The Pittsburgh Pirates Endgame

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-8gy7m-140e197

Craig and Chris discuss goals that the Pirates should have for this season-and beyond, how they can achieve them. They also talk about what could derail the build, as well as who Chris would add to his Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Team-Castro or Marcano. 

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! 

Rattled Luis Ortiz, Pirates Lose to Tigers 4-0: (22-20)

05/16/2023 – By Ethan Smith – @mvp_Ethan on Twitter

I don’t know what to say or how to think, so here goes.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and the month of May are like oil and water, they don’t mix, at all. Since the turn of the calendar to a new month, the Pirates went from the best record in the National League to now being unable to score more than four runs in a game, a streak that continued once again against the Tigers that has lasted since April 30 against the Washington Nationals.

About that April 30th game, many fans, including myself, batted an eye at that performance against a subpar Nationals squad as the Rays were on deck in a battle of the AL and NL’s best teams.

That feels like ages ago.

It’s not just the offense either. The defense has taken a noticeable step back from its April form with the Pirates having another error credited defensively. Luis Ortiz didn’t help much in this one either, finishing with just 3.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 4 BB and 3 K while his ERA elevated to a 5.63 clip in his second start of 2023.

Ortiz was rattled, there was no doubt about that, but the Pirates offense did, and I am saying this a lot, ONCE AGAIN, what has led them to this horrendous month of May so far, a failure to give their starters any sort of run support whatsoever.

The Pirates would end the day with five hits to their credit, with three of those five hits coming from the 5-9 hitters.

It just can’t continue like this. Tucupita Marcano was ejected on the final plate appearance of the game after a horrid strike three call, showcasing the clear frustration going on with the team overall.

Yohan Ramirez was a bright spot at least, posting 2.1 IP w/ 4 K, but outside of that, it was a rinse and repeat of what we’ve seen from the Pirates all month, a porous offense with absolutely no life and an inability to create runs.

Anyways, Pittsburgh will wrap up their short two game set with Detroit tomorrow as Rich Hill takes on Eduardo Rodriguez.

News & Notes

  • Ortiz: 3.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
  • Ramirez: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
  • Underwood Jr.: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
  • Pirates streak of scoring four runs or less continues
  • 2-11 month of May now for Pittsburgh

Top 5 Pirates Prospect Performers: Slowly Moving Beyond The Small Sample Size

5-16-23 By Craig W. Toth (aka @BucsBasement on Twitter)

We’ve gotten to the point in the Minor League Season, where things have started to even out a little bit; and, an 0 for 4 night at the plate won’t send players batting average on free fall before they step to the plate during next game.

An example of this is everyone’s favorite prospect to watch-checking the stat lines almost as often as the take a breath-Henry Davis.

Davis began the week with a .292/.446/.611 slash line; slightly under the unofficial stat balancing line of 100 plate appearances-coming in at 92. After a 3 for 4 night-with 2 homers and a double-to open the series versus the Rubber Ducks, he saw his slash line increase to .316/.464/.711.

Now, after not recording a hit or a free pass the very next evening in 4 plate appearances, his line only dipped to .300/.446/.675.

Over the final three contests he would play against Akron he would collect 4 hits-including one double-and walk 3 times in 14 plate appearances; good for a .364 batting average. Yet, his slash line stayed fair constant; ending at .308/.452/.648 after Sunday’s contest.

So, what does this all really mean?

Well, let’s say Davis unfortunately goes through hitless/on base streak of 12 plate appearances, we would see a decent dip in batting average to around .252; which might send Pirates Fans into a tailspin.

It also means that we are still in the land of small sample sizes, so there is really no need to quote stat lines on the daily to prove a player’s worth at this point.

Things can change quickly, as we look at prospects that could potentially be trending in the right direction.

1) JP Massey-RHP (Bradenton)

Massey arrived on the scene at Pirate City as a legitimate project after being drafted in the 7th Round-200th Overall-by Pittsburgh, out of the University of Minnesota.

And to tell you the truth, it didn’t seem like Massey expected to be picked at all-or at the very least as more than a dart throw-because he had already planned on transferring to Missouri, after posting a 6.52 ERA, 1.736 WHIP and 63 strikeouts with the Golden Gophers; struggling due to struggles with control. In his 12 start he walked 39 and hit 6 batters, while tossing 12 wild pitches.

