Let’s Have a Realistic Pirates Trade Deadline Talk

I know, I know, trade ‘em all, they stink. Maybe in the off season you’ll get your wish, personally I believe what the club will actually do will leave many feeling they didn’t go far enough and many believing they gave away everything. The easiest bet in sports is that a losing team will anger most of its fan base, even when they try to improve it.

That’s the off season though, today I want to focus on what’s right in front of us, the trade deadline because between the unique rules which we’ll talk about and the overall tentative way tis entire season has moved forward, well, lets just say some things are less likely than others.

The Pirates should probably have a pretty open mind for starters. Most of this comes down to when Ben Cherington sees contention as a possibility. I can’t answer the question in your head right now, but I’ll suggest if he believes the core of contention is in the ranks currently, follow Quinn Priester. Reason being, he has more pedigree than just about any starting pitcher they have right now. If they get the number one pick and select Rocker, ok shift that thought to his arrival but even then, keep one eye on Priester because as we’ve seen time and again it takes more than one.

Yeah, I know they have Malone, Bolton, Thomas, and they’re all nice prospects, some I’m very excited for but if two of them get past making it and move to making an impact it would be an unexpected coup.

Going with that thought, Priester prior to losing an entire year of development was expected to help the parent club in the 2023-24 range, and that could still hold, much of what he’s missing this season typically amounts to little more than refining and shaping pitches. Most prospects require learning to throw some things they’ve never mastered, but Priester came to the organization with 5 good pitches, in other words, he might not lose much from this stoppage. So, let’s stick with that as his arrival date.

So, who do the Pirates currently have on the MLB roster that should feasibly be part of that story? I’m headed in this direction because honestly the list will be much shorter than going the other way. On the surface I’d say Bryan Reynolds, Mitch Keller and maybe Kuhl. Those are the three I think will be regular, full time contributors. If you believe in Tucker or Newman, ok. Maybe you want to include Hayes, alright but we don’t really know do we?

Point is, when it comes to trades, there shouldn’t be, and I believe aren’t, that many who you’d consider untouchable. I’m not going to get into who the Pirates might want to extend because I don’t know who I’d look at beyond those two and say the Bucs must keep this guy.

If you believe Jameson Taillon comes back next season and resumes being the ‘ace’ so they shouldn’t trade anyone, let’s just say this, the club is more than an ace away, and if Taillon comes back and stays on the mound he’d be at the very least beating the odds. You’d honestly be better off believing Chad Kuhl is that guy. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love for Jamo to have the career he deserves but long odds are long odds.

For this deadline, I don’t see any block busters. Couple reasons for that, first the rules this year preclude a haul of prospects that would time up with that Priester timeline I framed up there. Trades may only be consummated with players on the 60-man or everyone’s favorite PTBNL. Trading a Josh Bell for 3 PTBNL could be done and yes there would be a wink, wink, nudge, nudge agreement in place to get what you wanted, but man you’d feel a lot better seeing current active stats when you pull a trade like that together wouldn’t you? On top of that, Bell looks a whole lot more like Nick Swisher than Dave Parker right now, I might wait for him to look a bit more like his top end.

Adam Frazier has been my go-to target for over a year now. He has insane, almost non-sensical value and the Pirates have plenty of players who can do what he does. There are some real potential nice deals out there for a steady fielding player with upside at the plate.

Perhaps the best type of deal the Pirates could swing would include all players on the 60-man, if so, the Athletics probably have the best package to offer and they’re in position to really try for it this year.

A package of Keone Kela, Richard Rodriguez and Adam Frazier could return Jonah Heim, Robert Puason, maybe even James Kaprielian. In fact, they might be able to swing that without Kela, leaving him available for another move.

Now, if you’re laughing that another club might want Richard Rodriguez, open your eyes. Bullpen arms aren’t exactly flourishing league-wide, and he has a track record, despite the homerun numbers, of getting outs.

If you’re looking for a big trade, that’s as close as 2020 will bring you, in my opinion. I think even if valued incorrectly the Pirates, or any team really, hates giving up on power and that will keep Bell in town at least until the off season.

Another factor at play, the players are painfully aware that the free agent market will be down in 2021. This could actually make the market for rentals a bit better than normal. It could also make some players a bit more open to extension.

The bottom line, most players should be available, but I believe most players will stay put at least through this deadline.

I also wonder how opt outs might play. Say the Bucs trade Keone Kela to someone and he doesn’t want to deal with the move. I don’t say this to cast him in a negative light, only to say he didn’t exactly take kindly to being traded from Texas in the first place, if he had an option to opt out when it happened and start the next season as a free agent, would he have ever come here? If a player opts out after the trade is consummated does it revoke the trade? Should it? Maybe inside the GM ranks they have answers to these questions, if not I bet they’re asking the same questions.

Yinzer Reactions: Recapping The Pirates Series With The Tigers

After being the victims of a sweep by one of the worst teams in the league last year there are obviously going to be more negatives than positives. However, for the purpose of this exercise that I complete after each series there will always be five observations in each category. Clearly some of them will hold more weight than others and at times I will struggle to fill up one side, while trying to cram my thoughts into the other. In the end I attempt to find a nice balance, which seems to be getting harder and harder as the Pirates season progresses.

Positive Takeaways

1) Chad Kuhl could be back to pre-surgery form and possibly even better. Other than the 2nd inning solo homer given up to C.J. Cron, Kuhl had all of his stuff going on Friday night. In 4 innings he struck out 7 and didn’t allow a single free pass on 58 total pitches. His fastball was sitting around 97 with good movement, as well as command and his 83 mph curveball had batters guessing at every turn.

