Starter Spotlight: Ace of Cade

6-13-2025 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X

After a close one last night, the Pirates will look to punch back tonight against Cade Horton, who enters with a 4.11 ERA with 25 strikeouts through his first 30.2 innings this season.

The rookie righty and Cubs top prospect was Chicago’s first round pick in the 2022 draft, selected 7th overall out of the University of Oklahoma. 

He managed to surge through the minors with a 2.79 ERA through 151.2 innings across parts of 3 seasons – showing strong stuff but taking advantage of injuries at the major league level to make his way up to the club.

His pitch mix features velocity reaching up to 97-98 with his 4-seam and occasional sinker, dropping into the 80s with his sweeper, curve and changeup trio of secondaries with a high arm slot that drives the ball down with plus horizontal movement.

Horton works the fastball/changeup/curve against left handed hitters with an opponent batting average of .359 for the fastball but .071 on the changeup, which is generating an unfathomable 69% whiff rate.

Righties see a nearly even split of fastballs and sweepers, also having success against his heater (.368 batting average and .579 SLG) but struggling against the breaking ball (.193 BA for the sweeper).

He gets a of movement on his fastball but the sweeper and changeup are the strikeout pitches for Horton with 7 Ks coming against his changeup and 7 more against the sweeper, so they are his put away, swing-and-miss finishers once he gets hitters to two strikes.

Stay on the heat and watch for the break on the sweeper for righties or the spin drop on the changeup. He’s a very talented young pitcher who hasn’t gotten hit too hard yet in his professional career but the league eventually punches back and, hopefully, that happens today.

Starter Spotlight: Another Shot Of Jameson

6-12-2025 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X

The oft-injured, two-time Tommy John surgery-recipient Jameson Taillon while with the Pirates has been the picture of health over his time since leaving the Steel City as he has 28 or more starts in each of the past four years and is on pace to make it a fifth this season as well.

He has faced the Bucs five times over the past few seasons – including most recently on September 2nd last year where he dominated with 7 shutout innings of 3-hit ball.

I covered Taillon previously (see here and here) and his arsenal is not changing much from last season. He is throwing his cutter less (13% down from 25% last year) and his changeup more (4% last season and 11% this year) but he’s still filling up the strike zone with fastballs and gets soft contact against his breaking stuff.

He’s had a ton of success against lefties as he works a fastball/curve/changeup trio of pitches – none of which are being hit above a .185 clip by left handed hitters.

Specifically at home, Taillon has been cruising with lefties slashing .143/.167/.357 in 72 plate appearances against JT at Wrigley.

Righties are mostly seeing sweepers which break down and away from hitters paired with fastballs up in the zone. Taillon mixes in the cutter at times but righties have been doing damage against the offering with a .667 SLG% against the pitch while batting .268 against the sweeper and .270 when seeing his 4-seam.

As mentioned before, Taillon is a control-pitcher who aims for contact-oriented approach ahead of mainly trying to miss bats. He won’t walk a ton of hitters and has been in a groove with 5 straight quality starts and a 2.20 ERA over his last 32.2 innings pitched and has been solid for the past two months of games.

Don’t let Taillon expand the zone, be ready to hit at the dish and look to attack elevated heat or hanging sweepers. This Cubbies pen has been tough to beat so the Bucs will want to do their damage against the starters all weekend.

Series Preview: Pittsburgh Pirates (28-41) at Chicago Cubs (41-27)

6-12-2025 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X

The Pirates have been riding high after a 6-3 home-stand and winning 13 of their last 21 games. The Cubs, despite leading the NL Central by a sizable margin, have stumbled lately as they have lost 4 of their last 6 games and haven’t taken a series against a team currently in playoff contention since narrowly sweeping a 2-game set against the Dodgers on 4/22-23.

That’s not to say the Cubs are a bad team – they just haven’t played many teams that are actually good as they have played just 28 games against teams who would make playoffs if the season ended today and only won 12 of those matchups – a .429 winning percentage.

On the year, however, the Cubs are led by statistically the third best offense by wRC+ (118) while the Pirates have had the 2nd worst offense at a wRC+ of 81 – although, things have shifted more lately as, since May 21st, the Pirates have a 104 wRC+ and .735 OPS while the Cubs are only slightly ahead with a 108 wRC+ and .739 OPS in that time.

