5-10-24 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter
Looking at the Pirates rotation, and assuming health stays on their side, it’s easy to picture a world where the Bucs are very stingy giving up runs. Listen, if you’ve been a Pirates fan for any measure of time, you know that isn’t something we should just shrug about on our way to complaining about the offense.
It’s a necessary step this team had to take on the way to being a competitive team, and well worth celebrating on its own merit, because it couldn’t be more clear, this offense needs the pitching to be lock down most nights.
As much as you scream year five, or pretend Rhys Hoskins is some transformative player, the truth is most of the answers this team finds offensively in 2024 needs to already be in that room.
They can trade to strengthen the roster, but the reality in MLB despite a few outliers here and there, is that trades for actual MLB talent that helps right now probably won’t be available for another month or so minimally.
If this offense continues to perform like this for another month or so, well, they won’t be making a trade for a big MLB piece. I’d hope the logic tree here doesn’t need a treasure map for you to follow.
Again, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think about moves that could be made, it just means it probably isn’t coming soon. Another point on trades, the Pirates aren’t in a position where they can be trading for a prospect expecting them to step right in and improve their MLB club.
Think on that for a minute, the type of guy you’re talking about is someone like Cody Mayo from Baltimore. So, you want a team that despite having new ownership can’t afford to keep everyone they have now to trade someone close to the league that looks like he could really move the needle. They want to win right now, so it’s not like I couldn’t see them moving the guy, but they aren’t moving him for prospects. They’d move him maybe for MLB help and even then, it better help for a couple years.
No, the answers for this offense largely need to be the answers we thought they had. Meaning, the guys we thought would hit, need to.
Oneil Cruz has to be a star. Ke’Bryan Hayes has to at least provide contact and extra base hits. Bryan Reynolds needs to be the consistent threat from both sides of the plate. Jack Suwinski needs to do whatever the hell he does so long as he pops 25 on the way there.
I could go on…
See this whole thing isn’t set up to fix all of that expected performance stuff and if those 4 even come close to what the team projected they’ll pitch well enough to win more than they lose.
Unlock a guy like Nick Gonzales, Jared Triolo, Ji Hwan Bae, Henry Davis and all of a sudden, they pitch well enough to win even more than they hoped.
When I say competitive or winning, I mean it in the truest sense of the word. Being good enough to win 82+ games. That gets you in the conversation and the race, and if you’re on that pace, it opens the door for some dealing at the deadline to make sure you hit it.
Connor Joe has been straight up Gravy.
There is no path for the entire team not hitting though. To trade what they’d need to in order to even half way patch the holes they have and bolt them onto that same set of expected performers wouldn’t make a ton of sense, because if those guys aren’t performing, they won’t go anywhere anyhow, and they’d just make their dream of having more prospects coming over the course of the next 5 years in waves would partially die on the journey.
They can make moves, but you don’t want to fill up the tank, change the tires and replace the windshield wipers on a car with a busted tranny either.
If those guys don’t hit, we’ll be looking at much bigger changes this offseason. That could be signings, trades, I mean it could even be trading one of those very players, but there is simply nothing that works if minimally those three don’t hit.
It’s why it’s so unfathomable the team remains so stubbornly tied to their hitting program and certainly sets up for ending the charade this year if they find themselves in the dark place I just painted.
It’s May 10th.
Cruz is looking better. Reynolds is going from one side. Hayes is slowed by his back, again, and after rest, well, watch him tonight, you’ll see the difference. Jack changed his approach, and he was one of the few Haines approach worked for.
Bitch about Tellez all you like. Triolo has struggled, complain away. But realize, those three were designed to make this ship float, if they’ve got holes, so does their entire plan and they won’t be fixing that at the deadline.
Hit or don’t, most of the bats are here for 2024.
Steel City Pirates 