Bullpen Breaks Down At Wrigley: (34-32)

6/15/23- By Craig W. Toth – @BucsBasement on Twitter

You don’t make friends with salad.

And the last thing you put in place-at the end of a rebuild-is the bullpen.

Call it overuse (which can’t be at this point, because the Pirates still rank 26th in innings pitched), overexposure, or whatever you want. At this point it doesn’t matter.

Over the past week or so, the blemishes of the Pirates relievers have been put on full display; for everyone to see.

And no I’m not singling out Rob Zastrzny. That’s too easy of a target.

Sure, it all begins with trouble(s) in the starting rotation; but, whenever you get a handed a 5-1 lead-no matter the number of innings required of you-it has to be put on lockdown.

Last night it wasn’t. And unfortunately, it all started with the newest member of the pen, Roansy Contreras.

Following a fairly solid debut by Osvaldo Bido-4IP/4H/1ER/3BB/6K-Contreras came in and had a clean inning. Then the wheels came off.

In the bottom of the sixth, singles and walks led to the Pirates lead dwindling to only one run; and a pitching change to Yohan Ramirez. Even with this swap the walks and singles continued, as the Cubbies ultimately put a 6 spot on the board.

That was all the Northsiders would need, but I guess they wanted a little insurance. Thankfully, Colin Holderman was more than willing to comply; giving up 3 runs on 4 hits in the bottom of the 8th.

The final…your Pittsburgh Pirates 6…the Chicago Cubs 10.

News & Notes

  • The cries to have Carlos Santana moved out of cleanup spot in the lineup have been heard loud and clear; just not by Santana himself, as he put the Pirates offense on his back last night. Even with this outburst, the 37 year old is batting .178 with a .581 OPS over his 100+ trips to the plate.
  • Plain and simple, Roansy isn’t right. Since the beginning of May he has posted a 9.30 ERA with a 1.83 WHIP and 20 strikeouts to 15 walks across 30 innings of work; all while allowing 7 long balls.
  • Over their past 7 appearances the Pirates relievers have posted the following WHIPs: Colin Holderman-2.21, Yohan Ramirez-2.14 and Dauri Moreta-1.31. To me, WHIP is the most accurate predictor for pitching success. If you aren’t putting guys on base, you are less likely to give up runs.
  • On a positive note, Cutch did Cutch things. He is now 4 away from 300.
  • I will probably jinx him-after talking about the negatives in the bullpen ad nauseam-but, Angel Perdomo now has 11 strikeouts, no walks, 2 hits and 1 run in his first five appearances.
  • On the Minor League side of things, there was some movement that might provide some help to the overall pitching depth in the upper levels. On the year Kyle Nicolas.

The Pirates are back at Wrigley today at 8:05 PM EST, as Pittsburgh tries to avoid the sweep.

Johan Oviedo (3-5/4.16 ERA/1.43 WHIP) will take the ball against Marcus Stroman (7-4/2.42 ERA/1.04 WHIP) for the Cubs.

Hump Day Pirates Q&A

6-14-23 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter

The Pirates are having a weird season. Maybe a bit early to be kinda in it, maybe not considering what they’ve lost this season while still anchoring the division. Either way, this piece is all about what’s on your minds, not mine.

Let’s go!

Question 1

Who are the trade candidates to acquire some starting pitching? – Brian Croasmun

OK Brian, but you asked for it.

Nobody is going to like hearing the types of names it would require to get real pitching help, especially if it helps beyond 2023. Truth is though, you probably are talking about a guy who is already on the MLB team like Bae, Marcano, Castro, or a top ten prospect type like Peguero or Gonzales. Maybe even a Lonnie White type, so far away yet so highly touted, maybe you can get something with him as part of your package.

It certainly won’t be someone so enamored by Canaan Smith-Njigba or Cal Mitchell they’d give up much of note.

The only other real overt commodity they have to deal in my mind, relievers. Holderman, Moreta, Bednar, Hernandez, they have some big arms, and you might be able to make them the feature with a lottery pick type to get some borderline MLB pitching, or top level prospect.

Point is, if you want something of value, you have to give something of value.

Seattle is a good team to look to. They have a ton of pitching, some of which they’ve simply been impatient with, yet they need position player help. Plausible, Miami too, but neither want Austin Hedges, lol.

Question 2

Any time table on bringing Henry Davis up? – Shawn Wheeler

Put plainly, when they think he’s ready. Super 2 is over, by all accounts, and as I’ve said pretty much all season, that’s not what this one in particular is about. Before the season I projected he’d be a cup of coffee call up this year, his bat has opened a door for that to be a BIG cup, but I still don’t see it before late July/August.

Bottom line, he has to catch, and as of right now, he doesn’t do it quite to the level they want to see. Yes, yes, he can play right field, but for whom? You sitting Jack, Bae, Joe, Cutch? Endy will already be eating from 1B, 2B, RF, C.

Barring injury or a complete reversal of thought on which one of these two comes up first, I’ll stick with Late July/August.

Question 3

With this season being a lot more positive than any imagined, my worry now is how the Reds have gained ground and looking to call up more studs in their system. Which NL Central team makes the first move (trade)? – Shannon Gregory

The Reds are calling up kids, but they’ll still not go anywhere this year. If they could find a buyer for Votto, they’d move him in a heartbeat I’d wager, but aside from that, knowing they have to keep building with these young pitchers, I don’t see them doing much this year. Now in the offseason, sure.

The actual question part of your question, no clue on the surface so I’ll go this route.
The Reds – Too young to know what’s going to stick or even what they need quite yet.
The Brewers – Will wait as long as possible. They will either send out some huge pieces or they’ll hang around and try to make this last run at it count with guys like Burnes.
The Cubs – Just a mix of guys. Aside from the true prospects and big money FA types like Swanson and Happ, who knows what, when or whom.
The Cardinals – Super far back, I suspect they’ll just hope their youngsters start playing like they hoped, and for guys like Carlson to get healthy. They need pitching, but much like the Pirates, it’ll take someone who plainly doesn’t suck and the willingness to bench a guy they might not want to.

Question 4

Bryan Reynolds, home runs down, doubles up. Some power loss. Is there a nagging injury? – Mark Graham

Hi Mark, not that I know of, and I’ve asked. It’s hard to ascribe something like “power loss” to a guy like Reynolds, because he hits them in bunches. This is because everything about his success is about timing.

When his timing is where he wants it, everything comes together, his bat essentially turns into a magic wand. When it’s not, he struggles to get more than a spray chart of singles and speed aided doubles.

Always play the long game with him. by the end of the season he’ll be around 25 or so, just like he usually is.

Question 5

What moves can the pirates do to fortify thier bullpen? They have had some struggles as of late. rob zastryzny hasn’t been good, I’d like to see cam aldred or cody Bolton or other guys get more time up here. Just my thoughts and wondering what yours are. – Billy Tissue

Well Billy, I personally think your concerns are misplaced. The bullpen isn’t a problem right now really. They have 4 members who qualify for the ERA lead as we speak after all. Bolton has looked awful in his time up here Sir, I can’t see how they could have kept him up here. Aldred is starting, largely because the team needs that much worse.

