OT between Alvarez and Polanco don't know who's
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The Buccos are the great pretenders. Losers of 20 of the last 23 games in Busch stadium, they played one of the worst fundamental games in the history of baseball last night. You can see guys in Williamsport this month player sounder fundamental defense than Polanco.They don't advance runners, can't bring in guys from third with less than two outs and simply can't field. And this is supposed to be a team built on pitching and ,,,,defense. What a joke. The Cubs will be passing them momentarily, They are a bona fide candidate for the boobie prize...wild-card play-in team...LOL Maybe they should have actually tried to strengthen the team at the trade deadline and instead of poking around in the garbage bin for fringe players. That's the Nutting way...play it cheap. Moneybalz! Bobbleheads and kielbalsa for everyone!
Polanco is still essentially a rookie. What is mindblowing is why do their speedy defenders play so deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. How many balls drop in because of this?
Well, you DID predict the Cards would sweep the Bucs at PNC Park. Hope you didn't bet on your "knowledge".
I absolutely agree that this is the worst defensive team in years......Can't play solid defense, miss cutoffs, looney tunes on the bases. Right now, we are TRAGIC in the field at 1b, 3b, RF, below average at SS, and prone to sloppiness in LF & 2b. Cutch is OK, but not a Gold Glover these days. Catching is very good.
The Cubs won't catch the Bucs.
I believe you are wrong about Alvarez's defensive woes. He has 16 errors. The last time someone had more than 16 errors in a season is 2008, when ryan howard had 19. Of course, Howard hit 48 home runs in 2008.
Love the Bucs but I hate Nutting-he's a fraud pure and simple. Had they kept Marlyn Byrd 2 years ago he would be the first or second most productive offensive player on the team. Don't bet your 401k on the Bucs finishing ahead of the cubbies. You are about to see major problems with the Pirstes's starting pitching.
If you don't know that Alverez is one of the worst defensive players in baseball. far worse than Polonco, then you ain't watching. Polonco's gaffe was simply a brain fart. No reason to try and short hop that ball on the run. The botched double play that led to 2 runs was strictly on Walker. A great first baseman could have scooped that ball. Alverez is far from a great first baseman.
This isn't a problem limited to just the Pirates. For some unknown reason poor baserunning fundamentals are evident all over baseball. Mindboggling.
The Cubs aren't immune. One good thing is that the hitting has improved. I sure don't like our bench guys, though....Morse, Ishikawa (I'm sick of hearing about his 15 minutes of fame), Rodriguez, Florimon???? Things will get better when Harrison & Mercer get back. If Burnett can come back OK, September will be interesting. The Cards are untouchable....and we've got a better chance to beat them in a one-game deal than 7.
As for Nutting....he's a businessman. He's brought excitement back to Pgh.....that's good enough for me. If the Bucs are healthy, they are a top 5 club, for sure, despite the defense.
other than kang none of these guys seem able to throw to first base with any consistency. walker should be ashamed of how bad his throws are at least a third of the time.
pedro should still be catching most of these throws he's missing or dropping he looks scared of the ball when it comes in on a short hop or some really weird bad shit for a major league baseball player
jayhay needs to be back already so bad get ramirez out of there
at this point i'd rather put anyone at first anyone who can just catch the ball i dont care if he makes mendoza look like ted williams. i swear just having an average defensive 1B would save 2-4 runs a week minimum.
pedro should still be catching most of these throws he's missing or dropping he looks scared of the ball when it comes in on a short hop or some really weird bad shit for a major league baseball player
jayhay needs to be back already so bad get ramirez out of there
at this point i'd rather put anyone at first anyone who can just catch the ball i dont care if he makes mendoza look like ted williams. i swear just having an average defensive 1B would save 2-4 runs a week minimum.
You know what is a completely lost art anymore? Getting from first to third on a base hit. I love reading biographies / autobiographies of baseball players in the good ol days. Read one on DiMaggio and he said how any ball hit to center or right, if you didn't get to third base from first, you were a very poor baserunner. You watch now, no one ever gets to third unless it's hit down the right field line. Not sure if it is just a different mentality nowadays. Getting away from that "small ball" mentality and looking for a big inning or if players are just not as adept at getting that extra base or what. That stuck out at me..
Also, and we don't have to go back to WW2 for this. base stealing is becoming a thing of the past. Don't have to be too old to remember the Vince COleman's and Rickey Henderson's of the world. Those guys were stealing 100+ bases a year. That is sick. Leaders now are getting 1/2 that... That jumps out at me.
Marlon Byrd was worse last year than Travis Snider, and has been even worse this year than he was last year. This is talking purely hitting and ignoring the other flaws he has. He had a fluke year in 2013 and has been the same mediocre player he's always been since then. He sucks.
