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Pirates Morning Report: World Back To Normal

Final Score: Pirates 0 Nationals 3

Why The Pirates Lost: Once again the Pirates proved that their offensive outburst the game before was just a fluke. Last night they were shut out on just 4 hits. No extra base hits. They struck out 10 times, with 1 walk. They only had 2 at bats with runners in scoring position. The only players that got hits should not have been playing. Jack Suwinski Tommy Pham and Henry Davis had the 4 hits. In the top of the 9th there were 6 players on the field that had batting averages of .200 or less. Despite getting hits Davis and Pham brought up the rear with .154 averages. Cruz, Reynolds and IKF had awful nights going 0 for 11 with 7 strikeouts. The defense committed one error but overall was just horrible. Every fly ball in the outfield was an adventure. The beneficiary of all of this “great” play was Mitch Keller. The Pirates have not scored in his last 13 innings of work. They fell to 6-12 very quietly.

Key Moment Of The Game: The lineup was just as bad as I thought it would be with no McCutchen. However the bad players did have some production. In the top of the 6th Keller quickly got the first 2 outs on just 7 pitches. Unfortunately he hit Paul DeJong right in the face. Keller was visibly upset. I think he responded well but you can’t control luck. Keller’s was all bad. Dylan Crews hit an 86 MPH blooper for a single sending pinch runner Amed Rosario to 3rd. Dylan Crews stole 2nd uncontested. After a 10 pitch battle, Nasir Nunez sent an even softer 81 MPH liner to shallow center field scoring both runners to make the score 3-0. This game was over.

Next Game: Tonight, the Nationals in Pittsburgh. Barry (Can They Make The Strike Zone Bigger) Falter will go for the Pirates tonight. Hopefully he has solved the control issues he had in Cincinnati. The Nationals are throwing a lefty so there will be some heavy thinking by The Shadow to come up with a goofy lineup. Maybe Pham leading off. IKF batting cleanup. McCutchen batting 9th or again not playing. I bet he was up all night. The big question with a lefty pitching will be, who’s on first?

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Pirates Morning Report: Another Offensive Explosion

Final Score: Pirates 10 Nationals 3

Why The Pirates Won: For the second time in 17 games the Pirate bats produced a lot of runs. The first time did not create a lasting effect. We can only hope that this time it will. For the first time this season everyone in the starting lineup that had an opportunity got a hit. Endy Rodriguez suffered a laceration on his finger and did not get to bat. The Pirates went 8 for 10 with runners in scoring position. Paul Skenes, stats wise, had a solid outing. However, he is developing a 6 inning jinx. Even when he went 7 innings the 6th inning was his worst inning. I know it is only 4 starts but I am going to keep an eye on that one. The Pirates scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th to squelch a potential Nationals’ comeback. The only negative of the game was the Pirates made 4 errors.

Key Moment Of The Game: The score was 5-3 going into the bottom of the 8th. The way this bullpen has been performing you felt the game was in jeopardy. The Pirates open the inning strong with a base hit and a walk. Enmanuel Valdez doubled in a run to make it 6-3. The Red Sox reject batting cleanup no less, went 2 for 2 with 2 walks. He drove in 3 runs and scored 1. He probably won’t start tonight. Even though the Pirates would go on to score 4 more runs, you felt a lot better when that 6th run crossed the plate.

Next game: Tonight, the Nationals in Pittsburgh. After the Pirates scored 8 runs in a game, they went on to score 9 runs in the next 5 games losing 4 of them. With the exception of Rodriguez the Pirates should start the exact same line up. You know it won’t happen. McCutchen won’t be able to play two games in a row on the field, which is ridiculous. Will Valdez get the start? He should since there is no one else to play first base. I can’t wait to see the starting line up tonight. It will be the key to the outcome of the game.

