Tag: pittsburgh pirates

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Pirates Morning Report: Pitching Gets Racked Again

Final Score: Pirates 4 Rockies 10

Why The Pirates Lost: The pitching performed badly again. What was supposed to be this teams strength may need to be reevaluated or restructured. For the 11th time this season the Pirates have given up 6 or more runs. That’s 25% of the games played. They have fallen all the way to 17th in baseball in runs allowed per game. This time the culprit was Mitch Keller. Of course the bullpen contributed too. Keller looked like he was going to repeat the Skenes performance until the roof caved in during the 5th inning. He had thrown 4 perfect innings. The Rockies lit Keller up and took no time to do it. After 12 pitches in the 5th the Rockies had 3 singles, a double, and another single and the game was tied 3-3. Things seem to settle down a bit as the Pirates threw a guy out at the plate and a soft liner to Konnor Griffin put 2 away. Keller grooved a 2-2 sweeper to Mickey Moniak and he did not miss it, hitting it over the Clemente wall for a 3 run home run to give the Rockies a 6-3 lead. The bullpen gave up 4 more runs with Justin Lawrence leading the way. His throwing error on a routine 1-6-3 double play ball allowed the Rockies to score 3 runs and wrap up the game.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates had a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the 3rd thanks to heads up base running by Brandon Lowe and a botched run down by the Rockies. Konnor Griffin led off the inning with a double. Bryan Reynolds singled him home to make it 3-0. Marcell Ozuna miraculously singled and the Pirates had 1st and 2nd with no one out. At this point the Pirate broadcast booth was absolutely giddy. Ryan O’ Hearn hit the ball hard but unfortunately right at the 1st basemen T J Rumfield and the Rockies turned a sweet 3-6-1 double play. The 6 run 5th happened and the Pirates went down the drain.

Next Game: This afternoon Rockies in Pittsburgh. There has been a lot written about how tough the Pirate schedule has been and when the Pirates play lesser teams how their record will improve. Well, if the Rockies win today the Pirates will have lost 2 series in a row to teams with a combined record of 35-51. So much for that theory. It says that Mason Montgomery is going to start. Does that mean Mlodzinski is going to be the bulk guy. This formula was so successful resulting in a 3 hit shutout that it took the Pirates only 25 games and over a month to repeat it. I really don’t know if they are or is this a true bullpen game. I can hardly wait.

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Pirates Morning Report: Skenes Throws Another Gem

Final Score: Pirates 3 Rockies 1

Why The Pirates Won: Paul Skenes spun another 8 inning gem taking a no hitter into the 7th. He gave up 2 hits, struck out 10 and gave up 0 walks for the 5th consecutive game. He started the game by striking out the first six batters he faced. Gregory Soto gave up back to back doubles in the top of the 9th to make it interesting but got the save to start the home stand off on the right foot. The Pirate offense was not great but went 4 for 12 with runners in scoring position and scored all 3 runs after 2 were out. Maybe they will go on a bit of a run.

Key Moments Of The Game: For Skenes it was the 3rd inning. He was able to retire the side on just four pitches. This enabled him to get through 8 innings throwing 98 pitches. In the bottom of the 5th the Pirates had 2 outs nobody on. Oneil Cruz, who went 3 for 4, took a grooved 0-2 pitch and lined it into left center field for a double. Brandon Lowe took a 1-0 pitch and lined it into right field just soft enough to allow Cruz, who was running like the wind, to barely beat the throw to give the Pirates a 2 run cushion. They added another run in the 7th which made one breath easier with this bullpen.

Next Game: Tonight Rockies in Pittsburgh 6:40. Mitch Keller is going for the Pirates tonight. So far he is having his best season as a pro. He has had only one bad outing in 8 starts. Even though everyone has been clamoring for this I think it is a bad break that Joey Bart had to go on the IL because of a foot infection of all things. He was swinging a very hot bat. I was mildly surprised that the Pirates brought up Endy Rodriguez rather than Rafael Flores. Hopefully Rodriguez will be the catcher tonight.

