Tag: pittsburgh pirates

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Pirates Morning Report: Thirty Two Games In

The Pirates stand at 14 wins and 18 losses. Talk about a tale of two halves. First 16 games 11-5, the last 16 games 3-13. I will take a look at the offense, defense and pitching. With all the stats and analytics today, it still boils down to three things when it comes to batting and pitching. Batting you have to get on base, score runs and then compare how you are doing with the rest of the league. The comparison stat is OPS+ with 100 being league average. This stat compares a batter with the rest of league based on the ballpark, competition and a variety of other factors. With pitching you have to be good at what you can control, home runs, walks and strikeouts. This is Fielding Independent Pitching known as FIP. As a pitcher you have to prevent runs and the comparison stat here is ERA+, again with 100 being league average. I always use Baseball References Defensive Efficiency to evaluate how a team is fielding. This takes in all aspects of fielding not just errors. Let us see how the Pirates shake out.

The Hitting: They are 15th in on base percentage, 21st in runs scored and 24th in OPS+. Quite frankly I thought they would be worse. All the runs they scored in the beginning of the season must have helped them score more runs than 9 other teams in baseball. These stats show that they are not that bad about getting on base but have not been able to take advantage. Right now, the Pirates have 5 players hitting above league average. A very small sample size Joey Bart (154), Connor Joe (140), the surprising Alika Williams (120) Bryan Reynold (115) and Ke’Bryan Hayes (101). On the opposite side of the spectrum, we have Henry Davis (44) Jack Suwinski (55), Jared Triolo and Rowdy Tellez each at 61. This means they are performing 39 to 56% below the major league average hitter. In my view all of these players are disappointing if not surprising. The biggest surprise here is Triolo. I thought he would have to perform like he did the last 2 months of the season for the Pirates to have success and he has not come close. As a whole the team has lacked power which was supposed to be a plus. There are only 4 teams that have hit less home runs than the Pirates. Ke’Bryan Hayes has been one of the disappointments here. The last 2 months of the season he slugged .501. So far this year it’s .345.

Pitching: The Pirate staff is 17th in FIP, 15th in runs allowed and 12th in ERA+. This time I thought the Pirates might be better. The rotation did get off to a slow start and the hitting bailed them out in the first 10 games or so. The Pirates are right in the middle of the pack with these key pitching stats. This has not been good enough to overcome the horrible hitting over the last 2 weeks. The Pirates have 3 starters that are above average, Martin Perez (144), Jared Jones (126), and Quinn Priester (122). Out of the bullpen, we have small sample size Colin Holderman (317), Josh Fleming (184), Hunter Stratton (136), Luis Ortiz (131), and Roansy Contreras (100). What is amazing that 2 pitchers with ERA+ well above 100 are in the minors, Ryder Ryan and Jose Hernandez. Missing from the list is Mitch Keller, Aroldis Chapman and David Bednar. Despite all the hype about Mitch Keller being the Pirate ace and what a great year he had last year, the truth is 2022 and 2023 were the same. His ERA+ was 104 for both years. This computes to being 4% better than the average starter in baseball. Nice, but not someone you want to pitch in game one of a playoff series. If this team is going to do anything Bednar and Chapman better get their act together even if they start to hit again.

Fielding: The Pirates are 12th in Defensive Efficiency. I thought they would do better, but this is still one of their highest positions. Part of the reason I don’t think they are better is because they have not played Michael Taylor enough. I know this team needs offense, but this is a premier centerfielder, and you need to play him, bat him 9th and take your lumps. He is not really doing that bad at the plate when you compare him to Tellez, Davis and Suwinski and they are either terrible or below average fielders. This is one aspect of the Pirates that needs to get better even though it is tied for the highest ranking of any phase of Pirate baseball at the moment.