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Pirates Morning Report: You Can’t Steal First

Final Score: Pirates 0 Reds 4

Why The Pirates Lost: They only got 2 hits. They had 10 hits for the entire series. The last 23 batters did not get on base. At the end of the game, 7 of the 9 starters did not have a batting average over .200. This could be one of the worst offenses in the history of baseball after it is all said and done. They have 6 players on their active roster that have batting averages under .150. You have heard of the Mendoza line. This is the the Pirate line. As long as you can hit over .125 you can play for us. The rest of the Pirates’ game was not bad. They did not commit an error. The bullpen threw shutout ball over the last 3 and 2/3 innings. The Pirates are solidly in last place with a less than 1% chance of making the playoffs. It is April 14th. Congratulations to the Pirate organization.

Key Moments Of The Game. In the first two innings the Pirates had scoring opportunities. In the 1st they had runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. In the 2nd they had a runner on 3rd with one out. Hunter Greene was able to keep the Pirates from scoring. Little did we know at the time that the Pirates would not get a man on base the rest of the game. The Reds scratched out 2 runs in 3rd and 2 runs in the 5th. For the third consecutive game walks haunted the Pirates’ pitching staff. Every game the Pirates offense haunts this pitching staff.

Next Game: Tonight, the Nationals in Pittsburgh. I am sure the Pirates will be happy to get home to a packed house of their adoring fans. Paul Skenes will pitch tonight. For the first time in his career he will have to have a bounce back start. How long will it take the Pirates to get their first man on base. What ridiculous lineup and batting order will The Shadow cook up tonight. Let’s start with the leadoff hitter. Let me make one suggestion. ANDREW MCCUTCHEN. You don’t even have to pay me for that no brainer suggestion.

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Pirate Morning Report: Experiencing Ground Hog Day

Final Score: Pirates 2 Reds 5

Why The Pirates Lost: Just read yesterday’s blog. In a very similar game the Pirates gave the Reds another win. How similar? The games were within a minute of each other time wise, around 2:18. These Pirates although awful are at least efficient. Pitching wildness contributed to the loss. This time the Pirates just decided to hit batters rather than walk them. Andrew Heaney and company hit 3 batters and walked 3. The Pirates committed one error each game that allowed the Reds to score. These errors were basic baseball plays, throwing and catching the ball. You can see why this would give the Pirates problems. Each team got 4 hits. Thanks to the Pirates the Reds were able to score 5 runs on those 4 hits, in both games. In the bottom of the 8th the Pirates again had 5 players on the field with batting averages under .200. I hear that Bill Murray may attend today’s game.

Key Moment Of The Game: The game was scoreless going into the bottom of the 3rd. After one out Santiago Espinal doubled to left center field. After the 2nd out, T J Friedl was hit by the 2nd pitch of the at bat. Blake Dunn was hit with the 3rd pitch of his at bat. As I mentioned before if nothing else the Pirates are efficient. This brought Elly De La Cruz up with the bases loaded. On a 3-2 pitch that was up and in Cruz was able to muscle it into the left field seats for a grand slam home run. You knew the game was over.

Next Game: This afternoon, Reds in Cincinnati. Hunter Greene with his 1.31 ERA is starting for the Reds. Paul Skenes is not starting for the Pirates. Need I say more. The only question remains who is The Shadow going to choose to be led to slaughter. Henry Davis was called up yesterday. The headline read, “Right where I want to be”: Davis gets the call, eager to prove himself. He went 0 for 3. He never got a ball out of the infield. If the Pirates win today it will be a miracle. I can’t wait to see today’s starting line up.

