OnlyBucs

2C7A6C78776D7D767B6C5E79737F7772307D1E0 wrote: Right now, we stink.
That must explain our lack of hitting :'(

714F4A42514949426247504314260 wrote: Right now, we stink.
That must explain our lack of hitting :'(
As well as the complete lack of knowledge of how to run the bases.

6B464B5A5D4C5B1B18290 wrote: Right now, we stink.
That must explain our lack of hitting :'(
As well as the complete lack of knowledge of how to run the bases.


This bad base running should be easy to correct (but it won't be).



I think coaches need to go over bad plays with the team using video to highlight both bad and good decisions made by players on the field. There is all kinds of video in mlb games and it needs to be used for improvement. Heck even high school coaches could do more of this (in my experience football coaches do a good job of this but seems like baseball has a lot of room for improvement).

694F4E594F5F2C0 wrote: Right now, we stink.
That must explain our lack of hitting :'(
As well as the complete lack of knowledge of how to run the bases.


This bad base running should be easy to correct (but it won't be).



I think coaches need to go over bad plays with the team using video to highlight both bad and good decisions made by players on the field.  There is all kinds of video in mlb games and it needs to be used for improvement.  Heck even high school coaches could do more of this (in my experience football coaches do a good job of this but seems like baseball has a lot of room for improvement).
Players too often fail to grasp the concept of risk vs reward. Sure, it would be nice if Bae was at 3B instead of 2B with no outs in the 1st inning. But even at 2B, he's in a good position and if thrown out trying for 3B he kills the inning. He didn't understand that. Sure, it would be great if Castro could make it home on a ball that got briefly away from the catcher. But it was a huge risk and would kill the inning if unsuccessful. He was out by a mile. Sure, it would be nice if Santana could get to 3B with 2 outs on a ball hit to shallow LF. But his odds weren't good and an out kills the inning. He tried anyway and was an easy out at 3B. Anybody can do anything in the name of "being aggressive." But when the negatives of the attempt outweigh the positives, it'd a pointless endeavor.

The discouraging thing for me is that this week's Pirates look like the Pirates we've seen so much of over the last 30 years. Stupid baseball. Strikeouts when you can ill afford them. Bad defense. Injuries galore.



I'm still cautiously optimistic that this year's team is actually different. I think there's enough talent here to warrant that, and you don't accidentally go 20-8. You can accidentally win a few games here and there. Every team does. But not that many that quickly.



The fear is that this could snowball on them. It's dangerously close right now. Good news...we have Oviedo, Contreras, Keller pitching next. I'm confident that what they've shown thus far is real. I still feel like Velasquez and Hill are (were) doing it with smoke and mirrors. The three aforementioned pitchers have the best chance of righting this quickly. They're still on pace to win nearly 100 games. The Cards are losing again. And regardless of whatever happens in the Brewers game, they're going to be in first place after tonight.



And, we're not really "early" anymore. We're over 20% of the way through the season. That's the equivalent of 3.5 games in an NFL season. Yeah, it doesn't tell you everything. But you're starting to get a good idea. Everyone knew they'd lose a few games. Everyone knew they'd have losing streaks. The question is how they recover.



Maybe Ortiz comes up and dominates in place of Velasquez. Maybe all these guys who were setting the world on fire (Suwinski, Joe, McCutchen) and have cooled off catch fire again tomorrow. If you've seen it, it's in there.



That said, I'll be really glad to get on the other side of the AL East. Sweep Boston, get swept by the Rays, and then play arguably your most inept game of the year against Toronto. Yuck.

1C1417203613343B550 wrote: The discouraging thing for me is that this week's Pirates look like the Pirates we've seen so much of over the last 30 years. Stupid baseball. Strikeouts when you can ill afford them. Bad defense. Injuries galore.



I'm still cautiously optimistic that this year's team is actually different. I think there's enough talent here to warrant that, and you don't accidentally go 20-8. You can accidentally win a few games here and there. Every team does. But not that many that quickly.



The fear is that this could snowball on them. It's dangerously close right now. Good news...we have Oviedo, Contreras, Keller pitching next. I'm confident that what they've shown thus far is real. I still feel like Velasquez and Hill are (were) doing it with smoke and mirrors. The three aforementioned pitchers have the best chance of righting this quickly. They're still on pace to win nearly 100 games. The Cards are losing again. And regardless of whatever happens in the Brewers game, they're going to be in first place after tonight.



And, we're not really "early" anymore. We're over 20% of the way through the season. That's the equivalent of 3.5 games in an NFL season. Yeah, it doesn't tell you everything. But you're starting to get a good idea. Everyone knew they'd lose a few games. Everyone knew they'd have losing streaks. The question is how they recover.



Maybe Ortiz comes up and dominates in place of Velasquez. Maybe all these guys who were setting the world on fire (Suwinski, Joe, McCutchen) and have cooled off catch fire again tomorrow. If you've seen it, it's in there.



