The Pirates have selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Kyle Nicolas, the team announced. In corresponding moves, fellow right-hander Thomas Hatch has been optioned to Triple-A, while Andrew McCutchen has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.
The 24-year-old Nicolas came to Pittsburgh in 2021 as part of the trade that sent Jacob Stallings to Miami. Primarily a starting pitcher during his first two years in the minors, he transitioned to a relief role this summer. By and large, he has performed much better out of the bullpen, albeit in a limited sample size. From August 1 to September 13, he pitched 21 innings in relief, posting a 2.14 ERA and striking out an incredible 30 batters.
Entering the season, both Baseball America and FanGraphs ranked Nicolas as the no. 14 prospect in the Pirates system. The evaluators at Baseball America praised his powerful fastball, while those at FanGraphs were more impressed with his consistent command. However, it should be said that both sources were assessing his body of work as a starter. Thus far, he has looked more like a power pitcher out of the bullpen, with an impressive 36.8% strikeout rate but a less-than-ideal 11.4% walk rate.
After four years in the Blue Jays organization, Hatch was designated for assignment this August. The Pirates quickly scooped him up and added the right-handed to the active roster. In 12 appearances for Pittsburgh, the 28-year-old pitched to a 4.03 ERA and a 4.49 SIERA, nothing spectacular, but perfectly serviceable numbers for a long reliever. Still, it’s understandable why the Pirates would be more interested in the potential that Nicolas brings. It’s far more likely that the youngster plays a significant role in next year’s bullpen.
As for McCutchen, his move to the 60-day IL is nothing more than a formality. The veteran tore his left Achilles tendon earlier this month, ending his 2023 campaign. According to Pirates general manager Ben Cherington, the team believes McCutchen will be back on the field in 2024, and the two sides have agreed to discuss a contract for next year during the offseason.
Sure why not
Good to see Nicolas up. He’s been lights out over the last month-plus. Since August 15th, he has allowed just two earned runs and one homer in 15 innings, has a 24:6 K:BB ratio, and is hitting the upper-90s on the regular. Pirates moved him to the bullpen full time this year at Triple-A after struggling as an SP at Indianapolis, and while there were some growing pains with the new role, it looks like he has settled in.
Another thing of note is that he’s almost completley dropped his curveball, opting to use just his four-seamer/slider combo out of the pen. I think a lot of people saw this coming with Nicolas, even when the Pirates acquired him back in the Stallings deal. Fastball and slider have always looked like plus pitches, but the curveball lagged significantly behind, and the change-up was a distant 4th pitch.
Not surprised to see Hatch get the axe. He had a couple of solid outings at the start of his tenure, but has allowed eight ER over his last 12 innings. He’s gotten hit pretty hard too, with a 91.9 MPH exit velo and 55.3% hard hit rate in that time as well. Hatch will probably be on DFA-limbo watch this off-season (assuming he makes it that far) given there are some prospects the Pirates could and should protect from the Rule 5 draft, most notably being Braxton Ashcraft.
Sad to see McCutchen placed on the 60-day IL, even if we saw it coming from a lightyear away. Pretty dissapointing end to what was an overall solid season for him in his return to Pittsburgh. I am concerned about his health though. That’s his second major leg injury since 2019. Same leg as well. He’ll turn 37 in early October, though at this point in his career, assuming he feels healthy enough for another year, it’s Pirates or retirement.
MLB- Good post.Hatch May lose his spot but he is a good Quad A pitcher who would be good to have in AAA.
Bido,Bolton,CSN,and Capra May be others.
Do you know others besides Nicolas who they want to keep from the Rule 5 draft?
Braxton Ashcraft definitley. Dude came back with a vengance this year. I watched some of his games at Altoona. Was hitting 97-99 MPH with his four-seamer. Not bad for a guy who pitched less than 50 innings from 2020-2022. The Pirates were pretty conservative with his innings count though, as he didn’t pitch more than 4 innings in any of his starts and took some long stints on the developmental list.
Jared Jones is also a pretty definite yes. He pitched great at Altoona, and while his numbers at Triple-A might not look great, he’s actually been one of the top 10 pitchers in the International League this year. He had to get used to the ABS system in the middle of the year. Imo, he’s the Pirates’ best pitching prospect behind Skenes.