Currently, at 23 years of age, Massey has slowly started to find some consistency. Over his past two outings he has struck out 16, walked 6 and allowed just 3 hits over 10 innings of work; including a 9 strikeout performance this past week.

Will this continue? Who knows.

But, he does have all the talent in the world; and all the raw stuff-a 95+ mph fastball, a wipeout slider, a changeup and a curve-to kind of wait and see what happens.

2) Tres Gonzalez-OF (Greensboro)

Gonzalez has yet to experience the almost expected/natural drop-off that takes place when a player moves up a level.

After batting .299 with an .830 OPS across 82 plate appearances in Low-A Bradenton, Gonzales has slashed .342/.381/.447 with High-A Greensboro.

Obviously many would be quick to point out the First National Bank Field Effect, when looking at his stats; however, Tres isn’t a power hitter, so I am not sure how much this can be utilized in this particular case.

3) Enmanuel Terrero-OF (Bradenton)

Terrero has been one of the most pleasant surprises in the Pirates Minor League System thus far this season.

Through the first month and change of the Marauders’ schedule, he is slashing .308/.419/.467 with a 14.7% BB to 18.6% K-rate, even after a slight down week; which included a couple extra base hits, 3 walks and 5 strikeouts.

Still, he was able to post a wRC+ of 121-a stat that I will gladly take when a player isn’t hitting his best.

4) Owen Kellington-RHP (Bradenton)

Kellington has been slow walked into his professional career by the Pirates; after being selected in the 4th Round of the 2021 MLB Draft; partially due to the level of competition he faced as the Gatorade Player of The Year in Vermont during his senior season.

Across 49 innings of work he posted a .22 ERA and 133 strikeouts; with 91% of his outs coming by way of the K.

During the first season of his professional career he pitched just 10 innings in the FCL.

This year he joined the Low-A Bradenton Marauders pitching staff; making 3 starts in his six appearances, but still not going more than 4 innings.

During his most recent outing Kellington struck out 5, walked one and allowed one earned run on 2 hits.

5) Sean Sullivan-RHP (Altoona)

Since his first time on this list-a couple of weeks ago-Sullivan has allowed his first earned runs of the year; but, he has continued to look solid, while building himself up to a full six innings of work.

During his most recent outing, Sullivan did not issue a single free pass and allowing a decent amount of soft contact; ultimately calling on his fielders to help out along the way.

CONCLUSION

There you have it! My Top 5 Pirates Prospect Performers the second week of May 2023.

Now remember, let me know if I missed anyone, and who your Top 5 would be. And, be sure check back each and every Tuesday during Minor League Baseball Season!

Pittsburgh Pirates at Detroit Tigers Series Preview

5-16-23 – By Christian Wolf – @CWolfPGH on Twitter

When & Who

Pittsburgh Pirates (22-19) at Detroit Tigers (18-21)

Game 1 – (5/16, 6:40 EST)

Probable Pitchers:

For the Pirates – Luis Ortiz (0-1, 3.60 ERA)

For the Tigers – Michael Lorenzen (1-2, 4.18)

Game 2 – (5/17, 1:10 EST)

Probable Pitchers:

For the Pirates – Rich Hill (3-3, 4.35 ERA )

For the Tigers – Eduardo Rodriguez (4-2, 1.57 ERA)

Team Trends

Detroit has won three of their last four series, including against the Guardians and Mets. The Tigers play in easily the worst division in baseball, with the Twins being currently the only team in the AL Central over .500. The Tigers have been playing good baseball as of late, winning six of their last ten games, but have a starting rotation that ranks toward the bottom of the league in ERA. Detroit’s offense isn’t any better, ranking 29th in team OPS, 28th in home runs, and 25th in team batting average. Despite this, they’ve found a way to string wins together as of late, which speaks more volume than stats.

The Pirates are coming off a series loss to the Orioles, where they saw good starting pitching but more bad offense, with the series’ final game being the team’s best offensive performance, and still only producing four runs. The Pirates rotation ranks in the top ten of the league in ERA and has also pitched the 5th most innings in baseball this year. The Pirates are hitting just .241 as a team, which ranks 17th in baseball, and have a team OPS of .724, good for 15th. The Bucs will look to take advantage of a below-average Detroit pitching staff, in what is a brief, yet still significant, two-game series against the Tigers.

Who’s Hot

For the Tigers – Riley Greene – Greene collected six hits in thirteen at-bats in the Tigers’ most recent series against the Mariners and has gone 9-for-28 (.321) over his past seven games.