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Pirates Morning Report: Was That Really A Baseball Game

Final Score: Pirates 3 Reds 5

Why The Pirates Lost: Another game where the Pirates were bad in every phase of the game. Here is one of many mind boggling stats of this game. In the bottom of the 8th the Pirates had 5 players on the field with these batting averages; .171, .140, .107, .071, and .150. What is even more amazing Tommy Pham and Adam Frazier raised their averages during the game. This offense was so bad that they had only one at bat with a runner in scoring position. Thanks to Barry (It Was My) Falter this time, walking 5 batters in 3 innings, the Reds scored 5 runs on just one hit. Endy Rodriguez decided to play his worst game of the year. At the plate over the course of two at bats he swung at 5 consecutive pitches out of the strike zone. He threw the ball away on a ball he should not have even thrown. This allowed the Reds to score runs 4 and 5. The Reds were almost as bad. That’s the key word almost. Thanks to a truly awful Pirate performance they came away with a victory.

Key Moment Of The Game: Falter walked the first three batters of the game. Spencer Steer grounded into a 5-4-3 double play. It looked like Falter might get out of the inning with only one run scoring. He fell behind Jeimer Candelario with 2 sliders that were at least a foot high. Falter grooved a 91 MPH fastball on the outer third of the plate just about belt high. Candelario hit it into seats and the Reds had an early 3-0 lead. The Reds scored 2 runs in the bottom of the third without even getting a hit to extend the lead to 5-0. That was more than enough to beat these hitless wonders.

Next Game: Tonight, Reds in Cincinnati. Andrew Heaney goes tonight for the Pirates. He has been a pleasant surprise so far. Will tonight be when his bubble bursts? Do you think the Pirates will start those 5 guys tonight with the pathetic batting averages. One thing is for sure they are determined to get Adam Frazier in the lineup. You cannot say the same thing about Tsung-Che Cheng. He came in the game when Joey Bart hurt his back. It took a spectacular play to get him out his first at bat. He did strike out against a left hander. For the second time he was pinch hit for by Andrew McCutchen against a right handed pitcher. Why I do not know. Only The Shadow Shelton knows. He is not talking. I don’t blame him. There is no explanation. Just trying to ruin another good young player. Go Adam Frazier. You are worth every penny of that 1.2 million dollar contract.

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Pirates Morning Report: Defining A Scheduled Day Off

The Pirates had the day off yesterday. It makes you wonder what they do on this off day. I have never read this any where but do they go through a rigorous day of practice. Do they take prolonged batting and fielding practice? Do they do 4 to 5 hours of base running drills. Maybe they play a secret baseball game where they bet a lot of their own money. Now I know they have to travel. This time they are only going to Cincinnati. Why am I curious about this?

I have not heard this yet during the early part of this season. I admit I try to listen to the Pirate broadcast booth as little as possible so I might have missed it. In previous seasons including last season the Pirates would announce that they were giving a certain player a “scheduled” day off. It is one of their main players like Ke’Bryan Hayes, Bryan Reynolds Oneil Cruz or Andrew McCutchen. My first question would be when do they schedule this. Do the Pirate “brain trust” sit down at the beginning of the season or the beginning of the month, take a look at the games and write down so and so is not playing that day. We don’t care who the other team is pitching or how hot this player is at the time. He is not playing that day by God. You have to figure it is at least two weeks in advance if it is scheduled. You have to wonder, do they tell the player in advance. It’s like really play your ass off these 3 games because the next game we scheduled you for a rest.

In my view you only give a player a break for a few reasons. Rest a nagging but minor injury. You could use the team day off as one of the days. In other words rest him a game before the day off and a game after for a nice 3 day rest with only 2 games being missed. Resting a player for a game or two can help bring some players out of a slump. Sometimes you may have a bench player who has a really good record against a certain pitcher. You may start him that day over your regular. I really have no clue as to why a player who is under 34 years old would need or want a scheduled day off. I know it is a long and sometimes grueling season, but there are days off. The Pirates have had the last two Thursdays off. It would be different if the 162 game season was played in 162 days. But it is not. It is far from it. I don’t know if other teams do this rest thing. I do know the Pirates do this. Just another reason to say, “What are they thinking?” Who knows, only The Shadow Shelton knows.