2) Erik Gonzalez has been a hitting machine. Gonzalez absolutely exploded to start of the series; going 4 for 5 with 6 RBIs, including a blast off of Matthew Boyd in the 4th. On Sunday he recorded 2 additional hits and accounted for the Pirates only run as he singled to center off of the 2nd baseman’s glove, which brought Colin Moran in from 3rd.

3) Kevin Newman’s bat has continued to come alive. For the series he was 6 for 15, bringing his average up from .189 to .250 and extending his hitting streak to 4 games.

4) Stratton and Hartlieb execute well in an otherwise disappointing bullpen. On Sunday these Pirates relievers combined for 8 strikeouts (6 by Stratton) in 4 innings pitched and did not allow a single free pass. Stratton did give up an earned run, which was his first since July 28th against the Brewers. Hartlieb’s only blemish on the season came against Minnesota on August 5. Aside from that he has not allowed a run in 6 other appearances this season.

5) Nick Mears gets an unexpected first MLB appearance. It may not have happened the way Mears had originally imagined it, but on Saturday the young right handed reliever got the call up from the satellite site in Altoona to replace the struggling Miguel Del Pozo on the roster. In an inning of work he did allow an earned run and struggled with control at times, walking 3 batters. However, he did strike out two and worked his way out of jam. Before you are too quick to judge this young man, please keep in mind that he has not pitched a game above AA in his professional career.

Negative Takeaways

1) Overall the bullpen has continued to struggle. After Kuhl exited the game on Friday night, the bullpen proceeded to give up another 16 runs, on Saturday the allowed another 5 and even with the success in general on Sunday afternoon, it was an extreme wild pitch and a run given up by RichRod that led to the Pirates loss.

2) Phillip Evan out for season after collision with Gregory Polanco. This poor guy has been one of the Pirates best hitters on the season, from pretty much out of nowhere and now his season is over after suffering a concussion and broke jaw at the hands of Gregory Polanco’s elbow; to no real fault of either player.

3) Derek Holland gives up 5 homers (4 in the 1st inning). Holland gave up homers to 4 of the first 5 batters he faced, with a single sandwiched in between, and just like that it was 5-0 Tigers. The veteran lefty ended up throwing 112 pitches on the night, giving up a 5th home run in the 5th inning before exiting the game.

4) After getting off to a hot start Colin Moran has chilled. After hitting 5 home runs in his first 8 games of the season, Moran has only collected 3 additional hits over his last 7. His average on the season has plummeted from .321 to .226 over this stretch.

5) The Pirates are now 3-13. There is no nice way of putting it. The Pirates season thus far has been a disaster. With all of the injuries, struggles by their most reliable players and total collapses by the bullpen the shortened 2020 has felt particularly long already.

Today the Pirates were scheduled to travel to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals. However, due to a COVID outbreak in Cards clubhouse, the entire series has been postponed. For now Pittsburgh will get to rest up and Pirates Fans will get a break from the frustration as their next game will not be until Thursday in Cincinnati at 5:10 PM. Currently Anthony DeSclafani (1-0, 0.00 ERA) is set to take the mound for the Reds against a Pirates Pitcher that has yet to be determined.

Postponed. The Story of MLB’s Lack of a Plan That Punishes Non-Offenders

As everyone is by now aware, the three-game series set to start tonight between the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals has been postponed. Postponed is an important distinction because it very much denotes the intention to play these games in the future. Most likely these games will be part of double headers under the new 7 inning per game rule that was agreed to after the Miami Marlins found themselves in COVID trouble.

The Cards have played 5 games. That’s it. The list of games they have backlogged that the league and for that matter St. Louis plans on making up grows every single day and once this postponed series has passed, they will have missed 15 total games. Affecting the Tigers, Brewers, Cubs and of course the Pirates.

Everything that happens to a set schedule has ramifications that reach far beyond the offender. Because this 60-game schedule was built with few off days to begin with most of these make up games will be played on the backs of the remaining opportunities these teams are already meeting up. A three-game series could realistically become six.

It’s going to create a murderer’s row for St. Louis as they could be forced to play 8 games in 4 days to make up the time missed. Honestly, it’s hard to feel bad for them, after all they broke protocol and put themselves in this situation. Now when a team that didn’t so carelessly treat their responsibilities starts paying for it, I have issues.

See St. Louis doesn’t just have to destroy their own starting rotation. They won’t be the only club finding a way to get through 56 innings (if none of those games head to extras) with their already taxed from playing every day pitching staff. No, they’ll be dragging another team along with them.

The Pirates arms could actually use this break, they’ve been decimated by injury and pitchers who probably have no business seeing an MLB field were forced into action. The bats however have just started getting their timing back, some more successfully than others, a three-game stop in play could be less than optimal. One day soon they’ll pay for this, for instance the Pirates aren’t even scheduled to go back to St. Louis the rest of the season, do they now get forced to sacrifice one, or two of their off days to accommodate these games being played there?

I’m not saying that players going out to a club or casino and catching a virus is a crime, it isn’t. I’m not even going to say it isn’t just as likely that a player’s wife gets it while grocery shopping and passes it on to her husband. But when your club purposefully flaunted the rules and created this much havoc, why in the world do other teams have to suffer for it?

MLB is silent.