For the Pirates – Jack Suwinski – Suwinski had just nine at-bats against the Orioles, but still went 3-for-9 (.333) and also collected three walks during the series, boosting his OPS to .855 for the season.

Who’s Not

For the Tigers – Javier Baez – Baez went 3-for-13 against the Mariners, and is just seven for his last thirty trips to the plate (.233), with no walks during that stretch.

For the Pirates – Ke’Bryan Hayes – Hayes had just one hit against the Orioles, finishing 1-for-11. His last seven games have also produced less than ideal results, going 6-for-25 in that stretch, with seven strikeouts.

Series Overview & Prediction

It’s pretty funny seeing Detroit being three games under .500, yet just four games out of first place in the AL Central Division. Then again, it’s hard to believe that the Pirates are only a game outside of the NL Central despite the slide they’ve been on. Detroit has certainly been the better team as of late, and it’s hard to justify the Pirates winning the two games here just based on their one game win in Baltimore.  

This seems like an important series for the Pirates, despite it being May and despite the Pirates not having high expectations for the season. A split here seems fair, although all of Pittsburgh would like to win both and all of Detroit would like to win both, pulling both teams closer to the top of their own division.

But the Bucs need to start to get offensive output, and not just rely on their starters to go six or seven innings giving up a run or less. Maybe Sunday was a sign of positivity? Let’s hope.

Five Pirates Thoughts at Five

5-15-23 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter

Well, fans who enjoyed the shelter of watching their team stink and still being able to say “hey, they’re in first place”, just lost their woobie.

The Brewers have passed them now and the Pirates are stuck trying to figure out ways to win when Mitch Keller isn’t the starter.

Let’s Go…

1. Facing Mitch is a *itch!

6 or 7 pitches, depending on how detailed you get naming them. Ability to change the plane or speed on all of them in any count to any hitter from either side of the dish. He can hunt strike outs if he needs them, he can hunt contact if he needs it.

Mitch Keller has plain and simple become the ceiling version of his projection.

How good has he been in 2023?

Well,

12th in ERA with a 2.38

Tied for 6th in Wins with 5

Tied for 3rd in Innings Pitched with 56.2

3rd in Strike outs with 69

17th in WHIP 1.02

17th in Opponent AVG at .208

The dude has 30 Strike outs looking. So mystifying the hitter couldn’t even swing.

His name is being mentioned with Spencer Strider, Clayton Kershaw, Gerrit Cole, Zac Gallen, Dustin May, I mean folks, Mitch Keller is every bit an ace in this league.

It’s been a long time since the Pirates had a dominant starter like this.

2. Is the Offense Coming Around?

Maybe. Maybe they’re just not facing the same level of competition too.

There have been some underlying things going on with this club. Andrew McCutchen has been less than 100%, as he gets closer to getting there, he’s improved. Carlos Santana is flat tired, two off days in 4 days this week should help.

Rodolfo Castro is in the lab working on his left handed swing, hopefully that has him poised to return stronger.

Bryan Reynolds is having an off timing stretch, as he does most years, good signs in Baltimore that he’s finding it a bit more.

Hayes keeps hitting the ball hard but he’s still not getting them to fall as often as you’d like and the power stroke is sporadic at best.

All in all, the key players are getting back to swinging the bat and I think Detroit being a better matchup could make it appear like they were medicine for the bats.

All in all, this might just be a team that does everything together offensively. When they slump, they all slump. When they hit, they all hit.

Not great for winning championships, but par for the course for .500 ball clubs.

3. Hard to Watch, but Panic Won’t Help

Starting out hotter than anyone but the Rays set fans up for the expectation that the team had arrived a year early.

It’s frustrating to watch the same team that destroyed everyone they faced for the first month sputter in every facet for 2 weeks and essentially piss away the buffer they built for themselves.

Thing is though, none of that makes guys who aren’t ready, ready.

I think I could make a case for calling up Endy Rodriguez, but man, you’d like him to be hitting better than .250. Henry Davis is killing the ball, but he’s doing it in AA, and the need to catch is more important than the promotion to AAA would be.

Could the Pirates call up either? Sure. Should they? I’m not so sure.

Before we get into this, in no way is this a “either are better than Hedges” argument. First of all, defensively, I’m sorry, you just flat out don’t get the intricacies of the catching position in MLB if you can’t see that’s a false statement. Hitting, hell yeah, no doubt I can honestly say either would outhit him over the course of a couple weeks.

