Tag: mlb

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Pirates Morning Report: Making All The Wrong Personnel Decisions.

Many say that the Pirates are bad at developing position players. They point to the many failures over the past 2 to 3 years. I believe the Pirates make poor decisions. They choose the wrong ways to handle and play their players. I do not think I would classify this as bad coaching either. That is not to say that the Pirate coaching staff is doing a good job. Coaching is harder if a player is not put in the position he should be playing. Players can only do what an organization asks them to do. In other words, the Pirate management team are these players’ bosses. It is these decision makers that should no longer be around when this season is over. I am going to go down a list of players whom I think were handled poorly. In other words, the Pirate organization did not put them in the best position to succeed. In one final example, I will show that the Pirates are just petty and mean-spirited.

Let’s start with Oneil Cruz. He has had the most disappointing season of any Pirate and that is saying something. Oneil Cruz was coming off a horrific broken ankle leg going into the 2024 season. Going into that season the Pirates should have made the decision right then to move him to the outfield. Outfield is much less stressful on the lower body. This was a player who was having problems playing shortstop even before he broke his leg. When the Pirates finally did put him in the outfield at the end of 2024 they put him in the wrong position. They should have put him in right field. Why would you put a player with defensive issues in one of the most important defensive positions on the field. The Padres put Fernando Tatis Jr. in right field and he thrived. Despite the mishandling Cruz had a decent year at the plate. He was 15 % better at the plate than your average major league hitter with an OPS+ of 115. He started this year in centerfield and has generally struggled. He got off to a decent start at the plate until the Pirates made another bad move. They decided to bat him lead off. Essentially he has not been the same since. His OPS+ this year is 91. If the Pirates ever wake up which is unlikely they will move him to right field. They did the same thing with Jack Suwinski, putting him in the lead off spot last year. They tried to make both players into Kyle Schwarber. They did not have enough sense to realize there will only be one Kyle Schwarber. That is how special he is. The other disappointing player is Henry Davis. Davis looks terrible at the plate. I look him up on You Tube. He was one of the best college hitters in the country when he played for Louisville. When he hit at Louisville there were 2 distinct differences in his batting stance. His stance was more open than it is now by about 6 inches. His stance was wider than what it is now. You would think someone would just tell him to go back to that. He could not do any worse. Do the Pirates know there is such a thing as You Tube?

The Pirates make even worse decisions when they bring someone up from the minors. The Pirates’ bats have not performed well. If a player is called up and he is swinging a hot bat in AAA, you should put him in the lineup. That’s what you would think. It never happened. Nick Solak was hitting over .350 and had an OBP of well over .400 when he was called up on May 16th. He was sent back down on June 3rd. The Pirates played 17 games in that span. He played in 4 games. He has not been heard from since, even though his current slash line is .328/.411/.494. I know he is 30 years old, but come on, give him a legitimate shot. What have you got to lose? Matt Gorski was up for 20 games; he played in 15 games, but one he did not bat in. In another game, he batted once. He only had 3 or more at-bats in 8 games. Liover Peguero was brought up earlier this year on May 2. The Pirates played 9 games. He appeared in 4 games, getting to bat 9 times. Billy Cook was up for a brief time and went 2 for 6, never to be seen again. Cam Devanney is getting playing time; however, he played most of the year at shortstop at AAA. The Pirates put him at 3rd base. Nick York played 6 games at 1st base out of the 103 games he played for Indianapolis. He has been at first base 6 out of the 13 games he has played for the Pirates. I do not know how much this affects a player’s hitting. However, playing young players at positions that are not their main positions can’t help. Another thing that does not help a player develop is not letting him face the same-side pitcher. Especially this time of year, the Pirates, have nothing to play for. Not allowing Oneil Cruz, Jack Suwinski, and Spencer Horwitz to hit against left-handed pitching about 90% of the time is not helping these players at all. Oneil Cruz, before the Pirates messed him up, was hitting left-handed pitching well in the last half of 2024. How can you expect players to improve and get better if you never put them in a position to get better? You would think the Pirate organization would want their young players to succeed. Maybe it just seems like they don’t.

