Steel City Pirates

The Pirates Defensive Focus

This past off-season, as we are all aware, the Pirates went through a pretty significant house cleaning, followed by the ushering in of a new regime lead by General Manager Ben Cherington and Team President Travis Williams. From the beginning new organizational philosophies were discussed; including a “player centric” model, the need to identify, acquire, develop and deploy talent and working to “get better”. The once frowned upon technology, such as Rapsodo and Trackman along with analysis of sabermetric data were immediately implemented to help work toward bringing these systematic changes to fruition. As the players currently in the Pirates organization were slowly being introduced to a new way of operating, Ben Cherington and the rest of the Baseball Operations Department were attempting to identify and acquire players that could fit into structure they were trying to develop; with the focus clearly on the need for defensive minded players that could assist in bringing consistency to an area where the Pirates had struggled significantly during the previous year.

Individually the Pirates had some defensive standouts in 2019 that prevented the situation from being more dire than it could have been. Gold Glove nominee, Adam Frazier, produced 11 outs above average (OAA) but couldn’t prevent the infield from having a total of -8 OAA. In the outfield Starling Marte (2 OAA) and Bryan Reynolds (2 OAA) did the best they could to hold down the cavernous grassland of PNC Park, but as a whole the Pirates’ outfielders also ended up with a -8 Outs Above Average. If you look at some of the other major defensive categories in the MLB, things only get worse. The Pirates finished in the bottom third in defensive runs saved (DRS) -53 (26th), ultimate zone rating (UZR) -54.0 (30th) , defense WAR (DEF) -51.0 (30th) and pitch framing (FRM) -7.1 (21st) and errors 121 (28th).

In one of his first orders of business Cherington decided to non-tender catcher Elias Diaz, who had the worst DRS (-21) in Major League Baseball; essentially awarding the starting job to Jacob Stallings, who earned a DRS of 14. Almost immediately following this the Pirates signed Luke Maile from Cherington’s former organization, the Toronto Blue Jays, to back up Stallings. Then a little while later veteran John Ryan Murphy was also added into the mix; giving Pittsburgh three solid defensive options at the catching position as Maile and Murphy were both top 25 catchers with a 3 DRS.

In between these two acquisitions, Guillermo Heredia, was signed by the Pirates as addition to outfield; bringing along his 4 OAA and 3 DRS, which was followed by the additions of JT Riddle and Jarrod Dyson. Before coming to the Pirates Riddle had accumulated at DRS of 15 in three seasons at shortstop and has shown flexibility to play all over the field. Dyson on the other hand was the reliable veteran presence and consistent defensive centerfielder, who at the age of 34 had posted a 14 DRS and 6 OAA for Arizona the previous year.

With all of these decisions concerning the roster out of the way it was finally time for Ben Cherington, Derek Shelton and the rest of the coaching staff to deploy their players in a manner that would allow each of them to be successful on the ball field, particularly on defense because if you look at their offensive output it was clear to see that anything they did in that area would be seen as a bonus. The run production would have to come from the remainder of the team, which would be assisted by the introduction of the designated hitter in the National League for the truncated 2020 season. Obviously this should have been seen as a positive on the other side of the ball as well due to the fact that they could keep any defensive liabilities in the dugout.

Prior to the season getting off the ground Cherington’s plan hit a little bit of a bump as Luke Maile was placed on the IL with a fractured finger. However, with John Ryan Murphy on the squad it was pretty much an even trade considering they had fairly similar profiles. With this last obstacle out of the way, it was time to execute the plan of being more consistent in the field in order to not just give away runs as they had been so prone to do during the previous year, which in turn should help them build confidence in a pitching staff that had also struggled throughout the season. That was the plan, while also being the goal.

So, how has that plan/goal worked out so far this year? First of all, in order to make a proper evaluation, we have to ignore wins and losses. I don’t think anyone could have expected the lack of production from some of the most consistent bats. At times it has been just downright awful and can in no way be tied directly to defensive performance. Secondly, we need to examine the decisions that Derek Shelton and his coaches have made concerning positional placement of the players available to them, as well as the circumstances surrounding certain player that have occurred, which are out of the coaching staff’s control. And lastly we need to do a deep dive into the metrics and statistics, because as we all know the stats don’t lie.

Injuries are something that every team has to deal with and make adjustments for; the Pittsburgh Pirates were no exception this year and with the COVID IL in existence, there was only one more situation that would need to be addressed from time to time. In the beginning of the season the Pirates had a few players on this list, including Gregory Polanco. Newly acquired utility man JT Riddle also started the season on the IL with a right abdomen strain. Then games began and injuries slowly began to pile up for Pittsburgh. The newly emerging Phillip Evan’s season was ended by a collision with Gregory Polanco, Colin Moran hit the IL with a concussion after a run in with a runner at 1st Base, Kevin Newman sat out a few games following an awkward swing and Anthony Alford’s elbow broke as it smacked off the outfield wall only a few games into his possible extended audition.

Along with injuries, there are the roster moves that often come from above the manager’s pay grade, but still effect the overall evaluation of the general Manager’s goal of putting together an defensively efficient team. Toward the end of August, Guillermo Heredia was designated for assignment and ultimately claimed by the New York Mets before he could clear waivers. Shortly after this Jarrod Dyson was traded to the White Sox for International Bonus Money and just like that only two of Cherington’s defensive acquisitions remained; Riddle and Murphy. Another potential roster move or lack thereof in some fans and media members eyes was the decision to keep Third Baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes at the alternate site until the beginning of September.

