be strong, fielding, they fell from 12th to 17th in defensive efficiency. This team is about as mediocre as a team can get, which I guess is better than being awful.

As a refresher, the comparison stat of OPS+ and ERA+ is just a number with 100 being league average. Henry Davis 38, Jarod Triolo 66, Rowdy Tellez 67, Michael Taylor 44, Jack Suwinski 63, and Yasmani Grandal 33 are the reason that the Pirates are so bad on offense. Only Rowdy Tellez is beginning to show some signs of life. You knew what you were getting with Michael Taylor, an elite center fielder who has been an up and down hitter his whole career. However, Suwinski, Davis, and Triolo have been major disappointments. Once Joey Bart and Ji Hwan Bae get healthy Davis and Suwinski should be back in AAA. Triolo should be sent down and Liover Peguero should be given another shot. On the pitching side of the ball 4 of the starting pitchers have solid ERA+. Mitch Keller 130, Paul Skenes 138, Jared Jones 126, and Barry Falter 111. The bullpen has been the obvious problem. At one time they were ranked as low as 28th in baseball but have been able to pull up to 23rd at the 65 game mark. The top of the bullpen, the A team as I like to call them, of Bednar, Holderman and Chapman have performed well over the last 2 weeks. As much as I like to get on Hunter Stratton he does have an ERA+ of 96 which should keep him on the team for now. The two that have to go are Kyle Nicolas 67 and Ben Heller 10. I really do not know what the Pirates have against Jose Hernandez. When given the opportunity he has done all right. Carmen Mlodzinski has an ERA+ of 72 but has pitched better lately. The Pirates need to replace Nicolas and Heller now.

As I wrote before, it is amazing that the Pirates played one game over .500 during this stretch of games. The next evaluation will be at the All Star break. We will see what if any moves the Pirates make. It is obvious that they need bullpen help. I do not care where they get it, but something has to be done with either 2 or even 3 relievers being replace immediately. Even though the starting pitching of the Pirates is approaching elite status, in this day and age this only gets you through 2/3 of the game. Without a shutdown bullpen you are not going to make any kind of run at a playoff spot, even in the mediocre National League. Forty per cent through the season and the Pirates are still right in the hunt for the last wild card spot. It would be so easy to put this team over the top. They need one solid batter and two good, not great, relievers. Please management do something for once. I am not getting any younger.

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Pirates Morning Report: Are The Pirates Really Trying To Win

Final Score: Pirates 5 Twins 11 in 10 innings

Why The Pirates Lost: Simply another totally mismanaged game by Derek Shelton. No question the bullpen was stretched quite thin. So, why do you take Jared Jones out after only 84 pitches. If you thought you were going to have to use Ben From Heller, then use him in the 6th or 7th not when the game is on the line in the top of the 10th. Heller’s performance in the 10th, will go down as one for the books. First, he came into the game with an ERA of 45.00 and left with one higher at 49.50. He gave up 7 runs, 5 hits, walked 1 and hit 3 batters. His philosophy of pitching is if you can’t get them out just kill them. Chapman only threw 13 pitches. Why couldn’t he come out for the 10th. The Pirates have a day off today. You have to wonder if Shelton even knew that. Granted the umpires blew a call in the first inning that cost the Pirates a run or maybe the game would not have even gone into extra innings. You have to wonder if the Pirates’ management is even trying to win games. They need bullpen help in the worse way and there are some quality arms on some very bad teams. Will the Pirates make any effort to get them. Just a disappointing day sending the Pirates to 31-34.

The Key Moment Of The Game: In the first inning Jared Jones had some control issues and got touched up a little but the Twins had only scored 2 runs. Byron Buxton was up and had a 1-1 count. The next pitch was up and in and obviously hit the bat of Buxton. Obvious to everyone but the four blind and deaf umpires. The worst part of all this was the Pirates took this lying down. This should have been a heated argument with someone getting tossed. So much for the fire in Henry Davis’s belly. It was ruled a passed ball and the runner from third scored to make it 3-0. I do not understand why Henry Davis ran after the ball. If he would have just asked for another ball the ump may have called it a foul ball. Regardless this cost the Pirates the game eventually. That, and Derek Shelton’s lack of baseball sense.

Next Game: Tomorrow the Cardinals in St. Louis. Tomorrow will also be the 65 game report on these Pirates that stand 31-34. Amazingly the Pirates have played one game over .500 since the 32-game report. Withs the day off today hopefully no one in the Pirate bullpen will be throwing any pitches. Hopefully the Pirates will bring up some new arms. That is if they are taking this season seriously. What do you think?

