2-12-24 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on X
Camp opens this week and my friends, I’m ready. At some point, will they won’t they, did they do enough? Why won’t they do this? Man it’s just time to shut up, lace them up, get out there and start showing us what we have.
There’s still time to see more brought in of course, but from this week on, everything hits the field, not the board room. Let’s talk some damn ball!
1. The Most Interesting Non-Roster Invitee Pitchers as of Today
Everyone is going to have a different definition for interesting, so let me give you mine. I think they could help this year potentially. This isn’t meant to be everyone I think will have a great career or kill it in Pittsburgh, it’s solely about 2024.
Ben Heller – A non-roster pitcher is always a good bet to threaten making it to the Bigs, especially if they have experience. In the bullpen, I usually look for unique, and Heller has a wicked sweeper. I don’t think there’d be room to come North with the team but as injuries start to crop up, Heller is a name I think we’ll see in the bullpen.
Jared Jones – To me, Jared Jones being added to the 40-man and being promoted in 2024 is more concrete than any other pure prospect starter. I’ve seen a lot of concern he could wind up being a bullpen arm, but in today’s game, I think he could never evolve and still be an effective starter. Down the stretch in AAA, he was almost exclusively using his fastball and slider. Many were alarmed that he was regressing from developing a mix, but I’ll remind you, this is what they had just started to do with Quinn Priester before he was called up. It’s a way of helping a kid focus on placing the heater, as opposed to leaning on superior stuff to K inferior bats. He actually excelled in this stretch. Yeah, I’m excited.
Brent Honeywell – The 28 year old former 2nd round selection has been through the ringer with injury. Two fractures of his elbow, a UCL surgery, and nerve procedure. He has good stuff, if he can stay off the IL. He’d really have to excel though. Think right handed Borucki type shot here. If for some reason it all comes together, you might have something. Reliever and nothing more though.
Paul Skenes – The hype train was out of control but not by as much as many would have you believe. Paul already has 3 offerings that could get a bunch of outs at the big league level, this is more about how ready you want him to be? What lessons can only be learned at the MLB level vs what could be learned in AA and AAA. Look, you know me, I am always more patient with call ups than many of you would like, but the stuff is real, and I think he’ll make it very hard to ignore his readiness. That said, simple things like controlling a running game in any meaningful way, shape on a fastball, command of a fastball, adjusting to hitters that don’t swing at trash pitches trying to jump 102, he’s got stuff he has to learn, but making the Bigs in 2024 isn’t the typical blindly hopeful wishing you’d assume if that’s your default.
Wily Peralta – It would take something of a turnaround, but he’s got a world of experience and if they get thin at all, Peralta could wind up being a good option for the pen. He’s started in the Bigs as well, but I’ll settle for a relief option here as damn near best case.
2. What We Need to See for Some Roster Comfort
It’s hard on paper to look and feel real good about this team. The offense has potential, and some young questions that could really swing it even more. The pitching staff looks light, specifically the starting group. You all know this.
So what do I need to see or hear this next couple weeks now that Pitchers, Catchers and a bunch of others guys start filtering their way to Pirates City? You know, what could help take me from chewing my nails to dusting off my cap and getting ready for the ride.
Unlike Mike Tomlin, I am seeking comfort, and everything I mention here is going to be before the first Spring Game.
Roansy Contreras – I need to see him throw, and hear the velocity is back up to where he wants it to be. Even if this is only verbally from coaches or journalists, I have to hear something about Roansy. Even if what I hear simply eliminates him from contention and clears up the picture a bit more. But if Roansy looks like the guy we were all locked in on heading into 2023, we’ll all see this rotation much differently.
Henry Davis Catching – I just want to see it, lots of it, tons of it. Looking bad, looking great, whatever, I want to see it if only to prove the Pirates want to see it.
Oneil Cruz Doing Baseball Stuff – I don’t care what it is. Batting cage, fielding, playing catch, who cares, let’s just see the big guy out there starting to look comfortable again.
Liover Peguero, Enthusiasm Turned Into Confidence – Sometimes kids come up and they’re so filled with enthusiasm, you can mistake it for cocky or arrogant. Other times it comes out as gregarious and youthful. Either way, I’m ready for Peggy to evolve from excited to be here into I’m not leaving. You’ll know what I mean if you see it when he gets interviewed and I think we got a taste of it at Pirates Fest.
Marco Gonzales, Healthy – We saw some of his offseason work at a facility, but let’s see it on the mound. The Pirates can’t afford for either of the veteran starters they acquired to be anything less than serviceable. Of the two, Marco is the one that scares me most. The sooner I see him throwing, the better I’ll feel.
3. OK, So Now I’ve Thought About Grandal
I wrote a little bit about the signing last night. For that reason, I’m going to try not to repeat all the baseline stuff I wrote there about the signing, but I promised after having the evening to think I’d circle back and fill in the blanks or add to my thoughts if anything came to mind.
