Tag: Pittsburgh Pirates.

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Pirates Morning Report: No More Cruz Control

Final Score: Pirates 2 Astros 8

Why The Pirates Lost: Another poor performance by a Pirate starter, this time Roansy Contreras. It was by far the worst start of his young career. From the outset you could tell he just did not have it. In 3.1 innings he gave up 7 runs, 9 hits, and walked 4. I am surprised that they even let him come out for the 4th inning. The bats weren’t much better getting only 3 hits, but the hitters did manage to get 5 walks. It was a lackluster performance, probably triggered by the Oneil Cruz injury. They will need to move on, because things are not going to get any easier.

Key Moment Of The Game: As bad as Contreras was, if he could have just gotten the 3rd out in the first three innings, the score would have been tied 1-1, instead of 5-1 Astros. The Astros got 4 out of the 5 runs after 2 were out. In fact, in the top of the 3rd inning, there was 2 out nobody on, when they added another run, getting 3 straight singles. Then the top of the 4th was a total melt down for Contreras. Some pitchers get off to a slow start, then all of a sudden something clicks, and they pitch a very good game. This was not the case for Contreras last night. Nobody on the Pirates bench seemed to notice this. It was just one of those nights for the young right hander. Hopefully he will be able to shake it off and come back strong his next outing.

Next Game: Tonight, Astros in Pittsburgh. The Astros are throwing another strong starter, Cristian Javier at the Pirates tonight. The Pirates will counter with Mitch Keller who had a great start the last time out. It is way too early in the season to look at any game as being critical, but the Pirates need to have a good game as a Cruzless team. It does not have to be a win, but they need to get back to being competitive. The Pirates brought up Mark Mathias to replace Cruz, who made an uneventful debut last night. Pretty much, a safe move by management, saying this season is over already. Maybe the players will prove them wrong.

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Pirates Morning Report: Velasquez, I Was Just Kidding

Final Score: Pirates 5 White Sox 11

Why The Pirates Lost: Another horrendous performance by a free agent Pirate pitcher. Vince Velasquez was only able to go 2 and 2/3rds innings and got racked up for 5 runs, 6 hits, and 4 walks. Near the end it appeared that he might have some kind of physical problem. We can only hope. I was only kidding when I said he hoped the Pirates would score 13 runs again because he was going to need them. The bullpen got touched up pretty good too, as all was right in the world again, with DUJ giving up for 2 runs on 3 hits in just 2/3rds of an inning. All in all, not a good day for the Pirate pitching staff, giving up 11 runs on 14 hits and 6 walks, while only striking out 6. The Pirate bats did not have all that bad of a day getting 5 runs on 10 hits and 3 walks. Rodolfo Castro came out of his funk somewhat getting 2 hits in 3 at bats. In 2 games the Pirates have given up 20 runs but are 1-1.

Key Moment Of The Game: The bottom of the third and the score was 2-1 in favor of the White Sox, but 2 were out, with a runner on second. Then Velasquez went viral. Walk, Walk, Wild Pitch to let a run in. A single to center field scored 2 more runs and before you knew it was 5-1 White Sox. Velasquez gave up another walk and he was off to the showers. Bryce Wilson where are you? The Pirates got as close as 6-4 but then the bullpen got lit up in the 7th for 5 more runs and it was over baby, with the Pirates falling to 5-3

Next Game: This Afternoon, White Sox, in Pittsburgh. It will be a rubber match with Johan Oviedo making his second start of the year. The Pirate bats seem to be coming alive and now the pitching has gone south a little bit, but most of that has been from the free agent pitchers Rich Hill and Velasquez. It is early in the season, but I have a lot more confidence that Hill will right the ship. Velasquez is a whole different story, as I do not know if there is any ship there to begin with. With the Astros coming to town, it sure would be nice to get the win today.

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Pirates Morning Report: DUJ Gets The Save

Final Score: Pirates 4 Red Sox 1

Why The Pirates Won: Another great starting pitching performance, this time by Mitch Keller. He pitched 7 innings giving up only 1 run on 2 hits, striking out 7 and walking 2. The foul ball home run made things tense for a moment. I always like the fact that the home crowd boos a call that goes against them, even though it is obviously correct. The Pirates offense put up 4 runs again, with Carlos Santana providing a home run and an RBI double. Bryan Reynolds got a double and an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Ke’Bryan Hayes drove in the other run on a beautiful push bunt up the first base line. The bullpen was strong again and Pirates swept the Boston Red Sox right in Fenway Park.