Guys like Rob, honestly, they only matter when the team uses them in a way that doesn’t match their skillset. Most nights, this team has 5 or even 6 choices and they’re all good.

They have better than you mentioned in AAA, but honestly, they don’t need them and I wouldn’t push them.

Question 6

With the price of everything going up including quality players at the deadline, do you think the pirates should stand pat at the trade deadline if they remain within striking distance? I don’t want to see another lo lopsided trade for a guy like Archer. While there are needs to fill I feel like the price will be very steep given the amount of teams that will likely be buyers – Gary Burrito

I don’t think they can afford to stand pat, regardless of in or out. They don’t have enough starting pitching to get through the season, in my opinion. I don’t think it’s negotiable to add a starter.

We really must stop talking about the Archer trade like the guilty parties are still here lurking in the bushes to jump out and do it again. I also have no idea how you know what the market will look like at the deadline. We haven’t had a single measurable trade yet. To know that, we’d have to know what’s available (we don’t), what teams want in return (nope, don’t know that either), and how many teams want the same stuff (absolutely don’t know that yet).

When you look at a trade, it’s not about did we win or did we lose the deal, it’s did what I got help me the way I hoped it would. That’s it.

Every trade isn’t Archer, in fact, the only reason you remember it is because it was such an outlier.

This team is absolutely going to trade prospects for MLB help before this is over. Embrace it. They’re not only growing players, they’re growing commodities.

Question 7

In the MLB draft between the 1st and 2nd round and the 2nd and 3rd round they have comp picks. How do the decide who gets these picks and the order of them. The Pirates have one between the 2nd and 3rd round this year, the 67th pick. Last year we picked between the 1st and 2nd round and got Thomas Harrington. – Don Jacobsen

The ten lowest-revenue teams and the teams from the ten smallest markets are eligible and this is typically less than 20 teams in contention, some will qualify for both. All of these teams are assigned a pick, either in Competitive Balance Round A (Between Round 1 and 2) or Round B (Between Round 2 and 3).

Now, teams who get a Round A pick, they’ll also receive more money in the international bonus pool. The minimum is $4.75 million, but if you pull a round A comp pick, you’ll be awarded $5.25 Million instead which you are allowed to spend. A round B comp pick will give you $5.75 million in the international pool.

Comp picks can be traded, but only by the awarded team. So if the Pirates traded theirs, they’d keep the bonus pool money and the receiving team is not permitted to move the comp pick.

It’s also how they got Ke’Bryan Hayes, and even longer back, Connor Joe. Carmen Mlodzinski is another. It’s a great pick to get.

Question 8

Are the Pirates the best team in the division? – Scott Nelson

As we sit here on June 14th, yes.

Next question….

OK, so I know you mean will they win it. I think they have as good a chance as anyone, but I don’t like the starting pitching depth Scott. They’re a Rich Hill Blister away from some really embarrassing stuff happening. I won’t even discuss what a Keller injury would do.

On paper, the Cardinals are still the best team in this division, but paper doesn’t win baseball games.

Question 9

So the Cardinals are now 14 games under .500 and 8.5 games out of any playoff spot. Is this finally the year they give up at the deadline? How will this effect the Pirates this season? – Adam Yarkovsky

I mean, obviously it effects the Pirates because the most talent rich roster in the division is playing like they can’t pull anything together. I don’t think they have anything they HAVE to do, but Jordan Montgomery will be a real decision. He’s in his Arb 4 year, and he gets Free agency next season. Thing is though Yark, they don’t have a ton of that.

Also, man they have been destroyed in the outfield by injury, that could help a bit too. Thing is, they don’t have their pitcher whisperer anymore, and they lost their catcher who actually cared about playing the position.

Transition from mainstays is super hard, especially when they’ve been your heart, pitching coach, leader type.

I think they’ll be paralyzed by the division.

Question 10

Realistically do you think Preister gets a call up eventually this season or would you prefer that he stay in AAA the entire season? – John @JGor492

I’d prefer him look like a pitcher I think could succeed at this level for a month, then I’d call him up.

Realistically, I see them struggling to avoid calling him up this year whether he’s earned it or not. At some point he’s going to be a better bet than a guy like Aldred.

Quinn has real work to do, and to his credit, he’s doing it. As it stands right now, AAA can’t hit his curve, MLB will. He can’t place his fastball, MLB will destroy him for that. He’s super talented, but learning to be the type of pitcher he looks like he might be, well that takes time.

I rarely give definitive statements like it’s the only opinion that matters, but in this case, he isn’t ready, and he’s too important to call before you feel he is.

Question 11

Do you think there’s a chance that the leader of this division ends up having a losing record? – BigBlaze59

I mean, sure, but it’s much more likely someone improves themselves enough to avoid it. I honestly think it’s more possible in the AL Central this year, that’s a collection of teams that either don’t want to eat salary, won’t eat salary and have a bunch of tough decisions on vets they do have.

Question 12

Can we get people to stop complaining about call ups? How do we manage that??? – David McBride

Ha! Never!

I mean the easy answer Dave is to stop having holes at the MLB level. No matter how much it’s preached, good numbers in AA or AAA will never be seen as happening a solid couple levels below MLB by the masses. Oh, they’ll say it, cause they know they have to but in reality, they don’t believe it.

I’d also say there is an entire underbelly culture that quite literally only follow the team to tell fans how bad or unfair they are. (Every franchise has these folks BTW) They’ll always have someone who is being unfairly kept back.

I hate to be jaded but in close to 40 years of fandom, I can’t remember a season where Jesus himself wasn’t stuck in AAA.

Question 13

What is it about baseball that makes it so much harder than other sports to get to the top level? – Mark Witzberger

There is so much more to this answer than you’d believe. Lets take them point by point.

  1. It’s very hard to survive in MLB if you’re only good at one thing. This immediately is asking for a level of competency that most humans simply won’t have.
  2. There isn’t a factor that gets you a chance just because of genetics. Be huge and you could get a shot in the NFL and NBA even without refined skills for instance. Baseball simply doesn’t work like that.
  3. The separation from the top league and the closest competitive league before draft is like a different sport, I mean they even use a different bat. Hockey is similar, but hockey has several options for guys to gain experience before draft time.
  4. Jobs are doled out 26 at a time, if you put everyone who ever played the MLB game, even just a pinch hit or 1/3 of an inning in Yankee Stadium, it still wouldn’t be a sell out.
  5. Even 5 tool players have to be willing to work their ass off to make those tools matter.

You could probably add to this list pretty easily, but this question my friend, this is why I never run around calling guys like Chase DeJong a bum. It’s just too hard to get there, even harder to stick.

The NCAA game to the NFL is at least close to the AAA to MLB jump I’d say. Well, in the NFL (Much of this is from a piece by SB Nation), from 96-2016, 16% of draft choices didn’t even play for the team that drafted them. 37% Considered useless, Maybe it’s not quite as lopsided as we suppose.