Defensively though, not close. Won’t be close this entire year.

Is that enough to say neither of these guys should come up? Probably not, but it is enough to at least have a bit of pause.

The best argument for why you go ahead and call up Endy right now in my eyes is more about Davis. I move Endy up and keep 3 catchers on the MLB roster so that I can promote Davis and keep both working at their craft.

Endy would have to settle for 2-3 games a week behind the dish and 2-3 elsewhere but that would keep both progressing. Man that pesky .250 Average though, that’s tough to call up a prospect with that kind of production in AAA.

Part of me thinks it might just be panic at this point. Getting one of these guys up might help, but it won’t remake what has been happening either.

If the Pirates are developing hitters and worrying about where they play later, ok, but in this case it feels a lot more like they’re developing catchers who happen to hit.

At the very least, I can’t sit here and pretend it’s insane to not promote them to MLB but Endy could change that thinking with even a hot stretch of 3-4 games.

Can we stop acting like it’s a slam dunk? Cause it surely isn’t. I’m happy to have the conversation, probably lean toward promoting both up one level myself, but let’s not ignore the risks in an effort to pretend they don’t exist.

This is possibly the best way I can put it. A highly touted prospect typically has a high ceiling and a lower floor. Meaning IF he checks all the boxes we think he has to check he becomes a complete star in MLB. IF he doesn’t check all the boxes, we think he will only become XX. Could be bust, could be average, could be bench player, but those X’s always come with the worst case scenario tag.

For instance, Endy’s scouting report reads like this, there is separation, but not so much that he seems boom or bust. On the top end he’s a starting position player capable of 20+ homeruns and a .280+ average. He’s essentially as close to a sure thing offensively as you can get especially since almost every scouting report has his low end somewhere close to those numbers (or “Grade” which is a whole other scouting thing I don’t feel like getting into here).

Defensively, it gets interesting. On the high end, he’s good enough to start but he’ll never confuse you with a gold glover anywhere he plays. Athleticism is there to play any of a number of spots in the field including catcher.

On the low end, his best position is probably Right Field or First Base, Catcher is worth the try but not likely the profile of a starting catcher in MLB.

All that stuff is predictive, not fact. He can outplay that ceiling, he could out-stink that floor. The closer they are, the more sure scouts are. When the predictions overlap it tends to carry weight.

I say all this because folks, Endy sticking as a catcher is not exactly a sure thing anyway. Let’s not waste a year trying to 100% rule it out while we could be enjoying the bat that is a fairly sure thing to at least be above average.

If Davis wasn’t barreling baseballs and down Endy’s back, I might feel differently about the importance of developing him as a pure Catcher.

4. A Quarter Through and the Pirates Haven’t Played the Brewers or Cubs Yet

There’s a lot to like about MLB’s new balanced schedule, but sacrificing division games isn’t one of them. The NL Central is down, and for this division to really start spreading itself out, it’s going to take head to head contests.

It’d be a lot easier to know what this team was if we had some idea how they were going to play in the division. 2-2 vs the Cards, 5-2 vs the Reds, and nada against the other two.

I don’t think this team is going to finish in the bottom of this division, and the sooner we start playing them the sooner I can start deciding how dumb or smart I am in that thought process.

5. Will the Real Pirates Offense Please Stand Up?

Historically Good

Historically Bad

That’s the list of what the Pirates have shown us in 2023 and neither are realistically true.

This team isn’t the juggernaut we watched have their way with the league for the first month of baseball. They also aren’t the sad look back to 2020-2022 we watched these last couple weeks.

When they were good, you could see the individual approaches shine through the organizational imperatives of taking pitches and making opponents work.

When they were awful, it looked like no matter the situation every hitter felt they had to see three or four pitches. Like, arguably more important than swinging the bat, like ever.

Neither of these are reflective of what this team’s overall body of work will look like when the last strike is thrown.

Let’s look for a slow ramp up, a bit of a warming to the task at the plate over this next week or so. I think we’ll see Reynolds heat up, line drives in the Baltimore series are usually a good sign for him. Hayes is starting to get his timing back and is turning on the baseball more when he’s challenged inside, and he’s near the top of the league in exit velocity, these things tend to even out.

Santana is clearly tired at least in my eyes, having 2 days off this week and one every week for a while will help.

