Month: June 2025

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Pirates Morning Report: Blowing Out The Mets Over The Weekend

Since I have been gone the Pirates are 3-2. They lost 2 to the Brewers. The last game of the series saw Paul Skenes lose to Jacob Misiorowski. Skenes had a “bad” bottom of the 2nd giving up 4 runs. Even though all the runs were earned, it was an inning where only 2 runs should have scored. It was not to be. The Pirates scored 1 in the 7th and 1 in the 8th to make it interesting. With a little luck and better defense it could have been a tie game at this point. But oh what a weekend. The Pirates destroyed the New York Mets. They out scored them 30 to 4 in the 3 games. I can’t even remember when the Pirates dominated a team like this. Holding the Mets to 4 runs over the 3 games was impressive enough. Scoring 30 runs in those game was miraculous. Cruz woke up Sunday hitting two 2 run homers. Henry Davis had a 4 hit game. Tommy Pham continued his hot bat hitting his 2nd home run of the season. Bryan Reynolds went 5 for 14 for the weekend hitting 2 home runs. Ke’Bryan Hayes went 7 for 13 for the weekend. It was a total team demolition of the New York Mets. The Cardinals come to town next. Can the Pirates keep this up? This should have given this team a confidence boost. Can they win 6 in a row.

On a sad note Dave Parker passed away on Saturday June 28th. At least he knew he was going to the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer. I believe the one thing that kept Dave Parker from getting into the Hall was his lack of the home run ball He was big and strong but hit just 339 home runs. He hit 30 or over just twice in 19 years. His 162 game average was 22. He could do it all. His extra base average was 40 per year. He had a great arm and won 3 Gold Gloves. His career WAR was 40.1. I fine that to be low. His post season hitting although not bad did not meet up to his regular standards. Maybe it was his brashness that kept him out. The newspaper writers loved him for his one liners and cockiness. But then they used that as an excuse for not voting him in. Parker would have been the greatest right fielder in Pirates history if not for the Great One Roberto Clemente. Parker was one of a kind. The Hall needed him to get in. I’m just happy that he knew he was going.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pham On Fire

Final Score: Pirates 5 Brewers 4

Why The Pirates Won: The offense had its ups and downs but put 5 runs on the board. They knocked out 14 hits. They did leave 9 runners on base and struck out 16 times. All of this was just enough to edge the Brewers. Tommy Pham continued to hit. He went 2 for 4, hitting his first home run of the season. Nick Gonzales went 5 for 5, driving in 2 runs. Braxton Ashcraft did as well as any opener, going 3 innings. He gave up just one hit. He struck out 2, walking none. Hunter Stratton came in and got roughed up for 3 runs on 4 hits. In the last 4 innings, the bullpen gave up 1 run on 4 hits and a walk. The Pirates managed to control one of the hottest hitting teams in the league. It was a nice, surprising win for the Pirates.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates had some 2-out lightning in the 1st. Bryan Reynolds singled, and Gonzales followed with a double to make the score 1-0. In the top of the 2nd, the Pirates reverted back to their old ways. They had 1st and 3rd with no outs and couldn’t score. Pham and IKF struck out. Oneil Cruz, who continues to struggle, grounded out. If the Pirates had lost, it would have been an even bigger moment. Tommy Pham hit his 1st homer with a man on to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead in the 4th. In the bottom of the inning, the Brewers got 2 runs off Hunter Stratton. In the top of the 5th, Reynolds and Gonzales reversed themselves. Reynolds opened the inning with a double. Gonzales singled him home to make the score 4-2. The bottom of the 5th featured the play of the game for the Pirates. Stratton started off the bottom of the 5th by giving up a single and hitting a batter. Chase Shugart came in to relieve him. On a 2-2 count, Jackson Chourio hit a soft liner right to Shugart. Without hesitation, he quickly turned and fired a strike to 2nd base. This doubled off the runner on 2nd base. Without this heads-up play by Shugart, the Christian Yelich home run would have given the Brewers the lead. IKF drove in the deciding run in the top of the 6th. The bullpen protected it for 4 innings. In the bottom of the 8th, Isaac Mattson and Yelich had a classic battle. In an 11-pitch at-bat, Mattson managed to strike him out. The Pirates got two calls reversed. One was in the 8th. The other was in the 9th. These calls were the final keys to victory.

