Category: sports

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Pirates Morning Report, 2023 Pirates Go 3-2 In a Big Way

Final Score: Pirates 8 Mets 2

How The 2023 Pirates Did: Pretty damn good. Let me count the ways. Oneil Cruz 3 for 5 with a home run, 2 RBI’s and 2 runs scored. Bryan Reynolds 2 for 3, 2 walks, a run scored and an RBI. Rudolfo Castro 1 for 5, a home run and 2 RBI’s. Ke’Bryan Hayes returned to the lineup going 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored. Michael Chavis did not get a hit but drove in a run on a sacrifice fly. Jason Delay went 1 for 4 and an RBI. Finally, Jack Suwinski went 2 for 4. Mitch Keller threw 6 scoreless innings giving up 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out a pair, another solid performance. The 2023 Pirates did not commit an error, as they crushed the Mets.

Key Moment of The Game: The Mets had 2 runners on base in each of the first 3 innings and failed to score a single run. They went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position for the game. Keller was tough when he had to be and the Mets could not score in the early going as the Pirates stretched their lead to 4 runs after 6 innings. Mitch Keller has become a major league pitcher.

Next Game: Day-Night double header with the Mets in Pittsburgh. The Mets appear to be ripe for the taking as they may be starting their swoon a little later than usual. The Pirate brass is worried that this could affect their chances at the number 1 pick. There is talk that the Pirates may use a position player as a starting pitcher using the excuse that the doubleheader is too much for their staff and they won’t have any chance with De Grom pitching anyway.

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Baseball, Two Contrasting Teams.

The Pirates game against the Mets was rained out yesterday, so at least Pirate fans’ Labor Day was not ruined. With no Pirate Morning Report, I thought I would look at two teams that are battling for playoff spots but have totally contrasting personas. Yes, battling for a playoff spot, something that the Pirate faithful can only imagine. If the season ended today both the Cleveland Guardians and the San Diego Padres would be in the playoffs. Of course, that is the problem, the season does not end today and both teams may or may not make the playoffs. From a statistical standpoint the teams are very similar. From a perception standpoint they are totally opposite.

Let’s look at how they compare statistically. In scoring runs the Padres have the edge ranking 15th compared to 22nd for the Guardians. The Guardians are better at preventing runs ranking 9th to the Padres 12th. The Guardians pitch better and field better than the Padres. The Padres are the better hitting team. Overall, the Padres have the better record standing at 74-62, compared to the Guardians 69-64. The Guardians have a 1 game lead in the AL Central but are 5.5 games behind for the last wild card spot. The Padres have no chance to win the NL West but have a 2-game lead over the Brewers for the last wild card spot. They are only one ahead in the loss column. Since the All-Star break the Padres are 22-20 and the Guardians are 23-20. That is where the perceptions of these teams become polar opposites. Things looked so much different for these teams after the trade deadline.

The Guardians are considered the surprise team of the year. When the season started no one thought they would be contending for the division title. Everyone figured it would be a two-team race between the White Sox and the Twins. The Guardians were 20-24 on May 30th and then went 16-4 to move into 1st place. They have been either 1st or 2nd since. They did nothing of significance at the trade deadline. They just snapped a 5-game losing streak yesterday to maintain their 1 game lead. If they do not make the playoffs it will not be considered a shock. Contrast that with the San Diego Padres. They made the biggest splash at the trade deadline. The acquired Juan Soto, Josh Bell and Josh Hader. Those trades seemed to make the Padres a lock to make the playoffs and were considered to be a real threat to knock off the Dodgers and the Mets in those playoffs. At the time, Fernando Tatis was getting ready to return to make them even more formidable. Then on August 12 Tatis got suspended 80 days for PED use and not 1, not 2, but all 3 trade acquisitions have crapped their pants. This is a relatively a small sample size, but it is amazing. To cut to the chase Josh Hader before the trade had an ERA+ of 96, after the trade 23. Juan Soto is doing better lately but he is only slugging .394 with the Padres compared with .485 for Nationals and his OPS+ has dropped 22% points. Josh Bell can’t stop having diarrhea as he watches his OPS+ drop from 152 with the Nationals to 72 with Padres. After the trades the Padres payroll just topped the 200 million mark. The current Guardian payroll is around 46 million. The Milwaukee Brewers payroll is around 108 million. It would only be fitting if the Guardians win the division, and the Brewers knock the Padres out of the playoffs, after being highly criticized for trading Josh Hader. If that does happen the media will be all over the Padres for making them look so bad. If the Guardians don’t make the playoffs the media will be relieved just saying they ran out of luck. If the Padres don’t make the playoffs the media will say they were horribly mismanaged, and all the players hate their mothers. It can be tough when you try to win. Not so much, when you try to lose. Just ask the Pirates.