Really, that’s about all I can think of. Malcom Nunez likely won’t get protected. He passed through the draft last year, and I doubt many teams have him high up on their list, given his mediocer 2023. First basemen are also rarely selected in the R5 draft as well. Him and Matt Gorski are the only ones that they might risk losing, though the chances both get selected are low.
Keep in mind they also have to make room on the 40-man for guys who are getting activated. JT Brubaker, Mike Burrows, Angel Perdomo, Tucupita Marcano, and Oneil Cruz will all need 40-man spots, even if Brubaker and Burrows will go right back on the 60-day the moment they are eligible to do so. Jarlin Garcia may also need a 40-man spot if the Pirates decide to keep him around. I doubt they do, given that Borucki, Perdomo, and Hernandez have been a pretty solid LHRP trio in his absence. I don’t see the point of bringing him back for $3.5 million when he’s missed an entire year, and Borucki, Perdomo, and Hernandez could potentialy out-pitch him.
I think the ones who are on the 40-man chopping block include Hatch, Bido, Capra, Kranick, Yerry De Los Santos, and maybe even Delay. CSN and Bolton are probably the last ones they’d want to cut because they were just added over the last season, though is push comes to shove, they’d probably not miss either of them, especially Bolton.
MLB-Thanks for the response.I am aware that they have no 60 day I L during the off season.They have those 5 on it and will have to find spaces for them.
Jarlin Garcia is a true mystery man to me and I was not aware that his injury would keep him out of nearly a full season.The Pirates have said nothing about him.I say cut the ties.
Hopefully Perdomo’s injury is not serious.
Hernandez will probably start the year in AAA.
I would be sorry to see them lose Yerry as he has pitched better in the ML’s this year than in AAA.
It would be a mistake to cut DeLay as he is their safety net at a critical position.
They are in a good roster position when they no longer have fat to cut.
Not sure if Cherington can do this but they may want to make a trade during the playoffs to relieve them of the roster inflexibility.
Cutting Delay would require them to find another catcher since it’s apparent Henry Davis needs another season at Indianapolis
He was brought up too early and hasn’t really been able to make the transition from the minors and the majors
Besides Keller prefers that Delay is his battery mate when he pitches
Marcano also failed to transition from AAA to the majors This team has enough .210 hitters
Imo, Marcao’s whole development was thrown off by the Padres back in 2021. They put him on their opening day roster that year when Tatis missed the first week or so because they needed another infielder. They made him skip High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A, before seeing the Major Leagues. When Tatis was healthy, they didn’t option him to Double-A, or High-A. They sent him to Triple-A. He definitley needed another full year of playing time at Double-A, at least, in 2021.
I think Davis will be fine. He’s talented enough to figure it out. After watching him for this season, I think he’s just trying to hard. Seems like a guy who would put all the pressure on himself. That can be both a good and bad thing.
I am fine with Delay being the 2nd catcher to open 2024. He’s a good framer and a solid reaction time. He can’t hit, but most second catchers don’t. Heck, the Astros’ starting catcher this year is batting .191 with a .606 OPS because he works so well with the pitching staff.
Glad he’s getting a chance. Bucs are playing solid ball the past few months.
You’re right, they have been playing well. 26-24 over their last 50.the 50 before that, 18-32. The first 50, was 26-24 as well. I’m hoping for 7 to 8 more wins this season.
If only they didn’t have that horrible stretch in June and into some of July. They didn’t have to play extremely well, but things could have been really interesting had they played like .420-.430 ball during that stretch.
I really feel sorry for this kid today.Shelton pulled his usual knucklehead moves and threw him to the wolves before he had a chance to sit down.
Those are the type of decisions that can ruin careers.
Someone needs to tell me how Andy Haines deserves another year as hitting coach when collectively they struck out-16 times
Name one player who was promoted under Shelton that hasn’t failed at the major league level?
This team has digressed from last year. Endy was forecast to be good hitter and hasn’t shown any signs of being an offensive threat
Alika Williams cannot hit major league pitching and strikes out far too often
Henry Davis is in over his head
Palacios is not a regular every day player and should be platooned
Rivas doesn’t belong in the majors either and only plays because the player development in the minors has failed to produce legitimate major league talent
Paul- And they are not even playing their best pure hitter in Andujar.
They do not platoon Hayes or Suwinski.
