Tag: Pittsburgh Pirates.

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Pirates Morning Report: No Turn Around Last Night

Final Score: Pirates 2 Blue Jays 8

Why The Pirates Lost: Another horrible pitching performance by Johan Oviedo. He went 5 innings giving up 7 runs on 10 hits and walking 3. His breaking “stuff” was stuffless as the Blue Jays just rocked it for 4 doubles. Oviedo certainly appears lost for the moment. The Pirates still cannot score more than 2 runs and really did not show much life at the plate, getting only 5 hits. Jack Suwinski did hit a home run but that was about it for the punchless Pirates. It was a discouraging performance all the way around. The bullpen is about the only part of the Pirates that is still performing well. They only gave up 1 run in the last 4innings with the B squad. It was an easy win for the Blue Jays sending the Pirates to their 6th straight loss.

Key Moment Of The Game: In the top of the first the Blue Jays got the first 3 batters on base via a single, walk, and another single to take a 1-0 lead with nobody out. Oviedo got the next 2 batters out and looked like he might get out of the inning with the weak hitting Brandon Belt coming to bat with his .172 average. Oviedo got ahead on the count 1 and 2 by blowing a 97 MPH fastball right by him for strike 2. Let’s just do that again. Oh no, pitching sequence dunce, let’s try an 88 MPH slider, that was scorched for a double, making it 3-0 in the blink of an eye. Alejandro Kirk, proving that some teams think a catcher should be able to hit, laced another double deep to center field to make the score 4-0 and the game was over.

Next Game: This afternoon, Blue Jays in Pittsburgh. Roansy Contreras will see if he can stop the slide. It’s time to send Miguel Andujar packing. It’s time to give Jason Delay more playing time. It’s time for the Pirates to get into a more aggressive hitting mode. They are taking way too many strikes. Yes, there have been balls that were called strikes, out of the zone, especially in Tampa, but they were not that far off that swinging at them could have resulted in hits. It’s time for the Pirates to dig down deep.

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Pirates Morning Report: Running On Empty

Final Score: Pirates 0 Blue Jays 4

Why The Pirates Loss: When you do not score you do not win. There is no question, the Pirates have had some other issues on this 5 game losing streak, but the bottom line is they are just not hitting. They have scored just 6 runs on 26 hits over the last 5 games, and you are not going to win many games with that average. The worst scoring team in baseball is the Miami Marlins, averaging 3.38 runs per game and are playing .500 ball. Compound that with some base running blunders and the Pirates had the perfect recipe for another loss. Rich Hill pitched his typical weird game, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks. He still managed to have some rocket shots hit right at someone.

Key Moment Of The Game: With all the base running mistakes the Pirates made, the Blue Jays made one in the first inning but did not pay for it. With one out in the top of the 1st inning Bo Bichette doubled. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled to left field and Bryan Reynolds pick up the ball in mid to shallow left field just when Bichette was rounding the 3rd base bag. Even though there was only one out, the third base coach waved the runner home and Reynolds threw a weak 3 hopper to the plate that still made it a close play. Any kind of legitimate throw and he is out at the plate. You never know, a big defensive play may have gotten the Pirates untracked. This would be the only run the Blue Jays would need, as the Pirates went quietly down to their 5th straight defeat.

Next Game: Tonight, Blue Jays in Pittsburgh. No question, the Pirates are having a rough stretch right now. The key will be how long will it last. More injuries with Bae and McCutchen having ankle problems is not going to help. All it takes is one game to right the ship. Speaking of rough patches Johan Oviedo takes the mound having given up 11 runs in his last 2 starts. He needs a good game which might lead to a double turn around tonight. One final thought: I have neither the time nor the inclination to go into it, but Greg Brown knows nothing about baseball despite watching it his entire life. The sound will be off the rest of the season. I cannot afford to throw a brick at the TV set.

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Pirates Morning Report: Oh, Solo Home Run

Final Score: Pirates 2 Rays 3

Why The Pirates Loss: Two words, Zach Eflin, another pitcher who has suddenly found it, after 7 years of just average performance. Over 7 innings he gave up no runs, 3 hits, no walks, and struck out 10, while only using 80 pitches. This improved his record to 4-0 with an ERA of 2.25. The Rays hit 3 solo homers and with that kind of pitching, it was enough to send the Pirates to their 4th straight loss. The Pirates made it interesting in the 9th to close the gap to 3-2 but could not push across the tying run. Things just got worse when Vince Velasquez had some kind of elbow pain and had to leave the game after the 3rd inning. There are no more updates on the Pirate website which is about as current as getting updates on the Civil War. At the very least you have to figure he is going on the IL and missing at least 2-3 starts. It could be worse the way the Pirates luck has been going.

The Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates offense was even worse yesterday as they limped into the 9th inning trailing 3-0. The Pirates started getting some breaks. With one out Tucupita Marcano got hit with a pitch on an 0-2 count. Then Taylor Walls got greedy on a ground ball by Bryan Reynolds trying to get a double play by tagging Marcano before throwing to first and dropped the ball. McCutchen struck out, but Carlos Santana roped a double into right center field to score 2 runs. After a walk, Connor Joe struck out to end the game, with the Pirates not taking full advantage of the Rays generosity.

Next Game: Tonight, Blue Jays, in Pittsburgh. Hopefully, home cooking will get the Pirates back on track. This begins a 6 game homestand against the Blue Jays and the Rockies. The Pirates must go at least 4-2. Despite all the problems, the Pirates are still in 1st place. Rich (The Hit Where They Are Pitcher) Hill will take the mound for the Pirates. This does not give you a warm fuzzy feeling with the strong hitting Blue Jays. Will we snap the streak tonight, only The Shadow Knows.

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Pirates Morning Report: Catch The Ball, Throw The Ball, Catch The Ball, Throw The Ball.

Final Score: Pirates 1 Rays 8

Why The Pirates Loss: The Pirates did not pick a good time to have one of their worse games of the season, on both sides of the ball. They made 2 errors and there were other balls that were either misplayed or misjudged, that were ruled hits. This is the 2nd game in a row that the defense has been bad. The offense has not been much better. Again, the Pirates went hitless with runners in scoring position going 0 for 7 and stranding 8 runners. This is their first 3 game losing streak of the season and the offense has scored a total of only 4 runs. Compound that with the fact, that the Rays are hitting at an unbelievably rate. The Ray’s OPS+ is 148, which means they are hitting almost 50% better than the league average, as a team!!!! The Toronto Blue Jays led the league in OPS+ last year with 117. The Pirates have only 3 players with an OPS+ of over 150. This is a Pirate offense, that for the most part as been doing pretty well. To say that the Ray’s offense is on fire is a huge understatement. Mitch Keller, even though he only pitched 5 innings, deserve a much better fate, as the Pirate’s defensive blunders extended many innings. He only gave up one earned run. The Pirates can move on quickly from this one since they play this afternoon.

Key Moment Of The Game: Andrew McCutchen had homered in the top of the 3rd to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead and Keller quickly got the first 2 outs in the bottom of the 3rd. Up to that point Keller looked extremely sharp allowing only one walk. Then all hell broke loose. Line drive single, another line drive single that ate up Bae, that put runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 out. Rodolfo Castro then botched a routine ground ball to allow one run to score and extend the inning. Bang, Brandon Lowe then doubled, and the Rays never looked back from their 3-1 lead.

Next Game: This afternoon, the Rays in Tampa Bay. Will the Pirates be able to snap the 3 game losing streak in Tampa today. I am sure this will not be their last 3 game losing streak, but it sure would feel good to win one today. Certainly, this is no time to panic but I do think there needs to be one change in the lineup. Ke’Bryan Hayes needs to be removed from the leadoff spot, until he shows he can hit and get on base. Currently his OBP is .281, which accounts for his OPS+ of 72. This simply cannot be your leadoff hitter. Vince Velasquez gets the start today. He has been the best Pirate pitcher over the last 3 weeks. He will get the supreme test today. I am really hoping I was wrong about this guy because I would like to see us avoid 4 losses in a row.

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Pirate Morning Report: Looking For The .143 Miracle

Final Score: Pirates 1 Rays 4

Why The Pirates Loss: Despite a below average performance by Roansy Contreras, this game was lost because of a lack of timely hitting and some questionable strategy. The Pirates got 5 hits, added 6 walks, but could only muster 1 run. They were 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base. Contreras did not pitch horribly, but did walk 4 batters, gave up a home run and threw 99 pitches in 5 and 1/3 innings. Did not have a lot of luck in the bottom of the 5th, as the Rays posted 2 runs on a walk, a pop up single that should have been caught, a hard single just out of the reach of the defenseless Mark Mathias, and a double steal. It was just one of those games, as the Pirates dropped their 2nd game in a row to fall to 20-10

Key Moment Of The Game: After the Rays took the lead in the bottom of the 5th, the Pirates started the 6th inning with a bang, on a Connor Joe double and Castro getting hit by a pitch to put runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out. Tucupita Marcano pinch hitting for the gloveless Mathias, apparently was told to sacrifice bunt to see if a .143 hitter could get 2 runs home. I don’t have a big problem with the sacrifice bunt, if that was indeed the plan, but you have to pinch hit for Hedges if you are going to go that route. To add insult to injury the umpires missed a balk that would have brought a run home. Hedges then struck out and Ke’Bryan Hayes on a 3-1 pitch swung at a ball that as Bob Prince use to say ” He couldn’t have hit with a bed slat”. He took a called 3rd strike to end the inning and the Pirates hopes of a comeback.

