Month: September 2025

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Pirates Morning Report: Playoff Edition

Yes, I know the Pirates played their last game of the season yesterday, but who cares? They lost 3-1. The Pirate broadcast booth was as nauseating as ever, but even they said you could not sugarcoat this season. They left out that they tried like hell to do so. What is so depressing to me is that I do not see any changes coming. I do not even think they will fire the hitting coach. I’m not sure how to spell his last name, and I’m not going to look it up. I was going to do a playoff edition tomorrow, but I needed something to cheer me up. Therefore, I am doing it today. This will give a little more time to see if I am wrong about the pitiful Pirates. But enough of them already, and on to playoffs.

This should be the best baseball playoffs since they expanded the fields. Three of the four wild card series are toss-ups. I do not think anybody will be surprised by who wins the Tigers-Guardians, Padres-Cubs, and Red Sox-Yankees series. The Dodgers will be the solid favorite over the Reds. The Dodgers have already helped out the Reds by not putting Clayton Kershaw on the wild card roster. I pity any left-handed pitcher on the Dodgers in this series. They had better be perfect. Kershaw had a solid year for the Dodgers. He has an ERA+ of 118, and they recently tried him out of the bullpen. The Dodger bullpen is their weakest area. I cannot imagine the rationale for not having him on the roster. Maybe they want to give the Reds a fighting chance. Even so, I do not think the Reds will pull off the shocker. I know predictions are a dime a dozen. I have not a clue who might win the other three series. The Padres and Cubs split the six games they played against each other this year. In the other two series, there is a decided edge. The Red Sox beat the Yankees nine out of 13 times. The Guardians beat the Tigers eight out of 13 times. We will see if that has any meaning in the playoffs. Here is the one prediction I will make. No matter who wins the wild card round, that is as far as they are going. I feel that all four bye teams are going to win their respective series and face each other in the Championship Series. Speaking of predictions, I did not do badly on my preseason predictions on the Mets, Yankees, and Dodgers. I said the Mets would not make the playoffs. I said the Yankees would not make the playoffs. Wrong on that one. Despite some significant bumps in the road, the Yankees did much better than I expected. I said the Dodgers would not be as dominant as everybody said they would be. I said they would make the playoffs but not the World Series. So far, so good on that one. I feel that at least half of the wild card round will go three games. That has not happened since the expanded playoff formula. It will be great just watching some solid baseball being played. After watching the Pirates desecrate the game 162 times, it will be like being in Shangri-La. Tuesday, the fun begins.

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Pirates Morning Report: Just One More Game To Go

It was another great pitching performance that gave the Pirates a 3-1 victory over the Braves. Bubba Chandler went 5 and 2/3 innings, giving up 1 run on 4 hits. He struck out 6 and issued no walks. He threw 86 pitches. Chase Shugart, Justin Lawrence, and Dennis Santana finished up in grand style. Together they gave up just one hit, striking out 6 and did not walk a batter. The AAA boys had a big game. They went 5 for 12, including a Henry Davis home run. The only bad thing about this game was the nauseating optimism coming from the Pirate broadcast booth. This Pirate team has big problems. Having some lousy players come up with good performances in meaningless games is no reason to sound optimistic. It is time to get real here. Let’s take a look at how bad this team is position by position. The following rankings are determined by Baseball Reference. Remember there are 30 teams in baseball.

The Pirates have the 26th best catcher. Those duties have been split pretty much equally by Joey Bart and Henry Davis. Bart has 303 plate appearances and Davis 276. The 1st base position is ranked 15th. Spencer Horwitz’s recent batting surge has helped move this position to the top half barely. Spoiler alert: This is the only position that is in the top half. Nick Gonzales and Adam Frazier early in the season have played 2nd base the most. Combined, they rank 27th in baseball. Even with Ke’Bryan Hayes’s outstanding glove, the 3rd base position is ranked 21st. The Pirate shortstops, led by IKF, come in at 20th. Tommy Pham has played the most in left field with 420 plate appearances. With his recent slump, the Pirates rank 20th. Oneil Cruz, with all his offensive and defensive issues, ranks 27th when it comes to centerfielders. Bryan Reynolds, who has appeared in right field the most, is ranked 21st. Andrew McCutchen is ranked 29th as a DH. To put this in perspective, McCutchen is a worse DH than Cruz is a centerfielder when compared with others at the position. Anybody see the glass half full here? The body of work here borders on the embarrassing. If the Pirates do not make any changes, they would probably set the record for bounce back seasons by their players. These rankings are based on each player’s overall play, including fielding, hitting, and baserunning. The Pirates, through most of the season, have had 13 position players on the team. It makes you wonder if they should keep any of them—maybe 3 to 5 at the most. What will most likely happen is that all but 1 or 2 will be on the team next year. But let’s hear some more optimism from that shill of a Pirate broadcast booth. Thank God it is over today.

