Official Game Thread - 4/19 - BoSox vs Pirates

[Doc]

Ten more team strikeouts. This beginning of this year is starting to look a lot like the beginning of last year.

[Wildwoodcoach]

I know how Bob can save more money. Instead of flying Priester back
to Indy, send him to Altoona in a car.

[Wildwoodcoach]

It was mentioned last night that opponents are 16 for 16 in stealing bases.Seems
the pitchers are doing a poor job of holding the runners on.

[bucs607179]

Ten more team strikeouts. This beginning of this year is starting to look a lot like the beginning of last year.

Fooled me yet again. I understand we don't have the best of the best but I always think we will catch magic in a bottle after the good starts. And by magic I mean 80-85 wins.

[Bobster]

Ten more team strikeouts. This beginning of this year is starting to look a lot like the beginning of last year.

Fooled me yet again. I understand we don't have the best of the best but I always think we will catch magic in a bottle after the good starts. And by magic I mean 80-85 wins.

I honestly believe the brain trust of this team significantly limits their ability to win. They are rigid in their thinking and counterproductive in their methods. Everyone knew Priester needed a ton of work to improve over his disastrous 2023 season. But they can't let him work things out and protect his arm at the same time. As a result, he pitched a total of 13.2 innings at Indy, only once going more than 4 innings. Then they recalled him when they needed a starter and-voila!-that 13.2 inning workload didn't make him any better. Meanwhile, Skenes has made 4 starts but has not faced a AAA lineup a 2nd time, going 3, 3, 3.1 and 3.1 innings. Yeah, that's gonna prepare him for MLB lineups.

Another example is Taylor. Never a strong hitter, he got off to a great start hitting .429 in 8 games. But this team prioritizes rest over optimal lineups. Shelton suddenly put Taylor on the bench for the next 3 games citing he had been playing a lot because he was the team's hottest hitter. Well, duh. The super-rested Taylor has hit .136 since being allowed to play again.

They love to move players around. In one game they moved Suwinski to CF where he had not recently been playing while also putting reserve SS Williams at 2B. The result was that they looked at each other as a routine fly ball fell in between them. Better to be versatile than strong up the middle, I guess.

Jones had to be limited to 5 innings even though he has not had a 90-pitch game this season. Pitches didn't count, just the inning number. He could have thrown 70-80 pitches in those 5 innings. But when he did it in 59, 50 for strikes, he had to be pulled because that decision was made prior to the game and was inflexible. They lost, but who cares? The important thing was that the rule was followed. Likewise, Falter has been pulled 3 times on low pitch counts during effective starts. It does the other team a favor and needlessly overworks the BP, but rules are rules.

The Pirates are enamored with the idea of a 6'-7" SS with power leading off. But Cruz is an erratic fielder whose power would better fit in the middle of the order while his OBP is the worst on the roster. But none of that seems to matter. They just like that he's tall.

I get that Cherington wants to be innovative to make up for limited talent. But a dose of common sense would go a long way. The Pirate players not only have to defeat the opposing players. They also have to overcome the obstacles placed in their path by their own GM and manager. Good luck with that.

[Possum]

Ten more team strikeouts. This beginning of this year is starting to look a lot like the beginning of last year.

Fooled me yet again. I understand we don't have the best of the best but I always think we will catch magic in a bottle after the good starts. And by magic I mean 80-85 wins.

I honestly believe the brain trust of this team significantly limits their ability to win. They are rigid in their thinking and counterproductive in their methods. Everyone knew Priester needed a ton of work to improve over his disastrous 2023 season. But they can't let him work things out and protect his arm at the same time. As a result, he pitched a total of 13.2 innings at Indy, only once going more than 4 innings. Then they recalled him when they needed a starter and-voila!-that 13.2 inning workload didn't make him any better. Meanwhile, Skenes has made 4 starts but has not faced a AAA lineup a 2nd time, going 3, 3, 3.1 and 3.1 innings. Yeah, that's gonna prepare him for MLB lineups.

Another example is Taylor. Never a strong hitter, he got off to a great start hitting .429 in 8 games. But this team prioritizes rest over optimal lineups. Shelton suddenly put Taylor on the bench for the next 3 games citing he had been playing a lot because he was the team's hottest hitter. Well, duh. The super-rested Taylor has hit .136 since being allowed to play again.