Question 14

What are your thoughts about AAA experience for budding prospects? Yesterday we debated Jason Mackey’s post that highlighted how little time Endy & H. Davis had in AAA. Several guys mentioned players who had very little AAA or jumped from the lower levels. Examples were Jason Kendall, Jack Wilson, Jose Guillen, Bryan Reynolds, Suwinski. There were several others. – Jim Maruca

I saw these debates too.

The Kendall, Wilson, Guillen examples, man, that was a time when they were completely gutting the team. They brought up every kid with a pulse, some worked, some didn’t.

This team, well, it’s just not the same. I’m not sure what motivation Mackey had for putting that out aside from the fact nobody seems to be willing to just let it play out a bit, and are ignoring quite a bit of evidence that at the very least, Endy hasn’t been dominating like he had been on the way here.

Positions matter for one thing, Kendall was seen as a guy who could hit and field the position, but he supposedly had power they wanted to get to emerge. Glad they stopped waiting, cause it never came. This same thing played out with Ji-Hwan Bae. They thought he had a bunch more power, now, maybe they’re seeing its not worth keeping him down to find out.

We all picture these old farts sitting around with sheets of paper watching these guys with a frown on their face and a cigar in their mouth, checking off boxes. In reality, it’s more about knowing what will or won’t get exposed at the MLB level.

Checking boxes happens, but it’s more about building up the defense against the easy to forecast method of attack they’ll face. Sometimes it’s about how they and their short comings will hurt other players on the team, or if you’re in the middle of on boarding 7 or 8 1st and 2nd year players, quite frankly, maybe you think you have enough kids for one roster.

There is certainly value in AAA. But to assume everyone needs it, or everyone should have a similar path is to simply ignore the reality of the game.

Let’s take Bryan Reynolds. He got called up because he was hitting in AA, and he was old for the level, and the MLB team was destroyed by injury. He stayed because he hit, and he never stopped hitting, and he forced Clint Hurdle who absolutely didn’t want him to play every day to play him every day. They didn’t care about his service time because quite frankly, they didn’t think it’d matter, he’d be sent right back right?

Was he ready? I mean, through the prism of history, hell yeah! But at the time, people, fans, “experts” liked Jason Martin better. I’ll never forget Greg Brown gushing over Martin’s eyes and his look and how good he was going to be.

I think at the end of the day, if Endy kicks down the things the team sees in his way, he’ll make it, and soon. Davis, depends on their goal. Nailed on starting catcher, he’ll likely have to wait a bit..

Bad Weather, Bad Loss for Pirates vs Cubs: (34-31)

06/13/23 – By Ethan Smith – @mvp_Ethan on Twitter

The weather wasn’t the only thing that was bad at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night as the Pittsburgh Pirates, with a mixture of bad luck, below average pitching and inopportune mistakes would lead to the 11-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Things started hot in the first inning as Chicago native Jack Suwinski would put the Pirates on the board with a solo shot against former Pirate Jameson Taillon. Pittsburgh native Ian Happ would follow suit for the Cubs, sending a three-run home run over the right field wall at 110.3 mph off the bat to put the Cubs up 3-1 through the first inning.

Ji-hwan Bae would bring the Pirates within a run after losing the early lead in the second, scoring Josh Palacios with two outs in the top of the second.

The offenses would slow down considerably until Suwinski launched a 425 foot home run in the top of the sixth that went over the Wrigley Field scoreboard in right field, his second of the evening, to the tie the game at three a piece.

Despite giving up the three runs in the first inning, Luis Ortiz would have an otherwise ok start, going 5.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB and 4 K.

Dauri Moreta would enter in the bottom of the sixth and give up a run to Matt Mervis that would put the Cubs up 4-3. Moreta has of course done very well this season not allowing inherited runners to score but wasn’t able to escape in this outing, but he did get some luck as a ball in play that would’ve clearly scored another hit Miles Mastrobuoni on the base paths to end the inning.

Former Pirate Jameson Taillon would go six innings for the Cubs, allowing three runs while striking out four and was relieved by Julian Merryweather in the top of the seventh.

Yohan Ramirez would enter in the seventh and after loading the bases, he would hit Happ on a slider that got away, extending the Cubs lead to 5-3. Ramirez would follow by stabbing at a double play ball that would cost another run that would give the Cubs a 6-3 lead.

Ramirez would finish the inning, being relieved by Rob Zastryzyny, who would immediately allow two more on a Yan Gomes single to make it 8-3 Cubs in a monster seventh inning.

The Cubs would add on in the eighth, taking the game well out of reach as the Pirates would lose their first game against the Cubs in 2023 to start nine straight games against the NL Central.

Despite the loss, the Milwaukee Brewers lost to the Minnesota Twins, so the Pirates would retain first place in the NL Central.

Pittsburgh looks to tie the series tomorrow against the Cubs as Drew Smyly will face an undecided pitcher at the time of writing (likely Osvaldo Bido) for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

News & Notes

  • Game delayed due to weather at Wrigley Field
  • Chicago native Jack Suwinski and Pittsburgh native Ian Happ homer in first inning
  • Luis Ortiz pitches 5.1 innings and exits game with a 4.64 ERA
  • Former Pirate Jameson Taillon goes six innings
  • Pirates stay in first despite loss due to Milwaukee loss to Minnesota

What The Pirates Need To Do To Become Contenders

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-2s9ut-1431f50

Craig and Chris discuss the missing piece(s) of the Pirates current rebuild; while trying to figure out how to find them, in order to become legit contenders. 

Brought to you by ShopYinzz.com! Craig Toth covers the Pirates for Inside The Bucs Basement, and joins his buddy Chris at a 9-foot homemade oak bar to talk Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball. Listen. Subscribe. Share. We are “For Fans, By Fans & All Pirates Talk.” THE Pirates Fan Podcast found EVERYWHERE podcasts can be found and always at BucsInTheBasement.com!

Pittsburgh Pirates vs Chicago Cubs Series Preview

6-13-23 – By Christian Wolf – @CWolfPGH on Twitter

For the Pirates, a critical road trip begins in Chicago.

When & Who

Pittsburgh Pirates (34-30) at Chicago Cubs (28-37)

Game 1 – (6/13, 8:05 EST)

Probable Pitchers:

For the Pirates – Luis Ortiz (1-2, 4.23 ERA)

For the Cubs – Jameson Taillon (1-4, 7.02)

Game 2 – (6/14 8:05 EST)

Probable Pitchers:

For the Pirates – TBD

For the Cubs – TBD

Game 3 – (6/15, 8:05 EST)

Probable Pitchers:

For the Pirates – TBD

For the Cubs – TBD

Team Trends

Much needed series win for the Pirates against the Mets, after a disappointing series against Oakland. The Pirates are right up at the top of the National League Central with the Brewers and coming off a 6-3 homestand, now need to capitalize on the next nine games being against divisional opponents.