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Pirates Morning Report: It Was Like Old Home Week

The Pirate offense exploded for 9 runs on 14 hits with 3 walks. Spencer Horwitz is on a tear right now. Last night he went 3 for 3 with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs. The AAA boys went 3 for 14 but did have an RBI and scored 2 runs. The Pirates did all of this against none other than Joey (I Guess The Braves Need Pitching) Wentz. He was making his 13th start for the Braves. Wow! In his last 7 starts, he has given up 25 runs in a little over 29 innings. Another wow! He was relieved by Hunter (Getting Revenge) Stratton. He came in during the top of the 5th with runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs. He promptly walked the first batter he faced to load the bases. He gets out of the jam by striking out Pham and Suwinski. He gets Nick Yorke to ground out to end the inning. Stratton, you the man. Charlie Morton is scheduled to start on Sunday. There are former Pirates everywhere on this team. No wonder they missed the playoffs.

Today I want to discuss the Pirates management team. We found out this week that Ben Cherington’s contract runs through the 2027 season. This makes his firing after this season much less likely. He has secured one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. He also has secured the worst offense in baseball. The big question is, is it Cherington or is it Nutting? Is it live or is it Memorex? Were Cherington’s hands so tied by Nutting’s unwillingness to spend that he really could not improve the offense? Even going with that premise, I still think that Cherington should be fired. He, along with most of the Pirates front office, should go. Players just have not developed under this regime. In fact, they have all gotten worse over the last 4 years. The list just goes on: Ji Hwan Bae, Henry Davis, Oneil Cruz, Matt Gorski, Liover Peguero, Jack Suwinski, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Alika Williams, Rodolfo Castro, Travis Swaggerty, and Canaan Smith-Njigba. The jury is still out on Nick Gonzales, Billy Cook, Nick Yorke, Cam Devanney, and Tsung-Che Cheng. The Pirates have had pitching blunders too. Tyler Glasnow, Quinn Priester, and Clay Holmes all went on to post much better numbers with other teams. If this isn’t evidence that the player development department needs to be totally cleaned out, I don’t know what is. Anybody associated with hitting instruction should be fired. This was a team going into the 2024 season that thought they were going to contend for the division title. They did not even come close in 2024 and 2025. This leads to the final question: Should Don Kelly be retained? The short answer is no. Sure, he is an improvement over Derek (The Shadow) Shelton. A Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader would have been an improvement over Derek Shelton. My apologies to the cheerleading profession. The problem with this team is the same as it has always been. They look like they have a lot of good young talent. It just never seems to develop. The other constant failure is that they can never get the one or two pieces needed, either by free agency or trade, to put the team over the top. It has been going on for 6 years under this regime. It seems like it would be a no-brainer that changes need to be made. Only time will tell, but I am not optimistic.

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Pirates Morning Report: The Pirates Must Have Had A Plane To Catch

Final Score: Pirates 1 Reds 2

Why The Pirates Lost: The game was delayed for 1 hour and 22 minutes. Once the game started, the Pirates were in a big hurry to lose. They swung at 24 balls out of the strike zone and struck out 14 times. Only 3 of those strikeouts were over 5 pitches. Despite all the strikeouts, the Reds’ pitchers only threw 112 pitches for 9 innings. Compare that with 122 pitches the Pirates threw for 8 innings. The Pirates made 6 outs swinging at the first pitch. The game took 2 hours and 16 minutes to play. The Pirates were probably going to have to pay extra for their flight to Atlanta if they made the plane wait. I am sure the orders before the game were to swing at anything close to the plate. The Pirates had 3 hits and only 2 at-bats with runners in scoring position. They got the run in the 8th by concession. The AAA boys were 0 for 7 with 4 strikeouts. They followed orders and made the other 3 outs on 3 pitches. Braxton Ashcraft gave up 8 hits in 4 and 1/3 innings. Unfortunately, he gave up 4 of those in the same inning, enabling the Reds to score 2 runs. It would be all the runs they would need with the Pirates pressed for time.