One final note, I will be in San Diego through April 18th. The morning report will be a later morning report. One of the many great things about spending time in San Diego is I will get to watch Padre games. The pleasure is getting to listen to the Padre broadcast booth. They are one of the best in baseball, a pure joy. It gives me that brief respite from one of the worst broadcast booths.

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Pirates Morning Report: Offensive Incompetence Equals Victory

Final Score: Pirates 2 Cardinals 1 in 13 innings

Why The Pirates Won: It was hard to tell. Did the Pirates have great pitching, or were the Cardinals just as bad as the Pirates offensively? Keller did have a solid 7 and 1/3 innings, giving up 0 runs on 4 hits. The bullpen was just as good, going 5 and 2/3 innings, giving up 0 earned runs on just 3 hits. Neither team scored a run in the first 9 innings. The Pirates did not get a hit until the 7th inning. The Pirates had only 5 hits for the game. They did receive 9 walks. Both teams struck out 10 times. Both third base coaches made terrible decisions sending runners home. The Cardinal third base coach was worse since there was nobody out when their runner was thrown out. Neither team scored in the 10th or 11th inning with a runner on second and no outs. The game mercifully ended in the 13th with a 2-1 Pirate victory.

Key Moments Of The Game: In the top of the 8th, the game was still scoreless. The Cardinals had 1st and 2nd with 2 outs. Wilson Contreras hit a high pop-up just in front of home plate. Joey Bart could not really locate the ball. Endy Rodriguez came crashing in from 1st base. Bart and he had a horrible collision, and the ball pop-out onto the ground just in front of home plate. The runner on second was running all the way. Ke’Bryan Hayes managed to pick up the ball and tag him out at home. A strange but decisive play that kept the game scoreless. Tommy (I Only Get Big Hits In Extra Innings) Pham got a 2-out single in the bottom of the 12th. This tied the game at 1-1. The Pirates received their 8th and 9th walks to start the bottom of the 13th to load the bases. Andrew McCutchen had a rough 0 for 6 game. He hit a rocket right at the shortstop. The shortstop bobbled it just enough to prevent a double play. The Cardinals might have gotten the runner going to third, but the catcher looked the wrong way. Joey Bart came through with a deep fly ball single on a 3-2 count. The Pirates had an ugly victory, but it was their first series win of the year.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, the Reds in Cincinnati. Barry Falter will be looking to have a bounce-back start like Keller had yesterday. Only the Shadow knows who will be playing on Friday night. Tsung-Che Cheng started yesterday. I was right that Adam Frazier was still at 2B. Cheng had what I thought were two pretty good at-bats. Then, the Red Sox reject pinch-hit for him for some unknown reason. For some unknown reason, Derek Shelton is still managing this team. Maybe the Reds will play as badly as the Cardinals did and we can win another series.

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Pirates Morning Report: Lineup Card Mysteries

Final Score: Pirates 3 Cardinals 5

Why The Pirates Lost: Paul Skenes proved to be human. Maybe he was just disgusted when he looked at the starting lineup. There were 3 players who should not have been playing; Adam Frazier, Tommy Pham, and Emmanuel Valdez. They went 1 for 9 with 4 strikeouts. The team struck out 9 times, with 5 being called third strikes. They went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position. Through 8 innings, they only had 3 hits. They had Jack Suwinski with a .231 on-base average lead off. Joey Bart was 2 for 4 the night before and did not start last night. The same for Andrew McCutchen. Paul Skenes was discouraged. He knew this lineup practically had no chance of scoring any runs. As a result, he had his first truly bad outing of his career. He gave up 5 runs on 6 hits in 6 innings. He did strike out 7 and walked 1. Maybe Skenes was a little hesitant to really cut it loose in cold weather. His fastball rarely touched 99 MPH. Most of the time, it sat around 97 to 98 MPH. Management basically lost this game before it even started.