What’s Next: I was going to speculate on what some of moves the Pirates might make. Trying to predict what this management team might or might not do is just about impossible. First of all, their bizarre batting orders and line ups are enough to drive you crazy. That could be an entire blog but let me give a couple of examples. When Andrew McCutchen is put in the lineup he should bat in one spot and one spot only, lead off. HE IS NOT A CLEAN UP HITTER. The opening game against the Giants they started Oneil Cruz against a left hander. The next night against a fire balling right hander he is on the bench. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? Like everybody else I will just wait until later today to see if the Pirates are going to make any personnel changes. Looking ahead there is good news and there is bad news. The bad news is the Cubs, Brewers, and Reds are looking like they are going to make this a 3 team dog fight. That could be the good news too, if they keep knocking each other off. All three, unlike the Pirates, are looking like very good baseball teams. The good news is the Pirates cannot be this offensively inept all season or can they? Can Hayes get his power back? Can the whole team get their power back? Will Triolo start to hit? Will they start to get more both offensively and defensively out of the catcher’s spot. Will management start playing players that are performing and not players who are projected to perform? Will the bullpen mainstays Bednar and Chapman turn it around? Finally, what if any changes are going to come today? Only The Shelton knows. All the preceding questions need to be answered with a yes if this team is going to contend.

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Pirates Morning Report: Swept By The A’s

Final Score: Pirates 0 A’s 4

Why The Pirates Lost: The offensive woes continue to get worse. The A’s tried to help the Pirates score a run or two by committing 3 errors and walking 4, but the Pirates were even more incompetent. The Pirates could only muster 4 hits, one double and three singles. Pirates did hit some hard balls, but they were not deep enough or right at someone. This was a game that you typically see when a team is going bad. The Pirates are now 3 and 13 in their last 16 games. In their first 16 games they were 11-5. Quinn Priester had a quality start giving up 3 runs but one was unearned. When you get shutout, it means you are either going to lose or play forever. The Pirates are not playing as I am writing this. The Pirates have a must needed day off and it will be interesting to see if they make any moves. I am not going to speculate but you have to figure they have to do something. You cannot help but feel the season is slipping away, but it is early and after all is said and done, they are only 4 games below .500.

The Key Moments Of The Game: It was all on the Pirates side of the ball. In the 2nd, first and second with 2 out, in the 3rd, runner on 2nd 2 out, in the 4th, runner on 3rd one out and then 1st and 3rd with 2 out, in the 7th, bases loaded 2 out, and finally in the 8th, 1st and 2nd 2 out. The Pirates could not score. They left 10 men on base and were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position. The road trip came to a merciful end at 1-5. The Pirates record now stands at 14 and 18, last in the division. They are heading home for a 9 game homestand.

Next Game: Tomorrow, Rockies in Pittsburgh. One of the reasons I said it will be interesting to see what if any moves the Pirates make on their off day is they may stand pat because they are playing 2 teams that are probably worse than them in the Rockies and the Troutless Angels. Tomorrow will be the 32 game report and it will be rather sad.

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Pirates Morning Report: The Baseball Version Of Groundhog Day.

Final Score: Pirates 2 A’s 5

Why The Pirates Lost: Just ask Bill Murray. No hitting, mediocre pitching, all add up to another loss for the Pirates. The top of the 8th put this all in perspective. The last 2 batters in the inning were Jack ( I Shouldn’t Be In The Majors) Suwinski and Joey ( I Don’t Want To Make Henry Davis Look Too Bad) Bart. Together they were thrown 4 pitches each. They both struck out. They did not take a full swing at any pitches. Gee, I wonder what the problem could be that the Pirates do not get any hits. I wonder if they take pitches during batting practice. Mitch Keller had another mediocre start but here is another head scratcher. J J Bleday had 2 home runs, one off of Keller and the other off lefty Josh Fleming. Both pitches were almost in exactly the same spot. Unlike the Pirate hitter he swung at the ball and hit it out of the park, twice. Can I please read the scouting report on this guy? Wow, that is all I can write.

Key Moment Of The Game: The 2nd homer by Bleday in the bottom of the 7th to give the A’s a 5-2 lead and you knew the game was over. The Pirates sealed the deal by striking out their last 5 at bats of the game. They made it. They are in last place. From first to worst in 30 days in 5 easy lessons.

The Next Game: This afternoon, the A’s in Oakland. If the Pirates score a run in the first inning just turn the game off. You are really watching Groundhog Day, baseball style. Fans in the stands have to put themselves through it, along with the players but you don’t.

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Pirates Morning Report: The Art Of Scoring, Obviously Not The Pirates.

