Am I the only one who actually thinks that .....
Moderators: SammyKhalifa, Doc, Bobster
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NewMexicoLobo
- Posts: 107
- Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2016 11:53 am
Am I the only one who actually thinks that .....
Our bucs could have a winning season?
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CarolinaBucco
Am I the only one who actually thinks that .....
I think the lineup is going to be decent enough to "possibly" have a winning season.
Problem is, the pitching is going to be bad, real bad.
We might have an 81-win kind of lineup.
But we have a 60-win kind of pitching staff.
In my opinion, we currently have a total of 2 starters that a good team MIGHT consider as its No. 5 starter. Contreras and Keller. I love Contreras' potential and I'm not a believer in Keller yet, but those are the only two.
Our pitching is short on quality and quantity ...it's going to be another year of constantly going to the bullpen in the 4th inning.
Until the front office commits to spending money on actual, legitimate major league pitching, this is going to be a 100-loss kind of team.
Problem is, the pitching is going to be bad, real bad.
We might have an 81-win kind of lineup.
But we have a 60-win kind of pitching staff.
In my opinion, we currently have a total of 2 starters that a good team MIGHT consider as its No. 5 starter. Contreras and Keller. I love Contreras' potential and I'm not a believer in Keller yet, but those are the only two.
Our pitching is short on quality and quantity ...it's going to be another year of constantly going to the bullpen in the 4th inning.
Until the front office commits to spending money on actual, legitimate major league pitching, this is going to be a 100-loss kind of team.
Am I the only one who actually thinks that .....
7A584B56555057587B4C5A5A56390 wrote: I think the lineup is going to be decent enough to "possibly" have a winning season.
Problem is, the pitching is going to be bad, real bad.
We might have an 81-win kind of lineup.
But we have a 60-win kind of pitching staff.
In my opinion, we currently have a total of 2 starters that a good team MIGHT consider as its No. 5 starter. Contreras and Keller. I love Contreras' potential and I'm not a believer in Keller yet, but those are the only two.
Our pitching is short on quality and quantity ...it's going to be another year of constantly going to the bullpen in the 4th inning.
Until the front office commits to spending money on actual, legitimate major league pitching, this is going to be a 100-loss kind of team.
I will say I am less enthusiastic about the lineup than you but slightly more optimistic about the pitching. The lineup has a tremendous hole with Hedges, Santana may not be much of an improvement over Chavis (except for drawing walks). So I think the lineup is going to be below average in scoring runs. Based on last year I make Keller and Contreras 4th or even 3rd starters on some teams, Rich Hill and Brubaker as 4th or 5th starters. Since it is spring training, I am optimistic at this point that some of the arms Ben has brought in can be put together to make at average bullpen.
Problem is, the pitching is going to be bad, real bad.
We might have an 81-win kind of lineup.
But we have a 60-win kind of pitching staff.
In my opinion, we currently have a total of 2 starters that a good team MIGHT consider as its No. 5 starter. Contreras and Keller. I love Contreras' potential and I'm not a believer in Keller yet, but those are the only two.
Our pitching is short on quality and quantity ...it's going to be another year of constantly going to the bullpen in the 4th inning.
Until the front office commits to spending money on actual, legitimate major league pitching, this is going to be a 100-loss kind of team.
I will say I am less enthusiastic about the lineup than you but slightly more optimistic about the pitching. The lineup has a tremendous hole with Hedges, Santana may not be much of an improvement over Chavis (except for drawing walks). So I think the lineup is going to be below average in scoring runs. Based on last year I make Keller and Contreras 4th or even 3rd starters on some teams, Rich Hill and Brubaker as 4th or 5th starters. Since it is spring training, I am optimistic at this point that some of the arms Ben has brought in can be put together to make at average bullpen.
Am I the only one who actually thinks that .....
