OnlyBucs

Thanks to Shelton, us Pirates fans left early and hoped the visitors didn't tear up the joint

0F292E3B323E293F375C0 wrote: "The Pirates turn two. Zip, zap kazoo."---Greg Brown. 



What an embarrassment to broadcasting. He must think the viewers just can't get enough of his nicknames and catch phrases.  >:(


I’ll take Brown’s enthusiasm (even if some of the phrases are corny) over a monotone dry announcer. You need to listen to some of the other announcers out there.
I have. IMHO, the Pirate broadcasters are the worst in MLB. And no one is more monotone than our own Kevin Young.
If you think Steve Stone is better than any Pirates broadcaster, I'll find a coupon and save it for your hearing test.
Stone is bad, no question about it. I watched a lot of his game in the afternoon. But otherwise, the White Sox broadcast seemed fine. With the Pirates, the issue likely stems from AT&T SportsNet. It's a production decision to frequently show the announcers in the booth, to have the segments with Robbie taking food to them in the booth, to have Fort's clinic segments, to have Robbie's inane "What led to...?" post-game interviews, to allow Brown's constant attempts at comedy and Block's routine game long filibusters. And I suspect there is a directive from the Pirates to fawn over every move Hayes and Cruz make. Then you add in Brown's over the top enthusiasm, the constant catch phrases and nicknames, Kevin Young's sleep inducing monotone and Block always asking his analyst to explain baseball to the audience, and it makes for a very poor production. It would be just our luck that they would add Steve Stone to the broadcast team.

Pirates lose by 16, zip zap kazeen!!!



I turned it off at 4-0, checked back in at 5-0 and turned it off for good. Was surprised to see the final score this morning.



Keller gave up 5 hits in the first 3 innings but 2 DPs kept NY from scoring. That can be looked at 2 ways: either Keller was lucky to get thru the first 3 innings without a run, or Keller effectively induced DP grounders when he needed them. And in the 2nd, he faced the slumping Gallo (1 for 33, .164 BA) with runners at 1B and 3B and no outs. With runners aboard, there was no shifting and Keller struck out Gallo on 4 pitches with 3 swinging strikes. And he was dominating in the 4th, retiring 3 batters on 12 pitches with 2 Ks.



But when Gallo led off the 5th, Shelton must have thought it was Babe Ruth with 4 OFers and no one on the left side of the diamond. With that shift, Keller's pitches were all over the place for a walk. That led to a 2-run rally and the next inning Keller served up a HR to Gallo, who hadn't been able to buy a hit for nearly 3 weeks. Maybe it was coincidence but Shelton's over the top shifting against a guy who hadn't been able to hit anybody recently and whiffed on 4 pitches in his previous AB, seemed to shake Keller.

It might be a good idea for VanMeter, with an ERA of 39.00, to become the personal pitching coach for Banuelos (Pirate ERA 135.00). A 39.00 ERA would look pretty good right about now for Banuelos. ;D

They've moved back into the cellar in run differential, -129.

684D4E4E5B704D454750220 wrote: It’s a friggin travesty to allow a position player who throws 60MPH to pitch. Turns the game into a joke.

MLB needs to outlaw it!!


Furthermore you think Van Meter enjoys getting humiliated

The players should tell Shelton to F… Off.


I agree with you on both

133E33222534236360510 wrote: It might be a good idea for VanMeter, with an ERA of 39.00, to become the personal pitching coach for Banuelos (Pirate ERA 135.00). A 39.00 ERA would look pretty good right about now for Banuelos.  ;D
I thought that just maybe Banuelos might do well against the

Yankees because be could know their weaknesses. Evidently, it's the other way around

331512070E0215030B600 wrote: Thanks to Shelton, us Pirates fans left early and hoped the visitors didn't tear up the joint
What a difference a day makes!!

I's sure that MLB has rules I wonder what would happen if after 8

innings, Shelton just said, "that's it, I am concerned about the players safety". As others have said, this has to be addressed by

MLB

744A4F47544C4C476742554611230 wrote: I's sure that MLB has rules I wonder what would happen if after 8

innings, Shelton just said, "that's it, I am concerned about the players safety". As others have said, this has to be addressed by

MLB




I bet it will be addressed this off season, here is article from June 1:



Peak position player pitching

With all due respect to Jay Jaffe, position player pitching did not peak in 2019. I'm not even sure it's peaking in 2022, but what we used to see maybe once or twice a month is now almost a nightly occurrence across baseball. In an effort to preserve arms -- actual pitcher arms -- teams routinely turn to position players to eat up an inning or two in a blowout.



Here are the number of position player pitching appearances by year (ignoring the 2020 pandemic season and not counting Shohei Ohtani):



2022: 23 and counting (on pace for 79)

2021: 95

2019: 90

2018: 65

2017: 36

[highlight]As recently as 2011, only eight[/highlight] -- eight! -- position players took the mound all season. Eight different position players pitched just last week (Giants outfielder Luis González pitched twice last week and three times already this season). We're on pace for only 79 position player pitching appearances this year, though that rate will climb as the season progresses. It always does.



Beyond the sheer number of position players making pitching appearances, there's a new trend emerging in the world of position player pitchers: they're pitching in wins. Historically, position players were sent to the mound in blowout losses. It used to be an act of desperation, an acknowledgement you've been beaten so badly that it risks ruining your next game or two.



Now teams are getting a little cheeky and using position players to close out blowout wins. It happened four times last month: Albert Pujols (15-6 Cardinals win on May 15), Hanser Alberto (12-3 Dodgers win on May 17), Yadier Molina (18-4 Cardinals win on May 22), and Alberto again (14-1 win on May 26). They combined to allow nine runs in four innings in those appearances.





"They made me pay like I've been making pitchers pay for 22 years," Pujols jokingly told MLB.com after allowing four runs in his pitching appearance.



Four position players pitched in a win in May and the Cardinals and Dodgers did it twice each, so this wasn't a one-off with four different teams. Two teams did it multiple times. Prior to this season, the last position player to pitch in a win was Russell Martin with (who else?) the Dodgers. He did it twice in two-week span in Aug. 2019. Martin also did it that March.



As you might suspect, most recent position player pitching appearances in a win came under extreme or unusual circumstances. Orioles utility man Stevie Wilkerson got a save (!) in 16-inning game in 2019. Cubs catcher John Baker and Orioles slugger Chris Davis picked up wins in 16-inning games. Tigers utility man Andrew Romine pitched in a win when he played all nine positions.



Four position players pitched in wins in May. Nine did it from 2011-21, and two did it from 1969-2010. One was Rockies catcher Brent Mayne, who pitched the 12th inning on Aug. 22, 2000. The other was Tigers utility man Shane Halter, who played all nine positions on the final day of the 2000 season. This used to never happen. Then it happened four times last month.



Because position players don't train to pitch and are put at increased injury risk when they take the mound, the MLBPA has grown concerned about the increase in position player pitching appearances, and there are now rules about when position players can pitch. The rules:



MLB teams must designate every player on the active roster either as a pitcher or a position player ... Those designated as position players are unable to pitch unless it is extra innings or their team is ahead or trailing by more than six runs when they take the mound.



Personally, the novelty of a position player pitching has worn off for me, and I don't find it all that entertaining. I'm far more likely to turn the game off than watch a position player pitch. I think the score being separated by six runs is too low a threshold. I say up it to eight runs, or even 10 runs. There's no indication MLB is considering this, but I hope the league does. Now that two teams have used position players to pitch in blowout wins multiple times, it's going to happen more often. Other teams will follow suit. It's inevitable.



https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb- ... l%20season.