6/12

Pirates: Andrew Heaney (L) 3-4, 3.24 ERA, 72.1 IP, 52 Ks, 24 walks, 1.15 WHIP

Cubs: Jameson Taillon 6-3, 3.54 ERA 76.1 IP, 58 Ks, 14 walks, 0.94 WHIP

6/13

Pirates: Paul Skenes 4-6, 1.88 ERA, 91 IP, 92 Ks, 20 walks, 0.84 WHIP

Cubs: Cade Horton 3-1, 4.11 ERA, 30.2 IP, 25 Ks, 7 walks, 1.30 WHIP

6/14

Pirates: Mike Burrows 1-1, 5.00 ERA, 18 IP, 17 Ks, 7 walks, 1.39 WHIP

Cubs: Matt Boyd (L) 5-3, 2.89 ERA, 74.2 IP, 70 Ks, 18 walks, 1.23 WHIP

6/15

Pirates: Mitch Keller 1-9, 4.15 ERA, 82.1 IP, 65 Ks, 20 walks, 1.28 WHIP

Cubs: Colin Rea 4-2, 3.92 ERA, 62 IP, 48 Ks, 17 walks, 1.37 WHIP

Pirates: The Bullpen – The rotation has been great but this relief corps has been on another level this month. Isaac Mattson: 3 innings, 3 Ks, zero baserunners. Caleb Ferguson: 3 innings, 2 hits, 2 walks and 4 Ks. David Bednar hasn’t allowed a run in his last 8 appearances and has allowed just 2 hits with 9 strikeouts and zero walks. Across the board, Don Kelly is finding ways to pull the right strings and get the guys in place to produce.

Cubs: Michael Busch – Busch has quietly been one of the best hitters for Chicago this season. While Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong steal the spotlight, Busch has been up there with both of them as he has a 149 OPS+ on the season (10th best in the NL) and over the past two weeks has slashed .343/.425/.800 with 4 home runs and 10 RBI in that stretch.

Pirates: Spencer Horwitz – A lot of people have been ragging on the trade that brought Horwitz to the Pirates this past offseason. A delayed start due to a nagging wrist injury just to come out and post a .594 OPS over his first 22 games are not a great opening to what this front office hoped would be a successful piece to fill the hole at first base. Horwitz could still turn things around but batting .170 against fastballs and .176 against breaking balls is not going to cut it.

Cubs: Carson Kelly – Kelly had a surprising strong start to the season as he posted a 1.347 OPS over his first 17 games through the end of April but has quickly fallen off since then with a .620 OPS in May and a .250 OPS so far in June. Some players get warmer with the weather but, although he managed 2 hits in the finale of the Phillies series, Kelly has been struggling lately.

Pirates: Colin Holderman, Jared Jones, Justin Lawrence, Tim Mayza, Dauri Moreta, Kohan Oviedo, Joey Bart, Endy Rodriguez, Enmanuel Valdez

Cubs: Javier Assad, Porter Hodge, Shota Imanaga, Eli Morgan, Justin Steele, Miguel Amaya

Notes

  • While the Pirates bullpen has been in a good place lately, the Cubs bullpen has somehow been even better with a 0.93 ERA since May 15th as they’ve gone 8-2 with 5 saves over 87 innings in that time span.
  • Starting pitching has been an issue for the Cubs as injuries to Imanaga and Steele have resulted in a 4.00 season ERA from the rotation and 4.57 over the past five weeks. In contrast, the Pirates have had the best rotational ERA in MLB with a 2.69 ERA and third most innings (177) as well.

Starter Spotlight: Cal Me, Maybe?

6-11-2025 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X

The Pirates will look to win the rubber match in the Marlins series before heading on the road to Chicago tomorrow as they’ll face veteran Cal Quantrill, who enters today with a 3-6 record and 5.63 ERA over 54.1 innings pitched.

Much of Quantrill’s struggles were in the first month of the season as his ERA was 8.10 over his first 6 starts with 16 strikeouts and 10 walks but has been excellent since then with a 3.25 ERA and 24 Ks to just 7 free passes over his last 6 outings.

An 8-year veteran across 4 organizations, Quantrill was signed as a free agent by Miami this past offseason for $3.5M.

The last time Quantrill visited the Steel City, he got the best of the Bucs as he pitched 7.2 scoreless innings with just 3 hits, 9 strikeouts and zero walks – one of just 3 games pitched last season where he didn’t issue a single walk and an extreme outlier as Quantrill led the National League in free passes with 69.

