Month: September 2024

Posted on

Pirates Morning Report: What Is It About Jalen Beeks

Final Score: Pirates 5 Cardinals 10

Why The Pirates Lost: Another bullpen failure led by David Bednar continued by Shelton’s favorite Jalen Beeks. Beeks is a perfect example of perception is worse than the reality. I feel that Jalen Beeks has really stunk out the joint. However, his statistics are not that bad. He has an ERA+ 109 and his FIP is 3.01 since he joined the Pirates. Here is some of his downside. He has been one Shelton’s favorite relievers. The Pirates have played 44 games since he was acquired. Beeks has appeared in 23 of those games, more than half. The Pirates have lost 16 of the games he has appeared in. He has had only 8 outings where he has not given up a hit or a walk. Last night was definitely real. He came in the game with runners on 1st and 2nd with one out in the bottom of the 7th and the score tied 5-5. In the course of 15 pitches, he gave up a single, single, and bases clearing double, to make the score 10-5. This put a runner on 2nd with still only one out. He walked Michael Siani with ball 4 sailing over the catchers head all the way to the backstop. It took a weird ricochet off the backstop and climbed way up the screen. Greg Brown and Bob Walk were both highly critical of Siani for just watching the ball and not running right away where he might have made it to 2nd, The score is 10-5 and you are bringing up this. When will they ever clean out the Pirate broadcast booth. Beeks managed to get 2 outs with no further damage, but the game was over. Billy Cook did hit his 1st major league home run, a 3-run shot to give the Pirates a 5-4 lead. Cook may have had his 1st major league home run sooner if Shelton had not pinch hit for him in the previous 2 games. Derek, at his foxy best. In fact, that is my new name for Shelton, Derek The Fox. The bullpen quickly blew that lead and more to turn the game into a rout for the Cardinals.

Key Moment Of The Game: When they brought Beeks in and had no one warming up in the bullpen in case things got out of hand, which of course they did. If someone had been warming up, he could have brought in a right hander to face Jordan Walker who hit the bases clearing double that broke open the game.

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in St. Louis. Luis Ortiz starts for the Pirates tonight. Luis Ortiz has had his ups and downs as a starter recently which makes me think he may be a good bullpen piece for the Pirates next year. It was his bullpen performance that got him into the rotation. The Cardinals are primed for the sweep. The Pirates are hoping to get Derek The Fox fired.

Posted on

Pirates Morning Report: One Run In Eighteen Innings

Final Score: Pirates 1 Cardinals 3

This will be a brief morning report because I am pressed for time and this is all this team disserves. The punchless offense came through again only scoring one run on 8 hits, 2 walks while going 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position and leaving 8 men stranded. Derek Shelton was at his mismanagement best last night. In the top of the 7th with 2 out and a runner on first he decided to pinch hit for Michael Taylor with Oneil Cruz. Most of the time this would have been an ok move. Taylor was actually having a good game with a double and a walk in his first two plate appearances. Cruz has had abysmal record as a pinch hitter this year. Of course, he struck out. The bullpen gave up an insurance run in the bottom of the 8th. The Pirates had a chance in the top of the 8th but failed miserably. The road trip goes to 0-2 as the Pirates continue their relentless march to another losing season.

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in St. Louis. The Pirates do not know who is starting tonight just like they don’t know how to manage a game. To me if a guy seems to be having a decent night at the plate you should stick with him no matter what his seasonal stats are. It does seem to make sense. Obviously the Pirates do not feel that way.

Posted on

Pirates Morning Report: Wow! This Is Hard To Watch

Final Score: Pirates 0 Cardinals 4

Why The Pirates Lost: What an offensive offensive performance. The entire season can be summed up by one horrible at bat by Rawhide Rowdy (You Should Be Thankful That I Hit For A Couple Of Months) Tellez. First of all, he pinch hit for Billy Cook. Why, I do not know. You would think you would want to give a young player as many chances to get at bats at this level as possible, especially at this point in the season. Obviously, Shelton’s brain does not function this way or at all. Meanwhile getting back to worthless Tellez, he takes the first two pitches for strikes that were right down the middle. He does take the next pitch, God love him, that was at least a foot outside. He does restore your faith in the Pirate offense by striking out on a pitch that was inside down around his ankles. Meanwhile, Billy Cook learns nothing, other than the fact that he hopes he is not on the same team as Tellez next year. The rest of the offense was just as bad, striking out 12 times, going 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position and only collecting 4 hits. They struck out 9 times against a pitcher who never struck out more than 6 in a game this year. After Kyle Nicolas left in the bottom of the 8th with an injury, Shelton brought in his favorite reliever. Jalen (I Throw Off The Plate Or Right Down The Middle) Beeks. The efficient Beeks gave up 2 runs on 2 hits on only 7 pitches. Another great pickup by the Pirates. All of this wasted another excellent pitching performance by Paul Skenes giving up just one run on 4 hits to lower his ERA to 2.07. Skenes just told his girlfriend that he wishes he had been the 2nd overall pick.