Next Game: Tonight, the Rays in Tampa Bay. Mitch Keller will try and get the Pirates back on track. This is a little like the game following last week’s Dodger loss, the Pirates don’t have to win tonight but they have to play a better all around game. One final thought, the next time you sacrifice two runners to 2nd and 3rd with no one out and you have the .143 catcher coming to the plate, put in the .390 hitting catcher. No charge for the tip.

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Pirates Morning Report: 29 Games In

Every 30 games or so, I will take an overall look at the Pirates to see how they are doing. In this day of analytics, you could try and breakdown every little thing the Pirates do, but in my opinion, it boils down to some basic things on offense, defense and pitching. On offense, it is how often you get on base (On Base Percentage OBP), how you convert that into runs, and how you compare with the rest of the league when all things are taken into account, OPS+. OPS+ is a number with the league average being 100. Pitching boils down to preventing runs, how well you control what a pitcher can control, home runs strikeouts, and walks. This is known as Fielding Independent Pitching, FIP. I use Baseball Reference’s Defense Efficiency Rating for evaluating a team’s defense. There are others and you can argue the merits of all the sites defensive ratings, but this isn’t life changing here, so I will go with them. Let’s see how the Pirates are doing, obviously quite well.

Offense: The Pirates are 3rd in baseball in getting on base with an OBP of .343. They are doing well on getting men home, scoring 5.38 runs per game, which is 5th. The Pirates OPS+ is 4th at 115. Everyone pales before the Tampa Bay Rays, who are at an astounding 150. The Pirates lead the league in stolen bases which is helping score runs but as the saying goes you cannot steal 1st. This is as high as the Pirates have been in these offensive stats in 5 or more years. Who is the poster child for this offensive resurgence? No question the most improved offensive player is Jack Suwinski. His batting process has improved dramatically. Batting average from .202 to .279. OBP from .298 to .393. Slugging from .411 to .618. He is tied for the team lead in walks with 14. This all due to a newfound plate discipline that hopefully will continue. This can be said for most of the team, as the offense has been pretty good for these 29 games.

Pitching: In run prevention the Pirate’s pitching staff is just as good as the offense is in producing runs, allowing 3.72 runs per game, which is 4th best in baseball. The pitching is 4th in ERA+ at 128 just 9 behind the Houston Astros. Their FIP is 3.81, which puts them in the 6th spot. As far as the pitching is concerned this has been a team effort. All the active pitchers at the moment have ERA+’s over 100, except Johan Oviedo and he is at 94, due to the bad outing the last game. Certainly, the surprise of the pitching staff has been Vince Velasquez. After a horrendous beginning, giving up 8 runs in a little over 7 innings in 2 starts, he has become the Pirates best pitcher. The last 4 games, he has given up 0 runs in 3 of them and 3 in the other game. His current ERA+ is 146. His lifetime ERA+ is 87. Whether it is him or something the Pirates saw, they have now honed him into a top pitcher. If he can keep this up even a little bit, it will make this rotation very formidable. I will admit I never saw this coming, but I am very happy.

Defense: Despite what you hear in the Pirate broadcast booth the Pirates are just an average fielding team at 17th in Defensive Efficiency. I think a lot of this is due to Rodolfo Castro having to move over to shortstop to replace Oneil Cruz. If Tucupita Marcano could prove that he can hit major league pitching, moving him to shortstop may help. The Pirates did this late in a game recently moving Castro over to second where he is better. Regardless the Pirates are fielding better than they have in a long time. It’s amazing what a real 1st baseman can do for you, thank you Carlos Santana.

