Glimmer of hope beginning to fade
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fjk090852-7
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Glimmer of hope beginning to fade
After the series with the Mets I had some hope that maybe the Bucs were about to go on a run of several wins over a period of games. The Cubs and Cards were not playing well, and I thought the Division was wide open. Now after two gut wrenching losses at Baltimore I think this is becoming a lost season. It is about fifty days until the trade deadline and I am beginning to believe we may see some serious salary dumping.
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Bobster21
Glimmer of hope beginning to fade
I wish there was more effort from TBMTIB to help this team. Too little was done in the off season. Nothing was done to offset the losses of Kang and Marte. Watson is miscast in a role he can't handle. Glasnow was handed a starting job in a ST "competition" he clearly didn't "win" and has continued to appear unready. It's bad enough when players fail. But the management decisions of this team are creating additional barriers to overcome.
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dogknot17@yahoo.co
Glimmer of hope beginning to fade
230E03121504135350610 wrote: I wish there was more effort from TBMTIB to help this team. Too little was done in the off season. Nothing was done to offset the losses of Kang and Marte. Watson is miscast in a role he can't handle. Glasnow was handed a starting job in a ST "competition" he clearly didn't "win" and has continued to appear unready. It's bad enough when players fail. But the management decisions of this team are creating additional barriers to overcome.
I agree. They were using the next man up philosophy just fine as players were coming up and being sent down. But that isn't the case for everyone. And they were holding onto guys too long or playing guys too much.
These losses to Baltimore were tough. Up with good leads against a very good team and the bullpen blew it at the end.
I agree. They were using the next man up philosophy just fine as players were coming up and being sent down. But that isn't the case for everyone. And they were holding onto guys too long or playing guys too much.
These losses to Baltimore were tough. Up with good leads against a very good team and the bullpen blew it at the end.
Glimmer of hope beginning to fade
I see "hope" as quite a relative term. What I mean is when this team left spring training there was a reasonable hope that Kang might be able to get a Visa and Marte would have an all-star kind of year. Hope for a postseason berth if not a championship for the Pirates was at least at a glimmer level back then. When it soon became apparent that this team would be without two of its best players for a very long time any hopes for a postseason appearance by the Pirates dimmed. Soon after when Frazier, Freese and Taillon missed significant time those same hopes dimmed further. As this adversity plagued season has progressed we see the Pirates offense ranked near the bottom of the 15 NL teams (BA-12th, OBP-11th, SLG-13th, OPS-13th) and their pitching a bit below average (ERA-9th, R-8th, HR-8th, SO-13th, BB-1). In addition they are one of the worst baserunning teams and below average defensively. This is a pretty lousy baseball team on the field, plus it's saddled with a FO rendered virtually inert by a penny-pinching owner, and a manager who is beginning to show signs that his shelf-life has expired.
And yet with all of those hope-killing circumstances the Pirates are a mere 5.5 games out of first place in their division! They have some young players who are likely to improve with experience as the season progresses, Andrew McCutchen is showing signs that his prolonged slump is ending, Taillon is returning to the rotation, Marte will be coming back in a little more than a month, and Ivan Nova looks like a rock on which the rotation can steady itself. Whatever hope there was at the beginning of this season was based on not only a better Pirate team but a team within the context of a much better division than it has thus far proven to be. This team doesn't have to be the '27 Yankees when their competition is struggling. The Pirates may not be a championship calibre team, but I believe there is good reason that glimmer of hope should be steady or improving not fading.
And yet with all of those hope-killing circumstances the Pirates are a mere 5.5 games out of first place in their division! They have some young players who are likely to improve with experience as the season progresses, Andrew McCutchen is showing signs that his prolonged slump is ending, Taillon is returning to the rotation, Marte will be coming back in a little more than a month, and Ivan Nova looks like a rock on which the rotation can steady itself. Whatever hope there was at the beginning of this season was based on not only a better Pirate team but a team within the context of a much better division than it has thus far proven to be. This team doesn't have to be the '27 Yankees when their competition is struggling. The Pirates may not be a championship calibre team, but I believe there is good reason that glimmer of hope should be steady or improving not fading.
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Bobster21
Glimmer of hope beginning to fade
And now our "ace" is out after 4.2 innings and 7 runs while the Pirates have countered with one measly hit.
The problem when our hope is based on the rest of the division playing poorly enough to keep the poorly playing Pirates in the hunt is that the Pirates would eventually have to reverse their own trend of consistently poor play. Sadly, there is no sign of that happening. I think it's too much to hope that while the Pirates continue to lose games, their divisional opponents will somehow manage to lose 2 games a day until the Bucs surge ahead of them while on a losing streak.
The problem when our hope is based on the rest of the division playing poorly enough to keep the poorly playing Pirates in the hunt is that the Pirates would eventually have to reverse their own trend of consistently poor play. Sadly, there is no sign of that happening. I think it's too much to hope that while the Pirates continue to lose games, their divisional opponents will somehow manage to lose 2 games a day until the Bucs surge ahead of them while on a losing streak.
Glimmer of hope beginning to fade
The disheartening things for me are not so much Kang and Marte. They're disappointing as each player made stupid, preventable mistakes. And Taillon's situation was out of anyone's control. But the things bothering me are the inconsistency of Gerritt Cole, the apparent lack of progress of Polanco, Cutch's horrid start, the thinness of the bullpen.
I give the young guys - Frazier, Osuna, Glasnow, Kuhl, Bell - a pass. I don't expect a lot from guys mostly getting their first real taste of MLB baseball. I hope that some day we have our own Cody Bellinger or Kris Bryant who mashes from the start. But those guys are rare. Most guys who end up as above average players don't show strong results until their 2nd or 3rd year.
I give the young guys - Frazier, Osuna, Glasnow, Kuhl, Bell - a pass. I don't expect a lot from guys mostly getting their first real taste of MLB baseball. I hope that some day we have our own Cody Bellinger or Kris Bryant who mashes from the start. But those guys are rare. Most guys who end up as above average players don't show strong results until their 2nd or 3rd year.