They do not need to platoon Andujar.
But they use AI too much.
Paul-And they are not even playing their best pure hitter in Andujar.
Hayes and Suwinski are not platooned,Andujar does not need to be.
Use analytics too much
They will end up paying for it.
I completely agree Mendoza, on everything you said
Suwinski has no business playing against lefties, Andujar sits more often than any player on the team
Hayes is better against lefties but his glove is probably more valuable than his offense.
I don’t see how you can say this team got worse. They’re at 71 wins and have a 30-27 record since July 19th. Yes, I know Rodriguez and Davis have been dissapointing, but let’s give it a little more than just one partial year. I am not saying they’re going to be as good as him, but Mike Schmidt batted .197, struck out 31% of the time when striking out over 20% of the time was considered below average, and only hit 18 home runs in 443 plate appearances.
Here are some other things I have noticed since they started playing better in mid/late-July. They’re much with runners on. Going into tonights game, before they scored 13 runs, they were batting .253/.337/.435 with a 105 wRC+. That puts them in the top half of the league in wRC+ (13th), OPS (11th), wOBA (331), OBP (13th), slugging (12th), and walk rate (7th). They still only rank 21st in K% and 18th in BA, but those are the only two noteworthy numbers they are not within the top 15 of. None of those numbers are really that advanced of analytics either.
They’ve gotten better at lifting the baseball. They have a 20.7% line drive rate 37.2% flyball rate. Both are right around league average. Before that, they had a 20% LD% and 36.1% FB%. Might not seem like much, but it’s helped them score more runs.
On the point of Andujar, maybe Andujar is better in a more part-time role. I get why they’re playing Palacios more regularly right now. He’s batting .302 with an .807 OPS in the month of September. Might as well keep playing the hot hand. Hayes doesn’t have all that big of platoon splits either. He’s batting .272/.311/.454 with a 101 wRC+ against LHP, and .268/.313/.429 with a 97 wRC+ against same-handed pitching this year. Even if you want to take just his June-present numbers when he started to get hot, he is still hitting well against RHP. Suwinski, I do agree he needs platooned. He can’t hit LHP.
They can’t really do much at first base until this off-season. The Rivas/Joe platoon is pretty much all they got. Williams, nobody expected him to really be all that great of a hitter. He was a so-so hitter for most of his minor league career. I think he projects like a fast Clint Barmes-type.
MLB- Don’t let facts get in the way of your arguement.
Just the fact that players like Van Meter and Hoy and even Castillo and Chavis are no longer on the team are proof of your statement.
Joe and even Palacios are proven commodities.Andujar is not.
He only had an OPS of 940 in the highest of minor leagues.He can play first base,right field,and left field,and be decent at each.
It is just poor management and general management that he has not received a solid chance.
Eddy has been far from disappointing..People expected too much of his hitting because of last year.He has smartly concentrated on his catching and has become a good ML catcher in a short time.That is difficult to do.
Davis will hit,and should be made at least the emergency catcher in case Endy goes down with an injury.
I get why they’re being conservative with Andujar. This is the best he’s played since his 2018 rookie season, but I don’t see why they shouldn’t at least see what he can do at first base. He was playing there semi-regularly at Triple-A Indy. Joe and Palacios are best in platoon/bench roles. But with their current lack of depth, there’s not much they can do. Joe/Palacios are basically being asked to undertake a much greater role than expected.
MLB- Still not sure what the reason or reasons are.
This has been the perfect time to give him six weeks of almost constant time with Cutch and Davis injuries and mediocrity from Joe and Palacios.
They needed to find out about him while he is healthy and in a groove.
If he proves to be another 250 hitter during that optimum period and mediocre in the field then he is at best a backup.
But these clowns will never know what could have been.
@mendoza line everyone wants to rush guys to the majors. Fan base is falling out of belief with this organization. So the real question is, is this a desperate decision to please the fans or is the development of these players at the big leagues is because of poor coaching performance by Haines and the pitching coach (forgot his name)? Or both?
The talent is there but upon reaching the majors, it stalls out. Is something happening to make these guys look good at the minors but upon the majors, are they being set back because of improper coaching?
My opinion, minor league player development and the ability or lack thereof by the hitting coaches and his staff to guide these youngsters on the major league level have both been epic failures
It says something adverse that these youngsters make every opposing pitcher look like the reincarnation of Walter Johnson.
