Ryan Helsley won’t pitch in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series today, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat). The decision is related to workload rather than a physical setback, as while Helsley left yesterday’s game with numbness in his right fingers. The issue contributed to a nightmarish breakdown, as Helsley was charged with four of the six runs the Cards surrendered in the ninth inning of the 6-3 loss to the Phillies.
An MRI didn’t reveal any damage, and Helsley told Jones and other media members that he’ll try to stimulate more blood flow in his fingers via laser therapy. The right-hander said he doesn’t have much feel (particularly on breaking pitches) as the ball is leaving his hand. With this is mind, it’s fair to consider Helsley as a question mark for Game 3, if St. Louis is able to extend the series tonight.
Here’s some more from around the NL Central…
- “I love it here, I feel good here, I feel comfortable here and I wish I could stay here the rest of my career,” Willy Adames told Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other reporters about his time with the Brewers. Adames is arbitration-controlled through the 2024 season, and given the Brewers’ payroll limitations, it remain to be seen how many (if any) of such notables as Adames, Corbin Burnes, or Brandon Woodruff could be possible extension candidates. “At the end of the day, [the Brewers] have to put everything together and see if we can work something out. Hopefully we can, and we can make it happen. But I’m always willing to hear what they have to say,” Adames said. Possibly impacted by a high ankle sprain that sidelined him in May and early June, Adames hit .238/.298/.458 over 617 plate appearances, though that still translated to a 109 wRC+, and the shortstop also hit 31 homers.
- Pirates manager Derek Shelton cited first base and catcher as “areas of need” in the offseason, telling Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and other reporters that “I do think we’ll continue to look to solidify those positions….We’re just going to have to see what’s available, how we acquire guys to fill that.” Roberto Perez may be a candidate to be re-signed, though the veteran backstop played only 21 games before undergoing hamstring surgery, and Perez was one of a whopping eight catchers who saw time behind the plate for the Pirates in 2022. First base was also a revolving door with 10 players getting time at the cold corner, and Michael Chavis (who had the bulk of the playing time) was already outrighted off the active roster, with Chavis electing free agency. As always, it’s hard to imagine the Pirates spending big on upgrades at either position, as the team continues to rebuild.
- Brennen Davis was limited to 53 games in 2022 due to back surgery, and the star Cubs prospect reflected on his difficult year and somewhat unusual injury with The Chicago Sun-Times’ Maddie Lee. Initially diagnosed as a herniated disc, Davis’ issue was actually a vascular malformation that was causing pain due to pressure on his sciatic nerve. While it may take time for Davis to fully recover his power stroke, both the outfielder and Triple-A hitting coach Desi Wilson feel the situation might actually help Davis’ overall hitting approach. “Having to grind for my hits. I can’t just go out there and muscle one out,” Davis said. “I have to square baseballs up and hit them the right way, with true backspin and stuff like that, and pick pitches that I can do damage on.” Davis has returned to action in the Arizona Fall League, and he is hopeful of making his MLB debut in 2023 — since Davis had already hit well during a brief Triple-A stint in 2021, he likely would’ve already appeared in the majors this year had he stayed healthy.
One obvious area of need for the Pirates is manager
Bring Jeff Banister back
I’ve- I did not think of him but he had a very good first year with the Rangers and obviously has experience.If he stresses fundamentals and is at least decent with a bullpen and holds players accountable then I would certainly not be adverse to him.There are not a lot of good experienced managerial candidates who would want the job.
@mendoza line I disagree with good experience managerial candidates will want the Pittsburgh job. It’s a nightmare position and really comes with nerves of steel. A bunch of young players, low payroll, cheap owner, and with a poor pitching and hitting coaches, would make any potentially strong manager candidate asking for a Bobby Bonilla contract that doesn’t get voided until 2034
Pirates-That is basically what I said and that is why the poster’s suggestion of Bannister may be good if he has learned from his mistakes and can do the things that I mentioned,
what the Bucs really needs is a new owner
What they really need is a new scoreboard sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Morning-Buzz/2022/…
I guess that takes priority over keeping their better players.
