Series Preview: Tigers (6-3) at Pirates (8-2)

4-8-24 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on X

The better competition continues as the Bucs are set to welcome the Detroit Tigers to PNC for a quick early week 2 game set.

Detroit is leading the AL Central Division with a surprising start to the season for the young squad from Motown. They are coming off losing 3 of 4 and the bats went cold especially in their series against the A’s, being shut out in the last two games of the set.

The Pirates are in first place in the NL Central and riding high off their 3rd straight series victory, this one coming off the Baltimore Orioles in back to back walk off fashion.

In years past you’d settle for a split here but this Pirates team should really be eying a sweep.

4/7
Pirates – Mitch Keller (R) – 0-1, 11 IP, 6.55 ERA, 8 Ks/4 walks, 1.73 WHIP
Tigers – Reese Olson (R) – 0-0, 5.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 3 Ks/2 walks, 0.88 WHIP

4/8
Pirates – Martín Pérez (L) – 1-0, 11 IP, 2.45 ERA, 8 Ks/5 walks, 1.55 WHIP
Tigers – Casey Mize (R) – 0-0, 4.1 IP, 6.23 ERA, 4 Ks/2 walks, 1.62 WHIP

Tigers:
Mark Canha- I have to be honest, If the Pirates were going to face Tarik Skubal he’d be my pick, because finding a Tiger who’s hot beyond that, is a stretch, including this selection. .222/.400/.481/.881 and honestly, I know that’s not a great line. Who’s not will be just as hard to select for the same reason.

Pirates:
Michael A. Taylor – This isn’t characteristic of the way Michael hits, so let’s give him the nod while he every bit deserves it. .429 Average, .974 OPS, 3 doubles, 6 RBI, man he’s been fun to watch and in this series he’ll be coming off 2 straight days off which Derek Shelton says is scheduled maintenance due to his short Spring Training. Let’s see if his hot start sticks through his down time.

Tigers:
Spencer Torkelson –In his last 7 contests, He’s hitting .143 with a .200 OBP. Not hitting the long ball, or anything really. If Detroit is winning this year, so far it’s been with pithcing.

Pirates:
Andrew McCutchen – Notorious slow starter, but this is a bit more than we’re accustomed to. 20 ABs, 11 K’s. .150 Average and a .200 SLG. He’s drawn a few walks but as a DH he’s a negative WAR player so far, and that’s not easy to do.

Key Injuries

Tigers:
Nothing of note.

Pirates:
Ryan Borucki was just placed on the IL and replaced on the roster by Jose Hernandez who figures to be a swing man back and forth all season, and to nobody’s surprise he’s delivering again.

Who To Watch

Detroit is sincerely not hitting the baseball, and the Pirates have been pitching very well for the most part. My pick to watch this series will be Mitch Keller, this Detroit lineup might be just what the doctor ordered for the Pirates struggling hurler.

Jack Suwinski and Andrew McCutchen Have Similar Issues

4-7-24 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter

When things crop up early in a baseball season, for the most part you have time to sort them out, overcome them to a degree and that’s on the negative side, sometimes you simply have to ride out something that’s working even while it makes no sense.

That’s baseball.

Like, while it’s happening, most fans won’t care about how sustainable that .350 Average is that a player has going. Looking at how that average comes to be can help you potentially forecast out how long it might last, but while it’s going on, nah, just enjoy it. If you’re a baseball manager, you use it, even if you see the player blessing his bats with rum, cigars and Jobu.

Let’s talk about some early season stuff I’m seeing specifically with two important players.

I really want to focus on Andrew McCutchen and Jack Suwinski. Both players suffer from a very similar issue and solving their early season issues might just help determine how far this thing goes.

1. Andrew McCutchen

Andrew is struggling early on, and he’s doing it in a way he very rarely has. Now, let’s start here, Andrew missed the vast majority of Spring Training, so these numbers, while alarming, are probably at least partially the product of simply not getting is timing right.

Andrew has been an elite player in this league, but make no mistake, he’s never been great as it comes to Whiff or Strikeout Rates. Even in his MVP season he was in the 19th percentile league wide in Whiff and 47th for K rate. Everything else was so great, he was able to outshine those two low water marks in his arsenal.

Through the years, most of those categories he was elite in, he’s become either good, or even average with, and it makes those other two low points stick out even more.

Just last year, his Chase Rate (95%) and Walk Rate (99%) were elite in the league. Early on this year, he has both of those still on the same track.

Problem is, at least to start the season his Whiff rate has plummeted to 7th percentile and his K rate all the way down to 3%. A fall like this is probably not sustainable, but here’s the poop with Cutch that’s kinda scary. His Whiff rate indicates he’s swinging and missing a ton, but at the same time his Chase Rate remains in the 93rd percentile. This indicates he’s swinging and missing in the strike zone, and a ton. For obvious reasons, this is going to hurt his walk numbers too, which has become just about his best attribute recently.

People want to immediately toss around words like washed up or whatever, but these numbers don’t exactly help convince you otherwise.

Cutch is a proud veteran, and of course his MVP days are far behind him, but he can still be a productive player, so long as he finds the timing and bat speed to get that Chase Rate to regulate. He just needs it to creep back to league average or slightly below, but you really can’t just ignore it and keep plugging him into the cleanup spot either.

It’s not disrespectful to point out his decline is not only apparent, it’s statistically undeniable. He still has some more moments to deliver, and his value in the room still matters and counts for something, but it would be wonderful if he managed to get it back to a slow decline.

I like to think he will, but I’m concerned, if pitchers don’t have to get him to chase, he won’t walk, and that whiff rate makes hitting a mistake far less likely.

2. Jack Suwinski

Jack in his young career has been incredibly streaky. He goes through stretches of looking like his bat could carry the team for a few weeks and then he looks more like a guy who just shouldn’t play.

For Jack, the power is easy and prodigious, if he touches it, it’ll go. Despite what you think of Jack, there’s no denying he does some things at a very elite level.

There’s some bad in there for sure, worst among them the Whiff and K rates. As with Cutch, having an elite Chase % with low Whiff % means he’s swinging and missing in the zone. Now that was 2023, and overall, it was a productive season for Jack. A season that probably sets his floor at the platoon player level. The Pirates hope there’s more there, and throughout this season he’ll prove them right or wrong.

Here’s his start to 2024…

Clear issues all over the place right? Well, I’m here to tell you he had stretches that look just like this during 2023 and by the end of the season he’ll wind up looking a lot more like 2023 than he does now.

The question is, can he do more? I’m not sure you’ll 100% be able to answer that this year, but 2 years of the same thing, probably sells the team at least on no longer considering him a full time player.

I think that’s what 2024 is for Jack, his chance to be an every day starter into the future a bit, or to prove he needs to largely stay away from lefties.

Want a good laugh?