The first thing they’re silent on is why these games can’t go forward. The reason for the 60-man rosters was to create an ability to absorb incidents like this and repopulate the club to keep the games rolling. Most teams used the satellite player groups as a way to play with their new toys and include some prospects that probably had a shot of making the club by September. Are there exceptions, oh yes, some teams are so deep they have several players with actual MLB experience in their off-site location.

On top of building these rosters with the wrong goal in site, many are also still worried about service time causing players who could actually help to continue doing whatever it is they’re doing rather than help the club now.

The next issue is punishment. Maybe punishment is too harsh, how about penalty? If it can be proven that gross negligence led to missing these games, why does everyone else have to pay for it with them? This is probably a slippery slope I’d imagine, take that example I had up there for a player’s wife catching the virus just living life. What happens there? You can hardly penalize a club because your no bubble return to play shockingly resulted in no bubble results.

Let’s pretend that Rob Manfred understands there is nuance here and he can tell the difference between purposeful negligence and accidental contraction. I’m not saying the Pirates deserve 3 wins from this cancelled series, but does St. Louis deserve three losses? Would even something like this be unfair to a team that might lose out on a top pick because a team like the Cardinals has no business coming close to the top pick in the draft.

Hey, what about a loss of their first-round pick? Probably a penalty that would have needed outlined prior to a team having a self-inflicted outbreak. That’s a stiff penalty and my guess, the Marlins and Cards are likely not the only clubs who have done something similar, with different results. Might be hard to get everyone on board with that.

Another caveat here is how Rob Manfred decides to consummate the draft order. If they somehow decide that they can get by without every team playing 60 games, which looks more likely by the day, he’ll be forced to probably field the playoffs by way of win percentage. That same method could not be fairly applied to the draft order. Imagine St. Louis somehow ending up with the top pick after screwing the sport.

A lottery is very likely, and here’s why. Manfred wants non-game programming and this situation is a perfect excuse. Can St. Louis or Miami even be in that lottery? As of right now, yes.

I don’t know where I land on this. It’s really easy to say I want the Cardinals punished, it’s much harder to actually do it. Where does baseball go from here? It seems to me they don’t want to come down too hard on either of those clubs but the unfairness to the rest of the league can’t be ignored. I think we’re seeing the results of that play out every time Houston takes the field. Sure would be nice if Rob Manfred learned from previous failings.

Tigers Complete A Sweep Of The Pirates In A Sunday Matinee

If you would have told me on Friday afternoon that the Pirates offense would score 18 runs in the first two games of the series versus Detroit, 3 more than they put up in the previous 4 games against the Twins, there is no way I would have have thought they were facing a sweep at the hands of the Tigers on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park. However, this was the case as Steven Brault took the mound for Pittsburgh in place of Joe Musgrove, who was scratched from his start on Saturday afternoon due to ankle soreness. In his previous appearance as a part of the “piggyback” with Chad Kuhl on Friday evening, Brault allowed 4 earned on 3 hits and 3 walks, without recording a single out.

In the top of the first Brault looked as if he had turned things around by executing a 1-2-3 inning, including a strike out of Miguel Cabrera. Almost immediately the second inning got a little hairy as he walked and hit consecutive batters to put runners on first and second with one out. After a mound visit by Oscar Marin, Brault was able to induce a double play from Victor Reyes to end the threat and ultimately his day as Chris Stratton would replace him to start the 3rd.

Facing his first batter of the series, Stratton, looked a little rusty, allowing a leadoff double to catcher Austin Romine. He quickly settled down and in, striking out the next three Tigers, all swinging. He would go on to strike out two more hitters in the 4th and Christin Stewart to lead off the 5th before giving up a double to Reyes and a single to Romine, both on sliders; allowing Detroit to score their first run of the game and the first run against Stratton since the July 28th contest versus Milwaukee.

For Detroit, Spencer Turnbull would take the hill, trying to continue his strong start to the 2020 season. After going 3-17 last year with a 4.61 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP, Turnbull had turned things around to begin the year; posting a 1.93 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP in his first 3 starts. Through the first three innings on Sunday, Turnbull was able to battle and avoid giving up a run, but his luck would run out in the 4th as Colin Moran crossed the plate on a sharply hit ball by Erik Gonzalez.

With the score tied at one entering the 6th, the Pirates would turn to their third pitcher of the day, Geoff Hartlieb, who cruised through the first half of the inning by striking out two and not allowing a hit. The Tigers stuck with Turnbull and he rewarded them with a quick 1-2-3 inning, including his second strike out of Bryan Reynolds and his fourth total. The 7th inning would bring much of the same as Turnbull and new Pirates pitcher Nik Turley would only permit one runner between them. The 7th turned out to be the final inning for Turnbull and his final line was solid as he allowed only 1 run on 5 hits, while walking 2 and striking out 4.

In the top of the 8th the Tigers would put another run on the board after a hit batsman and a wild pitch by Rich Rod as Miguel Cabrera singled the runner home from second. Unfortunately for the Pirates and their fans that is all Detroit would need to complete the sweep of Pittsburgh by a final score of 2-1.

As of right now now the Pirates are not scheduled to play until Tuesday in St. Louis, but more than likely Thursday in Cincinnati due to the current COVID-19 outbreak in the Cardinals clubhouse. This is obviously not good for Major League Baseball in general, but it should be good for the ailing Buccos.

Pirates, Holland Lose 11-5 as First Innings Looked More Like Home Run Derby

The Pirates and Tigers had a slobber knocker last night putting up a combined 30 runs and wreaking havoc on one another’s bullpens. Today the Pirates sent Derek Holland to the mound hoping for minimally stability while the Tigers countered with old friend Ivan Nova.