Key Moments Of The Game: It was the rain delay that put the Pirates in a time crunch. It is the only plausible explanation for the Pirates’ hitting approach. They struck out 11 times in the first 6 innings. They had two hits. They put nine balls in play. They did a little better after that, only striking out 3 more times in the last 3 innings. By then, they knew they had plenty of time to catch their plane. They scored a run in the top of the 8th. Spencer Horwitz had a pinch-hit double with no outs. He moved around and scored on two ground outs. I guess they felt no need to pinch-run for him this time. The big play of the game came in the top of the 9th for the Reds. Bryan Reynolds took a 3-0 fastball and lifted it 348 feet to right field. He needed to hit it 352 feet. Noelvi Marte timed his jump perfectly and snagged the ball just as it was heading over the wall. McCutchen swung at the first pitch, what else, and flied out to right field to end the game.

Next Game: Tonight, the Braves in Atlanta. The season mercifully comes to an end with 3 games in Atlanta. The only team more disappointing than the Pirates may be the Braves. They spent a lot more money than the Pirates did to stink. Since these games are meaningless, the Morning Report will take a little different format. I will give a brief summary of the game and then discuss what the Pirates should do in various areas once the season is done. I want to do this before the season ends because I want to get it out of my system while there is still time. I have a sinking feeling that none of what should happen is going to happen. Thank God this is the last weekend.

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Pirates Morning Report: Reds Can’t Even Beat Ramirez

Final Score: Pirates 4 Reds 3 in 11 innings

Why The Pirates Won: The Reds continue to take the pipe. The Pirates did everything they could to see the Reds through this game. They ran the bases like Helen Keller. They struck out 12 times. They took out the star of the game. They replaced him with a pinch runner who should not even be in the Major Leagues. He immediately got doubled off second on a line drive. Despite all of this, the Reds could not win the game. They struck out 14 times. They were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position. They left 13 men on base. For his last start of 2025, Paul Skenes was great as usual. He went 6 innings giving up no runs on 4 hits. He struck out 6 and walked none, throwing only 85 pitches. He lowered his ERA for the season to 1.97. He is a lock to win the Cy Young Award. Thanks to the putrid Pirates, he will be the first pitcher in history to win the award with a .500 record. The AAA boys had their ups and downs. They went 1 for 10 with 3 strikeouts. Jack Suwinski had the big hit in the top of the 10th to drive in the 3rd run of the game. They made the baserunning blunder in the top of the 11th. Of course, they would not have had a chance to make the blunder if Don Kelly had not made the bonehead move to take Spencer Horwitz out of the game. He was having his best game of the year. He was 3 for 5, driving in 3 of the 4 runs. It is a good thing the Reds are choking their guts out down the stretch, or the Pirates would have certainly lost this one.

Key Moment Of Game: It all boiled down to the bottom of the 11th inning. Yohan (What The Hell Am I Doing Out Here) Ramirez got the last out of the 10th inning and came out for the 11th. He struck out Tyler Stephenson, getting him to chase 2 balls out of the strike zone. He walked Will Benson. Matt McLain fouled out to Bryan Reynolds on a ball that barely stayed in play. He walked T.J. Friedl to load the bases with 2 outs. This brought up Noelvi Marte, who was 2 for 5 with an inside-the-park home run. The count went to 3 balls and 1 strike. Ramirez threw a fastball pretty much right down the middle. Marte rolled it over right to Triolo, who stepped on 3rd to end the game. In the inning, Ramirez had thrown 27 pitches. He only threw 10 pitches that were in the strike zone. Somehow, the Reds did not score with a runner on second and no outs. Fortunately for the Reds, the Diamondbacks and the Mets lost. Four games are left. I would not bet on the Reds.

