OnlyBucs

This is the best day this Pirates fan has had this year!



5th Star: I know the stat line doesn't support it, but Rich Rodriguez overcame some bad luck and struck out Miller and Schrock to earn his 2nd save.



4th Star: Chris Stratton picked up the win with a no-nonsense, 1-2-3 scoreless 7th.



3rd Star: Maybe the bloop single was lucky, but it did plate the tiebreaker in the 8th. Cole Tucker also scored twice.



2nd Star: Jake Stalling went 2-for-4, knocking in our first run with 2 outs in the 4th. He also threw Fowler out at 2nd in the 5th in a dicey spot. I'll say it again: Stallings is this year's Pirate All-Star.



1st Star: Gotta give it up to Chad Kuhl, who battled through 6 innings yielding only the solo shot by Molina. I think he's been our best pitcher this year.

The two players who have surprised me the most this year:



Stallings. A good defensive catcher, including an arm that has been very accurate, and who also provides serviceable offense. Not much power, but he has a knack of finding holes with his grounders. While he is not a major building block, his current level of play at catcher should allow the Bucs some time to develop a long-term replacement.



Eric Gonzalez. He looks very comfortable in the field, regardless if he is playing SS or 3rd, and quite a few of his hits (and outs) are hard-hit line drives. I was really down on Gonzalez after last year. His current offensive prowess is clearly a small sample size, but if it is real, he should be an infield regular moving forward.



Not much to feel good about this year, but the play of both Stallings and Gonzalez is worth noting.



SyrBucco, thanks for the shout-out regarding Stallings.

745850575C7B4C5A4A390 wrote: The two players who have surprised me the most this year:



Stallings.  A good defensive catcher, including an arm that has been very accurate, and who also provides serviceable offense.  Not much power, but he has a knack of finding holes with his grounders.   While he is not a major building block, his current level of play at catcher should allow the Bucs some time to develop a long-term replacement. 



[highlight]Eric Gonzalez.  He looks very comfortable in the field[/highlight], regardless if he is playing SS or 3rd, and quite a few of his hits (and outs) are hard-hit line drives.  I was really down on Gonzalez after last year.  His current offensive prowess is clearly a small sample size, but if it is real, he should be an infield regular moving forward.



Not much to feel good about this year, but the play of both Stallings and Gonzalez is worth noting.   



SyrBucco, thanks for the shout-out regarding Stallings.   


I got to see the second game last night, the first time I've watched a game in over a year. He impressed me with his smoothness and awareness, more so than I thought he could impress me. He showed me he's heads above Newman as a defender, and probably Tucker, too. I never thought I'd say this but he might be worth keeping as a steadying defensive influence at a most important position until Cruz arrives.

5B777F787354637565160 wrote: The two players who have surprised me the most this year:



Stallings.  A good defensive catcher, including an arm that has been very accurate, and who also provides serviceable offense.  Not much power, but he has a knack of finding holes with his grounders.   While he is not a major building block, his current level of play at catcher should allow the Bucs some time to develop a long-term replacement. 



Eric Gonzalez.  He looks very comfortable in the field, regardless if he is playing SS or 3rd, and quite a few of his hits (and outs) are hard-hit line drives.  I was really down on Gonzalez after last year.  His current offensive prowess is clearly a small sample size, but if it is real, he should be an infield regular moving forward.



Not much to feel good about this year, but the play of both Stallings and Gonzalez is worth noting.   



SyrBucco, thanks for the shout-out regarding Stallings.   


I hope Gonzalez keeps improving offensively.  While his offense is better than he has ever done before he is still below average.  His current ops is 697, if he can get that to 720 he can fit in at shortstop but would still be below average at third or second. 



That being said, this season is a good time to let him play everyday to see if he can make it as a decent regular player or if he needs to a utility player.  He has a chance to get over 200 plate appearances for first time in majors.

Oh, how minds have changed about Gonzales. At one point we were calling for his exile to some baseball Siberia. Now we are hoping he can be a good bridge to a young guy who is a couple of years away. I for one am glad I was wrong about Gonzales earlier in the year. I hope he can be the guy he is now for a few years.

17363E173C34530 wrote: Oh, how minds have changed about Gonzales.  At one point we were calling for his exile to some baseball Siberia.  Now we are hoping he can be a good bridge to a young guy who is a couple of years away.  I for one am glad I was wrong about Gonzales earlier in the year.  I hope he can be the guy he is now for a few years.
He has sure impressed me with his defense. He covers a lot of ground. I can see why someone under the former regime pounded the table to acquire him.

565A5B0009000805021D07300 wrote: Oh, how minds have changed about Gonzales.  At one point we were calling for his exile to some baseball Siberia.  Now we are hoping he can be a good bridge to a young guy who is a couple of years away.  I for one am glad I was wrong about Gonzales earlier in the year.  I hope he can be the guy he is now for a few years.
He has sure impressed me with his defense. He covers a lot of ground. [highlight]I can see why someone under the former regime pounded the table to acquire him.

[/highlight]


The got him because he was cheap in terms of salary and players traded away.