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Pirates Morning Report: Mismanaging a Bullpen

This report is coming from the west coast may be even early afternoon before I’m done with it, so you will just have to deal with it. The Pirates bullpen has been mishandled from the first day of the season. I debated on how to go about writing this blog. At first I thought I would go with a game by game description of when there were bullpen blunders. Then I changed my mind and decided to show how it affected each player who has been in the bullpen and how this has contributed to many lost games. The biggest challenge of this blog is to keep it at some reasonable length. Before I list the members of the bullpen. There were two glaring errors that I have to mention. First there was the opener game. Mason Montgomery opened the game and pitched one inning. Carmen Mlodzinski came in and pitched his best ball game of the year giving up 2 hits. This led to a 2-0 shutout win over the Nationals. They never did this again. Then there was the famous bullpen game when the Pirates thought of innings instead of pitches. If they had thought of pitches they might have only used 4 pitchers instead of 8. This led to the Pirates saying the bullpen was exhausted when in reality it was not. More on that later. Now to the bullpen members since the season started. The list includes Gregory Soto, Yohan Ramirez, Isaac Mattson, Dennis Santana, Justin Lawrence, Mason Montgomery, Evan Sisk, Hunter Barco, Wilber Dotel, Jose Urquidy, Cam Sanders, and last but certainly not least 35 yr. Old Chris Devinski. Let’s get Devinski and Sanders out of the way first. They are an example of mismanagement just by the fact that they are on this team at any point of the season. The Pirates have to have someone better than these two or you can kiss this season goodbye. Now to look at each pitcher

Soto: He seems to have been the least affected by the bullpen blunders. The same cannot be said of the team. The bullpen game was game 29. He did not pitch again till game 34. Game 31 and 32 were winnable but Soto did not appear. In game 34 the Pirates were ahead 17-7. He now needed work. Great time to put in your best reliever. This was one of many times this year that the Pirates put their A relievers in games that were not close.

Ramirez: In game 19 Ramirez had thrown 17 pitches. In game 21 that went into extra innings they made Ramirez go 3 innings and throw 44 pitches. You have to wonder how that has led to his ineffectiveness lately. There were plenty of other options that game. Montgomery had thrown 7 pitches in game 18. Even Santana could have come later in the inning.

Mattson: Over a period of 4 games, 28 through 31, Matttson had thrown 3 pitches. On his appearance in game 32 he got 2 outs and gave up 5 runs. Since then he has only been used twice in the last 8 games. They have used Devenski and Sanders more than that. They used Mattson 13 times in the first 22 games. He seems thrive on work so they decide to stop using him. He then became ineffective. Good job.

Santana: He has been mishandled from opening day. He has been put in more low leverage situations for a guy that was supposed to be one of your best relievers and basic closer.Not only that but twice he has had 5 days rest and once 4 days rest. Four times this year he has been brought in when the Pirates were behind or ahead by more than 3 runs. He lost the bullpen game fiasco when if the pitchers would have been used correctly, he would have not even been used. It was obvious he did not have it and Ramirez was available which may have kept the score2-2

Lawrence: Another pitcher who’s lack of work may have negatively affected him. After throwing only 9 pitches in the bullpen game where he was very good, he has only made 3 appearances in the last 12 games. He had 6 days rest coming off 2 outings where he gave up 0 runs. With 6 days rest he gave up 3 runs.

Mason Montgomery: Even though he has been very effective he by far has had the most missed opportunities. Twice he has not pitched for 6 days and once for 4 days. He has only pitched in two games in a row twice. In the bullpen game he threw only 7 pitches. Since then he has pitched in only 3 of the next 12 games. He was certainly needed more than that as the bullpen faltered badly.

Sisk: He came on the team in game 16 and has done well in mostly low leverage situations. Has not had any prolonged rest periods and pitched only once in consecutive games. Gee I guess one out of twelve is not bad. Will see how the Pirates try and screw him up.

