OnlyBucs

I agree with the overall assessments expressed in this thread:



1) Starting pitching. Keller has been good. Although Hill has 7 wins, I cringe every time he takes the mound. While Oviedo has often struggled, I look forward to seeing him pitch. Really disappointed in Contreras, and Ortiz and Bido are still trying to feel their way. I was stunned that Velasquez was pitching as well as he was, and his loss so early in the season really hurt. Brubaker going down for the season clearly affected the pitching depth. The lack of starting pitching (particularly any depth) likely will doom this team post the all-star break.



2) Relief pitching. Bednar is pitching well. DeLosSantos, Mlodlzinski, and Hernandez all show some promise. Neither Holderman or Moreta have been able to sustain the success they performed at at the beginning of the season. Perdomo, Bouricki, and Ramirez are what they are, and you know that things are bad when Cody Bolton has been added to the roster 3 times. Collectively, the pen will over perform at times (Sunday's game and several other recent games), but they also will be torched way too often, particularly for a team that often struggles to score runs.



3) Position Players. In April, a number of players were over-performing, particularly Joe, Bae, and even Reynolds. The team was stealing bases with wild abandon, but the running game (an effective running game) has now slowed to a crawl. The only player who has exceeded expectations is Cutch, but I fear that even his performance may taper off after the break. Reynolds needs to step it up. Suwinski needs to continue to grow. Stability is needed at 2nd/SS; I prefer Gonzalez and Marcano (he looked more confident at SS on Sunday). I fear that Hayes may have already reached his summit, and that both the team and he will realize that it is not enough. Please use Davis and Endy at catcher. Hedges looks maniacal behind the plate and made 2 really dumb plays trying to get the trailing runner (if Davis did this folks would be commenting about how it was a rookie mistake; Hedges is not a rookie).



2023 is not a lost season, but the likelihood of this team actually competing for a playoff spot (unfortunately) appears to have passed. As such, I would concentrate on getting the team's better young position talent as much playing time as possible. I also would be looking for mediocre back-end starters who are cheap to try and help the team make it through the end of the season and to try and get Contreras, Ortiz, Priester, Bido and the like through the end of the season.

0C212C3D3A2B3C7C7F4E0 wrote: I`m saying you better get used to Cruz being hurt every year. Think Byron Buxton.
Cruz, what about Hayes?
How tough can it be to find someone else to hit .250 with 8 or 9 HRs? 
Yes, just look at our left fielder.

1E333E2F28392E6E6D5C0 wrote: They have a 3 game improvement over last season at the 90 game mark. That's a bit of a disappointment but I think it reflects the injury issue.





I can't remember a team as out of synch as this one has been since the 20-8 start. During that nice run they were, the pitching picked up the hitting, the hitting picked up the hitting, the bullpen was always solid, and they were fundamentally sound.



Now, the bullpen blows leads, the offense can't support and when they do, the starters give leads right back.



They still strike out too much. They still put too many runners on.


I think the nature of baseball is such that a player or group of players can perform abnormally good or abnormally bad over extended periods but will ultimately settle into their level of talent. Making contact with the ball an inch from the sweet spot on the bat can be the difference between a popup and an extra base hit. Seeing eye singles, bloop hits, errors, bad calls, facing bad pitchers can help a team succeed beyond what they should be able to do. Well-hit balls right at the fielders, bad calls and facing tough pitchers can hurt a player or team. 



The Pirates enjoyed a 4-week spurt to open the season before returning to a winning percentage consistent with their performance the past few years. Early in the season even Joe and Underwood were performing well above expectations. As was Velazquez before he got hurt. But looking at the roster, both the rotation and the BP (besides Bednar) were weak. Cutch has done better than expected and Cruz would have helped. But Hedges can't hit. Santana, Suwinski, Castro, Hayes and Joe have their moments but don't hit for average, which means the frequency of their hits leaves much to be desired. Only Reynolds appears to be someone from whom we have a right to expect more production.



So when I review the first half I see a team that lacked both the pitching and hitting to do significantly better than they've done the past few years. The 20-8 start was spectacular but not sustainable. The 21-41 record since then does not seem out of line given the roster. Hopefully in the 2nd half, the roster will be stronger by the addition of Davis, Gonzales, Triolo and maybe Endy and Priester. And maybe Cruz contributes by the end of the season. Maybe the TDL will open spots for more playing time for the prospects. But pitching still looks like a big problem. I'm not sold on anyone in the BP beyond Bednar.
I agree with everything you said with the exception of Suwinski. He has only been in the Majors for about a year and although he probably won't hit better than .250, we need him in the lineup. You might remember back in April I said I felt he would be a 30 Home Run guy. You said " I hope you are right." He now has 19 HR's and has driven in 48. He is starting to hit Lefty's better and

plays an adequate CF. I also compared him to a Dick Stuart type of player. Could Strikeout or could hit a Home Run
I'm not saying Suwinski shouldn't be in the lineup. But I include him among those who routinely have a low BA, which indicates a low frequency of hits. The Pirates have too many of that type although the others lack Suwinski's power. We see the result when there are an abundance of games with low scoring because so many players in the lineup don't get hits frequently enough to put a bunch together. As for the Stuart comparison, he had only 1 season as a Pirate hitting below .260 (.228) and had seasons batting .297 and .301. In the minors he was a career .284 hitter.



Suwinski's minor league BA was .239. As a rookie last year he hit .202 and is currently at .235. I'd take .250 from him. HRs are great but the Pirates get too few runners on in front of him. Of his 38 career HRs, 24 were solo. And only 5 came with more than 1 runner on base. And Suwinski doesn't get enough hits overall to produce many runs with singles and doubles. Last year he had only 38 RBIs with those 19 HRs. This year is a little better with 48 RBIs on 19 HRs so far. Ideally, he needs to be in a lineup with players who hit consistently so that his HRs produce more runs and so that the infrequency of his hits is not par for the course with the rest of the lineup.
When I mentioned Stuart, I also was including his below average defense. Hence the name Dr. Strange Glove Suwinski is not great but also not terrible. I could see him moving to Right when Davis begins Catching.