Next Game: Tonight, Brewers in Milwaukee. Well, boys and girls, the Pirates Morning Report will be going on a vacation hiatus until July 6th. Last year, I went the first 10 days in September. During that time last year, I wrote about 3 reports, giving some 3- and 4-game summaries. I admit I need a break from watching this team every day. Can this offense continue? I have my doubts, but each day they do it will prove me wrong. It would be nice to see about a two-week stretch where they average 4 to 5 runs per game. I will admit Tommy Pham has had some amazing hot streaks in his career. Could he have one more? Stay tuned.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pham, Hayes Have Game Of The Year

Final Score: Pirates 8 Rangers 3

Why The Pirates Won: Tommy Pham and Ke’Bryan Hayes had their games of the year. Pham went 3 for 3 with a sacrifice fly. He had 2 doubles and drove in 3 runs. He had 9 RBIs going into the game. Hayes went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs. Hayes also flashed some spectacular leather. The Pirate offense came alive with 8 runs on 15 hits. They walked 3 times and struck out just 3 times. Bailey Falter was pretty much ineffective, but all is forgiven when your team scores 8 runs. In 5 and 1/3 innings, he gave up 3 runs on 6 hits. He walked 5 and struck out 1. It took him 89 pitches to get into the 6th inning. The bullpen did not give up a hit. It was a nice win for the Pirates. They have dropped their 3rd series in a row. The Pirates have had offensive outbursts earlier this season. The problem is they just don’t seem to sustain them. It would be nice to see them rattle off about 4 or 5 games where they score at least 4 runs. Not likely to happen.

Key Moments Of The Game: Bailey Falter danced through the raindrops most of the time. None more so than the top of the 3rd. He gave up a double and a walk to start the inning. In 3 pitches, he retired Corey Seager and Marcus Semien on a pop-up and fly-out. Then he threw a wild pitch to move the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Adolis Garcia hit a 102 MPH ground ball. Hayes made a diving stop and threw on to first to get the final out of the inning. The score was tied going into the bottom of the 5th, 2-2. The Pirates took the lead 3-2 on a walk and 2 singles. Joey Bart hit into a force out at second. This put runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 outs. Then the miracle happened. Spencer (Please Pronounce My Name Right Greg Brown) Horwitz doubled, driving in 2 runs. Hayes singled, driving in a run. Pham doubled, driving in a run. Suddenly, the Pirates had a 7-2 lead. Falter tried to give it away the next inning. Another spectacular play by Hayes helped limit the damage to 1 run. The Pirates added another run in the 7th and won going away 8-3.

Next Game: Tonight, Brewers in Milwaukee. Braxton Ashcraft is going to start for the Pirates. I don’t know if this is going to be a bullpen game or a legitimate start for Ashcraft. I don’t think the Pirates know either. We will see if the offense can finally get some consistency. You know after the game Pham had, he will be starting. If not, I imagine that Kelly will be fired on the spot. Speaking of offense, the Brewers are red hot. They have won 4 in a row and have scored a whopping 43 runs in those 4 games. That is a month’s worth of runs for the Pirates. I’m not looking it up, but I bet the Pirates have not scored 43 runs in a week of games. Can the Pirates withstand the barrage? Probably not.

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Pirates Morning Report: Triple P Offense Flying High.

Final Score: Pirates 2 Rangers 3

Why The Pirates Lost: All 5 of my pregame questions were answered in the negative. Despite that, it was not a bad game for the Pirates. Just to go through them: both Triolo and Bart did not start. Cruz was not benched. Not only did Billy Cook not start, but he’s also not even on the team anymore. McCutchen did not lead off. The Triple P offense was on all cylinders. They took 21 pitches for strikes—Passive. They had no extra-base hits—Pathetic. They were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position—Putrid. They had 2 runs on 5 hits and walked 3 times. In the last 3 innings, they did not get a man on base. The fact that they sent down Billy Cook to AAA shows they have no interest in winning. Mitch Keller was the recipient of all of this firepower. He pitched decently, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits. He struck out 5 and walked 2. The bullpen shut out the Rangers the rest of the way on 1 hit and 2 walks. With the Pirates, that is simply not good enough. The Pirates have played more games than 26 teams. Yet, they have scored the fewest runs in baseball by a wide margin. They are 11 runs behind the Kansas City Royals, who have played one less game. They still do nothing.