I do think the Cubs will pass the Pirates, their schedule is Charmin soft. Only 13 games left against teams above .500, not counting the Pirates games.
As usual , you are wrong about Byrd- what are you relying on- your ridiculous stats. Moneybalz!
Also the eye test. He essentially rolls the ball into the infield because his arm is so weak now and he's still the same undisciplined hitter he was back in 2013, but without the lucky results.
I just hope that your assessment on the Pirates' pitching staff is as wrong as your assessment on the Aramis Ramirez trade and the Pirates offense.
Last night, they weren't exaggerated. It might be impossible to have exaggerated them.
It's nothing new, he's been terrible from the start in the field. But I guess it's worth it for the occasional solo home runs he hits in garbage time ...
(Obviously I'm not a fan. I think the shark's long jumped with him. Polanco on the other hand, has huge upside, including in the field, I think...)
I've stuck up for Alvarez up until this summer.. I want him in there now, if I see freakin sean rodriguez I will literally throw up, but more than happy to see Pedro move onto a new team next year.. Ready for some Josh Bell action as soon as next April.
I think one reason for few attempts to go to third is the condition of the fields. The ball doesn't just die & roll much, keeps bouncing like a flat 3-iron to the 8th green at Oakmont. The outfielders get the ball a lot sooner. That explains the lower # of triples, too. Guys like Cutch & Marte used to stretch to third a lot. Polanco would, too, if had a clue....
Maybe the outfields too. Park dimension nowadays are much smaller than some of those older parks. Forbes was 465 in left center, a lot of those stadiums had weird nooks and crannies.. I saw a pic of Polo grounds, I honestly don't know if it's a joke or not.. It was like 250 down the foul lines but 480' in center.. Maybe someone is having fun on the internet and I fell for it.
I think these are all good points. Another one is simply the wider exposure a mistake gets. Even going back a decade and certainly before that, not EVERY game was televised, nor were there countless replays of sportscenter, etc. Today, almost every game can be seen countless places due to cable packages, and cable networks prey on "stupid mistakes" they can make fun of. Maybe even the slack-attitude young players (with guaranteed deals) don't care much about that ... but perhaps the older, more vulnerable third base coaches do ... so are more apt to hold up runners. Getting caught for the out at third is still seen as a baseball sin, and if the whole nation now can see a high-profile episode of it by a team, well, it is pretty easy to make the coach a scapegoat. Dunno, just a thought.
Obviously our 3rd base coach is not afraid to send runners.. EVER.. Sometimes fear of embarrassment is a good thing.
Thought you would have been jumping up and down at the Ramirez deal-it's the type of cheap pickup you normally go ga ga over, and in any event, in your mind anything that the buccos' brain trust does is just dandy. At least Ramirez has a track record which is more than you can say for the rest of the garbage Nutting and his lackies picked up. Crap organization top to bottom. The purportedly deep starting pitching staff Whittington has developed is in trouble. Cole and a series of question marks spells boobie prize as in wild card play in game. That's enough for you, I realize.
Del, I don't know where your animosity comes from but Huntington has been Midas lately with his picks.. Everything he touches turns to gold in case you are unfamiliar with Greek mythology.. Ramirez is pretty brutal at the plate, but we lost two infielders back to back and were pretty desperate. He is more than a sufficient "stop gap" until Jay Hay comes back, and he'll be more than sufficient as a bat off the bench, which will be his new role shortly..
Im no bucco apologist like pittbaseball11 but I do want to be fair. We are still a top 3 team in the NL, despite some ugly losses against the best team in the league.. Your spewing nonsense here with this garbage.. Crap organization? We will be in the playoffs 3 years in a row, with a payroll under 80 million dollars..
LOL. I always love when you tell me what I do/don't like in players or moves and show just how behind the times you are. Hope you and the 65+ crowd enjoy all of the RBIs the Pirates offense has been getting.
fools' gold perhaps. I think the Pirates quite frankly are as good as they will get under this regime. The success of the team over the last 3 years was built on the starting pitching staff which I believe has peaked and with Burnett's injury and Liriano's age catching up to him head south. After 10 years of rebuilding the everyday lineup is still full of holes-compare that to the cubs' and Royals' development. If the Pirates had a well heeled owner who really wanted to win and a well run organization they would be much better than what they are at this point. Whittington's drafts haven't been all that good.
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65? Not there yet, dope. Do you even have a job? Doubt it. You can put what you know about BB in a thimble and still have spare room.
Have a job. Professional letters after my name, as well.
I'm flattered by your 2nd comment. Considering the next well informed, intelligent post you make will be your first, I'm glad that what I say is largely beyond your comprehension.