As a team they rank 4th in the league in strikeouts, last in batting average and last in runs scored
And the blame falls on Andy Haines and Ben Cherington for keeping him employed
Fan- Good question.I thought that I had a good and thorough answer but the ad introduction disabled it.I will try again.
Just lost another one.
I think that it good to give them cameos if they have earned it through AAA play unless they are a phenom which the Pirates do not draft.It gives them a taste of the ML’s and you never know how they will do.
But Davis for instance is not a ML player and was forced to quickly change positions which is something that the Pirates are awful at doing without proper experience there,
I do think that the talent is good but Haines is bad but Marin is good.The bigger problem is the organizational coaching is bad which is what got NH fired.Then Shelton is poor at this aspect of managing which is playing the right players at the right time.
He could have easily used Stratton yesterday than Nicolas.
These players may look good in the minors but the fundamentals are not always there unless they came from outside the organization.
You’re also right about the organizational coaching.
Cruz and Marcano were lost due to unorthodox sliding.
Fielding remains suspect
And Shelton’s use of analytics isn’t effective unless players given indepth batting knowledge. These guys swing haphazardly at pitches without any forethought
But we all must keep in mind that the talent level between AAA and the ML’s is enormous.It can take several years for even the better and well coached young minor league players to become good ML players.
The problem with the Pirates is that the instruction and management is not good enough for long time fans to be confident that this rebuild will result in playoff runs or that the goal isn’t a 500 team.
I am sorry for the numerous posts but I am tired of losing them.
I hope that I answered your question.
@mendoza line it’s and honest opinion that I also agree with. I feel like Haines is the exact opposite of what is being coached in the minors. When a kid like Davis and Rodriguez come up, they look lost and different from their minor league appearances. It seems like Haines could be guiding these guys wrongfully at the majors and having all prospects doing the opposite of what they were doing in the minors. Look at some minor league footages of some prospects like Davis, Rodriguez, Triolo, and Priester (as examples). Then look at their footages at the MLB level. They take too many strikes looking at the MLB level. Minors they are a bit more aggressive. Just one of many twerks I seen and like to point out. Priester, Ortiz, etc seem to forget what got them to the majors. Their stuff isn’t as crisp as in AAA. I also see both guys moving their arm slot (release point) from minor league to MLB. Is this the pitching coach making such a drastic change to a pitcher’s delivery? Or is it mental on the pitchers? It looks like the pitchers are throwing nearly behind their heads like Zane Smith did. More power?
Fan- I defer to smarter guys than me like you on pitching mechanics.
But with Marin he seems to have made a difference with some of the pitchers claimed off the waiver wire and especially Oviedo.
Some of the young relievers are doing pretty well too.
Ortiz supposedly only has two pitches.
Priester needs more time in AAA to eliminate his big mistakes.
Remember both of these guys have very little ML experience.
Haines evidently tells batters not to be aggressive.Hence,Suwinski looking at so many called third strikes and walking away while the umpire is still making his call.
Hayes went to Joe Nunnaly a couple of months ago and is the reason why he is hitting like Mike Schmidt used to hit.
I have hope that Cherington fires Haines for as in an interview he did not give Haines a ringing endorsement.
You must not be a debutante if you remember Zane Smith.
Fan- Since you are just not another pretty face I wanted to ask you a question.
What do you think of Shelton not playing Andujar close to every game but playing Connor Joe like he is a regular?
And why did they leave him at AAA when he was hitting .350 with power most of year.
That is a question for the ages but that is on Cherington.
I think that since he was not drafted by the Pirates and they are in love with Joe that a guy hitting 350 in the MLS sits on the bench on the next to last hitting team in the NL.
Shelton is a culprit too even as he says in an article that Andujar is a fine hitter.
By the way,you had the four highest single season strikeout totals for the Pirates in the 20 th century.
You really could throw a strawberry through a locomotive.
My first game at age 7 would be one of those 4 Veale games. June 1,1965, beat the Phillies 4-0, 16Ks and a CG in spite of two rain delays.
Bob- Lou Brock would not hit against him one time because it was so hot and humid that Veale had to constantly clean the water off his glasses!
Yes, he would step off the mound and get the handkerchief out to clean glasses, a few times a game when the humidity was high.
