OT:BUCS
- Thread starter mike 301
- Start date
I agree. Aramis is "garbage." I'll bet he didn't even help at all during the Mets series.
yeah i mixed uribe and conforto in my head
i wonder what they do when mercer and jayhay are both back. i'd guess let harrison take it easy the first week or two he's back in september then go with him at 3rd and kang at ss in the playoffs.
I've come to realize that trying to guess what Hurdle will do is pretty much impossible, but my hope is that they play Mercer at SS, Kang at 3B, and then rotate Harrison around at 2B, 3B, the corner OF spots to give guys about one day off a week like they had originally wanted to do.
I'd also like to see Harrison start at 2B if they face a lefty in the playoffs, as he hits lefties better than Walker and is the superior defender (which admittedly isn't saying much, Walker is probably the worst defensive 2B in baseball).
I'd also like to see Harrison start at 2B if they face a lefty in the playoffs, as he hits lefties better than Walker and is the superior defender (which admittedly isn't saying much, Walker is probably the worst defensive 2B in baseball).
Why even watch sports if it makes you this miserable?
If Pitt football were to go 10-2 and miss the ACC title game because Georgia Tech went 12-0 I would be sending Narduzzi daily thank you cards, not shitposting on an internet message board.
If Pitt football were to go 10-2 and miss the ACC title game because Georgia Tech went 12-0 I would be sending Narduzzi daily thank you cards, not shitposting on an internet message board.
If Del's rants about the Buccos consisted exclusively of him typing "JEFF LOCKE JEFF LOCKE JEFF LOCKE JEFF LOCKE JEFF LOCKE" you know what I'd be hard-pressed to disagree. Being Burnett's little buddy notwithstanding, God is he just awful.
Look, Jeff Locke is not a good major league pitcher. And god knows I've bitched about him as much as the next guy. But lets not forget what Jeff Locke is. He's the Pirates fifth starter. And you know, most team's fifth starters, even pretty good teams, just aren't all that good. Do you know why? Because that guy is only the team's fifth best starter.
If the Pirates biggest problem from here to the end of the season is that their fifth starter isn't very good then that would actually be a good sign for the Pirates.
If the Pirates biggest problem from here to the end of the season is that their fifth starter isn't very good then that would actually be a good sign for the Pirates.
Also don't forget rosters expand in September. Way more relievers and potential starters to piggyback Locke with.
well this is not exactly a fair example by any means but look at garcia the cards' 5th starter and what he's doing.
Absolutely. But he's also the outlier.
The Dodgers have great starting pitching. They have an almost $300 million payroll. Their fifth starter this year (and he is now hurt) was Carlos Frias. He's 5-5 with a 4.39 era. The Mets fifth starter (at least in terms of success) is Bartolo Colon, 10-11 with a 4.58 era. The Yankees fifth starter (again, in terms of success) is CC Sabathia, 4-9 with a 5.24 era. For the Royals it's Jeremy Guthrie (again, success-wise), 8-7 but with a 5.65 era. For the Astros it's Roberto Hernandez, 3-5 with a 4.36 era.
In other words, with the exception of the Cardinals the Pirates fifth starter is approximately equal to or clearly better than the fifth starter on the other five division leaders. Because fifth starters are generally not very good. Kind of by definition.
In a nutshell, the Pirates absolutely have to replace Locke in the rotation. Hurdle cannot justify starting him next Wednesday. especially since Hurdle doesn't seem to realize that when Locke loses it, Locke is not getting it back. Hurdle waits till too much damage is done before getting him out of there. Last night we all knew the Pirates could not afford to get far behind with Bumgarner on the mound for the Giants. When Byrd hit the 2 run homer Locke should have been gone but Hurdle waited till the Giants posted 6 runs before going to get him. That constitutes giving the G-men the game with Bumgarner on the mound. All year long Locke has lost it in the 5th or 6th inning. If AJ can't pitch by Wednesday they have to go with someone like Blanton or bring up Worley or even Glasnow from AAA. The season is on the line now
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anon_4dfwm2pijbr0a
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Horrible baserunning leads to only a solo shot. Should be 3-2. Well really should be 3-1 because Hurdle just had to do that shift....just had to.
