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Pirates Morning Report: Contreras Gets First Starter Win

Final Score: Pirates 4 Red Sox 1

Why The Pirates Won: Roansy Contreras pitched a solid 5 and 2/3 innings giving up 1 run on just 3 hits, one walk, while striking out 2. The best performance of the year so far. Of course, he didn’t have much competition. The Pirate bats had just enough firepower to push across 4 runs with Ji Hwan Bae hitting a 2-run homer and Bryan Reynolds hitting a solo shot. He drove in a nice insurance run in the 7th with a single after Tyler (That May Be More Surprising Than Delay’s Home Run), Heineman stole 2nd. Again, the bullpen was solid giving up 0 runs on 1 hit. Last night’s win insured the Pirates of a .500 road trip.

Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirate bats were quiet over the first 1 and 2/3 innings with Cruz getting a walk and then 5 straight outs. Canaan Smith-Njigba struck out but the pitch went right off the catcher’s shin guard to the backstop. Smith-Njigba made it to first on the passed ball. Ji Hwan Bae followed with an opposite field home run right over the Green Monster to give the Pirates a 2-1. Later in the bottom of the 8th inning Bae made a great leaping catch in left centerfield to record the second out of the inning. Another great 9th by Bednar and the Pirates are 3-2.

Next Game: Today, Red Sox in Boston. Mitch Keller goes on the mound today and hopefully will give a better performance than he did on opening day. A sweep in Boston would be nice but the Pirates will have a least a .500 road trip and that is exactly what was needed. A win today will be a really nice bonus to take to Opening Day on Friday. Go Bucs!

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Golf Diary:

The Round: Played Highland Spring Score 78 Greens In Reg: 6 Putts: 28

The Good: My driving and putting saved the day. The highlight of the round was an eagle on the par 5 13th hole. After a beautiful drive that cut the dogleg I hit a low bullet of a 3 wood off a downhill lie to the middle of the green about 40 feet short of the pin. Of course, I made the eagle putt but more on that later. The eagle gave me the shot in the arm, to post a 1 under 36 on the back nine. What is interesting, is up until I started this blog, I had yet to break 80 in about 10 previous rounds. I had strung some 9-hole rounds together, that were under 80, but never on an 18 hole course, until the last 3 rounds.

The Bad: This round did not look like a round that was going to be under 80. I started bogey, bogey double bogey then got it up and down twice to save pars. Did not hit a green until the 6th hole and that was the only one I hit on my way to 7 over 42. The culprit was some horrendous iron play. Double yuk! Once again, really good putting saved the round. The last iron shot of the day a gap wedge up hill from 95 yards away was a quality shot and hopefully I can continue that feel on the next round. Let’s face it 6 greens in regulation is not going to cut in the long run.

Luck Of The Round: Naturally the eagle putt was the fortunate shot of the day. It was about 40 feet in length and was uphill for about 25 feet and then slightly downhill the last 15 feet. These kinds of putts, up and down, are very hard to judge the speed. Since an eagle putt is a rare occurrence, I was not going to be short. I thought it wasn’t that hard as I saw it start up the hill but when I heard it bang into the flag, I knew it would have gone 8-10 feet past if it had not hit the pin. Not any bad luck during the round, as my putting was even bad at the start of the round. The putts were so bad, that lip outs were not a factor. On the last 8 holes, The putter found new life, as I had only 12 putts.

Next Round: Finishing up a 9 hole round at Mt. Lebanon from March 30, tomorrow.

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Pirates Morning Report: Another Nail Biting Win

Final Score: Pirates 7 Red Sox 6

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirate offense woke up much faster than Rip Van Winkle did as they blasted 3 home runs, one by Jason ( I Can’t Believe I Did It), Delay, and 2 by Bryan ( You Better Get Your Shit Together And Sign Me To A Long Term Deal) Reynolds. Canaan Smith-Njigba had 2 RBI’s and Jack Suwinski and Ke’Bryan Hayes knocked in the other runs with some clutch hits. Hayes’s batting average is soaring over .100 now. Johan Oviedo gave up 5 runs in the first but was not helped by some shoddy defense. He battled until the 5th inning and then was removed with 2 men on base. Dauri Moreta wiggled out of that jam. Then in the 6th you thought all was lost when DUJ was brought in with runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 out.

Key Moment Of The Game: I will admit DUJ did alright. He gave up a cheap broken bat bloop which made the score 7-6 and struck out the next batter. He pitched a clean 7th inning and so far, a good start for DUJ. Colin Holderman survived a scratch hit and a walk to pitch a tense scoreless 8th. Another swinging bunt hit in the 9th made it interesting for David Bednar, but Bullet Bednar struck out the final two batters to preserve another one run hard fought win for the young Bucco’s.