Chicago is having a rough start to the season, currently nine games under .500 but coming off a series win against the Giants. The Cubs rotation is one of the best in baseball, ranking 6th in MLB with a 3.87 ERA and 290 strikeouts.

Who’s Hot

For the Cubs –  Nico Hoerner – Hoerner collected 4 hits in 11 at bats in the Cubs series against the Giants, and has provided solid numbers for the year in general.

For the Pirates – Ke’Bryan Hayes: How about Hayes’ 5-5 game against the Mets? Hayes has been one of the Pirates’ best hitters as of late, collecting six hits in the Pirates’ series against the Mets. After a bad month in May, Hayes has been fantastic in the month of June.

Who’s Not

For the Cubs – Ian Happ – Happ collected just a single hit in the Giants series, and is batting just .182 in his last seven games.

For the Pirates – Connor Joe – Joe has cooled off since his red-hot start to the season, and although he did collect two hits in the series against the Mets, he is hitting just .222 in his last seven games and has seen an increase in strikeouts.

Series Overview & Prediction

It’s only June, but this feels like an important series. The Pirates and Cubs will actually meet again after this series in Pittsburgh next week, but taking advantage of your divisional opponents is important. Chicago is certainly not as strong as previous years, and although the Pirates and Cubs have a little separation in the standings, you can never have enough breathing room.

I’m just going to keep my mouth shut on this series. Typically, I can get some sort of feel for how the games may go, but nothing here. It’s go time if you’re Pittsburgh. Now let’s see what happens.

Five Pirates Thoughts at Five

6-12-23 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter

Ahh baseball. Lose 2 of 3 to a team you’re supposed to beat the hell out of, win 2 of 3 against a team outspending you 5 to 1 right?

The A’s of course went on to sweep the Brewers in a 3 game set so clearly the NL Central is just super bad right? Well, yeah, but not because of this, the A’s are simply playing better baseball, in their last 4 series, they’ve taken 2 of 3 from the Braves, got swept by the Marlins, then what they did to the Pirates and ultimately their takedown of the Brewers. They do stink, and they’ll continue to stink, but every once in a while, they, being a professional baseball team will jump up and bite a team.

The A’s actually have done what many of you consistently told me you would prefer the Pirates do early in their rebuild, play all kids. Folks, that often looks like hot trash, but the difference is, when they win, people who might matter did it.

The method of rebuild or retool every team takes is an opportunity to learn yet another way to go when doing this stuff.

Anyway, we should thank them for helping the Pirates, they learned some important lessons against the A’s that they took directly into their Mets series.

Let’s go, I’m gonna have a hard time sticking to 5 today.

1. Now Doesn’t Always Have to be Forever

Every guy who gets called up to the Pirates isn’t going to be, nor are they expected to be a locked on starter for the next 6 or 7 years. Some of the players that right this second you believe will be part of what brings home some kind of hardware for your Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball Club won’t be here in 2 years, and if they are, they might have splinters in their ass from riding the pine.

The danger of forecasting out the “winning team of the future” is that it mentally locks you out from appreciating the process and evaluating as you go.

A quick look at the system and you’d believe Nick Gonzales, Termarr Johnson, Cheng, Peguero, Alvarez, you know, guys like that are the future at middle infield for this club. Now if that’s true, obviously Marcano, Castro, Bae, guys like that, must not be the answer right?

Maybe, but keep your pants on.

Let’s take a guy like Rodolfo Castro, he has his struggles, many of you have already labeled him a platoon player, if you bother thinking he has a spot here at all. Let’s say as this year plays out he winds up being a 20-25 homerun guy. First, he’d have to really get going, but for the purpose of this conversation, let’s let him get there. Well, if he does that folks, he’s a piece.

I don’t care which prospect you like better, it’s going to be very hard to come up and push a guy who does that out of this lineup. Certainly can be done, but it won’t be easy. Nobody is going to sit him on the off chance this prospect could be better one day after he gains experience, instead they’ll likely wait for an injury or for that prospect to fight through positional changes in an effort to get at bats and maybe then, they prove themselves worthy of taking some ABs away.

As it stands now, if Castro were to do something like that, I’d bet it would anger more people who thought a prospect was going to pass him by easily, than convert doubters into Castro believers.

Don’t get me wrong. When someone gets called up for the first time at like 27 or 28 years old, expecting them to become a fixture is at least a bit of wishful thinking and clearly not ideal for a prospect, but sometimes, good for a couple years is an ok outcome for a player.

In other words, Ji Hwan Bae may not be the Centerfielder of the future, but if he can hold it down now and ultimately be replaced in 2025, hey, that was a hell of a success developmentally.

Really think about what defines developmental success. If that’s churning out a guy like Cutch, well, your list of “successes” is relatively short isn’t it? If success to you is finding a guy who holds down a position for you, and performs above league average for a stretch like say Marcano, even if long term you can’t see a position for him, well, your list is much longer right?

Point is, if you decide who the winners and losers in the system are now, I guarantee you’ll not like how this shakes out.

Despite the way most fans watch a rebuild unfold, teams don’t think about players as having no shot to hold off a prospect for the simple fact they understand what a prospect really is, a guy with talent who should they work hard enough, have enough talent in the first place, develop enough flexibility to work the bat in, might be, MIGHT BE, a player.

They think this about Low A players, they think this about AAA players. They think it about number 1 picks (although there is typically more hope there), they think it about 15th rounders.

This year is where some of the way we’ve been drooling over prospects should slow down a bit as we shift our gaze to the big club.

Just keep in mind, 66% of first round selections make the majors.

Scouting a player for sometimes over a year, relying on National talent evaluators and internal sources, seeing them play in High School, or college, all of that work and still all of these professionals miss 33% of the time. A great average for a baseball fan knowing failing 7 out of 10 times consistently gets you in the HOF, but still far less than most fans would expect.

Sometimes, its best to appreciate what you have, watch them grow, understand even their warts that remain after a couple years in the league pale in comparison to what a rookie will bring to the table when they get started. If your team is in it, they tend to be loathed to introduce that to their fold.

It’s time to start letting this play out naturally, root for the logo, hope for the prospects to come up and impact that logo, worry much less about who they have to beat, worry much less about who is here being beat.

When call ups are coming, you’ll start to understand why much more when you stop having all these decisions viewed through the prism of the supposition the Pirates are out to screw every kid out of money. I say this because starting right around when these two catchers come up, this simply won’t have opportunity to really be true.

Think about it? What will the reason be next season if Gonzales and Peguero aren’t up here? Is it them? Maybe. Were they bad choices or acquisitions? Maybe. Are they blocked by a combination of Castro, Bae, Marcano, Cruz, hey, could be.

See what I mean?

Start setting yourself up mentally to take this in, because if you’re mentally married to a certain prospect being the savior, you’re bound to be disappointed.

More than anything, it’s close to time to think of them almost as equal parts currency and potential piece. If you’re a Pirates fan under the age of 50, you’ve never seen a system in Pittsburgh this deep, and that comes with a unique experience. Yes, even the mid 2010’s, they had a first wave, but precious little else beyond it.