Castro has been benched for better or worse in an effort to take his left handed swing to the lab. Let’s see how that turns out.

Bae must learn to control himself on the basepaths, and honestly, he needs to get on them far more often.

Joe needs to just be him. All in all, there are too many guys who can hit to simply continue, um, not hitting. lol

I don’t like how we got here, but I like where they are. Probably doesn’t make sense, but it’s also just how I feel.

Keller Ks Os, Pirates Win 4-0 (22-19)

5/14/23- By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on Twitter

Mitch Keller Day is becoming a National Holiday in Pittsburgh as he once again plays stopper for the Pirates, turning in another fantastic start following his complete game shutout last Monday. 

The Pirates managed to get on the board early as Carlos Santana hit a slow ground ball to 2nd with runners on the corners, just beating out a double play upon review and driving in a run. More offense in the third inning as Bryan Reynolds struck out but reached first on a wild pitch. Jack Suwinski worked a 1-out walk, Ke’Bryan Hayes shot a single to right to score Reynolds before Ji-hwan Bae would attack a 2-out fastball to score two more runs.

That would be all the offense Keller would need as he had all of his pitches working for him. Colin Holderman took over for him in the 8th and struck out two more batters while David Bednar, taking the 9th for a non-save situation, allowed two baserunners before shutting the door on a Pirates victory with two strikeouts of his own.

News & Notes

  • Shelton changed up the lineup for the game, slotting Andrew McCutchen at leadoff, shifting Suwinski to cleanup with Hayes in the 5 spot (among other moves). Those 3 combined for 3 hits, 3 runs and 2 walks.
  • Keller had a career-high in strikeouts with 13 while surrendering just 4 hits, 1 hit batter and zero walks over his 93 pitch outing. He generated just 12 swings-and-misses as he was painting all game.
  • Keller, Holderman and Bednar combined for 17 strikeouts in the game.
  • Day off tomorrow but we’ll be back at it Tuesday night in Detroit. Game start time is 6:40pm. Let’s Go Bucs!

The Pirates Are Sinking Fast, Can They Right the Ship? How?

5-14-23 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter

Call up Henry Davis or you don’t care?!?! Endy should be here already, he hits everywhere! A serious team would make a trade!

I’ve been out of town most of the week, and while I’ve still watched the games, I haven’t really had much to say aside from my show this week.

Thing is, most of the solutions I’ve seen put forward, well, they probably aren’t really all that helpful. Part of that is we all to a degree expect too much from prospects, and part of it is, the team was never as good as they were in April and they aren’t as bad as they’ve been in May either.

If you want to replace the fringes of the roster, sure, nobody is going to really have a meaningful defense for guys like Andujar, Owings, Palacios, or whomever you’d think of.

Josh Palacios for instance was crushing the baseball all over the field in AAA. He was a minor league Rule 5 acquisition so the fact he looked like anything probably caught everyone off guard to a degree. All of that got him a call up to MLB because the team was desperate to get some offense up here. Nobody was hitting the baseball more than him, well, maybe Henry Davis, but we’ll get there.

Point is, Palacios has been here a week. He’s taken 3 at bats. Now he’s gone 0-3, but the Pirates called up a bat expressly for the purpose of getting some offense from a guy seeing it like a beach ball, then they sat him.

They took a guy crushing baseballs, brought him up here to “help”, then didn’t even see if he might.

I can easily let this go because truthfully, he was never going to help all that much even if they did, but this is what panic looks like.

After starting 20-9 the Pirates have corrected, probably overcorrected to 21-19, 2 games over .500 from all the way at one point 12 games over. It’s been hard to watch, but it’s also very much so been reality.

Palacios is a great example of what changing the fringe players out really does. Miguel Andujar was called up for largely the same reason, and because he came up on a double header day, he was given an immediate shot. He took that opportunity and hit two dingers, and he hasn’t done a blessed thing since. 31 at bats, good for a .161 AVG.

Believe it or not, when you replace fringe guys, meaning non-starters, you hope for an instant pop, a quick infusion of the mojo a guy carried from his hot streak. You hope it lasts longer than a game or two of course, but you don’t expect it, that’s for sure.

Now they’ve got one player they won’t use, and one they are starting to see they shouldn’t.

How about Chris Owings? Veteran, and he hit all Spring, he was hitting in AAA, the Pirates have played beyond infuriating defense in the Middle Infield, makes total sense right?