The Pirates had a surprising great April. I expected this team to play meaningful games in August and September and contend for a playoff spot. I never thought they would get off to this good of a start, especially with some to the injuries that have occurred, beyond the devastating Oneil Cruz injury. The schedule is a little tougher in May, beginning with the next 6 games against the Rays and the Jays. If these Pirates can play .500 ball the rest of the season, they will wind up with 85+ wins. I certainly do not expect the Pirates to be 40-20 at the next 30 game report. 35 and 25 would be nice and I feel they are more than capable of accomplishing that record around the 1st week of June. They need to stay away from the injury bug if they are going to be in the hunt. They have had enough of that. I think the most important thing that happened this month was the long term signing of Bryan Reynolds. It shows that the Pirates have a true belief in this club and the future. If things continue like this, the future is now.

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Pirates Morning Report: Throw Me The Damn Fastball

Final Score: Pirates 2 Nationals 7

Why The Pirates Loss: For the 2nd outing in a row Johan Oviedo seemed to want to throw nothing but breaking pitches and the results this time were disastrous. In 2.1 innings he got racked up for 7 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks while striking out only 1 batter. In the bottom of the 3rd all 4 batters he faced hit the ball hard. He has a fastball that is around 96 to 98 MPH but for some reason he seems to be reluctant to throw it. The bullpen pitched the last 5.2 innings and gave up no runs on 6 hits, walking 2 and striking out 4 batters. After the big day on Saturday the Pirate bats were quiet getting only 6 hits, with just one being an extra base hit. The Nationals scored their first 5 runs after 2 were out in the 1st and 2nd inning. Rich Hill, give Oviedo some lessons. The starting pitching for the Pirates got blitzed to send them to their 9th loss of the season.

Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates trailed 5-0 going into the top of the 3rd inning. Ji Hwan Bae singled to lead off the inning and worked his way around to 3rd base with 2 out. Bryan Reynolds singled him in to make the score 5-1. Then the Pirates got 2 walks to send Jack Suwinski up with the bases loaded for the 2nd game in a row. He hit a ground ball down the 1st base line and just missed beating the pitcher to the bag by a half step to end the inning. The Nationals added 2 more runs in the bottom of the inning and never were threatened the rest of the way. For this game anyway, the Nationals got the 2 outs hits and the Pirates did not.

The Next Game: Tuesday night, the Rays, in Tampa Bay. The teams with the best 2 records in baseball with square off against each other for a 3 game series in the Fascist state of Florida. The Pirates will need to win at least one game to make this a .500 road trip. Tomorrow I will give the Pirate 29 game report. Around every 30 games or so is a good time to see how the team is doing when compared with the rest of the league. Needless to say this will be their best report card in about 7 years.

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Pirates Morning Report: So Nice To Be On The Right Side Of Blowouts.

Final Score Game 1: Pirates 6 Nationals 3

Final Score Game 2: Pirates 16 Nationals 1

Why The Pirates Won: Let’s get Game 2 over with. As I use to write about the Pirates, Chad Kuhl and the Nationals took the field. Game 1 was much more competitive. Rich (I Prefer Pitching With Men On Base), Hill pitched another dancing through the raindrops 6.1 innings, giving up 3 runs, 2 earned, on 8 hits, walking no one, and striking out 5. Hill also had his at’em ball going, recording 5 line drive outs, many of them with runners on base. The bullpen came in with one out in the 7th and recorded 8 consecutive outs. The Pirate hitters took advantage of 7 walks and scored 6 runs. Miguel Andujar had a huge 2 games, going 4 for 5, with 2 home runs and 6 RBI’s. Jack Suwinski didn’t have a bad day either going 3 for 6 with 5 RBI’s, including a grand slam homerun. For the 2 games the Pirates scored 22 runs on 27 hits and walked 14 times. They are now 20-8 and need only one more win to make this a successful road trip. Of course, more than that is fine too.

Key Moments Of The Game: The 2nd game, Chad Kuhl took the mound. In the first game it was the Rich Hill, how to get out of jams show, for the 2nd consecutive start. This was almost a carbon copy of his last start. In 6 full innings of work, he had one 3up, 3 down inning. This was the Nationals nightmare. 1st inning leadoff double, no runs scored with 2 line outs. Bottom of the 3rd, bases loaded nobody out, no runs scored thanks to a line drive double play. Bottom of the 4th, they were finally able to take advantage of catchers interference with a key 2 out double to tie the score 2-2. Bottom of the 5th, no runs scored after a 1 out double, thanks to another line drive out to Connor Joe at first. The Nationals were able to get 1 run after a leadoff triple in the bottom of the 6th. The Nationals were 2-13 with runners in scoring position. How long will Rich Hill be able to keep doing this?