Before anyone could get too comfortable, Derek Holland gave up four homeruns in eleven pitches. Let me say that again, just to make sure you don’t think this was a silly typo. 4 homeruns, scoring 5 runs on 11 pitches. He needed 43 pitches to get through the first and the Pirates sorely needed some length from him with over half the bloated bullpen at least on the ‘really like to not use’ list today. So he went back out and in the second coughed up another. Then he settled in finishing 5 innings with 102 pitches. The desperation of the situation with the staff should really be clear with this next move, they trotted him back out for the sixth.

Holland would surrender another homerun and two basehits before giving the inning over to Rookie Nick Mears who gave up a few more. This guy has all of 5 games in AA so what could you expect really. He has velocity hitting 98 but he also has little else, something they’ve yet to develop.

I shouldn’t ignore that the Pirates took the wood to last year’s AL leader in hits surrendered. The Bucs put five runs on Nova and used patient at bats to uncover some rare wildness from the big man. Now, if Nova had faced Polanco 27 times he’s have a perfect game. That was a matchup that bailed out Nova multiple times today.

In the sixth inning as young Mears was trying to find his way through his first action in MLB, Phillip Evans playing his first game at first base in the bigs trucked out to right field tracking a bermuda triangle pop fly, Polanco doing the same heading the other direction. Evans took an elbow right in the eye socket from the big Dominican and seemed to be instantly knocked out. He was moving and even smiling but was removed on a back board. I’ll let someone else deliver updates but needless to say, that’s not a guy you want to lose and personally, he’s had a hell of a long road and was taking full advantage of a team giving him an opportunity. Well wishes Phillip Evans.

The Bucs were chipping away prior to the 6th climbing all the way back to down 6-5 but the Evans injury seemed to take the air out of their sails.

In the top of the ninth down 11-5 the Pirates chose to send John Ryan Murphy out to pitch and he set the side down in order on 8 pitches. I’m struck even more so knowing we had this option and still used Del Pozo. I’m kidding, but only a little.

The Bucs started the bottom half of the 9th against the majestic mustache of Kyle Funkhouser in his second inning of work. Stallings singled and Frazier grounded into a force. Then Kevin Newman laced his fourth hit of the game putting two on and at least made the Tigers uncomfortable. Murphy who had just pitched replaced Bell as the DH and was robbed on a liner to right for the second out. Gregory Polanco finished his night 0-5 and the Tigers win 11-5.

Back at it tomorrow afternoon, Joe Musgrove takes the hill.

News & Notes:

  • A Record! That’s the first time a Pirate has ever given up four homeruns in the first inning. Another tidbit, the last person to give up 4 homeruns in an inning for the Pirates oddly enough was Ivan Nova who gave up five. You can’t make this stuff up.
  • Kevin Newman stood up and said not so fast on taking his position (although Evans injury means Gonzalez can just keep taking at bats by playing 3rd) Nice day at the plate for the youngster.
  • Gregory Polanco went 0-5 today and looked awful doing it.
  • Joe Musgrove needs to plan on doing the same thing Holland did today if he has a rough start. That’s just where we are.
  • We will and you should keep an eye on the Cardinals. The series scheduled to start Monday is at least in jeopardy although some players have come out questioning the reporting. Regardless, it could actually be a welcome break for a team who’s bullpen is destroyed.

What is the Pirates Plan with Erik Gonzalez?

Let’s be clear, I don’t know, and really, I doubt if Ben Cherington knows with any level of certainty at this moment. So, what I think we can do successfully here is talk about the different paths they could choose using the new information we have from watching some choices the management has made.

First let’s discuss if this is real. It might be. Because of the serious injury Erik suffered last season when he collided with Starling Marte his 2019 looks a whole lot like a normal starting role in 2020 would. In 2019 he put together 153 plate appearances in 53 games. He started the season really badly before the injury and was possibly the Pirates best hitter not named Newman or Reynolds down the stretch.

Here’s the interesting thing about Gonzalez, the exit velocity and the xBA it generates.

Career Exit Velocity shaded by xBA

To be fair, Erik has had an attractive exit velocity for quite some time and it’s exactly why Cleveland liked him and why Pittsburgh wanted to take a shot at using him. Gonzalez was going to rot in Cleveland and the Pirates didn’t believe in Kevin Newman after his poor September in 2018.

All this exit velocity adds up to an equally impressive hard hit rate. The problem for Erik has been an inability to combine this with launch angle. Remember with launch angle anything below a 20 is likely to be a ground ball, hard hit or not, ground balls equal outs more often than line drives or fly balls.

Career launch angle as shaded by xSLG

What you see there is how the expected slugging percentage goes up when Gonzalez finds the sweet spot. Now, this next chart is a very small sample size that 2020 has provided, and that actually is a reason to not get overly excited just yet.

2020 Launch angle as shaded by xSLG

What I’m trying to show here is when he gets this factor dialed in and adds it to what his natural exit velocity gravitates toward he becomes a much more dynamic and dangerous hitter.

Is this a fluke, well it sure could be, but the historical data says he isn’t without major promise and the really nice thing is some of the most important data is consistent. That means dialing in on improving launch angle won’t be done by also trying to fix another issue.

So now that we see what Gonzalez has been and what he’s done for a very short period of time. Let’s discuss what all this could mean for the Pirates should it continue.