Once you wade through all of these injuries and a couple of roster moves, the evaluation of how Derek Shelton and his staff chose to deploy their players on a daily basis. The one that sticks out to me the most is Shelton and apparently Donnie Kelly’s decision to put Cole Tucker in the outfield. My Co-Editor, Gary Morgan has looked into this this move in several times this season to try and figure out the potential benefit. Another choice that is often questioned by many is having Josh Bell continue to play at first base, while having the designated hitter role at their disposal, at least for this year. Sharing duties with Bell has been Colin Moran; removed from the hot corner in favor of Osuna, Evans, Gonzalez, Riddle and now Hayes. A final and more recent shift has been Newman getting regular playing time at second base with the somewhat surprising offensive output of Erik Gonzalez landing him at shortstop, which has moved Adam Frazier out to left field. Of course their have other alterations to the lineup, but it feels like these have been the most significant. If you really wanted to we could also add in what feels like JT Riddle being forced into the lineup at times, which truly makes little sense at all, just for good measure.

With all of these injuries, roster re-shuffling and field deployments the real question is; Have the adjustments and decisions made by Ben Cherington, Derek Shelton and company improved the Pirates individualand team defensive metrics from the near absolute failure that was the 2019 Pirates season?

As it stands right now, the Pittsburgh Pirates have 16 games remaining in their 2020 season and currently they lead the league in total errors committed with 40; almost split right down the middle with 18 fielding and 20 throwing, not to mention the 2 catcher’s interference calls. And I am going to be honest it should be higher as I feel the scorekeepers have been a little bit lenient at times. So I feel confident in saying that in a 162 game season they would be on pace for right around 147 errors, which easily beats out the 121 they committed last year. When looking at the other defensive metrics they are 15th in DRS (+5), 23rd as far as UZR (-3.8), 1st in all of MLB in FRM (1.5) and 19th in overall DEF (-3.8). Undoubtedly the choice to have Jacob Stallings as the team’s starting catcher and John Ryan Murphy, to maybe a lesser extent, as his backup is having a positive effect on the Pirates. Stallings has accumulated a 5 DRS and a 1.2 in FRM, while Murphy has a -1 DRS, with a .3 FRM. But, how are the other position players doing?

Well, the usual suspects can be found on the right side of zero. Adam Frazier has a 4 DRS when he is at second base and Bryan Reynolds also earned a 4 in LF and a 1 in CF. Joining them this year are the new left side of diamond duo of Erik Gonzalez (3 3B/1 SS) and Ke’Bryan Hayes (2). On the flip side of the coin are Cole Tucker (-4 RF/-2 CF), Kevin Newman (-2 SS/0 2B) and Josh Bell (-2 1B). Just ahead of Bell is his 1st Base Platoon Partner, Colin Moran with a -1. Also in case anyone was wondering, JT Riddle is a -3 at 3rd Base, Guillermo Heredia earned a 0 before being DFA’d and Jarrod Dyson was a -2 prior to leaving for Chicago. If you have been watching the Pirates play none of this information should really be that shocking to you, but what does it all mean?

First off it stuck out to me that only two of Ben Cherington’s acquisitions are still with the team, not counting Maile on the IL. However, even more that one should actually be getting any playing time; Murphy and that Heredia had little impact, while Dyson had a negative one. Secondly, can we please end the Cole Tucker Outfield Experiment? Next, Adam Frazier should be playing at Second Base over Kevin Newman. And Finally, Jacob Stallings has clearly proved he can be an everyday, starting catcher in MLB.

As far as the team’s overall performance, I believe they are headed in the right direction, but there are still some crucial decisions to be made as they move toward the off-season. If the DH doesn’t stay in the National League who is their 1st Baseman, Bell or Moran? Is there a competition between Erik Gonzalez and Cole Tucker at SS going into Spring Training? Will we see Bryan Reynolds as the regular Centerfielder to begin 2021? And about a hundred other things, which leads me to agree with Gary; this is set up to be a possible whirlwind.

Pirates Shut Out In Sweep By Kansas City

After two disappointing loses for the Pirates, they came into the game this afternoon looking to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Kansas City Royals. Pittsburgh starter Chad Kuhl was also aiming to bounce back from two fairly lackluster performances in a row; combining for five earned runs, eight strikeouts and six walks in seven total innings of work. Opposing him on a seasonably cooler day at Kauffman Park was the big young right handed hurler, Brad Keller. Contrary to what you might expect from a 6’5” 250 lb. man, Keller does rely on overpowering pitches; instead he lives on ground balls and soft contact. In his six starts so far this year he has accumulated only 24 strikeouts in 34.2 innings, but also did not allow a single extra base hit through the first 28 innings. Based on this information, along with his 2.60 ERA and 1.10 WHIP, I fully anticipated him giving Pirates batters fits all afternoon.

The first inning was a complete and utter fiasco for both Kuhl and Pirates as a whole; a few walks, a couple hits and a wild pitch equaled a 4-0 lead for the Royals before Pittsburgh Fans had any time to sit down to enjoy some Sunday afternoon baseball. After an inning and a half to catch our collective breaths the onslaught began again. Salvador Perez started second round of scoring with a solo home run to straight away centerfield. Kuhl followed this up by giving up a single, hitting a batter and walking the next to load the bases. After a mound visit he was able to set Kelvin Guitierrez down on strikes, but immediately walked the next batter; bringing an end to his day, but not to the bleeding for the Pirates.

Nick Tropeano, who had been a reliable option in his first four appearances for Pittsburgh, walked the first batter he faced; forcing in another run. He then gave up a single, which brought in two more runs. After only two Royals faced, Tropeano had allowed all three of his inherited base runners to score; resulting in a final line of 9 earned runs on 4 hits and 6 free passes, with 5 strikeouts on 70 pitches for Kuhl in only 2.1 innings. Tropeano would eventually work his way out of the inning, but not before giving up the 10th run of the game for Kansas City on a single by Perez, who had led of the same inning with a homer.

Dovydas Neverauskas was the next pitcher out of the Pirates bullpen and almost immediately gave up his customary home run to put the Royals up 11-0. Fortunately this would be the last run the Pirates would surrender to Royals on the afternoon.

To this point I hadn’t even thought about how I was going to describe Brad Keller’s performance against the Pirates batters because it went exactly the way I had expected and actually predicted it to go; aside from the John Ryan Murphy double in the top of the 6th. Keller gave the Pittsburgh batters fits all afternoon. In only the second complete game of his career Keller spread out five hits, walked only one and struck out two on 110 pitches.

