7A4844445062414845404F48290 wrote: My brother scored Lexus club tickets from his work. Row c right behind home plate!
I scored two to the LC as well today, though my ticket rep! Row E right next to the dugout.
Too bad we did not know to look each other up. Watching the game from that prospective is pretty cool, unless you're watching Cutch right now in which it's very sad.
4/9 Game thread Cole goes for the sweep...
Moderators: SammyKhalifa, Doc, Bobster
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Bobster21
4/9 Game thread Cole goes for the sweep...
Frasier is an exciting player who seems to have a talent for getting on base. He's also the only legit lead off hitter they have. Seems like they want to get him as many ABs as possible despite his lack of a true position. I suspect he'll get 3-4 starts per week between 2B, 3B and OF.
4/9 Game thread Cole goes for the sweep...
OT...but I just watched a 60 minutes documentary on Shonei Ohtani (not sure if I'm spelling that correctly or not). WOW! If you haven't heard of this young man, think Aroldis Chapman and Robinson Cano molded into one player. He's the best hitter in Japan and mashes, and is also the best pitcher with a fastball that touches 102. He bats left and throws right. And wants to hit and pitch in the majors. Due to the new CBA, the most any team can pay him is $6 million, unless he waits three years and comes after he turns 25.
It seems to me that his best chance to play both ways is in the AL where he can pitch and DH on days he isn't pitching. I wouldn't think too many NL GMs would want him playing the field and throwing more than he needs to. But, man, would I love to see the guy wearing a Pirates uniform next year. Maybe put him in RF and make him a reliever? Or start him...I don't know. But this guy is a freak of nature. Bumgarner's days of winning Silver Sluggers are over.
It seems to me that his best chance to play both ways is in the AL where he can pitch and DH on days he isn't pitching. I wouldn't think too many NL GMs would want him playing the field and throwing more than he needs to. But, man, would I love to see the guy wearing a Pirates uniform next year. Maybe put him in RF and make him a reliever? Or start him...I don't know. But this guy is a freak of nature. Bumgarner's days of winning Silver Sluggers are over.
4/9 Game thread Cole goes for the sweep...
I didn't get to watch the game yesterday, but it does seem as if the over reaction is high around here.
Perhaps the worst thing Cole could have done was be a finalist for the Cy Young a couple years ago. Now, every time he goes out there, people expect 10 k's and 7 scoreless. He wasn't a CY pitcher last year and was hurt a lot, but even with those struggles, he still managed to pitch above average. He was dominant in the opener. Seriously dominant. He gave up the triple off the wall and the HR. That was it. The rest was a couple of seeing eye infield hits.
It's funny that everyone is bagging on McCutchen today. Two days ago he hit rockets every time and was some folks' player of the game. Now he is the worst player on the team.
Take a breath everyone. I think many of you may have missed this...the Pirates just swept the series.
Perhaps the worst thing Cole could have done was be a finalist for the Cy Young a couple years ago. Now, every time he goes out there, people expect 10 k's and 7 scoreless. He wasn't a CY pitcher last year and was hurt a lot, but even with those struggles, he still managed to pitch above average. He was dominant in the opener. Seriously dominant. He gave up the triple off the wall and the HR. That was it. The rest was a couple of seeing eye infield hits.
It's funny that everyone is bagging on McCutchen today. Two days ago he hit rockets every time and was some folks' player of the game. Now he is the worst player on the team.
Take a breath everyone. I think many of you may have missed this...the Pirates just swept the series.
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SammyKhalifa
- Posts: 3631
- Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2016 4:19 am
4/9 Game thread Cole goes for the sweep...
606771797760272B52757F737B7E3C717D7F120 wrote: My brother scored Lexus club tickets from his work. Row c right behind home plate!
I scored two to the LC as well today, though my ticket rep! Row E right next to the dugout.
Too bad we did not know to look each other up. Watching the game from that prospective is pretty cool, unless you're watching Cutch right now in which it's very sad.
Aw man! I took some pictures of guys in the batters circle and such, that I might post later on if people are interested. My camera died partway into the game though, which kinda worries me but we'll see.
I have a tad of a sunburn today but that's all right.
I scored two to the LC as well today, though my ticket rep! Row E right next to the dugout.