Trade at the deadline
I’m tempted to dismiss this out of hand. I don’t think the league in general is going to be very active for starters. I just don’t think many teams make deadline deals to acquire potential unless they themselves are trying to rebuild, in which case why would the Pirates want that with where they are in the process? Let’s play House Hunters and eliminate this one.

Trade in the Off-Season
Maybe. Erik will be 29 at the end of this month. He only makes $725,000 so he can hardly be a salary dump. The Pirates own two more seasons of arbitration eligibility and even if he lights the world on fire every game the rest of 2020 it won’t be more than a 40-45 game sample size. Again, if you want potential, ok, but it might be hard to get a return as valuable as what he could provide even if he ultimately is a bench piece. He has one thing really going for him, the Pirates seem intent on letting him shoot his shot.

Is He a Future Starter
Here’s why I ask this question. Gonzo is arguably the best infielder on this club. I’m sure Hayes could give him a run for his money but right now it remains true, for that matter he can handle a multitude of positions, well. Again that age, even if he is good enough can he be more than a 2 or 3 season solution? Then again that was enough for Josh Harrison. I’m not going to name every other prospect who profile as capable middle infielders but you know there are a ton. It’s clear they think he is a better candidate than Cole Tucker, and while I don’t see Tucker as a bust, the Pirates obviously think he’s more valuable making room for others by moving positions than giving him the inheritance of short stop. None of that even mentions that Kevin Newman, while he’s made some mental errors this season is currently the starter, or is he? Gonzalez has just about caught him for playing time. I think the answer here is maybe for a while, but not to the point that Peguero or Gonzales (this season’s first round selection) need to move. I do question where they play Oneil Cruz, but he’s an athlete too. Bottom line, I believe him to be a short term solution. Maybe a guy who gets a year or two past arbitration before being dealt, and that all depends on just how real these numbers are.

Erik is an interesting guy, one that I wrote off to be honest. I’d seen enough of him, at least until the Pirates forced it on me, now I find myself interested in seeing some more.

What do you think? Well I asked on Twitter and I got some interesting answers.

All of these folks are really fun follows for the Pirates by the way so if you have an open mind and a willingness to discuss things about the team honestly do give them a follow.

I’ll release the poll results tomorrow in an update to this post and of course on Twitter.

I’ll also have the game story for today’s contest. Lets Go Bucs!

What a Ballgame! Pirates Fall 17-13 to the Tigers in a Wild Slugfest

When all things were said and done, you could barely recognize the outcome if you only watched the beginning. I joked on Twitter I almost felt the need to write two game stories it was such a definitive break and then more action.

Here’s the funny part, it also happens to be the order it happened in. Chad Kuhl got the start tonight on a set inning and pitch count limit with Brault to follow. Just like every time they’ve used the piggy back approach to stretching these guys out but reversed.

Chad put his foot down immediately. Striking out the side in order blowing 97mph gas by hitters and keeping them off balance with a dynamic 83mph curve ball. Just filthy. He gave up a home run to Cron but aside from that was untouched as he struck out 7 in four innings of work.

Eric Gonzalez made his presence felt early and often, starting his evening with a two run single up the middle to get the lead back for Pittsburgh and later absolutely destroying a baseball 463 feet to deep left field for a two run jack making it 4-1.

OK, so after that the bright spots were few and far between. Steven Brault came in and didn’t have it. You know, the way Brault doesn’t have it when he’s off. Yeah, that kind of off.

Here’s his line, 0.0 innings pitched, 3 hits, 3 walks, 4 earned runs. Then Geoff Hartlieb came in with the bases loaded and did well to only give up one more as he cleaned up Brault’s mess but the one he surrendered was another walk. Three runs on walks in this inning alone.

The next inning Phillip Evans followed a heating up Bryan Reynolds single with a three run homerun into the bullpen. 7-5 Bucs. But everyone knew the bullpen was coming.

The Bucs turned to Rios who got through an inning then when asked to give the club two He came out and loaded the bases with no outs. To make matters worse the Pirates went with Del Pozo, who gave up the three runs he inherrited and three more as the Pirates asked for two from him as well. 12-7 Tigers.

Let’s take a break right here from the game. I understand the bullpen is half dead. I get that a whole bunch of people are injured. I know they aren’t all going to be passable, but Del Pozo is the worst Pirates pitcher I’ve ever seen. This simply can’t continue, for any reason. There are times when someone soils your uniform and logo so badly they must simply never wear it again. We’re officially there with this guy. Nothing personal, but this isn’t a MLB pitcher, he might not even belong in MiLB. The bullpen is a problem and you can shuffle the deck chairs however you like, but if you have an outhouse, its going to smell like excrement at some point.

In the 8th the Bucs made more noise, Reynolds hit his second Bryan Reynolds looking laser of the game and with two on Gonzalez ripped another ball this one for a double making it 12-9. Love the try here but it has to get demoralizing knowing you can’t possibly keep up with what that bullpen is doing to the scoreboard.

In the ninth the Pirates turned to Richard Rodriguez. It was 12-9 so in a normal year I’d tell you this was to keep the score in reach, right now, he might be the only one left available. Regardless of why, Rich Rod did the job and kept it a three run game.

In the bottom of the ninth Reynolds would record another rocket base hit, Evans rapped another single to score him. The Pirates pinch ran Dyson for Evans and Frazier came to the plate as the tying run. Boom. Frazier tied it at 12.

Remember when I said I loved that try?

Polanco came up as a pinch hitter and just missed winning it with a fly ball deep.

Unbelievably, extra innings again for the Pirates.