Quantrill does have one fun accolade on his mantle as he is the most recent MLB pitcher to throw an immaculate inning – 9 pitches/3 strikeouts – achieving the feat on May 18th

He has a diverse pitch mix, which includes a 4-seam, splitter, cutter, curve, sinker, slider and a rare changeup – and he uses them all the time and all over the plate.

Quantrill will primarily use the cutter/splitter/4-seam against lefties while using the 4-seam as his main offering against righties with secondaries of curve/sinker/slider/splitter.

One thing to watch for is strange reverse splits from Quantrill this season as righties are posting an OPS of 1.044 while lefties have just a .632 in a similar amount of plate appearances.

Lefties should target the upstairs cutters as they are batting .278 and slugging .444 against the pitch but right handed hitters have been feasting on just about everything Cal throws at them with a .300+ batting average against his main five offerings and a .550+ slugging against the six used against them this year.

When Quantrill gets ahead in counts, he leans more heavily on the curve against righties and the splitter when facing lefties but if he’s behind in the count, he tries to get back by going fastball-heavy so that’s what hitters should look to exploit.

Don Kelly may stack the righties in the lineup today to take advantage of Quantrill’s splits but he’s a crafty pitcher who mixes speed and location. The team can’t take for granted what others have done against him and just need to find ways to get the barrel to the ball.

Starter Spotlight: Sandy Toes, Sorry Woes

6-10-2025 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X

On to game two after an offensive explosion by the Pirates with another Marlins starting pitcher still reeling from Tommy John. Sandy Alcantara will toe the rubber as he tries to get things right but it’s a season that has been going so very wrong.

Among all MLB pitchers with at least 50 innings this season, Alcantara ranks dead last in ERA (7.89) with career-low strikeout rate (16.5%) and career-high walk rates (11.5%).

The Pirates opened the season against Alcantara, when he allowed 2 runs off 2 hits and 4 walks through 4.2 innings of work while striking out 7 on March 27th.

Alcantara has lasted six innings in a start only twice this season and has yet to allow less than 2 runs in an outing. And, in a somewhat small sample size, Sandy has struggled even more outside of Miami with righties posting an OPS of .960 against the former Cy Young winner while lefties have an astronomical 1.209 OPS in these situations.

Granted, two of his away games were against the Phillies and Dodgers which heavily inflated these numbers; however, he also allowed 4 runs in 5.2 innings against the White Sox and 6 runs in 5.1 frames at the Angels so it’s not just the big boppers batting around.

The 29-year old Marlin still has his velocity as he has ramped his fastball to 100 at times this season but it has been very ineffective overall. He mixes the 4-seam/sinker combo with a low-90s changeup, mid-80s curve and high-80s slider with only the sinker rating with positive run value (+4).

Against lefties, Alcantara has mostly used his changeup/4-seam with the other three offerings mixed in to a lesser extent. Opponents have done pretty well against the changeup as left handed hitters are batting .259 against the offering but his 4-seam has been flat and is getting hit at a .364 clip with .667 SLG and 97.7 MPH average exit velocity in these matchups.

Right handed hitters are getting a heavy dose of fastballs with the sinker down and 4-seam upstairs with movement so just stay on the hard stuff and watch for the sinking movement to stay under the ball.

Final thing to keep in mind: No one in MLB has allowed more stolen bases than Alcantara – and it’s not even close as opponents are 22-for-22 in stolen base attempts against the Miami starter.

So basically, if you get a fastball in the zone, attacked it. If you don’t get a fastball, take the walk and then steal second – and who knows, maybe third too while you’re at it because the Pirates know what it’s like to get beaten while you’re down but they have to take advantage of being on the other side of that tonight.

Gary’s Five Pirates Thoughts – Keep Momentum Going

6-9-25 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on X

The Pirates completed a series sweep against the Phillies at home and it puts the team 1 game under .500 at home on the season. With the Marlins coming to town, the Pirates have a good shot to get that figure into positive territory, as long as they don’t get ahead of themselves.

Lets Go!

1. The Ability to Practice Patience

Doing what I do, it should come as no surprise that by this point in a season I’m usually pretty damn tired of hearing questions about guys like Bubba Chandler and when he might debut.

Look, I don’t know a delicate way to get this point across so I’m just gonna say it as bluntly as I possibly can. I’d imagine it’ll happen when they need him.

Pitching is not this club’s issue, especially in the starting rotation. I struggle to have this discussion without it sounding like I have no faith in Bubba, or that I think he’ll fail up here, but that’s not how I feel at all, I simply think he has some work to do, and certainly hasn’t been so flawless that I’d want to move anyone from this rotation.

