2 Things Today

[Carolina Bucco]

Two things the Pirates can and should do TODAY in an attempt to turn around the disaster that is this season:

1. Call up Gonzalez. I have no idea if he'll hit this time at the MLB level. But I know he DESERVES another chance based on (A) He's raking at Indy; and (B) The major league offense is a national embarrassment and they all deserve to be benched, so bring up Gonzalez and stick him at 2B every night for a few weeks and see what happens.

2. Announce today that Skenes' next start will be in Pittsburgh. He's the best pitcher in our system BY A MILE. It's ridiculous to have him down in the minors "checking boxes" as BC likes to say, when he is dominating to this extent. All he is doing now is running up his overall season pitch count for no reason in Indy instead of Pittsburgh. Every pitch in Indy is one less in Pittsburgh. And finally, I think bringing him up now might send a jolt of energy and optimism through the team and maybe that will help to kickstart the offense, because when Skenes arrives it's going to be a BIG DEAL and maybe excitement will help to get this sorry team off the mat.

[fjk090852-7]

Two things the Pirates can and should do TODAY in an attempt to turn around the disaster that is this season:

1. Call up Gonzalez. I have no idea if he'll hit this time at the MLB level. But I know he DESERVES another chance based on (A) He's raking at Indy; and (B) The major league offense is a national embarrassment and they all deserve to be benched, so bring up Gonzalez and stick him at 2B every night for a few weeks and see what happens.

2. Announce today that Skenes' next start will be in Pittsburgh. He's the best pitcher in our system BY A MILE. It's ridiculous to have him down in the minors "checking boxes" as BC likes to say, when he is dominating to this extent. All he is doing now is running up his overall season pitch count for no reason in Indy instead of Pittsburgh. Every pitch in Indy is one less in Pittsburgh. And finally, I think bringing him up now might send a jolt of energy and optimism through the team and maybe that will help to kickstart the offense, because when Skenes arrives it's going to be a BIG DEAL and maybe excitement will help to get this sorry team off the mat.

Both excellent suggestions. Let’s see if Gonzales is now MLB ready. Two other moves I would make would be to send Williams down as well Davis, and bring up Bae and Grandal. I am probably in the minority, but Williams is a good fielder, but I have no confidence whenever he is hitting.

[bucs607179]

In each of the three losses, the Pirates scored two runs twice and once in the other one. The whole plot of “Groundhog Day” revolved around the same thing happening over and over again, and that’s where things are at with the Pirates offense right now.

Pirates fans may enjoy Bill Murray but they’re not enjoying this stretch, nor is the locker room.

“This is frustrating,” Connor Joe said after the game. “I don’t think too many people in here are happy.”

Just a little from an article I was reading.

[JollyRoger8]

Make that 4 things today.
In addition to Skenes and Gonzales, they need to call up both Bae and Lamb who are both hitting .391
Bae can inject much needed speed. Lamb would have to be dead to not out produce Tellez.
Send Davis, Suwinski, Triolo, and even Cruz to Indy
Changes need to be made before the season gets away.
Can’t have 8 non productive bats in the lineup.

[JollyRoger8]

Cruz needs to go down to Indy
His defense absolutely sucks
I don’t care how strong his arm is. As a shortstop you can’t hold onto the ball and then fire over to first. That is just plain showboating and he has done that multiple times causing a wild throw and more importantly another unearned run

[PooperScooper !]

Every team needs a Johnnie LeMaster type, keep Alika ! The rest can go.

Davis down to learn RF and Cruz 1b. Cruz will get inj. soon so we will get to see someone.

Bart is C

[fjk090852-7]

Just looked at the Indy lineup tonight, and Bae, Gonzales, Grandal, and Lamb are all playing. I know if some of them were coming up they could arrive in Pittsburgh by tomorrow night. Typical Pirates, they don’t want to announce any roster moves too early.

[Ecbucs]

I looked at minor league stats for first time since season started. Altoona and Bradenton combined have gone 10-35. Perhaps there goal is to make the Pirates look better. No offense on either of those teams thus far.