I mean, there are people who already have Dylan Crews penciled into the lineup for 2024 folks. The ignorance of how this stuff actually works is palpable.

Exciting.

2. Osvaldo Bido, Why?

I talked about this quite a bit on my show The Pirates Fan Forum this week, but writing it out will be cleaner and more organized.

I also wrote up a bit about this situation in last week’s What Should They Do Now piece, but now that we know it’s going to be Bido, I feel like I need to really explain, why him?

First, this is more about other players than it is Bido.

Quinn Priester is simply not seen as someone who will experience success at the MLB level right this moment. Referring back to point 1 today, no, this doesn’t mean they NEVER see him reaching that level, no it doesn’t mean they think he stinks, it doesn’t even mean they think Bido will do better, although I bet they do believe that right now, but bringing up a guy you feel pretty confident is going to to get punched in the nose and he really matters to what you’re building, chances are you aren’t going to do it.

Bido is a system guy. He’s 27 and he’s spent parts of 3 seasons in AAA. We’re talking about 166.2 innings of AAA work. His numbers aren’t spectacular, but he’s consistent, seasoned, and honestly, probably near his ceiling.

Meaning he may not be great or even good, but he is developed. He’s about as far as AAA can take a guy, and his ceiling being a 5th starter or middle inning reliever, there isn’t much separation there from where he is to where they see him reaching.

I can still make a case for one of the other options, but here’s the thing, unless this team makes a trade to acquire another starter, I think we’ll wind up seeing many of them too, ready or not.

They’re a Rich Hill blister away from having a decision like that forced upon them. I can’t even say they were unprepared, but having 3 guys you expect to get innings from on the IL with TJ, yeah, that’s an unexpected happening.

Think about this, Johan Oviedo will have already reached his career high for innings by the All Star Break. This thing is anything but deep right now folks.

The goal here is as follows:

Get Roansy in the bullpen, figure out what’s going wrong, find ways to help him through it, have him make a few appearances to prove the changes to himself and the team, ramp him back up and if there have been no further injuries, demote whomever you had up or swap positions with Roansy.

Folks, that’s not what you want to do with Quinn or Jones.

If I’m the Pirates, I’m reversing course on my decision to move Carmen Mlodzinski to the pen and start getting him stretched back out, starting options from the upper levels have to be the priority now.

Bido gets the call because he’s the most experienced and there is comfort in knowing he won’t be hurt by this experience and could potentially even show he’s ready for the step. The alternatives like Quinn or Jones, well they would be what I call “stuff” calls. They have stuff and they could get outs for a time, but Bido is better positioned to “pitch” his way through it.

You don’t have to like it, but I hope you at least can understand it. Taking a number one pick who isn’t crushing AAA consistently vs taking a system guy who at 22 was a late bloomer for the International draft who has consistently performed to an expected level is the team’s preference here, for the problem at hand. Lose a guy like Roansy all year, and you’ll see them make a different call.

If Roansy doesn’t get it or they decide the bullpen is best for him, yeah, different decisions will be made.

Not easy, and it’s not supposed to be. Being IN IT, has created a different situation than I’m sure they expected to see, but a rash of injuries stole their ability to look prepared for it.

Essentially, you don’t make call ups based on who has the most potential to be a very good player in time, you make them based on who right that moment has the best chance to be MLB ready for the need at hand.

Let me be abundantly clear here, there is no Super 2 or manipulation angle to this story. If they had a nailed on guy they felt was ready, he’d be here, as evidenced by Luis Ortiz already being in the rotation.

3. CSN and Palacios on the Roster is Weird

For one thing, the Pirates have 14 position players and only 12 pitchers. When the Pirates call up Bido, I could easily see one of these two going right back out the door.

Mark Mathias is another option but being right handed, he’s less redundant than these two lefties. Palacios has gotten starts against right handed pitching but not all of them, so calling up CSN to add to that mix was a bit strange to me. Add in on top of that he hasn’t had an at bat since his recall.

Quite simply, I’m not sure what the plan is here. Maybe one of them is a guy they see being a bench guy and less of a prospect, hey, maybe both of them are that?

I can’t help but feel one goes, because you can’t put Roansy in the pen knowing you won’t want to use him for a minute, yet keep your staff short at 12. Especially when you’re adding in a starter who doesn’t have much hope of going deeper than 5 or 6 if things go great.

Endy won’t be long now either, so that almost 100% has Mathias or the survivor of this cut on their way too. Choi gets added to this congestion as well.

The bottom of this roster doesn’t look like it used to. It’s no longer super easy to jettison the bottom 5 or so, they require thought now.

That said, it’s hard to believe you’d call up a kid like CSN and give him no at bats then demote him, I mean, why call him up at all, and Palacios well, he’s actually been ok, .748 OPS in 45 plate appearances isn’t exactly awful, but maybe they think it’s not enough to hold back a much younger guy who could fill the same role?

The more I think about it, the more I wonder how they’ll work through all these outfielders that seem interchangeable. How does Swaggerty get a shot, you now, if he looks like he deserves one. Cal Mitchell is again hitting in AAA, but maybe he needs to play instead of sitting on a bench? Gorski, Fraiser, I mean keep going, these guys all have something interesting and aren’t complete, how do they make time and provide opportunity to all these guys?

Truth is, they probably can’t and won’t.

Trying to make sense of this is probably fruitless, but for the sake of the team, here’s hoping they push the right buttons, cause as I look at the landscape I truly can’t see a path to providing each a tryout, and I’m not even including guys like Davis who could eat RF reps himself.

Whole lot of trade package material right here in this position group. Probably more than the middle infield we’ve famously ascribed as being a “glut”.

4. Why Endy and Not Henry?

When we started the season, this would have been a silly question. Endy was unquestionably ahead of his injury plagued position mate, but as the season has played out, the gap between the two, hell, even the order in which they should be considered ready to call up has been put in question.

Before the season I wrote and said Henry would likely just get a cup of coffee this year remember? Even I’ve updated my expectations.

That said, the conventional wisdom, and by that I mean just about everyone who analyses this stuff, everyone who writes about this stuff, all the scouts that have been on record, they all seem to agree it’s Endy, and it’s pretty clear from conversations I’ve had, the team feels this way too.

So why? Davis is easily having the better season. If you have 2 of anything and only want to use one to begin with, why not take the one who looks the part a bit more from the jump?

So, lets pretend this choice is literally just this; Endy or Henry first? Not which one has the better career, not which one catches, not who matters more, simply, which one should get the call first, and what makes them “ready”.