I picked 77 wins (I think) in the pool last year on the assumption the team would try to win games. They didn't. They experimented with people to see how they would preform in given situations. This year I could see them having a winning season *if they try.* Signing some of the people they've signed suggests they might make more of an effort in that direction.
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GreenWeenie
- Posts: 4012
- Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2020 3:47 pm
Am I the only one who actually thinks that .....
7952407A524F5E54587B585558370 wrote: Our bucs could have a winning season?
Probably.
I dont see it. What disappoints me is that I thought that with some investing in the team, they could've come close, though.
We don't have the Pitching of a .500 club.
With more balanced scheduling, fewer games against st the Reds.
The Cubs added some. The Reds emare standing still.
Once we dump Reynolds, that won't do anything to help us in 2023, so I think .500 is not something that I expect this season.
The Pre-Season Prediction Poll will given an idea of who thinks what.
Probably.
I dont see it. What disappoints me is that I thought that with some investing in the team, they could've come close, though.
We don't have the Pitching of a .500 club.
With more balanced scheduling, fewer games against st the Reds.
The Cubs added some. The Reds emare standing still.
Once we dump Reynolds, that won't do anything to help us in 2023, so I think .500 is not something that I expect this season.
The Pre-Season Prediction Poll will given an idea of who thinks what.
Am I the only one who actually thinks that .....
I believe the rule changes that will eliminate many defensive shifts are a factor that will affect the performance of many individual pitchers and hitters and that no one will have a good understanding of how said changes will affect a team's overall performance for at least the first half of so of a season.
Some hitters who aggressively adjusted their swing to achieve more loft may go back to their more natural swing as they may have more opportunities to pull the ball now that the 2nd baseman is in the infield instead of playing like a mid-fielder in slow pitch soft ball.
Pitchers who have the ability to induce ground balls may or may not see an uptick in their performance.
Also, some players/pitchers likely will be thick-headed and will not accept that the game has changed and that they too need to make adjustments.
That said, I believe the starting pitching has a chance to be better this year than recent years. I believe Keller has turned the corner and that Contreras could be good. Brubaker can provide some innings and Hill does know how to pitch. If Oviedo can build on some of his performances at the end of the season, the Pirates have the makings of an okay starting staff that should be able to help keep the team in the game.
I agree with the sentiment that the offense has some real question marks. Hedges is obviously a very dark black hole. Players like Suwinski (who I like), Castro, and Bae all had some nice at-bats last year, but they were below average performers. Perhaps the injuries affected Hayes last year, but to date, on offense, Hayes is not the type of hitter that the Pirates need at 3rd. I question how much any of Santana, Choi, or Cutch will help, and the jury is still out on Cruz; can he be a steady producer, or is he simply an occasional highlight reel. Reynolds had a good 2nd half, but was absent for much of the season.
So --- playoffs; hard to imagine compared to the talent on other teams, particularly with this year's scheduling changes.
That said, I would be surprised if the team can't win 70 or so games this year.
Lastly, this is the transition year. The team played a lot of young players last year. This year, 5 veteran players have been added to benefit the offense, however, none were signed for more than 1 year. If the young players fail to pick-up their game in 2023, 2024 and beyond could be pretty bleak.
The young player who I am most anxious to see this season is Rodriguez. He appears to have a bat with some power and can play multiple positions, including catcher. Perhaps he can be in Pittsburgh by mid-June and can work his way into the catching rotation.
Some hitters who aggressively adjusted their swing to achieve more loft may go back to their more natural swing as they may have more opportunities to pull the ball now that the 2nd baseman is in the infield instead of playing like a mid-fielder in slow pitch soft ball.
Pitchers who have the ability to induce ground balls may or may not see an uptick in their performance.
Also, some players/pitchers likely will be thick-headed and will not accept that the game has changed and that they too need to make adjustments.
That said, I believe the starting pitching has a chance to be better this year than recent years. I believe Keller has turned the corner and that Contreras could be good. Brubaker can provide some innings and Hill does know how to pitch. If Oviedo can build on some of his performances at the end of the season, the Pirates have the makings of an okay starting staff that should be able to help keep the team in the game.