Key Moment Of The Game: It was the bottom of the 9th when DUJ took the mound. I could feel the dread going through my body. The first batter got a base hit and now you knew that this was going to be a disastrous inning. Then two pitches later DUJ induced a double play ball, that Castro and Bae executed nicely and quickly 2 were down. One pitch later a big lazy pop up ended the game and the Pirates are 4-2. DUJ did the job for the 2nd consecutive time, on only 5 pitches. If this guy is getting outs, then maybe this really is going to be our year. It makes you wonder when Robert Stephenson is ready to come back who will be sent down. I always figured it would be good old DUJ. Now I wonder if it could be Crowe or De Jong. They have been conspicuous by their absence. Their next outing could be critical if they are going to stay in Pittsburgh. Like in a lot of cases the mysterious injury could crop up too.

Next Game: Tomorrow afternoon, White Sox, Opening Day in Pittsburgh. Rich Hill will take the hill (can’t help myself), for the Pirates home opener. Let’s hope that he makes a comeback start much like Keller did last night. The Pirates now sit at 4-2 and you would have to call this a very successful road trip. I know it is early, but this team seems to have a different vibe to it already. To paraphrase Muhammad Ali, this team may SHOCK THE WORLD!

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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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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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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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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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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.

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Pirates, Mid-February Report, The Unkown.

Spring training has started, and the beginning of the season is not far behind. Barring any kind of major injury problems, the Pirates should contend for the division title. There is not a lot of support for this opinion on the local scene and none on the national level. The most optimistic thing I have read about the Pirates in the national media is that the Pirates will be “pesky” in 2023. There are 3 unknown factors that will help determine how this season will turn out. I will take them in what I consider the least unknown factor to the most unknown factor.

The first unknown factor is will management try and win games this year. Last year there was no question, despite many people refusing to believe this, the Pirates lost games on purpose. I documented this all of last year and the Pirates accomplished their goal by getting the no. 1 pick in the lottery and delaying free agency until 2028 for many of their young players. It would be shocking if management did this again this year. They seem to have a major league roster this year but some of their most recent minor league contract signings could indicate that if things don’t go well in the first 60 or so games that they will have plenty of Josh Van Meters around to ensure that the season turns into a complete disaster. For that reason it is imperative that the Pirates get off to at least an acceptable start by playing around .500 ball going into June. I don’t think the Pirates are going to lose on purpose like last year, at least for the first 2 months of the season.

Next, will we find out what kind of manager Derek Shelton really is?. Last year he did what he was told and that is to contribute to losing games. He did the same thing in 2020. What did he do? He started strange lineups, made even stranger in game moves and at times “seemed” to fall asleep at wheel, during critical moments of many games. The Pirates of 2021 were a team in kind of a transition phase to start the season. They still had some veterans on the team, and I believe that management had some doubts that this team needed a total tear down. There was this brief time in 2021 where lineups were more consistent, Shelton seemed to be managing the bullpen well, and in game strategy made sense. However, as 2021 progressed, it became apparent that this team was going to need the total rebuild and the rest is history, with 2022 becoming the ultimate tanking season. One thing is for sure, this will be Derek Shelton’s make or break season. I will not be shocked no matter how it goes, but if I was forced into making a decision on what I think will happen, I think it will turn out that he is the man to lead this team to the promise land.

The biggest unknown is how will these Pirate players respond to playing meaningful games in August and September. The Pirates made it to the playoffs as a Wild Card for 3 straight years from 2013 to 2015. The 2012 Pirates were in the hunt and on July 22nd had a record of 54-40 to be .5 games out of first place. It was without a doubt a new experience for many of the players. This team did have some veterans that had some experience being in a pennant race, but it did not help. The Pirates had the worst record, 25-43, of any team in history that had been this far above .500 that late in the season. The Pirates gained from that experience, making the playoffs the next 3 years, including winning 98 games in 2015. If this team gets to that point this year, who knows how they are going to respond. Again, this team does have some veteran presence that has experienced being in a pennant race, but that is no guarantee. This is by far the biggest unknown factor for this 2023 season.

The next report will be mid-March when the spring training games will be in full swing and the opener about 2 weeks away. We should have a good indication of who will be going up north with the team by then. I had a small hope that one of the young catchers might be making the trip but that was dashed when the Pirates picked up all those garbage catchers in the last 2 weeks. Shelton had said as much during the winter meetings in December. I can’t imagine no matter how Henry Davis or Endy Rodriguez perform during the spring games that they will be on the team come March 30th. It will be an interesting spring training to see what team the Pirates will have to start the season.