OnlyBucs

start of the first sweep of the season!

¡Levanta al Alegre Roger!

A most disappointing win!

Raise The Jolly Roger!

032E23323524337370410 wrote: Nice play by Newman in the 9th to rob a hit.
There is no question about Newman's fielding. One of the better fielding shortstops. I can see him sticking around when his replacement (whoever that is) is ready.

37090C04170F0F042401160552600 wrote: Nice play by Newman in the 9th to rob a hit.
There is no question about Newman's fielding. One of the better fielding shortstops. I can see him sticking around when his replacement (whoever that is) is ready.
Newman hit well in the minors and then .308 as a rookie in 2019. He struggled last year but so did a lot of MLBers (even Reynolds) in that bizarre plague mini-season. But now it looks like he just can't find his swing again as well as pitchers adjusting to him after his rookie season. But his ability to hit until last year suggests he's salvageable. But whatever needs to be done to fix him isn't happening. He just turned 28 and is very good defensively. He can have a long career if he regains the ability to hit. Otherwise he's probably going to have a career as a journeyman utility guy.   

He's hitting 300+ with more power over the last 30 days, so hopefully that's a sign of good things going forward. They have been working on getting him to use his lower body more in his swing.

I feel the Pirates have to do better than Newman at SS. He's a capable player, and one who would work out well if he played in a strong offensive line-up, as Mercer did. He's fine defensively, but not spectacular. I think he'd best serve the team as a back-up infielder, getting 200-250 at bats each year.

6D3B2D39362C3C373A2D1F38323E3633713C5F0 wrote: I feel the Pirates have to do better than Newman at SS.  He's a capable player, and one who would work out well if he played in a strong offensive line-up, as Mercer did.  He's fine defensively, but not spectacular.  I think he'd best serve the team as a back-up infielder, getting 200-250 at bats each year.
I think offensively (and defensively actually) he's far superior to Jordy Mercer and Clint Barmes. I agree with WVBucco, his hitting especially for some pop has really been noticeable, and it's been sustained over a good bit of time. He may have already had a career year back in 2019, but over the last 30 days his slugging has improved from .265 to .312, his BA from .207 to .227, and his OBP from .246 to .266. Consider that he's a MLB qualified stats player, so with as many AB/PA's as he's had, to make those kinds of gains this late in the season is quite remarkable. If August is closer to the real Kevin Newman, if he's finally putting it back together, he's top half in MLB, and a keeper.

376177636C76666D6077456268646C692B66050 wrote: I feel the Pirates have to do better than Newman at SS.  He's a capable player, and one who would work out well if he played in a strong offensive line-up, as Mercer did.  He's fine defensively, but not spectacular.  I think he'd best serve the team as a back-up infielder, getting 200-250 at bats each year.
Well, we seem to have a bunch of possible candidates up and coming. And if Newman turns his bat back around I'm fine with that too.