Well, he’s played all of 4 games, with 9 at bats. They want his glove, but they can’t afford to play him every day because many of their best opportunities for offense are also middle infielders.

Even if he came up here and hit like he was in AAA, Owings is only going to be so good, and it’s only going to matter so much.

The Fringes are nothing more than redecorating a poorly performing restaurant.

Think about the lineup.

Ke’Bryan Hayes is your every day 3B, and that isn’t changing. In the Outfield, Joe, Reynolds and Suwinski are pretty inarguably their 3 best. Santana even while slumping is the 1B.

The SS and 2B rotation is mainly 3 guys who you’d hope 1 would emerge from. Bae, Castro and Marcano.

So when we talk about really affecting change, where?

Catcher? OK, I’m aware that the Pirates top 2 hitting prospects are catchers. Endy Rodriguez and Henry Davis.

Endy is only hitting .250 in AAA and he’s been injured. He’s caught 18 games at the AAA level this year and early reports are he has the athleticism to do it at the big league level but the game calling isn’t quite there.

Henry is 23 years old and a 1:1 pick. He’s raking in AAA, just like Endy did last year. He too has all the tools to be a catcher in this league. He too has caught 18 games this season, by all accounts, he has done well. They’d like to see him get a bit cleaner on his technique on blocking balls, and his skill calling games.

He’s easily ready to be in AAA, and if the team so chose, calling someone up from AA isn’t unprecedented of course.

If the call up is simply because they need offense, ok, but here’s reality. He probably isn’t an MLB catcher yet. At least not every day. He can DH, but that comes at the expense of Cutch who is just about 100% a DH now. Or, he can play Right Field, which probably puts Connor Joe (who is still hitting) or Jack Suwinski to the bench when he does.

So, go ahead, but he can’t just sit here, they simply can’t call up either of these kids and not play them almost every day. There’s no slow walking a guy like that. They get called, they play. To do anything otherwise would be detrimental to the cause.

The absolute worst outcome here would be neither of these guys panning out as a catcher. As it stands now, they have the expectation that they’ve addressed the position and will have an answer even if they don’t know which one it is yet. Alter their path because the team is in a collective slump and it changes the training plan.

I’m not telling you it can’t work, I’m telling you it’s threading a needle. And that’s if the bats play up here. Obviously you’d hope so but you’ve been watching this game a long time, talent doesn’t equal top level success from the jump most of the time.

Entering this season, Oneil Cruz, before the injury was still a question mark to a degree. We still didn’t now for sure he could handle SS, we weren’t sure if his approach against lefties would improve, and while he showed some great signs, his injury prevented us from seeing the progression play out.

Youth struggles. It may give you a pop of energy, it may ultimately raise the ceiling of your overall club, but it’ll often also lower the floor.

If the Pirates arrived at their 21-19 record by simply winning regularly and fighting in every series, most fans would probably feel pretty good about where they are. Especially given the fact most predicted a losing season or .500 at best.

The fact is, they got here by outplaying 28 teams in the league, then outplaying none for 2 weeks. It looks like a car crash, because it’s been one.

So what would I do?

First, I’d make a few decisions about my current roster.

Be very honest about what you do and don’t feel comfortable using. Palacios, Andujar, Owings, are simply not being used, and aren’t worth having here.

Choose starters for SS and 2B. I’ll be the first to tell you, the Pirates don’t have a ton of options here without Oneil Cruz, but they need offense. It hasn’t been pretty, but Castro and Bae in my mind are the SS and 2B most games. Let’s give them a spot, and let it play for a few weeks.

Look, calling up Endy or Henry isn’t fixing that situation anyway. So deal with this first.

Both have underwhelmed but they both have things they can do when they’re right that help this ballclub offensively. To get right, they have to play.

If you feel passionately that Marcano is better than either, fine, but pick someone, and lets let it soak.

Outfield starters are Joe, Reynolds and Suwinski. Against lefties, against righties, let’s see what they have. All three of them are under team control for quite some time, let’s find out if Joe or Suwinski are starters or nice bench guys.

Delay and Hedges aren’t going to create much resistance if the Catching discussion is about potential. They do have to be concerned about how the staff functions with whomever they play back there, but on boarding a youngster (at least 1) was always the plan this year. My advice here is, either jump Davis or wait for Endy to have a really hot week then make a call.

The pitching staff, well, Ortiz is already here. He’s truly the only one you’d want at this point. I ultimately think he’ll go back down, but I also think he’ll show himself to be a viable choice to call on.

