Official Game Thread 6/17/23 Bucs vs. Brewers

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Sat Jun 17, 2023 10:23 pm

Was there ever a doubt that Hayes would look at a 3rd strike?

WildwoodDave2 · Post by **WildwoodDave2** » Sat Jun 17, 2023 10:28 pm

Expecting great weather at the Jersey Shore tomorrow. Think

I will take advantage of it.

Surgnbuck · Post by **Surgnbuck** » Sat Jun 17, 2023 10:32 pm

043A3F37243C3C371732253661530 wrote: Expecting great weather at the Jersey Shore tomorrow. Think

I will take advantage of it.
We're going to the zoo, fathers get in free tomorrow. After that, we're hitting golf balls.

I was able to start the thread today, hope someone else can do it tomorrow.

I think I need a day off from Pirates baseball

GreenWeenie · Post by **GreenWeenie** » Sat Jun 17, 2023 10:40 pm

Trust The Process.

After all, Cherington extended Shelton.

Hope that helps some.

WildwoodDave2 · Post by **WildwoodDave2** » Sat Jun 17, 2023 10:44 pm

1D3B3C29202C3B2D254E0 wrote: Expecting great weather at the Jersey Shore tomorrow. Think

I will take advantage of it.
We're going to the zoo, fathers get in free tomorrow. After that, we're hitting golf balls.

I was able to start the thread today, hope someone else can do it tomorrow.

I think I need a day off from Pirates baseball
Seems like you and Mr. Man have a good day planned- Enjoy it.

They grow up too fast

SteadyFreddy · Post by **SteadyFreddy** » Sat Jun 17, 2023 10:45 pm

This has just been an absolute disaster of a week for the Pirates these last 5 games. The Reds and Cubs have both won every game this week during this losing streak and the Reds have past the Pirates up in the standings and the Cubs are about to as well. The Brewers snapped their 6 game losing streak and have won the 1st two games of this series and are about to sweep this series. This was a week to try to take control of this weak NL Central and the Pirates as usual throw it all away. How much longer do we have to wait to see Quinn Priester get a damn shot up here, or Rodriguez or Davis in place of Hedges or Delay, or a guy like Nick Gonzales over a stiff like Mathias. Can somebody please make some moves that are now necessary on this team so they can be better and have a better chance to win games. Being a fan of this organization absolutely sucks it’s so tiring and just so frustrating. When will it ever be this teams turn or time to win something. How much longer does this team have to stick it up our rear ends one more time.

ChillinStation · Post by **ChillinStation** » Sat Jun 17, 2023 11:32 pm

I have seen enough of Bae, just a weak hitter.

ChillinStation · Post by **ChillinStation** » Sat Jun 17, 2023 11:52 pm

LSU and Crews are playing now on espn. I need to find a stream

GreenWeenie · Post by **GreenWeenie** » Sun Jun 18, 2023 12:07 am

6C4B5A5E5B46794D5A5B5B463F0 wrote: This has just been an absolute disaster of a week for the Pirates these last 5 games. The Reds and Cubs have both won every game this week during this losing streak and the Reds have past the Pirates up in the standings and the Cubs are about to as well. The Brewers snapped their 6 game losing streak and have won the 1st two games of this series and are about to sweep this series. This was a week to try to take control of this weak NL Central and the Pirates as usual throw it all away. How much longer do we have to wait to see Quinn Priester get a damn shot up here, or Rodriguez or Davis in place of Hedges or Delay, or a guy like Nick Gonzales over a stiff like Mathias. Can somebody please make some moves that are now necessary on this team so they can be better and have a better chance to win games. Being a fan of this organization absolutely sucks it’s so tiring and just so frustrating. [highlight]When will it ever be this teams turn or time to win something.[/highlight] How much longer does this team have to stick it up our rear ends one more time.

Answer: The formula is (write it down) current year (regardless of whatever it is at any given moment) + 2. We're perpetually two years away. From what, IDK. Trust The Process.

Surgnbuck · Post by **Surgnbuck** » Sun Jun 18, 2023 12:38 am

So it's interesting, I thought I'd take a look back at this date a year ago, and see what was cooking in the minds of the PMB.

The Pirates lost to the Giants 2-0, and had two hits. The starting lineup had these guys who are no longer on the team's 40 man roster: Chavis, Vogelbach, Heineman, Castillo, Chang, and the starter Thompson. Mitchell is in AAA, and the rest of the lineup was Hayes, Reynolds, and Suwinski. Here was a post from Bobster regarding the team at that point of the season:

"The Pirates are last in the NL in runs, BA, OBP, SLG and OPS. And they have the fewest hits in all of MLB. That's not a slump. It's a roster without even the potential for hitting. Batting averages indicate the frequency with which a batter generally can be counted on to hit safely. Hayes, Reynolds and Chavis are respectable in that area, as is Gamel (and maybe Marcano) when healthy. Every other position player on the roster is at .212 or less. Those are not slumps. Those are struggling rookies getting their feet wet vs MLB pitching (Suwinski, Castillo, Mitchell, Park) and others who have been around but never been able to hit well (Vogelbach, Chang, Perez, Heineman).

Vogelbach is actually ahead of his career BA of .209. So even maintaining his .212 BA might be a stretch. Suwinski has badly needed power but at .211, that's too many outs between HRs. He's having to adjust to MLB pitching without ever having faced AAA pitching. At least there's hope for him, and maybe Mitchell. But most don't even show potential to hit well. On any given day there are usually only 2 or 3 players in the lineup with a reasonable chance of getting a hit. That leaves 6 or 7 automatic outs. They are averaging 3.3 runs per game and have topped 4 runs just 17 times in 63 games (27%). Unless the roster is significantly revamped, there is not even the potential for more offense."

But the biggest topic was Cruz being in AAA. What really sparked people off is when they needed a replacement for Marcano, who went on the Covid IL, the Pirates brought up Peguero from Altoona. To a slightly lesser extent, as the Pirates fell to 25-38 on this date last year, were the screams to bring up the young guys and let them learn. We were all for the most part done with a lot of these guys.

It's just a neat perspective. Last year, it was "bring up the young guys, we're losing anyhow, let them learn." This year it's "bring up the young guys, we have a chance to win the division."

Granted, the guys we would like to see are the guys we've seen rated top 100 in all of MLB prospects, not just top 30 guys in the organization. In particular, Priester, Davis, and Rodriguez.

So honestly, we saw them bring up those young guys eventually. I have a feeling, we'll be seeing these other guys soon too.

But they have a plan, and they're sticking to it. The only reason it's upsetting anyone is because they've wildly exceeded most of our expectations.