OnlyBucs

6D53565E4D55555E7E5B4C5F083A0 wrote: Pirates were out hit by the opposing pitcher. But at least Reynolds got to rest. I'm so glad he wasn't disturbed from his slumber when they needed a PHer in the 9th and sent up Perez (.154). Thank goodness the Pirates are such a well rested team. The results are amazing. 
As cheap as Nutting is, I wonder if these days offf have anything to do with the players incentive clause.In other words, Nutting tells Shelton when to rest a player. If I am going to a ballgame at PNC, I want to see Hayes, Frazier and Reynolds Not some Mickey Mouse LMP
I guess it's because the Pirates brain trust wants to have something they can claim to be good at that doesn't involve winning baseball games that they keep coming up with things like shifting, or an NBA model for resting players, or use of analytics. Now they seem to be on a kick of limiting their starting pitchers to 5 innings and 70-80 pitches. Or the current 6 man rotation. They can't win games so they want to pad their resumes as "idea men." But the goal of any baseball team is to win games. Other teams can use similar philosophies and point to success on the field (whether or not those ideas contributed is debatable). But the Pirates just look buffoons when they get shut out with their best hitters resting or have the BP blow leads because the starter had to leave after 70 pitches.



I think it was David Freese who publicly commented that there is no emphasis on winning with the Pirates. That is certainly evident by the way they handle their players. I'm sure some of it is directed by Cherington and some by Shelton. There seems to be no correlation between the lineups and any attempt to win. Most of the team can't hit? Let's just keep resting the few who can. Gamel gets 3 hits? Let's sit him and give Tom a chance to play. Polanco can't hit or play RF? Let's bat him 4th and keep him in RF. A starting pitcher is struggling badly? Let's leave him in. A starting pitcher is dominating? Let's pull him early. These are everyday occurrences with the Pirates. This is the norm. Gee, golly, winning would be swell. But it's not a priority. The priority is rest, and using analytics and making sure everybody gets a chance to play. How many lineups have we seen this year that guaranteed a loss before the game even began? As fans we know the team has a serious lack of talent. But there's no excuse for not even trying.

Much of this is part of a general manager's responsibility to set the proper tone and follow that it's done. We focused on "seeing what he has," "the draft," and other things, only assuming that these matters would automatically happen.



My concern is that "sloppiness follows sloppiness." If we're so off on these factors, what makes us think that we'll be so crisp on other important things?

614C41505746511112230 wrote: Pirates were out hit by the opposing pitcher. But at least Reynolds got to rest. I'm so glad he wasn't disturbed from his slumber when they needed a PHer in the 9th and sent up Perez (.154). Thank goodness the Pirates are such a well rested team. The results are amazing. 
As cheap as Nutting is, I wonder if these days offf have anything to do with the players incentive clause.In other words, Nutting tells Shelton when to rest a player. If I am going to a ballgame at PNC, I want to see Hayes, Frazier and Reynolds Not some Mickey Mouse LMP
I guess it's because the Pirates brain trust wants to have something they can claim to be good at that doesn't involve winning baseball games that they keep coming up with things like shifting, or an NBA model for resting players, or use of analytics. Now they seem to be on a kick of limiting their starting pitchers to 5 innings and 70-80 pitches. Or the current 6 man rotation. They can't win games so they want to pad their resumes as "idea men." But the goal of any baseball team is to win games. Other teams can use similar philosophies and point to success on the field (whether or not those ideas contributed is debatable). But the Pirates just look buffoons when they get shut out with their best hitters resting or have the BP blow leads because the starter had to leave after 70 pitches.



I think it was David Freese who publicly commented that there is no emphasis on winning with the Pirates. That is certainly evident by the way they handle their players. I'm sure some of it is directed by Cherington and some by Shelton. There seems to be no correlation between the lineups and any attempt to win. Most of the team can't hit? Let's just keep resting the few who can. Gamel gets 3 hits? Let's sit him and give Tom a chance to play. Polanco can't hit or play RF? Let's bat him 4th and keep him in RF. A starting pitcher is struggling badly? Let's leave him in. A starting pitcher is dominating? Let's pull him early. These are everyday occurrences with the Pirates. This is the norm. Gee, golly, winning would be swell. But it's not a priority. The priority is rest, and using analytics and making sure everybody gets a chance to play. How many lineups have we seen this year that guaranteed a loss before the game even began? As fans we know the team has a serious lack of talent. But there's no excuse for not even trying. 
" making sure everyone gets a chance to play. Hmmmm. very appropriate- that's what they do in Little League