Next Game: Tonight, Red Sox in Boston. Tonight, Roansy Contreras makes his 2023 debut finally. It will be a challenge, just ask Oviedo. It was nice to see the Bucco’s bounce back from the two losses in Cincinnati. The bats came alive last night, but Austin Hedges is still 0 for April.

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Golf Diary

The Round: Played South Park Score 76 Green In Reg: 9 Putts: 29

The Good: Played really solidly the first 9 with 8 pars and a bogey on 9. Then I birdied the 10th hole but then faltered with double bogey and 2 bogies for 76. The putter saved the back nine from being worse. I made 3 really nice par saves on the back but did miss a 10 foot birdie putt on 17. Drove the ball well again today.

The Bad: Some bad iron play and again poor club selection led to some horrible shots and tough up and downs. The short game was mediocre at best and at times had trouble concentrating. The pace of play was slow but no excuse, that is just part of golf.

Luck Of The Round: Got a big break on the 4th hole when my second shot was headed for the woods but hit a tree and came out, so I had a clear shot. Really no bad breaks today.

Next Round: Tomorrow Highland Springs Golf Course.

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Pirates Morning Report: Bats Take A Nap

Final Score: Pirates 1 Red 3

Why The Pirates Loss: The bats continue to nap. The first 6 batters made outs which meant the Pirates had made 21 outs in a row over the last 7 innings. The Pirates only run came on Bryan Reynolds 1st home run of the season and they could only muster 5 other hits, 4 of them singles. They went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position. The Pirates have scored 8 runs in 3 games, but 3 of those were gifts from the Reds on walks and a wild pitch. They have had 19hits but there have been a lot of swinging bunts and bloopers. They were fortunate to get the opening win but 1-2 sounds a lot better than 0-3. Vince Velasquez pitch very similar to his predecessors, giving up home runs and could not get past the 5th inning. He only walked one and struck out 3. Another only ok performance by a Pirate starter. The bullpen pitched shutout ball over the last 4 and a third innings, but Will Crowe really needed some leather to keep the Reds from scoring. DUJ was able to throw a scoreless inning even though he gave up a rocket shot double.

The Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates started the top of the 8th with 2 fluky hits by Castro and Cruz, which gave them 1st and 2nd with no outs. Reynolds hit a fly to right that got Castro to third. McCutchen then hit a pop up to short right field that could not bring Castro home and Santana ended an 0-4 day by grounding out to 1st, with no runs scoring, essentially ending the game.

Next Game: Tonight, Red Sox in Boston. Johan Oviedo will start tonight in Bean Town, and we will see how the young right-hander is able to handle the Red Sox in Fenway Park. Hopefully the Pirates bats will perk up. Ke’Bryan Hayes is hitting below 100. I know it is early but that is not a good sign that he has figured anything out at the plate. The Pirates for some reason always seem to get off to a slow start batting. It just looks like something they are going to have to push through. Hedges is still 0 for April.

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Golf Diary

The Round: Played Beaver Valley Golf Course Score: 78 Green In Reg. 8 Putts 31

The Good: Drove the ball very well and the putter was ok even though I had two three putt greens. Did a lot of visualization this round that worked really well. Hit some good chips early then went into problem. Ball striking was particularly good after the 8th hole. Made 2 birdies on the 10th and the 12th hole which led to an even par round on the back nine.

The Bad: After getting off to a good start went into a bad stretch of holes 4 through 8 where I 3 putted for a double bogey and hit some very poor chips that resulted in 2 more bogeys. For the 5 hole stretch I was 5 over par. Picked the wrong club a few times that did not help the cause.

Luck Of The Round: Had a lot of putts that came really close today but just would not find the hole. Had some lip outs and burnt edges or the round could have been even better. Did not really get any real good breaks or bad breaks through the green.

Next Round: Tomorrow at South Park.

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Pirates Morning Report: Giving Up The Gopher Ball.

Final Score: Pirates 2 Reds 6

Why The Pirates Lost: Rich Hill and Chase De Jong could not keep the ball in the park, which accounted for all 6 of the Reds runs. For whatever reason Hill and De Jong could not keep the ball down. They threw some pitches that were unbelievably high. Hill settled down after the first to pitch pretty well, but he gave up 3 runs in the first with 2 of them scoring on a Kevin Newman home run no less. It will probably be his only home run of the season. The Pirate bats seemed to be clicking during the first 4 innings when they got their 2 runs and 7 hits. Then they never got a hit in the last 5 innings and went down quietly to their first defeat.