Let’s make the case:

For Endy Rodriguez

  • Endy just hit 300 AAA innings in 2023 behind the dish, add in his 22.1 from 2022, his 188.1 in AA Altoona last season, his 434.2 in Greensboro in 2022 and finally his 54 for Bradenton in 2021 and you have 998.4 innings of catching in MiLB. Almost a full 1,000.
  • Endy has shown an evolved approach at the plate in 2023 against AAA competition, netting him 22 BBs / 32 Ks a stellar rate, better than his history on both counts. His average, OBP, SLG and OPS are all down as compared to his AA performance as one would expect, but his are down a bit more than you’d like.
  • Simple, but Endy is on the 40-man Roster.
  • Endy can play 1B, LF, RF, 2B, DH and of course, catcher, and he can hold his own at all of them. He might be a touch short for 1B in an ideal world but he is athletic and makes it work.
  • In 2023 Endy has in AAA put down these numbers. .251 AVG, .338 OBP, .394 SLG, .733 OPS
  • Endy has a 27% CS rate. 73 of 200
  • Every level save the current home in AAA, Endy has dominated, he’s slowed at this level as much as Henry has accelerated at AA.
  • Endy has become trusted to help with the running game, but still isn’t’ the smoothest receiver of the ball. Blocking so far is more about athleticism than technique. As with any catcher, game calling is a work in progress and will remain one.

For Henry Davis

  • Henry has caught 22 innings at the AAA level, 443.1 in AA Altoona, 115 in AZFL, 6 in FCL, 26 in Bradenton, 147 in Greensboro and 12 for the FCL. That’s 771.1. Injury had much to do with this but even then, many will tell you High level college ball is akin to High A or AA ball. I’m not sure I buy that, but it’s said often by people smarter than I about this stuff. He’s got 99 games of experience in NCAA, so give him due credit there if you think you should.
  • Henry can play DH, RF and of course his beloved Catcher. By most accounts, he’s handled RF well.
  • Henry has a 14% CS rate. 10 of 61
  • In 2023 Henry has between AA and AAA (41 games and 5 games) put down these numbers. .279 AVG, .431 OBP, .527 SLG, .958 OPS
  • Henry has been disciplined at the plate 37 BBs / 39 Ks, a huge development for a guy who up until now in pro ball struck out twice as much as he walked. Add in his 7 HBP and you have an on base machine.
  • Receiving and blocking have improved, but need work, calling games a work in progress and bluntly will be for years in MLB, that’s kinda how this works.

Look at all that and all I got is Endy is on the 40 already, has much more MiLB experience and has shown a comfort level with all the concepts the Pirates want to see. It also might be more important that Henry nail down catching a bit more, because he’s going to need to play there to get at bats unless he DHs a lot.

If they chose Henry, I could easily be convinced it’s the right move, but the point is, one is coming and they need to get this process started sooner than later. We’ll be dealing with this process for 2 or 3 years I bet.

In fact, Endy could be sent down to work on stuff for Henry himself. They could play this a ton of different ways.

But I think it all starts with Endy on the 19th at home against the Cubs.

5. Can They Really Take This Division?

Keep saying no if you like, it’s easily the smart bet, but if they manage to get this rotation right somehow, lots of ifs and hope baked in there, they have a shot. I don’t think standing pat gets it done, even counting Cruz returning in as a sure thing as opposed to wishful thinking.

The division isn’t really in position to help itself. The Cubs for instance will want to move some pieces they planned to ship for prospects and they likely won’t be fooled by being kinda sorta in it. The Brewers have some very real issues coming with some youngsters about to fortify their roster a bit, they might see themselves has having 1 more good shot with this core, so I could see them trying, but they’re also up against it on what that franchise is capable of carrying.

The Reds will subtract, but might improve because of what they’re making room for. The Cardinals could have all their vets wake up and go on a run but in the position they’re in, they have a lot of work to do to consider themselves buyers.

The Pirates are early, they know it, you know it. They have a couple players to call up and expect impact and Cruz returning, but it’s all about what they can get done for the rotation, and if they survive the situation long enough to open trade dialog.

So yes, they can, this division is that bad, but the Pirates have to thread a needle. Survive the current pitching situation and augment with real MLB experienced pitching as soon as the market opens, and yes, I think they can.

Either way, barring a total collapse, they’re easily one of the top 3 in this division and that’ll keep them in the conversation.

Cutch Hits 2K and Keller has 7 Ks as Bucs Best Mets 2-1 (34-30)

6/11/23- By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on Twitter

14 years and 7 days. Five different teams. Overcoming injuries and moving primarily into a DH-role. Now, Andrew McCutchen joins the 2,000 hit club as its 290th member. 

McCutchen notched his 1,999th hit on Friday night on a third inning, infield-single to shortstop. He wasn’t able to get a hit in any of the following 7 plate appearances on Friday and Saturday but didn’t wait around in his first at-bat today as he cracked a single into left field on the third pitch he saw in the game. Cutch tipped his helmet as he received a long and well-deserved standing ovation from the crowd. 

Keller was cruising today, going 7 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 1 hit by pitch and 7 strikeouts. His two hits was the lowest he’s allowed in a start thus far this season. He allowed a solo home run to Jeff McNeil in the 4th and then proceeded to shut Mets bats down after that. 

Following the solo shot, Jack Suwinski immediately evened it up with a solo shot of his own with a mammoth shot over the Clemente Wall. Ji-hwan Bae followed with a 1-out hustle double to right center, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Tucupita Marcano single to right, giving the Pirates a 2-1 lead.

Dauri Moreta took over the 8th, posting a clean inning with a strikeout, and David Bednar shutdown the 9th for his 14th save in 15 chances.

News & Notes

  • Prior to the game today, GM Ben Cherington mentioned in his interview on 93.7 that Roansy Contreras would be moved into the bullpen for the time-being and a AAA call-up would be coming to start on Tuesday in Chicago. We have not received confirmation as to who it will be but Jason Mackey of the PPG confirmed that it will not be top pitching prospect Quinn Priester.
  • Cutch joins Miguel Cabrera, Joey Votto, Nelson Cruz and Elvis Andrus as the only active 2,000 hit club members
  • Cutch achieved a rare feat of his first and 2,000th hits both being against the same team, something accomplished only five times before.
  • Rare Pitch Timer Violation strikeout for Mets pinch-hitter Luis Guillorme in the 8th inning.
  • Pirates off tomorrow but heading to Chicago to face division rival Cubs on Tuesday. Start time is 8:05PM. Lets Go Bucs!

Pirates Punish Mets 14-7, but it Felt Off in Some Way Too: (33-29)

6-10-23 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter

The Pirates bats did next to nothing against the lowly A’s, and because you’ve watched baseball for a long time, of course you knew the Pirates would come out and hit everything against the Mets.

The Pirates started Rich Hill, and the Mets countered with Tylor Megill.

A mixture of Mets Errors, timely hits by unlikely candidates, patient at bats and pure luck led the Bucs to easily dispatch of Megill in the 3rd inning. After a couple solo shots, Rich Hill went on and delivered a 119 pitch, 7 inning performance for the victory. More on that later but first, the offense.

The Mets gave the Pirates their early opportunities, spearheaded by poor defense. Lindor dropped an easy double play and the Pirates made them pay. It’s really that simple, and something the Pirates often fail to do.

Boy that one felt good. Santana has been a mess at the plate lately, and reportedly took some extra batting practice this week, hopefully he gets going a bit.

Pirates up huge, what’s a guarantee? Right! A Jack Suwinski Homerun.

