Author: vet4golfing51

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Golf: End Of Handicap Season Wrap Up

Needless to say, the golf diary ended about 2 months ago, and even though hell did not freeze over, I continued to play. I am at 132 rounds and counting. The season has a ways to go, but the handicap season is coming to a close. I stopped the diary format because as much as a stats geek guy I am, when it comes to baseball, I’m about as much of a non-stats guy when it comes to golf. Unlike a lot of people who put a lot of emphasis on greens in regulation, I’m all about the putts. Putting is the most important part of the game. This is a very hard thing for most golfers to accept. With all the tinkering and swing changes we go through to try and hit the ball better, it is not a surprise that many golfers feel the most important thing in golf is to hit the green. I have had many a good round in my life where I have hit less than 6 greens in the round. I consider a good round 3 over par or better. I have never had a good round where my putting total is 34 or over. It is a simple equation. If you make putts, you score and if you don’t you don’t. Ball striking is a very complex process. Putting is a very simple process. It takes a man to hook and fade a golf ball at will. Anybody can putt. This is the ball striker’s mantra. Unfortunately, it is not true. Putting is what separates the men from the boys, so get over it. Putting is the most important part of golf and I do not need any stat analyses to tell me that.

The good news this year is that I shot my age 73 seven times this year, after failing to do it at all last year. I had four 71’s, two 72’s and one 73. In all 7 rounds I had 28 putts or less. Since the last golf diary on July 31st I have been the model of inconsistency. I have shot two of the 71’s but also shot 90. I am on a bit of a run now with 7 straight rounds in 70’s. I almost got my 6th hole in one when I left a 7 iron on the 15th hole at South Park 1.5 inches short of the pin. I got a new set of irons and ditched the graphite shafted Titleist AP 3’s. That has improved my iron play from horrible to mediocre. I have been driving the ball well. The short game is mediocre, and the putting is really up and down. The yips have been bad to ok. The one thing that has plagued me in my so-called senior years is the horrible shot. I am the perfect example of it is not where your good shots go as much as where your bad shots go. They are definitely round killers. I am working on a new iron philosophy that started on shots from 50 to 100 yards. Once I got inside 90 yards, I would start to use my 60 degree wedge and make the adjustment when I got closer to the hole. In the last 2 weeks, I have started hitting my gap wedge (48 degree) or my pitching wedge (44 degree) when I have a shot of less than 100 yards, depending on how much green I have to work with. The results have been good so far, which is a big reason why I am on this little 70 run. I have begun to apply this to some longer shots depending on the situation. I will hit my 6 iron 160 yards instead of the normal 170 to 175. I have just started doing this, so it is hard to tell what the effect will be on my scoring abilities. Will update when appropriate.

I will end the year with a handicap index of 5.8. During the year I got it down to as low as 4.0 and it reached a high of 6.2. Most of the increase was due to the bad shots mentioned previously and to some horrible putting. I really had some great putting rounds through about the middle of June. Since then, I have struggled on the greens with just a few good putting rounds sprinkled in. The Handicap season is over but playing golf will continue as long as the weather holds up. I played 7 rounds beyond this date last year. Hopefully, I may be able to get more in this year. No matter how many rounds I play I am going to start a little series about the mysteries of golf of which there are many. The articles may be endless. Let’s hope not.

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Pirates Morning Report: Baseball Season Over, Rangers Win World Series.

The Texas Rangers win the World Series 4 games to 1 over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Rangers had an amazing playoff run not losing one game on the road. In a nutshell, they were the only team where their offense did not disappear for an extended period of time. The Rangers were 13-4 in the playoffs. They scored 3 runs or less 5 times and were able to win 3 of those games. In the 3 games in Arizona, the Diamondbacks scored 1 run in game 3 and 0 runs in game 5. They fell behind 10-0 in game 4 and were able to score 4 in the 8th and 2 in the bottom of the 9th to make the score respectable, but this was against the B squad of the Rangers bullpen. The Rangers deserved this title, and it was nice to see Bruce Bochy win another series. The Rangers fans get to celebrate the franchise’s first World Series title. For whatever reason, when the Diamondbacks got home, they became their own worst enemies.