Key Moments Of The Game; The Pirate outfield continues to look like the Keystone Cops. This time it was Adam Frazier who misplayed a ball that led directly to the Rangers’ 1st run. Keller walked the first batter who scored the run in the top of the third. The Pirates tied the game in the bottom of the 5th. In the top of the 6th, another walk would come back to haunt Keller. He struck out the 1st batter. Josh Smith singled to right field. Keller walked Sam Haggerty on 4 straight pitches. Corey Seager singled in the go-ahead run, sending Haggerty to third base. He scored on Marcus Semien’s sacrifice fly to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead. The Rangers then tried to give away the game in the bottom of the 6th. The Pirates refused the gift. After one out, Kumar Rocker walked Horwitz and Gonzales. He was replaced by Shawn Armstrong. He drilled Adam Frazier in the back on an 0-2 pitch to load the bases. Henry Davis hit a big chopper down to third, scoring a run. The third baseman got the force out at 3rd. Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a towering drive 203 feet that was caught to end the inning. The Pirates did not get a man on base the rest of the game.

Next Game: This afternoon, Rangers in Pittsburgh. The Pirates try to avoid being swept at home today. Bailey (It’s Not My) Falter goes for the Pirates. Can’t wait to see the Triple P offensive lineup today. Will we see Tommy Pham today? Will we see Alexander Canario? I don’t know why the Pirates just don’t make it obvious that they are trying to lose games. The outfield should be Pham, Canario, and Frazier. Henry Davis should DH and lead off. Hunter Stratton should be the first reliever out of the bullpen. The comedy continues. It’s not funny if you are a ticket holder.

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Pirate Morning Report: Kelly Honeymoon Over

Final Score: Pirates 2 Rangers 6

Why The Pirates Lost: The Rangers brought the leather. The Pirates brought the lunacy. In the top of the 1st inning, the situation was laughable. The Pirates handed the Rangers a couple of runs to start the game. The Rangers opened the game with a single. Sam Haggerty hit a sharp line drive to centerfield for what appeared to be another single. Oneil Cruz completely whiffed on the ball as it whizzed by him. Then he turned around and just looked at it. This allowed Haggerty to go all the way to third, and a run scored. Mike Burrows wild-pitched the runner home on the third pitch to Corey Seager. Two batters, two singles, two runs. Nobody does it better than the Pirates. It was right here that Don Kelly could have made an impact. He should have benched Cruz after the inning was over. He did not. There is something up with Oneil Cruz. He has looked lousy at the plate for over a month. The Pirates have not addressed this as usual. It even got worse for the Pirates in the field. In the top of the 7th, Canario and Cruz put on quite a show. It was pretty much indescribable. It wound up with Canario falling on his back and having to flip the ball to Cruz to throw it in. You’re just going to have to watch on YouTube. Look for it under baseball at its worst. On the other side of the coin, the Rangers put on a fielding clinic. Adolis Garcia made two spectacular diving catches in the bottom of the 2nd and 3rd innings. He led off the top of the 4th by hitting a home run. There were other great plays by the Rangers to support Jacob deGrom. The Rangers had 13 hits. The Pirates were fortunate that this wasn’t more of a blowout. The Rangers were 1 for 11 with men in scoring position. They left 12 men on base.

Key Moments Of The Game: Start with the lineup. Again, the Pirates bring someone up and then do not play him. Billy Cook finally did get in the game, but why did he not start? After the two-batter circus in the first inning, you felt the game was over. That may have been harsh, but that is the way I felt. The Rangers managed to add on as the game progressed. They scored single runs in the 4th, 5th, 7th, and 9th. Despite getting 9 hits, the Pirates never really threatened to make a game of it. This is the worst the Pirates have looked under Kelly. It remains to be seen if anything will be done about it. We all know that nothing will happen. The Pirate way. It is such a simple equation. The Tampa Bay Rays have the blueprint for what to do. The Pittsburgh Pirates have the blueprint for what not to do. Major League Baseball should be grateful for how the Pirates have shown the way.

