OnlyBucs

062A22252E093E28384B0 wrote: And the bottom of the Pirates order requests more of Kahnle on the mound.   Suwinski and some guy named VanMeter both hit HR's, and VanMeter's is with a man on base. 
The small miracle has occurred

A few years back, I saw VanMeter play a AAA game in Louisville, where he was tearing it up. Later that year, I saw him play in Cincy against the Bucs. He started his MLB career strongly and had over 20 HR that year between AAA and the Reds. Maybe he can provide some pop here and there.

614740555C50475159320 wrote: Wish I could have commented more but wifi is painfully slow at pnc park
How that you are home with better internet connections feel free to comment away. Tell us what you saw, what you liked, and what you didn't like.

Bucs have hit 11 home runs in the last 5 games

43626A436860070 wrote: Wish I could have commented more but wifi is painfully slow at pnc park
How that you are home with better internet connections feel free to comment away.  Tell us what you saw, what you liked, and what you didn't like. 


What I don't like: You can almost feel Reynolds anxiety when he comes to bat with RISP. You can feel his neck tightening he just looks like he's trying to hit 6 run HR. The team as a whole needs to do better. VanMeter has about a quarter inch vertical leap and always looks awkward fielding. His HR and triple aside, if he doesn't hit for league average he needs to go. Reynolds also is playing very bad in CF but I attribute that to him not having a good feel with who is on either side of him. He may be taking his same indecisiveness to the field with him. I'm also worried we've maxed out on Stratton. Yoshi didn't play today but I worry he has yet to pull a ball for any power. We need to upgrade over Knapp. I don't like Sheltons cookie cutter "follow the script" he uses, but it worked today so he gets kudos for that.



The good: Hayes is pounding the ball no hits today but he had 2 really good AB for outs. The team is getting on base and grinding out AB. The power is starting to show which I felt was there. Castillo and Suwinski both look like they know they belong. Peter's and Crowe aren't afraid of tough situations they both would fall apart last season. Bednar is stud. I really like Sulser, he got hit when his pitch count got up yesterday. So between Quintana, Peter's, Crowe, Bednar, Sulser and I still like Banda and DeLong, we at least have half a good staff. Hopefully Stratton gets back on track. Most of all everyone seems engaged and paying attention.

331512070E0215030B600 wrote: Wish I could have commented more but wifi is painfully slow at pnc park
How that you are home with better internet connections feel free to comment away.  Tell us what you saw, what you liked, and what you didn't like. 


What I don't like: You can almost feel Reynolds anxiety when he comes to bat with RISP. You can feel his neck tightening he just looks like he's trying to hit 6 run HR. The team as a whole needs to do better. VanMeter has about a quarter inch vertical leap and always looks awkward fielding. His HR and triple aside, if he doesn't hit for league average he needs to go. Reynolds also is playing very bad in CF but I attribute that to him not having a good feel with who is on either side of him. He may be taking his same indecisiveness to the field with him. I'm also worried we've maxed out on Stratton. Yoshi didn't play today but I worry he has yet to pull a ball for any power. We need to upgrade over Knapp. I don't like Sheltons cookie cutter "follow the script" he uses, but it worked today so he gets kudos for that.



The good: Hayes is pounding the ball no hits today but he had 2 really good AB for outs. The team is getting on base and grinding out AB. The power is starting to show which I felt was there. Castillo and Suwinski both look like they know they belong. Peter's and Crowe aren't afraid of tough situations they both would fall apart last season. Bednar is stud. I really like Sulser, he got hit when his pitch count got up yesterday. So between Quintana, Peter's, Crowe, Bednar, Sulser and I still like Banda and DeLong, we at least have half a good staff. Hopefully Stratton gets back on track. Most of all everyone seems engaged and paying attention.
I think more is being expected of Stratton than he is able to do. He has never been a shutdown type pitcher. A good year for him is when he can keep his ERA under 4.00. His career ERA, WHIP and hits per 9 innings are not impressive. On a very bad staff last season his 3.63 ERA looked very good. But on a good staff, that would be pretty average. He moved into a late inning last year in mid August a few weeks after Rich Rodriguez was dealt. Before that he was a middle reliver. Now he's being asked to be a shutdown late inning reliever and he appears miscast in that role. He has his moments but is not the type of pitcher who can be relied on in late inning, high leverage situations with any degree of consistency. But options in the Pirate BP are limited.

4F626F7E79687F3F3C0D0 wrote: Wish I could have commented more but wifi is painfully slow at pnc park
How that you are home with better internet connections feel free to comment away.  Tell us what you saw, what you liked, and what you didn't like. 


What I don't like: You can almost feel Reynolds anxiety when he comes to bat with RISP. You can feel his neck tightening he just looks like he's trying to hit 6 run HR. The team as a whole needs to do better. VanMeter has about a quarter inch vertical leap and always looks awkward fielding. His HR and triple aside, if he doesn't hit for league average he needs to go. Reynolds also is playing very bad in CF but I attribute that to him not having a good feel with who is on either side of him. He may be taking his same indecisiveness to the field with him. I'm also worried we've maxed out on Stratton. Yoshi didn't play today but I worry he has yet to pull a ball for any power. We need to upgrade over Knapp. I don't like Sheltons cookie cutter "follow the script" he uses, but it worked today so he gets kudos for that.



The good: Hayes is pounding the ball no hits today but he had 2 really good AB for outs. The team is getting on base and grinding out AB. The power is starting to show which I felt was there. Castillo and Suwinski both look like they know they belong. Peter's and Crowe aren't afraid of tough situations they both would fall apart last season. Bednar is stud. I really like Sulser, he got hit when his pitch count got up yesterday. So between Quintana, Peter's, Crowe, Bednar, Sulser and I still like Banda and DeLong, we at least have half a good staff. Hopefully Stratton gets back on track. Most of all everyone seems engaged and paying attention.
I think more is being expected of Stratton than he is able to do. He has never been a shutdown type pitcher. A good year for him is when he can keep his ERA under 4.00. His career ERA, WHIP and hits per 9 innings are not impressive. On a very bad staff last season his 3.63 ERA looked very good. But on a good staff, that would be pretty average. He moved into a late inning last year in mid August a few weeks after Rich Rodriguez was dealt. Before that he was a middle reliver. Now he's being asked to be a shutdown late inning reliever and he appears miscast in that role. He has his moments but is not the type of pitcher who can be relied on in late inning, high leverage situations with any degree of consistency. But options in the Pirate BP are limited.   
Your last sentence probably explains it