Next Game: This afternoon, the Reds in Cincinnati. This is the last meaningful game the Pirates will play this year. Will the Reds be able to beat the Pirates once? It is satisfying to watch the Pirates put a damper on the Reds’ postseason chances. It would be so nice to see the sweep. Braxton Ashcraft will go for the Pirates. He is an easy pitcher to evaluate. If he can throw strikes, the Reds will not have a chance. Ashcraft only gets into trouble if he starts to walk people. I will enjoy watching this team choke away another victory. Of course, you can never tell about these Pirates. They might just try harder to see that the Reds salvage one game of the series.

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Pirates Morning Report: The Reds Taking The Pipe

Final Score: Pirates 4 Reds 2

Why The Pirates Won: Thanks to great pitching, the Pirates won their 3rd game in a row. They had a 4-run 2nd inning highlighted by a big 2-out, 2-run homer by Oneil Cruz. Johan Oviedo had another interesting 4 and 2/3 innings. He gave up 2 runs on just 2 hits; however, one hit was a 2-run homer by Elly De La Cruz. He struck out 7 but walked 3. For whatever reason, he was not allowed to get the third out of the 5th inning, having thrown only 82 pitches. The Reds helped out by getting thrown out at 2nd base on a ball that bounced away from new catcher Rafael Flores. He made a spectacular play to throw out the runner. This was the beginning of many missed opportunities for the Reds. The AAA boys did okay. They went 3 for 12 with a run scored and 3 strikeouts. It was the pitching staff that shone again. The bullpen gave up 3 hits over the last 4 innings. They struck out 3 with no walks. Hunter Barco made his major league debut. He was obviously nervous but hung in there, giving up 0 runs on 2 hits.

Key Moments Of The Game: As good as the Pirate pitching was, the Reds batters were definitely pressing. Against Barco, they had the 1st and 3rd with 2 outs. Matt McLain rolled over a slider to ground out to short to end the inning. This pattern would prove even more costly in the last 3 innings. To start the 7th, Will Benson struck out on a pitch that was so bad it hit him and rolled to the backstop. One out later, Sal Stewart rolled over a sinker to short for a double play. In the bottom of the 8th, the Reds opened with a single. One out later, Miguel Andujar took an inside fastball and grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. The bottom of the 9th saw the nightmare continue. The Reds got a one-out walk. McLain did it again. This time he took an outside slider and pulled it right to third. The 5-4-3 double play was routine and the game was over. The uptight Reds grounded into double plays in 3 consecutive innings. Contending for a playoff spot is a bitch, man.

Next Game: Tonight Reds in Cincinnati. The big guns go tonight. Paul Skenes faces Hunter Greene. For whatever reason, the Pirates have not done badly against Greene. This comes under the heading of a must-win for the Reds. Right now, they trail the Mets by one game in the wild card. The Diamondbacks are tied with the Reds. If the Reds lose tonight and the Mets win, then they would be 2 games back with just 4 to play. The Reds will have to find a way to beat the best pitcher in baseball. It is a big chore for a team that is really feeling the pressure. At least we have an interesting game to watch down the stretch.

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Pirates Morning Report: The Pirates Offensive Woes

Anyone who follows the Pirates, even casually, knows that the Pirate offense has been bad this year. If you take a deep dive in, it is even worse than you could imagine. This team’s problems on offense run throughout the team. The Pirates were not good offensively in 2023 and 2024. In 2025, they have dropped off the face of the earth. They are the worst in baseball in runs scored, home runs, slugging, OPS, and total bases. They are between 26th and 29th in hits, doubles, batting average, OBP, leaving the most men on base, grounding into double plays, and OPS+. They have the 7th highest number of strikeouts. Believe it or not, they do have a few stats in the top half of the league. They are 11th in walks. That stat, to me, is mind-blowing. Why would you ever walk these guys? They are 15th in stolen bases with a league-average 77% success rate. That is amazing also since they don’t get on base that often. They are 12th in the league in triples. In practically all the hitting stats, the Pirates are in the bottom 5 of the league. That is after they scored 11 runs on Sunday.