Barco and Urquidy: I grouped them together because they started out the season with the team and were mismanaged the same way. Both were starting pitchers that the Pirates moved to the bullpen. I did not have a problem with that. If used in the right situation they would get some innings and give the bullpen a periodic rest. The Pirates used them like they were veteran relievers and put them in late inning high leverage situations for the first time in their careers. Of course they failed. Because of the phantom exhausted bullpen they let Barco take a beating in a game they still had a chance to win. They allowed Urquidy to pitch two games in a row where he threw 22 and 31 pitches. This for a guy who had not pitched for essentially 2 years because of Tommy John Surgery. We love you Urquidy, take one for the team. They are both back in AAA trying get themselves back together as starters. So far not all that successfully.

Dotel: In a nutshell. Made 3 appearances. All good or great. Sent back AAA not heard from since. Maybe he is just walking around in daze on the streets of Indianapolis while the Pirate bullpen continues give games away.

There you have it. How to lead a team to be one of the worst save percentage teams in baseball. In a nutshell use good pitchers in low leverage situations and bad pitchers in high leverage situations. Give lots of rest to pitchers that don’t need it and watch their performance deteriorate. To sum it up, when you need one of your better relievers he is not available because you used him when you were way ahead way or way behind. What an analytic department. That’s why I always write brain in quotes when I’m writing about the Pirates.

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Pirates Morning Report: Eleven Down 81 To Go

The Pirates are 4-2 since I have been away and could have been 6-0. A mismanagement of the bullpen and a controversial batting substitution affected the outcomes of both losses. I do not have a big problem with Don Kelly pinch hitting for Brandon Lowe with Nick Yorke. Lowe is horrible against lefties. I know he did hit a homer against a lefty earlier in the game but I am not going to 2nd guess him just because it did not workout. The bullpen mismanagement has been consistently a big problem. I put this on the entire Pirate management team. First they put basically two starting pitchers in the bullpen, Hunter Barco and Jose Urquidy. They finally sent Barco down to stretch him out. They should do the same thing with Urquidy. Carmen Mlodzinski pitched an outstanding 6 innings last night as the bulk guy, and should remain in the rotation. The Pirates are concerned about the inning load of their young starters, Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler. I don’t have a big problem with that either. What better way to solve that problem than to go to a 6 man rotation. You could use Barco or Urguidy. In the wings is Jared Jones. You could continue to pitch Paul Skenes every 5 days and work the other 5 or 6 starters around him. The Pirates have tremendous depth at starting pitching. The question remains will they use it in the best way. So far they have not.

They wrap up the series with the Nationals today. They need a win today to take the series. They finish this home stand with the Tampa Bay Rays. It would be nice to see them win the next 3 out of 4. The Pirates are tied for first with an 11-7 record. Everyone is really fired up about the Pirates. The problem is they could be 14-4 if it were not for management blunders. We can only hope this will not cost them in the long run. Hopefully they will learn from these mistakes. The Morning Report will return in full force on Sunday the 19th.

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Pirates Morning Report: Five Down 87 To Go.

Final Score: Pirates 3 Orioles 2

Why The Pirates Won: I have no idea. All I know is that even though tomorrow is Easter Sunday, all Orioles pitchers are to report to PNC Park at 8:00 AM sharp for fielding practice. The Pirates had 8 hits, with 2 of them not leaving the infield. They took 28 pitches for strikes. They were 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position and left 13 men on base. The Pirates were able to pull this one out because the Oriole pitchers muffed two weak ground balls off to their left. One was charged with an error, and the second one should have also been an error. Jake Mangum was gifted a hit. That one may be overturned by the league. Either way, it was pitcher incompetent fielding that led to the 2 Pirate runs that tied the game. The Pirate pitching staff had control issues for most of the game. Carmen Mlodzinski walked 3 in 4 and 2/3 innings. Hunter Barco walked 3 in 2 and 1/3 innings. Isaac Mattson walked one in 1 inning. Only Dennis Santana did not walk anyone in his inning of pitching. The only reason the walks did not hurt more was that the Orioles were just about as incompetent as the Pirates. They were 2 for 7 with runners in scoring position while stranding 9 runners. In the first two games of this series, the Orioles could have won game one, and they should have won game two. The Pirates will take them any way they can get them.