Pirates had a decent first baseman in Josh Bell but they practically gave him away in a money saving move. Take all that money they saved and spend it to resign him. The starting pitching staff is starting to mature, they just need some offense. Besides Reynolds, Hayes, Cruz and a few others their offense is pitiful. Reynolds would get a lot more good pitches if Bell was hitting behind him. Is there a rule that while you rebuild you are not allowed to be competitive?
Willy should be a wicked corner stone of Brewer BB for years to come. Spread out, give him room, the man can play…
Willy is the only Brewer veteran player they need to keep to build around.
They’re stuck with Christian Yelich – no one takes that contract.
Some of the young OF’s look promising – which is why the may need to teach Yelich to play 1B or 3B.
Got to do it from the farm system. The other position players aren’t going to bring back much of anything in trade. Probably have to trade Corbin Burnes and/or Brandon Woodruff. Need a top rate young Catcher to start.
Trade Burnes for his eventual replacement and stud positional prospect. Extend Woodruff & Adames. Trade Renfroe and by July of next year go with an OF of Frelick-Mitchell-Wiemer, left to right. Yelich to DH/1B. Trade for Danny Jansen at C.
Use the $50M+ in money savings to buy bullpen arms, an innings-inning starter, starter depth and IF depth.
Bud Selig Fan;
Good to see you back. Thought of you quite a bit this year.
Stearns needs to decide to stay or leave so the organization can move on. The Brewers took one step back this year and will take another next. But the FO and manager are bright, and if they make some smart moves they can come out of this well by 2024.
I didn’t like the teams reaction when Hader was traded. OK, maybe a shock for a week or so. Those are veterans and they knew the guy was sucking. Probably they were more upset it was a sign that many of them would be going who knows where shortly. But they’re supposed to be professionals. That reaction was disgusting to me. The FO has to turn over most of that roster. No team wins with a group that plays like that with the team a contender in August. I get the injuries, etc……but frankly, too many just quit.
Williams reaction and some others was surprising and disappointing.
Panj-The Pirates need a new hitting coach and a manager who stresses fundamentals and knows how to handle a bullpen.They gave Bell away for nothing.They should have kept him until they got a decent offer as their total payroll was low.The same with Marte who was traded just to get rid of his salary.
I am not opposed to bringing Bell back but you never know what you are getting with him.
Heard they are planning on trading the Racing Pierogis in the off season to save some money.
Former- That is an ugly rumor.
The tallest one is going to be signed for the league minimum to play first base.
They are really going to cook the Pierogis and serve them to the fans to save money.
One less Pierogis would save ownership money.
Still baffled how they didn’t give Arenado an error on the play that let in the last 2 runs.
Just because a guy is a Gold Glover doesn’t mean you can’t give him an E when he whiffs on an easy two-hopper.
When a ball takes a bad bounce and the fielder is unable to get a glove on it, they always count that as a hit, even if it looks like an easy play. Sometimes, if the player makes glove contact, they still call it a hit. Case in point, the line drive that went off of Lindor’s glove tonight because he mis-timed his jump was scored a hit for the Padres. I have no issue with that Arenado ball being scored a hit. What Arenado and Goldschmidt should be upset about is their awful offensive production in these last two games. I put the Game 2 loss squarely on both of them.
I was very surprised that Marmol brought Helsley in the 8th inning yesterday and he was expecting him to pitch the 9th inning too when he was hit in his finger a few days ago. We could have won that game. The way we lost that game was embarrassing. Today, we are facing elimination from the playoffs because the manager kept the closer in the game too long when he was clearly not pitching well in the 9th.
2023 is already a lost year for the Buccos. 2024 is there potential return to being a competitive team.