The Pirates have tried to hide him from lefties early on here, now check out his splits.

People, you can’t make this stuff up. If you don’t laugh you’ll cry.

It’s super early, I’m sure nobody expects the numbers to keep looking like this, but some things are true for sure. The Whiff in the zone stuff can’t continue for a guy who even decent contact could produce runs.

Big season for Jack.

Both of these players are at different ends of their career and one has already proven if he’s physically capable, he’ll produce. Knowing these numbers alone doesn’t solve it, I mean it’s not like they’re going to find out about them here and change their ways or something, the team is all over this type of stuff.

Solving them will take different things for each of them. For Cutch, I fear this might be about bat speed, it just doesn’t feel like he’s catching up to the high fastballs and since they’d be strikes if he took them, that’s a real problem. It could also be timing, which would make sense, he barely played this Spring after all.

For Jack it’s been a consistent issue, but one he tends to find his way into being productive with. He is taking a different approach this year as opposed to last year which has probably inflated his Whiff % in the zone and it’s incredibly simple. He’s actually trying to swing at those pitches on the outside corner he was just watching for a strike most of last year. In time, I think that will probably work to his advantage more than it hurts but that has yet to play out.

Either way, both of these players for one reason or another will find themselves in part time roles if they don’t at least improve here.

The Pirates are 7-2, and Honestly, They Haven’t Fired on All Cylinders Yet

4-6-24 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter

This isn’t a perfect team.

No team is, but typically when a team goes on a good stretch they’ve probably played some damn good baseball. All the stars are aligned and playing well together.

This Pirates team though, I’ll be honest, they’ve won despite some less than optimal performances and some ill timed mistakes. In fact, they might have played one game against the Marlins, who currently are 0-9 by the way.

Look, I know a bunch of you want to hedge your bet or hold back just a bit with fingers crossed and tail tucked between your legs to say it aloud, but this is a good baseball team, and believe it or not, I’m here to tell you they could play better than this start and may well need to as the competition they face improves.

They’ve done this with two sub par outings form their top starter. They’ve done this with two blown saves from their heralded closer.

This 7-2 record survived a game where Ke’Bryan Hayes blew up defensively. They’ve somehow gotten past Alika Williams filling in at second base looking like anything but a defensive specialist.

They’re missing 2 of their best bullpen options on the IL.

Andrew McCutchen looks like a shell of himself. Henry Davis has caught well but the bat, well he just got outshined by Joey Bart in his first game as a Pirate today. Works in progress to be sure.

I mean my goodness it looked like Moses was on the Clemente Bridge casting plagues of ice and wind on our home opener!

Point is, good teams come out of all that with a record very much so like 7-2. Bad teams let that stuff plummet them down the standings.

They’re a good team for the simple fact they don’t have to be perfect to achieve results. At least not against the lower end of the league. That’s more than most can say, and it’s why they’ll finish this season with a winning record.

I’m not ready to pretend it’s more than that, I’m also not going to sit here and tell you it’ll be the same problems all year, I’m just telling you, they’re built to survive quite a few of them at any one time and it isn’t a death sentence.

The ways they’ve achieved probably won’t even stay the same. Getting 2 out hits and scoring runs in that fashion probably won’t continue. At least not all year. Your entire bullpen outside of your closer being on virtual autopilot won’t last either.

What you look for when hoping your team is ready to climb out of the darkness and into the competitive window they’ve been working toward is a number of players who you believe can help who aren’t even here. That’s not just prospects, that’s players who didn’t make the roster, guys who got squeezed out to AAA, and yes, that next wave of talent.

You hope the team isn’t dying for any of them when they get the call. For instance, you want Liover Peguero to hit so much that the team simply can’t leave him in AAA any longer. Bring him up because he has to be here, not because someone is struggling or injured.

I’m just using him as an example, but you could do that with anyone. Paul Skenes, you want him getting the call because they’ve allowed him to toss 5 innings, he still looks like a smoke show and damnit it doesn’t matter who he replaces, you just have to get his arm up here.

It’s a long season, and a ton of things will happen, but just today should teach you several lessons.

  • Bailey Falter is not someone you have to think has a long term role on this team, but you have to admit, you didn’t think he had a game like that in him did you?
  • Getting mad that Derek Shelton is resting stars during a homestand is to immediately see this team differently than the players themselves do, they don’t think there’s an incapable player among the bunch. And, don’t look now but for the most part, Shelton has been dead on right.
  • Rowdy Tellez isn’t a disaster at first base, in fact he’s looking like a pretty nice fit for this team.
  • Luis Ortiz has really found a nice role in the bullpen.
  • The defense is noticeably better when Taylor is in Center.

I’m sure you have some too, it was a roller coaster of a game after Falter exited.

I have questions about how good they can be, but I’m done questioning if they’re good at all. Bad teams don’t survive all this, let alone thrive through it.

I’m not sure they’ll do enough to get into the playoffs this year, I hope so, just not sure I see it quite yet. That said I think I see a path to them being a better team than they are now by mid summer, and man, that’s exciting.

It’s one thing to wait for help, it’s another thing entirely to win while you wait.

Happy Home Opener, Pittsburgh!

4-5-24 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X

There’s a different *feel* in the air when it comes to Opening Day. Sure, we’ve all seen the MLB promo videos, current and former players talking about what it means to them but, man, it just hits different this year for Pirates fans.

The hope of the rebuild that’s lasted since before Covid is finally appearing to bear fruit as the team got off to its best start in over 40 years. People in the city are excited. The feeling is palpable. Keller, Ke and Cruz are becoming talked about the same way Cutch, Marte and Walker were during that last window. Is this real? Is it ok to be excited?

Opening Day has an energy like no other. I’m not talking from experience, having only watched each year on TV, but, as I am finally able to go to the game this time, I’m ecstatic. I don’t know exactly what to expect so I wanted to ask the question to some of my fellow Pirates fans: What does Opening Day in Pittsburgh mean to you?

Gary Morgan (@garymo2007): It usually means a fresh start. One of the only times – especially in a down year – where the place is packed and primarily with Pirates fans. The place just feels different when it’s packed and optimism is at a high point. The bunting, the player roll call, all the pageantry, it just comes together and usually has me an emotional mess by the time first pitch happens.

Mike Crawford (@mikecrawford_17): I think it’s a borderline holiday in Pittsburgh. No matter how the season before it went, everyone is still excited to get out for that first game – no matter the weather or if the team is projected to lose 100 games. To me, that shows the passion of this city and its love for, not just its teams, but baseball in general. Personally, it’s always about the excitement of just baseball being back. Playing my whole life, you knew when opening day hit, you were close to playing too – which always excites you. In terms of Pittsburgh sports home openers, I say it easily outranks the Steelers or Pens with just the atmosphere around the stadium and a real excitement about the season.