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Pirates Morning Report: Keep Them Doggies Rolling Rawhide Rowdy.

Final Score: Pirates 4 Twins 0

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirate pitching staff held the Twins scoreless for the 2nd straight game. When you shutout the other team you are eventually going to win. This time eventually came in the 7th inning when Rawhide Rowdy Tellez hit his second homer of the year with one out to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. They added 3 more runs in the 8th when Rawhide Rowdy got a big 2 out single to knock in runs 2 and 3 followed up by a Michael Taylor single that brought a bronco busting Tellez home with the 4th run. It was a bullpen game for the Pirates with Mlodzinski, Ortiz, the bulk guy, Bruihl, Stratton, Holderman, and Bednar all combining to throw the 6-hit shutout. The Twins did have some traffic on the base paths, but the Pirates were aided by them hitting into 3 double plays. The Pirates are now just 2 games below .500

Key Moment Of The Game: Justin Bruihl took over for Luis Ortiz in the top of the 7th, after Ortiz had pitched a splendid 4 and 1/3 innings giving up 3 hits and a walk, while throwing 58 pitches. He made a case for becoming the 5th starter. Bruihl gave up a single, but it was quickly erased by a 4-6-3 double play. He then hit the next batter and gave up another single to put runners on 1st and 2nd. When the Twins brought up a right-handed pinch hitter, Manuel Margot, Shelton went to Hunter (I Can’t Believe It) Stratton. I figured the game was over. On the 3rd pitch of the at bat, Margot hit a little blooper out over the 2nd base bag. My first thought was not only does Stratton stink, but he is also snakebit. Nick Gonzales made a great play on the ball, catching it backhand while sliding to the ground. If he does not make that play the Twins score at least 1 run maybe 2, but worse than that, Stratton would have had to face another batter. After that Rawhide Rowdy took over the game and the Pirates had a 4-0 win.

The Next Game: This afternoon, the Twins in Pittsburgh. Jared Jones will start for the Pirates today, looking to extend the Twins scoreless streak which now stands at 22 innings. Even if the Pirates do not shut them out for the third consecutive game it would be really nice to get this sweep, as the Pirates head to road next week. They will play three in St. Louis and three in Denver. Let’s use those brooms today, Pirates.

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Awareness

Daily writing prompt
What are the most important things needed to live a good life?
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In order to live a good life, you must strive for the highest level of awareness you can achieve. One has got to realize that everyone is doing the best that they can do at their own level of awareness. How do you become more aware? You must accept all the people in your life for who they are. Everyone has faults, foibles, and beliefs, that may not fall into your line of thinking. You must be aware of the fact that you are not going to change how a person behaves or thinks, so if you want to be a part of their lives or establish some sort of relationship with them you must be able to accept this person as a whole. You must become aware of your own self and being. The only way you can do that is through meditation. It is called taking the inward journey. If you are not willing to take that journey, then you will not have a good and full life. Once you become aware of your total self your life will be much easier to lead. It is not the most important thing, it is the only thing. The good life is only the next relaxation breath away.

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Pirates Morning Report: Another Great Pitching Performance

Final Score: Pirates 3 Twins 0

Why The Pirates Won: For the second time in 4 games the Pirate pitching staff threw a shutout. Mitch Keller went 6 innings not allowing a run on 7 hits, walking 2, striking out 8 while throwing 99 pitches. The last 2 innings were a bit shaky, but with some luck and a Twins base running blunder Keller survived, to maintain the shutout. The A team of the bullpen, Chapman, Holderman and Bednar finished up the game, giving up just one hit while walking no one. The offense was as anemic as ever mustering only 4 hits but all of them were extra base hits. Oneil Cruz and Connor Joe each had a home run with Bryan Reynolds getting 2 doubles. The 5 through 9 hitters did not get a hit led by DH Henry (Why Am I DHing) Davis with 3 strikeouts on 12 pitches. Pirates’ management thinking, let’s put our worse hitter on the team in the DH spot. Even Rawhide Rowdy would have been a better choice.

