Pirates vs Cubs 7/14

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Sun Jul 14, 2019 5:17 pm

1. Kevin Newman (R) SS

2. Bryan Reynolds (S) RF

3. Starling Marte (R) CF

4. Josh Bell (S) 1B

5. Jung Ho Kang (R) 3B

6. Corey Dickerson (L) LF

7. Elias Diaz (R) C

8. Adam Frazier (L) 2B

9. Trevor Williams (R) P

Nice to see Dickerson back in the lineup. Williams has been struggling lately. Let's hope he turns it around.

SteadyFreddy · Post by **SteadyFreddy** » Sun Jul 14, 2019 8:12 pm

Bucs were up 3-1 now down 5-3 in the bottom of the 5th staring hard at a sweep which is the last thing you wanted to have happen this series. So frustrating.

mouse · Post by **mouse** » Sun Jul 14, 2019 9:05 pm

And now it's 8 - 3. Starting to look like they've decided whether they will be contenders or not.

gileszee · Post by **gileszee** » Sun Jul 14, 2019 9:18 pm

I never thought this was or is a championship roster. These guys are fun to watch though, never give up attitude, etc.

Exactly what management wants, stay competitive enough to give us fans hope and fannies in the seats. Without breaking the budget as small as it is.

SCBucco · Post by **SCBucco** » Sun Jul 14, 2019 9:49 pm

The starting pitching had a chance to be pretty good if Taillon remained healthy (hasn't); Williams came close to duplicating his 2018 (hasn't) and Archer improved (has been spotty). We have a pretty good offense, but still have numerous holes that doesn't spell playoff contender.

fjk090852-7 · Post by **fjk090852-7** » Sun Jul 14, 2019 10:53 pm

By next weekend for sure we should know if the Bucs are sellers, or buyers. Right now it appears they will be sellers. We may soon know if guys like Melky and Dickerson will remain with the team the entire season.

mouse · Post by **mouse** » Sun Jul 14, 2019 11:09 pm

I hope its clearcut, one way or the other. My concern is it will be too vague to call and NH will feel compelled to continue to straddle the middle in case they suddenly get hot.

SteadyFreddy · Post by **SteadyFreddy** » Sun Jul 14, 2019 11:43 pm

The Pirates are still only 3.5 games out of a 2nd wildcard spot with the next 10 games against teams they are chasing in the Cardinals and the Phillies. I think it’s important the Pirates go 4-2 in these 6 games this week against the Cards on the road and Phillies at home. You gotta bounce back and at least win 2 out of 3 in St Louis. I expect the Pirates to play a lot better in this series against the Cards and I think they will find a way to win 2 of 3 going into this upcoming homestand against the Phillies and Cards. So I wouldn’t be in a rush to sell just yet let’s see how this week plays out first. The Pirates have to bounce back from this sweep in Chicago though gotta get this turned around fast in St Louis.

BenM · Post by **BenM** » Mon Jul 15, 2019 2:13 am

44637276736E51657273736E170 wrote: The Pirates are still only 3.5 games out of a 2nd wildcard spot with the next 10 games against teams they are chasing in the Cardinals and the Phillies. I think it’s important the Pirates go 4-2 in these 6 games this week against the Cards on the road and Phillies at home. You gotta bounce back and at least win 2 out of 3 in St Louis. I expect the Pirates to play a lot better in this series against the Cards and I think they will find a way to win 2 of 3 going into this upcoming homestand against the Phillies and Cards. So I wouldn’t be in a rush to sell just yet let’s see how this week plays out first. The Pirates have to bounce back from this sweep in Chicago though gotta get this turned around fast in St Louis.

They are only 3.5 games out, but there are five teams in front of them. Every one of them is thinking the same thing we are "We are only x games out. Let's go for it!"

Can they leap frog all of those teams? I'm kind of skeptical.

SteadyFreddy · Post by **SteadyFreddy** » Mon Jul 15, 2019 4:32 am

I’m not saying they will jump over all those teams either but you just never know. Baseball is such a long season and anything can happen. There are still 70 games left this season which is plenty of time for one team to get red hot and take control of one of these wildcard spots. Not saying that team will be the Pirates but they did win 11 in a row last July right around this time. So like I said you just never know how things are going to work out. There is still a lot of baseball left in this season and you just gotta play it out and see what happens.