OnlyBucs

I live in a AAA town, and I’ve been thinking about the Indianapolis team I’d like to see visit Syracuse this year. I’m trying to temper optimism and realism in this post, and I’ll carry on with more if they seem to be well received. This post focuses on the Indy lineup.



8th: Indy looks like it will have two decent defensive, poor hitting catchers splitting time. Chris Kelley and Andrew Susac will bat last, and I hope that we can trade for a legitimate prospect who will join the mix at some point in 2021.



7th: Hunter Owen is an organizational soldier with a dash of power and a lack of competition at 3B.



6th: Kevin Kramer should return to 2B, and if the Bucs trade Adam Frazier, he may even see a callup. I predict this bounceback despite the fact that he’s off the 40-man and played mostly in the OF last season. Why? In 2018, he was really good.



5th: Will Craig may get the occasional start in RF, but I expect that he’ll get the bulk of the starts at 1B keeping the place warm for Mason Martin in 2022.



4th: Cleanup hitter will most likely be newly acquired Troy Stokes Jr., and I expect him to play in LF. There isn’t much competition in the OF at AAA, but Stokes looks like he has some power.



3rd: Here’s where optimism takes hold: I want Oneill Cruz here playing RF. Add my voice to the chorus praying for a position shift NOW for our highest ceiling hitting prospect. He has the arm for RF, and a clear path to the MLB job in 2022.



2nd: At least until the trading deadline, I’d like to see Cole Tucker playing SS every day, and hopefully improving his batting skills to the point where he can take over the Bucs’ SS position later this season. I thought turning him into an outfielder was lunacy.



1st: I want Jared Oliva playing every day at CF, and he’s probably the first OF called up in the event of an MLB OF injury. A year at AAA should help his development: He came straight to the Bucs from AA last year.



I need to find a DH from the bench players but I’m not sure I see him on the current roster. Claudio Finol is a glove-first infielder and there is no obvious choice for the 4th outfielder. Perhaps Bligh Madris, who bats left, and Chris Sharpe, who bats right, will platoon. They both had modest success at AA in 2019, and may need to advance out of the way of younger prospects ticketed for Altoona.



Of course another Pirate trade will impact the AAA roster. Frankly, I expect that somebody else’s “trash” may become our AAA treasure. As the Stokes acquisition proved, we’re desperate for position player depth.



Let me know if you’d like my take on AAA pitching.

Nice post. I'd be interested in your take on the Indy pitching. At this early stage of a Pirate rebuild, the more we hear about the minor leagues, the better.



As I read your analysis, it seems the only position player at Indy who has a chance to be an impact player for the Buc is Cruz. Stokes might possibly turn out well but being a waiver pickup doesn't inspire confidence. The organization seems to have given up on Newman and Craig. And last year they seemed to have given up on Tucker (not even 1 inning at SS while wasting time as a light hitting OFer).

I too like what SyrBucco has said in this thread. And I agree with Bobster about the AAA team not being loaded as we would hope. The one guy on the MLB roster that concerns me is Tucker. He was supposed to be the future SS for years to come but instead, he has become the latest experiment in making him a super-sub who can use his athleticism to play the OF and SS. I think that they need to find a hitting instructor guru to improve Tucker's performance at the plate.

With that said, I am more interested in the guys at the lower levels and how they develop. BC sure has brought in a ton of them. Hopefully, some of them will be in AAA in a few years and then MLB the following year.

As for AAA pitching, like Bobster I would like your opinions.

I too, enjoyed your post. I concur that there seems to be little to pin any hopes on in the line-up.

Curious that you don't see Oliva as promising as Cruz. Could you expand on that? Also, what is the latest on Cruz and his supposed legal issues? I don't recall seeing anything recently.



By all means...bring on the pitching!

1B302728510 wrote: I too, enjoyed your post. I concur that there seems to be little to pin any hopes on in the line-up.

Curious that you don't see Oliva as promising as Cruz. Could you expand on that? Also, what is the latest on Cruz and his supposed legal issues? I don't recall seeing anything recently.



