Colin Moran left in the first inning of today’s 3-2 Pirates loss to the Cubs, as Moran experienced some left groin discomfort while making a play at first base. Moran snagged a line drive and then dove at the bag in an attempt to double Willson Contreras off of first base. Moran is officially day-to-day, and an injured-list placement would cost the Pirates their top offensive performer of the last two seasons.
Moran is hitting .297/.352/.468 with four home runs thus far in 2021. Given the forgettable state of his hard-hit ball numbers, it’s safe to say Moran has benefited greatly from his .392 BABIP, though he has been an above-average hitter (103 wRC+, 104 OPS+) since coming to Pittsburgh prior to the 2018 season. Moran has seen almost all of the action at first base this season, and Todd Frazier is probably the likeliest candidate to fill in should Moran indeed require an IL stint.
More from the NL Central…
- The Brewers have been hit hard by injuries this season but they’re finally starting to get some better health news. Catcher Manny Pina (left toe fracture) returned to the lineup today after being sidelined since April 27, while southpaw Brett Anderson (right hamstring strain) is expected to start on Sunday for his first action since April 23. Manager Craig Counsell also told MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince and other reporters that Corbin Burnes will throw a bullpen session on Monday and in all likelihood return to the rotation during the Brewers’ upcoming homestand against the Cardinals and Braves. Burnes was placed on the IL for unspecified reasons on April 29 but the ace looks to make a fairly quick resumption of a possible Cy Young Award-caliber season. Over 29 1/3 innings, Burnes has a 1.53 ERA and 49 strikeouts, and he has yet to issue a walk.
- Javier Baez also left today’s Pirates/Cubs game in the seventh inning due to lower back tightness, though it was a “precautionary” removal, as Cubs manager David Ross told NBC Sports Chicago’s Tim Stebbins and other reporters. “I saw him moving a little bit stiff out there…He just wasn’t moving well, and it doesn’t make sense to push him there,” Ross said. Baez reported some improvement with his back even after the game ended, though since the Cubs aren’t playing on Monday, it wouldn’t be surprising if Baez is rested on Sunday to give him some extra recovery time.
- The Cardinals recorded a 9-8 victory over the Rockies today, despite a very shaky outing from Carlos Martinez that saw the starter allow five runs on six hits and five walks over five innings pitched. After the game, Martinez told Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat (all Twitter links) and other reporters that he was pitching on a twisted ankle. Manager Mike Shildt said trainers tested Martinez prior to the game and gave him the green light to make the start, and Martinez believes he’ll be ready for his next scheduled start. The injury occurred during Friday’s game, Martinez said, as he hurt his ankle while standing on the dugout steps to high-five Jack Flaherty after Flaherty hit a home run.
If Moran is out for awhile I really hope the Pirates put Philip Evans at first, put an actual outfielder in the outfield and keep Frazier on the bench or just dfa him and call up Will Craig. Not that Evans is great, he’s cooled off considerably after a red hot two or three weeks to start the season, but the Toddfather is brutal to watch at the plate right now.
Something I said. I agree 100%.
Craig should have been up last year in the DH role. This guy is being held down for too long. There is questions about his strike out numbers and able to play the field. But there is no denying his power.
Furthermore on the matter, they will release him like Diaz (once a highly regarded catching prospect). Keep them down for long periods and let go of the previous GM deals or players. Craig should be up to see what he has and may draw some trade interest if their is a slightest value there.
Philip Evans has been moved around so much that it seems to affect his fielding.I am not sure that he is any good anywhere and his hitting has been anemic since the first ten games.
They are better off calling us Craig as a relatively young player and give him an extended chance to show if he can hit ML pitching.
It does not seem that Frazier can do so any longer.He would have to be released to open up a roster spot.
Moran is their best hitter so the offense will be even worse without him.
When he comes back he can play third until Hayes comes back,if he ever does.
Was Evans really ever good at third either though? I’m convinced he’s a bad fielder in general and keeps being given chances by teams based on the potential of his bat which us Pirate fans got suckered into based on the results of the first two weeks of the season with the stick.
So he is Adam Frazier is what you are saying?
Adam Frazier is a much, much better player than Philip Evans both offensively and certainly defensively in my opinion. Evans has more power sure, but Frazier has significantly better ability to put the bat on the ball.
Edit: Frazier can get to balls, Evans can pick balls that are smoked but only if they’re hit right at him.
Frazier is a bad fielder. Despite being a gold glove finalist.
Frazier used to be mediocre at best but if he was a bad fielder now he would not be a finalist.
I would say that it does not seem that second base has nearly the amount of good fielders that shortstop has,but he is clearly not a bad fielder.
? Evans has played good defense ? 1st,3rd saved hr I left.Get your facts straight.
Dice 66-Not sure who you are addressing but I do not think that anyone in this thread has said that Evans is a good fielder.
Bring up Tucker to play SS and move Newman to 2B and Adam Frazier to LF or try an actual Outfielder and bring up Will Craig and see what if anything they have with him. Evans is not an everyday player and the regular AB’s are proving that. Todd Frazier seems to just genuinely be unlucky this season. 1 for 27 but only 5 strikeouts says he’s just not finding any holes in the defense
Carlos Martinez getting hurt celebrating someone else’s homerun is the most Carlos Martinez thing he could do at this point. He was pitching too well. The wheels had to come off and the reason had to have nothing to do with arm talent. This guy is Nuke Laloosh in the flesh.