Key Moments Of The Game: Derek Shelton took out the lineup card. Skenes retired the first 6 batters he faced, striking out 3. The Cardinals got to him in the third inning. Two singles and a triple made the score 2-0 with one out. Skenes struck out the next batter. It looked like he might get out of the inning with only the two runs. Brendan Donovan hit a 94 MPH splinker into left field, driving in the 3rd run of the inning. This run seemed to have added significance, considering the Pirate lineup. They touched up Skenes for 2 more runs in the 6th. Shelton put his better players in, but it was too late. The Pirate “winning streak” ended at 2, thanks to a horrible lineup card.

Next Game: This afternoon, Cardinals in Pittsburgh. Mitch Keller is hoping for a bounce-back start today. I can hardly imagine what this lineup will be like. They may rest Cruz depending on how his hand is. I am fine with that. They should start Tsung-Che Cheng today and move IKF over to 2nd. They will probably sit IKF, and Frazier will still be there. Supposedly, they are going with McCutchen in right field. Bryan Reynolds continues to have problems with a triceps condition. This keeps him from playing right field. Remember when they were talking about Reynolds seeing some action at first base? What about now? Even though he did not catch the whole game, they will probably sit Rodriguez. Not all teams follow this “rule” of not catching a day game after a night game. Maybe the Pirates will find a way to get Pham, Suwinski, and Canario in the game at the same time. Suwinski leads this group with a batting average of .130. The Pirates have a halfway decent team. They just don’t get to play.

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Pirates Morning Report: Are They Ready To Turn It Around?

Final Score: Pirates 8 Cardinals 4

Why The Pirates Won: By far their best offensive game and their best game all around. The Pirates finally did something right by piggybacking Carmen Mlodzinski and Thomas Harrington. Harrington did get touched up a little bit. Still, it was a better outing than his first one. Sometimes, it is difficult pitching with a big lead. The bottom line is that the Cardinals really never threatened to make a game of it. The Pirates managed to keep the real bullpen out of the game. Hopefully, this is something they will continue to do in the rotation. With the Pirates, you never know. The offense won this game. The Pirates scored 8 runs on 10 hits. They struck out only 7 times for the game. The Pirates were 4 for 4 with runners in scoring position. They only left 4 men on base. The big contributors were McCutchen, Rodriguez, Bart, and IKF. They had 2 hits each. As a group, they drove in 6 runs and scored 6 runs. It was the second win in a row for these much-maligned Pirates.

Key Moments Of The Game: For the first time this year, the Pirates struck early. Joey Bart hit a home run in the 1st. The Pirates scored 3 runs in the 2nd on 4 hits. IKF delivered the big blow with a two-run single. Ke’Bryan Hayes had a 2-out hit to drive in IKF. Before you could say, “baby, it’s cold outside,” the Pirates had a 4-0 lead. When the Cardinals cut the lead to 4-2, Harrington had his best inning in the top of the 7th. In the bottom of the inning, the Pirates added 4 more runs where no runner was wasted. McCutchen, Bart, and Cruz had the RBIs. The Cardinals picked up a couple more runs to make the final 8-4. By far, the best game of the year for the Pirates.

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in Pittsburgh. Weather may be a factor tonight, but if they play, Paul Skenes will get his third start of the year. Can the Pirates turn this thing around? A better question, will management let them turn this around? In my view, a lineup has been established. These are the 7 guys that should be playing every day. Reynolds should play when he is able. Bart, Rodriguez, IKF, Hayes, Cruz, and McCutchen should also play daily. It is time to give Tsung-Che Cheng a shot at short. Move IKF over to 2nd base. Play musical chairs with Suwinski, Pham, and Canario until one of them shows some signs of life. Right now, Pham seems to be perking up a little bit. Whoever is in there, please bat them 8th or 9th. Do not lead off with them or put them in the middle of the order. Management did their first smart thing last night with the piggyback start. They put McCutchen near the top of the order. They scored 8 runs. Do I need to repeat myself? I am almost afraid to see the lineup tonight.