Key Moments Of The Game: This was the first Pirate game that the ABS challenge system really helped decide the game. In the top of the 9th with 2 outs and nobody on, Gunnar Henderson challenged a called third strike, and it was upheld. That was the Orioles’ last challenge. In the bottom of the 9th, the Pirates had runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. Nick Yorke worked the count to 2-2. On the 7th pitch of the at-bat, Yorke took a pitch that was at the knees and well within the diameter of the plate. The home plate umpire called it a ball. The Orioles were out of challenges. Yorke had new life. He launched the next pitch 106 MPH, just out of the reach of the left fielder, and the Pirates had their walk-off win.

Next Game: Today Orioles in Pittsburgh, at 1:35 PM. The Pirates are going with Braxton Ashcraft to try and get the sweep. Like most of the Pirate starters, he pitched well in his 6-inning outing. Like most of the Pirate pitchers, he walked a lot of batters. I do not know if this is the new pitching coach’s philosophy, but the Pirates are 3rd in the league right now in giving up the most walks. Only the Angels and the Astros have given up more walks than the Pirates. Our new pitching coach came from the Astros, so that might shed some light on the subject. That old adage of a walk being as good as a hit may be true. However, a walk is not as good as a home run. I will admit, seeing the Pirate pitchers give up this many walks makes me a little uneasy. Not as uneasy as seeing Cruz lead off. I just don’t understand why this guy is leading off. He had his two best games hitting further down in the lineup. Why don’t the Pirates see this? Maybe the Orioles will hand them another game today despite these goofy batting orders the Pirates come up with. Going for the sweep on Easter.

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Pirates Morning Report: Man, Was That Quick

Final Score: Pirates 4 Red Sox 2

Why The Pirates Won: For 5 innings Fenway Park was rockin’. Payton Tolle was making his Major League debut. He was mowing the Pirates down. He had given up one hit and walked 2. He struck out 8. In the top of the 2nd, he gave up a fluke double to Andrew McCutchen. This put runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. He then struck out the next two batters on 7 pitches. He got Peguero to fly out to end the threat. The fans went crazy. Meanwhile, Paul Skenes was looking like Paul Skenes. The Pirates were looking like the Pirates. This all added up to a 2-0 lead for the Red Sox after 5 innings. The mood was festive. In the top of the 6th, Tolle got the first out. There was more hootin’ and hollerin’. In the next 7 pitches, he gave up singles to Nick Gonzales and Bryan Reynolds. Tolle was removed from the game, receiving a standing ovation. The Red Sox brought in Greg Weissert. In 4 pitches, he gave up back-to-back doubles to Tommy Pham and McCutchen. This gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead. The air was completely sucked out of the stadium. Suddenly, a big debut party became a sell out funeral. Skenes gave up a single in the 6th. He was erased on a caught stealing. Replay overturned a safe call. Skenes got a nice borderline call for a called 3rd strike to end his night. He gave up 1 earned run on 7 hits. He struck out 6 and walked 1. The bullpen protected the lead. The Pirates had a surprising opening game win.

Key Moments Of The Game: It was a big clutch performance by Paul Skenes. He kept his cool while all around him were panicking. In the bottom of the 2nd, after one out, he gave up 2 singles. He got out of that jam nicely. He got the next batter to hit into a force play. A steal of second put two runners in scoring position. He struck out the next batter. In the bottom of the 3rd, Alexander (I Can’t Field Or Hit But I am On The Team) Canario dropped a pop fly to center. I got it, I got it. Clang, I dropped it. A single put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Skenes got out of that jam by getting Alex Bergman to hit into a double play, putting a runner on third with 2 outs. He got Jarren Duran to fly out to end the inning. In the bottom of the 4th, the Red Sox finally broke through thanks to an Isiah Kiner-Falefa throwing error. This put runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs and the Red Sox leading 1-0. Skenes got a ground ball out to end the inning. Skenes gave up a home run to open the 5th. This gave the Red Sox a 2-0 lead. It was a party-like atmosphere at Fenway until the party-pooping 6th inning. The Pirates came away with a 4-2 win.