Too bad we did not know to look each other up. Watching the game from that prospective is pretty cool, unless you're watching Cutch right now in which it's very sad.
Aw man! I took some pictures of guys in the batters circle and such, that I might post later on if people are interested. My camera died partway into the game though, which kinda worries me but we'll see.
I have a tad of a sunburn today but that's all right.
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Bobster21
4/9 Game thread Cole goes for the sweep...
1A0723212F4A0 wrote: I didn't get to watch the game yesterday, but it does seem as if the over reaction is high around here.
Perhaps the worst thing Cole could have done was be a finalist for the Cy Young a couple years ago. Now, every time he goes out there, people expect 10 k's and 7 scoreless. He wasn't a CY pitcher last year and was hurt a lot, but even with those struggles, he still managed to pitch above average. He was dominant in the opener. Seriously dominant. He gave up the triple off the wall and the HR. That was it. The rest was a couple of seeing eye infield hits.
It's funny that everyone is bagging on McCutchen today. Two days ago he hit rockets every time and was some folks' player of the game. Now he is the worst player on the team.
Take a breath everyone. I think many of you may have missed this...the Pirates just swept the series.
I think the concern is that the 2 guys who were the biggest disappointments last year have come out of the gate this year less than impressive. We all hoped it was just an off year for Cole and Cutch. And Cole dealt with injuries last year that no doubt effected his performance. They certainly need Cole to be more than an average or slightly better than average pitcher. But to say he was simply dominant in his first start is puzzling. I agree that he was very dominant in the first 4.2 innings of that game. But then a triple, single, single, single, HR and single. 5 runs. ERA of 9.00 for the effort. It's not a dominant game if he's only dominant for part of it and that gets truly rocked. Charlie Morton often did the same thing and we didn't call him dominant because we were more concerned about Moton's typical meltdown inning than the effective ones that preceded it. And that's what we saw from Cole last week.
Yesterday, Cole battled to prevent more than the 3 runs he yielded in 6 innings. That's an ERA of 4.50 for the game. Not too impressive. Served up a HR to the 2nd batter of the game. Then 2 more hits and another run in the first. A 1-out walk in the second. A 1-out double and walk in the third. A lead off single in the fourth. After the Bucs tied it, Cole gave up a HR to the 2nd batter in the fifth. Then a single and double in the sixth. To his credit, he kept the game from getting out of hand despite 8 hits (including a double and 2 HRs) and 2 walks in 6 innings. But Cole is the pitcher the staff is built around and he needs to be better than a guy who shuts batters down for awhile before getting rocked or a guy who minimizes the damage from constantly being in trouble. Of course it's only 2 starts. But 2 troubling starts. I think we'll probably all agree that the Bucs will only go as far as their starting pitching takes them. Cole is supposed to be the one starter they can count on. I hope he returns to his pre-2016 form soon.
Cutch had 3 hits in one game and his bat speed looked great. But he's 0 for 16 with 7 Ks in the other 4 games. Hard to know what to make of him just yet. But it was great to get the sweep. Now we'll see what Glasnow can do vs the Reds. Reds are 4-2 after winning 3 games by shutout. Including Finnegan who pitches tonight (7 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 runs).
Perhaps the worst thing Cole could have done was be a finalist for the Cy Young a couple years ago. Now, every time he goes out there, people expect 10 k's and 7 scoreless. He wasn't a CY pitcher last year and was hurt a lot, but even with those struggles, he still managed to pitch above average. He was dominant in the opener. Seriously dominant. He gave up the triple off the wall and the HR. That was it. The rest was a couple of seeing eye infield hits.
It's funny that everyone is bagging on McCutchen today. Two days ago he hit rockets every time and was some folks' player of the game. Now he is the worst player on the team.
Take a breath everyone. I think many of you may have missed this...the Pirates just swept the series.
I think the concern is that the 2 guys who were the biggest disappointments last year have come out of the gate this year less than impressive. We all hoped it was just an off year for Cole and Cutch. And Cole dealt with injuries last year that no doubt effected his performance. They certainly need Cole to be more than an average or slightly better than average pitcher. But to say he was simply dominant in his first start is puzzling. I agree that he was very dominant in the first 4.2 innings of that game. But then a triple, single, single, single, HR and single. 5 runs. ERA of 9.00 for the effort. It's not a dominant game if he's only dominant for part of it and that gets truly rocked. Charlie Morton often did the same thing and we didn't call him dominant because we were more concerned about Moton's typical meltdown inning than the effective ones that preceded it. And that's what we saw from Cole last week.