Almost every player who played for the Pirates last year has sunk to new lows when it comes to hitting. OPS is calculated by adding a player’s on-base percentage and his slugging percentage. It gives an overall view of how a player is batting. There were only 2 Pirates whose OPS improved this year, and one of those should not count. Jared Triolo went from .611 in 2024 to .688 in 2025. League average is .720. Our most improved batter is 32 points below league average. The other “improved” hitter is Henry Davis. He went from .453 in 2024 to .500 so far in 2025. He just went from being very pathetic to just pathetic. Here is how far each Pirate has dropped in his OPS so far this year when compared with 2024. There were some that you thought could not get any worse but managed to do so. Bryan Reynolds -72, Oneil Cruz -91, Nick Gonzales -32, Ke’Bryan Hayes -29, Andrew McCutchen -31, and Joey Bart -91 have all had significant drops in their hitting. Special mention goes to Jack Suwinski, who dropped from .588 to .508. There have been 388 players that have had over 150 plate appearances this year. Henry Davis is ranked 387th in OPS. Jack Suwinski is 383rd. Do you think something is wrong here? I would not play either player in these last 6 games to avoid them getting worse.

Will anybody be held accountable for this mess? To me, it is highly unlikely. Will heads roll at the end of the season? Who knows? These are the facts, Jack. The Pirates were shut out 16 times this year. Nineteen times they scored 1 run. Thirty-two times they scored 2 runs. Sixty-seven games they scored 2 runs or less. That is over 40% of the season. This team has been in last place since April 24th. Tell me who deserves to keep their job. Please, someone make the case. I am dying to see it.

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Pirates Morning Report: Blowing Out The A’s

Final Score: Pirates 11 A’s 0

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates threw their 19th shutout of the season. The offense came alive for 11 runs. The AAA boys had their game of the year. They went 6 for 10 with a home run, 3 RBIs, and 3 runs scored. The Pirates had 15 hits that included 2 home runs and 5 doubles. Mike Burrows ran through the raindrops in the first 4 innings but did not give up a run. He gave up 5 hits, and it took 74 pitches. Carmen Mlodzinski went 3 innings, giving up just 2 hits. Yohan Ramirez and Dauri Moreta finished up the shutout. For the 2nd straight game, the Pirates staff did not issue a walk. They ended their final home game on a high note.

Key Moments Of The Game: The first inning told the story of this game. In the top of the first, the A’s had runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out. Burrows struck out the next batter and got a fly ball out to end the inning. In the bottom of the inning, the Pirates had 2 outs and nobody on base. Bryan Reynolds singled, and Spencer Horwitz walked. Andrew McCutchen singled, scoring Reynolds. Nick Gonzales doubled, and the Pirates had a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the 2nd, the Pirates had a runner on 1st with 2 outs. Jared (I Am Great In Meaningless Games) Triolo hit a home run to make it 4-0. The Pirates were off and running. Joey Bart had a huge day. He went 4 for 4, including a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 5th.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, the Reds in Cincinnati. The Pirates will be thrust back into the playoff race. The Reds are tied with the slumping Mets for the last wild card spot. The Diamondbacks are only 1 game back. It should be an interesting week for the Pirates. Both wild card races are still very much undecided. In the American League, the Tigers and Guardians face off in Cleveland. The Tigers will be trying to avoid one of the biggest collapses in the history of baseball. On July 6th, the Tigers were 15 and 1/2 games ahead of the Guardians. When the series opens in Cleveland tomorrow night, the lead will be down to one game. This week will be baseball at its best. Too bad the Pirates have to be involved.

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Pirates Morning Report: Dominate Pitching Leads To Win

Final Score: Pirates 2 A’s 0

Why The Pirates Won: It was the Pirate youngsters that had a big game. Twenty-three-year-old Bubba Chandler gave up just one hit over the first 5 innings. He struck out 6 and walked 0. He did hit a batter. Braxton Ashcraft, 25, did not give up a hit in 3 innings of relief. He struck out 6 and walked 0. Dennis Santana pitched a perfect 9th to pick up his 14th save of the year. The Pirate staff gave up just one hit while striking out 13 and walking none. At least the one hit was not a cheapie. It was a line drive double by Jacob Wilson to left center field with 2 outs in the top of the 2nd. The Pirate offense was as pathetic as ever but hit two home runs. Nick Yorke hit his first this year in the bottom of the 2nd. Brian Reynolds led off the 3rd with his 16th home run. Those two runs would be enough with such a dominant pitching performance. In fact, both pitching staffs dominated after that. In the last 5 and a half innings of play, there was only one base runner. Nick York singled in the bottom of the 4th. The game took only 1 hour and 52 minutes to play. As I have written before, the pitching staff wins another one. This was the Pirates’ 66th win. Eighteen have been by shutout. The AAA boys did little going 1 for 7.