Not yet anyway.

I’m so conflicted on this whole thing. For one, Bubba is exciting and has insane stuff, there should be real excitement about seeing him up here. AND I have that in spades for the kid. I also don’t think he’ll be better THIS YEAR than anyone the Pirates have starting currently.

Truth be told, I’m not even sure I’d choose him over Hunter Barco when the opportunity arrives via injury, trade or underperformance.

This isn’t a situation where you have Jordan Lyles holding a spot in the rotation and posting a 5+ ERA, so you can just lament the cheap Pirates for not promoting a kid to save money down the road. It’s more a situation of having one of the best rotations in baseball, a ton of young pitching already in line in front of Bubba who have more than held their own in their opportunities and a top prospect who flatly has MLB stuff and an obvious need to button up some things with his command and control.

If there are injuries, yup, get his ass up here. If an early trade opportunity comes up for Andrew Heaney, ok, jump on it and get him up here, but man, I don’t understand the constant guessing and wishing and acting like he’s going to save something that frankly doesn’t need saved right now.

Sometimes it’s simply ok to be patient with a prospect. Nobody says a word when teams like the Dodgers have top prospects stuck in AAA, and if the Pirates had one who was already sitting on 15-20 homeruns in AAA I’d be hair on fire screaming for his call up, because they need offensive help, but this rotation isn’t even in conceptual trouble.

They have 4 guys rolling, and one spot clearly designated for youngsters and returning from injury players, a spot they wouldn’t have at all had Jared Jones stayed healthy. With this one spot they need to see Harrington, Ashcraft, Burrows, Mlodzinski, Bubba, and Oviedo likely get time.

Not a single player I mentioned in that group deserves a shot more or less than Bubba, but none of them should be afterthoughts either.

In short, let this play out, and stop pretending it has to happen quickly. It doesn’t, and it’s not hurting anyone, it’s simply being patient because for once they’ve built an area up to the level where being patient is possible, and prudent.

You know, the goal you shoot for in development.

2. The Trade Deadline Conundrum

I have talked about this eventuality for close to a month. Specifically, the scenario in which Don Kelly gets the ship turned around to a degree, but the Pirates still have a bunch of rental pieces available to trade, many of which helped Kelly turn it around.

It’s going to take a stomach of steel for fans if this continues.

See, trading guys when your team is actually playing well is rarely as easy to accept as when your team is struggling. And you’ll never be able to overcome the math. MLB players headed out for MiLB players in return.

Even as I started raising this issue long ago, starting to see improvement now and knowing it’s still coming is weighing on me, mainly because I know so so many of you are going to take it like an admission that they need to change things, and at least to a degree, you’ll be right.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa is hitting almost .300, and he’s hovered there all year. He’s played OK SS and the Pirates don’t have a completely logical plug in replacement groomed.

There is no chance fans will see this as anything short of “what they always do” or “trading good players for the damn future again”. Again, you’re right, and when I say they really have to do this, I’m right too.

IKF is going to be a free agent in 2026. If the Pirates want him back, they have a mechanism to make that happen, it’s called spending money. If they were truly in any conceivable playoff race, including within shouting distance of the final Wild Card spot, holding on to him to take your shot would make sense, but as we sit here, it doesn’t, and they won’t.

It’s also going to hurt the team. Not long term, in fact, it’s not entirely a sure thing it’ll hurt them significantly even this year. But they have to do it.

To not make a move like this, well, it would be like not making your car payment so you can afford gas for it.

Fans tend to believe there is an extra or better chance to sign a guy if they remain on your team, but realistically, it’s all about money. Spend it or don’t. If you want IKF in 2026 he’ll be available, he won’t be anyone’s first choice for anything and if the Pirates step up he could easily be theirs.

The point is, the Pirates have a ton of guys on expiring contracts, and as we approach that time of year, I’m saying, take your Pepto, cause Don Kelly’s job at least in some areas is going to get more challenging.

Andrew Heaney, Caleb Ferguson, IKF, Tommy Pham, Adam Frazier, Ryan Borucki, make up the primary list of guys who will walk one way or another and I expect them to move just about all of them. Of this list, Pham might be the only one whom you’d get just about nothing in return for, so I see all of them being offered, often and all the way until the clock strikes deadline over.

There are others they could move, but these are the musts. Regardless of who the GM is really.