By all means...bring on the pitching!
Yeah, I too have been looking for news on the Cruz legal situation. This article suggests the original reports may not have been entirely accurate.

https://rumbunter.com/2020/11/02/pittsb ... -timeline/



Oliva is also interesting to me because I was under the impression he was being hyped as a future impact player. He's never faced AAA pitching but his stats in A and AA are pretty ordinary other than drawing enough walks to boost his OBP. (I don't put much stock in AFL stats.) Still early in his career but I hope he has better than an ordinary season in AAA this year.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/regi ... iva-000jar

042F38374E0 wrote: I too, enjoyed your post. I concur that there seems to be little to pin any hopes on in the line-up.

Curious that you don't see Oliva as promising as Cruz. Could you expand on that? Also, what is the latest on Cruz and his supposed legal issues? I don't recall seeing anything recently.



By all means...bring on the pitching!
Javy, Cruz brings power to a team that's desperate for it. Oliva projects as a nice player, but not an All Star or starter on a contender. Cruz definitely has a higher ceiling, from all I've read.

597378487F6969650A0 wrote: I too, enjoyed your post. I concur that there seems to be little to pin any hopes on in the line-up.

Curious that you don't see Oliva as promising as Cruz. Could you expand on that? Also, what is the latest on Cruz and his supposed legal issues? I don't recall seeing anything recently.



By all means...bring on the pitching!
Javy, Cruz brings power to a team that's desperate for it. Oliva projects as a nice player, but not an All-Star or starter on a contender. Cruz definitely has a higher ceiling, from all I've read.




I agree with you SyrBucco on Oliva but there is always a need for a guy like that on a contending team as a 4th OFer, PH, or late-inning defensive replacement The problem with the Pirates right now is they have too darn many of those in AAA or the MLB roster.

6F454E7E495F5F533C0 wrote: I too, enjoyed your post. I concur that there seems to be little to pin any hopes on in the line-up.

Curious that you don't see Oliva as promising as Cruz. Could you expand on that? Also, what is the latest on Cruz and his supposed legal issues? I don't recall seeing anything recently.



By all means...bring on the pitching!
Javy, Cruz brings power to a team that's desperate for it. Oliva projects as a nice player, but not an All Star or starter on a contender. Cruz definitely has a higher ceiling, from all I've read.

Ok, thanks. Please understand, I was not looking for a debate/argument, just some clarity. Appreciate your posting style, and was simply engaging you, that's all.

6F4E466F444C2B0 wrote: I too, enjoyed your post. I concur that there seems to be little to pin any hopes on in the line-up.

Curious that you don't see Oliva as promising as Cruz. Could you expand on that? Also, what is the latest on Cruz and his supposed legal issues? I don't recall seeing anything recently.



By all means...bring on the pitching!
Javy, Cruz brings power to a team that's desperate for it. Oliva projects as a nice player, but not an All-Star or starter on a contender. Cruz definitely has a higher ceiling, from all I've read.




I agree with you SyrBucco on Oliva but there is always a need for a guy like that on a contending team as a 4th OFer, PH, or late-inning defensive replacement  The problem with the Pirates right now is they have too darn many of those in AAA or the MLB roster.




I'd definitely rather see Oliva given a try than seeing them keep playing light hitting middle infielders in the outfield.

2A011619600 wrote: I too, enjoyed your post. I concur that there seems to be little to pin any hopes on in the line-up.

Curious that you don't see Oliva as promising as Cruz. Could you expand on that? Also, what is the latest on Cruz and his supposed legal issues? I don't recall seeing anything recently.



By all means...bring on the pitching!
Javy, Cruz brings power to a team that's desperate for it. Oliva projects as a nice player, but not an All Star or starter on a contender. Cruz definitely has a higher ceiling, from all I've read.

Ok, thanks. Please understand, I was not looking for a debate/argument, just some clarity. Appreciate your posting style, and was simply engaging you, that's all.


Thank YOU for the reply, Javy!