After being swept by the Royals, the Pirates don’t have much time to stop and think as they have a doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds scheduled tomorrow, beginning at 4:10 PM at Great American Ball Park. It has been reported that Mitch Keller will start one of the two games, so after a rough weekend In Kansas City there is at least something to look forward to.

News and Notes:

Hayes is going to get his days off and we have to be OK with that. He wasn’t able to participate in a regular Minor League Season, most Sim Games in Altoona were around 4 or 5 innings and he was not able to report to the alternate site on time due to COVID. However, we shouldn’t have to deal with JT Riddle being run out there in his place.
After a promising start to his return, Chad Kuhl has now had three rough outings in a row.
Moran did get 2 of the 5 hits, so there’s that.
At the beginning of the series I talked about both Kansas City and Pittsburgh being in some part of a build/rebuild. Based on this past weekend, the Royals are obviously ahead of the Pirates in the process; if that wasn’t abundantly clear before.

The Pirates are Smack Dab in a Catch 22

Watching Trevor Williams pitch last night I made the obvious call that at the very least he can’t return next season expecting to start. Most people seemed to agree with that and they called for his DFA or to trade him.

Trevor has lived on his good half season in 2018 and shown flashes of finding something. Even this season he had one good start and it sends Pirates fans into overdrive either defending the other 8 horrific starts or calling for his immediate trade ‘while he’s hot’. Baseball just doesn’t work that way, so the Pirates will be forced to shop Williams hard in the off season.

To what affect though? What team is going to head into 2021 thinking Trevor is an answer for them? It’s not about what the Pirates get back, even with two years of control he won’t command much, he’s a project at best and for that you have to believe it’s in there but remains untapped. Now, I don’t believe there will be many of those types of teams out there, but pitching across the league isn’t deep. If the Pirates move him for a chunk of International Pool cash or even Conditional Draft picks its a win.

All of that supposes the fact they agree with me that they’ve seen enough. If Williams just burst on the scene in 2020, ok, I can see thinking a longer season will potentially bear more fruit, but he didn’t just arrive, and he simply hasn’t improved.

Williams is not even close to the only catch this club finds themselves in. Polanco is someone you could easily move if only he made less money. Anything’s possible thought, I mean a team like Tampa found someone who gave up three young players for Chris Archer. But it’s not likely. In fact the most likely outcome is that he stays here and plays at least a little.

Bell is just beginning to look like he’s going to go on one of his patented hot streaks, if he does and it lasts through the end of the season the Pirates should either push to extend him or move him. Bold change takes bold action and while calling for this is nothing new, understanding that this certainly won’t improve the club at this time still makes it a hard decision.

Trading the entire team is just not going to happen. First, Cherington has expressed more than once he wants to build on what he has and even if he’s lying, who is going to take the parts you want gone? Frazier has value but if they have decided he’s part of the outfield mix maybe they want to keep him.

Real improvement needs to come in the starting rotation and they can’t go through a 162 season with a rotation that can’t get past five innings regularly. Say Williams is out and they directly drop Taillon in. Is he a better pitcher? Well, he sure used to be, but we don’t know how he’ll look, despite the videos of him throwing. We’ve watched how this club handled Chad Kuhl returning from his first TJ procedure, if they do that with Jamo the bullpen is screwed.

I don’t expect an overnight change from this team, I just don’t think they have the capital to make significant change, but they can improve just by cutting bait on players who have shown what they are.

Trevor Williams, Dovydas Neverauskas, and Kyle Crick, have shown me enough and for the sake of the team I wish all three of them would do whatever Osuna did to have the club agree. The rotation next season could look better, and a longer season will even out some of the small sample size casualties, but to believe that’s the reason for all the failure will damn the Pirates to another season spinning their wheels. I’d rather lose with young guys trying to find their way than watch players reaffirm what they are.

If you get to two years of control remaining on a player, it stands to reason you’ve seen them for the best part of 4 seasons. If you can’t gauge what they are by then, perhaps it’s time to look for another profession.

This needs to be a very very active off season full of change, trades or DFA, the roster needs to move on from dead weight.

Royals Win 7-4 and the Pirates Must Not Have a 2021 Coronation for Williams

My Dad once told me, When someone shows you what they are repeatedly, at some point you outta believe ’em. I’ve been on this train for a while now, but I have to believe the Pirates are at least looking sideways at Trevor Williams.

5 innings pitched, 9 hits, 6 earned runs and 3 walks. This is not only tonight’s line, its a very typical Trevor Williams line. The very first at bat is a wonderful micro-chasm for what Williams has become and why he struggles so mightily. Facing Whit Merrifield he jumped out to an 0-2 count. Now right here sitting at home you know what’s coming next to a right handed batter don’t you? Slider away, probably down and out of the zone right? Then he’ll follow that one with another even further out. Neither typically induce a swing and tonight they didn’t either.

Now if its later in the game Trevor still might mess around trying to drop that slider on the actual corner or early in a game like this he throws a fastball for a strike, and because he doesn’t have great stuff, a fastball with no movement that you expected to see get’s lit up.

Merrifield took him deep and I have to imagine he’s just as predictable to the batters he’s facing as he is to me.

The numbers sure say so.

If you want to sell me on this being a season of evaluation, the Pirates better listen to my Dad and believe what Williams is showing them. He simply can’t go into 2021 expecting a rotation spot.

This game wasn’t all bad, after giving up the early homerun the Pirates roared back with three of their own. One each by Bell, Reynolds and Frazier would stake the Bucs to a 3-1 lead. Williams would surrender a tying 2 run shot to the white hot Mondesi.

Then in the fifth everything really exploded for Williams. Walks, hits, poor defense (his own) and the Royals took the lead with three more runs.