Yesterday, Cole battled to prevent more than the 3 runs he yielded in 6 innings. That's an ERA of 4.50 for the game. Not too impressive. Served up a HR to the 2nd batter of the game. Then 2 more hits and another run in the first. A 1-out walk in the second. A 1-out double and walk in the third. A lead off single in the fourth. After the Bucs tied it, Cole gave up a HR to the 2nd batter in the fifth. Then a single and double in the sixth. To his credit, he kept the game from getting out of hand despite 8 hits (including a double and 2 HRs) and 2 walks in 6 innings. But Cole is the pitcher the staff is built around and he needs to be better than a guy who shuts batters down for awhile before getting rocked or a guy who minimizes the damage from constantly being in trouble. Of course it's only 2 starts. But 2 troubling starts. I think we'll probably all agree that the Bucs will only go as far as their starting pitching takes them. Cole is supposed to be the one starter they can count on. I hope he returns to his pre-2016 form soon.
Cutch had 3 hits in one game and his bat speed looked great. But he's 0 for 16 with 7 Ks in the other 4 games. Hard to know what to make of him just yet. But it was great to get the sweep. Now we'll see what Glasnow can do vs the Reds. Reds are 4-2 after winning 3 games by shutout. Including Finnegan who pitches tonight (7 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 runs).
4/9 Game thread Cole goes for the sweep...
153835242332256566570 wrote: I didn't get to watch the game yesterday, but it does seem as if the over reaction is high around here.
Perhaps the worst thing Cole could have done was be a finalist for the Cy Young a couple years ago. Now, every time he goes out there, people expect 10 k's and 7 scoreless. He wasn't a CY pitcher last year and was hurt a lot, but even with those struggles, he still managed to pitch above average. He was dominant in the opener. Seriously dominant. He gave up the triple off the wall and the HR. That was it. The rest was a couple of seeing eye infield hits.
It's funny that everyone is bagging on McCutchen today. Two days ago he hit rockets every time and was some folks' player of the game. Now he is the worst player on the team.
Take a breath everyone. I think many of you may have missed this...the Pirates just swept the series.
I think the concern is that the 2 guys who were the biggest disappointments last year have come out of the gate this year less than impressive. We all hoped it was just an off year for Cole and Cutch. And Cole dealt with injuries last year that no doubt effected his performance. They certainly need Cole to be more than an average or slightly better than average pitcher. But to say he was simply dominant in his first start is puzzling. I agree that he was very dominant in the first 4.2 innings of that game. But then a triple, single, single, single, HR and single. 5 runs. ERA of 9.00 for the effort. It's not a dominant game if he's only dominant for part of it and that gets truly rocked. Charlie Morton often did the same thing and we didn't call him dominant because we were more concerned about Moton's typical meltdown inning than the effective ones that preceded it. And that's what we saw from Cole last week.
Yesterday, Cole battled to prevent more than the 3 runs he yielded in 6 innings. That's an ERA of 4.50 for the game. Not too impressive. Served up a HR to the 2nd batter of the game. Then 2 more hits and another run in the first. A 1-out walk in the second. A 1-out double and walk in the third. A lead off single in the fourth. After the Bucs tied it, Cole gave up a HR to the 2nd batter in the fifth. Then a single and double in the sixth. To his credit, he kept the game from getting out of hand despite 8 hits (including a double and 2 HRs) and 2 walks in 6 innings. But Cole is the pitcher the staff is built around and he needs to be better than a guy who shuts batters down for awhile before getting rocked or a guy who minimizes the damage from constantly being in trouble. Of course it's only 2 starts. But 2 troubling starts. I think we'll probably all agree that the Bucs will only go as far as their starting pitching takes them. Cole is supposed to be the one starter they can count on. I hope he returns to his pre-2016 form soon.
Cutch had 3 hits in one game and his bat speed looked great. But he's 0 for 16 with 7 Ks in the other 4 games. Hard to know what to make of him just yet. But it was great to get the sweep. Now we'll see what Glasnow can do vs the Reds. Reds are 4-2 after winning 3 games by shutout. Including Finnegan who pitches tonight (7 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 runs).
