I agree, but after that, it might be time to bring up Swaggerty. He's a 1st rd pick and has been hitting well in the minors.
OT:Buccos
- Thread starter mike 301
- Start date
Not sure what being a fan means? Don’t live or die based on results but it is something local to pay attention to until football season cranks up again.
At least for now they are mildly intriguing and scrappily competitive.
Definitely missed opportunities. I always hate games like yesterday vs the Cards because I know how each loss to them is a two game swing. Win that game and we are up 4 games on them. Instead we are only up 2. I realize it’s only April, but I learned decades ago under Leyland how significant early season wins in April and May vs divisional rivals sets up the rest of the season.
I’ll give you an example. Not sure if an old guy like you uses the espn app on your phone. But essentially you customize it with your favorite teams so that when you open the app, all the stuff that’s pertinent to you is on the home page. So obviously my home page has Pitt football and Pitt hoops, as well as my 3 other favorite pro teams. But the Pirates aren’t one of them. Essentially MLB and NBA might as well as never existed for me because they’ve been out of site and out of mind. But a couple times over the past week or so I thought about going into my settings and adding the pirates to my favorites. Because right now they are worth following.
LOL
Some "Old guys" understand how these new fangled things called Apps work!
We can even pay our bills on line and send texts and take pictures with our phones!!
Now, my mother in law............not so much!!
I have always watched the Pirates with the notion in mind that every loss may be the beginning of about 15 in a row.
Agree. But I'm not sure he is plan A for the future. Plan A should be Brian Reynolds, Travis Swaggerty and Dylan Crews in the OF in 2025. Hope Suwinkski catches fire at some point and trade him for a solid young middle reliever.
Is Swaggerty the future? Dude is already 25, and he has not been that impressive in the minor leagues. I'm not hitching my wagon to him. Termarr Johnson could end up in the outfield, or they can stop playing the 6'7" guy at shortstop game and move him to right.
They will have a great deal of trouble to move Cruz to the OF because he doesn't want to go, and they are dedicated to kissing his A$$ to keep him happy.
When I saw that "slide" that broke his ankle, all I could think of was Polanco, Polanco, Polanco! I might be wrong, but I don't think the public school system in the Dominican Republic is too strong!
I know it’s an extremely small sample size, but why Marcano not in Pittsburgh to begin the season? I was really impressed by him last year. His move at the play should be on SportsCenter Top 10!
First base might not also be a bad fit. If they platoon Davis and Rodriguez at catcher, I think the other could DH (as opposed to playing first), because neither are that tall. I don't know that we have a first baseman of the future. I think Nunez (also not that tall), who we got from the Cardinals, projects to first base, but I'm not sure how good he is. At least he wasn't all that high on our prospects list the last time I checked, despite being in AAA (not that the list can't change).
I just know that Cruz makes more sense just about any place that isn't short. I'd like to see the advanced stats on his range and whatnot. It's probably the goofiest splits of all time. Like "takes forever and a day to bend to get the ball and bring it back up, but makes up for it by throwing 800mph to the bag." I agree it might not be easy to convince him to move, though. He's the type of dude where I might just go complete villain mode and trade him. Not because he won't be a great player (don't know that he will or won't be, but it would not surprise me if he puts all the tools together and starts lighting it up someday), but because we don't have the organization to tame him... and probably not the money to re-sign him.
I dont understand the hate about Cruz's size. He is quick, and you could easily argue that he gets to alot more balls with his height and coverage than a little SS gets to.
I think that 'hate' is a little strong. But he commits a lot of errors. Has in the minors and so far in the majors. No doubt that he has an arm. Just that he probably projects better in the outfield...especially at PNC Park where his range and arm will play (and less errors).
Not sure Endy will need a platoon mate. He switch hits and does have better power from the left but I think better average from the right (I could be mistaken). Davis hits right.
Davis seems to be struggling with some of the technical aspects of being a legitimate major league catcher.
Framing, etc.
The bat probably plays at the ML level. Have to find a position. 1B would fit the Pirates needs perfectly!
Yeah, he needs improvement, but his range factor is (was) 7th in all of mlb before his injury. not bad, and he had one error so far this year.
Frankly, I thought he would break a leg with someone taking him out at second. I can see moving him, but I would also say with Hayes being such a phenomenal 3B, I dont mind him out there. Our team fielding, team speed have all improved drastically the past few years.
There is no doubt he is an athletic freak. At his size, just to be able to play a decent SS is amazing. He loves to show off his arm, and sometimes those rockets get away from him.
His defensive prowess in the minors wasn't very good.
I think people would love to see him as a corner OF, probably RF where his arm would play and his speed would translate as well.
Offensively, he's coming along, he's cut down on his strikeouts and chasing bad pitches.
When he hits the ball, it certainly remains HIT!!! His power is phenomenal.
Just for the sake of making the team complete and getting your best players on the field at one time, he'd fit better in the OF, freeing SS up for one of the PIrate's other prime prospects.
