Hump Day Pirates Q&A

10-4-23 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter

Quality questions equal fun answers to write. Thanks everyone let’s keep going with these all off season.

Question 1

Why do so many regional pundits and fans seem to refuse to give Conner Joe his big props for this season? A role player who put up 100 hits and a .760 OPS!! – Wilbert Matthews

Obviously I can’t speak for everyone, but if I were to guess, it’s because people in general, and pundits tend to hate being wrong and since he was lumped in with guys like Miguel Andujar as a 25th or 26th man type at best early on, that’s kinda made it hard to speak differently about him.

That said, I think it’s fair to say we learned he was a pretty good defender at enough positions to see him play a few games every week. Takes a professional at bat. Still has a bunch of team control, and cheap. Maybe a little more pop than expected. And all of that adds up to a major league player.

I think there are a couple other factors that surround a guy like Joe. First, a former top pick here in Pittsburgh, many had him long ago added to their draft pick bust mental hit lists. Second, He’s not a starter, and fans fear a guy like this seeing playing time that comes with being one. Lastly, someone will always be this guy. Every team has “that guy” and it changes as a season rolls along. If Conner Joe is “the worst player on this team” the TEAM is probably pretty friggin’ good.

Question 2

Is this the year the Pirates make a huge splash in the offseason?? – James Littleton

If I didn’t know you I’d probably ask you to define “huge”. That said, I think I know where you’re headed. The best way I can put it James is to compete for the playoffs is a great goal for this team to have, but it’s also and very specifically not ‘to win a World Series’. In other words, I don’t think it can be believed this club is 2 or 3 signings away from the top of the sport. To get there they’ll need growth internally, maybe even Skenes/Termarr types to get here too, and then maybe, the stated goal becomes my hypothetical quotation up there.

That said, I do believe they’ll be shopping in a different aisle for at least one ingredient this offseason and whether that comes from trade or free agency, it’ll be bigger than we’re used to. To me, if the “we just gotta keep getting better” Pirates can spend 8 mil on a pitcher with one foot in the fishing boat like Rich Hill, they can damn sure spend 15 for the next step up.

Big splash? I don’t know, but in a dessert jumping in a mud puddle might feel like a tidal wave.

Question 3

Have the Braves destroyed the myth of any value in drawing a lot of walks? – Mark Graham

The Braves lead the league in just about every offensive category that matters. Hits, OBP, OPS, Homers, you name it, with maybe the exception of walks. Middle of the pack there. All that said, since walks directly apply to OBP, which directly feeds OPS, well, Mark the best way I can put it is, I’ve not seen too many offenses like this.

So unless every team is going to have an .845 OPS as a season long unit, I’m not sure how they’ve destroyed anything. Drawing walks is fine, doing something with them is better.

Question 4

What is the main position that will be looked at? – Shawn Wheeler

It’s starting pitching all day. How could it not be? It’d be like riding around all Winter in Summer tread tires bouncing off guardrails every time it flurries then changing the windshield wipers.

It’s clear as day the pitching isn’t where the bats are, and that should be scary because the bats aren’t exactly advanced quite yet. The Pirates need to do a ton in this area.

They need to ensure Mitch Keller is here after they get this thing going by extending him. They need to help Oviedo enhance his offerings and harness his consistency. They must bring in a qualified at least middle of the rotation starter, and I don’t think there’s another single spot where I couldn’t at least be argued into accepting with internal solutions. Not happy about it, but reasonably could see what they’re thinking.

Hey, it’s baseball, it’s always about the pitching.

Question 5

How do you think the Pirates handle the glut of middle infielders this offseason? – David Wald

I wish I could say David, cause that would mean someone jumped up and took 2B with both hands. The first thing they really need to do is understand if they truly have a glut (meaning they’re so satisfied with the options as to be glutenous) or just a heap (meaning a pile up of similar prospects who’ve all seen fairly close opportunity to win more time).

I’d lean to the latter.

Doesn’t mean I feel none of the guys they have close like Gonzales, Peguero, Bae, Marcano, Triolo couldn’t grab hold tight come Spring, but I’m also not sure what they’ll see/discover in the months coming before Spring that would help them choose who’s who.

You can trade from this group, but when you go through all the trouble of acquiring and getting these guys to the doorstep, it’d be awfully poopy to pick the wrong one to keep or move.

That said, this group also offers diversity of position. Only two of them are truly tied to middle infield only and until Termarr pushes them it’s a fairly contained battlefield.

I honestly think the “glut” narrative, kinda didn’t turn out to be. I think it’s right on the doorstep to become that, but man, it’d be awfully early to give up on most of those guys and they haven’t done enough to warrant being a truly valuable trade piece.

I’m aware I haven’t really answered your question as much as deconstruct it, but bro, I just can’t say right now.

Question 6

Everyone knows that SP and 1B are the main offseason targets/needs. But what smaller scale additions (I’m thinking bullpen and bench, personally) could the Pirates potentially make that most fans aren’t thinking about? – Nick Camusso

I think the Pirates have managed to find 3 decent left handed bullpen options, but I’d love another. One along the lines of what Jarlin Garcia was supposed to be. Someone you could pop in 7-9 to stretch the back out and create favorable matchups. Hey, maybe they finally get my dude Bruce Suter! Stability is what I’m looking for there. Borucki, Perdomo, and Hernandez have all done well, but two of them have a long track record of not being good enough before 2023 and one is entering year 2, personally I’ll take my “glut” here please.

Question 7

Who’s all locked in for next year? – Kevin Ott

If I take your meaning, it’s who is not even in a competition for a spot on this roster.

Bednar, Holderman, Mlodzinski, Keller, Oviedo, Hayes, Cruz, Suwinski, Reynolds.

I’m being very discriminating here, but without question I find it hard to believe any of these 9 are anything but locks. A bunch of others have inside tracks of course, but I can’t award “Lock” to anyone else.

Question 8

Will we see Paul Skenes in the Pirate rotation in 2024? – Wilbert Matthews

Well, I’ll say this if he’s really good and can’t make it in 2024, it’ll be more about the Pirates having done too much this offseason and the team doing super well than holding him back. I’d also say, while he’s the Pirates top pitching prospect, that doesn’t necessarily make him their closest. This is a team that is going to have to invest here in the rotation, and that’s already going to stress the system a bit.

Guys like Priester, Jones, Solometo, Ashcraft, Sullivan, are all in this mix too. Keep in mind, prospect rankings are about predicting their MLB outcomes, not predicting their order for arrival.

I think Skenes is talented enough for sure, but I also think Jared Jones is super talented, and I think Quinn will improve over the offseason, and Ortiz isn’t dead either, Roansy has no options, so to even get a chance he has to make it.

If they do what they should do this offseason, it shouldn’t be a guarantee they have room for it unless he makes it insane not to, which is also very possible.