[Doc]

I agree with much of what's been said in this thread so far. It's time to start acting like a major league club that's trying to win. Some guys need to be sent down while others need to be released.

Demoting Davis, Cruz, Suwinski, and maybe even Triolo would allow the four of them to band together, and support each other, while making a pact to all get back to Pittsburgh with renewed confidence (although I'm no longer sure Suwinski can be a contributing major leaguer). I think it would be easier to go through something like a demotion if one is not alone. Replacing them with Bae, Gonzales, Peguero, Grandal, and Lamb is an easy call at this point.

Releasing Tellez could serve as an indication that the days of trying to resurrect a veteran, who's proven he can't do it anymore, are over. The club needs to stop trying to find success in that way. It rarely works. I would also give great consideration to releasing McCutchen, which would be a PR nightmare but, within a week, it would be forgotten, especially if the team started winning. He has very little left in the way of being an everyday, or even sometime, contributor.

Hard decisions come with the territory when trying to be a winner. It's really easy being in the bottom 25% of the league, or at least the Pirates have made it look easy. But it's really disheartening for those of us who care.

[Bobster]

I agree with much of what's been said in this thread so far. It's time to start acting like a major league club that's trying to win. Some guys need to be sent down while others need to be released.

Demoting Davis, Cruz, Suwinski, and maybe even Triolo would allow the four of them to band together, and support each other, while making a pact to all get back to Pittsburgh with renewed confidence (although I'm no longer sure Suwinski can be a contributing major leaguer). I think it would be easier to go through something like a demotion if one is not alone. Replacing them with Bae, Gonzales, Peguero, Grandal, and Lamb is an easy call at this point.

Releasing Tellez could serve as an indication that the days of trying to resurrect a veteran, who's proven he can't do it anymore, are over. The club needs to stop trying to find success in that way. It rarely works. I would also give great consideration to releasing McCutchen, which would be a PR nightmare but, within a week, it would be forgotten, especially if the team started winning. He has very little left in the way of being an everyday, or even sometime, contributor.

Hard decisions come with the territory when trying to be a winner. It's really easy being in the bottom 25% of the league, or at least the Pirates have made it look easy. But it's really disheartening for those of us who care.

I agree, Doc. Particularly about Suwinski. He was 1 of 3 players SD traded for Adam Frazier, who was a good, steady player but not elite. So a package of 3 prospects was more about quantity than quality. And the primary guy SD was giving up was believed to be Tucupita Marcano, who had hit well in the minors.

OTOH, Suwinski had struggled against high-A pitching in 2019, hitting just .208 with 143 strikeouts in 408 ABs. The minors were shut down in 2020 and in 2021 the Padres moved him up to AA where he hit better (.269 with 15 HRs in 216 ABs but struck out 74 times (1 per every 3 ABs)). The Pirates were intrigued by the power potential and SD didn't mind giving him up. He finished that season in Altoona and his combined AA stats were a .262 BA with 19 HRs but an alarming 125 strikeouts in 367 ABs. After a hot start at Altoona in 2022, the Pirates recalled him after 13 games, skipping AAA. He was optioned to AAA in July despite hitting 14 HRs because he was hitting .198 and still striking out once per every 3 ABs. At Indy, he hit .214 but was recalled anyway in late August. In his 2 stints with the Pirates that year, he hit a combined .202. And his 19 HRs provided only 38 RBIs (just 19 besides himself) since his hits were so few and far between.

In a full season with the Bucs last year, he hit .224 with an impressive 26 HRs. But he struck out once per every 2.5 ABs. This year, he has reduced his strikeouts (21 in 95 ABs, or 1 per every 4.5 ABs) but hitting the ball hasn't helped him. He's at .168. If Suwinski has a future in MLB, it needs to be with a good hitting team that can afford the luxury of a player who usually won't contribute but is always a HR threat. With the Pirates, he's just one of too many players who rarely get hits and contribute to the lack of run production. That's just not a luxury the Pirates can afford when on any given night, there are about 7 guys in the lineup not expected to get a hit. If they can find a team interested in the power potential, I'd trade Suwinski ASAP. Barring that, he's doing more harm than good so I'd send him to AAA.