The Key Moment Of The Game: Simply put, when the game was turned over to the Pirate bullpen. In the bottom of the 7th the Cardinals loaded the bases without hitting a ball past the pitcher. They were only able to score one run to make the score 2-0. They scored 2 more in the bottom of the 8th when Jalen Beeks decided to throw batting practice. The road trip is off to an auspicious start.

Next Game: Unfortunately, there is, tonight, Cardinals in St. Louis. Who cares? Certainly not the Pirates.

Posted on

Pirates Morning Report: The Royals Took Pity On The Pirates

Final Score: Pirates 4 Royals 3

Why The Pirates Won: The Royals decided to play Pirates baseball. They were 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. For the third consecutive game the team that got the most hits lost the game. The Royals suddenly became the masters of miss opportunities. Top of the 2nd, bases loaded nobody out, 1 run scored. Top of the 3rd, leadoff triple, no runs scored. This was made possible by a great throw by Billy (I Can Throw But I Can’t Hit) Cook to the plate, on a fly ball to right field, that nailed Tommy Pham at the plate. This was followed by two more singles, but of course they did not score. Top of the 4th, 1st and 3rd and one out, no runs. Top of the 6th, bases loaded and one out, one run scored, and that was walked in. In the top of the 7th, a leadoff double, no runs scored. After that, the Royals said the hell with it, let’s just get out of town, going 6 up and 6 down to end the game. This was probably one of the worst games the Royals played all year to allow the Pirates eek out a victory. Jared Jones took 97 pitches just to get through 4 innings. Even with the pitch clock this game took 2 hours and 48 minutes to play.

Key Moment Of The Game: The score was tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the 5th. Billy (I Can Too, Hit) Cook singled to left field. With Cook breaking on the pitch, Isiah Kiner-Falefa stroke a single into centerfield and Cook scored all the way from first base to make the score 3-2. From that point on in the inning the Royals gifted the 4th run to Pirates. They walked 3 of the next 5 baters and 2 of those were with 2 outs to give the Pirates a 4-2 lead. It was a lead that the Pirate bullpen barely managed to protect but they did to help the Pirates avoid the sweep. Bednar and Chapman pitched perfect 8th and 9th innings to seal the win. Let’s go turn some water into wine.

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in St. Louis. The Pirates open a 7 game road trip in 7 days against the Cardinals (4) and the Reds (3). Man are these guys going to need the rest. Shelton is already scheduling their days off. Such a fragile young team. They are going to play baseball 10 days in a row with trips to St. Louis and Cincinnati. Holy shitballs how are they going to hold up. Already Bednar Chapman and Santana have all been told they won’t pitch until Wednesday. I heard that Bednar was very relieved.

Posted on

Pirates Morning Report: Turning Striking Out And Leaving Men On Base Into An Artform.

Final Score: Pirates 1 Royals 5

Why The Pirates Lost: For the second straight day the Pirates outhit the Royals but lost. What is even more amazing, both games were not even close. Oneil Cruz had a tough day out in centerfield and the defense was bad overall. Mitch Keller was the beneficiary of the bad defense going 6 innings giving up 4 runs, 3 earned, on just 4 hits and a walk. Unlike the Pirates the Royals know how to take advantage of their opportunities. Oh my, that Pirate offense is so hard to watch. They struck out 13 times to strike out a total of 27 times in the first two games of the series. That is half the outs by strikeout. The Royals had a hard time staying awake in the field. The Pirates stranded 13 runners yesterday to go along with the 10 they left on base the game before for a grand total of 23 runners in two games. At least the Pirates are able to watch how the game should be played.

The Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates were behind 1-0 going into the top of the 5th. Adam Frazier hit a soft low liner to centerfield. Oneil Cruz tried to make a diving shoestring catch and he just missed it by a couple of inches. The ball skipped by him and Frazier stood on third with a lead off triple. If he would have played it safe, and held Frazier to a single, it would have been possible that the Royals may not have even scored a run if the inning had played out as it did. Instead they were able to score 2 runs in the inning to take a 3-0 lead. In the next inning the Royals scored a run when Jared Triolo whiffed on a ground ball after a double. They added their 5th run when Cruz missed judged a fly ball in the top of the 7th. Just another day at the ranch for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Next Game: This afternoon, the Royals in Pittsburgh. Jared Jones goes for the Pirates this afternoon to see if they can salvage one of the games of the series. We will probably see a crazy Sunday lineup today but who knows. Triolo is starting to hit toward the end of the season. He looks like he is becoming a top player in meaningless games. I am sure he will be back next year. Thank God the end of the season is near.

Posted on

Pirates Morning Report: Defining Mediocrity

Final Score: Pirates 3 Royals 8

Why The Pirates Lost: Luis Ortiz threw 45 pitches in the 2nd inning, with most of them getting hit and threw the ball away on a pretty routine play which helped the Royals score 6 runs. The Royals had 8 hits for the game and got 4 of them in the 2nd inning including a 2 run home run by Salvador Perez to make the score 6-0. This was more than enough to win the game with the way the Pirate offense floundered around. For the first 5 innings the Pirates got 3hits, a miracle, and struck out 10 times. They wound up striking out 14 times for the game. They managed 9 hits and 3 walks but left 10 men on base. They got 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th off their old buddy Chirs Stratton who probably felt sorry for them. The Pirates are the definition of mediocrity. They are able to beat the bad teams but lose regularly to the good teams. It looks like we are in for another year of this, since apparently Derek (We All Need To Get Better) Shelton will be back to fall asleep on the bench for 2025.

The Key Moment Of The Game: Luis (I Was Taught To Throw By Pedro Alvarez) Ortiz shot himself in the foot to start the top of the second. After one out, he walked Robbie Grossman a .226 hitter on 4 pitches. Adam Frazier hit a little dribbler about halfway out to mound and Ortiz threw the ball way offline down the right field line to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. The Royals took advantage by getting 3 straight hits to make the score 4-0. Essentially the Pirates never threatened to make a game of it and the mediocre winning streak was over at 4.

Next Game: This afternoon, the Royals in Pittsburgh. Mitch (I’m Not A Top Of The Rotation Guy) Keller starts today for the Pirates. His last 7 games he is 1-4 with an ERA of 5.86. Trade bait anyone? Will he snap out of it today? He better, because Shelton has already told him he is not coming out of the game until he gives up 14 runs, the bullpen needs a rest. I can’t wait for 2025.

Posted on

Pirates Morning Report: Four Game Win Streak But Here Come The Royals

The Morning Report is back, and I find this upcoming series with the Royals interesting. We have the Pirates playing out the string, almost eliminated from the playoffs. We have the Royals in pretty good position for a wild card and still an outside shot at the division. They are in 2nd Wild Card spot 5 games ahead of the Tigers. These games are far from meaningless to the Royals. The Pirates are playing pressure free games. The Royals are in the thick of the playoff race and although their position is good, they are far from clinching anything. Many times, a team like the Pirates, pathetic, can be a real thorn in the side of a playoff contender this late in the season. The Pirates are just coming off sweeping the even more pathetic Marlins, to go on a 4 game winning streak. The Royals have been treading water the last 10 games going 5-5. Let’s see if the Pirates can play spoilers.

The other newsworthy item is it looks like Derek Shelton, unfortunately, will manage the Pirates next year. Cherington’s quote was, I believe he is the right man to manage this team in 2025. He sure as hell did very little managing in 2024, so he should be fresh to do the job. The bottom line, Nutting is not going to eat another contract. Everybody has to get better according to the management team. This is pretty pathetic, my favorite word today. I can’t even comment on such rhetoric. It is a shame that the fans of Pittsburgh have to put up with such incompetence. I think the Pirates have the talent. In order for this team to get into the playoffs next year we have to hope that they get off to a horrible start so Shelton will get fired around the 15th of May. One last thought, which will be expanded upon at the end of the season. WILL THE PIRATES SIGN ANYBODY DURING THE OFFSEASON THAT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE TEAM? That will be the first step.