Austin Davis did a nice job in his one inning and then Kyle Crick entered the game in the 7th. His velocity has been a documented concern from everyone not named Shelton but at least he was throwing strikes, well that all changed tonight. 2 hits and 2 walks and these weren’t nibblers, he was lucky to not be drilling batters. Wild is an accurate description. As with Williams, at what point do you believe what the guy is showing you? The second walk brought in a run to make it 7-3 and Crick left with the bases still loaded for Sam Howard who kept the damage to a minimum.

In the 8th Gonzalez with one out singled up the middle and stretched it into a double, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Frazier groundout. The hustle was nice and the energy was needed, but that probably wasn’t the smartest move. 7-4 Royals.

Hayes reached on a dribbler with two outs and advanced to second on another wild pitch but Colin Moran would strike out to strand him.

Derek Holland entered the game for the bottom of the 8th, now all but officially a member of the pen. He would throw a scoreless inning and the Royals would counter with Greg Holland in the 9th. He would retire the Pirates in order to close out the ball game.

Royals win 7-4 and the series concludes tomorrow afternoon in Kansas City.

News & Notes

Austin Davis made his Pirates Debut tonight in relief of Trevor Williams in the 6th inning and tossed a scoreless frame, Welcome to the club Mr. Davis.
Kyle Crick looked like himself tonight, no, his fastball is still 90-91, I mean he stopped throwing strikes once he put a base runner on.
This is the first game this season that Reynolds and Bell have both hit home runs.
Josh Bell has had a couple good games back to back. Home runs each night and he went 3 for 4 yesterday and 2 for 4 tonight. Important to see him build on it. In fact he hasn’t swung and missed a pitch since Wednesday.

Through The Prospect Porthole: Mason Martin Sets His Target On The Roller Coaster

When I first started in this business, you know blogging, back in November of 2019, the first article I chose to write was about a young left handed first baseman that I had gone to see play toward the end of the summer at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, Florida. That evening the Pirates High A Affiliate, the Bradenton Marauders took on the Port Charlotte Stone Crabs and the #1 Prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Wander Franco. This was a bonus for me and my family, but the real treat was getting to see the young Buccos play and of course the kiddos getting autographs afterwards.

As a self proclaimed Prospect Junkie, I had many players on my radar that night, but at the top of the list was the 20 year-old Pirates Prospect that had taken the system and actually all of MiLB by storm with his raw power. Earlier that summer Mason Martin’s name had started to be on the tip of everyone’s tongue; from amateurs like myself to the professionals for sites and podcasts such as MLB Pipeline and MiLB.com’s The Show Before The Show. Many were left to question, how did he get to this point and where exactly did he come from?

Martin was drafted in the 17th round (508 overall) of the 2017 MLB June Amateur Draft out of Southridge High School in Kennewick, Washington. Upon being drafted he started his professional career in the Gulf Coast League where he split his time between 1st Base and each of the outfield positions. After hitting .309 with a 1.087 OPS and 11 home runs he was promoted to the West Virginia Black Bears and ultimately the Bristol Pirates by the end of the 2018 season. His power continued throughout this season as he hit 11 home runs, but his batting average sank to .220. Because of these 2018 struggles Mason started this past season with the Pirates Low A team, the Greensboro Grasshoppers instead of beginning the year in High A. It was apparent from the beginning of the season that Mason was ready to move up to the next level.

He hit 23 home runs in 82 games for the Grasshoppers, to go along with a .262/.361/.578 slash line and 83 RBI’s. After earning the promotion to the Bradenton Marauders of the Florida State League, Martin went on to hit 12 additional home runs and drive in 46 more RBI’s for a total of 35 home runs (tied for 4 in all of MILB) and 129 RBI’s (#1 in all of MILB).

Since he entered the Pirates Minor League system his power has never been a question. He is rated as a 65 for his raw power on a scale from 20-80, with 50 being the average. His two main issues thus far has been his strike-out rate and his speed, which at times limits his defensive ability . This past summer he posted a 29% Strike-Out Percentage in Greensboro and a 32.3% Strike-Out Percentage in Bradenton. Both a lack of speed and a high strike out rate are common among hitters with Martin’s power, but we’ve seen guys become successful at the Major League level with very similar tools.

Currently his Major League options are limited to playing 1st Base and DH, which could ultimately be a benefit to him if the designated hitter remains in the National League beyond the 2020 season. Other potential good news for Mason is that the only people I really see as obstacles to playing time for the Pirates are Will Craig and Josh Bell. Craig has seen very limited action thus far for the Pirates and Bell will be an unrestricted free agent in 2023, if he remains on the Pirates through his entire contract. Prior to the 2020 season most experts were of the opinion Martin was set to reach the major league club in 2023, which would put him right in line to take over the starting role from the jump.

However, as we all know now 2020 has not been a normal year; so, as it has come to be with with many Minor League players the outlook for Martin could possibly have changed. Back in February he was assigned to the big league club and participated in a few of the Spring Training games, just as he had the year before. Then came the shutdown and all of the uncertainty that came with it. When baseball operations finally resumed at the end of July the Pirates current #18 Prospect on MLB Pipeline was one of the lucky Minor Leaguers that was invited to the alternate site in Altoona. And according to many, including Garett Mansfield, Play-By-Play Broadcaster and Director of Communications for the Altoona Curve, Martin’s power has continued to impress at People’s Natural Gas Field; which is where I would expect him to start out 2021. This of course is just a guess because as of right now nothing is certain as to how things will proceed in the following days, let alone seven or eight months from now.

💣 💣 💣 pic.twitter.com/HQHGDzQcfF

— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) August 22, 2020

Pirates Comeback Falls Short Against Royals

Following an unheard of second scheduled off day of the week, the Pittsburgh Pirates began what should be 17 straight days of baseball, with 19 games to go in the season. For tonight’s contest the 14-27 Pirates traveled to Kansas City to begin a three game weekend series against the 17-28 Royals in what many have dubbed a battle for the supposed first pick in next year’s MLB June Amateur Draft. It goes without saying that both teams are in the midst of their own builds/rebuilds or whatever you want to call it, so it is really no surprise to see them close together near the bottom of the MLB standing, even in a year as strange as 2020.