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anon_4dfwm2pijbr0a
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So you would have removed him from the first inning and make the bullpen finish the game? That's a good way to lose the next 2 games as well.
Locke is what Joe described him as, a 5th starter. And at this point, he's not going to make or break the season.
I hate rooting for such a crappy team that has the 2nd best record in all of baseball
They aren't replacing him this week. They just aren't. Now by the time he makes his next start after that it will be after September 1 (where has the summer gone?) and at that point my guess is that Locke will be on a very, very short leash. If he gets pummeled in the first or second inning he won't be around any more. They'll have Worley and one or two other guys up from Indianapolis that can give them four or five innings on any given night.
But I agree that with Locke when it goes, it goes. After the rosters expand there will be no excuse not to have someone ready at the drop of a hat at any time in any game that Locke starts.
No one should ever complain about the Pirates shifting. It is the main reason why the Pirates are where they are now. Nobody complains when it works every other time someone smashes a ball right up the middle towards Walker!
You realize Locke is pretty decent as a fifth starter when compared to the rest of MLB, right?
Taillon's arm injury really messed up the Pirates plans for starting pitching. If that hadn't occurred, he would have come up in July, moving 3-5 down a notch. Then they had the big kid , Glasnow, ready for a September callup. Having a top three of Cole, Taillon, and Glasnow projects as a pretty decent lineup of starters. Morton looks like a good back end guy, and you have Liriano. If those guys are your 4 and 5's, I'd say you're in pretty good shape!
Really glad they didn't mortgage the future for a 30 year old huge salary burden starter. Huntington has proven a pretty smart cookie, this team has the second or third best record in baseball, isn't breaking the bank, making smart salary decisions and has some guys lined up to keep feeding the pipeline. They are 3.5 behind the Cards, see who blinks first! This team seems to show a great deal of resilience and has shown no signs of throwing in the towel.
I don't even watch baseball, but I find this phenomenon fascinating. Trying to prove a team you're a fan of is awful despite all evidence to the contrary. This is all occurring while the Pirates are 8-2 in the last 10 games and closing the gap on the best team in baseball (who are incidentally 5-5 in the last 10).
But they aren't perfect....lacking in fundamentals, but not in FUN. Actually one of the best run franchises, from a business standpoint. Perhaps a team of destiny?? The only real "luck of the draw" is the dumbass postseason seeding. You could see the best NL team playing the 6th or best in the NLCS, if a western division team gets the wildcard.
The old saying goes that every team wins 54 games, every team loses 54 games, it's what happens in the other 54 games that actually matters.
I don't pretend to be inside Hurdle's head, but I get the impression that he recognizes that it's a long season, so he's trying to keep the players as fresh as possible for a (hopeful) run thru the playoffs. I don't know what's more maddening, some of his player moves or the team's blunders on the base paths. But hey - at least they're winning. There are a lot of teams who wish that they were in the Pirates' situation.
Agree Parrot, take for example the pitchers not holding base runners. You would think they would work this o
Bradenton? On the contrary, I've been watching the Little League World Series, and I haven't seen the baserunning errors in those games that I see when the Pirates play.
Most definitely. Although he also under manages at times, IMO, when he will send a starter out for the 7th inning and not have a reliever already warming up just in case. When guys get around 100 pitches I'd like to see a quicker hook from him. He seems to want to stick by his guys too much.
All that said, he's gotten better in terms of not bunting incessantly during the late innings of close games but he still has his quirks and flaws. Loves the double switch and is a bit outdated in how he manages his bullpen, but most managers are. He isn't responsible for the shifts, although I am in favor of those.
I think he's definitely the weakest link for the Pirates, but I also think manager is where you want your weak spot to be since they aren't overly important. Mike Matheny is god awful tactically and still wins.
I do hate that he insists on batting Ramirez 4th and points to his previous production as justification. When a guy is pushing 40 and showing big signs of decline, what he did in the past means zilch. He needs to end the experiment.
