OnlyBucs

Does anyone think Kuhl's performance last night puts him on shakier ground with Kingham, etc. all but ready?

43737F6464797E5D716363100 wrote: Should be a lot of shuffling this weekend:



Marte to DL, Meadows Up on Friday

Kingham up on Saturday, Moroff (?) down

Jay Hay activated Sunday, Kingham (?) down

Next week Musgrove activated, Osuna (?) or Frazier (?) down


I don't think Frazier would be sent down. Possibly Osuna.



I don't like keeping 13 pitchers with just a 4 man bench. Right now the BP has Brault (L) and Glasnow (R) long, Vazquez, Feliz, Santana, Rodriguez and Crick for the 6th inning on. And then there's Kontos: ineffective as a setup man. not a long reliever, and not needed for any of the roles currently filled by Vazquez, Feliz, Santana, Rodriguez and Crick. Keeping him in the BP where there's neither a role nor a need for him takes away a bench player. I suspect he will shortly be moved and the 5 man bench will be preserved after Musgrove returns.

I think Moroff should go down.  the playing time is too sparse, and what time he is being given, his K rate and walk rates are terrible in both directions.   



Oh well.  maybe next time. maybe never

I concur with Bobster. I think Kontos soon draws the short straw. Gotta believe some team would offer a bone for him. There's a lot of worse relievers than Kontos out there, he has some track record of past success, and he is relatively cheap. Either they find a short-term injury for Kontos to allow the reactivation of Kingham, or they move Kontos



Although I really like Moroff, his strike zone judgement appears to be suffering from a lack of playing time (hopefully that is all that it is). Moroff is the obvious candidate to get sent down when J-Hay is ready to come back.



Not sure what to do when Musgrove is available if Kingham's next start goes well. Everyone in the pen other than Kontos is performing acceptably, but some of them do have remaining options If Kingham is hit hard in his next start it is a much easier decision; option Kingham when Musgrove is ready.



All-in-all, very nice problems to have.

If Meadows hits his first home run during this stay with the Bucs it will be at Cincinnati next week at that short right field.

476A67767160773734050 wrote: This is just a short, get-your-feet-wet type opportunity for Meadows. Be good for him and they can easily justify sending him back down when Marte is done (presumably in eight days). I take this as a sign Marte's injury is not thought of as serious. If they thought he would be out for an extended time they would have called up Bostick. No way they give Meadows an extra year of arbitration just to get him up three weeks early.


You are right.  Need to put on my thinking cap a bit earlier in the day!  I wonder if he starts in CF tonite?  That would be interesting.


I sure hope so. I want him out there for the short time he is going to be up.
They generally prefer to put a guy right in the lineup when he's called up. Especially if he's been hot in AAA. It keeps a rookie from sitting around in the dugout for days getting nervous about his debut. So I expect Meadows to be in the lineup tonight. Besides, Rodriguez has played a lot recently and Hurdle loves to rest players.




You’re probably right, but I think it’s a mistake. Rodriguez has played really good baseball in his first chance at extended play. That’s not entirely surprising. I rather keep Meadows down so that SRod can continue to play. This is not the time to insert a rookie.



I also wonder about the locker room: we can be pretty sure Rodriguez is a popular guy inside. Given the way he’s played, I could see some problems if he’s benched for a rookie. Especially if that rookie struggles.

He is bench player- he knows it, everyone else knows it. Also, some of the guys on the team have been teammates of Meadows. They are probably looking forward to seeing him play.

He WAS a bench player. The starter was injuried. He’s been a starter (mostly) since and played very well. I think it likely that Rodriguez gives the Pirates the best chance to win if he starts.



This doesn’t seem like an obvious time to call Meadows up. If he plays great, then all is well. If he does not, and the Pirates lose, I think it’s a huge mistake, and for no obvious reason.

5453454D4354131F66414B474F4A0845494B260 wrote: He WAS a bench player.  The starter was injuried.  He’s been a starter (mostly) since and played very well. I think it likely that  Rodriguez gives the Pirates the best chance to win if he starts.



This doesn’t seem like an obvious time to call Meadows up.  If he plays great, then all is well. If he does not, and the Pirates lose, I think it’s a huge mistake, and for no obvious reason. 


Maybe. I don't think Marte is in any trouble but his presence might push Polanco. I also think it frees up SROD to do that thing he does all around the diamond.

Given all of the reshuffling that's about to take place, as noted earlier in this thread, I'm curious who everyone thinks makes up our BEST 25. Some are obvious. But, #3-5 starter, bench, and bullpen are interesting right now.



Dickerson, Marte, Polanco, Bell, Harrison, Mercer, Moran, Cervelli are givens right now.



Taillon and Williams are, too.



Rodriguez and Diaz are givens on the bench.



Vazquez, Feliz, Rodriguez, Crick, Santana, Brault, and Glasnow in the pen.



So, fill out your roster...six spots remaining. Three starting pitchers, and three more between the bench and bullpen.



Starting candidates: Kuhl, Nova, Kingham, Musgrove...who's the odd man out?



Bench/Bullpen options: Moroff, Frazier, Osuna, Kontos, Kuhl/Nova/Kingham/Musgrove loser. Pick three.



Either way, two guys are out. Personally, Kontos is the easy choice for one of the two. I send Kingham to Indy, keep him on a regular rotation. He's great insurance when one of our starters eventually has an injury.



So, I'd go with a twelve man pitching staff, and a five man bench: Rodriguez, Diaz, Moroff, Frazier, Osuna.