Bucs Bullpen Rated Third Best In Baseball!

Roberto218 · Post by **Roberto218** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 2:10 am

We trail only the Yankees and the A's.Hope springs eternal!

IABucFan · Post by **IABucFan** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 2:28 am

I honestly think this is probably about right. Had Santana not gotten hurt, it might be the best. I think Burdi could wind up being a reliable back end guy, too. I’m just afraid we aren’t going to have too many leads for them to protect.

SyrBucco · Post by **SyrBucco** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 3:03 pm

I'm optimistic by nature, but Keona Kela and Kyle Crick have had an awful spring and bullpen pitchers tend to be up and down. Burdi may be more important than we think.

SammyKhalifa · Post by **SammyKhalifa** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 3:08 pm

1F353E0E392F2F234C0 wrote: I'm optimistic by nature, but Keona Kela and Kyle Crick have had an awful spring and bullpen pitchers tend to be up and down. Burdi may be more important than we think.

Yeah Burdi wasn't gifted the typical Rule 5 roster spot, he was legitimately one of the best pitchers.

Ecbucs · Post by **Ecbucs** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 5:41 pm

704D404750564D10131A220 wrote: We trail only the Yankees and the A's.Hope springs eternal!

I hope it turns out this way. Will be a good season if the bullpen is third and the starting pitching is in top 10 or 12.

rucker59@gmail.com · Post by **rucker59@gmail.com** » Wed Mar 27, 2019 8:33 am

Before TJ Burdi had closer stuff. If he’s able to fully recover he will give the Pirates an incredible back end. The Pirates can shut down the game after 5 innings if needed. They can win a lot of games with this pen.

SCBucco · Post by **SCBucco** » Wed Mar 27, 2019 4:38 pm

Generally, I'm a negative guy when talking about the Pirates. The bullpen isn't anything I'm concerned with. Crick, Kela, Rodriguez and Vazquez form a pretty good four. If Santana were there, even better. Third might be about right.

Roberto218 · Post by **Roberto218** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 3:09 am

Bullpen is number 3, and I saw that the starting staff was ranked 10th. Overall, that puts us 6th or 7th which is playoff caliber. Suppose that Kang is good at third, that Bell recovers his power or that a Bell-Moran platoon works at first. Suppose that Frazier really is the hitter we think he is, and that Gonzalez's defense sparkles and his hitting is good enough. it is easy to project a 6-8 war pickup in the infield alone. Catching is solid, as is the outfield. The bench is better with Cabrera, Chisenhall and Reyes. We should be in the hunt. A certain free agent pitcher could put us over the top!