There is much discussion about the underachieving and flat out stinking by some of our "stars" in Cole, Cutch, Liriano, and increasingly Kang.
its been a down year for the bullpen as well.
I maintain with my Chicago friends that don't really follow the Pirates are that the Pirates really had a Miraculous rise in 2012 (before the drop off), 2013, 2014, 2015
due to very unexpected OVER ACHIEVING
I think as a fan I came to expect that the Bucs were entitled to have magical contributions from Pitchers that went way above expectations.
think through some of these guys and they huge turn arounds they had. mostly in pitching. We've had none of this overachieving to cover up the underachieving that we experienced this year and experienced in other years but didn't notice due to this out of nowhere performances.
this is a transition year to where we don't have to rely anymore on free agent garbage pile miracle type help for the pitching staff.
starting with this year. We can see the real home grown talent supply this team. They just aren't quite ready yet. But we know they are knocking down the door. starting with 2017 we will have a good pipeline window where we no longer need a stretch of 3-4 years where reclamation projects played career years.
its a different Pirate team. its a new Paradigm, but until I sat and looked at individual stats for the past 6 years did I realize the extent of this Paradigm shift and style of team this FO will have built for 2017.
2012
Garrett Jones 27 HR's and .833 OPS
Fort Mckenry 12 Hrs and 1.7 WAR in just 88 games
AJ BURNETT!!! 3.51 ERA and 16 wins after 5.15 ERA the year before
Wandy Rodriguez-not a miracle reclamation but a good trade
2013
Russell Martin 4.3 and 5.5 WAR years after a 1.5 with Yanks
Marlon Byrd
Jason Grilli really?
Melancon
Vin Marrazzo 2.81 ERA in 71 innings
Liriano 3.02ERA after 3 straight 5+ ERA years
Jeanmar Gomez 3.35 ERA
Cumpton, Wilson, Watson
2014
Edison Volquez 3.04 after 5.71 in 2 of the 3 years previously
Vance Worley 2.85 ERA in 111 innings after injury and 7.21 ERA
Jeff Locke 3.91 ERA over 131 innings
Jared Hughes 1.96 ERA after 4+
2015
Happ
Blanton
Bastardo
Caminero
I also am hopeful that a huge glut of very interesting OF talent is getting to the top levels that we can have alot of chances to make some decent trades in the offseason or next year (hell maybe even today)
go check the development of guys other than Austin Meadows.
Jose Osuna 1b/Of
Wily Garcia
Tito Polo hitting .290 with 16 HR's and 29 SB's between A and A+
Adam Frazier
Barrett Barnes .296 at AA (OPS of .978 and BA of .404 in July)
Harold Ramirez .306 at AA
Stetson Allie .796 OPS
that is just OF. Plenty of other interesting guys that have started to emerge as potential prospects. in the lower and upper levels
2016 a year lacking small Miracles for the Pirates
Moderators: SammyKhalifa, Doc, Bobster
-
ChitownBucco
- Posts: 492
- Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2016 9:10 pm
-
ArnoldRothstein
2016 a year lacking small Miracles for the Pirates
Yes, I think that when you only make a handful of major commitments in any year, you can have a couple years in a row where things just fall like you'd want them to. When that happens, there's a real strong inclination to attribute things to unusual skill. The same happens in reverse when everything goes wrong.
2016 a year lacking small Miracles for the Pirates
I'd call both Joyce and Freese "small" miracles. Same with Feliz
2016 a year lacking small Miracles for the Pirates
0D30372D3037590 wrote: I'd call both Joyce and Freese "small" miracles. Same with Feliz
good point, after his 2015, could add S-Rod to list.
good point, after his 2015, could add S-Rod to list.
-
ChitownBucco
- Posts: 492
- Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2016 9:10 pm
2016 a year lacking small Miracles for the Pirates
172A2D372A2D430 wrote: I'd call both Joyce and Freese "small" miracles. Same with Feliz
very true.
but very small in comparison to the big splash miracles where we ended up with a half dozen All-star pitchers from garbage.
Our bench has been a pleasant surprise. But it ain't no miracle.
and obviously the issue is pitching. We got nothing but underachieving there.
we are 9th in the NL in ERA after being 3rd, 5th, 2nd from 2013-2015 respectively.
bucs have given up 474 runs! the same amount as the Brewers, let that sink in. 10 Less than the phillies 484 and only 24 less than the Braves 498
very true.
but very small in comparison to the big splash miracles where we ended up with a half dozen All-star pitchers from garbage.
Our bench has been a pleasant surprise. But it ain't no miracle.
and obviously the issue is pitching. We got nothing but underachieving there.
we are 9th in the NL in ERA after being 3rd, 5th, 2nd from 2013-2015 respectively.
bucs have given up 474 runs! the same amount as the Brewers, let that sink in. 10 Less than the phillies 484 and only 24 less than the Braves 498
2016 a year lacking small Miracles for the Pirates
I thought it was pretty clear after the subtraction of Happ, Burnett and Morton and the questionable additions of Niese, Vogelsong and Nicasio that the starting rotation in 2016 was not going to be the strength we fans had become accustomed to. It was pretty clear from the start that this team would be competitive only if our already good offense became better with the expected maturation of players like Polanco, Marte and Mercer.
Well we got what we expected, a mediocre starting rotation, but we also were gifted with a small miracle in that all three of Polanco, Marte and Mercer improved offensively plus Neal Huntington managed to add Rodriguez, Freese and Joyce as bench pieces who have been way better than anyone could have expected.
Unfortunately we've been ambushed by unexpected disastrous seasons from Cutch and Kang as well as poor production from Cervelli and Harrison. John Jaso has also revealed himself to be an offensive liability at first base. Unfortunately the offense's problems have negated the small miracle positives that have occurred.
If one also considers the disastrous year that Liriano has had as well as the unexpected injury to Cole and the failure of Nicasio to stay in the starting rotation it's actually pretty remarkable that the Pirates are above .500 with two months left in the season. Not too many years ago it was a dream of many Pirate fans to simply not finish with a losing record. If this team manages that this year I think it will be mostly due to those small miracles that have happened this year.
Well we got what we expected, a mediocre starting rotation, but we also were gifted with a small miracle in that all three of Polanco, Marte and Mercer improved offensively plus Neal Huntington managed to add Rodriguez, Freese and Joyce as bench pieces who have been way better than anyone could have expected.
Unfortunately we've been ambushed by unexpected disastrous seasons from Cutch and Kang as well as poor production from Cervelli and Harrison. John Jaso has also revealed himself to be an offensive liability at first base. Unfortunately the offense's problems have negated the small miracle positives that have occurred.
If one also considers the disastrous year that Liriano has had as well as the unexpected injury to Cole and the failure of Nicasio to stay in the starting rotation it's actually pretty remarkable that the Pirates are above .500 with two months left in the season. Not too many years ago it was a dream of many Pirate fans to simply not finish with a losing record. If this team manages that this year I think it will be mostly due to those small miracles that have happened this year.
-
BucsFaninGA
2016 a year lacking small Miracles for the Pirates
Gotta agree with you Quail. It is a small miracle as the pitching has been terrible. Maybe we can play .500 ball rest of the season. Huntington better get his trading skills sharpened, because the fan base is not going to remain silent another season with another dismal club. Hindsight is 20/20,but signing JA Happ now looks like a deal that we should have made...