Next Game: This afternoon, Rangers in Pittsburgh. Mitch Keller goes for the Pirates today. Will Billy Cook get in the starting lineup? Will Oneil Cruz be benched? Will Andrew McCutchen lead off? Will Jared Triolo start his 2nd straight game at 3rd base? Will Joey Bart catch? After all, he went 3 for 4 yesterday. If all the answers to those questions are yes, then the Pirates have a chance. For every no, the Pirates’ chances of winning drop 20%. Stay tuned.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pirates Get The Split

Final Scores: Game 1 Pirates 2 Tigers 9 Game 2 Pirates 8 Tigers 4 10 innings

Why The Pirates Split: The Pirates did better against Tarik Skubal than I thought they would. However, there were no miracles in game 1. The Tiger offense ripped starter Andrew Heaney for 7 runs on 8 hits. This was way more than Skubal needed. Both Skubal and Skenes had their problems in the rainy weather. They had almost identical lines. Skubal went 5 and 2/3 innings. He gave up 2 runs on 6 hits. He walked 3 batters and struck out 6. In game 2, Paul Skenes went 6 innings. He gave up 2 runs on 3 hits. He walked 5 and struck out 9. Both pitchers had trouble with control, walking more batters in one game than they had all year. Skenes left the game with the Pirates leading 4-2. Of course, the bullpen blew the lead. In the bottom of the 7th, it took the Tigers 3 batters to tie the game. The runs were given up by Isaac Mattson. In his defense, the home run ball he gave up was on a pitch that was almost over Colt Keith’s head. The Pirates brought out the home run ball early in game 2. Nick Gonzales and Andrew McCutchen hit solo home runs. Jared (I Should Be Playing Instead Of Hayes) Triolo hit a 2-run shot. This accounted for the Pirates’ 4 runs. After that, the Pirate offense died as usual. They went from the 4th through the 8th inning without getting a hit. In the 10th inning, things finally went their way.

Key Moments Of The Games: When the score is 9-2 there aren’t really any key moments. The one thing about game 1 was there were a lot of bloop hits. The Tigers had the vast majority, but the Pirates had a few of their own. With any luck, Heaney could have had a better outing. It would not have been good enough to win, but his stats would not have taken such a big hit. In the top of the 10th, the Pirates made two questionable moves, but it all turned out. They used Tommy Pham to run for Andrew McCutchen, who started the inning at 2nd base. Then they pinch-hit with Ke’Bryan Hayes to start the 10th. When Hayes singled and Pham was ruled safe at the plate, you knew the Pirates were going to win the game. Replay let the call stand, and Tigers manager A. J. Hinch was tossed from the game. The Pirates added 3 more runs, with Joey Bart and IKF getting the key RBI hits. David Bednar shut down the Tigers in the 10th. The Pirates had their split. That gave them a 2-5 road trip.

Next Game: Tonight, Rangers in Pittsburgh. The Pirates have a 3-game homestand with the Texas Rangers. The Pirates go from the frying pan into the fire. The new Jacob deGrom starts for the Rangers. He is new because he is trying to stay healthy for an entire season. His velocity is down about 2 to 3 MPH. He has been just as effective. The weather is supposed to be good. The Pirates will not have that to help them out. deGrom is not averaging 6 innings per game. Maybe the Pirates can score late. The starting lineup will be the key here. I am sure it will be wrong.

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Pirates Morning Report: Postponing The Inevitable

The Pirates and Tigers got rained out yesterday. They are playing a split doubleheader today. Some were saying that this would be an opportunity to see Tarik Skubal go up against Paul Skenes. Right now, it does not seem like this is going to happen. According to both ESPN and the Pirates’ website, Heaney is still going to face Skubal in game 1. Hopefully, this is true. Even if Skenes were to face Skubal, I think the Pirates would still lose. It would be less of an upset if Skenes and the Pirates won the game. At least with Skenes going in the nightcap, it gives the Pirates a better chance at splitting the games. The weather delay just postponed the possibility of the Pirates not getting a hit against Skubal.