In the top of the tenth the Bucs would turn to Nik Turley. He struck out the first batter and a basehit to right followed, Tucker put a perfect throw to the plate but Murphy couldn’t hold it. 13-12 Tigers. Turley finished them off and we see how many more theatrics this Bucs team has in it tonight.

The bottom began with Erik Gonzalez who was already 3-4 and a triple shy of the cycle with 6 RBI. Murphy on second Gonzalez singled to right. Runners at 1st and 3rd. Tucker stepped in 0-5 and he drove one to center scoring Murphy. 13-13 and we’re poised for more baseball. Gonzalez still at first, Newman flew out and Bell came to the plate and stroked one up the middle for Colin Moran. At this point he was 0-5 but nobody will remember that is he can get one here.

On to the 11th. The Bucs went with Neverauskas, and FYI, I never wanted to get this good at spelling his name. He began with a strikeout, then a sharp single making it 14-13. Killer play by Gonzalez saved a run and got an out, Murphy threw to second wild allowing the runner to move to third on a steal attempt, then another base hit made it 15-13.

But wait there’s more. Another double and two more runs make it 17-13.
In the bottom the Bucs would finally give up the ghost.

Final Tigers 17, Pirates 13

30 runs, 32 hits combined. 5 hours and 38 minutes.

News & Notes:

  • Steven Brault was simply not himself tonight. Sure it looked familiar but not remotely close to what we watched in the second half of 2019 and early this one. Tonight nothing was working and he didn’t record an out in the fifth.
  • Chad Kuhl was touching 97 on the gun with the gas and dropping curves in at 83 with a complimentary 87-89 mph slider. Chad Kuhl if kept healthy is a real pitcher, and a real worthwhile starter. Key being keep him healthy, 4 innings and 60+ pitches was his mark and he hit it. Seeing people lose their minds might want to remind themselves Burdi just showed the Pirates were right to be cautious and it still wasn’t enough.
  • When you sign a depth player in December as a minor league free agent, you hardly expect to get Phillip Evans out of it. Hey, I’ve seen Rafael Belliard get hot for a week or two, but Evans is a nice find as a utility guy. Could be a good get. Let’s give it time.
  • The Piggy back thing is necessary because the two guys (well four if you count Ponce and Brubaker) aren’t stretched out. Five innings would be a blessing. The bullpen even if populated with good pitchers would be in trouble at this rate.
  • If I told you Erik Gonzalez is shooting his shot. And I have to say, he’s making one hell of a case. If Adam Frazier continues to sputter, don’t be shocked if Erik doesn’t just win the SS spot. And no, its not the homerun. He’s consistently had some of the top exit velocity in the league and plays the best SS on the club, including Tucker.
  • Shelton was ejected and Don Kelly brought in Del Pozo with the bases loaded. Man I guess it’s not just one guy making a bad call.
  • There have been a disturbing amount of cross ups lately. Stallings and Murphy both have struggled with it and it honestly makes no sense. The signs can’t possibly be that complicated. If they are, fix it.
  • If Kela comes off the IL and anyone other than Del Pozo goes, I’m officially out of answers. Honestly, I’d DFA him right now, there is a limit to what should be seen in your uniform.
  • Reynolds went 3 for 5 with a walk tonight, more importantly, these were Bryan Reynolds hits. You know what I mean. He’s standing up ever so slightly taller and it’s working. The bat is really sped up and the stance allows him to get to the high fastball.
  • One theme I saw tonight was a concerted effort to beat the shift. Evans, Reynolds, Bell, Newman, Gonzalez and Frazier all did it at one point this evening. I think this is the next big thing in baseball, players starting to realize they’re hitting into outs and trying to go get them when presented. The first team to break the mold and coach it will be the trend setter. Hoping its the Bucs.
  • Moran is living off his start. He’s quietly slumping hard right now and went 0-6 tonight.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs Detroit Tigers – Series Preview

Ahh thank the good lord COVID didn’t take away this um, natural rivalry! The Pirates and Tigers play every season in a home and home since MLB has decided these two clubs are rivals and largely the Pirates have done well in the series.

Typically when these teams get together it’s a time to talk about who the Pirates might use as a DH and watching Miggy struggle to field a position when the series swings back to PNC Park. Obviously those topics are off the table now.

The Tigers haven’t played a game since August 2nd and tonight begin a stretch of 26 games in 25 days. Fallout from the Cardinals positive tests have created two factors for the Tigers to deal with and potentially exploit. On one hand, they were able to rest everyone for a rare break, on the other only 10 games into their schedule at 5-5 and just knocking rust off the first time, they could be starting back at square 1.

While the Pirates have obviously had their own set of issues sitting at 3-10 and losing 3/4 of their pitching staff to injury, ok maybe not quite that much but you get the point. Some of the bats seem to be waking up, Evans continues to hit and Newman has seen his playing time cut back a bit by Rodriguez but the two of them continue to find it a bit.

More importantly, Polanco, Bell and Reynolds have started making hard contact, this trio right here hold the ultimate success of the offense in their hands so anytime they take a step forward its hard to ignore.

Back to the Tigers because we cover what the Bucs are up to all the time. The Tigers have slow walked their starting pitching into this season, not allowing any of them to exceed 90 pitches as of yet, the closest being Matthew Boyd who will start tonight, 8 days since his last appearance. The Tigers need him to be what he was last year as he is considered part of the next core.

Miguel Cabrera has started the season 5 for 35 and while he’s on the downside of his illustrious career, he still has the most potential to take over a series.