Craig Toth (@BucsBasement): The Home Opener is just the perfect encapsulation of what the season can become. A sea of Pirates Fans packing PNC Park with one common goal: Cheering our Buccos on to victory. That’s all everyone in Pittsburgh truly wants.

People say Pittsburgh is a great football or hockey town; and it truly is. But, at its roots, it’s also a great baseball town. Back in the day when me and my buddies went to the Home Opener, we would jokingly say to other fans, “Nice to see you now because we know we won’t see you in September.”

And, it was the truth.

As the season waned on, the number of fans dwindled down to the point where ushers wouldn’t even stop us as we made our way down from the 300’s to the 100’s. As a Pirates Fan that’s not what I want. I want it PACKED. So much so that a sea of Black and Gold flows out onto the Rotunda. Opening Day gives me a glimpse of what that could feel like in Pittsburgh again.

Pirate Queen (@PGHPirateQueen): At the risk of sounding cliche, Opening Day in Pittsburgh is a whole new ballgame. It means new beginnings. Fresh chances. Reconnecting with friends you haven’t seen since October. Hope springs eternal for every Pirates season. Especially starting 5-0. Baseball is also romantic. For us, it’s another year of showing our love and dedication for the game and the team – as well as showing our love and dedication for each other.

Adam ‘Yark’ Yarkovsky (eYARKulation): Opening day has always been special to me. Think I may have missed one in the last 35 years. Whether I had to skip school, take a vacation day or just call off sick, I was going. The day that park opened, and we walked in and saw the real grass on the field, I damn near cried.

Walking into the season fresh, never knowing if this is the year. Seeing familiar faces and knowing we get to do this just about every day for the next 6 months together is incredible. Hopefully soon, I can start taking the kids down too. It gets so crazy with people and parking but that’s something I’d like to do with them for the next 30 years.

Jim Stamm (@JimStamm22): Man, it’s just a special day here for so many reasons. From Three Rivers Stadium to PNC Park, and all the years in between, it has always felt like finally being able to say hello to an old friend I  haven’t seen in far too long. As a lifelong baseball junkie, and now as a dad sharing this with my young son, it’s a perfect day to celebrate being a Pirates fan, a father, and a true Pittsburgher. And I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

Josh Booth (Bridge2Buctober): This will be our 10th straight opening day. Our kids have never missed one. We went to our first Opening Day in 2014 when Neil Walker hit the 10th inning walk-off HR. That September, our daughter was born. We haven’t missed since. We buy tickets for our whole family, and more – 10 or 11 tickets this year.

From that Walker walk-off, the JHay lead off HR, the snow game, the Moran grand slam in the first inning one year and homered the next year, too, the Seiya 2 HR game, and last year’s Reynolds inside the park HR and the return of Cutch. There are so many moments that happen on a special day like this.

This year, it’s not only a family tradition, but the first year in a while to have real hope that this team is turning things around. I expect a buzz like we haven’t seen in years there this week. And we’re looking forward to coming “home.”

There’s a lot to be excited for in this baseball season as a Pirates fan: Walking over the newly-refinished Clemente Bridge, looking at the Team Wall of Fame and the statues around the park; just feeling the energy of fans, young and old, enthusiastic about their team again, knowing that they aren’t staring down the barrel of another 90+ loss season but the real prospect of Buctober returning to the North Side. Remembering the blackout games and high-tension of walk-offs against division rivals. Close plays and clutch hits. T-shirt giveaways, firework nights, rain delays and extra-inning battles. Win or lose, you always have something memorable.

Baseball is a slog of a season, full of joy and heartbreak,  but on Opening Day, in the Best Ballpark in Baseball, it just hits a little different.

Whether you’re spending today watching the game on TV or on your computer at work, while home with family or at the ballpark eating a ‘Renegade’ hot dog with 40,000 of your closest friends, at 4:12pm, for all of us Pirates fans, you’re home.

#LetsGoBucs

Series Preview: Orioles (4-2) at Pirates (6-1)

4-4-24 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on X

The Pirates are 6-1, there’s no taking that away from them, but there’s no escaping the Marlins and Nationals aren’t in a good place currently too. Baltimore is a much better test for this young team and while it’s too early for all that measuring stick stuff, there’s no denying the O’s will be a much tougher test.

4/5 – Home Opener
Pirates – Jared Jones (R) – 1-0, 5.2 IP, 4.76 ERA, 10 Ks/2 walks, 0.88 WHIP
Orioles – Grayson Rodriguez (R) – 1-0, 6 IP, 1.50 ERA, 9 Ks/1 walks, 0.83 WHIP

4/6
Pirates – Bailey Falter (L) – 0-0, 4 IP, 13.50 ERA, 2 Ks/3 walks, 2.00 WHIP
Orioles – Tyler Wells (R) – 0-1, 6 IP, 4.50 ERA, 7 Ks/0 walks, 0.83 WHIP

4/7
Pirates – Marco Gonzales (L) – 0-0, 5 IP, 1.80 ERA, 2 Ks/2 walks, 1.20 WHIP
Orioles – Dean Kremer (R) – 0-0, 5.1 IP, 5.06 ERA, 5 Ks/1 walks, 0.75 WHIP

Orioles:
Ryan Mountcastle – 20 at bats .300 AVG, a .385 OBP and .550 SLG. Mountcastle may not be the name that gets headlines but he sure as hell can handle the wood when he gets going. It’s easy to forget amongst all the young talent in Baltimore, but veterans like Mountcastle and Santander deliver for this club too.

Pirates:
Connor Joe – All Connor has done is hit. In 26 ABs he’s got 9 hits, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 5 BB, a .346 AVG, .469 OBP, bottom line, Connor has done it all. He didn’t play in their one loss. He started hot last year too, but no matter how you think his overall season will go, there’s no denying, he’s tattooing baseballs.

Orioles:
Austin Hayes –Austin is off to a painfully slow start and there is pressure to perform with Jackson Holliday on the short list for being called up. in 18 ABs he’s only managed .111 AVG and he’s barely getting on base either with a .238 OBP.

Pirates:
Henry Davis – He’s done fine behind the plate, and he’s made decent contact on some balls right at people, but in his 24 At Bats he’s only hitting .167 with a .300 OBP. It’s been buried because the Pirates in general are hitting but not a super fast start for Hank.

Key Injuries

Orioles:
John Means, the big lefty was shut down with forearm soreness but he just threw a rehab outing on the 31st so signs point to him returning perhaps toward the end of April.

Pirates:
Jason Delay was added to the injury list and prompted the Pirates to bring in Joey Bart as the backup catcher.

Who To Watch

Familiar foes. These clubs played each other a ton in the Spring, and while teams aren’t game planning and whatnot in Spring Training, make no mistake they’re taking notes. Expect these teams to play like they’ve seen each other’s act a bit more than most interleague series.