It started in the 3rd game when Christian Walker led off with a double in the top of the 2nd inning. Tommy Pham hit a sharp single to right field. Walker went right through a stop sign and was thrown out at the plate. Many people were on the 3rd base coach for waving him on as he was heading to 3rd, and then putting up the stop sign, when he hit the bag. The argument was that the 3rd base coach should have anticipated that if the ball was hit to right field sharply, that he should have automatically held up the runner, because of the strong arm of Ardolis Garcia. I guess this is true when the runner on second puts his head down about 30 feet from 3rd base and never looks up again. In my view this bonehead baserunning play was all on the runner. I do not think it has been proven that you run faster with your head down compared with your head up and looking straight ahead. The Diamondbacks continued to pitch to Corey Seager even after Garcia was scratched from the rest of series. He made them pay and he made them pay big. In the final game the Diamondbacks could not get the big hit. They had 6 walks and 5 hits but could not score because they went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position and leaving 11 runners on base. It was just like watching the Pirates and I thought I was done with that. For the second straight year, the 6th seed of the National League, screwed up the playoffs but could not pull out a championship.

The season ends and now the off season begins, with the Pirates most likely just sitting on their hands watching other teams improve their teams. This was a new era for baseball with all the rule changes and I must say they worked out marvelously. I liked all the rule changes, but I was skeptical of how much not allowing shifts would have an impact. It had a huge impact. There were many balls hit just to the left and right of 2nd base that would have been outs if the shift had still been allowed. Baseball was a much more entertaining product thanks to the rule changes, including the ghost runner on 2nd to start the extra innings. It will be interesting to see if there is any tweaking of the playoffs. I not too sure what they can do but I am sure there is going to be some talking going on to see if they can give the lower seeds more of an advantage. The only thing that I think might help is to start the wild card series the very next day after the regular season. Then start the division series the very next day after the Wild Card series ends, even if it is a sweep. This way there would not be such a down time period for the teams that have a first round bye. I don’t know if there really is anything that can be done. This is just what happens in playoff sports. However, because the baseball season is so long, people just want the regular season to have a greater significance when deciding who will make it to the World Series. My next blog will be about what baseball really should do to crown a champion, but I know they won’t. Of course, I will blog when the Pirates do something significant between now and opening day. That means my next blog about them will probably be in March.

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Kid At Heart

Another writing prompt ask when you knew you became an adult or something like that, and there were a few answers that said they never did. When I was kid I played a lot of sports on the playground. I did play some organized sports, mainly baseball, but most of the time it was just pick up games with the neighborhood kids. I watched a lot of sports. I was a good student and did my homework with no prodding. I always enjoyed watching movies and TV shows and reading. Believe it or not, over the course of about 10 years I read the Bible twice. As I got into my later “kid years” I got more obsessed with golf and played every chance I got. I was always stubborn and was going to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. I was an only kid, so I did not have to share with anybody, but I had no problem letting friends use my stuff. I never even minded if I did not get it back. My stuff never hugged me. I was always curious about things. In school I was a bit of a math whiz, which was the main reason I did well in college and got into veterinary school. Naturally when I became an adult by age, I got a job and had a career. Now I am retired and 73 years old. Other than playing on a playground, I do everything today that I did as a kid. The only difference is that I do not have parents bugging the crap out of me. I guess you could say I am a kid at heart, but I much prefer being thought of as just a kid.

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Three Wishes

Wish No. 1: That mankind would somehow figure it out. For whatever reason humans want to kill themselves or kill each other. They do not care about the earth being ruined. This is nothing new, but it does seem like an easy fix. Maybe that’s the problem, but if the wish came true then a lot of problems would be solved.

Wish No. 2: That I would be able to figure out the game of golf. I have been playing for over 60 years and the game remains a total mystery. This will be the subject of many future blogs but if that wish came true then I would be a contented man.

Wish No. 3: That the Pirates and the Steelers and the Ohio State Buckeyes would win one more Championship before I die. Ohio State, I wouldn’t care if it was football or basketball. I would like to experience that feeling one more time. I have been fortunate enough to experience those feelings multiple times with each team. I still want to see one more with each of them.

Well, there it is, mankind, golf and my favorite sports teams. When you are old you don’t care about money, success or fame. I could have wished for good health for all my loved ones, but this is fantasy time so why bother. The first wish hasn’t a chance in hell of happening in the next 100 years. The other two have at least a chance of happening. Ohio State has the best chance of having a championship in the next 5 to 10 years. The Pirates and Steelers chances are probably around 20% the next decade. As for me figuring out the game of golf. Not likely at all, but it won’t be for lack of trying.