Final Score: Pirates 1 A’s 5

Why The Pirates Lost: Anybody want to guess why the Pirates lost? Here is one of many interesting things. For a team that is desperate to score runs, they had 3 guys on the bench with on base percentages of .303, .351, and .365, which is higher than 5 of the players that started. They put McCutchen in the clean up spot. Why? Jack Suwinski, Rowdy Tellez, and Henry Davis are on the team. Why? On the other side of the coin the A’s showed the Pirates what to do. They did hit a home run to get their first run, but 3 of the runs scored on sacrifice flies. Do the Pirates have 3 sacrifice flies this year? Don’t know, don’t care. That is way the way you manufacture runs. Barry Falter did not have a good game giving up 5 runs on 6 hits after 5 innings. Contreras and Kyle Nicolas finished up the game giving up no runs, but they tried to let the A’s score by giving up 4 walks, 2 hits while throwing 71 pitches. Why didn’t they send Chapman out for an inning to see if he can straighten himself out a little? So what if he walked a couple of runs in, this game was over. Oh yeah, I forgot they are probably saving him for the playoffs. Could this be the low point of the season? I don’t know but I hope so.

Key Moment Of The Game: The game was tied 1-1 going into the bottom of the 4th when the A” led off the inning with a single and a double. The next 2 hitters hit sacrifice flies and the score was 3-1 A’s. Second and third with no outs, the A’s scored 2 runs without getting a hit. Something the Pirates haven’t been able to do for 3 weeks. The A’s added 2 more in 5th with one of those runs scoring on a sacrifice fly.

Next Game: Tonight, the A’s in Oakland. Starting for the Pirates tonight will be Mitch(I Got The Most Run Support In Three Weeks And Still Couldn’t Win) Keller. It would be something if both he and the Pirates bats would come out of their funk at the same time and win something like 6-0. After tomorrow’s game I will have the Pirate 32 game report on Friday evaluating the team 1/5th of the way through the season. The best the Pirates will be is at .500, but right now that seems like it will take a miracle.

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Pirate Morning Report: Despite Embarrassing Offense Pirates Split 2 Games

Final Scores: Saturday Pirates 4 Giants 3 in 10 innings

Sunday Pirates 2 Giants 3

Why The Pirates Split: They were able to pull out one game because of a big 10th inning where Bryan Reynolds hit a 2-run homer, followed by Ke’Bryan Hayes’ first home run of the season to give the Pirates a 4-1 lead, that they barely held on to, winning 4-3. The Pirates “played” 18 innings of baseball and put up these offensive (as in stinks) numbers, 3 runs, 14 hits, 11 of them singles, 4 walks, 20 strikeouts, leaving 15 men on base. They were 1 for 14 with runners in scoring position. What is amazing about this decrepit, anemic hitting is that they just keep doing the same thing over and over again. They take strikes and swing at balls. Henry Davis is the leader in this group. Right now, he does not look like he can hit Little League pitching he looks so lost. Why is he playing? The Pirates are very fortunate to be only one game below .500 at this point of the season.

Key Moment Of The Games: On Saturday, the back to back home runs in the top of the 10th the Pirates hit that accounted for 3 of the 6 runs that they scored all weekend. This gave them the much needed victory. On Sunday, in the top of the 5th, the Pirates had runners on 2nd and 3rd with no one out and could only score 1 run. Of course, you can’t expect the Pirates to do situational hitting when they cannot hit at all.

Next Game: Tonight, the A’s in Oakland. Barry (It’s The Batting Coach’s) Falter is taking the mound for the Pirates. Will this offense ever hit again? They have lost 10 of their last 13 games. With the exception of one loss, the offense has been responsible. Their next 9 games are against teams that have a record of 29-56. It’s early but this could be the key to the season. I think 3 series wins is essential.

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Pirates Morning Report: Offensive Ineptness

Final Score: Pirates 0 Giants 3

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirate offense hit rock bottom last night. They had 8 hits, 2 walks, but produced 0 runs. It’s too painful to go into much detail except to say why do you pinch hit with Rowdy (Boo Hoo Baby) Tellez and start Henry ( I Love To Take Strikes) Davis. Quinn Priester had the best start of his major league career, giving up 0 runs, on 3 singles, walking 1 while striking out 6. This has to be a huge boost to his confidence. Hopefully this will lead to more quality outings. The Pirates fall below .500 for the first time this year.

Key Moment Of The Game: The 9th inning summed up the game perfectly. Top of the 9th the Pirates have 2nd and 3rd with no outs and literally do not come close to scoring. We could call this the Rowdy Tellez moment. In the bottom of the 9th, David Bednar came in and just had the weirdest inning. He got ahead of Michael Conforto 0 and 2. His next 5 pitches were not even close to the strike zone. Conforto swung at a couple pitches protecting the plate. Were you watching that Pirate batters. In the middle of this Bednar had a pitch clock violation and Conforto eventually walked. Matt Chapman on a 1-2 pitch hit a seeing eye ground ball for a single to put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Bednar wild pitched the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Patrick Bailey put the ! on it with a 3 run blast to end the game.