For the Pirates, the lone lefty remaining in the starting rotation, Steven Brault was set to take the mound for his 8th start of the season in 9 games; his only relief appearance being the disastrous outing against the Detroit Tigers on August 7th, where he gave up 4 earned runs on three hits and three walks without recording an out. As a starter, Brault has posted a 2.78 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP, with 20 strikeouts in 22.2 innings. However as a starter he has only lasted five full innings once and is averaging approximately 3.2 innings per start. Opposing him for the Royals was their #7 Prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Kris Bubic, who would be making only his 8th Career Start after not pitching above High A ball last year. In his 7 starts, Bubic, has yet to record his first big league win, while having a 4.48 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. At times he has looked like a rookie and other times he has blown through even the most challenging lineups. In his last two starts, both against the White Sox, he combined for 12.1 innings and struck out 12 Chicago batters, so it is clear the potential is there to succeed and the Royals seem to agree by letting him jump over the last two Minor League levels in the extended off-season.

After a nice barehand play by Ke’Bryan Hayes to begin the game, Brault promptly gave up a solo home run and the Pirates were quickly down 1-0. From the start it was apparent that Brault did not have his best stuff going as he struggled with deep counts and walks, but for the first two innings he was able to escape pretty much unscathed. In the bottom of the third he couldn’t work his way out of trouble and even created some of his own when three singles, a walk and a wild pitch brought in two more runs for the Royals. Ultimately it could have been a lot worse if Brault wasn’t able to retire the last two batters faced. In the end it wasn’t a great outing for Brault as gave up 3 runs on 5 hits, with 4 strike outs and 3 walks on 97 pitches.

Bubic on the other hand made quick work of the Pirates through the first 3 innings as he spread out walks and hits in between five strikeouts. In the top of 4th he allowed the Pirates to get on the board as Jacob Stallings doubled to bring in Colin Moran, who had singled earlier. However he stopped them from adding on, as he left runners stranded on second and third with no outs. Bubic would last one more inning before being lifted with a final line of 1 run on 6 hits, 6 strike outs and 2 walks on 92 pitches.

Over the next two and a half innings everything stayed pretty quiet as both bullpens put up one zero after another on the scoreboard. Chris Stratton then gave up a leadoff walk to Adalberto Mondesi in the bottom of the 7th and he took full advantage of it as he swiped the next bases before being singled in for the Royals 4th run of the game. But once again the Pirates came right back in the top of the next inning as a Josh Bell two run homer brought them back within one.

Unfortunately this wouldn’t be enough as the Pirates went down in order in the 9th, to end what would have been their third comeback win in 4 games by a score of 4-3.

The Pirates will take on the Royals again tomorrow at 7:05 EST. Trevor Williams (1-6, 5.80 ERA) is scheduled to be on the bump for Pittsburgh as he faced off against Carlos Hernandez (0-0, 1.42 ERA) in his first Major League start.

News and Notes:

Since recording 2 hits in his first game back from paternity leave, he only has two hits combined in the next 7 games and 23 at bats, including an 0 for 3 night this evenings contest.
Adam Frazier’s hitting streak ends at 12 games.
Geoff Hartlieb pitches a scoreless 8th inning to keep the Pirates in the game. He has not allowed a run in his last 6 appearances.
Josh Bell has an impressive 3 for 4 night, including the 8th inning 2 run homer, his 5th of the season.
Royals Rookie Kris Bubic was earns the first victory of his MLB career.

How Does the Current Pittsburgh Pirates Bullpen Fit Into Future Plans?

On October 30th of last year, interim General Manager Kevan Graves, who had the job temporarily after Neal Huntington was fired, made an intriguing acquisition. The pickup was a waiver claim by the name of Sam Howard. He was a southpaw that had struggled in the majors and Triple-A the past few years. Little did the Pirates know that Howard would become a main part of the bullpen in 2020.

After the Pittsburgh Pirates’ recent game on Sunday, it really brought to the spotlight how solid some of these underrated arms have been. After the 6 scoreless innings against Cincinnati, Pittsburgh’s bullpen has now been 7th best in the MLB (3.27 ERA) since Miguel Del Pozo’s last appearance in a Pirates uniform on August 8th. But where there are positives, there are also negatives. So today, I’m here to talk about where this year’s bullpen arms might fit into the future of the team, if at all.

Locks for 2021 Bullpen:

Well, I can’t believe I’m saying this but currently, I see just two locks for next year’s ‘pen, and the first one isn’t currently on the active roster. I’m talking about Nick Burdi. The presumptive closer entering 2020 went down with a right elbow injury early in the season. This drew concerns from many in the organization and in the fanbase due to Burdi’s lengthy injury history that includes a Tommy John surgery and a thoracic outlet surgery last year. Fortunately, the trainers and medical staff over in Pittsburgh believe that surgery will not be required and that Burdi will make a full recovery to be healthy in time for next year’s spring training.

The other man has been pitching for the Pirates this season, and despite having a terrible season last year, Geoff Hartlieb has really come into his own to pitch some important innings for the team. Terrible might be an understatement for Hartlieb, as he gave up 35 earned runs in 35 innings. That is a 9.00 ERA in a not very small sample size, and fans started to think that Hartlieb was another lost cause, another bust. But Hartlieb didn’t give up, and he got right to work with new pitching coach Oscar Marin. Together, they agreed that scrapping the four-seam and rolling with a sinker-slider combination, with a rare changeup mixed in as well, would be the best way to go.

After another terrible showing in spring where Hartlieb allowed 8 runs in 7.1 innings, things started to look bleak. He initially started this 60 game season at the alternate site in Altoona. But a few days into the season, Hartlieb was called up due to some early-season injuries. Since, he has been better than expected, with an elite 1.96 ERA in 18.1 innings. If he can keep this going, which I really believe he will, Hartlieb will establish himself as a reliable bullpen piece.