The only way this would change is if Ben Cherington has some plausible opportunity to save his job and it’s based on the record this year. If he’s close to something like that, you could see him decide right now matters more than next year or the next few and he might decide he needs to just hold off and see how it plays out.

I guess another way is if say the Pirates suffer some injury issues and find themselves completely bereft of someone to back fill a position, or they’re short on innings, or something baseball related like that, you could see them change this, but in all likelihood, its a great bet everyone I named here is gone come August.

Buck up, you’ve been warned, long before they had the nuts to make you care again.

3. Two Promoted from Bradenton

Konnor Griffin and Will Taylor are both promoted from Low A Bradenton to High A Greensboro yesterday afternoon.

The 19 year old Konnor has been ridiculous honestly, in a little over 200 at bats he’s hit .338, with a .396 OBP and an OPS of .932 with 26 stolen bases and 9 homeruns.

He’s hitting just about everything, with a bit of a deficiency in breaking stuff the team would like to see improve. Don’t expect his numbers to nosedive in Greensboro, it’s notoriously a hitters part and Konnor should do very well there.

Will Taylor was a 5th round pick last year, is 22 and he too has been insanely good. in just over 100 at bats he’s hit 4 homers, stolen 8 bases, hit .333, On base .424 and OPS of .993.

These won’t be the last from this Bradenton team and the moves will continue up through the system. Axiel Plaz has a shot to move fairly soon, and while he just got there, I can’t imagine Wyatt Sanford the Pirates 2nd rounder in 2024 lasting too long at the Low A level either, he too is 19.

The effort to get interesting bats closer to MLB is underway, and the charge is going to be led by Altoona on down.

Bradenton will also need to get prepped to accept DSL players before too long, some big prospects down there too.

In part, some of this stuff is why it’s imperative the Pirates move off the guys on walk years I talked about in point 2, and force guys like Nick Yorke, Billy Cook, whoever you think needs mentioned to MLB, if only to allow the rest of the system to adjust up.

Systems are never stagnant, but when they’re healthy, they force quicker decisions and urgency from the bottom up. They create the stress that leads to opportunity.

4. Spencer Horwitz

The Pirates traded quite a bit to get Spencer Horwitz, and he’s coming off a fairly major injury and preparing to play in his 20th game as a Bucco.

His .212 average and .581 OPS are not what we envisioned as helpful, but again, it’s too early to pretend we have him all figured out.

That’s going to play out as the year rolls on, but safe to say, there’s room for a lot better and there should be an expectation too.

He’s had Matt Hague as his coach for years and has had success with him before getting to Pittsburgh, it feels like what we’ve watched so far has flown under the radar as the team itself around him played better and his bat has almost been forgotten about.

Defense is going great over at 1st, but they simply have to start seeing what he is. If he’s not good enough, 1B is still a hole they’ll have to deal with again. If he is, they have the position answered for quite some time.

Now, I’ve heard that part of the “chronic” nature of Spencer’s wrist injury had to do with a part of his swing that was putting a lot of stress on his wrist, and the team has worked with him before rehab even started to change a few things in an effort to prevent this from cropping up again.

In the past 5 days he’s put in extra work every day with Hague and there is some excitement about what he’s gotten done.

It’s important to remember, Spencer is exactly the type of return we should hope for in trades to bolster this MLB roster. Meaning, he’s got some MLB resume to read, he’s got a ton of team control, he plays a position of need and well, and he has room to get better.

It may not work. But these are the swings this team needs to take. The guy I always hear they should have gotten instead, Josh Naylor, will be a free agent in 2026, and while yes, he’d have absolutely provided more than Spencer likely will in 2025, he’s also be traded at the deadline, and send them right back to the board looking for help at 1B in 2026.

Getting better or better players isn’t always a linear upward trend. In fact, most of the time it’s more of a gamble. The more sure you are, the more it costs.

Give this one time, I think it’ll look like a much better deal as the season plays out.

5. Don’t Forget, the Pirates Just Made BIG Changes to the Development System in 2024

I say this because people scream for change, and rarely think beyond the GM. This GM could be relieved of his duties regardless, but changes like this won’t fully show their merit in full for years.

Performance Department: John Baker, who previously served as the director of coaching and player development, was moved to a newly created position, the The Vice President of Performance.

Performance Science: Instead of having separate buckets for player development, this focus will bring all the elements like Nutrition, strength training, performance and mental strength under the same umbrella so they work together. What was happening is on an island, each department asked a bit too much to not overwhelm kids with more than they could handle. This gets all this important stuff in there but ensures baseball remains number 1.