The truth about this club is, they went and bought and/or had more layers built in at most spots, but injury has created a change in philosophy and timing need.

Fringe call ups aren’t going to help. Want Canaan Smith-Njigba back? OK, but he’s just going to sit. Want Cal Mitchell, alright, but he still can’t throw and he’s just gonna sit. Nick Gonzales, ok, but he strikes out like 35% of the time and he can’t come up until you’ve decided you’re done with Marcano or Bae. At least for now.

I told you before this season, I was most interested in seeing how and when they would try to infuse the youth, thus far we’ve seen that effort almost forced upon them. Reality is, the very best they have to call up, probably aren’t as ready as you’d like as it comes to fielding a position and helping at the plate.

The club may have to turn a blind eye to that and find a way to at least try, but make no mistake, it’s not likely to work. Now, they should still try, but I really hate the idea of calling up prospects and expecting them to be Jesus.

Make no mistake though, a miracle is what they’d need to have one or two call ups change what’s going on with the MLB club.

I recommend stabilizing things by trying to be a bit more formal with “starters” vs bench. Shake up the order, it isn’t working.

All of that, and I didn’t even talk about trades. Here’s why, it’s far too early. Teams for the most part haven’t even decided if they think they stink or not. Doors for trades won’t happen at least until this month is over, but likely half way into June.

Even then, the Pirates will have two distinct paths. They can help right now and use prospect capital to get it. They can get help that lasts for a couple seasons and use a bit more prospect capital to get it. That’s the list. They can’t afford to trade pitching prospects. They don’t know if either catcher will work, so neither can be expendable. They don’t think their outfielders are good enough for them, so it’s hard to believe they’d be good enough for others.

Point is folks, this really needs solved by getting more April performances out of guys who did it then.

A good coach can stop the bleeding. Since ours has already been extended, I’ll assume they think he is one. Time to put a foot down and stop the bleeding.

Sadly, I just don’t see that coming from calling up a guy or two and you’ll note, I never said they shouldn’t try, I just expect it to create as many issues as it solves.

At the end of the day, this is still a team that will flirt with .500. That’s what I thought they were, and that’s what I think we’ve seen they are.

Minor League News and Brews: Draft Prepping With Carlos Collazo

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-wem2i-1407392

Craig is joined by Carlos Collazo from Baseball America to talk about the 2023 MLB Draft, the definition of a helium prospect and how previous rankings affect the current ones; as well as some previous selections made by the Pirates. #LetsGoBucs #30MinutesOfBucs #MiLBNB

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!

Cedric Mullins Hits for Cycle as Orioles Down Pirates 6-3 (21-18)

5/12/23- By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on Twitter

A game which seemed to be very winnable throughout the night came crashing down when Mullins hit a 3-run home run in the 8th inning to finish off the cycle on the night. He had previously singled in the third, tripled in the fifth and doubled in the seventh to help lead his team to victory.

The Pirates managed to start up a comeback against reliever Austin Voth as they managed to get the tying run to the plate but the Orioles went to their closer, Felix Bautista, and he struck out 3 straight to shut the door on the game.

Starting pitcher Johan Oviedo didn’t have his best control but managed to keep the team in the game with his best outing in over 3 weeks. He was leaning mostly slider but was mixing pitches more than his previous starts and his velocity seemed to be up a ticket on most of his pitches as well.

Unfortunately, the bullpen struggled as Jose Hernandez was charged with 2 runs in .1 innings of work and Duane Underwood, Jr gave up 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks (including the home run to Mullins) in a critical moment for the team.

News & Notes

  • Oviedo managed to avoid trouble for the most part with 5+ innings of work, 4 hits, 1 run, 3 strikeouts and 5 walks on 86 pitches (44 strikes). 3 of the walks were on 4 pitches while the other 2 came on 5 pitches.
  • Pirates manufactured their first run in the third inning when Ji-hwan Bae got an infield single to short, moved to 2nd on a wild pitch, to 3rd on an Austin Hedges ground-out to short and came home on a ground ball to short by Ke’Bryan Hayes, scoring on an errant throw.
  • Ryan Mountcastle hit a lead-off triple down the right field line that just glanced off the glove of Connor Joe. Pirates challenged the fair call on the play and lost. Mountcastle would score on a wild pitch from reliever Dauri Moreta, the first time this season that an inherited runner has scored on him.
  • Leading off the 7th, Joe hit a home run 410 down the line, staying *just* fair to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead.
  • Mullins was the first opponent to hit for the cycle against the Pirates since Brad Wilkerson did it for the Expos on June 24, 2003.
  • The Pirates hope to rebound in game 2 tomorrow night. First pitch is at 7:05pm with Roansy Contreras set to start. Let’s Go Bucs!

