OnlyBucs

183538292E3F28686B5A0 wrote: Big homer by Moran to give the Bucs the lead; however, Kuhl gives it right back by Garcia hitting a homer to tie it at 3-3. Don’t know how many more starts Chad Kuhl is gonna get but at some point here soon he needs to figure things out and quit getting killed in the 1st inning of games. If this happens in his next 2-3 starts then they need to consider getting him out of the rotation sometime in early May. At some point you gotta figure some things out and stop walking batters and giving up multiple runs in the 1st inning and he just isn’t doing it.




Kuhl really wasn't that horrible in the first innings today or in his 5 innings. He didn't walk anyone in the first inning and only one for the game. His big problem IMO was not putting hitters away when he had 2 strikes on them. Now back to what you call a horrible first inning. He made a bad pitch to the fat guy but the other run was TOTALLY on Fowler . The man goes back on a routine fly ball and it drops in front of him. They need to start calling obvious blunders like that errors instead of base hits. Then he scores on what appears to be a foul ground ball which took a crazy hop off the RF wall which allowed Garcia to score from first. All in all not a bad start . 


This is a problem I've noticed for years with Pirate pitchers. It shows lack of command. When they go up 0-2 or 1-2 on a batter they go way out of the strike zone. Obviously, the idea of "wasting" pitches is to throw something that's not a strike but may get a swing and miss or weak contact because the batter is behind in the count and can't afford to take anything close. But Pirate pitchers seem to throw several feet wide or high at those times and batters are not even tempted to offer. A lot of 0-2 and 1-2 counts become 3-2 counts as the pitcher loses the advantage, drives up his pitch count, and has to either throw a hittable pitch or ball 4. Or the pitch that's supposed to be just off the plate goes right into the batter's wheelhouse like BP.




Agree

Moran looked good last year and looks better this year.



What if we get a decent trade offer for him in July? Do you trade him? Or his he our starting 1st baseman when the team is (possibly) good again in 2023?[/quote

I mentioned earlier that I expect Rodrigues to go.If you are trying to build a core, I would say that they should keep Frazier, Reynolds, and Moran to go along with Hayes.

2C202924336F35282C2E352938737101262C410 wrote: Moran looked good last year and looks better this year.



What if we get a decent trade offer for him in July? Do you trade him? Or his he our starting 1st baseman when the team is (possibly) good again in 2023?


With the exception of Hayes and maybe Reynolds, I would think that every Pirates player on the major league roster is a candidate to be traded if the return is acceptable to Cherington.

2A7C6A7E716B7B707D6A587F75797174367B180 wrote: Moran looked good last year and looks better this year.



What if we get a decent trade offer for him in July? Do you trade him? Or his he our starting 1st baseman when the team is (possibly) good again in 2023?


With the exception of Hayes and maybe Reynolds, I would think that every Pirates player on the major league roster is a candidate to be traded if the return is acceptable to Cherington.
At least for the time being I'd add Brubaker.

5A777A6B6C7D6A2A29180 wrote: Moran looked good last year and looks better this year.



What if we get a decent trade offer for him in July? Do you trade him? Or his he our starting 1st baseman when the team is (possibly) good again in 2023?


With the exception of Hayes and maybe Reynolds, I would think that every Pirates player on the major league roster is a candidate to be traded if the return is acceptable to Cherington.
At least for the time being I'd add Brubaker.


right now I agree about Hayes, Reynolds and perhaps Brubaker. However that could change in a couple months after minor leagues have played some games. That is going to give Cherington a chance to evaluate the entire system. That should help determine whether he thinks team can be competitive by 2023, 24, or 25.

436564736575060 wrote: Moran looked good last year and looks better this year.



What if we get a decent trade offer for him in July? Do you trade him? Or his he our starting 1st baseman when the team is (possibly) good again in 2023?


With the exception of Hayes and maybe Reynolds, I would think that every Pirates player on the major league roster is a candidate to be traded if the return is acceptable to Cherington.
At least for the time being I'd add Brubaker.


right now I agree about Hayes, Reynolds and perhaps Brubaker.  However that could change in a couple months after minor leagues have played some games.  That is going to give Cherington a chance to evaluate the entire system.  That should help determine whether he thinks team can be competitive by 2023, 24, or 25.


Only considering the everyday players for now, BC has to improve 1B, SS, CF, RF, and perhaps the catching position by 2023.  I'd like him to keep Frazier but by then he'll have priced himself out of Pittsburgh.  As for Stallings, he's fine, but he'd be a terrific back-up to someone better. 



The guys who the Pirates need to fill those four spots have to be above average players, even All Star-types.  They can't be players like Newman, Alford, Fowler, or Polanco.  We see the results of trying to compete with players like that.