Next Game: Late afternoon, Red Sox in Boston. I would be remiss if I did not mention the AAA boys. They lost a member as Jack Suwinski went to the IL with an injured groin. I don’t think he got hurt swinging at pitches. The way the Pirates heal, I would assume he is out for the season. The remaining three had their typical game against the Red Sox last night. They went 1 for 9 with a walk. They did drive in the 4th run in the 8th to give the Pirates a little insurance run. Their ranks are down to three now. I just have a feeling the games are not going to be as much fun to watch. I can’t remember the last game when none of them started. It could happen soon. I am very sad.

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Pirates Morning Report: Skenes Dominates, Pirates Sweep Rockies

Final Score: Pirates 4 Rockies 0

Why The Pirates Won: In 27 innings the Rockies scored 1 run. Yesterday it was Paul Skenes who put a hurtin on the Rockies. He went 7 innings giving up 3 hits. He struck out 7 while walking 0. The Mattson and Santana duo finished up allowing a hit and a walk. The Pirates had the one big inning and it was enough. Jarod (I Made An Adjustment That Won’t Work Next Year) Triolo had the big hit. He hit a 2 out 3 run homer in the bottom of the 4th to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead. They added another run with a Henry Davis walk. He stole 2nd. IKF then laced a double to center to score Davis. The Pirates would only get one hit the rest of the game but the damage had been done. Thanks to Triolo the AAA boys were 2 for 8 with 3 RBI’s and 2 walks. It was a nice win as the Pirates head into a tough stretch of games

Key Moment Of The Game: In the top of the 3rd two replay calls went against the Rockies. Braxton Fulford was ruled safe on a ground ball to Triolo. This was after a single by Kyle Karros. It looked like the Rockies were going to have 1st and 2nd with no outs. The Pirates challenged and the call was overturned. Then Skenes picked the runner off second. The Rockies challenged. They lost the challenge. The inning quickly went from 2 on and no outs to 2 outs and nobody on. Skenes struck out the next batter to end the inning. The Pirates had the 4 run 4th. The Rockies never threatened again getting only one other runner in scoring position.

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in St. Louis. In the next 13 games the Pirates play all playoff contenders with the Cardinals the only team under .500. If the Pirates win 6 or 7 games I will be surprised. They will need at least a split with the Cardinals if that has any chance of happening. They finally feasted on a bad team. Even with the sweep they ended up 4-5 against the Rockies and the White Sox. We will see what they can do against the big boys.

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Pirates Morning Report: McCutchen, Pitching Stay Hot

Final Score: Pirates 5 Rockies 1

Why The Pirates Won: The pitching staff shutout the Rockies for another 8 and 2/3 innings before surrendering a run. Mike Burrows went 4 innings giving up 2 hits and a walk. He was taken out even though he had thrown just 57 pitches. Carmen Mlodzinski, Kyle Nicolas, and even Colin Holderman did a nice job the next 4 innings. They gave up only 2 hits. Yohan Ramirez got the first two outs of the 9th. He gave up a home run and the shutout was lost. The 5 Pirate pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts. The offense was led by Andrew McCutchen and the AAA boys. McCutchen hit a 2 run homer in the 2nd. Jared Triolo did the same in the 3rd. The AAA boys went 4 for 8 for the game. Two of them are now hitting over .200. This is the 3rd straight year that Triolo has hit well in August and September. If you want a player to hit big in meaningless games, he is your guy.

Key Moments Of The Game: The top of the 2nd was Burrow’s only shaky inning. The Rockies had 1st and 3rd with 2 out. Yanquiel Fernandez hit a weak roller down the 3rd base line. IKF made a nice play and threw him out to end the inning. In the bottom of the 2nd the Pirates opened with a bang. Pham a line drive single. McCutchen line drive home run right down the left field line for a quick 2-0 lead. The bottom of the 3rd opened the same way. IKF a single, followed by a 404 foot blast by none other than Jared Triolo. The Pirates led 4-0. They were not threatened the rest of the game.