Key Moments Of The Game: Keller’s last two innings could have been disastrous, but things went his way. In the top of the 5th with the score 2-0, the Twins loaded the bases on a single, a walk, and another single with one out. Keller struck out both Royce Lewis and Max Kepler with Kepler swinging at a 3-2 pitch that hit him. Whew! The top of the 6th started with Bryan Reynolds making a spectacular catch of a sinking line drive in left center field. Jose Miranda singled up middle. Bryan Buxton singled to left field with Miranda streaking for third. Bryan Reynolds then totally outfaked Buxton by looking like he was going to throw to third base but suddenly threw across his body toward second. Buxton by that time had made a huge turn at first base and got caught in a rundown making the second out. No question the play of the game. Carlos Santana hit a lazy fly ball to center to end the inning. The Twins in those 2 innings had 4 hits, a walk and failed to score. Very Pirate like.

Next Game: This afternoon, the Twins in Pittsburgh. Looks like the Pirates are going with the opener, starting with Carmon Mlodzinski. Hopefully Luis Ortiz will be the bulk guy but who knows. All I know is Henry Davis was seen praying never to be asked to DH again.

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Pirates Morning Report: Bullpen Failure

Final Score: Pirates 7 Dodgers 11

Why The Pirates Lost: Another big bullpen failure by the Pirates, blew open a close game, where the Pirates had just come back from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game. Baily Falter had a really bad first inning giving up all 4 runs, but had settled down, not giving up a run over the next 3 innings. He gave up a lead off home run to Teoscar Hernandez to give the Dodgers the lead again 5-4. He had only thrown 78 pitches to that point. Derek (I Am Not Too Sure Who Is On The Team) Shelton decided to make a move. In my view he had these choices to bring in the game. Ben (The Pitcher From) Heller, Kyle( Why Am I Here) Nicolas, Carmen (Try And Pronounce My Name) Mlodzinski, Luis (I Haven’t Pitched Since Sunday) Ortiz or Justin (New Guy) Bruihl. Shelton chose in a close ball game in the 5th, Heller who really wasn’t even lighting it up in AAA. Before you could say fire Shelton the score was 10-4 highlighted by a 3 run homer by Mookie Betts, that flew 410 feet, on a slider right down the middle. The Dodgers probably made the last 2 outs on purpose because they knew the game was over. All of this wasted a good offensive performance by the Pirates as they scored 7 runs on 14 hits only marred by the fact that they struck out 15 times.

Key Moments Of The Game: Shelton’s bullpen decisions contributed to breaking the game open, but it was Barry (Maybe I Should Warm Up More) Falter’s slow start that was reminiscent of his first start of the season that put the Pirates in an immediate hole. Three batters into the game and score was 3-0. Six batters into the game it was 4-0. The start gave the Dodgers a much-needed confidence boost. Even though the Pirates did manage to tie the game to give the fans some hope, Shelton dashed all of that with his stupid bullpen decisions. Who would I have put in? I would have gone with Ortiz or Mlodzinski. Certainly, they could not have done any worse. They may be thinking of starting Ortiz on Saturday, but if they are, why not announce that right away. If that is the case, then I would have chosen Bruihl. Regardless, you needed someone in that situation with some kind of experience.

Next Game: Tonight, the Twins in Pittsburgh. Tonight’s game is going to be on Apple TV. I heard when this was announced that Apple stock dropped 10%. Mitch Keller is starting tonight and is on a roll. The Twins have been one of the streakiest teams in baseball. They have had a 12 game winning streak and a 7 game losing streak with a 4 and 5 game losing streak thrown in. They are just coming off being swept by the Yankees. Let’s hope the streakiness continues.

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Pirates Morning Report: Stop The Presses, The Pirate Offense Wins One

Final Score: Pirates 10 Dodgers 6

Why The Pirates Won: In the first game of the series the Pirates outpitched the Dodgers and last night they outhit them. Paul Skenes had a good outing but still gave up 3 runs on 6 hits including 2 home runs, striking out 8 walking 1, taking 93 pitches to complete just 5 innings. The Pirate bullpen shakily finished the last 4 innings but fortunately the Pirate offense kept adding on after their big 7 run second inning that chased Dodger starter James Paxton. It was the middle of the lineup that shined for the Pirates last night. Olivares, Hayes, and Gonzales went 6 for 8 with 3 walks, scoring 5 runs, while driving in 6 runs. The Pirates will be going for the sweep tonight.

The Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates ability to add on made the game a little less tense as the Dodgers tried to get back into it. The score was 7-2 in the top of the 5th when Andy Pages led off the inning with a home run. A throwing error by Nick Gonzales put a runner on first with no outs. The Pirates and Skenes caught a break when Mookie Betts was called out on strikes on a pitch that was inside. Ohtani then singled. Freddie Freeman was called out on strikes with the first pitch being outside and the 3rd strike borderline. Will Smith laced one out to right field for another hit, but Olivares played it so well that the runner could not score from second base, loading the bases. On the first pitch of the at bat Teoscar Hernandez grounded to Hayes who step on the bag and the inning was over. Skenes knew how fortunate he was as he was shaking his head coming off the mound. In the top of the 8th with score now 10-5 Shelton put in his favorite reliever Hunter (I Am Only Comfortable With A 7 Run Lead) Stratton. Sure enough, boom bam double single and it’s 10-6 before you could say DFA him please. He did get the next 2 outs on the 8-9 hitters for the Dodgers but walked Mookie Betts to face Ohtani. Smart move. Shelton had finally seen enough and put Holderman in. Just to make things more interesting Holderman threw a wild pitch to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Ohtani hit a towering drive down the right field line that Olivares caught about 3 feet short of the wall. Bednar pitched another clean 9th and the Pirates beat the Dodgers for the second time in a row.

Next Game: Tonight, Dodgers in Pittsburgh. The Pirates send Barry Falter to the mound tonight, the surprise player of the season. Don’t look now but he has the lowest ERA of any Pirate starter, except Skenes. The Pirates are going up against Walker Buehler who has not been exactly lighting it up since his return from Tommy John surgery. The only bad news here is that with Buehler pitching Rawhide Rowdy will probably get the start. It won’t be Bailey’s fault if the Pirates lose. I just can’t help myself. Go for the sweep Buccos.

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Pirates Morning Report: Bending But Not Breaking

Final Score: Pirates 1 Dodgers 0

Why The Pirates Won: Jared Jones and the Pirate bullpen combined to shut out the Dodgers despite allowing a lot of traffic on the basepaths. The Dodgers got a runner to 3rd in 5 innings and a runner on 2nd one other inning. They were a Pirate like 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position and stranded 9 runners. Jared Jones pitched 6 innings giving up 3 hits, 3 walks, striking out 6. He finished strong retiring the last 6 batters he faced striking out 4 of them, throwing his last pitch of the game at 99 MPH. The bullpen had its shaky moments as we will see but came through when it mattered to preserve the shutout and the win. The anemic offense of the Pirates scored their only run on a Jack Suwinski home run in the 3rd inning. They only managed 3 other hits while striking out 13 times. Rawhide Rowdy despite his big game on Sunday was certainly hearing the boo birds last night. I guess one game does not erase a season of awfulness. At least the Pirates won’t be swept by the Dodgers.

The Key Moment Of The Game: Aroldis Chapman came in for the top of the 8th and immediately I had trouble breathing. On the 5th pitch Shohei (I Am Very Trusting) Ohtani hit a seeing eye ground ball through the infield. Miraculously Chapman got a called 3rd strike on Freddie Freeman that was low. Then he walks Will Smith on 4 pitches. Breathing very shallow at this point with my brain thinking he is going to walk the next 2 batters. On the first pitch Teoscar Hernandez hit a down the middle slider 107 MPH that Chapman thought had left the park but was caught by Jack Suwinski 380 feet from homeplate. This did move Ohtani to 3rd. Chapman struck out Andy Pages on 6 pitches and I collapsed on the floor. Sweet Jesus a miracle had happen. On the 2nd pitch of the at bat Henry Davis made a nice stop on a fastball that was way low and inside to the right-handed batter that kept the tying run from scoring. The Pirates pulled out a tight tense game. Fortunately, Shelton did not have to make many moves. He did have, of all people, Hunter (Christ I Hope I Don’t Get In) Stratton warming up in the 6th inning. Unbelievable!

Next Game: Tonight, Dodgers in Pittsburgh. Paul Skenes will start tonight, and you have to wonder how long that even he can keep the Dodgers at bay. The Dodgers are sending lefty James Paxton to the mound, so Rawhide Rowdy won’t be hearing the boos tonight.