Reminds me of JD Drew. Didn’t that guy go on the DL from a stubbed toe walking through the tunnel or something like that?
As an opposing NL Central team’s fan, I genuinely feared Carlos Martinez’ potential about 5ish years ago. Now, as a fan of baseball in general, I wish I could have seen what the height of his abilities without injuries could have been. I thought of Pedro Martinez a good bit when I watched him pitch in his first couple years in MLB.
And from I remember he seems to always do very well against the Pirates,even before the last couple of years.
But yet Carlos has had a good career. The problem people have with Carlos, is that people see his talent and expected him to be another Pedro. When he didnt achieve that, he gets labeled a bust.
How have the wheels come off? He didnt blow the game, he gave up 5 BB and a game tying double that wasnt exactly blasted.
CMart had been talked about as being a number 1, but he never got to that level over any extended period of time.
I think he means the wheels came off because he gave up 5 walks and 5 runs. Prior to that game he had been pitching really well over the last few.
He had an ERA right at 3.00 for a four year stretch, he might not have been an ace but he was really close. I dont get the hate that he gets. he’s looked more like a pitcher this year, he’s still prone to those innings where he loses focus after an error and gets blown up BUT when he’s focused on making pitches he goes on some pretty good run suppressing stretches. Dudes got 4 above average pitches with loads of movement.
He wasn’t a starter in 2019 or 2020 so not sure his ERA for the past 4 years is appropriate in considering him an ace or not.
I’m expecting this injury to linger. And therefore the control problems to linger. Carlos has problems staying focused and nuisance type injuries have been a problem in the past. That’s what i mean by the wheels coming off.
The Pirates seem to fall in love with some guys in the minors then they become quite mediocre in the majors.
I agree that Tucker should be brought up and he and Hayes will not let any ball get through.If Tucker can hit 245 he would be one of the better hitters on this team.
Let Craig play.What do they have to lose?
They need to find out about these two and Newman this year.
Adam Frazier played well in left also and we all know that they need outfielders.It will increase his trade value.
Evans hit very well last year but I agree that he cannot field,and I think that they are now starting to realize that he is also not a bona fide starter in the major leagues.
One good thing about being bad is that they can find out what they have this year.The pitching has actually been fairly good,even the starters,although inconsistent.They mostly need about three or four good hitters to start to have a reasonably good team.Find out what they need this year and go get them in the off season.
I agree that the defensive abilities of Tucker at short and Hayes at third is well worth the liability of letting Tucker bat. Newman on the other hand seemingly only hits ground balls to the pitcher and is basically a lesser version of Clint Barmes. I liked Barmes and always will, but I also realize that the Clint Barmes’ of the baseball world aren’t going to win your team division titles let alone World Series’. There is no immediate fix for the Pirates. The team needs prospects to work out, more trades to add prospects who also work out and a couple 2022-2023 bargain free agents to work out.
For once there is a common direction of purpose for this franchise, but it’s still 2-4 years away from positive results at the MLB level.
JImmy-I recognize your name since I started four years ago and you always have good posts.
I do have to disagree though that the Pirates did have a consistent approach previously.They would trade players who were close to free agency,and NH got very good at that.He would not get the real young players in return but ML’ or ML ready players.
Uninformed posters think that the Glasgow/Meadows/Baz trade was typical.It was also one of his last deals,so they remember it.
BC had no choice but to do what he is doing as the Pirates endured an awful second half under Hurdle in 2019.NH’s biggest failing was the averageness of the farm system.A small market team has no choice but to have a very good one if they want to compete for the pennant.Only that and luck gets them a WS win.Hopefully BC meets his reputation and gets good young players in return for the trades at this year’s trade deadline.I think that he has done reasonably well with the four he has done.The only one I thought that he was short changed was for Marte and they are paying that price now.
I do agree with his plan at this point,but I do not think that there was any alternative due to how bad they have been since mid 2019.
I might not have been clear, I meant that now under Cherington they seem to have a consistent approach or focus on building up the lower levels of the farm and basically trying to start over which will take time but I generally agree with the concept. It would’ve been nice to get a third lottery ticket type player in the Marte trade but Liover Peguero is off to a great start showing both power and speed with a couple homers and stolen bases already from the shortstop position. I could see him making top 100 prospects lists by the end of the year and it seems like he’s a good complement to Nick Gonzalez as the future middle infielders. Hopefully Brennan Malone does well too.
I’ve always appreciated your thoughtfulness about the Pirates too. It’s been hard the past 5-7 years to find people who say anything other than the team is garbage and Nutting is cheap.
There are several of us who actually are Pirate fans and neither have rose colored glasses nor are negative whiners.
We can appreciate the nuances over a long period because we have some perspective of this particular team.
I think that you were clear and Cherington may very well know what he is doing in this regard.I don’t want to jinx anybody but Crowe and Bednar are both doing well and the Underwood trade looks like a winner at this point.
I just want the Pirates to get back to being a good team again with a chance at the playoffs.
I have found that the knowledgeable posters on this site are well worth having to scroll through the trolls.
knisner should be martinez’s designated catcher. there’s more pressure on him than pitching to molina
I was actually thinking the same thing. I don’t understand why C-Mart would perform better with another catcher, but Carlos is Carlos. Whatever it takes to get him focused and dealing.
I totally agree. When I saw the lineup yesterday my first thought was to give Yadi one more day off. But I don’t think Schildt, Mo or even Dewitt are able to make that decision