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Pirates Morning Report, DUJ Does It Again

Final Score: Pirates 3 Blue Jays 4

How The 2023 Pirates Did: It was another game where the 2023 Pirates did not fare too well. There were 6 in the starting lineup and the group only had 3 hits. Oneil Cruz did hit a home run. Cal Mitchell got a hit and a walk. Jack Suwinski got the 3rd hit. Reynolds, Marcano, and Casto went 0 for 11, striking out 5 times. Marcano has really been struggling lately. After having a really good start, his hitting is coming into question again. In his last 51 plate appearances his slash line reads .146/.192/.229. He needs to somehow turn this around. J. T. Brubaker pitched ok, giving up 2 earned runs in 5 and 2/3rds innings.

Key Moment of The Game: Yes, DUJ lost another game as the Pirate manager hoped he would. He gave up 4 hits and 1 run in the top of the 7th, as the Blue Jays took the lead 4-3. You could see the stark differences in the bullpens. The Pirates brought in 4 relievers with ERAs of 1.86, 4.60, 3.46 and 6.17. Contrast that with the 3 relievers that the Blue Jays brought in, sporting ERAs of 2.87, 1.38, 2.06. The Pirates made it interesting in the bottom of the 9th, getting runners on 2nd and 3rd with no one out. The Pirates then struck out 3 times to end the game. At least this time Newman swung at strikes, so all that reading on the strike zone must be paying off.

Next Game: Early Afternoon, Mets in Pittsburgh. Another contender comes to town to show the Pirates how real baseball is played. The Pirates have that No. 1 pick really in sight now. Josh Van Meter will probably start the next 10 out of 12 games. Dwayne Underwood Jr. is warming up as I am typing. Kevin Newman is continuing to study the strike zone. Greg Allen still thinks stealing first base is possible. Ben Gamel is practicing diving for routine fly balls. Could the Pirates take the 2nd best team in the NL down to a series defeat like they did with the Dodgers. The Mets could be ready to take the swoon. They just lost to the Nationals yesterday.

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Pirates Morning Report, Well, It Was a Good 6 Innings.

How The 2023 Pirates Did: There were 8 of the 2023 Pirates in the starting lineup and they lost for the 2nd straight game. They could not really get runs across the plate, but it was the 28 and 29 year old rejects that contributed heavily to this loss. More on that later. Oneil Cruz got 2 hits and drove in the only run. Reynolds, Mitchell, Delay, and Castro got 1 hit each. Suwinski and Chavis had tough games going 0 for 8, striking out 6 times. Roansy Contreras pitched another solid if not spectacular game giving up 1 run on 4hits, walking 2, and striking out 5 over 6 innings, throwing 92 pitches. It dropped the 2023 Pirates record to 2-2 and they are going to have to find ways to put more runs on the board even w hen Van Meter is the DH. Can you believe that? Why don’t the Pirates just let pitchers’ bat, but I guess that would be too obvious.

Key Moment of The Game: After the Oneil Cruz triple with one out that drove in the run, Kevin (What’s the strike zone) Newman came to bat. He swung at the first pitch that was a border line strike, but a strike none the less. The next 2 pitches were not close to the strike zone, and he swung at both of them to help cool off the crowd, but it did nothing to help score Cruz. In the top of the 7th DUJ came in to lose the game. He took a while but succeeded by giving up a single, 2 walks and then a double to clear the bases and send the Blue Jays to a 4 to 1 victory. DUJ, management loves you. Hopefully not enough to be on the team next year.