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Favorite Books

Daily writing prompt
Do you remember your favorite book from childhood?
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Yesterday’s prompt was what was your favorite 3 books and what impact did they have on your life. I did not have time to answer that one, but since this prompt is about books also, I will combine the two. Pretty clever, huh. I can’t tell you what my favorite book was from childhood, but I can tell you my favorite series. It was the Hardy Boys, good old Frank and Joe Hardy. Another series I read was Bronc Burnett, about a high school football player. These books did 2 things. It got me into the habit of reading, and it got me hooked on books that had a continuing cast of characters or a main character. In my adult life I have read a lot of books. My two favorite authors are Ed McBain and Michael Connelly. I have read other books by them, but their two main series are the 87th Precinct novels by McBain and the Harry Bosch novels by Connelly. The 87th Precinct books started in 1956 and ended around 2005 when McBain died. There are about 52 books in the series and thanks to E Bay I have them all. I would say I read about 30 to 35 of them in various order by the time I acquired all of the books. Then I simply started with the first one and read them in order. Even though the books covered almost 50 years McBain only aged the detectives about 16 years. He also repeated clues from some of his early works to help solve cases. He had lots of little quirky things in these books that made them unique and fun to read. If you only read one 87th Precinct novel, read the one titled Kiss. I don’t want to say why but you will know when you finish the book. McBain was one of the most prolific writers I have every seen. He also wrote under the name of Evan Hunter. He wrote one book under both names. Connelly’s Bosch novels are pretty close to masterpieces. None of them disappoint but again if you had to read just one, I would recommend A Darkness More Than Night. One of the best books he wrote was Blood Work, a non-Bosch novel. If you have seen the movie, don’t worry it is nothing like the book. This book has the best ending of all time. They did not use it in the movie for whatever reason. I don’t know what impact all these books had on me, but I have always enjoyed reading and felt I have learned so much from all kinds of books.

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Pirates Morning Report: What Is Derek Shelton Thinking?

Final Score: Pirates 4 Blue Jays 5

Why The Pirates Lost: This loss goes right on Derek Shelton, starting with the bizarre decisions he made in the bottom of the 5th inning, and continuing the rest of the game concerning the bullpen. More on that in the key moment of the game segment. The Pirate offense collected 11 hits and walked 4 times but could only score 4 runs. They left 13 men on base and were 3 for 16 with runners in scoring position. Rowdy (Of All People) Tellez had the big game driving in all 4 runs going 3 for 4 with a walk, to raise his average to .194. Is it an omen, that despite Tellez having his game of season, that the Pirates still lost. This lost left the Pirates with a record of 27-32, 9 games out of first place. When the Pirates had a chance to win a big series on the road, their manager played it like the season was over, and the Pirates were just playing out the string. Maybe that’s the way management looks at this team now. It is the only explanation for what happened in the bottom of the 5th inning.

Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates had just taken the lead in the top of the 5th, 3-1 on a double by Rawhide Rowdy. In the bottom of the inning Quinn Priester gave up 2 singles to start the inning. He managed to get a pop out but gave up another single, making the score 3-2 Pirates, putting runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. Priester then got a big strikeout on Bo Bichette for the 2nd out. That’s when the Pirates headed into the Shelton Zone. Even with Priester’s history of really going south quickly, you could argue that he could have been left in to see if he could get out of the jam. Let’s give that the benefit of the doubt. I really did not have a big problem with lifting him. To bring in Hunter Stratton was totally asinine. The entire bullpen except for Luis Ortiz had not pitched since Friday. David Vogelbach was the batter. He is downright horrible against left hand pitching. We had at least, to my knowledge, two left handers in the bullpen. Aroldis Chapman and unless he has some unknown injury, Jose Hernandez, who has not pitched since May 23rd. Besides the fact that Hunter Stratton has been mostly ineffective, of all the relievers that were used in the 14 inning debacle he threw the 2nd most pitches. If a lefty would have been brought in, the Blue Jays might have pinched hit for Vogelbach. Would that have been so bad considering how Vogelbach has been hitting the Pirates. Needless to say, The Turtle rips a double to center field on a 1-2 pitch that was thrown right down the middle to score the tying and go ahead runs. Despite the fact the entire bullpen was well rested, Shelton allows Stratton to come out for the next inning to ensure that the Blue Jays score an insurance run. Then he brings in Carmen Mlodzinski who threw the most pitches of any member of the bullpen on Friday. For the 8th he brings in the most ineffective member of the bullpen Kyle Nicholas just to give the Blue Jays even more of a chance. The A team of the bullpen just sat on their behinds and won’t pitch until at least Tuesday with the Pirates off today. Rod Serling must have been smiling down from above to see his television show right on the baseball field. Cue the music please.

Next Game: Tuesday, Dodgers, in Pittsburgh. I am almost hoping for a Dodger blow out so Bednar can pitch the 9th so he won’t get rusty. Rowdy Tellez should still be DFA, over and out.