Which begs the question would he get added seconds to do so to the current time clock now.
Alika Williams was 3 for 35 against lefties prior to last night’s game so what purpose did it serve for him to pinch hit against a lefty in last night’s game?
Why not use Delay instead?
Shelton continues to show why neither he or Haines deserve another year as manager and hitting coach respectively
Paul- These are all negative comments that you say.
Unfortunately,they are all true.
It may be very difficult for the Pirates to hire the best and the brightest in coaching. and managing positions.But when they are not good at their jobs then another reasoned choice probably will not be worse,and sometimes change for the sake of change is a good thing,
Dream GM on the other hand says that losing is a good thing until you collect numerous high picks who you do not need to develop.
I think that he thinks that a team can magically go from 62 wins to 92 wins in one year.
I think that you and I disagree.
That’s been the scenario with this franchise for years, play bad enough for high draft picks and when they make it to the majors, the poorly managed player development results in more high draft picks
It’s a never ending cycle
My beef regarding hiring better coaches is until they decide to make a change, we’ll never know if there was someone more fitting to work with younger players
Your post makes too much sense.
That comes from the top.Either Nutting is unwilling to pay for the best or he is oblivious to what is going on until it craters or he gives too much power to the GM because he knows nothing about baseball.
The optimal solution would be to fire the ones responsible and negligent,keep Cherington,but put a good president of operations over him like the Mets just did with Stearns,and let him pick the replacements.
Tonight’s lineup is what we would expect from Shelton
Palacios has no business batting first but is
Suwinski is in the lineup against a lefty
Connor Joe has no business in the cleanup slot
And which player is missing?
Andujar
Connor Joe has no business playing at all.
Connor Joe is having a good season. He’s a very solid bench player that’s more than held his own even though he was forced into regular playing time this season (not his fault).
Buc- He is not a good outfielder and a poor defensive first baseman.That last is not his fault as the Pirates believe that they can move anyone anywhere.
He would have been fine last year or the year before but hopefully they have begun to try to win many games.
They got him for next to nothing and he is 31 years old and not a good clutch hitter.
And why in the world is he playing instead of a 340 hitter?
He’s an average defender at both first base and outfield (that’s what the analytics say). Eye test tells me he’s slightly above average in the outfield and slightly below at first base.
He’s also slightly above average as a hitter (102 OPS+) and a good baserunner.
He’s been worth 0.5 bWAR and 1.5 fWAR this season and his ZiPS projection for next season is 1.8 WAR over 420 plate appearances. That’s a solid bench player any way you slice it. In a perfect world he only gets about 300-350 PA’s because he’s truly a bench player, and his primary role is to be in the lineup against lefties for offense.
Having both him and Palacios on the roster next season is a little redundant unless the Pirates don’t address first base in the offseason and Joe is a stop gap there (hope this doesn’t happen). If I had to choose one or the other I’d trade Palacios and keep Joe, but I’d be fine with either.
Buc- I don’t necessarily disagree with what you said,
I still stand by what I said.
Why isn’t Shelton playing Andujar,someone he just told a reporter is a fine hitter?
You’ll have to ask Shelton lol.
I don’t really care about Andujar as I don’t think he’s any good. He’s also worse than Joe at first base and is basically a DH (he’s bad in the outfield as well). If I were to guess they may be playing Joe because they plan on him being on the team next year and plan on non-tendering Andujar, that’s my best guess.
Buc- What you are saying may be the reason.I think that they are prioritizing the young players that they signed and Joe who they traded for.
Andujar looks fine in right field.
Joe does not at first base.
I just think that it is very stupid to ignore Andujar’s production this year.Even the announcers are saying that he is an rbi machine.Even Shelton said that he was a fine hitter in a recent article.
But it was ominous at the end of the article where the writer mentioned that Andujar may be non tendered.
If so I guarantee that he will be signed elsewhere this year..And I hope that he signs with a central division team and sticks it to the Pirates next year.
The Pirates are not good enough now or in the future to ignore 340 hitters.
I think once we got Cutch Andujar became superfluous and was never going to get a shot
Meh, I think you’re overselling Andujar. Joe MASHED AAA pitching as well when he was there, most of the guys on the Pirates roster crushed AAA pitching.