Next Game: Today at Noon, Blue Jays in Pittsburg. The game is going to be on Peacock, as the network is trying to get rid of subscribers by showing the Pirates. Could we have 3 games in a row with 7 or more of the 2023 Pirates in the starting lineup. I would be shocked if that happens. They have lost 2 in a row, so they are contributing to getting the No. 1 pick.

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Pirates Morning Report, 2023 Pirates Fall to 2 and 1

Final Score: Pirates 0 Blue Jays 4

How The 2023 Pirates Did: They went up against one of the better pitchers in the league in Alek Manoah who is sporting an ERA+ of 158 and a WHIP of 1.01. Jack Suwinski had a decent game going 2 for 4, as did Cal Mitchell going 1 for 2 with a walk. The rest of the group could not figure out Mr. Manoah going a nice round 0 for 20, striking out 9 times. Castro and Reynolds struck out 3 times each. Despite the lack of success, I did like the Pirates aggressiveness at the plate in certain innings. Manoah was throwing strikes and the Pirates went after them, but just did not get the results. They played good defense, and they had a couple of opportunities in in the 2nd, 3rd, and the 7th but could not get the big hit. All in all, not a good day for the 2023 Pirates as they went up against a very good team and pitcher.

Key Moment of The Game: When Alek Manoah took the mound. He was in command from the very beginning of the game. The Pirates kept the game close with some great defensive plays. Chase DeJong got out of a big jam in the top of the 8th. The Blue Jays had 1st and 3rd with no outs and then the bases loaded with one out, but Dejong got a short fly ball to center field, a strike out, and a fly out to left to hold the score at 2-0. Even though this was a loss, the 2023 Pirates showed some grit that the 29- to 30-year-old rejects lack.

Next Game: Tonight, Blue Jays in Pittsburgh. This is the Hall of Fame induction night and who ever elected this team had a big miss by not putting Bob Friend on the inaugural team. The man pitched 15 years for the Pirates and threw 3480 innings. He had a lifetime ERA+ of 108, Fielding Independent Pitching of 3.33, and WHIP of 1.287. His W-L record was 191-218 but he pitched on the early 50’s teams that were as bad as the 2022 Pirates. I know that is hard to believe, but it’s true. He was a main cog of the 1960 World Champions and was a pitching work horse 2nd to none. This was just a huge oversight, and just shows how little the electors knew about Pirate history. Then I have one final question that I might have missed on the telecast last night. Is Michael McHenry’s baby due in November or December?

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Pirates, 32 Games to Go, Can They Do It

The Pirates have one month and 32 games to go to complete this awful by design season. The statistics speak for themselves, and I will quickly go through them. On the hitting side of things, the on base percentage is .287 ranking 28th. They have scored 3.56 runs per game ranking them 28th. Their OPS+, which is a league comparison of overall hitting, is 81 ranking them 29th. They are 18th in hitting home runs which is the only category they’re not in the bottom 10. The pitching is not much better. They allow 5.11 runs per game which is 27th. Their Fielding Independent Pitching is 4.28, ranking them 24th. In ERA+, the comparison stat on pitching, they are 90 ranking them 27th. They continue to be the worse fielding team in baseball. The only good stat for team is they are 18-19 in one run games. That is a pretty amazing stat considering they are 32 games under .500 overall and have lost 25 games by 5 or more runs. This is a team that is going for the number 1 pick in the draft next year.

The other goal of the 2022 season has been to keep as many players as possible under team control until the 2028 season. That goal has been accomplished. The following will not be free agents until the 2028 season, with the number of games played in parenthesis: Oneil Cruz (58), Cal Mitchell (44), Jack Suwinski (74), Diego Castillo (84), Tucupita Marcano (45), Rudolfo Castro (71), Bligh Madris (39), Hoy Park (66), and Jason Delay (37). This obviously will be core for next year’s team. Pirate management has made plenty of excuses for the way they reduced these players playing time. Player development is the big one, but we all know it is simply about player control. Despite the fact, that this team for the most part, has been an embarrassment to the game of baseball, management has had a great season.