As I stated earlier Matthew Boyd will be starting for the Tigers against Chad Kuhl for the Bucs but beyond this game the Tigers haven’t announced who will take the mound for them. There is some chance they call up stud prospect Casey Mize but I wouldn’t bet on it.

C.J. Cron homered twice in the opening series against the Reds but since he’s gone 1-18 with four walks and eight strikeouts. He has history against Saturday’s starter Derek Holland going 2 for 18 against him and against Sunday’s starter Joe Musgrove he has put together the same, 2 for 18.

Getting Cron going is important as he, much like Boyd are expected to be part of the solution long term in Detroit.

This could be a good series for the Bucs if they pitch, I know big if.

Yinzer Reactions: The Good And The Bad Of The Pirates Series Versus The Twins

As the series with the Cubs ended and the one against the Twins began there wasn’t much to be positive about. The Pirates pitchers were dropping left and right to injuries and the bats were silent, except for some late inning heroics that ultimately fell short. The negatives were abundantly clear and every Yinzer with a social media account was all too happy to point them out. Sadly for the first few games facing Minnesota, the concerns continued to grow while the silver linings became harder and harder see. Even in the final game, with a Pirates victory, there was a mixed bag to unpack and examine prior to the boys from Detroit showing up at PNC for the weekend.

Positive Takeaways

1) Holland remained consistent in spite of what the line may imply. Through 5 innings Derek Holland had not allowed a run. He did get himself into a little trouble in the 6th, but the damage could have been keep to a minimum if it weren’t for a misplayed ball in centerfield and three straight walks by the pitcher who was brought in to put out the fire. In the end the line of 4 runs on 4 hits, two walks and 5 strikeouts didn’t match the performance.

2) Phillip Evans continues to impress with the bat. For the series Evans went 5 for 13 with 3 RBIs, leaving his batting average sitting at .344 on the year. This is a pleasant surprise from a guy that wasn’t even expected to make the opening day roster when he was added as a minor league free agent back in December.

3) Trevor Williams bounces back and has the best start of the year. Williams pitched 7 full innings on 98 pitches, striking out 5, walking 1 and allowing only 1 run on 3 hits. Unfortunately this effort was wasted as he was provided no run support, earning his third loss of the year.

4) Josh Bell hit like himself for at least one game. On the same night Williams was mowing down Twins, Bell looked to be back in form; going 3 for 4 with a 9th inning blast to the bushes to put the Pirates on the board.

5) The Pirates put one up in the Win Column and Raise The Jolly Roger after what seemed like an eternity. It took a team effort and 8 1/3 innings, but a pinch hit single by Kevin Newman lifted the Buccos to victory in the last game of a 4 game home-and-home series against the Twins, avoid a second straight sweep.

Negative Takeaways

1) Another day, another injured Pirates Pitcher. On Wednesday, the young flamethrower Nick Burdi became the most recent in a line of Pirates pitchers to find himself on the IL. It is extremely disappointing as we have watched this guy fight his way back from a heart wrenching injury and surgery for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, only to be shut down again after 3 appearances and 2.1 innings.

2) Musgrove has his worst outing of the year and drops to 0-3. Big Joe only lasted 3.1 innings on 84 pitches, while giving up 5 runs (3 in the 1st inning) on 6 hits. His command/control was just a little bit off, resulting in 5 free passes and 2 strikeouts. In his previous two starts he had struck out 7 and 8 respectively and had walked 6 total.

3) Williams’ 7 inning outing is spoiled by an imploding bullpen. After Trevor had exited the game Geoff Hartlieb and Dovydas Neverauskas allowed 4 earned runs over two innings. Hartlieb did not record a strike and walked 3, while Neverauskas struck out 2, but gave up a backbreaking 3 run homer to Max Kepler in the top of the 9th.

4) Miguel Del Pozo. 0 Strikeouts and 8 walks in 2.1 innings of work equals a 21.60 ERA and a 6.00 WHIP.

5) The Pirates have only 3 wins. Of course things could have been a little bit better if Pittsburgh had not blown a couple of late inning leads or the bats would have woken up a tad bit earlier at times. However, this is where the Pirates sit after 13 games. I only hope that it doesn’t get any worse.

Today the Pirates look to start a winning streak, there first of the season, as Chad Kuhl (0-0, 1.80 ERA) takes the mound against the Tigers of Detroit at 7:05 PM EST from PNC Park.

Get to Know the Pirates Newest Player – Tyler Bashlor

If you don’t follow the Pirates closely, you probably don’t know about the trade that they made this past Sunday, August 2nd. And even if you do, you probably don’t know much about that pitcher outside of the name.

Due to the recent rash of injuries to Pirates pitchers Clay Holmes, Kyle Crick, Michael Feliz, Mitch Keller, and most recently closer Nick Burdi, the Pirates are being forced to turn to largely inexperienced pitchers like Geoff Hartlieb, Sam Howard, Miguel Del Pozo, and Cody Ponce in close game situations.

In response to these injuries, the Pirates added to their pitching depth by acquiring the recently DFA’d Tyler Bashlor from the New York Mets for everyone’s favorite player, cash considerations. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Pirates also designated Robbie Erlin for assignment.

Bashlor, who went to Calvary Day Baptist School in Savannah Georgia for high school, was drafted all the way back in 2013 after his sophomore season at South Georgia College. He went 5-3 with a 3.20 ERA. He was also a strikeout machine, posting 79 strikeouts in just 50.2 innings. That is a very impressive 14.2 K/9. He also batted .308 with 2 home runs and 22 RBIs. He’s had two at-bats since getting drafted to the Mets in the 11th round, 326th pick overall in the 2013 MLB Draft, a hit not too long ago in 2017 and a strikeout with the big-league Mets in 2018.