Almost Everyone is Right About Mitch Keller … at Least a Little

4-4-24 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter

The Pirates did something they simply haven’t in their past. They extended Mitch Keller with a 5 year 77 million dollar deal.

Again, they don’t ever do this, so of course fans took it as a clear indication that Keller is supposed to be the “Ace” or at least part of a two headed monster type situation.

Here’s the truth about Mitch though, he’s a guy who had that in him, but he hasn’t shown it consistently. He’s a starting pitcher who has handled a volume of innings and managed to keep his arm healthy enough to do so. And eventually he’ll serve as a homegrown veteran member of a young rotation.

Signing Keller to this extension is an effort to ensure this rotation isn’t expected to come exclusively from guys Cherington brought in and developed. His AAV of 15.4 Million is easy to swallow especially when measured against contemporaries.

In many ways, Mitch Keller is a parallel player to Bryan Reynolds.

Both have All Star in them, neither will play that way every year. Both are capable of dominating for a season, neither should be expected to do it for half a decade. Both important feet in the ground for this entire effort.

That mix and match of things they both are help them share another characteristic or two. One, it made them both affordable, while both are big commitments for this franchise, and to many fans, in relation to MLB, these are fairly standard fare. And second, they both preferred signing and trying to win here instead of chasing what they probably could have gotten by waiting for free agency.

I don’t say that to say they were mistakes, or hey Pirates fans, this is the best you can expect, I’m simply saying, they extended good players here and I think that’s the type of thing we’ll continue to see them do.

In other words, if you thought signing Keller or Hayes or Reynolds was the Pirates saying these guys are Hall of Famers, well, I’d suggest it was more about their extremely high floors.

The assumption is that Cherington is trying to open a window, load up and then blow it up again after it closes, AKA when these contracts start to run out or reach maturity. I’d suggest Cherington doesn’t think he has to be resigned to that next down turn.

I’ll get into that more some other time, but it feeds into my overall point.

Mitch Keller is a solid member of this rotation, he’ll be surpassed by higher end talent shortly, and it’ll make him no less important when it happens.

Eduardo Rodriguez is a really good comp for Mitch. He’s had some really good seasons, some struggles, but one thing he’s done above all is pitch, well, not this year yet, but he just signed a 4 year 80 million dollar contract entering his age 31 season. Most of us would be plenty happy if he was brought in here and considered the 3rd best starter I’d imagine.

If that’s what Keller is on this team, it’s a huge win for the organization.

Bluntly, he’s got some work to do to get there.

To fill this role he’ll need to be consistently 170-200 Inning pitched when healthy of course. He’ll need to get his ERA ideally under 4.00 but it’s a must it’s under 4.50. And at some point, he needs to have a season where everything comes together, the proverbially career year.

To allow him to walk after 2025 would immediately put this team on a collision course with having to spend in free agency, where even placing a bet like this would surpass 15 M AAV in a blink of an eye.

Keller’s issue doesn’t take some brilliant baseball mind, his Cutter is an issue. The velocity of it isn’t different enough from the other breaking pitches he throws aside from the Curveball and the spin difference is so thick hitters smell it coming.

And then you have the placement of the Cutter.

That isn’t going to get hitters out from either side of the plate. On top of that, for some reason, he’s decided to throw it more than any of his other pitches.

Last year he got into trouble with the same pitch, during his rough second half. In the first half when he earned an All Star bid he focused on the 4-Seam Fastball.

His overall numbers from last year show at the very least, he allowed these two pitches to dominate his repertoire.

It also shows the velocity is plenty good. Now, this season he’s on average down about .5-1 MPH on just about everything.

The thing is, if you want to throw three pitches 75% of the time, they better have a separation in velocity of greater than 5-6 MPH, and they should probably have actions that at least cause confusion.

His 4 seam has a very slight natural tail, his 2-seam has more tail and some sink. The cutter moves away from right handers, and if effective only when he’s got it darting off the edge of the plate or painting it. The sweeper really moves, but rarely takes the same plane as the cutter. Curve has been reintroduced this year more but he’s hanging it and the change is a show me pitch, and here’s why.

Look, the components are there, but for whatever reason half of last season and to begin this one it seems the love affair with the cutter continues.

It’s not a bad pitch, it’s just not a good fit with the complimentary pitches he’s choosing to throw. It almost feels like he’d love to have the cutter be a pitch to contact pitch instead of the sinker but it just isn’t working.

I’m not a pitching coach, but it’s pretty clear this isn’t working, and stretching all the way back to last season post All Star Break, I think we’ve seen enough to at least wonder aloud how the hell they aren’t seeing or forcing some kind of action to change it.

There’s a good pitcher in there, but I have no idea when they’ll figure out what he’s doing or if he’ll accept it when they do.

Again, his floor is relatively high, and that’ll make him a good signing, but if he’s to ever hit his ceiling, even if only for a season or two, he needs to conquer this pitch mix. I wish to god it was as simple as he has too many pitches to choose from, instead I’m afraid he’s chosen to rely on the wrong ones to be his work horse.

Flip his cutter and 2-seam usage and I bet he’s a lot closer to what the Pirates need him to be than he is now, but again, I’m no pitching coach.

He’s no Ace! – No, right now he certainly isn’t pitching like one, but I wouldn’t be a bit shocked to see him pitch like one either. You’re right! Check

He might be our number 3 or 4! – Absolutely, which I’m here to tell you would be a pretty good outcome, cause that 1 and 2 would be pretty damn good. You’re right! Check

Pick your poison, you’re probably right, but don’t let your Pirates Fan glasses fool you into thinking this is a player they should have let walk away, he’s fortification of a rotation that will be driven by youth and prevents the team from feeling they need 2 free agents every year to acquire some experience.

What does the Joey Bart acquisition mean for the backup catcher position?

4-3-24 – By Ethan Smith – @mvp_etHaN on X

The Pittsburgh Pirates were off on Tuesday, but General Manager Ben Cherington wasn’t, as he acquired San Francisco Giants catcher and 2018 second overall selection, Joey Bart, in exchange for minor league right-hander, Austin Strickland.

Bart hasn’t quite lived up to his 2018 pre-draft hype thus far in his career, slashing .219/.288/.335/.623 w/ 11 HR and 38 RBI in 457 at-bats across four seasons. Outside of 2022 (when he played his career best 97 games), Bart has never played more than 33 games in any of his other three MLB seasons.

With the introduction of Patrick Bailey for the Giants, it seemed Bart, and his subpar play, were put on the back burner by the Giants, who have still been looking for their everyday catcher since Buster Posey hung up his cleats.

As far as Bart and his arrival in Pittsburgh are concerned, it is interesting as to what the plan is moving forward at the catcher position behind Henry Davis, especially seeing as Bart has no more minor league options.