Eh, I don't think it works that way. You'd be seeing a lot more 7-foot track stars who can "get to the finish line in less steps."
Not saying that is or isn't applicable here. Like I said, I'd be curious to see where his overall defense grade outs.
Personally, I still like Cruz at shortstop. Remember, he was error-prone in the outfield as well. My dream lineup for 2025 is:
C: Rodriguez
1B: Davis
2B: Johnson
3B: Hayes
SS: Cruz
LF: Bae?
CF: Reynolds
RF: Crews (fingers crossed)
DH: Free agent?
That has the potential be a very good hitting lineup.
C: Rodriguez
1B: Davis
2B: Johnson
3B: Hayes
SS: Cruz
LF: Bae?
CF: Reynolds
RF: Crews (fingers crossed)
DH: Free agent?
That has the potential be a very good hitting lineup.
I read something about teams moving more to the two-catcher model and everyday catchers becoming a thing of the past in an effort to save them. I mean, when you factor in an off day and resting during day games, I imagine catching "every day" actually means catching about 4.5 times per week. But I guess cutting that down to 3 times per week might not be an awful idea with the availability of the DH now. If both of those guys can hit, there are still plenty of ways to get them in the lineup almost every game.
Wouldn't be bad. Not sure what to make of Bae. I've only seen his highlights, and they're really good. But I looked up his stats and wasn't blown away.
Also, every time us Pirate fans make a prediction like this it ends up falling flat. That Cole-Taillon-Glasnow-Keller staff that never came to fruition not being the least of which. Rest assured, Hayes will quit baseball to join the peace corps, Reynolds will join the circus, Crews will lose a hand in a helicopter accident, etc., etc., etc.
You’re not wrong there. Marte/Cutch/Polanco was supposed to be the outfield of the future, Nick Kingham was supposed to be a stud #3, and Alan Hanson was supposed to command the shortstop position for years to come.
Forgot all about Kingham. Wasn't he going to be paired with Stetson Allie, who was then playing first base before we could blink? Lol.
But yeah... I was born in '83 so the first wave of prospects I really remember being talked up were like Chad Hermansen, maybe Jermaine Allensworth, etc. Thattttttt didn't happen, lol. Then Kris Benson was the next big thing: Rinse, wash, repeat.
I'm personally one of those guys who does not like trading prospects. I would rather hoard a bunch of them and hope that we can be good forever without having to play for windows, then trade them once they're nearing the ends of their contracts and replenish the system. But it totally doesn't work that way, lol. Like 1 or 2 in 5 of these guys will probably amount to anything decent, haha.
Will Crowe and eddy yean for Josh bell. Not a good trade in hindsight for Cherrington.
We’ve beaten the icecaps off the Rockies this series. Much-needed after alternating Ws/Ls the past week.
Can the Pirates petition MLB to get more games against the Rockies added to the schedule?
Even Jason Delay has three hits already today!
Even Jason Delay has three hits already today!
Which of course means Reynolds has three strikeouts today… make it make sense!
If you were watching, Reynolds got ejected after his last strikeout. Dude threw him five pitches, according to the on screen box none of them were in the strike zone and only one of them was actually all that close, and somehow without taking his bat off his shoulder even one time he struck out. He was not a happy camper.
I was not, was trying to follow from the office. Interesting, thanks for the explanation. It looked like he had two RISP and had struck out twice before. Was it just frustrations boiling up? Explains why I now see Smith-Njigba’s name on the alerts.
He was definitely frustrated. He threw down his helmet and said something, and then as he was walking away he said something more and the ump tossed him.
He wasn't the only one that had an issue with the balls and strikes. Several other players either said something to the home plate umpire or turned around and gave him looks after strike calls.
I think the big difference in the guys lately (in the last 15 years or so) has been that they have ended up good, just often not with the Pirates. The Pirates had that abyss under the end of Bonifay and Littlefield were they had all of these prospects that washed out save Aramis Ramirez, who they gave away for nothing at a young age. I guess Jose Bautista as well (who Huntington actually traded, not Littlefield).
Under the latter end of Huntington, guys like Glasnow and Taillon never became big deals as Pirates, but they developed into solid players. Cole was always a stud, he just became a bigger one. Even today, McCutchen and Marte is 2/3rds of a solid outfield and both guys are in their mid-30s now. There are other guys that I am sure that we could name as well.
Yes, guys like Hanson never became anything and Polanco was never the same after being hurt, but the later prospect era had a much better hit rate. A guy like Pedro Alvarez that many would say disappointed, hit over 150 big league HRs, with 4 seasons over 20 home runs. Even Polanco had a few years of 20+ as well.
The issue lately has been more cheap ownership and retention of quality players. For a long time, they could not develop practically anyone of quality. Lately, there has been a lot more development and even in the trades they have received guys of quality back like Reynolds, Cruz and Contreras.