Baseball Operations: New leadership and staff in areas like international scouting and research and development were brought in to try to get more out of these crucial areas where a small market team simply can’t afford to miss.

I’m not telling you they have nailed all these hires, or every aspect will now experience nothing but success, but a lot of the changes you ask for, a lot of the things “the Pirates can’t do” or “aren’t good at”, well, they agreed, and they made changes.

Maybe too late for Ben, but many of these changes will outlast him, just like many of Huntington’s were just shuffled or replaced in this one.

There’s a reason bats are moving faster this year, and no, it’s not just one draft class, it’s a change in focus on what they need to see from prospects, and it’s never been more focused on the field than now.

The structure they’re using now is a lot more similar to what other teams do, and while John Baker is a great guy, he was a mental strength coach hired to oversee an entire system. Probably the biggest failure of Ben’s list of failures. Of all the things you could experiment with, the development system for an effort like what Ben was trying to do when he came on board seems like a bad idea, and it’s since been proven it certainly was.

Changes might have come too late, but please stop telling me they need to change this system, they just did. It doesn’t work or change as fast as you want, just like government. 

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Starter Spotlight: An Eury Sight

6-9-2025 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X

The Pirates are in unfamiliar territory as they are looking to follow-up on their first sweep – and first three-game winning streak – of the season as they welcome the struggling Miami Marlins to town.

While the Pirates have been raising the Jolly Roger this weekend, the Fish have not been nearly as celebratory, dropping 6 of their last 7 games which included being swept at home by the lowly Colorado Rockies.

Starting off the series will see the long-awaited return of Eury Perez, who has not appeared on an MLB mound in over 20 months as elbow discomfort during Spring Training of 2024 led to the inevitable Tommy John Surgery last April.

Perez, the once heralded pitching, had a dominant rookie season in 2023 where he posted a 3.15 ERA with a 1.13 WHIP, striking out 108 batters in 91.1 innings. His fastball averaged 94–97 mph and touched 100, complemented by his devastating changeup and a slider that emerged as a key weapon. 

In 8 minor league games this season between the low-A Jupiter Hammerheads and AAA Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Perez has looked every bit that elite pitcher as he posted a 1.99 ERA over 22.2 innings with 27 strikeouts and 10 walks over that span.

The 6’8, 22-year old was up to 82 pitches in his last start so he seems likely to be prepared for 90+ pitches in today’s outing if given the chance. He also fully has both his velocity and pitch mix back, though his control is shaky at times as evidenced by his high walk rate even at the lower levels.

Miami has had one of the worst performing bullpens in MLB with the 5th highest ERA (4.54) and 6th lowest K rate (20.6%) so if they can battle through Perez and get his pitch count up early, they will have a better chance against the relief corps.

Series Preview: Miami Marlins (24-39) at Pittsburgh Pirates (26-40)

06-09-2025 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on X

The Pirates are coming off easily their best series of the season, at least as we talk to the outcome, a 3 game sweep of the currently struggling but very competitive for the top of the NL East Philadelphia Phillies.

A team that just swept them in Philly earlier in the season.

The Marlins are coming off of being swept by the Rockies and dropping 2 of 3 to the Rays. The Pirates are not a team that can take their foot off the gas in any way regardless of whom the opponent is, and here’s hoping they don’t treat this series as a break in the gauntlet, because if they do, they’ll miss an opportunity to actually put together a nice string of winning ball.

6/6

Marlins: Eury Perez – First MLB game since 2023 | Returning from UCL Procedure

Pirates: Mike Burrows 1-1 | 5.27 | 13.2 IP | 11 K | 4 BB | 1.32 WHIP

6/7

Marlins: TBA

Pirates: Mitch Keller 1-8 | 4.13 ERA | 76.1 IP | 61 K | 20 BB | 1.27 WHIP

6/8

Marlins: TBA

Pirates: Bailey Falter 4-3 | 3.49 ERA | 69.2 IP | 43 K | 24 BB | 1.12 WHIP

Marlins: Jesus Sanchez has been good, and he’s been good for a while. Most of the “who’s hot” sections, we’re talking about super recent performance, but Sanchez has been steady. In his last 30 games, .303 average, .374 OBP and a .468 Slug. Something has to give in this series because Sanchez historically has no success against the Pirates. In 23 games .182 AVG, .229 OBP, .221 SLG, .450 OPS and no homeruns.