Key Moments Of The Game: Bubba Chandler struck out the side in the first inning, quickly establishing his dominance. He got the third out of the inning after the Wilson double. In the last game, the A’s scored four runs on only four hits. You felt this might happen again if they had gotten a big two-out hit. The Pirates’ staff kept the A’s in the ballpark. The Pirates were able to bring out the rare long ball to get the win. They have hit the fewest home runs in baseball. With the two home runs last night, this put them 21 home runs behind the 29th place San Diego Padres. It is really hard to believe.

Next Game: This afternoon, A’s in Pittsburgh. Mike Burrow goes today in the final home game of the season. The Pirates have a chance to win a series, a rare occurrence over the last 14 games. It would be nice to see the Pirates play just the young guys over these final 7 games. No Pham, no Horwitz, no McCutchen. I know it won’t happen; it just makes too much sense.

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Pirates Morning Report: Taking Ineptness To The Next Level

Final Score: Pirates 3 A’s 4

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirates out-hit the A’s 10 to 4. The Pirates drew 4 walks. They only had one inning when they were retired in order. The AAA boys were 3 for 13 with 4 strikeouts. As usual, the Pirates did not hit when it counted. They were 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position. They stranded 11 runners. The A’s hit two home runs, which accounted for all of their runs. They were 1-1 with runners in scoring position. They left 2 men on base. Mitch Keller took the loss to drop his record to 6 and 15. He went 5 innings, giving up the 4 runs on 4 hits. He walked 1 while striking out 4. The bullpen pitched the final 4 innings without giving up a hit. This was mostly the B squad. The outfield flashed some nice leather last night. Suwinski, Cruz, and Reynolds all made some nice running catches. Despite a lot of positives in this game, the Pirates’ offense could only push across the 3 runs in the first inning. It was not enough as the late summer swoon continues.

Key Moments Of The Game: Mitch Keller was perfect through the first 3 innings. He got the 1st two outs in the top of the 4th. Nick Kurtz took an up-and-in strike zone pitch and lofted a high fly ball that just kept carrying. It went 363 feet over the Clemente wall for a home run. The next two batters had higher exit velocities than the home run. In the top of the 5th, Keller committed the cardinal sin of walking a .174 hitter. He walked him on 4 pitches, no less. This put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs. Henry Davis went out to the mound and had a long conversation with Keller. It must have been about what they like on cheeseburgers. He got behind the next batter, Lawrence Butler, 2-1. He threw a 90 MPH changeup right down the middle of the plate. Butler did not miss it. He hit it 110 MPH and 424 feet for a 3-run homer. The A’s had the lead 4-3. The Pirates had their chances to tie the game but failed miserably. In the bottom of the 7th, with 1st and 2nd and one out, Pham flew out and Gonzales grounded out. You can call the bottom of the 9th Pham’s revenge for not being traded or waived. The inning opened with a double by Rafael Flores. Miraculously, Bryan Reynolds moved him over to third on a ground out. McCutchen walked, putting runners on first and third with one out. Up stepped Tommy Pham with a big smile on his face. He swung at a pitch well outside the strike zone. The next pitch was on the outside corner, a little above the knees. Instead of trying to go with the pitch, he pulled it right to the 3rd baseman. The A’s took their time turning the double play and still had Pham out by 5 feet. Revenge is sweet.

Next Game: Tonight, A’s in Pittsburgh. The Pirates have now lost 12 of their last 13 games. It will be interesting to see the Pirate broadcast booth come up with positive things to say about this team. They should open the broadcast by saying the Pirates have lost 12 of 13 games and they really stink. If they opened like that, do you think it would really keep the gathering down? The Pirates’ offense took ineptness to a new level last night. At least they raised their batting averages some. Good luck tonight, Bubba Chandler. You are going to need it.