Don’t delay the inevitable though. Move on from Reynolds now and maximize his value. Move Cruz into CF, start Liover Peguero at SS and either Bae or Gonzales at 2b.
Give them 2023 to figure it all out
Lou-Pirate fans are tired of lost years,all 3 1/2 of them.Only once before in 133 years did they have back to back 100 loss seasons,and 2020 would have been 111 losses at that %.Shelton has the worst win % all time except the first manager for the Blue Jays.Enough is enough.The rebuild never stops.They will not figure it out in 2023 as this was supposed to have been the year to compete for a 500 team.The fundamentals are awful and I have lost faith in the front office and ownership as it looks like Shelton is coming back.
It is obviously not all his fault,much of it isn’t,but as a first time manager he makes so many mistakes,and the fundamentals are so poor,that they do not have a chance to progress at any reasonable rate.
The bigger issue is Andy Haines, more than Shelton. Now don’t get me wrong, I do not like Shelton as a manager, but there are definitley far worse altetnatives out there. Haines on the other-hand is a bad hitting coach. Oneil Cruz brought in his own personal hitting trainer in mid-late August, and it paid off. He had an OPS just seven points below .900 from August 28th through the end of the season. Biggest thing of note though was through Mid-Sept through the end of the season, Cruz had a 25.6% K-rate. That isn’t great still, but a massive improvement to when he struck out over 36% of the time in the first month of his 2022. Of course, none of us know the impact that hitting trainer Cruz brought in had on him, but it did coincide with some decent improvements.
Mendoza Line 215;
Disagree with you a lot on things.
In this case I think you hit it on the head about the fundamentals. Because of the situation they’re in – not contending for so long that not only their fans, but even their own broadcasters are weary and will make excuses for an Oneil Cruz because he has raw talent. Young players coming up take time to adjust to the majors. But I watched quite a bit of the Orioles and Guardians young players this year, and they seemed to know how to run the bases, play their defensive positions, work counts, pepper the strike zone, etc. They came up from the minors trained properly and the ML manager and coaches expected strong fundamental play. The game at the ML level is faster and more difficult, but they didn’t lose their composure, and the most important thing: When making a mistake…..don’t compound it!
It seems like most of the Pirates youngsters don’t have much in the way of baseball instincts – and I think that’s what’s upsetting you and some other older Pirates fans that post here. MLB is not rotisserie league – individual stats seldom translate to team wins….that’s assuming the object is the team winning.
Can’t tell what will happen the next few years, but keep in mind that most rebuilds fail. And the early telltale signs are the young players cutting corners on “the little things”.
One other thing…..LEADERSHIP.
Most teams have a few veterans that serve as team leaders to help the youngsters coming up to adjust to ML play – how to prepare to play, how to make in game adjustments, etc.
Statistics aside, the Orioles had Rougned Odor and Robinson Chirinos for the position players and Jordan Lyles for the pitchers. Cleveland had Jose Ramirez, Amed Rosario, and Josh Naylor for the position players; and Shane Bieber for the pitchers.
No one seemed to stand out for the Pirates. Bryan Reynolds was the closest. That’s not on the manager, that’s on the FO.
Samuel-You are correct again.I think that is why they kept Gamel and hopefully do not trade Newman.But Yoshi and Heath Hembree are not my ideal candidates for leadership,and Reynolds will never be a leader.
That is why they need to bring Cutch back for a swan song for one or two years.
I would also trade for Stallings.
And you are correct,that is on BC.
Samuel- On this thing it does not seem to me that we disagree at all.
You know a lot more of the Guardians and Orioles than I do.But I do know that the Guardians are fundamentally sound,and I trust that the Orioles are too.
I am not the only Pirate fan poster who has commented on poor fundamentals.The lack of good drafting and player development cost NH his job.BC seems to draft well but fundamentals should be learned in the minor leagues and the ML manager should only have to tweak them.
Why is that- their organizational teaching methods.