He now enters a room, headlined by Davis, that has three guys who make sense as backup catcher options, those three options being Bart himself, Jason Delay and Yasmani Grandal.

To move Bart to the roster, Jason Delay is being assigned to the 10-day IL, with his injury remaining unknown for now. Colin Selby was designated for assignment to make space for Bart on the 40-man roster – so that wraps up the roster movement side of things.

Between Delay heading to the IL and Yasmani Grandal, who has been struggling with a foot injury that has hindered him from playing, this move makes sense as the Pirates need a backup to Davis. With Ali Sanchez electing free agency last week, they had no MLB-ready options.

The dynamic behind Davis becomes interesting once Delay and Grandal become healthy, as the Pirates clearly won’t carry four catchers on the 26-man roster, but there is a possibility they could carry three if they wanted to.

For instance, having Davis, Bart and Delay on the roster together could open up a path for Davis to get DH at-bats on his days off from catching, while Bart and Delay could supplement the backup role together, getting playing time for both.

This also opens the door for a mid-season position battle for the backup catcher spot, especially when/if Grandal returns. The Bart acquisition ultimately creates depth at the catcher position, seeing as Delay does have minor league options, if they decided to go the route of sending him to AAA.

So once again, we’re having the conversation of a Pirates position group having depth, which is not a bad thing whatsoever. The return the Giants received from the Pirates is a lottery ticket as Strickland was an 8th round draft pick by the Pirates last year who hasn’t yet made his pro debut.

And who knows, maybe a change of scenery could suit Bart well, but his incoming inclusion to the roster does offer a unique scenario for Cherington once all the catching options are healthy. For now, it appears Bart will be the primary backup catcher behind Davis while Delay and Grandal nurse their injuries, and we should be able to paint a better picture when those guys return as to how the Pirates handle the catcher position and their newest acquisition moving forward.

Is This Start Real? Or is it a Mirage? Let’s See What Yinz Had to Say

4-2-24 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter

I had this idea for a piece about that headline there. I was going to list off some reasons for each and try to make some sense of them, completely ignoring that we’re far too early in the season to pretend any of my findings concrete.

So I decided instead to have some of you do the heavy lifting for me. You know, give me your sales pitch. Is this real or just a mirage?

As expected, some of you couldn’t help but talk to both sides, just like I would have by the way. Some just couldn’t get past it being too early, and that’s a shame because I really think its ok to have some innocent fun on an off day after a fairly historic start for our club.

Anyway, let’s dig in, I’ll show you the comments and then I’ll react in some way, shape or form.

It’s Real

Underrated thing for the Pirates (besides strong offense, bullpen and starting pitching) is their confidence and belief they can win. You can see their pure joy on their faces during the games and hearing players comments after the games, they seem to be on a mission to win and are tired of losing. I hope that helps your piece or if u have more thoughts or etc, let me know – Billy Tissue

I tend to be a little less, shall I say, religious about it but I can buy that the Bucs having a good time is infectious. It always starts with talent though, much easier to have fun when you know you aren’t winning with smoke and mirrors.

It’s Real

In addition to the roster depth and variety of weapons Shelton has to call on, the confidence the players and coaches exude is the real difference. They expect to win. This core has been together for a seasons. Getting production from Joe and Alika really lengthens this line-up. – KG_55VFTG

Man, first it’s great to have Graves back around Pirates X again! Yeah, yeah I can dig it, it’s a lot of what Billy said up there with the talent and depth additions and our first Shelton mention, a guy who finally has enough toys to truly be judged. Really love the point about the core being together for minute now, probably important to note some of them know they’ll be together for a lot longer too with the extensions.

A Mirage

They cannot continue to win this way. Relievers are volatile, they won’t be able to perform at this level for a full season. If the starting pitching continues to only give 4/5 IP they’ll top out around .500 – Taylor_Bauer11

Relievers are volatile, true for sure, I guess I’d ask doesn’t the depth maybe cut into that at least a little for you? It does for me anyhow. That said between injuries, players hitting a rough patch and attrition depth tends to find a way to evaporate doesn’t it? The second part, man, I’m not sure why you’d assume that about the pitchers all staying relatively low on innings per, but for sure if at least a few don’t find a way to provide more it’ll eventually kill the pen.

It’s Real

*Pitching depth (Priester, Skenes, Mlod, Holdrman)
*Cruz, Davis, Jack yet to go on a terror
*Team is built 4 PNC Park & still have 81+ games there
*better defense than last year (taylor/alika/triolo)
*not carrying rule 5 or developing guys or Hedges
*prospects to deal 7/30 – Robert Bishop

*Mouth full alert! Yup, depth, good stuff.
*I hope you mean tear, but I’ve seen no such evidence from Jack, even though I never do.
*I’d argue they have too many right handed bats to say that, but they have the lefty arms so…
*The reputation is there, can’t say I’ve felt it much with Triolo yet this season
*Really like this one, but we probably owe the youngsters we have here now for not looking like they need it
*Yeah, good call, and they may have veterans they’re ok moving too. Can you see Gonzales or Perez being expendable by then? I’m not predicting it but…

A Mirage

The offense is not going to keep scoring nearly 8 runs/g. When they stabilize to a normal level a lot of these games will turn into coin flips. They beat up on a Marlins team missing its top 3 SP. Get back to me after the BAL games. Go Bucs. – David Kaleida

Hey, can’t argue with that, it’s a pace the ’27 Yankees would fall short on. Have to say, completely sound thought on that part too. Totally agree about the Marlins pitching staff, I’ll give them a little credit for working them to death, but waiting for Baltimore, yeah, not part of the game brother, but I get it…

It’s Real

They are for real because this has been building since BC took over as GM. He took a team on the way down, accelerated that down turn because it was what needed to be done to overhaul the whole system. We are beginning to see the rewards now. – James Littleton

Umm, yup, not much to add there. Certainly explains the overall trajectory.

It’s Real

Every batter can cause damage. For the first time, in about 8 years or so, we don’t have any black holes in our lineup – The Pirate

I’m pretty sure you’d catch some argument about a few players, but I feel what you’re saying. Feels like a rally could start just about anywhere in the lineup right now and more than a few players who you don’t have a sinking feeling about when they come up in a big situation. No black holes though, for sure that’s true.

It’s Both

Mirage: Level of competition so far
Real: everyone contributes, with reinforcements coming – Jack Mycka

Right times 2. The level of competition is for sure a popular thing to bring up, and there’s no defense from it aside from saying they can only play who’s on the schedule. For sure on point 2.

It’s Real

I think they’re going to be good and compete, but they’re definitely over their heads offensively right now. Look at those numbers and none of them are sustainable. Again, not being a Debbie downer, but the bats will come back to earth. Still think they’re in the mix tho. – Zack

Damn, that’s pretty healthy, and truly, I think that is the baseline I’m mentally working with too. There’s room for better outcomes but this is how I’d see it moving if most things go chalk.