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Pirates Morning Report: Series Tied Heading To Arizona

After 2 games the World Series between the Diamondbacks and the Rangers is all tied up at a game apiece. The first game was about as exciting as it gets with the Rangers walking it off in the bottom of the 11th on an Adolis Garcia home run. Game 2 was tight through the first 6 innings with the Diamondbacks clinging to a 2-1 lead. The Diamondbacks broke it open in the last 3 innings, scoring 2 in the 7th, 3 in the 8th, and 2 more in the 9th to win going away 9-1. Winning the 2nd game was almost a must for Arizona after the heartbreaking loss on Friday. Playing a solid game and carrying a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the 9th, Diamondbacks seemed poised to win the opener. With Paul Seward having been so solid in these playoffs, you had to figure that the Diamondbacks would pull it off. The dreaded walk came back to haunt Seward, as it just looked like Corey Seager guessed right smashing an up and in fastball that could have been just a hair more up and in, to tie the game. So far, the series has not disappointed with each team playing their kind of baseball. Now we head back to Arizona tonight for games 3 through 5.

The Diamondbacks did what they had to do in getting a split in the first 2 games. I think the most significant thing in game 2, was that the Diamondbacks held the Rangers to just 4 hits. This post season has been highlighted by team’s offenses just disappearing for a fatal 2 to 3 games. This could be the start of such occurrence for the Rangers. It will not be so much, if the Rangers win or lose tonight, but how they win or lose. If they score 5 or more runs, then I think they are back on track and will go on and take the series. If they are held in check again by the Diamondbacks pitching, even with a low scoring 2-1 win, then I think they might be in trouble. The Diamondbacks have been playing their game. In game one they had 4 stolen bases and one sacrifice bunt. In game 2 they had 1 stolen base and 3 sacrifice bunts They sacrifice bunt more than any team in baseball. Even though the Diamondbacks seem to be firing on all cylinders I do expect the series to make it back to Arlington. However, for that to happen, the Ranger offense must resurface sooner than later.

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Pirates Morning Report: World Series, Rangers vs. Diamondbacks

The World Series is set to begin tonight and for the second year in a row the National League is sending the 6th seeded team to the fall classic. Last year it was the Phillies and this year the Diamondbacks. Unlike last year when the American League sent the No. 1 seed, the 4th seeded Texas Rangers will represent the junior circuit. I usually write about the playoffs, but due to travel commitments I really ran into a time crunch and failed to do so. I am glad now that I did not, because I would have wasted all this finger energy typing what I thought would happen. I was so wrong. Essentially, I thought the playoffs would go pretty much according to the seeding with the Orioles playing the Astros in the ALCS and the Dodgers facing off against the Braves in the NLCS. I thought if any teams would be the fly in the ointment, it would be the Phillies in the National League and the Rays in the American League. The Phillies were the only thing I was even close to being right about. Let’s look at some of the surprises and oddities of this 2023 playoff season.

The wild card series were all 2-game sweeps. The home team was swept 3 out of the 4 series with only the Phillies winning at home. With the exception of the Brewers, the losing teams simply could not hit. In the two games, the Blue Jays scored 1 run, the Rays 1 run, and the Marlins 2 runs. With that kind of offense, you are not going to beat anybody, even the Pirates. What I found most interesting was that the losing managers did not seem to have any sense of urgency in these short series. I felt they let their starting pitchers in too long and it cost them mightily. For all of their pitching prowess, the Brewers staff got lit up for 11 runs in the 2 games. The Brewers offense could not compete with that.

In the division series, the surprises continued with Orioles and Dodgers getting swept 3-0. The Orioles, although a surprise to me, was not a surprise to a lot of people. Fan Graphs had them has the team with the least chance of getting to the World Series. They turned out to be correct, but I was still mystified because they had the best record in the American League. The Rangers had no problem blowing them out of the playoffs outscoring them 21-11 in the three games. The Eastern Division of the American League, touted all year as the toughest division in baseball did not win a playoff game, let alone a series. Even more shocking was the Diamondbacks sweep of the Dodgers. From Clayton Kershaw only getting 1 out in the first inning in Game 1, to Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman getting just one hit between them in all three games, it was a total disaster for the Dodgers. The Dodgers could only score 2 runs in each game. You may be ablet to beat the Pirates doing that, but not too many other teams. Another hitting machine the Atlanta Braves could not muster an attack against the Phillies, as they scored only a total of 3 runs in the 3 games they lost. The Minnesota Twins held their own with the Astros splitting the first two games in Houston. When they came home their offense went to sleep scoring only 1 and 2 runs losing games 3 and 4. In 8 playoff series there was not an elimination game.