Why do you think that the Patriots won so much?Belichick pounded the different situations that they would encounter into them So much that it became second nature to them on how to react.My guess is that the Guardians and Orioles have done that also so today that is now their instincts.
The Pirate broadcasters are hyping Cruz so much because they are told to do so and they really only have him to do it on.He does have a high ceiling.
The young players are doing worse than cutting corners.They are keeping cell phones in their pockets,eating sunflower seeds during actual live plays,and not knowing the rules regarding tagging bases and runners.These players are not held accountable and that is on the manager.
Their starting shortstop should not have to have his own hitting coach in order to improve.
When teams drop as low as the Pirates and Orioles have done rebuilds will not fail because these teams could not have gotten any worse.Of course they will not win the WS.But there is no reason that they cannot become competitive enough to challenge for the extended wild card teams or win a title in a mediocre division.
The Generals had lost to the Harlem Globetrotters more than 16,000 times in their combined history while winning 6 games. The Pirates are on pace to replicate that effort.
You’re right on the money Mendoza… But do you really think Shelton is around after 2023??? Cherrington is still turning this into “his” club. Why go ahead and make a splash at Manager while waiting for the young guys to get the call?
Yinz should expect 1 of 2 things in 2024. The Pirates hire a high end bench coach ready for the transition or a well-liked, organization guy that these kids have already played for in the minors.
Looooo- I had to do it!
BC hired Shelton who I think came highly recommended.
Through most of this year I thought that they should give him a chance next year and fire him early if they did not improve.
I have come around to think that they need to get rid of him now.Rookie managers make rookie mistakes,and like Cruz swinging at curveballs far outside of the zone,Shelton makes the same ones over and over again.
He has the worst record of any manager since 1900 except for the Blue Jays first manager.
They have lost the equivalent of at least 100 games for three seasons in a row.
They need to have a change right now before more time is lost.He is a bad manager.
I understand your point,and I think that it is a good one.But I think that for the good of the Pirates,and for these players to learn fundamentals,and to not lose another year in a rebuild,they need to have a different voice,if only to do something different.
Like Shelton sending the same relievers into the ninth inning over and over again and getting the same bad results,the Pirates need to learn from history.The definition of stupid is doing the same thing over and over with the same negative result.
Just pick the best experienced manager and go from there.
I like what the Pirates have going into next year. Rotation didn’t look half bad a the end of the year with Contreras, Oviedo, Ortiz, and Keller. They have Burrows and Priester coming up next year, who already reached Triple-A. Catcher and first base are going to be issues at the start of the season, but I think the two positions will sort themeslves out with Henry Davis, Endy Rodriguez, and Malcom Nunez nearing MLB readiness. Get Nick Gonzales up here to play second base and the team doesn’t look terrible. You can have a line-up with Cruz, Hayes, Reynolds, Rodriguez, Gonzales, Davis, and Castro with a rotation of Contreras, Keller, Ortiz, Priester, and Burrows.
Imo, the biggest issue is the bullpen. The Pirates’ pen took a massive hit in mid-late August when all three of Colin Holderman, Yerry De Los Santos, and David Bednar landed on the IL. Only Bednar was able to return this year. De Los Santos and Holderman will come back next season. Still, I think they should go after at least one reliever, but preferably two.
MLB-I agree with you about Haines.But Shelton must go too.For small market teams to win they have to play like the Guardians and Rays played this series,fundamentally sound.That is not the Pirates,Shelton moves his players around too much,and the lineup was tinkered with too much .
They do have a number of promising young players,but they have to produce at the ML level.Burrows started out poorly in AAA.Priester has been hurt.Ortiz pitched four games,and Oviedo looks good but he is not proven.Gonzalez has been hurt and has not produced when healthy.For pitchers you need to be like Tampa and Cleveland and constantly churn them out.
BC did find some young waiver wire pitchers who may come through next year..Their pitching development is better than what it was,but in order to get better Shelton needs to go.