Then there is the case of Tommy Pham. Pham was our “big” free-agent signing. He got off to a horrible start. He was fitted with some special contacts because of some strange corneal condition he has. Once he could see, he went on a six-week tear. He was one of the best hitters in baseball at the trade deadline. The other appealing factor about Pham is he has great playoff numbers. He has had 136 plate appearances in the playoffs with a slash line of .315/.331/.492. He has hit 6 homers and driven in 12 runs during the postseason. It is hard to believe that there was not one of the contenders that was interested in him. Then on the last weekend where a player could be eligible for the playoffs, the Pirates waived Isiah Kiner-Falefa. He was picked up by the Toronto Blue Jays. IKF is headed for the playoffs. The Pirates could have done the same thing with Tommy Pham. Instead, they pretty much said you’re not playing in the postseason. I do not think this went unnoticed by Mr. Pham. Since that weekend, Pham has a slash line of .145/.277/.255. The Pirates were fine getting nothing for IKF. Now he has a legitimate chance of playing in the World Series. In my view, the Pirates are telling Pham, “screw you, buddy,” for having such a bad opening 2 and a half months of the season. It shows that the Pirates are being run by very small people. Let’s hope they are not around by October 1.

We have only 9 games to go. Three at home and then 6 on the road. Don’t expect to see much improvement down this stretch. Ninety-plus losses seem like a given. Hopefully, the Pirates will find someone to manage and develop players. With just an average offense, this team should be able to make the playoffs. That, to me, is not a tall order. It is just that this regime is so incompetent. They will have the worst offense in baseball this year by a wide margin. Somebody please find some bats. We have the pitching staff. I feel there will be hope if there is a proper house cleaning at the end of the season. With this owner I am not too sure this will happen.

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Pirates Morning Report: The Blake Snell Signing, High Risk But What Kind Of Reward.

The Dodgers signed Blake Snell to a 5 year contract that will pay him about 36 million a year for the next 5 years. Blake Snell was a high risk signing. He has played in the majors for 9 seasons. In only 2 of those seasons has he pitched in over 30 games. He has had 2 outstanding seasons which has netted him 2 Cy Young awards. Besides not coming to the post all that often his overall numbers are not that impressive. His career OPS+, the comparison stat where 100 is league average, is 128. Simply put, over the past 9 years he has pitched better than 28% of major league pitchers. Max Fried of the Braves is a free agent also this year. His career OPS+ over 8 years is 140. He has had his share of injuries, even more so than Snell. He has averaged 21 starts per year whereas Snell has averaged close to 24 starts. Snell’s biggest problem is his control. Even his Cy Young year with the Padres he averaged 5 walks per 9 innings. Until Snell threw his no hitter this year where he went 9 innings, he had never had a complete game. Let that one sink in for a while. Naturally when the Dodgers signed Snell all of the media was moaning and complaining that the system is broken, blah blah blah. The idea that only about 5 or 6 teams could afford Snell is ridiculous. Even the Pirates could afford Snell even though they would never admit it. However, what teams like the Pirates cannot do is take the risk of Snell having a mediocre year which he did for 3 of those 9 years. They also cannot take the risk of him taking the mound only 24 times or less which he did 5 out of 9 seasons. The Dodgers can take that risk and are taking that risk. In my view it is a big risk. The Dodgers have one of the strongest stables of starting pitching in all of baseball. The question will be how many of them will be able to come to the post. Not many did last year for various reasons. Despite all of this the Dodgers did manage to win the World Series. They still have the big three, Betts, Ohtani, and Freeman, who combined for 15 WAR last year. The starting 9 for the Pirates had a combined WAR of 8. This was not a player that the Pirates needed to or should have signed. It is obvious they need position players. Even for the Dodgers the Blake Snell signing is a burden for their payroll. It is very likely a signing that they will regret.

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Pirates Morning Report: .500 Road Trip Locked UP

Final Score: Pirates 6 Astros 2

Why The Pirates Won: For two days in a row it was the .200 club that contributed mightily to this win. It is not often you win a game when your 3-4 hitters in the lineup go 1 for 10 and strikeout 7 times. Jared Triolo and Michael Taylor went 2 for 7, with 1 walk, driving in 3 runs. Barry Falter pitched a nice 5 and 1/3 innings coming back from the IL. He gave up 1 earned run on 6hits, walking no one. Dennis Santana came in the bottom of the 6th to snuff out the rally and pitched a scoreless 7th inning. In his last 7 games he has 9 and 2/3 innings and has not given up a run, while striking out 16 batters. Whether it is the change of scenery, or he and the Pirates found something, he has been lights out over his last 10-11 appearances. Glad I was wrong about him. Kyle Nicolas and Hunter Stratton finished up. Even though they had some issues, the Astros failed to score any runs and the Pirates had pretty much of a stress-free win.