That changed in each leagues Championship Series. The ALCS saw Houston for the second time in the last 5 post seasons participate in a 7-game series where the visitors won every game. The Astros were on the losing end of both series, and this was only the 1st and 2nd time in the history of baseball that the this has ever happened. Going into the 6th game of NLCS the Phillies held a 3-2 lead, heading home where they had been unbeatable. Again, the home team went into a hitting funk scoring only 1 run in game 6 and 2 runs in game 7 to be sent reeling out of the playoffs. At one point, it looked like we would have a rematch of the 2022 World Series. The Diamondbacks and Rangers changed that scenario by winning games 6 and 7 on the road to top off a very surprising post season.

We have the Diamondbacks vs Rangers in the 2023 World Series. The tale of the tape shows the Rangers leading the Diamondbacks in most offensive and defensive categories. Stolen Bases is the only area where the Diamondbacks have a decided edge. The Rangers scored more runs and prevented run scoring better than the Diamondbacks during the regular season. Alas, we are in the playoffs now and in my view the Diamondbacks are no fluke. In the playoffs, both the Rangers and Diamondbacks went through the 3 rounds with a record of 9-3. The Rangers scored 71 runs and the Diamondbacks 51 runs. The Rangers gave up 45 runs and the Diamondbacks 41 runs. The rule changes in baseball this year were meant to speed up the game and have the game return to the look and feel of the 1980’s. The Diamondbacks are the epitome of these rule changes. They steal bases, pitch well, play solid defense and do not hit a lot of home runs. The Rangers were the best hitting team in the American League. Only the Braves and Dodgers hit better than them. In the year of the playoff home runs, the Rangers led the American League in the long ball. Overall, the Rangers look very solid except in one very important area, the bullpen. With my track record, I am not even going to begin and try and make a prediction for this World Series. This will be a contrast in styles to say the least. The new rule Diamondbacks against the long ball Rangers. Being a National League guy, I will be rooting for the Diamondbacks. The way this playoff season has gone about the only thing I am sure of is that there will be plenty of surprises.

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It’s Going To Stay That Way

Daily writing prompt
What’s something most people don’t know about you?
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If there is something that most people don’t know about me, and I can guarantee there is, why would I write about on Word Press. In fact, there is a lot more than one. The reason that people don’t know about these things is because that’s the way I want it. Where do you come up with stuff?

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Lazy Days

Daily writing prompt
Do lazy days make you feel rested or unproductive?
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There is nothing good to say about lazy. Lazy is defined as disinclined to activity or exertion: not energetic or vigorous. It is referred to as encouraging inactivity or indolence. Do we all need a day off or a day of rest. I would say yes, but these days should not be looked at as being lazy. Let’s look at two groups of people. The working group and the non-working group. The working group does not get to choose their “lazy” day unless they skip work. Most people work 5 days a week. The work week could vary from about 35 hours to as many as 50 hours per week. The weekend comes and some people are more active during the weekend than they are on the job. When it comes to the job, either people love or hate what they do. Now, some people will think they are just indifferent about their job, but if you feel that way about what you do for a living, then you hate your job. Most people that love their job do not even think of it as work. They may have less need to recharge the battery. The non-working group may be retired or unemployed. The unemployed better not have a lazy day, go out and get a damn job. Now for us retired folks, we can be busy doing the many things that we did not have a chance to do when we were working. For me personally I never have a lazy day, and if I did would not feel rested. Certainly, I would be unproductive. In other words, to put aside a day to recharge and refresh yourself no matter what the reason, is not a lazy day. It takes thought and purpose to get yourself ready for whatever lies ahead. For me it may be meditating more than one time per day. Taking a long slow walk to gather my thoughts for what I want to do next. Writing some notes on what I might want to accomplish over the next month. Talking to family and friends that I have not talked to in a long time. This might sound a bit strange but in order to recharge your battery and feel rested for what lies ahead, it takes time and effort to plan how you are going to do it. There is nothing lazy about that.

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Give Away A Million Dollars

If you had a million dollars to give away, who would you give it to?