Posted on

Pirates Morning Report: Too Bad We Don’t Play The Marlins Every Game

The Pirates have won 3 in a row and they are a much better team when the games are meaningless. Management is taking them seriously because they desperately want the team to win more than 76 games so they can say the team has improved. They are 69-76 in fifth place 1.5 games behind the Reds. They have to go 8-9 to show any improvement. This will be no easy task considering they have 3 games against the Royals and 3 games against the Yankees. They do have a game with the Marlins today trying to go for the season sweep. It seems like a must win if the Pirates are going to improve. The no fault insurance man Barry Falter is pitching for the Pirates. McCutchen got is 20th home run last night, and it was a big 2 out 3 run homer that helped the Pirates to their 6-4 victory. Aroldis Chapman had another shaky save and you have to wonder why he is closing. When Bednar had the closer role taken away, Shadow Shelton said the closer was going to be by committee. He must have not been paying attention to what was coming out of his own mouth, what a shock, because he essentially made Chapman the closer. As The Beach Boys would say wouldn’t it be nice to see what some of the other bullpen guys, like Nicolas, Mlodzinski, and Santana, could do in the 9th. Wrong, common sense breath. Hopefully the blog will be back on a daily bases on Friday.

Posted on

Pirates Morning Report: 3 And 2, Shelton Gets Testy

Since I have been away the Pirates have won 3 out of 5. In one of the losses they did not get a hit at Wrigley Field one of the most hitter friendly ballparks in baseball. Andy Haines said after the game that their process was good. It’s was after that game Derek (I Only Fall Asleep After The Seventh Inning) Shelton got testy about a question concerning Rowdy Tellez making his 3rd pitching appearance in about the last 10 days. There are about 3 of 4 pitchers coming off injuries that could have been used, that need the work. I think what bugs a lot of people is Rawhide Rowdy pitches the way he does everything in baseball like he could care less. Maybe this is why management uses him because it reflects their attitude toward the games. I would imagine that the sign, Never Give Up, is nowhere to be seen in the Pirate locker room. Don’t expect any 10-3 comebacks going into the 7th inning from this bunch. Even if there looked like a rally was brewing, Shelton would probably pinch hit for Bryan Reynolds with Alika Williams. The reporters are going to have to tread lightly with sour puss Shelton after games from now on. Poor baby.

Posted on

Pirates Morning Report: From One Extreme To The Other, But Hey It’s A Win

Final Score: Pirates 3 Guardians 0

Why The Pirates Won: Luis Ortiz pitched a solid 6 innings only giving up 1 hit. He did walk 3 to make it interesting and there were some nice defensive plays behind him, but it was the best pitching performance by a Pirate in the last few games. The bullpen, not a misprint, shut out the Guardians the rest of way, despite Shelton trying to give the game away again. After scoring so many runs in the previous 4 losses the Pirate offense got back to normal. They scored 3 runs on 9 hits and 4 walks, leaving 9 men on base. Nick Gonzales had 3 hits and Oneil Cruz had 2. Aroldis Chapman pitched a clean ninth to pick up the save and the 4 game losing streak was broken.

Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates had a particularly frustrating top of the 7th where they loaded the bases but failed to score. The score was 1-0 going into the bottom of the seventh. With many options available Derek (How Can I Help Lose This Game) Shelton brought in Jalen (I Can’t Remember The Last Time I Retired Three Batters In A Row) Beeks. He did not disappoint. Josh Naylor immediately opened the inning with a double to left field. On the next pitch Jhonkensy Noel hit a line drive but right at Bryan De La Cruz for the first out. Beeks then walks the next batter on 6 pitches. Even Shelton had seen enough and brought in Dennis Santana. On the second pitch of the at bat Lane Thomas hit a high fly ball to deep left field. Bryan Reynolds with his back up against the wall, leaped up and made a very nice catch. There was one problem for the Guardians. Josh (Can I Have An Eye Exam Today) Naylor, standing between 2nd and 3rd, did not think he caught the ball. He was off to the races and was rounding third when Reynolds threw the ball to second to easily double him off to end the inning. The Pirates added 2 runs in the top of the 8th on a big 2 out single by Rawhide Rowdy Tellez. Shelton asked Santana if 2 pitches tired him out like it did a couple of games ago, when he did not let him pitch the 9th. Santana said no and pitched the bottom of the 8th. The Guardians went 6 up, 6 down to end the game.

Next Game: This afternoon, Guardians in Cleveland. Mitch (Who Will We Get Today) Keller will pitch the rubber game of the series. The Pirates Morning Report will go on a bit of a hiatus over the next 12 days, as I will be on vacation where I will not be able to watch the games. I will probably do some periodic reports but won’t be back in full force until September 13th. I can’t say that I am really going to miss seeing this team play. Will they go on a hot streak? Only time will tell.