Fortunately for baseball fans, the Pittsburgh Pirate season is drawing to a close. I was surprised to see for tonight’s game there will be 8 of the 2023 Pirates in the starting line up with only Tyler Heineman at catcher to desecrate the game. This will be the third time this year that 7 or more of the 2023 Pirates have been in the starting lineup. Currently the group is 2-0. With overall number 1 pick in the 2023 draft (they are only 5 ahead of the Nationals in the loss column) in managements sight, it will be interesting to see what Derek Shelton will try to do to thwart the 2023 Pirates from going 3-0. Josh Van Meter will be ready to pinch hit from the 1st inning on. The big question for the remainder of this season, will be whether or not the Pirates will settle for the 2nd or 3rd pick. Who knows? Only Derek, The Shadow, Shelton knows for sure.

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Pirates Morning Report, Routine Plays And Throwing Strikes

How The 2023 Pirates Did: There were 6 of the 2023 Pirates in the starting lineup and none of them really distinguished themselves. This was probably the worst game that the group has played. Ke’Bryan Hayes and Oneil Cruz each committed errors on routine plays. The group only got 2 hits, with Cruz, Hayes, Delay, and Chavis going 0 for 14, striking out 6 times, with no walks. All in all, it was not a good day for the 2023 Pirates. Zach Thompson pitched a nice 4 innings but why he was taken out after 62 pitches, with an overworked bullpen, I will never know. Even though it was not their fault the left-handed relievers scoreless streak ended at 8 and a 1/3 innings. The bullpen gave up 8 walks and 5 hits but only gave up 4 earned runs, and 2 of those were walked in with the bases loaded. This was one gift wrapped win for the Brewers.

Key Moment of the Game: The entire bottom of the 7th when the Brewers scored 4 runs on just 3 hits and were walked 4 times. Two of the batters had 2 strikes on them when they walked. It was a painful inning to watch. From the 5th inning on, the whole game was painful to watch. The failure to make routine plays and throw strikes, makes you not want to watch the Pirates on a full stomach. In fact, it makes you not want to watch the Pirates on an empty stomach.

Next Game: Friday, Blue Jays in Pittsburgh. The roster will expand to 28 so there is no telling what the Pirates will do. Right now, they are in a dead heat with the A’s and just 5 up in the loss column with the Nationals, in the battle for the worst record in baseball. The overall no. 1 pick in the draft is not out of the question. It will take some doing, but Van Meter, Allen, Newman, Gamel, and Heineman are ready. The Pirate brass will have 24 hours to think of ways to put more scum on the field. They may not even have to try that hard, because 15 or the next 18 games are against playoff contenders and division leaders. Despite the bad game yesterday I still would like to see about 10 games this year where the 2023 Pirates take the field.

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Pirates Morning Report, 2023 Pirates Win Again

Final Score: Pirates 4 Brewers 2

How The 2023 Pirates Did: For the 2nd time this year, there were 9 out 10 2023 Pirates in the starting lineup. For the 2nd time they won, with the group playing an excellent game against another playoff contender. They got all the hits and drove in all the runs. Oneil Cruz went 2 for 4 with a walk, driving in 2 runs and scoring another. He drove in the big insurance run in the 9th. Michael Chavis came out of his funk with 2 hits including a home run that tied the game. Bryan Reynolds had 2 hits and Rudolfo Castro got a hit and an RBI by walking with the bases loaded. The rest of the bats unfortunately were silent. Mitch Keller had a great comeback start striking out 10 in 6 innings and hopefully his arm fatigue is fine, since the Pirates allowed him to throw 105 pitches. The left hand relievers stretched their scoreless streak to 8 innings, be still my beating heart. But the game ending scintillating double play pulled off by Castro and Cruz said it all. Not only was it a great way to end a great win, but do you think the opening day 2b-SS combo of Kevin Newman and Hoy Park would have pulled that off. Only one guess allowed. Here is my guess. NOT A CHANCE IN HELL.

Key Moment of The Game: It was the aforementioned magnificent double play. It was not a hard-hit ball, but Castro made a great throw to 2nd and Cruz’s bullet like throw to first made the play not even that close, leading to my first fist pump of 2022. Go Bucs Go!

