OnlyBucs

The Opener idea has fizzled, and nobody has given any indication when Williams is going to return, and we know Taillon is out until at least late June or early July. I am going to assume like many that Keller is going to be recalled for one of the games Monday, and he should stay if he pitches well or not. The Bucs should also add Dario Agrazel who has pitched fairly well at Indy to fill the other opening spot in the rotation.

They better do something. The garbage that they are throwing out there is terrible.

I still think their best bet is Liriano. He at least has experience as a starter and could probably give at a minimum two competitive innings. As for the title of this thread, I don’t want to see Keller anywhere near Pittsburgh if he’s not ready to stay. I don’t want a repeat of Glasnow. Agrazal, sure, give him a start. But Keller needs to be ready to come up and stay. Once he’s here, he’s here for good.

I'm seeing a lot of top prospects being called up. I wonder if owners/GMs figure the 'years of service' thing is going to soon be modified.

Liriano is the obvious choice. He's always been a starter and made 26 starts last year. But TBMTIB says he's doing well in relief so they don't want him to help them as a starter. It's just like in other years when they didn't a good #4 hitter but had other players slugging lower in the order and didn't want to mover them to #4 because it would be a change. This mgt team spends way too much time overthinking everything.

1D303D2C2B3A2D6D6E5F0 wrote: Liriano is the obvious choice. He's always been a starter and made 26 starts last year. But TBMTIB says he's doing well in relief so they don't want him to help them as a starter. It's just like in other years when they didn't a good #4 hitter but had other players slugging lower in the order and didn't want to mover them to #4 because it would be a change. This mgt team spends way too much time overthinking everything. 


This just seems so freaking obvious to me. If they are going to insist on using an "opener," which in a vacuum might actually be a solid strategy IMHO, at least use someone who keeps you in the game past the first hitter. I mean, sheesh...how many people last night hadn't even taken their seats yet and it was 5-0. I've got to believe that Liriano can go three innings and get you through the order one time.

40484B7C6A4F6867090 wrote: Liriano is the obvious choice. He's always been a starter and made 26 starts last year. But TBMTIB says he's doing well in relief so they don't want him to help them as a starter. It's just like in other years when they didn't a good #4 hitter but had other players slugging lower in the order and didn't want to mover them to #4 because it would be a change. This mgt team spends way too much time overthinking everything. 


This just seems so freaking obvious to me. If they are going to insist on using an "opener," which in a vacuum might actually be a solid strategy IMHO, at least use someone who keeps you in the game past the first hitter. I mean, sheesh...how many people last night hadn't even taken their seats yet and it was 5-0. I've got to believe that Liriano can go three innings and get you through the order one time.
That's just it. Tampa successfully used that strategy last year using relievers who could be expected to shut down the opposing team for a couple innings. The Pirates are desperate because they lost all faith in Brault and Kingham so they want to use the same strategy. But who can they use? Crick and Vazquez are too valuable to use up that way at the beginning of the game. DuRapau, Feliz, Stratton, Holmes and Hartlieb are only in MLB due to injuries or the failures of others and are barely hanging onto their jobs. None can legitimately be expected to shut down the opposition beginning with the top of the lineup for several innings. Liriano is the obvious choice but even if they wanted to use him, he can't do that as often as they want to use an opener. So that puts them back to square 1 with Brault and Kingham being the only other possibilities. So after the opener fails, Brault or Kingham, who Hurdle doesn't trust to begin games with, enters in the first inning anyway, already down by a few runs. Since they won't use Liriano and no one else deserves to be an opener, they might as well let Brault or Kingham start. They can't do any worse and they wind up pitching in the 1st inning anyway.

Apparently, it's time for Rookie Davis. He's been recalled. I guess his 5.35 ERA in AAA was irresistible when Brault and Hartlieb are at 7+ and Feliz and Kingham are at 8+.

674A47565140571714250 wrote: Apparently, it's time for Rookie Davis. He's been recalled. I guess his 5.35 ERA in AAA was irresistible when Brault and Hartlieb are at 7+ and Feliz and Kingham are at 8+.
I would say unbelievable, but I guess this crap should be expected.

The Bucs have shown a lot of character and resilience this season given the 20 players that have gone on the DL. (Most in baseball).

That they are over.500 is a miracle.

Yet the owner and FO keep giving CH and the team garbage with ERA’s between 5-10.



There was a article stating the Rays and Yankees have offers ready for Keuchel on June 2 when the requirement to give up a draft pick goes away. Pirates of course are not even mentioned as a possibility. Yet we have by far the most payroll flexibility.



It just saddens me to watch this team that has so much heart and upside not get the backing they deserve!!

I'm about one more shellacking away from walking away for the year. Against all odds, this team is in playoff contention as of Memorial Day, and they don't even seem to be trying to fill two glaring holes in the rotation.