Key Moment Of The Game: When Chase De Jong came into the game with the score 3-2 Reds in the bottom of the 6th, he just seemed out of sorts. It was like he had not warmed up enough on this cold day. He walked Wil Myers on four pitches, none of which were over 92 MPH and were not even close to the strike zone. He then gives up a single to Tyler Stephenson to put runners on 1st and 3rd. The Pirates almost got a break when Wil Myers tried to go from first to third, but Ji Hwan Bae’s throw was just enough offline that Myers barely beat it on a bang-bang play. Again, De Jong fell behind Jake Fraley 3-0, got one strike, then grooved a slider that was put out of the park and the game was essentially over. I wrote before that De Jong’s performance would be a key to the Pirates success, and this one was an F.

Next Game: Today, the Reds in Cincinnati. The puzzling pick up, Vince Velasquez will take the hill today and we will see if the Pirates found something that no one else had seen. Austen Hedges did not get a hit on April 1 and I’m not fooling. Probably won’t get a chance tomorrow as Delay is likely to start. The suspense continues, will Austen Hedges get a hit in April?

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Golf Diary

Just a brief post that will introduce Golf Diary. Beginning tomorrow I am going to blog every round I play during the handicap season which in Western Pa. runs until around November 15. It will follow the format of the Pirate Morning Report being brief, concise, and certainly will not be a blow-by-blow account of any of my rounds. It will say where the round took place, my score, greens in regulation, and putts. The next segment will be about what was good about the round and then what was bad about the round. This will be followed by the luck of the round. Then I will finish up with where I think the next round will be. Along the way I will throw in what this warped mind is working on concerning his game and odd things that happen during the round. I have already played 15 rounds this year and have come up with 3 swing ideas that have already been abandoned. I have been playing more 9 hole rounds of late and will not discuss those until I string two of them together. This week is looking pretty good weather wise and I should be able to play between 3 to 5 rounds. The summer games begin tomorrow.

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Pirates Morning Report: We Could Have The Reds Bullpen

Final Score: Pirates 5 Reds 4

Why The Pirates Won: It was a strikeout-walk festival with the Pirates coming out ahead on both counts. The Reds struck out 15 times to “only” 11 for the Pirates. The Pirates walked 9 times, outwalking the Reds by 3. When a ball was put in play it was a shocker. Many have been maligning the Pirate bullpen, but they shined yesterday by allowing no runs on 2 hits, over the last 4 and 1/3rds innings. Mitch Keller’s start was just ok, as he had trouble with his control giving up 4 of the 6 Pirate walks. Oneil Cruz looked great at the plate walking 2 times and crushing a home run in the top of the 3rd. The Pirates only had 6 hits, but it is hard to get hits when the ball is hardly ever over the plate. Even with the pitch clock the game took 3 hours. The manufactured go-ahead run was a pleasure to watch. Ji Hwan Bae, who had a great game, walked to lead off the eighth inning. He then stole second and moved over to third on an excuse me sacrifice bunt by none other than Austin (Will I get a hit in April), Hedges. Oneil Cruz hit a deep sacrifice fly to score the go-ahead run. The bullpen with a little hiccup in each inning shut down the Reds and the opening day victory was ours.

Key moment Of The Game: Even though it was early, getting out of the bases loaded no out jam in the first inning with only 1 run scoring set the tone for the day. A walk sandwiched between two cheap hits loaded the bases. Then double play with a nice scoop by Santana. It is wonder what a real first baseman can do, isn’t it.? A pop out ended the inning and it just felt like this would be the Pirate’s day.

Next Game: Tomorrow Reds in Cincinnati. The line up had some interesting twists to it yesterday with Bae starting over Castro and Cruz leading off. The Pirate management looked like geniuses yesterday. I can’t wait to see what the Saturday line up will be, but for different reasons than I did in 22. In 2022 it would always be my belly laugh for the day. I just checked and see that Rich Hill is going to loosen up his creaky old bones on Saturday. Well, that at least gets my lips quivering.

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Pirates Morning Report: Opening Day

Today starts the 2023 season for the Pittsburgh Pirates as they face off against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati. As I look at the 26 man roster, I am happy with the 13 position players on the team. The pitching staff is another issue but more on them later. I will still hold to the prediction that this team will contend for the division title. As I have written previously there are some unknowns that will determine just how well the Pirates will do. To summarize the unknowns, just how good a manager is Derick Shelton, will management actually try to win games this year, and if this team gets to August playing meaningful games for the first time, how will the players respond? There is also avoiding the disastrous injury. Already the Pirates have 3 pitchers on the shelf. I think the biggest lost is Jarlin Garcia, the free agent left-handed reliever they signed over the winter. He seemed to be a solid addition, but then he got a strange nerve injury to his left arm, to the point he cannot even pick up a ball. There is no telling when he might be back. J. T. Brubaker is on the shelf, but Johan Oviedo should fill in for him quite nicely. What would be considered a disastrous injury. If Mitch Keller, Roansy Contreras, Bryan Reynolds or Oneil Cruz would miss a significant amount of time due to injury, it would be devastating, and all bets are off. Let’s take a look at the position players that are going to start the season.