Next Game: This afternoon, the Nationals, in Washington D. C. Johan Oviedo will take the hill for the Pirates as they go for the sweep. You do not know if Andujar’s performance was just a fluky thing or maybe he has found something. The Pirates could use another productive right handed bat. It looks like the Pirates are going to find out, as he is staying up for a while. Let’s hope mother nature lets them go for their 21st win.

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Pirates Morning Report: Only Mother Nature Can Stop This Team

The Pirates were rained out of their game with the Nationals yesterday and will play a day night doubleheader today. The Pirates have finally captured the attention of the national media. The main theme is, are the Pirates for real? Many are not believers, saying that the Pirates are playing out of their minds, or things are going their way. Nothing could be further from the truth. What is true, is that the so-called experts, can’t stand looking so bad. Even though I thought this team would be a contender, when few people did, they are playing better than even I thought they would. Let’s take a look at why the national media thinks the Pirates are off to such a good start.

The Pirates are playing out of their minds. If you look at the stats the Pirates are quite good but they are at the bottom of the top 10 in the important stats. They are below average in the overall fielding stat. They do lead the league in stolen bases but unlike the Tampa Bay Rays they are not on top of almost every batting stat. The same can be said for the pitching. They are in good solid position when it comes to the most important pitching stats, but they are not leading the league. I will go into their stats in more detail at the 29-game report. The point is these are not stats of a team that is playing out of their minds.

Things are going the Pirates way. Wrong again media moron. Things have not gone the Pirates way, especially on the injury front. I thought losing Oneil Cruz would be the loss that sent this team on a downward spiral, and I think it did, but for only one game. They quickly shook it off and got right back on the winning track. Right now, the Pirates have 7 pitchers that are either about to come off the shelf or are on the shelf. Let’s count them: Max Kranick, J. T. Brubaker, Chase De Jong, Will Crowe, Mike Burrows, Rob Zastryzny, and Jarlin Garcia. All of these pitchers, most likely would have had big roles, or pitched on the major league team this year. Jarlin Garcia was going to be a major piece of the bullpen, and there is no timetable for his return. Some of this group will return in the next couple of weeks and it will be interesting to see what the Pirates do. The Pirates are showing a surprising amount of depth. There have been a lot of games this year where the Pirates had some really bad luck. Now this is going to happen during the course of a long season, but it was not like the Pirates got a huge number of breaks during this 26 game stretch.

Are Pirates going to keep playing close to .700 ball, of course not but who is? But is this team for real, absolutely. This team, in my opinion, was always going to be solid. I felt that they would be playing meaningful games in August and September. Like every team, I am sure they will go through a bad spell. In the long run, the Pirates are a contending team, with a good chance of making the playoffs, and may be the surprise story of the decade.

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Pirates Morning Report: How Many Ways Can I Beat You

Final Score: Pirates 6 Dodgers 2

Why The Pirates Won: Mitch Keller went Nolan Ryan striking out 10 batters in 6 innings. After giving up 2 runs in the 1st he settled down and shutout the Dodgers through the next 5 on only 3 hits and no walks. Then the bullpen really went to work as DUJ, Jose Hernandez, David Bednar retired all 9 batters they faced. The Pirate batters showed two different ways to score 3 runs in an inning. In the bottom of the 1st, they scored 3 runs on 4 singles, one a bunt single with 2 strikes, a sacrifice fly and had a double steal. In the bottom of the 6th, they scored 3 runs on a walk then consecutive home runs by Connor Joe and Rodolfo Castro to stretch their lead to 6-2. Small ball one inning and long ball another inning to score 6 runs. The Pirates won the series and stretched their record to 18-8.

Key Moment Of The Game: The immediate break back in the 1st inning after the Dodgers had taken the lead 2-0 in the top of the 1st. The Pirates tied the score on 3 singles and a sacrifice fly and Andrew McCutchen had move all the way to third with 2 out. Then Jack Suwinski got a little check swing bloop single to score McCutchen to take the lead 3-2. That’s all the Pirate pitchers would need as they really shut down the Dodgers. It was nice to add on in the 6th inning with the long ball.

Next Game: Tonight, The Nationals, in Washington D. C. Rich Hill will be pitching for the Pirates when they start a 6 game road trip against the Nationals and then the Rays. Being on the road, a 3-3 record will be satisfactory. The Pirates are looking better that I even expected them to be thus far. The Oneil Cruz injury I thought would be a crushing loss but this team seems to have great depth. Just enjoy this while it lasts because there will be some ups and downs. I will be sad to see April end on Sunday. Go Bucs!