Pirates: Bryan Reynolds in his last 15 has posted a .345 AVG, .446 OBP and a .564 SLG, although he was slowed in the series with Philly, so was everyone else and it speaks to how torrid he was coming into that one.

Marlins: Kyle Stowers has been interesting this year, and his overall numbers are impressive, but his last 15 have really been tough. 15 K’s vs only 3 BB, .212 AVG, .255 OPB, .250 SLG.

Pirates: Spencer Horwitz hasn’t been here long enough to judge him in any long term way, but he’s scuffling in his last 15 batting just .196, with a .262 OBP and slugging just .304. He’s not started 3 of the last 4 games as the Pirates faced lefty starters, but for this offense to really take a step, Horwitz need to probably take the first one.

Marlins: Kyle Stowers didn’t start for 4 straight games but pinch hit yesterday, he’s considered day to day with a hand injury, but the Marlins manager mentioned he expects to start him tonight. Jesus Tinoco out with forearm strain. Max Meyer is out with a hip inpingement. Derek Hill is out with a wrist sprain.

Pirates: The Pirates could have Joey Bart coming back off the 7-Day IL for concussion very soon. Dauri Moreta is creeping up on decision time, they either call him up and end his rehab or option him to continue to work. Johan Oviedo continues to rehab. Endy Rodriguez has been placed on the IL with right elbow inflammation, and there is hope this isn’t going to lead to another UCL procedure.

Notes

  • The Pirates are a better team than the Marlins, and if they play their game it should play out on the field, but Eury Perez returning along with two TBA spots for the pitchers they’ll face could send the Pirates into a series they simply can’t prepare for in the way they like to. Honestly, I’m not sure if that’s bad or good.
  • I have a feeling about Spencer Horwitz. I think sitting for a few games and getting a chance to reset with Matt Hague a bit in the last stretch of games could pay dividends.
  • It’s not often the Pirates head into a series expected to win, and the best way to win those is to not feel that way at all. Don Kelly has a bit of a test keeping David interested in facing non Goliath competition after just slaying Goliath.

The Pirates Announce 2025 Hall of Honor Inductees

6-7-25 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on X

The Pirates announced their 2025 inductee class for the Hall of Honor and all three are deserving and each contributed to a World Series title in the black and gold.

Al Oliver in 1971, Vern Law in 1960 and Kiki Cuyler in the oft overlooked championship in 1925.

Of the three, only Kiki is in Cooperstown currently.

Kiki Cuyler

Pirates Stats: .336 AVG | .912 OPS | 38 HR | 130 SB | 115 2B | 525 G
Career Stats: .321 AVG | .860 OPS | 128 HR | 328 SB | 394 2B | 1879 G

Cuyler played the majority of his career outside of Pittsburgh. His first 3 seasons from 1921 – 1923 he’s only receive 49 at bats at the big league level before finally breaking through in 1924.

His 1925 season in which he finished 2nd in MVP voting and led the Pirates to the World Series is his absolute best, and one of the best seasons period I’ve ever seen.

Sit back and listen to these numbers.
701 PA | 144 R | 220 H | 43 2B | 26 3B | 18 HR | 102 RBI | 41 SB | .357 AVG | 1.021 OPS

Nobody in the modern era has scored more runs in a single season for the Pirates.

His career numbers are impressive,

All-Star (1934)

World Series champion (1925)

4× NL stolen base leader (1926, 1928–1930)

Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame

Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame

Impressive career, relatively short Pirates career before moving on, but certainly a big reason for the 1925 Championship.

The really interesting thing about this selection isn’t his worthiness, it’s more about how little of his long career was played in Pittsburgh. This probably opens the door for guys like Doug Drabek or Bobby Bonilla, you know, players like that who had careers that outlasted their time in Pittsburgh, but acknowledge their greatest achievements in the Burgh.

Vern Law

Pirates/Career Stats: 162/147 W/L | 3.77 ERA | 2,672 IP | 1,092 K | 1.204 WHIP

Vern “Deacon” Law spent his entire career with the Pirates and between 1959 and 1960 he tossed 38 complete games and led the staff with 18 and 20 wins respectively.

1960 Cy Young Award Winner – Recognized as the best pitcher in Major League Baseball that year.

2× All-Star – Both selections came in 1960.

1960 World Series Champion – Played a key role in the Pirates’ victory over the New York Yankees, winning two games in the series.