Next Game: This afternoon, Rockies in Pittsburgh. The Pirates are on Roku TV today so I don’t know how much of the game I will see today. Paul Skenes is going today as the Pirates go for the much needed sweep. The AAA boys should be out in full force today. I expect to see at least 3 play. They have been on a bit of a roll lately. It still does not change the fact that they stink. There is no chance that any of them are really going to help the Pirates make the playoffs someday.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pirates Double Their Pleasure

Final Score: Pirates 9 Rockies 0

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates shutout the Rockies with the double pitching performance of Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler. Ashcraft went 5 innings giving up just 1 hit. He struck out 6, walked 1 while throwing only 65 pitches. Chandler went the last 4 giving up 2 hits. He struck out 3, walking no one while throwing just 40 pitches. For a change the Pirates gave offensive support to such great pitching. They had 7 doubles and 3 players doubled their doubles by hitting home runs. Spencer Horwitz, Tommy Pham and hold on to your hats, Alexander Canario all went yard. The AAA boys had quite the game. They went 5 for 12. Jared Triolo has pulled his average up to .199. The pressure will be enormous for him the next game. Overall it was nice to see them bury the Rockies.

Key Moments Of The Game: Andrew McCutchen had the big hits early that got the Pirates rolling. In the bottom of the first he had a 2 out double that made the score 2-0. In the bottom of the second, back to back doubles by IKF and Horwitz made the score 3-0. McCutchen came up with runners on 1st and 3rd and 2 outs. He delivered another double and the Pirates led 5-0. Without those 2 big 2 out hits you never know how the game might have gone. The Pirates went long ball after that to win going away 9-0.

Next Game: Tonight, Rockies in Pittsburgh. After having some shaky outings previously Mike Burrows had a nice outing against the Cubs giving up 1 run over 5 innings. Even though the bullpen is well rested it would be nice to see Burrows throw 80 to 90 pitches if he is effective. It would also be nice to see the Pirates sweep the Rockies. They have a tough stretch over the next 13 games. The Cardinals on the road who are just so so. Then the Red Sox in Boston and the Dodgers and Brewers at home. If they go 6-7 during that stretch it will be a miracle.

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Pirates Morning Report: A Positive Report

I admit, this was a tough one. Let’s start with the man that the fans and media feel the most negative about, Ben Cherington. Two years ago he picked Paul Skenes over Dylan Crews. I for one thought he should have picked Crews. Boy, was I wrong. It’s too early to put Crews in the same category as Henry Davis but he has not produced at the MLB level. He has had some injuries but his slash line in 196 plate appearances is .209/.280/.360 for an OPS+ of 81. Last year he picked Konnor Griffin in the first round. At 19 years of age he is the no.1 prospect in all of baseball. He is in AA where he seems to be making the adjustment fine, getting 3 hits last night. Tremar Johnson who just turned 21 in June is doing better lately. In AA his line is .267/.347/.393 with 9 homers and 31 RBI’s.

The Pirate’ pitching staff is above league average in every important pitching stat except strike outs. I believe the Pirates should keep the pitching staff intact. The Pirates need offensive help but not as much as you think. If the Pirates had scored 4 runs in every game their record would be 68-60 at the moment. They would be right in the wild card hunt. Their league worse average is 3.51 per game. Scoring 4 runs per game would move them to 25th. This is just a half a run a game. They could easily do this in the free agent market. I do not see the need to weaken a strength.

Finally, the Pirates have 8 players whose OPS+ is between 99 and 91. This 1 to 9% below league average. Even though they have no one above league average it is the most they have had above 90. There are 34 games to go. If some of these players get hot the offense may have a nice stretch run. Of course these 8 players have to play. This blog is supposed to be all positive so I won’t mention who could be standing in their way.

Well there it is, a positive Pirate blog. I did my best. The Pirates open a 3 game series against the Rockies tonight. I have a feeling things will be back to normal tomorrow. I could be wrong and they might sweep the Rockies. If that happens there could be more positive blogs in the future. It would be a nice change.