1/3 of the way through

[CarolinaBucco]

Well at the 1/3 mark we're 24-30 ... on pace for 72-90. That sounds about right for this team, because it's not good.



And we've got nearly 40 more games without Marte, the rest of the season (most likely) without Kang, only 2 or 3 reliable starters in the rotation after Taillon returns (depending on how you feel about Cole), a decent bullpen, a bad closer, a bad offense, limited power and a rotten defense.



Honestly, it's a minor miracle we've won 24 games. It feels like it should be worse than that.



What's your gut? Will this team ever reach .500 again? I say no. I think 24-30 tells an accurate story of this team, and we are heading for 90 in the loss column. It's a shame, because so far the NL Central is very bad.



As usual, hope I'm wrong.

[dogknot17@yahoo.co]

They aren't playing well but they should be worse considering what has happened. Marte and Kang are gone. Their back ups in Frazier and Freese got hurt. Polanco hasn't been healthy either. Those five players missing time was and is a huge blow.



Then they lost a top starter for a month or so. The two young guys in the rotation have struggled. Two guys in the bullpen have exploded in Bastardo and Hudson. Watson hasn't been good either.



Just imagine if these players mentioned were just league average. Imagine if the other players playing poorly were league average (McCutchen, Cervelli, Mercer, Bell, Polanco).



I was hoping to be around .500 when Marte came back. I was also assuming Kang was playing for about a month. To be honest, I don't know what to expect. I feel these guys can go on a little hot streak as there is so much room for improvement, but then again a fire sale might be approaching as well.



P.S.



What do you mean "depends on how you feel about Cole"? His ERA was under 3.00 two starts ago. Overall, he is pitching well.

[CarolinaBucco]

I guess I have mixed feelings about Cole. Seems like he's mostly good, sometimes very good, but rarely GREAT like a lot of the other No. 1 stoppers. Seems like Cole never goes out and puts up 7 shutout innings. Typical Cole line feels like 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO. Like I said ... pretty good, but for some reason it feels like he should be even better.



Tonight is another test for him. Pirates are probably going to score 0-2 runs, so he needs to put up a lot of zeroes. 5 innings and 2-3 runs will probably not be good enough.

[dogknot17@yahoo.co]

7F5D4E535055525D7E495F5F533C0 wrote: I guess I have mixed feelings about Cole. Seems like he's mostly good, sometimes very good, but rarely GREAT like a lot of the other No. 1 stoppers. Seems like Cole never goes out and puts up 7 shutout innings. Typical Cole line feels like 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO. Like I said ... pretty good, but for some reason it feels like he should be even better.



Tonight is another test for him. Pirates are probably going to score 0-2 runs, so he needs to put up a lot of zeroes. 5 innings and 2-3 runs will probably not be good enough.


How many pitchers go out and put up seven shutout innings?



Cole has gone seven innings four times and never gave up more than two earned runs. He has had three bad starts all year (with two of them being has last two outings).



Cole would be in every single team's rotation in baseball. Every single one. People put too much into labeling. If Nova was #1 and Cole was #3, would you think of Cole differently? He would be having a great season with the people who label starters.

[Aaron]

3A31393530312A6F691E273F363131703D315E0 wrote: They aren't playing well but they should be worse considering what has happened.  Marte and Kang are gone.  Their back ups in Frazier and Freese got hurt.  Polanco hasn't been healthy either.  Those five players missing time was and is a huge blow. 



Then they lost a top starter for a month or so.  The two young guys in the rotation have struggled.  Two guys in the bullpen have exploded in Bastardo and Hudson.  Watson hasn't been good either.



Just imagine if these players mentioned were just league average.  Imagine if the other players playing poorly were league average (McCutchen, Cervelli, Mercer, Bell, Polanco). 



I was hoping to be around .500 when Marte came back.  I was also assuming Kang was playing for about a month.  To be honest, I don't know what to expect.  I feel these guys can go on a little hot streak as there is so much room for improvement, but then again a fire sale might be approaching as well.



P.S.



What do you mean "depends on how you feel about Cole"?  His ERA was under 3.00 two starts ago.  Overall, he is pitching well.


Marte and Kang being out due to their stupid decisions are legit reasons to see a team perform below expectations.



All the rest of that stuff that you list falls under the category of, "a baseball season playing out, revealing which teams are good and which teams are bad."



The Pirates are bad.

[notes34]

I'm not sure. They've not been good, but the lineup is without 2 stars and then their backups also got hurt. We've found out that Frazier is a very good hitter, Osuna is holding his own, and Bell has at least found some power. Cutch is coming around and Taillon is on his way back. While I don't think they can make the playoffs this year I think they will be better going forward. I could see them hovering close to .500.

[dogknot17@yahoo.co]

If they had some players on the same page and playing well together, that would be huge.



Frazier is now struggling. Polanco was heating up, then got hurt. McCutchen doesn't want the pressure and is now hitting. If these three hit together, that would be a huge improvement.



I also don't think cancer is a baseball season just playing out. Do teams really expect players to go down with cancer?

[Quail]

Given all the adversity this team has had to deal with thus far I think they're actually overachievers to this point. Losing Kang, Marte, Taillon, Freese, Frazier for significant periods of time has hurt.



Even completely healthy this team has some significant flaws in the areas of defense and base running that will prevent them from ever becoming a championship quality team.



However IF:



1. Cutch regains some semblance of his former MVP self



2. Taillon returns to the rotation and picks up right where he left off



3. Marte returns to the lineup and plays as he has in the past



4. Glasnow and Kuhl mature and develop into decent starters as the season plays out.



5. Bell continues to develop into a legit middle of the order bat



6. Everyone else stays healthy and performs at their current level



THEN the Pirates might reach .500 and maybe even be contenders for a Wildcard spot.

[massbucsfan]

212A222E2B2A317472053C242D2A2A6B262A450 wrote: They aren't playing well but they should be worse considering what has happened.  Marte and Kang are gone.  Their back ups in Frazier and Freese got hurt.  Polanco hasn't been healthy either.  Those five players missing time was and is a huge blow. 



Then they lost a top starter for a month or so.  The two young guys in the rotation have struggled.  Two guys in the bullpen have exploded in Bastardo and Hudson.  Watson hasn't been good either.



Just imagine if these players mentioned were just league average.  Imagine if the other players playing poorly were league average (McCutchen, Cervelli, Mercer, Bell, Polanco). 



I was hoping to be around .500 when Marte came back.  I was also assuming Kang was playing for about a month.  To be honest, I don't know what to expect.  I feel these guys can go on a little hot streak as there is so much room for improvement, but then again a fire sale might be approaching as well.



P.S.



What do you mean "depends on how you feel about Cole"?  His ERA was under 3.00 two starts ago.  Overall, he is pitching well.
Cmon dog you keep saying injuries and suspensions are the reason this team is struggling,the bottom line is you are what you are and for this team it's not good

[dogknot17@yahoo.co]

So, you think Kang and Marte playing would have made no impact?