1965 NL Comeback Player of the Year – After struggling with injuries, he posted a 17–9 record with a 2.15 ERA.

Lou Gehrig Memorial Award (1965) – Honored for character and integrity both on and off the field.

Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame Inductee

Law was known for his resilience, especially after suffering an ankle injury during the 1960 season that affected his pitching mechanics. Despite this, he continued to contribute significantly to his team.

After injuring his ankle during a celebration bus ride in 1960, Law altered his pitching mechanics to compensate. This led to a torn shoulder muscle, but he still pitched through the pain in the World Series, helping the Pirates win the championship. His perseverance became legendary as did his faith, earning him the nickname of preacher, which he insisted didn’t reflect the way he handled himself so his teammate Wally Westlake changed it to Deacon which stuck and still reflected his devout nature without the preachy connotation.

Al Oliver

Pirates Stats: .296 AVG | .789 OPS | 135 HR | 54 SB | 276 2B | 1,302 G
Career Stats: .303 AVG | .795 OPS | 219 HR | 84 SB | 529 2B | 2,368 G

Al “Scoop” Oliver was known for his smooth swing, professionalism, and leadership on and off the field. He was a key part of the Pirates’ success in the 1970s and remains a beloved figure in Pittsburgh sports history.

Part of the First All-Black Starting Lineup in MLB history (September 1, 1971) – a historic moment for baseball and civil rights, with Oliver playing center field.

Though originally an outfielder, Oliver transitioned to first base when needed. His smooth fielding earned him the nickname “Scoop” from teammates and fans. He took pride in his versatility and often said that being able to play multiple positions helped him stay in the lineup and contribute more to the team.

7× All-Star: 1972, 1975–1978, 1980, 1981

3× Silver Slugger Award Winner: 1980, 1981, 1982

1971 World Series Champion (with the Pittsburgh Pirates)

Doubles: 529 (led the league in 1980 and 1982)

Batting Titles: 1982 NL Batting Champion (.331 average with the Montreal Expos)

Led the NL in Hits (1980): 209 hits

Led the NL in RBIs (1982): 109 RBIs

Al has a good argument for the MLB Hall of Fame, but his Pirates Hall of Honor induction is a huge no brainer.

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Starter Spotlight: Sweet Cris-mas!

6-8-2025 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X

The Pirates will try once more for their first sweep of the season, one of the few teams in MLB who have yet to achieve this feat. To do that, they’ll need to go through Cristopher Sanchez, who has been one of the best starting pitchers in the National League this season.

Sanchez enters today’s affair with a 5-1 record and 3.15 ERA over 65.2 innings pitched. His 10.14 K/9 ranks 8th highest in the National League as he has accrued 74 strikeouts thus far this season but has  is prone to fits of wildness with 26 walks, 4 hit batters and 4 wild pitches as well.

He last faced the Pirates on July 20th last year, allowing 2 runs over 5.2 innings of work in a 4-1 Pirates victory but he’s been a bit of a different pitcher since I last previewed him.

Sanchez is less of a pitch-to-contact arm as he is effectively missing bats and racking up Ks though he is still generating ground-balls at an excellent rate similar to his fellow rotation southpaw, Ranger Suarez.

After lowering his arm slot slightly, Sanchez is fooling hitters more often with his mid-90s sinker, mid-80s changeup and low-80s slider – keeping the ball low in the zone to limit fly balls but also increasing his whiff rate across the board.

He will typically use the sinker/slider against lefties with the slider specifically being most effective with a .099 wOBA in those matchups. For righties, he unconventionally will pair his changeup with his sinker but he’s gotten big results with the pitch.

Opposing hitters have struck out 42 times against Sanchez’s changeup this season as it has been a dangerous offering from the 28-year old southpaw but his sinker is being hit at a .265 clip by lefties and a .312 clip by righties. 

His slider, in the few occasions he has used it against righties, has been even less effective for him, resulting in 4 of his 7 home runs surrendered while righties are batting .409 against the pitch.

Bucs bats should be patient at the plate given Sanchez’s 3.56 BB/9 rate and aforementioned wildness have resulted in a 1.31 WHIP for him this year, the 10th highest among qualified NL starting pitchers. And, among those pitchers, he has maintained the highest strand rate, which seems unsustainable long-term if he continues allowing as many baserunners as he has.

Stay in the box and work the count the same way they did early against Suarez yesterday. Attack the sinker, spit on the changeup and find a way to secure the series sweep!