They are going to lose Keller and Reynolds soon to trade and they are their best starting pitcher and player.
They need two good stopgap catchers and a good stopgap first baseman until the young players are ready to become good major league players.They should be able to find them and it is time that Nutting spends some money.He will wisely not sign high priced free agents but at this point he should pay for mid level ones.
They aren’t going to trade either Keller or Reynolds. If they were going to trade Reynolds, it would have been last off-season. They’ve been very steadfast on their approach with Reynolds and have made it extremely clear that nothing short of multiple top 100 prospects (likely including at least one top 20 prospect) for the outfielder. Last off-season, the Bucs demanded Julio Rodriguez from the Mariners and that got nowhere. Zero reason for them to all of a sudden to change their stance on him now.
Not true. If it can breathe, it can be traded.
MLB-I do not think that they have changed their modus operandi of trading future free agents with one year left or maybe two years if they cannot extend them.
That means a year or two left for these two players after a year or two more of a rebuild will essentially waste their Pirate careers.
I do not think that they should trade them now even for a haul of minor leaguers as they do not have enough ML caliber ready players.They were wise in wanting a ransom for Reynolds,but will not be able to get it if he only has one year remaining in arbitration.
Why would they trade Reynolds or Keller???? I just think that it’s wishful thinking for all the doomsday posters. The posters who post the same old dribble.
Buuba-The only dribble is coming from your mouth.
I explained that it would be their modus operandi from previous years,and if you do not know what that means look it up.
Reports are that the pirates are negotiating with Keller for an extension..quit being so negative. MLB is right, things look good for the pitching.
But the whole coaching staff and Shelton needs to be fired
Buuba-Are those the same reports that says that Reynolds is near signing with the Pirates?
Why would they fire the pitching coaches if the pitching staff is looking up?
The pitching coaches have done their job reasonably well.They should stay like Searage did in 2011.
I have said all along that they have some good young players.Are you being negative when you say the whole coaching staff and manager need to be fired?Are you dribbling,and I am not talking about basketball?
Or is from drinking the same old Kool aid?
Jesus Aguilar, Carlos Santana,Travis Shaw, Colin Moran, and Jake Lamb are the ones that probably fit the Pirates price range. Wil Myers if they want to spend on a higher tier.
First Base has been a strangely difficult position for the Pirates to fill since trading Josh Bell
Sox- I always thought Aguilar was a good hitter and he seems to be a good guy.I never understood how Shaw dropped so quickly after a couple of very good years.Santana is done.Moran will not be coming back nor should he although I thought that he was a decent stopgap for third and first bases.I think that Lamb is done too.I do not think that Myers is going to cost more than a few $M,although he could be looking for a good year to get a decent contract.
As for your last comment,it has always been the weak link for the Pirates.Bell was actually the best that they have had in well over ten years.I was for bringing Yoshi back but you saw how that turned out.Your guy Chavis is a good guy and hustles and seems to be fairly sound in the field at several positions but the strikeouts were extremely high and the walks extremely low and that is what did him in.
It is weird how Shaw nosed dive after leaving Milwaukee and continued his free fall after mlb cracked down on sign stealing… coincidentally so did Braun, yelich and Aguilar… not saying anything, just making an observation.
Henry Urrutia in the Mexican League might be available.
Marmol’s choice to take Quintana early hurt STL as it moved guys up and made Hells have to get 5 outs.
that was so stupid. Quintana was dealing. absolutely no reason to take him out and burn out your bullpen in the first of a 3 game series. so dumb.
Bringing Helsley in at all with an injured finger was a questionable decision, but then leaving him out there to face five batters when his control was clearly lacking made even less sense.
Don’t be surprised if they go after 1B Bobby Dalbec of the Red Sox. Disappointing season this year and Boston may have soured on him. Bucs could get him cheap.
Dalbec is just another Chavis clone
High strikeouts low average and 2 years older
Dominic Smith and James McCann from Mets. McCann in trade and Smith as free agent if non-tendered.