There are multiple truthful ways of describing Cole's start in Boston. He truly was dominating for 4.2. You are right, triple, single, single, single, HR, single. That looks bad on paper. However, when you analyze what really happened, it wasn't (and shouldn't) have been that bad. The triple was legit. The next ball was a weak groundball to Mercer's backhand. He tried a jump throw to first and got no velocity. This could have been the end of the inning. The Leon bunted and Cole booted it. Then was a legit line drive over Cole's head. Then the HR. Then another ground ball that Mercer should have converted into an out. Three balls were legitimately hit hard all game. It's not like he got pummeled. The line looks bad, but doesn't tell the whole story.
To you second paragraph, I didn't see the game yesterday, so I won't comment on that part. I do agree with you on the importance of Cole this year. Though, I don't think he needs to be as good as he was in 2015 for them to make the playoffs. If he is, fantastic. I'd take a Cole who has an ERA <3.50 and throws over 200 innings.
I don't disagree on McCutchen. I'll just say, I didn't see him swing the bat all year last year like he did on Friday, let alone every at bat in a game. Clearly it's still there. I wasn't sure last year.
I'm excited for tonight. In fact, this may be the most exciting start (for me) of the young season so far. With that said, Glasnow probably goes 2 innings and gives up 6 runs!
Perhaps the worst thing Cole could have done was be a finalist for the Cy Young a couple years ago. Now, every time he goes out there, people expect 10 k's and 7 scoreless. He wasn't a CY pitcher last year and was hurt a lot, but even with those struggles, he still managed to pitch above average. He was dominant in the opener. Seriously dominant. He gave up the triple off the wall and the HR. That was it. The rest was a couple of seeing eye infield hits.
It's funny that everyone is bagging on McCutchen today. Two days ago he hit rockets every time and was some folks' player of the game. Now he is the worst player on the team.
Take a breath everyone. I think many of you may have missed this...the Pirates just swept the series.
I think the concern is that the 2 guys who were the biggest disappointments last year have come out of the gate this year less than impressive. We all hoped it was just an off year for Cole and Cutch. And Cole dealt with injuries last year that no doubt effected his performance. They certainly need Cole to be more than an average or slightly better than average pitcher. But to say he was simply dominant in his first start is puzzling. I agree that he was very dominant in the first 4.2 innings of that game. But then a triple, single, single, single, HR and single. 5 runs. ERA of 9.00 for the effort. It's not a dominant game if he's only dominant for part of it and that gets truly rocked. Charlie Morton often did the same thing and we didn't call him dominant because we were more concerned about Moton's typical meltdown inning than the effective ones that preceded it. And that's what we saw from Cole last week.
Yesterday, Cole battled to prevent more than the 3 runs he yielded in 6 innings. That's an ERA of 4.50 for the game. Not too impressive. Served up a HR to the 2nd batter of the game. Then 2 more hits and another run in the first. A 1-out walk in the second. A 1-out double and walk in the third. A lead off single in the fourth. After the Bucs tied it, Cole gave up a HR to the 2nd batter in the fifth. Then a single and double in the sixth. To his credit, he kept the game from getting out of hand despite 8 hits (including a double and 2 HRs) and 2 walks in 6 innings. But Cole is the pitcher the staff is built around and he needs to be better than a guy who shuts batters down for awhile before getting rocked or a guy who minimizes the damage from constantly being in trouble. Of course it's only 2 starts. But 2 troubling starts. I think we'll probably all agree that the Bucs will only go as far as their starting pitching takes them. Cole is supposed to be the one starter they can count on. I hope he returns to his pre-2016 form soon.
Cutch had 3 hits in one game and his bat speed looked great. But he's 0 for 16 with 7 Ks in the other 4 games. Hard to know what to make of him just yet. But it was great to get the sweep. Now we'll see what Glasnow can do vs the Reds. Reds are 4-2 after winning 3 games by shutout. Including Finnegan who pitches tonight (7 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 runs).