The Rest of the Bullpen:

There is no way anybody can predict what would happen after those two, but we can speculate what might happen. Here’s the rest of the bullpen, and where they might be at the beginning of next year.

Tyler Bashlor- Yikes. Or is it? The overall numbers for Bashlor are bad, yes, with 7 runs given up in 7.2 innings, but he’s had 3 appearances out of his 7 total where all of his runs have been given up. If you remember, I wrote about him when the Pirates originally claimed him from the Mets, and I said that walks have come back to bite him in past seasons. Well, it seems like that has continued to be sort of an issue, as he’s had 3 free passes so far. I still like his stuff, but it’s getting harder and harder for me to think he’s going to be good. It wouldn’t hurt the Pirates to give him a shot for the remainder of this year and next spring training.

Dovydas Neverauskas- If you cringed reading that name, you wouldn’t be the only one. I mean, the amount of times people that have thought this man was surely gone is crazy. No amount of excuses can be made of why Neverauskas is still on this team. To put things into perspective, he’s had ERAs of 8.00 and 10.61 the past two years, and an 8.40 ERA so far this year after giving up an additional 3 runs in Tuesday’s game against the White Sox. After everything that has happened, you would think the Pirates would let him go. Instead, they kept him for three years, and it doesn’t look like Pittsburgh has any intention on getting rid of him anytime soon. I would say that he wouldn’t be here next year, but you never know, the Pirates could say “they still see potential”, and he would be back in the bullpen next year, taking a spot from Blake Cederlind and others.

Kyle Crick- This is one of the more interesting pitchers, because just two years ago, he had a 2.39 ERA in 60.1 innings. Last year, his ERA went up to 4.96, but it included a right triceps injury and an injury to his throwing hand, so the thought was that he would recover to potentially get somewhere close to his 2018 season. At the beginning of this season, he allowed 4 unearned runs in his first appearance, which were actually because of errors made by him, and he allowed the game winning double to Ryan Braun in his second game. Crick actually has a 0.00 ERA this season, but 5 runs have been unearned, but it’s been partially his fault. Not to mention his velocity is down on both his slider (high 70’s from low 80’s) and his fastball (low 90’s from mid 90’s). Unfortunately, this will never change, unless he works hard enough over the offseason to maybe get that velocity up a bit. Crick is still arbitration eligible, and I do think he has a strong chance to return next year, but he’ll have a lot to prove in the next 3 weeks and Spring Training 2021.

Michael Feliz- Forgot about him? Well, you’re probably not alone. He was the one who gave his jersey number to Derek Holland, and then while wearing his new number, he pitched 1.2 innings and gave up 6 runs along the way. Then, out of nowhere, Feliz was put on the 10-day and quickly the season ending 45-day injured list. There’s not much to take from there, and he did have a 3.99 ERA in a full season’s worth of work in 2019. Feliz is a free agent in 2022, so a return for next year would definitely be likely, unless he fell off of a cliff.

Derek Holland- I’m not going to say much here. He’s been decent out of the bullpen since moving from the rotation without an announcement he was moving to the rotation. Holland was a nice veteran presence for this season, but there is no future for him in Pittsburgh.

Clay Holmes- This was another young arm finally getting his shot, until a right forearm strain a week into this 60-game schedule ended his season. Holmes had out of this spring looking good, with 3.1 scoreless innings with some really solid stuff put on display. He continued that into the beginning of this season, throwing an inning and a third scoreless. It’s unfortunate what happened, but given his good work in both spring training and the way people thought about him, Holmes should be given another opportunity.

Sam Howard- I don’t know where to start with Sam Howard. Slingin’ Sammy, as he has been referred to many times on the Pirates broadcast, is quite literally slinging the ball through the strike zone, and he’s doing it quite effectively. For a little background, Howard had been in the Rockies’ organization the past few years, pitching in two of the hardest ballparks in professional sports. He’s pitched at not only Coors Field, but in Albuquerque with Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate. Howard, like Hartlieb who I mentioned earlier, was not one of the 30 men to head west to St. Louis back on July 24th, but was good enough to get a callup at the beginning of August. He impressed from the start, when he struck out 3 over two innings. Not to mention those were extra innings, with the 2020 extra innings rules. Since, Howard has kept things rolling, with a 2.30 ERA in 15.2 innings. The fact that he’s a lefty really helps his case to return next near, and if he keeps pitching well, that will make it harder for the Pirates not to choose him.

Keone Kela- He came into the season being named the closer, so the thought was that he could help the Pirates while helping his trade value at the same time. Instead, Kela only got into three games, and he gave up a run in his first appearance in Cincinnati. Kela’s all but gone at this point, and in my opinion, I think that Cherington should’ve had a bit more urgency to trade him at the deadline. Now, Kela will walk for nothing.

Richard Rodriguez- Rodriguez has such a great story. He went from working at a family owned farm to pitching in the highest level of professional baseball there is. Even when he got to the majors it wasn’t easy, as he was cast aside by the Baltimore Orioles. The Pirates took a chance on him, and he’s flourished since his arrival. 2018, his rookie year, was his best one, as he pitched in 63 games and he had a 2.57 ERA. Last year the home run killed him early, but he settled down to post a 3.72 ERA at the end of the year. Rodriguez has gotten his chance to close out some games and besides an Eric Sogard homer, he’s been pretty perfect as a closer. He has a few more years of arbitration as well, so he’ll be back next year, potentially as the Pittsburgh Pirates closer.

Chris Stratton- I have always been particularly high on Stratton, and based on what I’ve seen from him, I’m glad that I was. After he was traded from the Angels last year, he started to figure things out in a bullpen role, which is much different than his spot with Los Angeles in the rotation.

In 28 appearances, he had a 3.66 ERA and proved himself to be a reliable long relief/middle relief option. To begin this year, solidity has once again been the name of his game, as he’s pitched to the tune of a 3.43 ERA. He would have been another decent trade piece, but he’s not a free agent until 2024, so he could be a mainstay in the bullpen for a couple more years to come.