Always liked Dom Smith. And if the Bucs are lacking a strong clubhouse presence, Smith fills that role too. He’s like the Sara Lee of baseball, “Nobody doesn’t like Dom Smith!”.
Bucs don’t need McCann. Bad signing by Mets, and I’m sure they’d like to get out from under what’s left on his $40 million contract. A better option might be Tucker Barnhart. Solid defensive catcher who knows how to handle a pitching staff. Plus, he’s familiar with the NL Central having played so many years with the Reds.
I spend the winter on the west coast of Florida. In the community where I live there is a large number of people from Pittsburgh. To a man, they all say the Bucs aren’t gonna get better until the owner sells the team. The guy makes Jack Benny look like a spendthrift!
The real issue with the Pirates is the cheapest owner in all of baseball, so to improve the positions of first base and catcher, except the dumpster diving technique that management follows every year to get the players needed
Question is when this is accomplished
After every decent free agent is already signed by another club or after spring training when all that’s left are the has or never beens are available
Somebody on this site said 2 months ago that there wasn’t anybody that the Cardinals could beat in the playoffs. Who said that? Ahhhh, It’s right on the tip of my tongue. He even specifically mentioned the Phillies as long as Harper could hit. I GOT IT! It was ME! I still got it.
Helsley lied about how his hand was feeling and his deceit cost his team the game. He will never be trusted by his teammates again.
I’m a Phillies fan and am obviously happy we won the mini series vs. the Cardinals. Lots of things went our way, especially that miracle ninth inning in Game 1..
But the Cardinals lost because their two big guns, Goldie and Arenado stunk during crunch time in both games.
If the Pirates want a 1B, they should trade for Rhys Hoskins. JMHO, but I think his days in Philly are numbered. We can move Bohm to 1B, Stott to 2B, sign one of the better FA SS and bring back Segura to play 3B.
Phils have a 27 year old first baseman with power that filled in as DH while Harper was out. 9 HRs in a little over a 100ABs Darick Hall He is blocked by Hoskins. Might cost them a prospect or two to get.
Parj-That trade would make sense but only for the Phillies if they will sign Hoskins as he may only have a year left before free agency.
Hall may be a shot in the dark but he did look good this year and the Pirates definitely need a first baseman.
I wonder if the Phillies would take Martin and Mitchell for him.
The Pirates will never trade for anyone that strikes out on average of 167 times a season and earns $8 million dollars, especially if the trade includes one of their top tier prospects
Quote: “… it’s hard to imagine the Pirates spending big on upgrades at either position, as the team continues to rebuild.”
That perennial rebuild blather coming out of the Pirates’ FO corner is nothing but a load of propaganda bunk in order to keep milking the gullible part of their fanbase.
Nutting neither has the money nor the intention to invest into a remotely competitive roster. The Pirates franchise is the most lucrative of his business ventures and he obviously means to keep living off of MLB’s revenue sharing and poor attendance compensation.
With the current ownership, the Pirates will remain basement dwellers. There’s no ‘rebuild’ and no hope for postseason appearances, only the perpetual baiting by franchise management.
The Pirates’ franchise is worth $1.2 billion according to Forbes, which means Nutting does have the money
Problem is, he’ll never spend any to field a competitive team.
They’ll be in perpetual rebuild mode for as long as he owns the organization
Those $1.2 billion are the projected sales price. Nutting would have to sell the Pirates in order to reap that money. The franchise’s market value doesn’t help Nutting one bit in terms of future investments, unless he mortgages the business.
That $1.2 billion is the franchise worth and has nothing to do with potential ticket sales
That’s the amount of money Nutting could conceivably receive if he sold the franchise
That’s equity.
He doesn’t have that money until he sells the team and receives rhat amount.