I like all the decisions that the Pirates made concerning who they kept on the team. Many thought that Travis Swaggerty should be on the team with the very good spring that he had. He has shown nothing in 3 years in the minors and one good spring is not going to change that. If he shows the same batting skills in the minors during the first month and someone is struggling or injured, I’m sure he would get the call up, but I am not sure he will continue to hit in AAA. I felt Jason Delay was the best choice as backup catcher but let’s face it, sending down Endy Rodriguez is strictly a player control move. A switch hitter who is hitting at every level and is a catcher who plays other positions, sure let’s send him down. Especially since we have the worst hitting catcher in all of baseball in Austin Hedges. He better throw out every runner, never have a passed ball, and pitchers better carry him off the field every game for the way he handled them. The team can be divided into two groups. The young and up and coming group. The old veteran group with a few in between. The young group include Oneil Cruz, Bryan Reynolds, Jack Suwinski, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Rudolfo Castro, Ji Hwan Bae, and Canaan Smith-Njigba. Many have stated that this group played a lot last year and the Pirates still did not win many games. The fact remains that this group, particularly the first 5, were rarely in the line up at the same time. The Pirate management team continued to put on the field, way below major league level players, just to ensure losing games. These 5 should be together almost every game with Bae and Smith-Njigba being key bench players. The old group is Andrew McCutchen 36, Carlos Santana, who will be 37 in April, Ji-Man Choi 32 in May, Conner Joe and Austin Hedges who both will be turning 31 during the season. The man in the middle is the backup catcher Jason Delay who is 28. This group needs to stay healthy and improve their play just a touch to make this team a contender. Nobody needs to have a career year. They just have to be a nice 2 WAR player and the Pirates will make a solid move forward. The good news here is that there are plenty of good young players down on the farm, if any of this group gets hurt or really falters. This group should be the steadying influence, if there are meaningful games to be played in August and September. They know what it is like to play in the heat of a pennant race. With the exception of Rodriguez, the Pirates are taking the 13 best players up North. They could not come close to saying that last year. Now for the pitchers, where I do not have the same warm fuzzy feeling.

Back in the fall I wrote that one of the prerequisites for the Pirates to be a contender would be that certain players should not be on the team. They have fulfilled that, except for good old Dwayne Underwood Junior, who will be referred to as DUJ, from this moment on. Now, maybe he is on the team because of other pitchers going down with problems, but this just points to the fact that the Pirates really did not do that much to shore up the bullpen during the offseason. The acquisition of Vince Velasquez is still one that has me scratching my head. There is nothing in his pedigree that suggests he is going to be an average Major League pitcher. He has a career ERA of 4.93 and ERA+ of 85. What I find interesting about him, and Rich Hill is that both have a lot of bullpen experience. Velasquez has relieved 47 times in his career and Hill has come out of the bullpen 129 times. That versatility may make them have a different role than expected as the season moves forward. More on Rich Hill later, but the fact remains that the Pirates are not famous for revitalizing anyone’s career, but maybe Velasquez will be the first. Despite these misgivings I think the bullpen will do alright. The Pirates have to make some 40-man roster moves even as I write this, but it appears that they are going to go with 2 lefties and the core from last year. I think the performances of Will Crow, Colin Holderman, and Chase De Jong will be a big key to the overall success of this bullpen. The starting rotation should do fine and if they don’t, then a lot of young arms are ready to be called up. This pitching staff is the real wild card on this team. They could really stink or be the real strength of this team.

It is very easy to see what the key to success for this team will be. First, the young players have to show some progress. It would be nice to see an upgrade in their play of around 10 to 20%. Second, the old group just needs to be themselves. The perfect example is Rich Hill. His 162 game average stats are 10 wins 7 losses an ERA of 3.85 and an ERA+ 111. Even if he does what he did last year, 8-7 with an ERA+ 98 the Pirates will be just fine. The same could be said of the rest of the veteran group. Carlos Santana has averaged about 19 homers the last 3 seasons. If he only has 2 during the first 60 games then the Pirates are in trouble. Andrew McCutchen’s on base percentage over the last 3 years has been .325. If at the 60 game mark his OBP is under 300 then the things are not going well. You get the picture. It is not a big ask but the veterans need to be themselves if the team is going to have success. Today is one of the great days in sport and I love the fact that it is just called Opening Day. Everyone knows what sport you are talking about without saying any more. The 162-game journey begins today.