OnlyBucs

Listening to Hurdle sounds like he could care less about losing this series to the Giants. I like Clint a lot but his attitude toward some of these losses gets old and tiresome.

Maybe we can pry this guy from Texas. He looks sad in the picture and would be happier in Pittsburgh.

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?si ... g/2017/ALL

4F6D7E636065626D4E796F6F630C0 wrote: This is why any time I hear anyone talk about an "easy" stretch of the schedule, I cringe. That's not the way the Pirates operate.

Pirates are just as likely to beat the Nats or Yankees as they are the Reds and Giants.

5-1 in Wrigley.

4-2 vs. Yanks, Nats.

But now 2-11 vs. the two bottom-feeders.

Make that a very reasonable 7-6 instead of 2-11, and the Pirates are in 1st place.

I don't think I've ever seen a team play up or down to its competition as much as the 2017 Pirates. They were inspired against Milwaukee, like they knew the season was on the line, which it was. This series, it's like, ehh...NBD.

I have some longer thoughts on this that hopefully, I'll post later. For now, suffice it to say that this team disgusts me. When we win, I very rarely see the other team beat itself. Maybe it's just the homer in me, but it seems to me that when we lose, we're beating ourselves.

One day, it's a TOOTBLAN. The next day, it's a throwing error. The next day it's forgetting how many outs there are. The next day it's throwing the ball into left field. The day after that, it's trying to hit a five run homer when a sac fly will do. The day after that it's wandering off third base and getting picked off. All in all, I've never seen a more undisciplined team. I normally tend to stay pretty even keel and not get too high after wins or too low after losses, but we just keep shooting ourselves in the foot on plays that I'd expect a Little League team to make. And I mean that sincerely. It's one thing if the other team just beats you. Like last night. I didn't really care. It was against Bumgarner. Taillon didn't have even his average stuff, let alone his best. That's baseball. It happens. Even the best teams lose one out of every three. But it seems to me that more often than not, the 2017 Pirates can pretty easily point to an unforced error as a primary factor in why they got beat on a particular day.

After (another) brutal loss, I'm going to try to be positive for a change.

Immediately prior to the Pirates' recent 12 of 14 win streak, they lost 4 straight to Giants and Phillies. Then went on a tear.

Today was a bad loss, but if the Pirates can bounce back and sweep the Padres, then:

* This becomes a successful 5-4 road trip.
* The team will be 1 game over .500
* About 3 games out of 1st place.

I'm not predicting they'll sweep the Padres (I'm not crazy), but if it happens the vibes around this team will be much different and there will be a lot of momentum and optimism heading home.

So I'm not ready to give up quite yet.

5B5350677154737C120 wrote: This is why any time I hear anyone talk about an "easy" stretch of the schedule, I cringe. That's not the way the Pirates operate.

Pirates are just as likely to beat the Nats or Yankees as they are the Reds and Giants.

5-1 in Wrigley.

4-2 vs. Yanks, Nats.

But now 2-11 vs. the two bottom-feeders.

Make that a very reasonable 7-6 instead of 2-11, and the Pirates are in 1st place.

I don't think I've ever seen a team play up or down to its competition as much as the 2017 Pirates.  They were inspired against Milwaukee, like they knew the season was on the line, which it was.  This series, it's like, ehh...NBD. 

I have some longer thoughts on this that hopefully, I'll post later.  For now, suffice it to say that this team disgusts me.  When we win, I very rarely see the other team beat itself.  Maybe it's just the homer in me, but it seems to me that when we lose, we're beating ourselves.

One day, it's a TOOTBLAN.  The next day, it's a throwing error.  The next day it's forgetting how many outs there are.  The next day it's throwing the ball into left field.  The day after that, it's trying to hit a five run homer when a sac fly will do.  The day after that it's wandering off third base and getting picked off.  All in all, I've never seen a more undisciplined team.  I normally tend to stay pretty even keel and not get too high after wins or too low after losses, but we just keep shooting ourselves in the foot on plays that I'd expect a Little League team to make.  And I mean that sincerely.  It's one thing if the other team just beats you.  Like last night.  I didn't really care.  It was against Bumgarner.  Taillon didn't have even his average stuff, let alone his best.  That's baseball.  It happens.  Even the best teams lose one out of every three.  But it seems to me that more often than not, the 2017 Pirates can pretty easily point to an unforced error as a primary factor in why they got beat on a particular day.
That's why it bothers me when Hurdle defends their mistakes. Of course, we don't know what is said behind closed doors, if anything. But these mistakes just never end. So even if Hurdle is talking to them behind closed doors, he's not getting thru. The buck stops at the top and Hurdle has to ultimately be responsible for an undisciplined, poor fundamental team. And it's this way every year under him. Combine that with his obsession with resting players; even hot hitters in key games and I think he is not helping this team.

0B2C3D393C211E2A3D3C3C21580 wrote: The Jaso jog in the 9th was pathetic. Quit starting this guy Clint. 0 for his last 30 now cant play a guy hitting that terribly.
If I'm 0 for 30 I'm doing everything I can to make a favorable impression even if it's just hustling on a ground ball. The fielder could have bobbled that ball several times and still gotten him out. I few weeks ago Cole did the same thing and the throw was way off target but the 1Bman had time to go off the bag to get the ball and come back in plenty of time. This is not the lazy attitude a contending team should have. But maybe when you're 50-52 you don't feel like a contender even if the rest of the division is letting you hang around.

634C5B5A4C50424A290 wrote: Maybe we can pry this guy from Texas. He looks sad in the picture and would be happier in Pittsburgh.

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?si ... g/2017/ALL

Snider having a solid season batting 2nd. Check out who is leading off. None other then the greatest prospect in the last 10 year .Jurickson Profar  .Believe he is on a MLB contract.Rangers held on too long and those injuries .Damn.
At one point Texas could of cleared out a teams minor league system by trading Profar or got a #1 or 2 starter on a bad team plus prosects

586369624E0A0 wrote: Maybe we can pry this guy from Texas. He looks sad in the picture and would be happier in Pittsburgh.

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?si ... g/2017/ALL

Snider having a solid season batting 2nd. Check out who is leading off. None other then the greatest prospect in the last 10 year .Jurickson Profar  .Believe he is on a MLB contract.Rangers held on too long and those injuries .Damn.
At one point Texas could of cleared out a teams minor league system by trading Profar or got a #1 or 2 starter on a bad team plus prosects

he is making just over a million per Cot's and had a $1.5 million dollar signing bonus from the draft

Dilson Herrera 2b we traded to mets years ago , hurt .

Well he is a Red now. But to the point . This young kid was raking at 17-18-19-20 in the low, low minors .

But MLB teams like the Mets cant wait so they bring him up to fail. WHY WHY WHY !!!!

Reds have let him play this year at AAA. Good for them.

He should just now be getting MLB at bats .

You move college kids fast i firmly believe in, but not teenagers.

745B4C4D5B47555D3E0 wrote: Maybe we can pry this guy from Texas. He looks sad in the picture and would be happier in Pittsburgh.

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?si ... g/2017/ALL

I would take Travis Snider for Jaso all day long.   Jaso is a terrible defender, while Snider is pretty decent in the OF.   Jaso supposedly hits RHP but doesn't this year, Snider hits RHP too.   They both are patient hitters. They both bat LH. Both have no value overall, but one is an actual OF, while the other just plays one sometimes

I don't want Snider.  He's not good.  He's better for the team than Jaso, who isn't even a passable OF and really doesn't hit either.   It will never happen though.