It’s almost painful to continually be right. The sun is a bit brighter, the grass a bit greener, and the air a bit fresher watching cardinal fans suffer. I have no idea why they are shocked since they have literally won ONE of their last ten playoff games and are 5-17 since 2014. Bums.
Milwaukee has that boat anchor of a Yelich contract, and I don’t understand what financial restraints they have, the fans turn out in droves to go through their gate and attendance is always in top 5 in league, if your owner and investors cannot pony up a little more to keep this team competitive with fan favorites, then maybe this team needs a new owner, maybe get a smarter financial team when it comes to huge long term contracts and have them do a little more of the homework so you don’t have these Albatross contracts.
“Droves” is a bit much.
Continually top ten. They have had only three seasons in top 5 since they moved to NL in ‘98.
Albatross contract? It was signed on the heels of back to back MVP caliber seasons. Games played was a concern, but it was a market value contract at the time. Injuries are unfortunate, but you can’t fault the org for that contract.
0523-it was offered by a front office that was aware of preexisting back issues, and before he’d taken a meaningful at bat following the knee injury. Those 2 things, in addition to still having a fair amount of time left on his previous deal, should have been enough for Stearns and Co to at least hold off until he proved the knee (and his head) were OK.
Jerry- trading him would be great..but number 1, why would anyone want him? 2. Why would they give anything of value for him? 3. Especially with the remaining money owed? 4. I’m almost certain he has a full no trade clause. 5. Apparently they’d need approval from the entire roster before trading anyone or they’ll all need therapy.
Look at the ticket prices. Revenue is amongst the lowest in the league. TV contract also pails in comparison to other teams.
While Yelich contract is problematic, I suggest trading him and Burnes to LA for Lux and Pepiot
Ke’Bryan Hayes already had his career year with the bat. I don’t understand the love he gets. He’s a hole in the lineup and wouldn’t be a starter on most teams.
Hayes made his share of errors this year but he is quick and has good range so he is a good fielder.He would be a starter on most teams but not the best ones.
I do not know if they messed with his swing but he is never going to be more than 280 and 12-15 home runs.He hits the ball well to right field and in the gaps but he struck out too much this year for not having much power.
The Pirates hype him and Cruz because they do not have much else to hype.
Wrote it before……
With all the hype about Hayes, Ramon Urias of the Orioles is a much better all around 3B.
I’m wandering into “beating a dead horse” territory but hype is the Pirates calling card. Heck, even the beat writer for the PG wrote a season wrap up that makes you believe that although they lost 100 again this year, they’ll win 90 next year.
There is nothing “great” on the horizon and nothing that would lead you to believe they are a 1st baseman and catcher away from putting it all together.
Tired-Believe it or not,Nutting has people on the payroll and this their job to hype the Pirates.They are only doing their job.We do not have to believe them..
Some posters on here can look at them with rose colored glasses.I think that with the proper managing and coaching and player procurement that the Pirates can become a reasonably good team within a couple of years.
It just seems to me that although several teams have had five or six poor years the Pirates need to make some significant changes to keep from doing the same thing.Other small market teams seem to be able to rejuvenate within a couple of years.Why can’t the Pirates.
I think that you and I as are other posters are realists in this regard and we both want the best for the team that we have followed all of our lives.
Staying healthy year after year, Hayes will compete for a gold glove, but until/unless he gets his swing in gear he’ll always be a mediocre hitter.
Batting him either first or cleanup as Shelton often did this season says more about the team’s lack of a good RBI man than it did of Hayes’ ability.
40 RBIs is pathetic for a 3rd baseman
The team set a franchise record for striking out, they had 6 players with 100+ strikeouts
Haines is equally horrible hitting coach as Shelton is a manager
Suwinsky and Cruz had twice as many strikeouts as hits
This just in. Helsley is out for game 3.
Apparently, all the Padres had to do to “fix” Hader was to use him properly. Doesn’t speak too well of the Brewers and how they managed him. Looked like his old nasty self against the Mets tonight.