Pittsburgh Pirates at Baltimore Orioles Series Preview

Written by Christian Wolf – @CWolfPGH

When & Who

Pittsburgh Pirates (21-17) at Baltimore Orioles (24-13)

Game 1 – (5/12, 7:05 EST)

Probable Pitchers:

For the Pirates – Johan Oviedo (2-3, 5.59 ERA)

For the Orioles – Kyle Bradish (1-1, 5.95)

Game 2 – (5/13, 7:05 EST)

Probable Pitchers:

For the Pirates – Roansy Contreras (3-3, 4.74 ERA)

For the Orioles – Tyler Wells (2-1, 3.15 ERA)

Game 3 – (5/14, 1:35 EST)

Probable Pitchers:

For the Pirates – Mitch Keller  (4-1, 2.72 ERA)

For the Orioles – Kyle Gibson (4-2, 4.40 ERA)

Team Trends

Baltimore has won all but one series at home, which came early in the season against the Yankees, and are coming off taking two of three from the AL best Rays. While the O’s do rank 22nd in baseball in starter ERA, they have one of the best bullpens in MLB, with a 3.12 ERA, 165 strikeouts, and just 49 earned runs given up, all of which rank in the top five of MLB. Baltimore’s offense also ranks in the top ten of many categories, including OPS, walks, RBIs, and runs scored.

The Pirates have lost nine of their past ten games, but thanks to a Brewers team losing just as much, the Pirates have maintained a slim lead in the National League Central. The Pirates bullpen has continued to be a pleasant surprise, but the rotation has been taking a hit lately, dropping out of the top ten in ERA. The Pirates’ offense has been silent over the past handful of series, with strikeouts racking up, and more notably, an inability to score with runners in scoring position. Facing an Orioles team with a top bullpen, scoring early and taking advantage of opportunities will be key for Pittsburgh.

Who’s Hot

For the Orioles – Austin Hays: Hays collected at least one hit in each game against the Rays, and is 6-24 over his last seven games. His impressive .856 OPS should give a fair warning to Pirates pitchers when Hays is up to bat.

For the Pirates – Andrew McCutchen: Cutch has exceeded expectations early this season with the Bucs, recording four hits in twelve at-bats against Colorado, with a walk in each game as well. Cutch has a .857 OPS this year and has done well getting on base, particularly with walks. He also has an early, yet impressive seven home runs this year, and will be an important factor in this series for the Pirates.

Who’s Not

For the Orioles – Gunner Henderson: While very young and incredibly talented, Henderson has struggled to find a rhythm to start the year. He is just 3-20 over his past seven games and collected just one hit in the O’s series against the Rays. Henderson is a player due to breakout at any time, and the Pirates need to make sure it is not in this series.

For the Pirates – Carlos Santana – Rough stretch for the Bucs’ first basemen. Santana went hitless in the Pirates series against Colorado and is just 3-22 over his past seven games. Santana still has a respectable .717 OPS, but has just two home runs this year, and could help the Pirates’ chances with a longball or two in Baltimore.

Series Overview & Prediction

The Orioles would be in first place in all but two divisions in baseball. They are tough to beat in general, but even tougher to beat at home, where they are 11-5 at Camden Yards. Their lineup is very dangerous, and if the Bucs can’t get a lead early, it’ll be tough to come back against their bullpen. Baltimore is not a team the Pirates want to face when they’ve already lost nine of ten.

         The Pirates know they can win, and have a talented group of guys. But when the offense isn’t clicking and the rotation is trending down, a turnaround takes time, and it’s hard to do that against one of the best teams in baseball. It’s early in the season, but the way teams respond to losing streaks is what can define a team, and the Bucs need to stop the bleeding.

         The Pirates ceiling in this series is taking one of the three games. But until they show some consistency on offense, it’s hard to see them winning a game here, especially on the road where Baltimore is so good. An O’s sweep seems likely, and the Pirates taking a game would surprise me. But the losing needs to end at some point for Pittsburgh, so maybe now is the time.