The answer for me is very simple. I would give it to my family. This leads to a totally different subject. I am sure, some people would give to a charity or a cause. In a nutshell, I think charities are just plain wrong. Why should a disease get a lot of research money just because a celebrity has a foundation to help get a cure? Why should there be charities for any cause? Why does there need to be charities to feed, clothe and house the the less fortunate. With all the wealth in the world this should be something that is done by all governments. Society has an obligation to make sure that every human being is clothed, fed, and has a roof over their head. It would be so easy to do. The same with finding cures for diseases. Every government in the world should contribute some percentage of their budget for medical research. It should be a good amount, say 20%. This should be an obligation that is shared equally by all. Having charities as the main instrument to accomplish these goals only accomplishes one thing. It makes people feel good when they give or support the charity with their time. However, it is a very ineffective way to solve these problems because the problems continue to exist. Even though these charities raise millions, in the world of trillion dollar government budgets, this is a paltry sum. We as a people need to put billions toward these problems of disease, poverty and climate change. The simple fact that there are people in the world hungry, is shameful and disgusting. It boils down to man’s inhumanity to man. No amount of charity giving is going to change that. So, yeah, for me, the answer is easy. I would give it to my family.

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Pirates Morning Report: What’s Next

The playoffs are in full swing, so we are not officially into the off season quite yet, but it is not too early to speculate and dream. The Pirates usually spend the off season signing low to mid-level free agents to fill in some gaps until prospects come up. The regular season was barely put to bed, when contending for the playoffs was bandied about. Since it is so early, let’s look at two things that are very unlikely to happen. The Pirates make no moves, or they make a big splash free agent signing. What would the 2024 Pirates look like if they went with just the players they have now.

As far as the position players are concerned, which normally number 13, there would be 7 players that would be locks to be on the team next year. Ke’Bryan Hayes, Bryan Reynolds, Jack Suwinski, Oneil Cruz, Henry Davis, Endy Rodriguez, and Jared Triolo. Triolo’s strong finish, where he showed he might have some power potential, and his solid play at first base, easily puts him on this team at the moment. Triolo ended the season with an OPS+ of 116, higher than any other Pirate regular. That leaves 6 spots for the remaining players on the 40-man roster. They are Jason Delay, Ji Hwan Bae, Vinny Capra, Nick Gonzales, Tucupita Marcano, Liover Peguero, Alphonso Rivas, Alika Williams, Miguel Andujar, Connor Joe, Josh Palacios, Canaan Smith-Njigba, and last but certainly not least Andrew McCutchen. Vinny Capra and Alika Williams can be eliminated for obvious reasons which puts us down to 11 players. If the Pirates sign McCutchen, which is not a given, he will be on the team. I always felt they should have signed McCutchen beginning in 2021. I will admit I’m not too sure if it is the best move now, even if he comes on the cheap. I know all the positives of signing him, but they are all on the subjective side. I don’t know how much that is going to win you ball games. If they do sign him to a 1-year deal, I would not be upset or critical. I could say the same thing if they do not sign him. For the sake of argument, I will assume they sign him, and he takes the 8th spot on the roster. Next, we have the trio Gonzales, Marcano, and Peguero. All can play 2nd base, Marcano is the only glove man and the other 2 have some defensive issues but supposedly are better hitters. So far, Peguero and Gonzales have not shown they are major league hitters yet. Gonzales has had a smaller sample size, but it is underwhelming so far. Marcano has shown for sure he cannot hit big league pitching. All three will not be on the roster. I do not know if even 2 should be on the roster, but I am going with Peguero and Gonzales because of more potential and the Pirates need bats. Marcano is a good glove man, but he is not elite. That leaves 3 spots. I do not see Alphonso Rivas or Connor Joe being on this team next year. They are league average hitters, but their defense leaves a lot to be desired. Connor Joe is over 30 and Rivas is going on 28 these are not players that are going to put you in the playoffs. That leaves Jason Delay, Ji Hwan Bae, Miguel Andujar, Josh Palacios, Canaan Smith-Njigba, for the final 3 spots. During the final game of the season, the Pirate broadcast booth said that the Pirates are going to let Henry Davis catch in 2024. Even if this is true, I do not think this eliminates Jason Delay from the team. This can increase the flexibility of the Pirate lineup with 3 potential catchers. I am going to put him on the team. The final two spots go to Ji Hwan Bae and Miguel Andujar. Bae because of his potential. If he can walk like he did in AAA, then he will be an asset. I do not care if he ever bunts. He has got to be able to do the process that he incorporated in AAA to get more walks. If he can’t do this then back to the minors he goes. Even though I picked Andujar, I feel it is a tossup on all 3 players. One of the biggest disappointments in 2023 was Smith-Njigba. He did get hot at the end of 2023 in AAA, but will that ever happen at the next level. He is heading into his age 25 season, so you have to figure it is now or never in 2024. Then there is the curious case of Josh Palacios. Here are the cold hard facts on Palacious. He is heading into his age 29 season. In 264 plate appearances his slash line reads, .239/.279/.413, for an OPS+ of 86. His WAR was -0.2. He is a below average fielder in every defensive metric. However, he always seemed to find himself in big situations and he came through many times to get a lot of big hits. Even though I favored Andujar I am still not sure you can put much stock in his good September. What all this is telling you is that the Pirates need an outfielder.