Next Game: Tonight, Giants in San Francisco. Martin Perez starts tonight, hoping he will get more support than Priester did. There will be no Morning Report tomorrow because of time restraints and disgust. I will double up and report on both games Monday morning. There is only so much an old Pirate fan can take. See you Monday.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pitching Debacle

Final Score: Pirates 5 Brewers 7

Why The Pirates Lost: The pitching staff won the 2nd game of the series but lost this game handily. The pitchers did have some hard luck, but they dug themselves into a hole by walking 5 and they only had one 3 up and 3 down inning. Nobody seemed to have command of their pitches, especially Mitch Keller. He either threw the ball way out of the strike zone or right down the middle. He was not alone, with the staff giving up 7 runs on 12 hits including 2 home runs. The Pirate defense, although did not make an error, did not come up with plays they should have made. The offense put 5 runs on the board with 8 hits and even walked more than the Brewers, with 7. Joey Bart hit a 3-run homer in the first to get them off and winging. They had runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs in the 7th and a runner on 2nd with no outs in the 8th and could not score either time. They did score 2 runs in the bottom of the 5th after 2 were out, which had been their MO in the first 11 games of the season. This is the way things go for a team that is still in the down mode. They again stand at .500 with a record of 13-13. A disappointing end to a disappointing home stand.

Key Moments Of The Game: In the top of the 3rd with Pirates leading 3-1, Keller starts the inning by walking the first 2 batters. He strikes out the next batter but gives up a single to the .176 batting Jake Bauers to make the score 3-2. The Pirates have the runner trapped between 2nd and 3rd. Unfortunately, the cut off throw was caught by Rowdy Tellez. For some reason he hesitated was out of balance, made a weak throw to third and the runner was safe. Boo Tellez, Boo Boo Tellez, Boo Boo Boo Tellez. If he makes the play, even if Bryan Reynold does not make the play he should have made, the Brewers would have scored only 1 run instead of tying the game. Boo Boo Boo Boo Tellez. Then in the top of the 8th with the Pirates now leading 5-4. Aroldis Chapman came in and looked pretty good through the first 3 batters. He gave up a swinging bunt single down the third base line but got the next 2 batters on a ground out and strike out with the runner moving to 2nd base on a wild pitch. He had pinch hitter Gary Sanchez down 1 ball 2 strikes, when Chapman threw a high hard one 102 MPH. It was outside the strike zone, but Sanchez went with the pitch and parked it in the right field seats to give the Brewers a 6-5 lead. Contreras pitched the 9th and gave up a run just to round out a spectacular day for the pitching staff.

Next Game: Tonight, Giants in San Francisco. This will start a 6 game west coast road trip where the Pirates face the Giants and the A’s 3 games each. Both teams are under .500, the Giants 2 and the A’s 6. The offense did perk up in the last game. A winning road trip would wash out the bad taste of the last 10 games. Quinn Priester will start tonight. Let’s hope he turns things around, or this could be the second bad game in a row for the pitching staff.

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Pirates Morning Report: One Horrendous Inning

Final Score: Pirates 2 Brewers 3

Why The Pirates Lost: Another inept offensive performance and a very badly pitched inning that saw the Brewers score 3 runs on only one ball that left the infield. The offense could only muster 2 runs on 4 hits, 4 walks, while striking out 8 times. They only had 4 at bats with runners in scoring position and of course, did not get a hit. The Pirates went to a bullpen game to give Quinn Priester extra rest and aside from the bad 3rd inning it worked out pretty well. Overall it was a tough loss that sent the Pirates record to 13 -12.