Nick Tropeano- This has been another under-the radar waiver claim, something that Cherington and company have been doing a lot this year (Alford, Davis, etc.). The three times he’s appeared in a Pirates uniform, Tropeano has had to take on sort of a mop up role. It started when he pitched 4 scoreless against a White Sox team that’s had one of the best offenses in the league so far this year. Next, he pitched 2.2 scoreless innings against a pretty decent Brewers lineup, and he actually earned himself a win. Tropeano finally cracked in his most recent appearance on September 2nd, when he gave up a home run to Javier Baez, but there were already two on with nobody out, so it would have been hard to come away with a clean inning. The early returns for Tropeano have been surprisingly good, and I do see a lot of similarities to Stratton, with both of them being struggling starters who may be better suited for a stretched-out bullpen role. Tropeano deserves a shot, and I’d like to see him get more looks, but those looks have to come as a reliever. He will not be an effective starter if he goes back to that role.

Nik Turley- Last but definitely not least (ahem, Neverauskas), we have the Jacob Stallings doppelganger, Nik Turley. He was a waiver claim from the Minnesota Twins, not to be confused with Nick Burdi, who was selected in the Rule 5 draft by the Phillies before being traded to the Pirates. Turley had a brief stint with Minnesota back in 2017, and he struggled, giving up 22 runs in 17.2 innings. After that, it would be a rough road for Turley, as he was busted for Performance-Enhancing Drugs (PED’s) in 2018, and then he had Tommy John surgery shortly after. That held him out until spring training of this year. The lefty pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, and that ultimately earned him a spot on the expanded roster to start the year. Since, Turley, who has a glare that could kill you, has not pitched badly, with a 4.11 ERA in 15.1 innings pitched. He has his first year of arbitration coming up this year, so it will be interesting to see how the Pirates handle him moving forward.

So I guess the last question would be, who out of the people that I didn’t list would be under consideration for the Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen in 2021? Well, you could look to Nick Mears, Brandon Waddell, and Cody Ponce. All three have already had their first crack to pitch in the big leagues, and Ponce has had the opportunity to start twice. Ponce will probably get the call first, and I would be intrigued to watch him pitch out of the bullpen. But what about Blake Cederlind? Well, the hope is that we see him in the coming weeks, but time is running out so it better happen sooner rather than later. Then things might happen with free agency, although I’m not expecting any major changes, at least not for the 2021 season.

At the end of it all, this off-season could see the Pirates’ bullpen completely changed (hopefully younger), or it could just stay the same.

Not a Great One on Roberto’s Night – Pirates Lose 8-1 to the Pale Hose

A night like tonight was wasted on the emptiness of the ball park. Touching moments like Gregory Polanco kneeling between the giant 2 and 1 in right field and saying a little prayer. Players lining up clad in their nameless uniforms with 21 blazed on the back. Even the video tribute was lost in translation a bit.

In a way, it could have been a good thing, because knowing Pittsburgh, many of those who were there would have found their way to the parking lot by the 6th inning. Kudos to the ball club for doing something like this, but these things are done for the fans, and right now, fans can’t be there.

I wrote a piece on Clemente today featuring 21 quotes from 21 himself. The comments on Facebook were so beautiful, fans sharing memories about watching him play at Forbes Field and Three Rivers Stadium. Some shared stories about their brush with greatness, others talked about remembering exactly where they were when they heard he was lost. After reading all those touching thoughts, I found the fact no fans could be there to honor him vocally crushing.

Well, let’s talk baseball that actually was played today shall we? Dane Dunning for the Sox and JT Brubaker for the Bucs. Two young arms with a ton of upside. Two young pitchers who have yet to get terribly deep into a ball game. Unfortunately, only one offense ready to take advantage of that.

The gory details aren’t pretty, but the Sox came to hit. They put 7 runs on 7 hits in 5.1 innings of work on Brubaker. He started the game retiring the first 6 he faced and gave up a homerun to McCann in the third. The fourth things really started shaky and he wound up giving another four runs up.

Now, something a little strange, and that’s all I can really use to describe it. Brubaker was at 86 pitches and the Pirates sent him back out for the 6th down 5 runs. On one hand, I want to see these guys allowed to get deeper into games, on the other, he was down five runs and got shelled. This would have been the type of game you might actually want to see Neverauskas go if only because the game was out of reach fairly early.

After giving up another homerun to McCann in the 6th Tyler Bashlor replaced him and gave up a run of his own to make it 8-0

I wish I could find a story line in this one to really sink my teeth into, at one point I was hoping the Sox would score 21, at least that would be kinda neat. The Pirates simply never threatened to be in this game. It was uninspired baseball all around for the home team in this one and if I were allowed to attend I might have felt compelled to ask them to start measuring pulses in the dugout.

In the bottom of the 8th the Pirates made some noise but it only amounted to one oddball run, scored on catcher interference with the bases loaded. Unfortunately Josh Bell lined out to center to end the rally.

Bucs Lose 8-1

News & Notes:

Adam Frazier extends his hitting streak to 12 games.
Bryan Reynolds has plated center field for the last two games and looked pretty good doing it.
Begging for positives? Um, Tropeano continues to impress. Two scoreless again from him tonight. Even this is bathed in the reality he is not likely to be part of this club next season although he’s shooting his shot.
Tim Anderson is a perfect example of why you be patient with a prospect. Came up in 2016 and performed well batting in the 280s then struggled mightily in 2017-2018 batting .257 and .240 respectively, then last season, his 4th full season he broke out batting .335. Think about that as the Pirates introduce young players and even apply it to someone like Bryan Reynolds. Development doesn’t stop when you put on a MLB uniform.
Reynolds continues to look more comfortable batting right handed. Last season he was nearly indistinguishable from either side.
Jason Martin has had very limited opportunity, but this is a guy who needs to see some at bats and have something positive happen.