Now, none of that is bad, you score 14 runs and win a game that never got close, what’s there to complain about?

OK, News broke before the game that Vince Velazquez underwent Tommy John surgery and would be lost for the season.

The Bucs are in real trouble here as it pertains to starting pitcher depth. There are a lot of innings left to cover, so in my eyes at least, perhaps running a 43 year old out there up by 12 runs to pitch a 7th inning and hit 119 pitches was at least a little careless.

Rob Z would come in after that and get into trouble after 1.2 innings and the Pirates brought in David Bednar (according to Shelton, having him get 1 out was planned) for the last out. He wound up throwing 20 pitches and giving up 2 earned runs.

Look, the runs, I don’t care, but this is utter mismanagement of a staff as far as I’m concerned. Hill has a history of missing time, and to push the envelope with the only true veteran starter they have is again, careless, and honestly foolish. To plan to ramp up your closer for 1 out is silly, to have him do so up double digits in runs, yeah, I’m sorry, I just don’t see the logic. If you’re so worried about getting him work, well, give him a clean inning and call it a day.

At the end of the day, nothing bad happened, nobody is hurt, they won big, I just felt like they backed into winning what should have been a laugher.

Outside the game, the ballpark was hopping for a different cause…

It was Pride Night dahn at PNC Park and it seemed like everyone had a nice time.

I get that some of you don’t like this stuff, but the Pirates tend to do it rather controversy free, and as I’ve had it described to me by a member of the community, for older members being able to just openly live the way you want was not on the table in their youth, so having nights like this gives them a chance to celebrate that freedom. “The only thing being judged are balls and strikes tonight.”

I think that’s a message we can all get behind, even if this isn’t your cup of tea.

News & Notes

  • Prior to the game, Canaan Smith-Njigba was recalled and Chase DeJong was DFA’d to make room.
  • Andrew McCutchen is now 1 hit away from 2,000 after an infield single in last night’s contest for 1,999, and Prince would be proud, cause they partied like it was 1999 last night.
  • Before the game, Mets Slugger Pete Alonzo was placed on the IL and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks.
  • Ke’Bryan Hayes has raised his batting average 50 points in 2 weeks, including his 5 for 5 performance last night.
  • Vince Velasquez has undergone Tommy John surgery, it’s not the full procedure so he expects to only be out 10-12 months, but effectively it ends his Pirates season and likely his time in black and gold.
  • Bryan Reynolds singled sharply opposite field in the first, but he’s simply not seeing the ball well right now. Feels like the timing is coming back, but as of right now, he’s scuffling.

Minor League News and Brews: Up, Down and All Around The Pirates Farm System

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-xievx-142c59b

Craig checks in on some individual prospects at each level of the Pirates Farm System that are having either encouraging or discouraging starts to the Minor League Season. #LetsGoBucs #30MinutesOfBucs #MiLBNewsAndBrews

Craig Toth covers the Pirates for Inside The Bucs Basement, and is a huge Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball Fan; especially when it comes to the Farm System. Listen. Subscribe. Share. We are “For Fans, By Fans & All Pirates Talk.” THE Pirates Fan Minor League Podcast found EVERYWHERE podcasts can be found and always at BucsInTheBasement.com!

What Should the Pirates Do Now?

6-8-23 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter

This isn’t some traditional date on the calendar. June 8th holds no significant importance in the game, but somehow, following a series loss to the lowly A’s at home and on an off day today, it feels like for this team, this year, it’s somehow a pivotal point of the season.

This division is simply not good. Look around enough and you’ll struggle to believe any of them have a real shot to do much in the post season, even if one is guaranteed to reach the playoffs. Check out what Corey wrote about the division this morning.

So I figured, today, lets come up with a list of things this team could/should do. Not two months from now, not at the deadline, but right now.

Help the Rotation

Let’s start at the beginning. Trades right this second would be difficult. For most teams it’s just too early to decide to move anything of worth, and for those who are in position to make that call, they likely don’t have much you’d want.

Now, the Pirates rotation is young, and that’s ok, but with youth comes teaching moments, struggle, and inconsistency.

Mitch Keller has struggled a bit in his last few outings, but if you’re worried about him I suggest you should get in line, they have 99 problems and a Mitch ain’t one.

Rich Hill is anything but young, but he too has inconsistency baked into his track record. He is what he is, and what he is happens to be a valuable veteran that is holding much of this glued together with twigs rotation hold up.

Johan Oviedo looks brilliant for 95% of his time on the mound, but that 5%, oh my, he looks like he belongs on the Wild Things. I think they’ll solve this, and I’m confident enough about the process they’ve taken here to believe we’ll see fruit by just continuing to trot him out there. No, I don’t think an opener is needed, his problem would just follow him to the 2nd inning.

Luis Ortiz is a still very raw talent. He’s going to look unhittable at times, he’s going to look like he belongs in Greensboro when he doesn’t. Last season he came up with a super high velocity fastball and a wicked biting slider that came out on the same plane. This offseason, the Pirates and Luis added a changeup and implemented a 2 seam fastball. They also asked him to pull back on the velocity in the hopes of going deeper and gaining some control. Nothing to do here but keep letting him work. I truly believe there is nothing left to learn in AAA.

Roansy Contreras is on the struggle bus. His velocity is down, his command is off, his curve isn’t landing, his slider gets no swings because the fastball isn’t a threat. Contreras himself remarked after his last outing that “his arm didn’t feel like part of his body”. In other words, he doesn’t know what’s wrong, or how to fix it. Derek Shelton candidly said much the same “I don’t know” he added “Learning experience here. We have to sit down and talk about it. We go 0-2 to the first hitter, we walk him, we don’t execute with two strikes, he didn’t execute the breaking ball today … I don’t think we were gonna let him go over 40 or 45 pitches. As not sharp as he was, that made the decision.”

Of all the learning going on in this rotation, Contreras is the only one I think requires the team to do something, well something some of you might consider drastic.

As we sit here, the Pirates have a few guys they could call up for a few starts, and that’s what I think Roansy needs. The plan was for Roansy to head to the bullpen to work on the issues the team has identified, and Contreras himself has no answers for. In order to do that, I think they need to get someone else up here so he can work on these issues in the pen.

I’ll suggest some guys here in a moment, but first, the reason I’d go this route as opposed to AAA, I don’t think Ro will learn at AAA. His stuff is so damn good, he’ll get outs at that level, and he needs to learn how to do more than just throw stuff, he needs to learn how his stuff plays off each other, maybe add a pitch, refine a couple, add velocity, all of that will be well served in the bullpen with coaches who know him best at this point.

Ok, so here’s who they could call, and each one will require a 40 man addition, which is ok, they have 2 spots. One of which will obviously go to Ji-man Choi when he returns from the IL.

Osvaldo Bido is a system guy, he’s 27 years old, never really been super highly touted, but he eats innings and has more AAA experience than just about anyone they have who wasn’t an NRI in Spring. In 11 games (9 starts) he has a 4.06 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP.

