OnlyBucs

Hodgepodge.....SWEEP!!!!!!





Raise it!

714D4B4D565F49503E0 wrote: And once again, running on contact against a drawn in infield works like a charm....for the defense.


Well, it was the pitcher that fielded the ball, but i guess he was drawn in a smidge after he threw it.  You might be on to something there.  Don’t run on first contact with a drawn in pitcher


This is a fairly recent phenomena. The strategy always used to be to make sure the ball goes through before running against a drawn in infield. Because if you ran and the ball was fielded, you were almost certainly going to be out. The infield was drawn in as much to hold the runners as to get an out because logic dictated they would hold. But in recent years, there has been a shift in strategy, and the Pirates do it frequently, to run and hope that you are safe on the play at home. It rarely works.

Trying to process what just happened.



A sweep in Fenway.



2 runs allowed in the last 2 games.



Keller with 7 strong innings.



A shut-down bullpen.



Wow.



I promise to go at least 72 hours without ripping our pitching staff.



GO BUCS !!

Great to see the sweep and for Keller to get a very deserved win.



For some reason my major league package wouldn't give me the Pirate feed so I listened to the Red Sox announcers for all 3 games. They had quite a bit of praise for the Pirates and repeatedly showed the statistics about how Reynolds has owned the Red Sox.



A couple of comments:



1. Good to see Santana show some signs of life.



2. I loath Robelo. Crux is sprawled out on the ground at 3rd, and when the ball starts to roll away from Devers he begins to motion for him to get up and go home. Cruz would have been dead to rights. And, on the stupid play in the 9th when Reynolds was out when retreating to 3rd and Cutch started wandering back to 2nd even though Santana was nearly on the 2nd base bag, Rabelo simply had his hands on his hips watching the play unfold.



3. Keller has now thrown 213 pitches in 2 games to start the season. Time to institute the Braves' former pitching coaches rule of no more than 300 pitches over 3 games. I have been a big Keller booster this recent off-season and believe the Bucs will regret not signing him to a long-term deal.



4. Underwood gets a save. May not get a chance to say that again this season.



5. The 'Z' guy looks good again.



6. Before too long the Bucs will need to send one of the outfielders (Njigba-Smith or Suwinski) down or dump Choi. Cruz was out of the game and Castro was limping in the 9th after Turner's slide. Was trying to guess who among the outfielders or the catchers would be asked to play 2nd. Of course they could recall Rodriguez to catch since he also can play 2nd.



7. While it is early, Castro looks overmatched. Smith-Njigba also had a rough night last night when he whiffed in 4 straight at-bats.



Hey, the Bucs just swept the Sox at Fenway. Will wonders never cease.



Hope that Hill looks better tomorrow than he did against the Reds.

624E46414A6D5A4C5C2F0 wrote: Great to see the sweep and for Keller to get a very deserved win.



For some reason my major league package wouldn't give me the Pirate feed so I listened to the Red Sox announcers for all 3 games.  They had quite a bit of praise for the Pirates and repeatedly showed the statistics about how Reynolds has owned the Red Sox.



A couple of comments:



1.  Good to see Santana show some signs of life.



2.  I loath Robelo.  Crux is sprawled out on the ground at 3rd, and when the ball starts to roll away from Devers he begins to motion for him to get up and go home.  Cruz would have been dead to rights.   And, on the stupid play in the 9th when Reynolds was out when retreating to 3rd and Cutch started wandering back to 2nd even though Santana was nearly on the 2nd base bag, Rabelo simply had his hands on his hips watching the play unfold.



3.  Keller has now thrown 213 pitches in 2 games to start the season.  Time to institute the Braves' former pitching coaches rule of no more than 300 pitches over 3 games.  I have been a big Keller booster this recent off-season and believe the Bucs will regret not signing him to a long-term deal.



4.  Underwood gets a save.  May not get a chance to say that again this season.



5.  The 'Z' guy looks good again.



6.  Before too long the Bucs will need to send one of the outfielders (Njigba-Smith or Suwinski) down or dump Choi.  Cruz was out of the game and Castro was limping in the 9th after Turner's slide.  Was trying to guess who among the outfielders or the catchers would be asked to play 2nd.  Of course they could recall Rodriguez to catch since he also can play 2nd.



7.  While it is early, Castro looks overmatched.  Smith-Njigba also had a rough night last night when he whiffed in 4 straight at-bats.



Hey, the Bucs just swept the Sox at Fenway.  Will wonders never cease.



Hope that Hill looks better tomorrow than he did against the Reds.










Would like to add a number 8, that is really more of a question. Will Hayes start to become a decent MLB hitter? Seems like he is overdue.