The Key Moment Of The Game: In the top of the sixth there were two out, nobody on and Jared Triolo was behind in the count 0-2. Over the next 6 pitches Triolo battled to get a walk. Michael Taylor for the second straight day hit a big 2 out home run to make the score 5-1 Pittsburgh, which gave the Pirates a very nice cushion. The Astros did get a run in the bottom of the inning but never had a major threat going for the rest of the day. The Pirates got the final run on a bases loaded walk to Andrew McCutchen to clinch the series win.

Next Game: Tonight, Astros in Houston. The Pirates will start recently acquired Jake Woodford. He has had an up and down career. Let’s hope he has an up night so the Pirates have a shot at getting the sweep. The Pirates made modest noise at the deadline, which should help the team some. I will discuss that more when the Pirates make their final roster moves. Right now, just basking in the glory of a 3-game road winning streak, against some pretty good competition.

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Pirates Morning Report: Unlikely Heroes Even Up Road Trip

Final Score: Pirates 5 Astros 3

Why The Pirates Won: The .200 Club won this game. Yasmani Grandal, Michael (I Refuse To Write The A) Taylor and Jared Triolo all had big hits to help win this game. Taylor in particular had the big game going 2 for 3 with a homer and 3 RBIs. Paul Skenes had another solid outing allowing only 1 earned run on 5 hits, walking 3, striking out 6, while throwing 101 pitches. He was not his sharpest, but if Ke’Bryan Hayes makes the play on a ground ball, it might have been a double play, and he would have given up 0 runs. This game was very similar to the previous win except the Pirates tied it in the 8th and took the lead in the 9th. The bullpen had another shaky bottom of the last inning but held on to pick up the win. No matters what happens on the rest of the trip, it cannot be consider a disaster.

Key Moments Of The Game: Oneil Cruz’s double to tie the game and Michael Taylor’s 3 run homer to give the Pirates a 5-2 lead came when 2 were out. David Bednar came in to get the save in the bottom of the 9th. After quickly getting one out, things began to go awry. Victor Caratini singled up the middle. Bednar walks the next batter. Jose Altuve singles to left to load the bases. Alex Bregman hit a 102 MPH liner that Michael Taylor was able to snag for the 2nd out. Up to the plate stepped the ever-dangerous Yordan Alvarez who was already 2 for 4 with an RBI. The Pirates decided on a gutsy move by giving him nothing to hit walking him to make the score 5-3 putting the winning run on base and the tying run in scoring position. It paid off as Bednar got Yainer Diaz to pop out to Cruz to end the game. Whew!

Next Game: Tonight, Astros in Houston. Barry Falter returns tonight and at least he is not facing a top of the rotation guy. A 3-3 road trip has now become more of a possibility. More so than the Pirates doing anything to really improve this team. We have about 11 hours to find out.

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Pirates Morning Report: Punchless Pirates Lose Again

Final Score: Pirates 3 Diamondbacks 4

Why The Pirates Lost: In the last 7 innings of the game the Pirates scored 0 runs on 3 hits. The 4 through 7 hitters went 2 for 14. The team was 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position. They left 9 men on base. The Diamondbacks tried to help out by walking 3 and hitting 2 batters but the Pirates refused to take advantage. Oneil Cruz looked like he was suffering from jet lag, his at bats were so bizarre. He took 2 out of 3 strikes to strike out on 3 pitches. To make up for it on his next at bat, he swung at all 6 pitches even though only 1 was in the strike zone, to strike out again. On his 4th at bat, he took 2 strikes and then could not hold up on a pitch that was almost over his head. Mr. Cruz is 6′ 7″. Luiz Ortiz for the first time in a long time had control issues. In just 5+ innings of work Ortiz gave up 3 runs, 5 hits, walking 3, striking out 4, while throwing 93 pitches. With this offense you have to do better than that.

Key Moment Of The Game: It was 3-1 Pirates going into the bottom of the 6th inning. Ortiz had been dancing through the raindrops giving up just 1 run. The inning started off with a bang when Joc Peterson hit an 0-2 fast ball 453 feet to make it 3-2. Then Ortiz walked the next batter and was done for the day. Out went Ortiz and in came Carmen Mlodzinski, who also seemed to be jet lagged. In 5 pitches he gave up 2 singles and before you could say how do spell Mlodzinski, the score was tied 3-3. If the Pirates would have somehow won this game, the next play would have been the play of the game. Eugenio Suarez hit a line drive but right at Ke’Bryan Hayes and he threw out the runner at 1st to complete a very fortunate double play. Mlodzinski took the game into his own hands by throwing a wild pitch to make sure that the Diamondbacks would win the game 4-3. The Pirates never really threatened the rest of the way and the road trip started with a loss.