I wouldn’t mind them bringing back Andujar and letting him compete for DH at-bats in Spring Training if Cutch won’t be back by the start of the season, but I just don’t think he’s very good. He probably deserves one last shot, but that doesn’t have to be with the Pirates.
I am actually not selling him.They have never really given him a chanceHe May be a 250 hitter but you do not know until you give him at bats.
The broadcasters call him an rbi machine.
They do not call Connor Joe that.
McCutcheon did not sign until the very end of the off season which tells me that he was holding out for one last big ticket contract.
If he was so in love with the Pirates he would not have done that.He got $50 M from the Phillies so he is hardly indigent.
They had signed Joe before him.I do not think that they wanted that signing to be superfluous,so it kicked Andujar down,and he did not hit in the sparse at bats given to him earlier in the year.
“In 12 appearances for Pittsburgh, the 28-year-old pitched to a 4.03 ERA and a 4.49 SIERA, nothing spectacular, but perfectly serviceable numbers for a long reliever.”
Either there needs to be a semicolon before “nothing spectacular” or a new sentence. Right now, the writer is listing “nothing spectacular” as an accomplishment of Nicolas, just like his ERA and SIERA. Punctuation is always a problem with these writers.
Runners at 2nd and third with one out and Connor Joe does what I have come to expect, he strikes out looking and Sueinski then strikes out swinging
Palacios also struck out looking
Jack has no business playing against a lefty and batting 5th. Just like Joe has no business batting cleanup
The MORON Shelton has blown about 10 games this year. You take 5 of those games as wins and the buccos are at 500. To say they haven’t improved is wrong. To say that the MORON has improved as a manager is a joke. He’s completely oblivious to managing a major league team.
And give endy and the other youngsters they called up a full year before writing them off.
The one guy who should be a skate boarder is Williams. And pegeuro looks like a future solid major leaguer. Take the MORON out and you have a very exciting team
Buuba-Tell us how you really feel about Shelton!
Maybe not ten but I would go at least 8.
They have improved to almost mediocrity.That is an improvement from abysmal to terrible to very bad.
Some posters write young players off quickly or the opposite,but give them one to two years for growth.
Endy has proven to be a fine catcher.They should not play him at first base.He will hit next year as the initial pressure of being a big leaguer will be off.
Not sure how old Williams is but he should be put on a weight training regimen to see if he can gain 15 pounds of muscle over the off season,He is a fine shortstop.
You had said after the 20-8 start that they could win 86 games this yearIf they succeed in the rebuild they should win 87-90 next year.
Not sure if Shelton can do it though.
I believe that where lineups are concerned, Shelton gets his marching orders from the front office to a great degree. That’s not to say that he’s a great in-game strategist, on the contrary, but they seem to have set out to get a look at virtually everyone with a pulse deemed “ possible MLB” material after the all Star break
They have a nice core in place but you wonder what their thinking is with the mystery moves. Guys like Palacios and Andujar provide nice depth here and while you can add Joe to that mix, I’ll never understand the love affair some (above) have with him.
The best things to come out of the season have been Hayes finding some consistency at the plate, Reynolds looking more like himself and guys like Peguero showing their abilities. Not sure how Williams fits here if Cruz is healthy. Where does Triolo fit?
The biggest problem with the idea of being in contention in ‘24 comes down to starting pitching. Three guys coming off of major surgery counting Velasquez, a couple of iffy guys like Oviedo and Ortiz to go with the ace Keller. Granted, starting pitching prowess ain’t the big thing it used to be, but it still goes a long way in determining contending teams.
Gonna be an interesting off season
I think that what you are saying on Shelton is that the marching orders may be to play everyone.
I think that BC also heavily relies on statistics unless Shelton makes the bizarre lineups up on his own.
Even then though they are on him.
Some of these guys need another two or three months in AAA to see what they can do.
I think that Nutting needs to spring for someone like Sonny Gray to jump start the starting pitching.Remember that Scenes may very be up in May also.
BC has done a very good of pulling someone from the hat too.
The best thing that came from this year is that they are not an awful team anymore.