Key Moment Of The Game; This 3rd inning is pretty painful but let’s get into it. It opened with a slow roller to the right of Rowdy Tellez and he was charged with a throwing error which I thought was a bad scoring call. I think the runner would have beaten it out anyway. Even if you think that Tellez deserved the error, the sad thing is, his was not the worst sin of the inning. Josh Fleming struck out the next batter but walked the next and the Shadow Shelton decided to make the move to bring Luis (I Only Pitch Well In Extra Innings) Ortiz. On his third pitch he gave up a single to center field and the Brewers had a 1-0 lead. From that point on a ball never made it on the playing field. Hit by pitch, strike out, Hit by pitch, walk, and strike out, resulted in 2 more runs for the Brewers. The Pirates made it 3-2 in the bottom of the inning on a Bryan Reynolds 2 run homer. It stayed that way until the bottom of the 9th when the Brewers tried to hand the game back to the Pirates, but they wouldn’t take it. With one out the Brewers made two consecutive errors on easy plays to put runners on 1st and 2nd. Triolo flew out to deep right field, McCutchen struck out and the game was over.

Next Game: This afternoon, Brewers in Pittsburgh. Mitch Keller will take the mound for the Pirates today. They need a series win. Keller has had his good moments this year but it would be nice to see him throw a real gem. He might have to if the Pirates are going to win. The offense has scored only 1or 2 runs in 7 of the last 9 games. In the other 2 games they scored 3 and 4 runs but were aided by the other team’s miscues. Will it ever end?

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Pirates Morning Report: The Pitching Takes Over

Final Score: Pirates 2 Brewers 1

Why The Pirates Won: I hang my head in shame. The Pirates, God love em, saw something in Bailey No Falter Insurance that I did not, and boy is it paying off. Last night he pitched one of the best games of the year and surprisingly the Pirates let him do it. He went 7+ innings giving up 1 run on just 3 hits, striking out a career high 8 batters while walking 2. He now has the 2nd lowest ERA among the Pirate starters. The bullpen preserved the win, with Bednar getting his 2nd save in a row. The offense continues to struggle but got just enough to get the win. McCutchen again led off the game with a home run and Conner (I Was Wrong About Him Too) Jo drove in the deciding run in the bottom of the 6th. The Pirates are half way to a sweep and stand 13-11.

Key Moment Of The Game: No question it was the top of the third. The Pirates were leading 1-0 and Falter had only given up a walk. The Brewers would get their only 2 hits, until Gary Sanchez led off the 7th with a home run. Unfortunately they got those 2 singles back to back to put runners on 1st and 3rd with nobody out. Just like the previous game the Brewers could not get the job done. Falter bore down and got the big strike out. He got Contreras to bounce back to him to get the runner on 3rd in a run down for the 2nd out. Willy Adames grounded out to Oneil Cruz who made a solid play and the inning was over. For the next 4 innings Falter faced the minimum amount of batters, thanks to a double play, and took the game into the 8th inning.

Next Game: Tonight, Brewers in Pittsburgh. Apparently the Pirates are going with Josh Fleming to start the game. I would assume they may be piggybacking him with Quinn Priester but I really can’t find any info. It will be another game where you hope the Pirate offense may break out. We need this sweep.

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Pirates Morning Report: McCutchen Leads The Way

Final Score: Pirates 4 Brewers 2

Why The Pirates Won: They finally put a lead off hitter in the top spot in Andrew McCutchen. He promptly led off the game with a home run to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. He got on base 2 more times and lit a spark for this team. Oneil Cruz had a big game going 3 for 4 and getting the big 2 out hit in the 6th inning that eventually provided the margin for victory. Jarod Jones pitched another solid 6 innings giving up only 1 run on 4 hits striking out 7, while walking 2. The bullpen had its shaky moments but was good enough to preserve the win. The losing streak is over and they beat the division leading Brewers.

Key Moments Of The Game: There was no question that Cruz’s hit in the 6th was huge, but it was the inability of the Brewers to get the big hit and take advantage of the Pirates generosity that proved to be the difference. The Brewers loaded the bases twice, once with 2 outs and the other with one out and could only produce 1 run. With one out in the top of the 8th Aroldis Chapman walked the bases loaded on 13 pitches. On came Hunter (I Know I Can Do It This Time) Stratton and by God he did. He got the next two Phillies batters to each hit weak ground balls, getting out of the inning with only one run scoring. Bednar gave up one hit in the 9th to seal the deal and the Pirates are 12-11.

Next Game: Tonight, the Brewers in Pittsburgh. Bailey Falter will take the mound and after the disastrous first start has pitched surprisingly well. Let’s hope that it will continue and the Pirates can find even more offense. For God’s sake keep McCutchen in the lead off spot and put Henry Davis back on the bench or a bus. A Brewers sweep while not a necessity, would sure be nice.