They could go big, and get the ball rolling on getting Quinn Priester’s feet wet. The 2019 first round selection has experienced some success at the AAA level, but he’s experienced setbacks as well. Recently, he’s been sharper, but this is a kid who needs to pitch, he’s not going to blow anyone away with stuff. In 11 games he’s posted a 4.38 ERA and a 1.422 WHIP.

This one is probably a reach, but I’d consider it. Jared Jones is in AA Altoona and was the Bucs 2nd round selection in the 2020 draft. If you want to talk about a kid with filthy stuff, Jared might be the poster child. He’s not refined, but he has arguably the best stuff in the system. Much like Priester, the Pirates will need to get him protected for the Rule 5 come December anyway. I see little possibility they don’t protect him, so might as well consider him promotable. In 8 games he has a 2.36 ERA and a WHIP of 1.107.

One more, and it’s Kyle Nicolas. Also a second rounder from 2020 by the Miami Marlins, the Bucs acquired him as part of the Jacob Stallings deal. The numbers aren’t great, but he too is a big stuff guy, and could survive for a week or two potentially on a callup. He too will likely need protected, and if they choose not to, I think they’ll lose him. In 11 games, he’s posted a 4.35 ERA with a WHIP of 1.530.

None of this is ideal, and you certainly don’t want to damage another to try to help Roansy, but at this stage, especially for Quinn and Jared, it might be good to let them see where their repertoire puts them against MLB competition, and again, come December they’ll both be added to the 40-man regardless, so I don’t think this is delusional to believe they might add either now.

If I had to pick one, I think I’d go with Bido. It’s low risk and he has a track record of at least being consistent. You may not get the highs, but you might not get the lows either. After all, if the guy you choose only gives you 2 innings cause they get bombed, it helps nothing. Jones as a fan would be the most exciting to me, I think he might even get some thinking about just keeping him up here.

Sure would be nice to have a Brubaker or Burrows.

By the end of June, Roansy goes back to the rotation if he’s found something, and if you’ve managed to stay healthy, you move out whomever is the low man. Everyone but Hill and Keller could be chosen. If he never gets back to the rotation, hey, it was always a possibility.

One thing you can’t do though, is just keep letting a kid go out there and get his brains beat in, it’s killing his soul and you can see it on his face. This isn’t a kid who’s experienced a bunch of failure.

Patch a Hole

The Pirates have gotten precious little from first base or catcher. Carlos Santana has played the position incredibly well, but the bat is just not playing right now. Maybe he’s tired, maybe he’s just hitting left handed too much, either way, it isn’t working.

Nobody needs me to tell you about the catchers at the plate, even if you’re still a believer in Delay and his Kevin Newman like batting average with underlying stats that say the opposite.

It’s Endy Rodriguez Time.

Overall, Endy’s numbers aren’t impressive at the AAA level, but he’s also been spending so much energy focusing on improving behind the dish, it’s hard to really know if he’s struggling or just not as focused on hitting as he’s been.

Endy all year: .247 AVG .735 OPS

Endy in June : .364 AVG .849 OPS

He’s found it recently, and if Super 2 is truly the reason he’s down there, the time is just about here.

Calling up Endy would potentially add some weight to 1B and Catcher. The Pirates need another stick and even if he needs to go back down, at some point the Pirates have to get his feet wet.

If you want to add Davis to this discussion, you’ll have to do it yourself, I don’t think they need to be up at the same time, and honestly, I’m not sure it’d be good for the MLB team do anything like this in bulk.

Bring up Endy, play him at first base a couple times, and once behind the dish, play it by ear from there, and do it for the Mets Series. They’ll want to bring him up for a home stand (yes, for ticket sales, it’s still a business) and after this series they’d have to wait until the 19th.

Is he ready? Hey, maybe not, but he’s going to come up this year, and bluntly, there’s no way to avoid having a kid play an important position. The more he does in 2023, the more you’ll trust him, or know you can’t by 2024. Let’s get this process started.

I’d keep both Delay and Hedges around. Yup, you heard me right.

Send down Mark Mathias (Endy can play 2B too) and keep 3 catchers so there is absolutely no pressure on Endy to “be ready” to handle the staff on his own. Pop him back there, have Hedges in the dugout to help coach him up, help him learn to call a game, work with him on technique, yet feel no pressure to be sure he’ll stick, at least for now.

Once he does get to the point where you’re more comfortable, assuming you do this year, then call up Henry, then move one of the catchers, maybe both.

This process is going to play out from the time one is called up all the way through 2024, get it started so we don’t have to wonder about 2025 too.

Embrace Your Best Lineup

Man, this one is simple. When a player shows you a place they shine, let them.

Ji Hwan Bae is their best Center Fielder, and while he plays a good second base too, let’s be real, he’s been incredible in Center. The best defensive alignment they have is Reynolds in Left, Bae in Center and Jack in Right, and I can’t really imagine anyone persuading me otherwise. If Jack is a platoon player, Connor Joe has been really good in right negotiating the Clemente wall and making smart decisions with the ball.

Tucapita Marcano has for now, taken short stop. He’s the best they have at the moment, and Castro is the 2B. All the shuffling is cute, and I appreciate the flexibility, but it’s time to clamp down on defense and I just think they need to start being more consistently placed in order to help them settle in and start to improve as opposed to holding a place.

I’d try to do this against right handed and left handed pitching. We must stop deciding guys are platoon players before giving them a real shot to prove otherwise.

Tweak the Hitting Philosophy

The Pirates offense has more ability to hit than this philosophy will ever allow to emerge. What they do isn’t’ necessarily small ball, it’s certainly not the Earl Weaver 3 run homer offense either.

What it is, is a near constant effort to not swing at balls off the plate. Sounds smart, can look smart too, but when it’s rigidly applied it creates called 3rd strikes with guys in scoring position, or kicking the can down the lineup to someone who has less skill to decide what they’re going to do up there.

How many times have you seen this team have runners at 2nd and 3rd with nobody or 1 out, only to watch one of the boppers seemingly try to work a walk?

Run producers don’t do that. Run producers recognize they have an RBI standing there, and all they have to do is make some sort of contact to likely pick it up. Far too often they don’t seem to be willing to take the run, instead opting to try like hell to load the bases.

I understand the theory of the philosophy. More guys on base equals more runs, but that’s not what it’s creating.

Instead it’s creating what my grandfather’s root cellar used to create. A whole bunch of product (walks) that nobody wants to eat.

I’m not suggesting they start swinging at crap, I’m suggesting instead of taking that borderline ball, take the bat off your shoulder and try to do something to knock that run in. In this A’s series the Pirates scored runs via the walk but man, it takes one well placed batted ball to turn that 1 run into 3 and THAT is how you beat a team that’s actively trying to give you the contest with awful pitching.

Situational hitting.

It’s not a novel concept. It’s not like I made it up for this piece, but all the discipline stuff, all the making the pitcher work stuff, all the waiting for your pitch stuff, none of it matters if when the turkey is on the table you refuse to even pick up the knife, let alone start carving.