Yeah, Gray would be nice although the Twins would be crazy to let him go after winning the central. They’re more of a Dallas Keuchel type of team, but we’ll see. Velasquez wants to come back and seemed to enjoy a rebirth here
Having seen their pitchers at AAA, hard to see anyone being deemed ready. Priester still isn’t there. Skenes? Let’s hope so
I like your last line. Someone tell David Ross. His comments after the Pirates took two out of three from the Cubs should be bulletin board material for ‘24
I have been touting Gray for awhile.He has been healthy and consistent,except for the Yankees,his whole career.I figured that it was a pipe dream,but one can hope.
I see on this platform where he could get four years at 32 years of age for $20M per year so it is more than a pipe dream.
I am not against resigning Vince mid year but he has to give a demonstration and other teams would see him.
Hopefully Brubaker can come back and pitch better and give them a decent #4.
Both Keller and Oviedo are like a box of chocolates,you suspect and hope for something good,but you don’t always get it.
I agree with you about the minor league pitchers.Some are good enough to tantalize the Pirate hopefuls,but they have never really proven anything..
Ross has just taken one too many foul balls off his mask.
Given this second half upturn, they’re going to have to make some big decisions during the winter. If they really believe they can contend—and right now, you’d have to think they do—then can they go into spring training with the staff they have and the idea that at least one of the three guys that had major surgeries will be ready when they go north
Given what we know about TJ surgeries, I don’t know they can. VV is another story altogether, in a surgical and re-signing sense
Keller is their ace and it would seem they’ll stick with Oviedo and hope for consistency. Everything else is a question mark
And if they see the need to bring in a starter or two, will they spend a bit more for a guy like Gray or will it be the usual reclamation project type, like Clevinger, Syndergaard, Carasco or Keuchel?
And that’s just pitching
Their core has shown growth in the second half, but that would include Palacios,Triolo, and yes, Andujar. Triolo has been getting reps at 1st and I’d hope none of these guys are relegated to Indy in favor of bringing a guy like Santana back. I like Santana mind you, but not at the expense of a younger player
Yes. They’ve looked at virtually everyone on the cusp this summer. To even the casual fan, it would seem like most questions have been answered and to me at least, guys like Williams, Gonzales and Capra are the odd men out
Another good post.
I think that we have a lot of good and knowledgeable Pirate fans on here
Triolo has shown some decent power lately that I was not aware he had.
Maybe BC will trade guys like Gonzalez from his group of 237 middle infielders for some decent young pitchers.
People diss Williams but one only needs to watch the game yesterday to see the value of a fine fielding shortstop.
BC has done a good job getting one year starters but I hope that he does not have to dumpster dive for guys like Keuchel.I think that Clevinger would be the only pitcher that you listed that I would be interested in.Maybe they can trade with the Indians for a young pitcher.
I was against signing Santana because they had Choi and I knew that they would need another starter.Shelton wanted him and I think that he did reasonably well and mentored the young players but they would regress if they go back to him next year.They need the roster spots.
Yes, Williams is a slick fielder, no doubt. He’s a late inning defensive replacement extraordinaire. But again, it’s a numbers game. You have Peguero at 2nd and the go-to guy to play short when Cruz is out. You have Bae as the back up at 2nd or in the outfield. Unless they’re going to state that Davis will spell Endy behind the plate and Delay’s days here are numbered, again, how do you keep Williams over Triolo, or Palacios, or Andujar?
And you have Termarr coming up quickly through the minors which lends credence to your note about 237 middle infielders, lol
A lot of interesting decisions to make that unlike recent history, need to entail the idea of contending. I just think the days of keeping guys down at Indy—guys who have shown they can help here—are over
I have to respectfully disagree on your last statement.
I think that it is fortunate that they have to send young decent ML players to AAA
They have a few 40 man spots that they can readily use,but not many.
If Triolo can play shortstop as well as his other infield positions then Akili may be superfluous.
I also disagree in general about drafting the best possible player.Hence,the lack of starting pitching and the glut of middle infielders.
They will need to keep Delay on the roster as several knowledgeable posters here do not think that Davis can cut it catching in the ML’s.
