I can see interest in this season is really picking up!

[maher.timothy20@gm]

No game thread about a week into the season on a Sunday afternoon.



I'm already turning hard on Shelton. I hate his lineups. Hate that he pulled Brault after getting nine easy outs. (I get that maybe he's not stretched out for a long game but he couldn't have gone four?)

[Ecbucs]

6D616865722E74696D6F746879323040676D000 wrote: No game thread about a week into the season on a Sunday afternoon.



I'm already turning hard on Shelton. I hate his lineups. Hate that he pulled Brault after getting nine easy outs. (I get that maybe he's not stretched out for a long game but he couldn't have gone four?)




this entire season is just spring training. Too bad non-roster players can't play.

[NJBucsFan]

I saw the starting outfield (Evans - Tucker - Heredia) and just didn't have the heart.

[shedman]

Sam Howard looked pretty good in the 10th.

[Bobster21]

Agree 100% on Shelton. I haven't liked anything he's done. His moves are consistently illogical as if he avoids doing the obvious to show us how innovative he can be. The 4 outfielder stunt last week was totally unnecessary. Not taking advantage of the DH to hide Bell's defense is another bad move. Pulling Brault, who has a history as a starter, after 3 perfect innings only to be on his 8th pitcher by the 10th inning, was ridiculous. In the 10th today with Cubs on 2nd and 3rd and 1 out, he goes with 5 infielders and 2 OFers to hope for a tag play at the plate. The sensible move was to walk the batter to set up an inning ending DP or at least a force out at home rather than the riskier tag play. They got out of it thanks to Howard striking batters out but Shelton's strategy was a head-scratcher. His lineups make little sense. And the poor fundamentals of the past few years have not been corrected. Unfortunately, he's reminding me of Lloyd McClendon, who was atrocious. I didn't like Hurdle and thought a replacement would be chosen who would be an upgrade. But now I'm wondering where they found this clown.

[GreenWeenie]

I made the mistake late last night of going back to videos of Travis Williams being interviewed after he accepted the job.  Nothing to do with him, personally.  It's BOB.  The guy turns me off big time.

[GreenWeenie]

735E53424554430300310 wrote: Agree 100% on Shelton. I haven't liked anything he's done. His moves are consistently illogical as if he avoids doing the obvious to show us how innovative he can be. The 4 outfielder stunt last week was totally unnecessary. Not taking advantage of the DH to hide Bell's defense is another bad move. Pulling Brault, who has a history as a starter, after 3 perfect innings only to be on his 8th pitcher by the 10th inning, was ridiculous. In the 10th today with Cubs on 2nd and 3rd and 1 out, he goes with 5 infielders and 2 OFers to hope for a tag play at the plate. The sensible move was to walk the batter to set up an inning ending DP or at least a force out at home rather than the riskier tag play. They got out of it thanks to Howard striking batters out but Shelton's strategy was a head-scratcher. His lineups make little sense. And the poor fundamentals of the past few years have not been corrected. Unfortunately, he's reminding me of Lloyd McClendon, who was atrocious. I didn't like Hurdle and [highlight]thought a replacement would be chosen who would be an upgrade.[/highlight] But now I'm wondering where they found this clown.   


Hate to say it.  I think you're a great guy.  But, that's on you.



Anyone better than Hurdle is steering clear of this place.  For one, how many better than Hurdle were even available at the time?



Of those, how many do not know of BOB?



Gerardi and his kind want nothing to do with the Pirates, and BOB wants nothing to do with paying that kind of guy.



I remember a guy on MLBNR saying that he couldn't see an experienced manager taking the Pirates job unless it was written into the contract that there would be a miminum 25-man payroll of a certain amount. BOB would never go for that.



We got a LMG OJT guy for a reason. 

[shedman]

We have the worst record in all of baseball. Everyone in the world except Cherington can see what we have.

[2drfischer@gmail.c]

7478717C6B376D7074766D71602B29597E74190 wrote: No game thread about a week into the season on a Sunday afternoon.



I'm already turning hard on Shelton. I hate his lineups. Hate that he pulled Brault after getting nine easy outs. (I get that maybe he's not stretched out for a long game but he couldn't have gone four?)




There are few things worse than a team that doesn't have a set group of eight starters. Shelton has too many choices to play too many of the positions, but few of them are good enough to be quality major league players who can help win a championship. Who among them would start for any of the top 25 clubs?



Other GMs aren't going to feel sorry for the Pirates and let BC win any trades. In fact, they'll do everything they can to take advantage of his situation. His only trade piece is Bell, but how solid is that when he's had one, three-month streak of hitting to hang his hat on? Cherington's in a poker game with less than nothing in his hand.



That doesn't mean he shouldn't try, of course. He has to be able to get the right free agents to sign here, convince them that he's going to make the Pirates legitimate. Otherwise, those players will have 15-20 other more competitive clubs to choose from. Then he's got to have three good drafts in a row, along with a handful of quality international signings, with players who can reach Pittsburgh quickly, like we've seen in Atlanta, Washington, and Los Angeles. It won't be easy but I believe he's more capable of making it happen than Huntington.



Sadly, he still has the Nutting roadblock to overcome. We've all seen that act before.

[steve49]

456865747362753536070 wrote: Agree 100% on Shelton. I haven't liked anything he's done. His moves are consistently illogical as if he avoids doing the obvious to show us how innovative he can be. The 4 outfielder stunt last week was totally unnecessary. Not taking advantage of the DH to hide Bell's defense is another bad move. Pulling Brault, who has a history as a starter, after 3 perfect innings only to be on his 8th pitcher by the 10th inning, was ridiculous. In the 10th today with Cubs on 2nd and 3rd and 1 out, he goes with 5 infielders and 2 OFers to hope for a tag play at the plate. The sensible move was to walk the batter to set up an inning ending DP or at least a force out at home rather than the riskier tag play. They got out of it thanks to Howard striking batters out but Shelton's strategy was a head-scratcher. His lineups make little sense. And the poor fundamentals of the past few years have not been corrected. Unfortunately, he's reminding me of Lloyd McClendon, who was atrocious. I didn't like Hurdle and thought a replacement would be chosen who would be an upgrade. But now I'm wondering where they found this clown.   


The whole organization is just plain bad. They are poor at developing their young players . They executed a terrible trade that gutted the team of 3 top prospects when they couldn't compete. Their ownership won't spend any money and their coaching staff is atrocious . How in God's name to you waive Stalling from 3rd with no outs ? INCRDIBLE !!!! He was out by 8 feet. A little league 3rd base coach wouldn't do that. So hard to watch this team. I'm not sure their attendance would be all that much better without COVID.