There are multiple truthful ways of describing Cole's start in Boston. He truly was dominating for 4.2. You are right, triple, single, single, single, HR, single. That looks bad on paper. However, when you analyze what really happened, it wasn't (and shouldn't) have been that bad. The triple was legit. The next ball was a weak groundball to Mercer's backhand. He tried a jump throw to first and got no velocity. This could have been the end of the inning. The Leon bunted and Cole booted it. Then was a legit line drive over Cole's head. Then the HR. Then another ground ball that Mercer should have converted into an out. Three balls were legitimately hit hard all game. It's not like he got pummeled. The line looks bad, but doesn't tell the whole story.
To you second paragraph, I didn't see the game yesterday, so I won't comment on that part. I do agree with you on the importance of Cole this year. Though, I don't think he needs to be as good as he was in 2015 for them to make the playoffs. If he is, fantastic. I'd take a Cole who has an ERA <3.50 and throws over 200 innings.
I don't disagree on McCutchen. I'll just say, I didn't see him swing the bat all year last year like he did on Friday, let alone every at bat in a game. Clearly it's still there. I wasn't sure last year.
I'm excited for tonight. In fact, this may be the most exciting start (for me) of the young season so far. With that said, Glasnow probably goes 2 innings and gives up 6 runs!
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SammyKhalifa
- Posts: 3631
- Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2016 4:19 am
4/9 Game thread Cole goes for the sweep...
Cole was meh. I thought it was a minor miracle he a). got through six innings, and b). only gave up the three runs.
Cutch I thought actually didn't look too bad despite poor results.
Cutch I thought actually didn't look too bad despite poor results.
4/9 Game thread Cole goes for the sweep...
The Boston game is troubling because it makes me worry that last year it was part of Cole's problem that one bad inning would kill him. With 2 outs and nobody on, allowing 1 run is one thing but to implode for 5 is another. The Atlanta game is troubling because he got hit fairly hard fairly often. He gave up fewer runs than Boston but looked worse doing it.
Cole has been solid but I think what is leading to the angst on the board is that we need Cole to be a shut down pitcher if we make the playoffs. Cole has shown signs in the past. I thought he looked more like that in Boston but ran into trouble. His control in the zone was definitely off against Atlanta so hopefully, that is just a bump. My kids have asked over the last couple of years who would I want pitching in a game 7. It was always kind of hard because I think Frankie had the nastiest stuff to shut a team down but Cole is more consistently solid. We need Cole to make that decision a no brainer because right now, I would go with Taillion.
Cole has been solid but I think what is leading to the angst on the board is that we need Cole to be a shut down pitcher if we make the playoffs. Cole has shown signs in the past. I thought he looked more like that in Boston but ran into trouble. His control in the zone was definitely off against Atlanta so hopefully, that is just a bump. My kids have asked over the last couple of years who would I want pitching in a game 7. It was always kind of hard because I think Frankie had the nastiest stuff to shut a team down but Cole is more consistently solid. We need Cole to make that decision a no brainer because right now, I would go with Taillion.
4/9 Game thread Cole goes for the sweep...
2820233422222E410 wrote: The Boston game is troubling because it makes me worry that last year it was part of Cole's problem that one bad inning would kill him. With 2 outs and nobody on, allowing 1 run is one thing but to implode for 5 is another. The Atlanta game is troubling because he got hit fairly hard fairly often. He gave up fewer runs than Boston but looked worse doing it.
Cole has been solid but I think what is leading to the angst on the board is that we need Cole to be a shut down pitcher if we make the playoffs. Cole has shown signs in the past. I thought he looked more like that in Boston but ran into trouble. His control in the zone was definitely off against Atlanta so hopefully, that is just a bump. My kids have asked over the last couple of years who would I want pitching in a game 7. It was always kind of hard because I think Frankie had the nastiest stuff to shut a team down but Cole is more consistently solid. We need Cole to make that decision a no brainer because right now, I would go with Taillion.
Would that we would have such a problem!
Cole has been solid but I think what is leading to the angst on the board is that we need Cole to be a shut down pitcher if we make the playoffs. Cole has shown signs in the past. I thought he looked more like that in Boston but ran into trouble. His control in the zone was definitely off against Atlanta so hopefully, that is just a bump. My kids have asked over the last couple of years who would I want pitching in a game 7. It was always kind of hard because I think Frankie had the nastiest stuff to shut a team down but Cole is more consistently solid. We need Cole to make that decision a no brainer because right now, I would go with Taillion.
Would that we would have such a problem!