You’re missing the point
What I am saying is that the Pirates were notorious for keeping guys on the farm for financial reasons and bringing in guys they found in the dumpster to man positions. The point was, I’m hoping that era is over
I don’t know what you’re disagreeing with about drafting. I didn’t say anything. That the franchise continually drafted infielders with their top-round draft picks and neglected pitching is unfortunate
And sorry, I don’t see it where Williams is concerned. Field-only guys are a nice commodity on a team that puts up a lot of runs and can afford a hole in the batting order or likes to utilize defensive replacements in late innings. The Pirates aren’t that team
Lastly, “knowledgeable posters” here have provided us with the idea that Suwinski is an all star and that Joe is deserving of more playing time. Please. But apparently the Pirates have given up on the idea, as well, which again is a shame, as Delay is much like Williams.
I did miss the point,but if anything they brought many of these guys up before they had enough time in AAA.Also,every team manipulates service time,and the small market teams have to.That is why even If Scenes is lights out he will not be up until late May.
They needed the dumpster dive guys to give the young players time to grow in the MLs and not be overmatched like Nicolas was in his first game,
My drafting statement was not about your post but about BC’s predilection and should have been more clear.
I like Williams but they may be able to teach Triolo to play there and be like SRod was.I think that if Williams was put on a weight program and gained 15 pounds of muscle that he could be a better hitter
I think I agree with your last paragraph but I used the term because I do not have a knowledgeable opinion on Davis’ catching ability and had to defer to others.Group think is not always a good thing but many posters on here are a lot better than me on opinions on certain things.
Yeah, I understand all of that. There must be a reason Davis has not gotten a look behind the plate at this level. Front office has seen something they weren’t satisfied with and apparently said, let’s focus on hitting and right field. That’s fine
As a long time Pirates fan, you know Williams is the prototypical shortstop of good field/no hit caliber. Gene Alley. Jackie Hernandez. Frank Taveras. Tim Foli. Clint Barmes. Even Jack Wilson
But with Cruz healthy and a guy like Peguero who can move over, I’d think he’s lost in the mix. And with Termarr on the horizon…
I don’t think it’s between him and Triolo for a roster spot. They’re giving him reps at 1st, has proven he can play 3rd and has slotted in at 2nd. Interesting to hear his comments that Haines straightened his posture at the plate and he’s become a better, more powerful hitter
I tend to disagree about the dumpster dive but who knows? Their focus this off season needs to be starting pitching and like you, I’m hoping they see an opportunity to compete and are willing to spend a little on quality
I don’t think it’s the knowledgeable posters here that believe Davis isn’t a good catcher, it’s management who doesn’t. Shelton has yet to use him as Endy’s backup even on occasion
Delay on the other hand handles pitchers quite well
Whoever they decide to keep on the roster next year, they will only improve the team by learning the strike zone and cut down significantly strikeouts
Despite winning last night they still struck out 15 times. That stat should be unacceptable to Shelton and Haines
I have noticed over the last week or two that Suwinski seems to be more aggressive at at least swinging at strike three pitches but just trying to meet the ball.He is stronger than he looks and is hitting soft liners into the outfield.If he continues to do so I think that it will be a real improvement in his game.
The best thing the young man can do is take a lot of reps this off season with a top notch hitting coach. I think you’re right. Lately, he’s hanging in a bit more against left handers. But he needs to make greater strides, to be sure
That last whiff at a fastball at eye level should be a memory he can laugh at in years to come
Shelton gave up on today’s game, having allowed Connor Joe to hit in the 9th inning instead of using Rivas as a pinch hitter, didn’t use Endy as a pinch hitter either
Allowing Joe to bat after having gone 0 for 4 against a lefty and not using Rivas against a righty tells me Shelton really didn’t want to win
Agree with that, but Suwinski striking out against a tight hander and Davis looking sick in his last at bat sure didn’t help with runner(s) on late in the game sure didn’t help
No idea why Shelton didn’t play percentages in the situation you mentioned but then again, mystery management has been the calling card for a long time now
Sometimes he seems to concentrate on young players getting experience instead of trying to win.He has done less of that lately but it is one of the reasons that I think he is the governor on having a good team .It seems inbread in him to develop young players.
Why wouldn’t he pitch Borucki instead of Hernandez who has been sucking air for two months?Hernandez showed promise early but is he another Ramirez?
In fairness to Shelton he did not have many options and no real good ones but even Stratton could have come through like Carmen M did yesterday instead of Jackson.
There are different skills needed to be a winning manager than those that Shelton has.It is one of the reasons why some very good managers would not have wanted his job.
He seems to sense that he will probably lose so he acts to bring it about subconsciously.