21 a Number, a Man, a Legend. Celebrating Roberto Clemente on His Day

I never saw Clemente play the game of baseball, in fact, I never opened my eyes on this earth at the same time Roberto did. From the time I became aware of baseball I was presented with the legend and heritage of this man. My grandparents loved him, and I don’t mean the way he played, sure they loved that too but more than that they loved HIM.

Roberto Clemente was more to the game and indeed the world than a superb athlete, he was an ambassador, a philanthropist, and handled every aspect of the responsibility he bestowed upon himself with grace and honor.

He fought and spoke to the rights of all minorities by the way he played and lived. Today the Pirates honor The Great One by wearing his number on every back, and the shared heritage he didn’t just keep for himself or Latin players alone, no, every one of us, together, as he always wanted.

“After I failed to win the Most Valuable Player Award in 1960, I made up my mind I’d win the batting title in 1961 for the first time.” – Roberto Clemente
The greatest players call their shots. They trust nobody more than themselves to accomplish whatever they want. Sidney Crosby wants to be better at faceoffs, so he does. Mario Lemieux wanted to score from on a faceoff, so he did. Clemente wanted a batting title so he did it four times.
“If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don’t do that, you are wasting your time on this earth.” – Roberto Clemente
Here is a man who could have done nothing more than play baseball and think of his own family, fortunately for the world he had bigger aspirations.
“They said you’d really have to be something to be like Babe Ruth. But Babe Ruth was an American player. What we needed was a Puerto Rican player they could say that about, someone to look up to and try to equal.” – Roberto Clemente
Mission accomplished. Today the league is loaded with Latin players who are some of the most dynamic in the game, and most looked up to the example Clemente put forward.
“The farther away you writers stay, the better I like it. You know why? Because you’re trying to create a bad image of me… you do it because I’m black and Puerto Rican, but I’m proud to be Puerto Rican.” – Roberto Clemente
Today you’ll be hard pressed to find a writer who would say a bad word about Roberto, but make no mistake, they weren’t always so easy on him. Many in his position would have turned the other cheek but Clemente wasn’t afraid to point out the bias.
“I couldn’t ask for better teammates, and the Pirate fans are the greatest in baseball.” – Roberto Clemente
Every ball player says things like this, it has become cliche interview fodder, Clemente and his teammates would confirm over the years just how true this was to him and all the players who wore black and gold.
“I would like to get 3,000 hits.” – Roberto Clemente
In all of MLB history, only 32 players have reached the 3,000 hit plateau. Imagine how good you have to be to even discuss it.
“If I would be happy, I would be a very bad ball player. With me, when I get mad, it puts energy in my body.” – Roberto Clemente
Today we read every expression our players make. Every bit of frustration is scrutinized, and players are often called lazy or accused of not caring, Roberto too had to explain his demeanor.
“To the people here, we are outsiders. Foreigners.” – Roberto Clemente
This was true, and for many of us those days are gone and good riddance, but we still have players criticized for not speaking without a translator or being a little less than bright for not mastering a second language while the one tossing things like this out has most often not mastered their own.
“It’s not a bad ball if I can hit it.” – Roberto Clemente
We spend a whole lot of time talking about batters not seeing pitches, Clemente just hit them anyway.
“Pitch me outside, I will hit .400. Pitch me inside, and you will not find the ball.” – Roberto Clemente
The bravado is incredible. Here is a guy fighting for the respect he deserves and rather than perpetually humble himself, on occasion he just loved to put it out there.
“The Dodgers told me a big bonus was no good, and they said other players would resent it. Better for me to take a small amount of money and work my way.” – Roberto Clemente
If you think the International Draft is more fair today, you’re probably right, but for every time money is involved there is someone trying to play fast and loose with vulnerable targets.
“I wasn’t ready for the majors when I joined the Pirates in 1955. I was too young and didn’t know my way around.” – Roberto Clemente
At some point, even the best of the best are young players a little too green for the big time. In his rookie season Roberto would struggle to a .255 BA with only 5 home runs. A healthy reminder that even star players don’t always start that way.
“I want to be remembered as a ballplayer who gave all I had to give.” – Roberto Clemente
More than you knew was possible Sir. More than you knew.
“I am convinced that God wanted me to be a baseball player.” – Roberto Clemente
Baseball was the vehicle but God wanted even more from Roberto, thing is he had to be willing to give it.
“I am more valuable to my team hitting .330 then swinging for home runs.” – Roberto Clemente
This was true then and in many ways we’ve forgotten it could be true today. The lessons Roberto left are still there for anyone who wants to receive them.
“My mother has the same kind of an arm, even today at 74. She could throw a ball from second base to home plate with something on it. I got my arm from my mother.” – Roberto Clemente
Often times in sports when a player makes it to the pinnacle of his profession, Dad get’s the lion’s share of credit. Roberto’s Mom got her due and I love it.
“I loved the game so much that even though our playing field was muddy and we had many trees on it, I used to play many hours every day.” – Roberto Clemente
He must have, because he continued playing Winter ball throughout his career off and on.
“I used to watch Monte Irvin play when I was a kid. I idolized him. I used to wait in front of the ballpark just for him to pass by so I could see him.” – Roberto Clemente
For every ball player there is someone who they aspired to be. Sometimes they far exceed their expectations.
“I was born to play baseball.” – Roberto Clemente
Classic undersell. So much more.
“My father used to say, ‘I want you to be a good man; I want you to learn how to work. And I want you to be a serious person.’ I grew up with that in my mind.” – Roberto Clemente
What your parents say to you as a young person can often motivate one more than anything that happens as an adult. Good man, check. Oh, he learned how to work, check. Serious Person, oh yes, check.
“Brooklyn was a famous team. I wanted to play for the Dodgers.” – Roberto Clemente
We sure are lucky this changed.

Roberto means something different to everyone, but to me he is simply the greatest Pirate to every wear the colors and a legendary human that graciously lent Pittsburgh his talents and spirit of humanitarianism. Enjoy Roberto Clemente Day Bucco Fans!