It’s Real

Because this team starting pitching is not as bad as everyone has made it to be! Look at the end of last year with 2 real starters and finished strong. Jones looks real. Skenes not far behind. Ortiz will replace falter soon, QP back at 97mph with nasty off speed. Haven’t even talked the Bullpen which looks amazing! And the offense is better than last year. Healthy Cruz, Davis being a leader. Reynolds have protection in the lineup and Hayes being a dark horse for MVP I said they would go 86–76 and win the NL Central @JimStamm22 said he will hold me to it. – Casey Hercula

Hmm, I can get behind it being better than advertised if only because most people said the rotation was 4/5ths pieces of old wood toys Roto Rooter fished out of some remodel’s sewage tank. And I picked 84, so I’m hardly going to argue over a game or two brother.

It’s Real

Keller had a poor start, Hayes had 3 errors, base running blunders, Falter started, and Bednar blew a save. Point is, it took the team to play near perfect baseball last year to start out the way they did. I think this team isn’t even playing to its fullest potential yet. – Jolly Roger Report

There’s an angle I hadn’t thought about, but you’re right JRR, makes total sense to me. You’re 100% correct to point out, these games have been anything but clean, we could get into the baserunning issues and weird sends too. Good one.

It’s Real

Pitching depth. Also, the hitting approach now appears to be a hybrid of last year’s bat-on-the-shoulder strike zone discipline mixed with the Atlanta Braves get the ball in play death-by-100-cuts. – Jim Maruca

Yup, heard. It’s certainly getting results at the moment, I think they’ve forced 3 games in a row with 200+ pitches. I wonder though, is it a hybrid or just better, more experienced players executing it and using each other as protection to make it even more effective? This is gonna come across as me not wanting to be wrong about Andy Haines, but I swear, I just need to see more. You’re on to something though, it’s not all strikeout, walk or homer, they aren’t replicating the Brewers from a few seasons ago, at least not to the eye.

It’s a Mirage

They are a mirage due to their abnormally high BABIP – MikeN

I mean,

they are tied for first, and the top ten is entirely built from teams you’d consider contenders. It’s not outlandishly high though. Like we aren’t talking .490 or something here. Eh, even if that creeps back to middle of the pack I’m not sure I’m on this one.

It’s Real

BP guys who weren’t expected to help are producing/impressing. Makes you feel this could be a special unit at full strength/takes some sting out of the Moreta injury. Bonus: No 0s in lineup for first time in years. BRey could reach a new level surrounded by more talent. – Nick Cammuso

All sound reasons for optimism for sure, I’ve thought this about Bryan for quite some time, and it’s probably the first chance since 2019 to really see him surrounded by talent in a lineup. Really could set him up for a big one from Reynolds.

It’s Real

The Pirates are for real because the pitching is for real and the best is yet to come. 2 legitimate ROY contenders will be in the rotation and an Indy rotation so full that Braxton Ashcraft, and his 97 mph 17″ iVB FB, is starting in Altoona – Brian Householder

I’m with you right up until Ashcraft. I’m big on him but he’s got a lot to do to prove he’s not a reliever. In fact if they ever do exhaust all that bullpen depth we keep crowing about, that might be the fastest path to the majors for Braxton.

It’s Real

Not decent, not good, not great, but ELITE bullpen, I would just say pitching overall but there are question marks about the rotation. Skenes is not a guaranteed thing for THIS year. Neither is Jones, really. But there are little to no questions regarding that bullpen. – Jerome Murphy

Probably one of the only “it’s real” takes to allow themselves to be this down on either of those two, Jones and Skenes. Down isn’t the right word, but maybe cautious. I too am at least a little cautious, if only because it’s going to be a difficult dance to do with their innings all year. Yeah, good call Jerome, gotta keep that in mind.

It’s Real

The bullpen is for real. Even if some of the unlikely contributors to this point run out of luck, there are still a variety of good options and the group of proven guys is really strong. – Mitchell Nagy

Unlikely to us anyway right? There really are a lot of options, I mean I just wrote a few entries ago about Ashcraft, there are a ton of talented arms they could turn to in that system who could produce in the bullpen, even if they ultimately want them to be a starter in the long run.

It’s Real

The right guys are doing what you’d hope. Key end of season 23 was real. Cruz is back. Jones metrics support performance. Davis has taken solid step both O and D. Joe is what he is. Triolo has high floor. BP is legit. Etc. Not fringe guys doing crazy unsustainable things. – Neil Clancy

Agree with all of that, especially two points. First, it’s kind of unreal this is the first mention of Henry, man it’s under the radar how much work he put in this offseason to do what he’s doing. And the last one, that’s key, it’s not like a Phil Evans having a crazy hot month, love that thought there.

Mirage

Because pirates will shut down Skenes in August and no one has talked about it yet! Strasburg 2.0 – RoSco

Um, I talk about it quit literally all the time. I’ve been told by close friends to shut the F up about it. But they won’t shut him down in August, that’s why he’s barely getting 3 innings in per outing right now. You’re right it’s a concern, but it’s being mitigated a bit right now and isn’t as drastic as you assume. Jones will get somewhere in the 150 IP zone and Skenes 160ish. Then, as they did with Oviedo, and Keller, and Musgrove, and whoever, they’ll reevaluate and decide if they can tack on more.

This made for a fun piece. If you’re interested in reading all the responses that are still pouring in, check it out, even if you don’t have an X account it’ll let you see. I could do this all night long but have to call it somewhere.


Five Pirates Thoughts at Five – It’s Hard to Picture a Better Start

4-1-24 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on X

There’s a lot to like when your team doesn’t lose, and so far, ours hasn’t. I’m not going to spend today telling you how wrong you are for getting excited, but I’m going to try to provide some context for what we’re watching.

This is a good baseball team, and I’m more than happy to say it now, because right now, that’s what they are.

Now lets get after it!

1. 4-0 Look at ’em Go!

It’s pretty rare to start a season with a 4 game series to begin with, let alone win all 4 of those contests. The Pirates have been around for a very long time, and you need almost all that runway to catch up to the last time they did this, it was 1903 against the Reds. In fact, the oldest living person (we know about) on planet Earth wasn’t even born yet.

There was obviously a lot to like in that series, the offense never let you feel they were out of a game, even when they got down 5-0 before most sat down with their ham sandwich to watch on Sunday. It was easy to get the impression if they could get Bailey Falter out of there without much more damage the team probably could claw back against a bullpen they had already spent 3 days beating up on.

There will be a non-stop conga line of people tempering expectations today and honestly, they aren’t entirely wrong, but there is nothing about sweeping a 4 game set at any time of the year you can paint in a poor light.