Next Game: This afternoon, Brewers in Milwaukee. It is unlikely we will see 9 of the 2023 team this afternoon but you never know. Delay probably won’t catch being a day game after a night game. The other 29-30 year old slugs shouldn’t play but probably will. There has to be at least 7 in the starting 9 for me to consider it a 2023 game. Right now, the 2023 team is 2-0. I can hardly wait for the 3rd win opportunity.

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Pirates Morning Report, As The Ball Flies

Final Score: Pirates 5 Brewers 7

How the 2023 Pirates Did: There were 7 of the 2023 Pirates in the lineup last night thanks to a late scratch, which put Jason Delay behind the plate, who drove in one of the five runs. They got 7 of the 10 hits and drove in all 5 runs. The big blow was the 3-run homer by Oneil Cruz, which gave the Pirates a 4-3 lead. In the next inning Rudolfo Castro hit a solo blast to extend the lead to 5-3. Michael Chavis had a tough night going 0 for 5 with 3 strikeouts. The left-handed relievers extended their scoreless streak to 5 and 2/3 innings. Unfortunately, the backend of the bullpen failed.

Key Moment of The Game: When Will Crowe was brought into the game. I think he has just run out of gas. He has seen a lot of high leverage situations this year and for the most part has performed well. This is his first year as a full-time reliever and I think it has taken its toll. He faced four batters, with one getting a single and two hitting home runs to win in walk off fashion 7-5. There were certainly other options out there, but The Shadow chose not to use them.

Next Game: Tonight, Brewers in Milwaukee. The 29 to 30 year old rejects were back in the lineup with the exception of Greg Allen. Tyler Heineman almost started, and I am sure we will be lucky to see 6 of the 2023 Pirates in the lineup tonight. Mitch Keller goes to tonight and I think he needs to have a good start. Even though he had a horrible looking line in his last game, he did seem to come back ok from his “arm fatigue”. Let’s hope there are good results tonight.

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Pirates Morning Report, Welcome to 2023

Final Score: Pirates 5 Phillies 0

How The 2023 Pirates Did: The big news is they got to play. Nine of the 10 players that started should be on the 2023 Pirates. I consider this nothing short of a miracle. They delivered big time too. I don’t even know where to begin. First, they all got hits. Everybody got one hit with Castro getting 2. They got 4 of the 5 RBI’s. They had 3 triples. I have to give the game ball to Tucupita Marcano. He got 1 hit and drove in 1 run but it was that outstanding defense at 2b that really stood out. In the bottom of the 7th, he started the inning ending double play. Then made 3 good to spectacular plays in the bottom of the 8th getting the assist on all three outs. This allowed DUJ to have a 6 pitch 3 up 3 down inning, another miracle. Then he made another spectacular play to throw out Bryce Harper, to start the bottom of the ninth. It has been a long time, since we have seen plays like that, made at second base. Bravo! Roansy Contreras pitched a solid 5 innings striking out 7, giving up 0 runs, on 3 hits and 2 walks. It was just a grand day for the 2023 Pirates, who finally got to play as a unit. I am sure it will be a while before we see that again as the quest for the no. 2 pick will continue this week.

Key Moment of The Game: In the bottom of the 4th the Phillies got the first two men on base via 2 singles. Then Contreras struck out the next batter and got another one to hit a soft blooping liner to Oneil Cruz. However, he walked the next batter to load the bases with 2 out. On the first pitch to Edmundo Sosa, he hit a line drive, but pretty much right at Bryan Reynolds to end the inning. After that the Phillies never really threatened again, as Contreras and the bullpen only gave up 1 hit and 1 walk the rest of the way. Another lefty added two more shutout innings, which now puts the total at a season high 4 straight innings that left-handed relievers have not given up a run. What has gotten into these guys. Did they read my article? Ha!

Next Game: Tonight, Brewers, in Milwaukee. I am sure we will see the 29 to 30 year old rejects tonight, but that was some fun game yesterday. I know it was only one game, but you can’t take that pure joy away, watching those young guys play ball. We have a little more than a month to go in the season, and I hope we get to see similar lineups at least a few more times. We can only hope.