I agree with the sentiment that the offense has some real question marks. Hedges is obviously a very dark black hole. Players like Suwinski (who I like), Castro, and Bae all had some nice at-bats last year, but they were below average performers. Perhaps the injuries affected Hayes last year, but to date, on offense, Hayes is not the type of hitter that the Pirates need at 3rd. I question how much any of Santana, Choi, or Cutch will help, and the jury is still out on Cruz; can he be a steady producer, or is he simply an occasional highlight reel. Reynolds had a good 2nd half, but was absent for much of the season.
So --- playoffs; hard to imagine compared to the talent on other teams, particularly with this year's scheduling changes.
That said, I would be surprised if the team can't win 70 or so games this year.
Lastly, this is the transition year. The team played a lot of young players last year. This year, 5 veteran players have been added to benefit the offense, however, none were signed for more than 1 year. If the young players fail to pick-up their game in 2023, 2024 and beyond could be pretty bleak.
The young player who I am most anxious to see this season is Rodriguez. He appears to have a bat with some power and can play multiple positions, including catcher. Perhaps he can be in Pittsburgh by mid-June and can work his way into the catching rotation.
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fjk090852-7
- Posts: 3484
- Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2016 2:52 pm
Am I the only one who actually thinks that .....
I think this year is going to be a fun year to follow, but I have my doubts they will have a winning season. If they do end up with a winning record the season will be exciting. At this point I am thinking they will win about 75 games, which is 13 more than last year. Last season there were at least a handful of games which Crowe and Company lost after Bednar was hurt last year. If Bednar is healthy,the bullpen should be able to close out some additional wins which the Bucs let get away in 2022.
Am I the only one who actually thinks that .....
while Ben C. has worked this off season to improve the Bucs for 2023 it does seem to me that teams aren't going to be tanking this season. Along with more balanced schedule I could see wins tougher to come by. Every team the Bucs play is going to think they can beat them and a lot of them will still have more talent.
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Bobster21
Am I the only one who actually thinks that .....
I think they'll win a few more than last year but not many more. Keller and Contreras must build on last season. Brubaker seems like an innings-eater; that is, someone who gives you innings but isn't particularly effective. At this point in his career, Hill has been an average pitcher the last few years and hopefully he will continue that trend at age 43. He may not be as good as Quintana was last year. Oviedo is an unknown factor. At least Thompson and Wilson will not be starting so the rotation should be somewhat better. Holderman and Garcia might be solid additions to the BP.
Santana, Choi and Cutch have not hit well the past few years and Hedges is an automatic out. Conner Joe is not much. Cruz should hit but could be a detriment at SS. Hayes needs to hit better but may not have that capacity. Castro needs to hit more consistently. Suwinski has power but must hit better than .202. Bae has a lot of potential. Reynolds should hit well for as long as he's on the roster.
The ban on shifting will help better hitters more than weaker hitters since they are the ones more likely to hit line drives that were previously caught by a shifting 2Bman in RF or shots up the middle previously fielded by a shifting SS. And opposing teams seem to have more good hitters than the Pirates.
It's also hard to not anticipate poor managing by Shelton.
Santana, Choi and Cutch have not hit well the past few years and Hedges is an automatic out. Conner Joe is not much. Cruz should hit but could be a detriment at SS. Hayes needs to hit better but may not have that capacity. Castro needs to hit more consistently. Suwinski has power but must hit better than .202. Bae has a lot of potential. Reynolds should hit well for as long as he's on the roster.
The ban on shifting will help better hitters more than weaker hitters since they are the ones more likely to hit line drives that were previously caught by a shifting 2Bman in RF or shots up the middle previously fielded by a shifting SS. And opposing teams seem to have more good hitters than the Pirates.
It's also hard to not anticipate poor managing by Shelton.