What better way to fill that need than to make the splash signing of Cory Bellinger. Bellinger had the very nice bounce back year with the Cubs having an OPS+ of 133, way above what any Pirate did this year. Very solid indeed, but he did not approach his MVP season. There is no question he will be a highly sought after free agent, but I do not think he will bring one of those mega deals. I think he is a 200-million-dollar man but not a 300-million-dollar man. The Pirates could certainly pull this off if they wanted to. Not a likely happening but if you’re not going to dream now, you will never have a chance.

The other interesting thing about 2024 will be what will the Pirates do with Oneil Cruz. They have a plethora of middle infielders, so would they consider making him the right fielder, much like the Padres did with Fernando Tatis. Would they move him to 1st base? No matter what, the major factor is that Cruz needs to make a full recovery from his broken leg/ankle.

On the pitching side of the ledger what would the starting rotation and the bullpen look like in 2024 if the Pirates made no moves. The rotation would set up like this. Mitch Keller, Max Kranick, Luis Ortiz, Quinn Priester, and Johann Oviedo. If Roansy Contreras can regain his old form, then he might get back into the rotation. J. T. Brubaker should be ready to pitch sometime in June. First round pick Paul Skenes seems pretty determined to make the club right from spring training. Despite his determination that would be shocking. However, it is not unfathomable that he may be pitching for the Pirates in June. The rotation does not look as bleak as you might have thought, and the bullpen is very solid. Just to list the 8 guys I would put in the bullpen, they are David Bednar, Colin Holderman, Andre Jackson, Carmen Mlodzinski, Dauri Moreta, Kyle Nicolas and rounding out with the left handers Ryan Borucki and Bailey Falter. My pick of Nicolas may surprise some but after that horrible debut he pitched 5 innings gave up 1 run, 4 hits, striking out 7 and his stuff looked awesome. Cody Bolton and Hunter Stratton are good options if any of the above falter or get injured. Will the previous mentioned Jarlin Garcia ever pitch again? Who knows? Only the Shelton knows. There are some big-time pitchers that are becoming free agents, but I do not think the Pirates will try to sign any of them. As much as I would like to see the Pirates sign Bellinger, I am not expecting that either.

Could this be the first off season where the Pirates sign a free agent that will get the fans excited. Like every off season, there will be plenty of names out there, both position players and pitchers. Would the Pirates make a trade to upgrade the team. Right now, they do have this overflow of middle infielders, especially if they decide to leave Cruz at shortstop. I do not see this happening, but it opens up all kinds of possibilities to improve the team. Looking at the team right now, I think there are three things that need to happen if the Pirates are going to jump to 85 to 92 wins which usually gets you in the playoffs. This year it took 84 in the National League and 89 in the American League. Ji Hwan Bae needs to become the AAA hitter he is, in the Major Leagues. If he could post an on base percentage of .360 or better the Pirates would have a great 1-2 punch at the top of the order with him and McCutchen, if he is signed. Oneil Cruz needs to put in a full season and have a 4 WAR year. The pitching has to make a comeback. Despite all the injuries the Pirates have an amazing number of young arms. Even more than what we named earlier. There could be a pitcher in AA and AAA that could be the big surprise in 2024. The offseason is always a fluid situation and right now we have no idea what kind of moves the Pirates will or won’t do. No matter what they do, it will still be one of the most interesting off seasons the Pirates have had in a long long time.