A factor that might be in the Pirates’ favor is the current state of baseball. A lot of strange things are happening at the moment. The Yankees have lost 6 in a row. The Rays have won 11 of their last 15 games and are now 1.5 games behind the Yankees. This is why it is so frustrating being a Pirates fan. The Rays have the blueprint for a small market team’s success. The Pirates just don’t follow it. It is not a deep dark secret. The Mets have lost 5 in a row. The Phillies are now a game back of the Mets. The Dodgers have won 5 in a row. This has coincided with their 3 closest pursuers having losing streaks. The Giants have lost 4 games in a row. The Padres and Diamondbacks have lost 3 games in a row each. The Dodgers suddenly have a 4.5 game lead in the west. Finally, the Colorado Rockies have won 4 in a row. It has cut their run differential to minus 195. They scored 29 runs during this 4-game win streak. The Pirates have never scored 29 runs in any 4-game stretch. The unexpected is happening right now in baseball. If the Pirates beat Skubal today, it would be the biggest surprise of all. I still think there is more of a chance he will not give up a hit.

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Pirates Morning Report: Done In By The Long Ball

Final Score: Pirates 3 Tigers 7

Why The Pirates Lost: For one of the few times this season, the Pirate pitching staff got lit up. Bailey Falter and Carmen Mlodzinski each gave up 2 home runs. This accounted for 6 of the 7 Tiger runs. Three of the four home runs were on pitches that were pretty much right down the middle. Javier Baez hit 2 home runs on pitches that were right down the middle. The Pirates’ Triple P Offense started out well but then really died. I may have to change their name to the Double P Offense. For the second game in a row, they were less passive. They took 16 pitches for strikes. The Tigers took 22 pitches for strikes. The Pirates were definitely pathetic and putrid. In the first 2 and 1/3 innings of the game, the Pirates scored 3 runs on 4 hits. One of the runs was unearned thanks to a Tigers error. The rest of the game, the Pirates got one hit. The last 4 innings, they went 3 up, 3 down. Pathetic and putrid may be too kind. The Pirates do nothing to help the roster. As a result, this will go on for the rest of the season. The road trip spirals downward to 1-4.

Key Moments Of The Game: The score was tied 3-3 after the 5th inning. Bailey Falter had thrown 78 pitches. The Pirates removed him from the game. Granted, he had not pitched great, but his line was not that bad. He had given up 3 runs on 5 hits while walking 1. In came Mlodzinski. In 6 pitches, he gave up a single, a fly ball out, and a triple. The score was quickly 4-3. In the next 6 pitches, he got a strikeout and a line out. In those 5 batters, he did not get a swing and miss. Why he came out for the 7th, I will never know, but it ended the game. Javier Baez took two called strikes. On a 2-2 pitch, he blasted it into the seats for his second home run. The score was 5-3. After getting the next two outs, one of which Gleyber Torres took 3 called strikes, he hit the next batter. Riley Greene homered on a 3-2 pitch that was low and inside. The game was over. The Triple P Offense did not disappoint.

Next Game: Tonight, Tigers in Detroit. The Pirates will be going against Tarik Skubal. He is the left-handed version of Paul Skenes. Here is his most mind-boggling stat: in 90 innings, he has struck out 111 and walked 9. The Tigers are going to see the Bailey Falter clone Andrew Heaney. They need to make no adjustments. If the Pirates win tonight, it would be the upset of the season. In fact, if you were ever going to bet that a no-hitter would be thrown, tonight’s the night. Welcome to the 1-5 road trip.

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Pirate Morning Report: Time To Clean House

There is no question the Pirates have played better under Don Kelly. They have stayed pretty much right around .500. They are 17-18 since Kelly took over. Despite what you hear in the Pirates broadcast booth, the improved record is due to the Pirates’ pitching staff. They have performed even better under Kelly. The offense is not getting better, despite what you hear in the broadcast booth. The pitching staff is 9th in ERA+. That is up 6 spots since Kelly took over. The rotation is ranked 5th in baseball. The bullpen has seen the most improvement. They have gone from being the 20th-ranked bullpen all the way up to 9th. In part, this is due to the way Kelly manages the bullpen. The other surprise here is the Pirates are presently ranked the 4th best fielding team in baseball. This has to be their highest ranking since they started expanding the defensive metrics. It is obvious that the position players, and more particularly the offense, are holding the Pirates back. Let’s look at the main culprits.