Next Game: Tonight, Diamondbacks in Arizona. Marco Gonzalez starts for the Pirates tonight and apparently has a good record against the Diamondbacks. When will this team ever get offensive help. The Pirates are 2-3 in their last 5 games. The offense has averaged barely over 2 runs per game. They completely wasted an impressive performance by Paul Skenes. Management continues to do nothing.

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Pirates Morning Report: Win Streak Over, How Will They Respond?

Final Score: Pirates 0 Philllies 6

Why The Pirates Lost: The 6 game winning streak came to an end with a big fat thud yesterday. If you are going to lose you might as well do everything bad and just get it over with. The Pirates offense was so bad, that even though they had 6 hits, they had only one at bat with a runner in scoring position. The offense did manage to strike out only 6 times again. They played lousy defense making 2 errors and not making plays on balls that should have been caught. Marco Gonzales had an ok start giving up 2 runs on 6 hits, walking 1 over 4 and 2/3 innings. The bullpen gave up the rest of the runs although 3 of the 4 runs were unearned. The Pirates stunk out the joint, but we will see which one was the anomaly. The first two wins or yesterday’s lousy performance.

Key Moment Of The Game: It is hard to come up with a really key moment in this game because you felt the Pirates were not going to score if the game went 15 innings. No question giving up the 3 runs on just 2 hits in the top of the 7th to make the score 5-0 sealed the deal. Oneil Cruz dropped the throw from Nick Gonzales on a possible double play ball that opened the floodgates. You really did not think that the Pirates were going to sweep the Phillies, did you.

Next Game: Tonight, the Cardinals in Pittsburgh. The big guns go for the Pirates, Keller and Skenes in the first two games of the series. The Cardinals have won 4 out of the 6 games they have played against the Pirates. The bear minimum here is to take the Cardinals 2 out of 3. We will see how the Pirates respond to a very poor performance. This team needs to keep the momentum going if they are really going to make a run at the playoffs. This all starts by beating the Cardinals 2 or 3 times this week.

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Pirates Morning Report: The Pitching Wins This One

Final Score: Pirates 4 Phillies 1

Why The Pirates Won: Luis Ortiz had another strong outing going 7 innings allowing no runs on 3 hits and 2 walks. Aroldis Chapman came in the 8th and struck out the side on 12 pitches. David Bednar closed the game giving up the Bryce Harper home run but not allowing anyone to reach base to give the Pirates their 6th straight win. The offense was not all that shabby either, scoring 4 runs on 10 hits, while striking out only 4 times. I hear there will be a doctor in the broadcast booth, because if the Pirates sweep the Phillies today, Greg Brown will get so excited he may need medical attention. Good God, they’ve won 6 in a row, not made the playoffs.

Key Moments Of The Game: It was all Oneil Cruz. It is not to discount Andrew McCutchen’s home run which got the ball rolling, but it was the 3 RBIs by Cruz that made the difference in this game. First, he doubled and homer off two All Star left hand pitchers. He did both with 2 out. It does not get much bigger than that. The two run home run in the bottom of the 8th put a whole different feel to the game. If Harper’s home run in the top of the ninth had made 2-1 instead of 4-1, it is hard to say what would have happened after that. There is no doubt these are two surprising wins against the Phillies.

Next Game: This afternoon, Phillies in Pittsburgh. Can the Pirates get the sweep? Marco (No I’m Not Martin Perez’s Brother) Gonzales will start, making his second start, since coming off a prolonged stint on the IL. He danced through many raindrops in the 5 innings against the White Sox. Let’s hope he can do better than his clone Perez. The Pirates have won 6 in a row. Many parts of the team are looking really good. The bad parts of the team are remaining bad. Yesterday the awfulness went 3 for 14 which is not bad for them. Obviously, the Pirates made no moves during the break. Will it catch up with them or will the magnificent 6 remain hot enough to overcome the awfulness. Only time will tell.

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Pirates Morning Report: Couldn’t Lose Even Though They Tried.