They love to move players around. In one game they moved Suwinski to CF where he had not recently been playing while also putting reserve SS Williams at 2B. The result was that they looked at each other as a routine fly ball fell in between them. Better to be versatile than strong up the middle, I guess.

Jones had to be limited to 5 innings even though he has not had a 90-pitch game this season. Pitches didn't count, just the inning number. He could have thrown 70-80 pitches in those 5 innings. But when he did it in 59, 50 for strikes, he had to be pulled because that decision was made prior to the game and was inflexible. They lost, but who cares? The important thing was that the rule was followed. Likewise, Falter has been pulled 3 times on low pitch counts during effective starts. It does the other team a favor and needlessly overworks the BP, but rules are rules.

The Pirates are enamored with the idea of a 6'-7" SS with power leading off. But Cruz is an erratic fielder whose power would better fit in the middle of the order while his OBP is the worst on the roster. But none of that seems to matter. They just like that he's tall.

I get that Cherington wants to be innovative to make up for limited talent. But a dose of common sense would go a long way. The Pirate players not only have to defeat the opposing players. They also have to overcome the obstacles placed in their path by their own GM and manager. Good luck with that.

My sentiments also. I was going to post a rant thread about this issue. I'm going to take the next two days off from the Bucs and who knows maybe crochet the weekend away.

[Doc]

Ten more team strikeouts. This beginning of this year is starting to look a lot like the beginning of last year.

Fooled me yet again. I understand we don't have the best of the best but I always think we will catch magic in a bottle after the good starts. And by magic I mean 80-85 wins.

We've all lowered our expectations, and for good reason. It's embarrassing to be a Pirates fan.

[Possum]

I know how Bob can save more money. Instead of flying Priester back
to Indy, send him to Altoona in a car.

[Possum]

Hey Surg, my sympathies go out to you for having to sit through the debacle of a performance by our team. You are a great Bucco fan and they seem to jinx your happiness when you attend a game.

[JollyRoger8]

Ten more team strikeouts. This beginning of this year is starting to look a lot like the beginning of last year.

Fooled me yet again. I understand we don't have the best of the best but I always think we will catch magic in a bottle after the good starts. And by magic I mean 80-85 wins.

I honestly believe the brain trust of this team significantly limits their ability to win. They are rigid in their thinking and counterproductive in their methods. Everyone knew Priester needed a ton of work to improve over his disastrous 2023 season. But they can't let him work things out and protect his arm at the same time. As a result, he pitched a total of 13.2 innings at Indy, only once going more than 4 innings. Then they recalled him when they needed a starter and-voila!-that 13.2 inning workload didn't make him any better. Meanwhile, Skenes has made 4 starts but has not faced a AAA lineup a 2nd time, going 3, 3, 3.1 and 3.1 innings. Yeah, that's gonna prepare him for MLB lineups.

Another example is Taylor. Never a strong hitter, he got off to a great start hitting .429 in 8 games. But this team prioritizes rest over optimal lineups. Shelton suddenly put Taylor on the bench for the next 3 games citing he had been playing a lot because he was the team's hottest hitter. Well, duh. The super-rested Taylor has hit .136 since being allowed to play again.

They love to move players around. In one game they moved Suwinski to CF where he had not recently been playing while also putting reserve SS Williams at 2B. The result was that they looked at each other as a routine fly ball fell in between them. Better to be versatile than strong up the middle, I guess.

Jones had to be limited to 5 innings even though he has not had a 90-pitch game this season. Pitches didn't count, just the inning number. He could have thrown 70-80 pitches in those 5 innings. But when he did it in 59, 50 for strikes, he had to be pulled because that decision was made prior to the game and was inflexible. They lost, but who cares? The important thing was that the rule was followed. Likewise, Falter has been pulled 3 times on low pitch counts during effective starts. It does the other team a favor and needlessly overworks the BP, but rules are rules.

The Pirates are enamored with the idea of a 6'-7" SS with power leading off. But Cruz is an erratic fielder whose power would better fit in the middle of the order while his OBP is the worst on the roster. But none of that seems to matter. They just like that he's tall.

I get that Cherington wants to be innovative to make up for limited talent. But a dose of common sense would go a long way. The Pirate players not only have to defeat the opposing players. They also have to overcome the obstacles placed in their path by their own GM and manager. Good luck with that.

You hit the nail on the head Bobster!