Ke’Bryan Hayes is having his worst season as a pro. Thanks to his glove, he has always been around a 3.0 WAR player. In other words, a solid starter. Injury has been his big problem. This year, he has played in 67 of the Pirates’ 73 games. His offensive performance has been awful. His OPS+ is 60. Among players with at least 60 games for the Pirates this year, he is the worst hitter. At least Hayes has a positive WAR. Bryan Reynolds is even having a worse year. His WAR is negative 0.7. His OPS+ is next worst at 83. Top that off with the fact that he is a negative fielder in right field. Then there are the obvious problems: Tommy Pham, Jared Triolo, and Alexander Canario. They all hit worse than Hayes. Spencer Horwitz has only played 25 games, but he is certainly not lighting it up. To show you how bad this team is, Henry Davis is the 4th best position player on the team. I will pause here to allow everybody to go and throw up.

The trade deadline is about a month away. The Pirates need to cut ties with both Reynolds and Hayes. I don’t think they will get much for them, especially Hayes. There may be teams at the trade deadline that are desperate for a defensive 3rd baseman. Both have appealing contracts, and teams have big enough egos that they think they can “fix” players. The other players I think the Pirates should move, in the order that I think will result in the best return, are Mitch Keller, David Bednar, Andrew Heaney, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Heaney and IKF would be just rentals, becoming free agents at the end of the season. I think they should not wait until the trade deadline to unload Bednar. He is pitching well now but could go south again at any moment. If the return would be right, I could see them trading Joey Bart or Henry Davis. If the price is right, I could see them trading anyone except Cruz and Skenes. What the Pirates need is offense, and more specifically, power. They have lots of trade bait out there because teams are desperate for pitching. The question is, do the Pirates know this? I doubt it.

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Pirates Morning Report: Less Passive But Results The Same

Final Score: Pirates 2 Cubs 3 in 10 innings

Why The Pirates Lost: The Triple P Offense did improve on one of its P’s. They were a little less passive. They took 19 strikes for the game. In the first inning, when they scored their only 2 runs, they only took one strike. Oneil Cruz miraculously swung at every pitch in the strike zone for the game. He had a decent game, going 1 for 3 with a walk. His two outs were well-hit deep fly balls. The bottom 4 batters took 13 strikes for the game. Not a coincidence that they went 0 for 15 with a walk. The Pirates had 3 hits in the 1st inning. For the next 9 innings, they had 1 hit. The last 16 batters in the game made 14 outs with 2 walks. They were a little less passive, but pathetic and putrid continued. The Cubs did not really light it up either, but again the better ball club won. Mitch Keller pitched a respectable 6 innings, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits. He struck out 3 and walked 2. The Pirates are 1-3 on the road trip. It looks like it is headed for disaster.

Key Moments Of The Game: Both teams scored 2 runs in the 1st inning. For the next 7 and 1/2 innings, neither team had much traffic on the base paths. In the bottom of the 9th, the Cubs got some 2-out lightning off Dennis Santana. Dansby Swanson singled. Nico Hoerner doubled, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd. Santana almost threw a wild pitch to Justin Turner. Henry Davis made a great stop to temporarily save the game. Two pitches later, Turner grounded out to Hayes to end the threat. The Pirates could not score in the top of the 10th, thanks to poor situational hitting. The Pirates did the right thing by intentionally walking Kyle Tucker to start the bottom of the 10th. That was the last thing they did right. They fell asleep at the wheel, allowing the Cubs to double steal without even making a throw. David Bednar struck out Jon Berti. Here is where they should have intentionally walked Ian Happ. They did not, and the Pirate killer singled to end the game.

Next game: Tomorrow night, Tigers in Detroit. The Tigers have one of the better pitching staffs in the league. Most likely, the Pirates will face Tarik Skubal sometime in the series. Expect a no-hitter in that game. The Pirates are off today. Could they possibly make some kind of move to help the offense? Why do we even think like this? They will not. The Pirates were a little less passive; that is a step in the right direction. They still need to be more aggressive. Maybe they will trend in that direction. They will have an exhaustive practice day. That’s why some players will need two days of rest. McCutchen might even need three.