Final Score: Pirates 8 Phillies 7

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates offense won this one because it sure as hell wasn’t the pitching. The offense was led by Reynolds, 3 hits, Cruz, 3hits, 3 RBI’s and Rawhide Rowdy Telles with 3 sacrifice flies. Management essentially forfeited the game. They had 5 choices to start the game, Perez, Gonzales, Priester, Keller, and Ortiz. They picked the worse pitcher of the bunch in Martin Perez, and you could say he came through. He pitched 3 and 2/3 innings giving up 6 runs on 7 hits, 2 of which left the park, walking 2 on 82 pitches. That is over 20 pitches per inning. Hopefully the next time we see Perez he will be coming out of the bullpen. Naturally with a break, the Phillies, who want to win every game, started one of their better pitchers in Aaron Nola. Surprisingly the Pirate offense came alive and lit him up for 4 runs on 6hits and 1 walk in just 5 innings. The Phillies bullpen is not quite as good as Bob Walk and Greg Brown made them out to be, but they are solid, ranked 8th in all of baseball. Of course, Walk said the Pirates have a good bullpen also. He must think being ranked 22nd out of 30 teams is good. None the less, last night the Pirate bullpen did out do the Phillies bullpen. The Pirates scored 4 runs over the last 4 innings to open the post All Star break with a win. Unbelievable.

The Key Moments Of The Game: It boiled down to the 9th inning. Going into the 9th the score was 7-6 Phillies. Carmen Mlodzinski came into pitch. The Phillies opened the inning with 2 singles to put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Mlodzinski got a pop out and fly out to right field moving the runner to third base. One pitch later the other runner stole 2nd to put runners on second and third with 2 out. Mlodzinski struck out Brandon Marsh on a beautiful 97 MPH fast ball on a 3-2 count. In the bottom of the ninth the Phillies brought in lefty Jose Alvarado. Connor Joe singled to left field followed by an Andrew McCutchen walk. Michael Taylor pinch ran for Connor Joe after his single. The Pirates then pulled off the double steal, with Taylor just making it to third base. This changed the dynamics of the inning and set the Pirates up for victory. Bryan Reynolds struck out, but Oneil Cruz hit a chopper over the mound that the Phillies tried to make a play at the plate on, that was a mistake. Instead of getting the 2nd out now the Pirates had first and third with one out and the infield had to play in again. Nick Gonzales drilled a ball to left field and the Pirates had an unexpected win.

Next Game: Tonight, Phillies in Pittsburgh. The best thing about this win last night was that the Pirates are not getting swept. To win any game 8-7, let alone against the Phillies, makes you wonder if things are starting to go the Pirates way. Time will tell. Shelton did ask Martin Perez if he could start again tonight but Perez said no. It certainly was a miracle win last night.

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Pirates Morning Report: All Star Break, Part Two

The Pirate broadcast booth, some on social media, and the written media are just downright giddy over the Pirates 4 game winning streak and getting to .500 at the All Star break. Derek Shelton says that the Pirates are playing better. The cold hard facts do not show that. Beginning today the reality check will begin. The Pirates are going on a 24 game stretch where they play 6 games at home, 6 games on the road, 6 games at home and 6 games on the road. They will play 3 games each against 2 of the best teams in the National League, the Phillies at home and the Dodgers on the road. The other 18 games are going to be against teams that currently have better records than the Pirates. The Pirates’ home and road record is pretty much the same. There are 12 games before the trade deadline. Six at home against the Phillies and the Cardinals. Then they go on the road to face the Diamondbacks and the Astros. Losing something like 9 out of 12 is a distinct possibility with the team that they now have assembled. Shelton said recently that they are looking to add a bat. He did not say that there would be a player attached to that bat. Ben Cherrington said earlier that he felt the Pirates were going to fix their offensive issues from within the organization. The bottom line on all of this is, as usual, the Pirates will not be major players at the trade deadline. It will be a big surprise to me if they even make one trade. What is life if not to have some fun. Here is simply what I would do if I ran the Pirates.