Despite your animosity towards me, I do pity you. Numbers are nothing to be afraid of. The "fancy stats" you make a point to run from are actually pretty basic and infinitely more useful than the ones you value.
I like the future of this team with the staff. Glasnow will be a #1 pitcher in the big leagues as soon as next year. OK not our #1 but someday. All teams have holes Del, our lineup is as strong as it's been since early 90s. Our 6, 7, and 8 hitter are walker, pedro, and cirvelli. I will take that bottom of the lineup over any team in the major leagues. We have the 3rd best record in the Major Leagues. Let me repeat that, WE HAVE THE THIRD BEST RECORD IN THE MAJOR LEAGUES. Sorry man, but you sound like an angry old man here with this.. You sound like a guy who would bitch about paying high taxes after winning the lottery..
We are in a pennant race, we are selling out the park nightly, we have sick tv ratings.. Times are good my friend.. Went to a few games last week, had an absolute blast. People out and about hours before game time.. I work down here on north shore, streets are blocked off hours before gametime and people are out, enjoying the energy of the team... Enjoy it del, quit looking for things to bitch about because there are about 28 other cities that would trade places with us in a heartbeat.. And as Philly fans can confirm, the good times don't last forever...
We are in a pennant race, we are selling out the park nightly, we have sick tv ratings.. Times are good my friend.. Went to a few games last week, had an absolute blast. People out and about hours before game time.. I work down here on north shore, streets are blocked off hours before gametime and people are out, enjoying the energy of the team... Enjoy it del, quit looking for things to bitch about because there are about 28 other cities that would trade places with us in a heartbeat.. And as Philly fans can confirm, the good times don't last forever...
ball11, I understand sabermetrics has a place in baseball but hearing people talk about LIPS, PERA, VORP, and DRS's is like listening to two cats in heat fight.. Baseball is supposed to be a game that is enjoyed for its beauty, don't be Tim Kurkjian, no one likes a Tim Kurkjian
I didn't specifically mean the Pirates or their coaches. Just wondering what mass exposure has changed as far as anything. Regarding being out at third vs. out at home, it somehow seems more acceptable when a guy is out at the plate vs. out at third. Aggression to a fault in that situation is seen less negatively (my impression anyway).
I respect this view, but I do think there's a bit of a conflict when somebody who says they have no interest in numbers then starts talking about personnel moves or decisions (that's not really directed at you, more just a general comment). It's an either/or situation.
Teams don't make moves off the eye test anymore (except for the Phillies). Teams don't win at the trade deadline. Teams don't win in free agency anymore.
If somebody wants to just sit back and enjoy the game, I'm more than happy to do that. That's usually how I am. But, commenting on personnel takes somebody away from the "I just want to enjoy it" camp and leaves them open to getting the numbers, because that's what is relevant in today's game.
I really don't see myself as a Pirates apologist. I follow all of baseball closely. I usually say what I think the Pirates will/should do before they do it and I don't tend to change my mind. They're a small market team, and they always will be. They have a pretty set way that they need to operate to be consistently successful. I blasted them in 2011 and 2012 for buying instead of selling when their entire W/L record was based off of unsustainable smoke-and-mirrors, for instance.
I will be critical if they wind up non-tendering guys who shouldn't be non-tendered, if they decline the options on McCutchen and Marte (provided they're still good), and don't extend a guy like Polanco through his prime years. They've yet to do that, they've continued to build a Cardinals-esque farm system, and they've yet to take on a stupid contract to an aging player, so at this point I'm pretty happy. They didn't pull a Reds/Brewers and shoot their load on a one-year run. I'm not alone in thinking they're well run, particularly among the more reputable national sites/writers.
I have been meaning to ask this because I don't get too deep into the numbers. What's the real deal behind Jose Tabata and the Pirates? He obviously has his issues, but his numbers over the past year seem to be pretty good off the bench compared to some of the players the Pirates have kept over the past year. They were happy to get rid of him that's pretty obvious.
I agree about them not "going all in" being a good decision. Would be sick if they gave up a Glasnow, bell, Hanson, Taillon, type player for someone that would be around for 2 months then gone. Look at the penguins for how that strategy worked.. To each his own I guess in regards to sabermetrics, I just think fans can take away the fun by overanalyzing the game but some people like that stuff.
The big problem with the all in strategy is that the Pirates, at no point in this season, seemed like they were going to win the division. It is asinine to give up prospects for a rent a player when your hopes hinge on winning 1 game against another team's ace.
He has literally no power, walks at a ghastly rate, doesnt play good defense, and has no speed. Basically he hits singles frequently and thats about it. He is truly a replacable player.
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