Miami was a playoff team last year, and their starting rotation was absolutely destroyed by injury, leaving only 2 planned starters, one of whom, AJ Puk is a converted reliever. Everyone else they tossed after that in game 2 was a reliever who the team will surely stash right back there as the wounded warriors return. Their rotation and bullpen will both improve as they get healthy.

I don’t personally think the Marlins are headed back to the playoffs in 2024, but they certainly weren’t at the height of their powers for this series.

What really was important in this series, I think Derek Shelton said best when discussing his team’s performance. “They just continue to go. I mean, you’re talking about a team that’s a playoff team last year. That’s a really good club. So the thing that stands out to me is that we have 26 guys on our roster, and all 26 in the four-game series did something to help us win. I think that’s really important.”

He’s right, with the exception of Roansy Contreras who was on Paternity leave for the first 3 games of the series before replacing Jose Hernandez for Sunday’s tilt, everyone really did something positive to create the outcome they achieved. Even Bailey Falter slowed down his torrid pace of giving up runs for 3 innings after his first inning blow up.

We’re to the point where players being sent down like Jose Hernandez have performed. In his 2 games he earned his first career save and pitched 2 shutout innings of ball.

I mean, who goes for Colin Holderman when his rehab assignment wraps up, am I right?

Can’t possibly ask for a better start.

2. Have We Underappreciated Connor Joe?

Boy, I won’t speak for you, but I sure have.

He’s not an All Star, and with 3 more years of arbitration, he’s not even due to reach free agency until he’s 35 years old. Meaning if the Pirates want him, he’s all theirs for 3 more seasons. Potentially 5 years of meaningful baseball from a good utility player in exchange for a struggling pitching prospect, yup, sounds like a good deal to me.

What Connor Joe is though, is a baseball player, one who quite literally can play almost anywhere and competently.

Much better against left handed pitching, he’ll hold his own against righties too and he’ll never cheat an at bat. He’s not flashy defensively, I really think competent is the best description, but he’s smart. Put him in right field and he plays the angles and makes good decisions regardless of the ball park he’s in. He isn’t going to gun a guy out at home from the right field corner, but he just might pick up on a guy taking an extra wide turn and pluck him off by throwing behind him.

He’ll probably play that bounce off the wall so clean he gets the ball in faster than his arm says he should. At first base he isn’t Mark Grace, but he saved the game on Thursday by robbing Oneil Cruz of an error with a dive and stretch I still can barely believe I saw.

The Pirates have batted him all over the lineup, from leadoff to ninth and no matter where they put him the approach stays exactly the same. Take a good at bat, make them throw you a strike, put a good swing on it when they do.

I see people make fun of his hair on occasion, and I wonder if they know why he’s grown it the way he has. I wonder if they know how hard he fought to just make it to the league. He missed all of 2020 after being diagnosed with Testicular Cancer which had spread into one of his lungs. Chemotherapy would fight off the disease but cost him his hair, so yeah, his hair is long, maybe shush huh?

When the Pirates traded Nick Garcia for him from the Colorado Rockies, I was underwhelmed. Nick was a guy I was pretty high on as a prospect and this was a piece I felt you might want if your team was already stacked with talent, certainly not part of a young team that needed to get at bats for youngsters. I was wrong.

He wasn’t spectacular for the Pirates in 2023, but a steadying force that made all the other ill fitting pieces work better together by filling the role wherever he was asked. Taking that same approach at the plate all season he provided 11 HR, 42 RBI and a .760 OPS from a bench role and he looks poised to do more of the same this year.

Overlooking the importance of role players is a common mistake, and one I’m guilty of just like anyone else, but Connor is starting to make it hard to ignore that he isn’t just a guy you don’t yell about when he gets in the lineup, he’s becoming someone you assume will be, even if you don’t know where he’ll play or hit that day. Hell, you might even miss him when he takes a day off.

Connor is a victim of the expectations many of us had when he was acquired. A cheap player who probably isn’t a starter and hopefully gets pushed aside by more talented prospects at some point. He kinda still is that in many ways, it’s just becoming harder to imagine him being completely pushed out of the picture, because he’s earned more than most of us originally planned on him getting.

3. The Rotation Needs Time

I know people are loathed to wait for anything nowadays, but this has been true at the beginning of a new season for easily a decade now.

Starting pitchers when I was growing up were ready to be every bit themselves by the time Spring Training wound down. Given health, the goal was your starting five should all be able to give you a quality start, at least from a capability standpoint from the jump.

That’s no longer a given.

Now Starting pitchers are aiming to get stretched out to maybe 75 pitches, 4 or 5 innings and if their first start of the season goes 100% swimmingly you might see them go 90+ pitches, 5-7 innings, and maybe their second start you’ll see those numbers start to feel “normal”.

Some guys haven’t even reached peak velocity yet.

Before you jump down my throat, I’m not trying to tell you Bailey Falter is going to get a ton better, instead I’m saying the rotation as a whole probably needs a few weeks to really start showing you where they are. Even while writing the Series Preview for the Washington series I laughed as I typed in the one game stats for the starters who had them.

Early on, it’s safe to say the bullpen has bailed out the rotation, and that makes sense, you should expect the bullpen guys are more prepared to be the best version of themselves as opposed to the starters. In our case, we expect that to be the standard for a minute here anyway, but what we saw in Miami isn’t a clear picture of what they’ll be either.

I saw some people attributing Mitch Keller’s start to nerves, but really, he just wasn’t hitting his spots, and while he has good enough stuff to get away with it, even in the zone, it eats into his efficiency and a good hitter is going to smoke a meatball against anyone.

I don’t think time is going to lead to you feeling the rotation is great and there’s no need for that Skenes guy or you suddenly become A-OK with Falter being part of it, but I do think you need to see a little bit of a run before you can definitively say who is and who isn’t a problem.

Today we’ll see Marco Gonzales be the last of the original 26-man roster to make his first start, well, save Contreras, and he’s probably got a bigger hill to climb to build back up than his counterparts. For the most part the first four in this rotation will likely stay in the rotation through April. I could see Falter and Ortiz flipping, or even Quinn Priester getting a call to replace him, but we’ll check back in on this come May and I bet we have some more educated takes on how this rotation might evolve.

It might very well time up with some big replacements making their way to Pittsburgh. Everyone and their mother says it’s a long season, but there’s a reason, it really friggin’ is. Fans have no say in how long teams give their players to warm to the task, but rest assured, you’re gonna wait.

4. Your Preconceived Thoughts on How the Pirates Will Handle Paul Skenes is Probably Wrong

I expect to play the misdirection, non-committal game with coaches and GMs, its part of the game. I fully understand why everyone who’s media facing would tread lightly when addressing Skenes arrival time, and how they’re stretching him out, what exactly are those boxes he has to check?