That said, I'll be really glad to get on the other side of the AL East. Sweep Boston, get swept by the Rays, and then play arguably your most inept game of the year against Toronto. Yuck.


Good post and probably kept me from jumping off the roof;)

0B0300372104232C420 wrote: The discouraging thing for me is that this week's Pirates look like the Pirates we've seen so much of over the last 30 years. Stupid baseball. Strikeouts when you can ill afford them. Bad defense. Injuries galore.



I'm still cautiously optimistic that this year's team is actually different. I think there's enough talent here to warrant that, and you don't accidentally go 20-8. You can accidentally win a few games here and there. Every team does. But not that many that quickly.



The fear is that this could snowball on them. It's dangerously close right now. Good news...we have Oviedo, Contreras, Keller pitching next. I'm confident that what they've shown thus far is real. I still feel like Velasquez and Hill are (were) doing it with smoke and mirrors. The three aforementioned pitchers have the best chance of righting this quickly. They're still on pace to win nearly 100 games. The Cards are losing again. And regardless of whatever happens in the Brewers game, they're going to be in first place after tonight.



And, we're not really "early" anymore. We're over 20% of the way through the season. That's the equivalent of 3.5 games in an NFL season. Yeah, it doesn't tell you everything. But you're starting to get a good idea. Everyone knew they'd lose a few games. Everyone knew they'd have losing streaks. The question is how they recover.



Maybe Ortiz comes up and dominates in place of Velasquez. Maybe all these guys who were setting the world on fire (Suwinski, Joe, McCutchen) and have cooled off catch fire again tomorrow. If you've seen it, it's in there.



That said, I'll be really glad to get on the other side of the AL East. Sweep Boston, get swept by the Rays, and then play arguably your most inept game of the year against Toronto. Yuck.
Another disappointing thing was that last night's lineup seemed unnecessarily weak. As opposed to previous Sheltingon seasons, the JV lineups that were far too frequent were refreshingly absent so far this year. But last night when Cutch had to be scratched, Hayes and Joe were rested. When they really needed a bounce back after the TB series, it looked like they weren't even trying.

075147535C46565D5047755258545C591B56350 wrote: Right now, we stink.


I wonder if Nutting will spend money so the trainers can give the stinking Pirates a tomato juice shower and bath? ;D ;D ;D ;D

062B26373021367675440 wrote: The discouraging thing for me is that this week's Pirates look like the Pirates we've seen so much of over the last 30 years. Stupid baseball. Strikeouts when you can ill afford them. Bad defense. Injuries galore.



I'm still cautiously optimistic that this year's team is actually different. I think there's enough talent here to warrant that, and you don't accidentally go 20-8. You can accidentally win a few games here and there. Every team does. But not that many that quickly.



The fear is that this could snowball on them. It's dangerously close right now. Good news...we have Oviedo, Contreras, Keller pitching next. I'm confident that what they've shown thus far is real. I still feel like Velasquez and Hill are (were) doing it with smoke and mirrors. The three aforementioned pitchers have the best chance of righting this quickly. They're still on pace to win nearly 100 games. The Cards are losing again. And regardless of whatever happens in the Brewers game, they're going to be in first place after tonight.



And, we're not really "early" anymore. We're over 20% of the way through the season. That's the equivalent of 3.5 games in an NFL season. Yeah, it doesn't tell you everything. But you're starting to get a good idea. Everyone knew they'd lose a few games. Everyone knew they'd have losing streaks. The question is how they recover.



Maybe Ortiz comes up and dominates in place of Velasquez. Maybe all these guys who were setting the world on fire (Suwinski, Joe, McCutchen) and have cooled off catch fire again tomorrow. If you've seen it, it's in there.



That said, I'll be really glad to get on the other side of the AL East. Sweep Boston, get swept by the Rays, and then play arguably your most inept game of the year against Toronto. Yuck.
Another disappointing thing was that last night's lineup seemed unnecessarily weak. As opposed to previous Sheltingon seasons, the JV lineups that were far too frequent were refreshingly absent so far this year. But last night when Cutch had to be scratched, Hayes and Joe were rested. When they really needed a bounce back after the TB series, it looked like they weren't even trying. Yea I’m with you as far as the lineup is concerned. You’re in 1st place now 7 games over .500 with a chance to make a statement in the NL Central and get some separation from the other teams in the division that are struggling. We are 33 games in now into the season and you’re a team in 1st place so the best consistent lineup needs to be out there everyday. This isn’t June, July and August of the last 2 years when the team was out of it and 15-20 games under .500 and you could afford to plug different guys in the lineup every night. You have a chance to be a good team this season and maybe even win this division. Quit resting guys and play the best players and lineup every game.

Discernment.



Through all of our faults, we struggle at 4-6.  Half of the losses to the Rays in their park



The Reds gained ground.



The statement is, "So what if we stink? You stink more."



We must be doing something right.



We don't need to be perfect, play perfectly, have perfect lineups, or run the bases perfectly.  We only need to be better than the other imperfect teams in the division.