First thing I didn’t really stretch my legs on, but now feel very confident about, this is not an indication the Pirates plan to move Henry Davis. It’s also not an indication that Henry can’t catch. It’s really as simple as wanting a veteran option, and one they think could hit the ground running. Henry, even in the mythological best case scenario world probably only catches 80-100 games this year. And I’d imagine, he’ll work his way into how often he can handle it during a given week.
What I’m saying here is early on, he might be good catching 3-4 games a week, later on perhaps 4-5. Those numbers could even be high, so you’d like to have a guy who is accustomed to carrying some of that weight, to help him see how he keeps his legs from dying, thus killing his hitting.
Before you make the joke Grandal himself can’t hit anymore, he doesn’t have to in order to recall what it was like being an offensive catcher, and hopefully pass on his knowledge to both Henry and Endy who is sure to still be around.
Now, as to the actual player, look, he’s probably pretty washed guys. I think he’ll run into one here and there, and he’ll veteran his way into some solid at bats, but this isn’t even a threat to be a consistent starting caliber player anymore, no, not even for the Pirates you bitter sumbit….
It’s depth, cheap depth, veteran depth, hopefully educational depth, and for a fan base that can’t stop thinking about how cheap the owner is, I’ll never even try to understand how you find a way to complain when they spend a little somewhere aside from your limited window of acceptable spending.
I have to give the team some grace here, they clearly wanted another veteran, Grandal is pretty clearly at the very least the most coveted available, they got him. Roberto Perez is the beginning of the next available tier. So if they wanted one, they got the best one, even if it underwhelms. And if they didn’t think 7 million was a good deal for Gary Sanchez, well, they might just be as smart as they think they are.
End of the day, Grandal is just a guy, who hopefully fills a role well.
4. My Annual Birthday Gift
Every year right around this time of year, Pitchers and catchers arrive at Pirates City, this year, on my actual Birthday.
I’ve always had some kind of connection with baseball, and every year at my Birthday family gatherings I’d sit with my Grandma and Grandpa talking about how the team was gonna look. Usually the roster had been printed in the paper by then, and I always had my baseball cards and stats to look them over, most of them anyway. My Grandma always thought they were going to stink, and it was somehow all Lanny Frattare’s fault, which is insane, but man, if you were a Gunner disciple I guess you could never accept another. I suppose I’m like that with Mike Lange and the Penguins and Lanny himself to a degree.
Grandpa just usually sat there, chiming in with telling Grandma she was a fair weather fan. I like to think talking baseball with those two while watching a game on their old half a room sized piece of TV furniture, its where I learned to try to see more than one side of things in the game. Grandma would immediately be all over a guy who struck out, Grandpa was always more forgiving and patient. Both unconditionally loved the Pirates.
Thing is, I had watched both of them be right and wrong. I’d seen things play out exactly like one said and vice versa. I’d also seen both of them perfectly happy to be wrong if it meant something good for the team.
If Grandma got too mad at the team, Grandpa shut the game off and told her she wasn’t allowed to watch for a while. He’d also never stop paying attention and he’d always rope her back in when it was “safe” to watch again.
Add in my Uncles. One who didn’t like one damn thing the team did past 1979 and one who’d rather play early days digital baseball games on a handheld than watch or play the actual game.
The more I think about it, the more I realize, my family set me up for doing exactly what I do. Look at everything from every conceivable angle and see what shakes out. Probably, mostly my Grandfather’s role, but on a much larger scale than his living room I guess. lol.
Anyway, birthday, baseball, family, this time of year, I think a lot more about hearing a ball crack a mitt or a bat smoking a curveball than I do traveling around the sun one more time. That’s how baseball keeps ya young, it always makes me forget the rest of Winter and jump ahead to the smell of grass and pine tar.
5. Questions I Would Ask if Anyone Let Me This Week
- Ben Cherington – This is a quote from you in September of 2023 “We want to win more than 84 games. That’s what we’re building toward.” Simply, do you believe you’ve brought that together?
- Quinn Priester – If you could go back and teach AAA Quinn one lesson he was gonna need when he got called up the first time, what would it be?
- Henry Davis – Can you talk a little about how last year unfolded, and further, was health the biggest factor in not catching much?
- Marco Gonzales – We were able to see some clips of your workout sessions, Marco, would you say you’re throwing harder today than the past two campaigns?
- Andy Haines – Have you received any feedback from young players about the transition from AAA to MLB, and if so, has it led to any changes?
- Derek Shelton – Entering your 5th season as Pirates Skipper, you have 3 remaining players from your first. Coach, has the team progressed as quickly as you hoped it would, essentially, would you say this is on track?
- Paul Skenes – From the first time you throw 100 MPH, fans will be ready for you to debut. What do you need to experience for you to feel ready?
- Kevin Young – Kevin, give me one pitcher and one hitter ready to take off in 2024? (He’s sneaky good at this BTW)
Steel City Pirates 
Nicely done. I can see why you enjoy writing. Also, some great questions for the players/coaches.
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