Gone are Jack Suwinski and Jared Triolo to be replaced by Ji Hwan Bae and Liover Peguero. There are three blue chip names that are most likely on the trade block. Two of them for sure and the other one a definite maybe. Taking them in the order of most desirable for the Pirates. At the top of the list is Vladimir Guerrero Jr. His current OPS+ is 130 and that is after getting off to a very slow start. He would add a whole new dynamic to this team. He is under team control until 2025 and this guy stays on the field. The last 3 years he has played between 156 and 161 games. Next at a very close 2nd is A’s closer Mason Miller. This would bolster the bullpen which right now sits at 22nd in baseball. Finally, another Oakland A Brent Rooker. The problem with him is that he is basically a DH. McCutchen has not exactly been chop liver at that position, but to think that he can play the field on a regular basis may be stretching things a bit. When Rooker has been out in the field he has been horrible. The Pirates do seem to get along with a mediocre right fielder and there is no question his bat is elite. If I ran the Pirates, I would make sure that I got two out of three. If this team is going to make the playoffs they need some huge upgrades in certain areas. You are not making the playoffs with the worst centerfielder and a bottom third right fielder. This trade deadline is tricky to say the least. There are only about 6 teams that are definitely sellers. The Blue Jays are not one of those teams. They are a borderline team, and they may not be in the selling mode. Getting the other 2 Oakland players would be just fine. It would take some bold strokes to pull this off, so it is unlikely to happen. Which is the same thing you can say about this organization making the playoffs this year, very unlikely. The next 12 games and the Pirate activity at the trade deadline may change my mind.

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Pirates Morning Report: All Star Break, Part One

The Pirates made it to .500, 48-48 thanks to a finishing 4 game winning streak. The Pirates are 7-0 against the Marlins and the White Sox. I will never belittle those wins. The Marlins beat the Reds in the last game before the break. This does beg the question, did the Pirates really improve, or did they take advantage of poor competition. In the 3 phases of the game, hitting, pitching, and defense, let’s see what happened. They got a lot better pitching, stayed the same hitting, and surprisingly got worse on defense since we last took a look at the Pirates, 31 games ago. Let us look at the team numbers first. The offense continues to stink but at least they did not get worse. If you listen to the broadcast booth you would think this team is ready to become the 27′ Yankees. Dream away child. In runs scored they are still at 20th in the league at 4.19 runs per game. In on base percentage they have fallen to 27th from their lofty perch of 24th. In the comparison stat OPS+ there are now only 2 teams in all of baseball that hit worse than they do. There is no question their pitching has gotten them to .500. They showed vast improvement in every category. In runs allowed they went up to 14th from 19th. In fielding independent pitching, they had a huge improvement going up to 7th in baseball from 19th. In the comparison stat of ERA+ they went up two places to 12th. Going through each position and area according to WAR the Pirate rotation is hitting elite status as they are ranked 3rd in all of baseball. Too bad the rest of the team can’t even come close to that. The next highest ranked position is left field where Bryan Reynolds has played the most at 12th. Where the Pirates stink the most is centerfield (30th), pinch hitting (26th), catcher (25th), right field (22th), and the bullpen (22nd). Then we come to what I feel is the most disappointing part of this Pirate team the defense. In defense efficiency which takes in all aspects of a team’s defense not just errors, the Pirates now are 25th, falling 8 places. Essentially, they are one of the worst fielding teams in the league.

Looking at the individual players here are the culprits that are having horrible offensive seasons up to this point. OPS+ is the comparison stat on how a player compares with his constituents. It takes into consideration the run scoring environment, the competition and the ballpark the player plays in. It comes out simply a whole number with 100 being league average. Being a league average hitter is absolutely fine and if the Pirates had about 8-9 hitters at league average or above, they would probably be in first place. Here are the Pirate players that probably could not get a hit even if there were only 5 players on the field. Their OPS+ is in parenthesis. Yasmani Grandal (42), Ke’Bryan Hayes (74), Michael Taylor (53), Jared Triolo (59), Jack Suwinski (63), Henry Davis (45), and Alika Williams (48). With the exception of Hayes, these players are hitting at a rate of 37 to 48% worse than the league average. Even though I know this won’t happen, there is not one single reason that I can think of for these players to be on the team when play resumes after the break. More on that in part 2. Even with his hot 6 to 7 weeks Rawhide Rowdy Tellez sits at 92. What Rowdy are we going to see after the break. The April May Rowdy or the June July Rowdy. The other aspect of the Pirate game that will have to improve is the bullpen. You cannot be the 22nd best bullpen and make the playoffs. Hopefully the defense will improve just by the normal course of events.

Finally let’s set the record straight. This is not the second half of the season. The season is 60% over. The Pirates have played 96 games and there are 66 games to go. With the expanded playoffs the last two years, 87 and 84 wins have made the final playoff spot. Both years that final playoff spot made it to the World Series. Let’s compromise here and say it will take 86 wins to make the playoffs. The Pirates would need to go 38-28 to get to that point. I do not see that happening in the team’s current state. In my view the Pirates need 2 outfielders, a catcher, and at least on more bullpen arm. How they will go about that or even if they will go about that will dictate how this season will go. Part 2 on Friday.