After he was drafted, Bashlor started his professional career at the rookie level, with the Kingsport Mets of the Appalachian League. Bashlor struggled pretty badly in his 13 appearances. He had a 5.74 ERA in 15.2 innings, and he also walked 12 in that span. He did add 18 strikeouts along the way. Part of his 2013 struggles may have been due to the fact that he was injured, starting the worst years of Tyler Bashlor’s career.

Bashlor had the ever-feared Tommy John surgery on May 13, 2014. He had not made a single appearance in any level of baseball up to that point, and was shut down for the rest of the year. Bashlor did start throwing again during extended spring training the following year in 2015, but he came across setbacks during a bullpen session. Bashlor’s original thought was that he tore a ligament, but he was instead dealing with scar tissue, an injury that would sideline him for all of 2015, again delaying his development an extra year.

During the 2016 year, Bashlor returned and started at full-season Class-A, in the South Atlantic League with the Columbia Fireflies. After missing the past two seasons, it didn’t seem like he had a ton of rust to shake off. He began dominating hitters, striking out 68 in 50.1 innings to go along with a 2.50 ERA. This performance earned him a promotion to the advanced level of Class-A, with the St. Lucie Mets in the Florida State League. Bashlor only got into 4 games, and he allowed 3 earned runs across 5.1 innings. This was too small of a sample size to determine anything, and the Mets kept Bashlor in St. Lucie to start 2017.

Bashlor’s 2016 struggles ended up carrying over to that 2017 season, where he had a 4.89 ERA over 35 innings. One stat that really stuck out was his ability to not only strike out guys, but strike out guys at a rate at which would be considered elite among many. He struck out 61 over 35 innings, which is 15.7 strikeouts per 9. The control from Bashlor wasn’t great, as he walked 21 in his time in St. Lucie. Despite those not great numbers, he was still called up to the Mets’ Double-A affiliate Binghamton Rumble Ponies. Bashlor must have figured something out as he pitched 14.2 scoreless innings, striking out 23 and walking just 4.

When he started the next season back in Binghamton, Bashlor didn’t continue to be perfect, but the numbers were still good. In 24 innings, he had a 2.63 ERA. His walk rate was high with 12 base on balls, and he added 30 strikeouts as well. Although Bashlor was still at the Double-A Level, the big league Mets had just come off a series in which they used a ton of their bullpen, so they called him up to provide another relief option.

Tyler Bashlor made his major league debut on the day he was called up (June 25, 2018), and he was playing against, ironically, the Pittsburgh Pirates. Bashlor pitched 2 innings, walked one, and gave up two runs on a home run to Josh Bell in his first inning of work. He stayed in the Mets’ bullpen for the remainder of the season, finishing with a 4.22 ERA overall. In 7.1 innings pitched in September, Bashlor had his best month, giving up 2 earned runs while getting 10 K’s and walking 2. Of course that’s not a bad ERA by any means, but Bashlor’s FIP was 5.22, meaning his ERA may be better than he actually pitched.

Bashlor started 2019 at Triple-A Syracuse but quickly returned to the big leagues by May. His numbers from 2018 did seem too good to be true, as Major League batters quickly figured his stuff out. He was up and down all year and although he had a 3.41 ERA at Syracuse, his ERA in the MLB skyrocketed up to 6.95 in 22 innings. So, what was the difference between his 2018 season and his 2019 stint? Well, for one he walked 17 in ten less innings than 2018 where he walked 12. He also gave up 6 home runs in both years and just got hit around more in general in 2019 compared to the 2018 season. Bashlor’s control seemed to be his main issue, but his pitches were good enough to be effective in the MLB.

Pitch wise, Bashlor has two main ones: the hard fastball and a movement pitch in a slider. He also has a changeup, but doesn’t use it nearly as often as the other two. According to a tweet by BUCNProblem, Tyler Bashlor throws his fastball 62% of the time with an average speed of 96 MPH. Bashlor goes with the slider about a quarter of the time, 26% at 82 MPH on average, and lastly he throws that changeup for just 12% of his pitches, at an above average speed of 87 MPH. Bashlor’s fastball spin is rated as great at a 97 out of a possible 100. The velocity for that pitch is also way above average, rated at an 85.

So where does Bashlor fit in on this current Pirates team? Well, the Pirates obviously don’t think he’s good enough to be part of the current bullpen situation, sending him straight to the alternate training camp site in Altoona. Now that rosters are shrinking, that creates more of a roadblock for him to get to the MLB. In my opinion, Bashlor’s velocity is there but he is way too wild with his pitches. This situation actually sounds a lot like that of Dovydas Neverauskas, who struggled with control earlier in his career, but seems to have found something that works for him in his few appearances in 2020. Bashlor also hasn’t pitched since spring training, so he most likely wouldn’t be prepared for Major League games yet. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see with this everchanging bullpen. At the rate injuries are occurring right now, Bashlor could be up as early as next week. I see a ton of upside in his arm and would give him a shot.

Note from Gary Morgan: We’re excited here at Inside The Bucs Basement to welcome Anthony Difilippo to the site as a part time contributor. This is his first piece for us and he has a nice Podcast called City of Bridges, do check it out and give him a follow at @Cityofbridgesp on Twitter.