Behind the scenes though, I’ll go right ahead and say right here and right now, what they’re doing with him is about saving early innings in the hopes he has them to give later. Paul won’t last to whatever this year’s Super-2 projected date is, and by the time he makes his next start in AAA, they’ll have already surpassed the time it’ll take to secure the extra year of team control.

This team is ready to win, and that means they’re ready to stop making every move with a prospect about how long they get to keep them and more about how soon they can truly help them win.

They showed you this with Jared Jones. I told you this with Henry Davis, and I wasn’t guessing, just like I’m not now.

Bob can still be a terrible owner, and if you must a horrible person, but he’s also a guy who hired a GM, listened to his plan and has gotten out of the way as he makes decisions on how to push the gas pedal down and when. That doesn’t mean Cherington has no budget, far from it, but it does mean when it comes to deploying his talent, they aren’t going to follow the cookie cutter path of squeezing every ounce of team control for as cheap as possible out of them if the talent is ready to win at the top level.

We’ll see this continue with Termarr Johnson next year as he again won’t need added to the 40-man roster, but as soon as they think he’s ready, rest assured, he’ll get a shot if he’s earned it and they have a need.

You don’t have to believe the owner is changing a thing to acknowledge from calling up Henry faster than any 1:1 in quite some time to starting non 40-man player Jared Jones make the team out of camp, this isn’t just a waiting game based on saving a dollar.

And he’ll make it near impossible to keep some of these guys for what it’s worth, but don’t let it poison your thoughts on how this time and these players will be handled. Cherington is not married to the belief he can’t make a move today because it’ll create a tough situation in 2029.

5. Deeper Than We Thought?

Is it possible the bullpen is even deeper than we believed it would be? I put a little red herring to this in point 1, but when Colin Holderman is healthy, for real, who goes?

Ryder Ryan with that sick 2 seam fastball? Hunter Stratton who hasn’t really had a bad outing since the first time he put on a Pirates uniform? I mean, those two are likely the guys who wouldn’t be here if Holderman and Mlodzinski were healthy all Spring, but now, man, that’s a tough call right?

Now, just like with the starters, we could feel differently within a couple weeks, but either way, that’s some really nice stuff to have a phone call away right?

Luis Ortiz has been unbelievable, I mean he still doesn’t always know where the ball is going, but neither do the hitters, and early on, he’s thriving in this role. Bednar is still trying to shake of the cobwebs. Chapman looks as dominant as ever, Borucki looks like whatever he figured out last year stuck with him.

Sending Jose Hernandez down when Contreras was reactivated probably wasn’t an easy choice.

Injury will thin the herd, it always does, but to lose three big pieces like Mlodzinski, Holderman and Moreta and still feel you have to tuck MLB talent in the minors, man, we’re set up for some really good stuff from the stop squad.

Bailey Falter doesn’t just have a target on his back because he’s low man on the starting totem pole, he’s the only pitcher who hasn’t looked like he could potentially be part of the solution, somewhere.

This is really good stuff, and there are very much so some really tough decisions coming. Guys going to the minors who have done nothing but shove for a couple games.

4 games guys, it’s hard to feel anything but positive, but when you didn’t feel they’d be as good at the beginning as they will at the end, a start like this can get you thinking bigger pretty quick.

Let’s have another great week of Bucco Baseball!

Series Preview: Pirates (4-0) at Nationals (1-2)

4-1-24 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on X

The Bucs are riding high off an opening series 4 game sweep of the Miami Marlins, their first since 1903, and the Nats enter Monday’s contest following a series loss to the Reds. The Nationals aren’t a playoff team this year, but they do pack a punch, scoring runs in bunches at times and some promising arms. The young Pirates would do well to not overlook this team on the way to their own home opener this Friday. This team has talent, but not enough to feel any team is less capable than they are.

4/1
Nationals – MacKenzie Gore (L/L) – (2023) 7-10, 136.1 IP, 4.42 ERA, 151 Ks/57 walks, 1.471 WHIP
Pirates – Marco Gonzales (L/L) – (2023) 4-1, 50 IP, 5.22 ERA, 34 Ks/18 walks, 1.460 WHIP

4/3
Nationals – Trevor Williams (R/R) – (2023) 6-10, 144.1 IP, 5.55 ERA, 111 Ks/53 walks, 1.600 WHIP
Pirates – Mitch Keller (R/R) – 0-0, 5.2 IP, 6.35 ERA, 3 Ks/2 walks, 1.588 WHIP

4/4
Nationals – Josiah Gray (R/R) – 0-1, 4 IP, 15.75 ERA, 6 Ks/2 walks, 2.500 WHIP
Pirates – Martín Pérez (L/L) – 0-0, 4.1 IP, 2.08 ERA, 2 Ks/3 walks, 2.077 WHIP

Nationals:
Joey Meneses – Hot start for Joey, in 12 at bats he’s hit .417 with an OPS of .929. There are others, but I highlight Meneses specifically because he had sustained productivity throughout their entire first series.

Pirates:
Ke’Bryan Hayes – Hey, far be it from me to change this entry, if Ke’ wants to own the who’s hot title all season long, so be it. He’s had multiple hits in every game he’s played this season, good enough for a .444 Batting Average and a 1.078 OPS. I mean, it’s hard to get hotter than that, but the Pirates do have some other candidates.

Nationals:
Josiah Gray – Look, it was just one bad outing, but it’s hard to overlook how bad it was. 4 IP, 15.75 ERA, 6 Ks/2 walks, 2.500 WHIP, opposing hitters are crushing him for a .400 average and he is looked to as arguably the best of what they have to put forward this season as it comes to starting pitching.

Pirates:
Andrew McCutchen – There’s nothing to worry about here and Jack Suwinski probably isn’t far behind on this list. Cutch has no hits, 2 walks and 5 K’s. This just isn’t Cutch like, and honestly, he hasn’t quite looked right all Spring. Perhaps that’s because he was still rehabbing, or maybe being pulled away for paternity leave, but either way, I suspect he’ll get it turned around yet. Only playing 2 games against 4 left handed starters should probably tell you Derek Shelton isn’t seeing what he wants to see either.

Key Injuries

Nationals:
The Nationals just lost Nick Senzel to a fractured thumb, a costly loss of a really nice piece on a young team.

Pirates:
Carmen Mlodzinski (forearm), Colin Holderman (illness) – Colin Holderman has begun his rehab assignment in Indianapolis. Ji-Hwan Bae has also been sent on his rehab assignment to Indianapolis.

Who To Watch

Nationals:
Eddie Rosario – Eddie is an older player now and the Nationals have decided to deploy him in CF, a position he has long since stopped playing. He’s a good fielder, but I’m interested to see how he looks out there.

Pirates:
The Lefties: After Monday’s matchup against Gore, the Pirates will finally get a shot to see a couple righties to open games. The Pirates have some guys who are probably very excited for Wednesday.