The Pirates are on a bad stretch of losing right now, dropping 11 of their last 12 games. They take on the Giants today at 1:35 PM EST, looking to avoid a three game sweep.
Mitch Keller has been a silver lining for this team over the past few weeks, and over the last month in general. In Keller’s last five starts, he has a 2.82 ERA in 22.1 innings. He’s still had some control issues, but has reduced the walks the last two outings. Keller takes the mound to avoid the sweep.
We will post lineups when they are available. Use the comments below to discuss the big league throughout the day.
LINEUPS:
Pirates
Our Sunday starters.#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/iBP6Zrdh3q
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) June 19, 2022
Giants
1. Luis Gonzalez (L) RF
2. Mike Yastrzemski (L) CF
3. Wilmer Flores (R) 3B
4. Joc Pederson (L) LF
5. Brandon Belt (L) DH
6. Thairo Estrada (R) 2B
7. Tommy La Stella (L) 1B
8. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
9. Austin Wynns (R) C
Had box seats with the family today and saw one that reminded me of the 2015 era. Keller was the victim of poor défense and the shift in the first but rallied and was very impressive thereafter. Jack Suwinski
was oozing confidence as he walked to the plate in the 9th and then golfed one out against the submariner. Place went crazy of course…..and most of the crowd stayed for some time to savor it.
Twenty years ago the goal should have been to fill that stadium 81 times a year. It should still be the goal.
So, we’re finally going to have a regular 1b platoon, two regular outfielders and an everyday 3B. But the tryouts will continue in the middle infield, RF and catching. Just tell me I don’t have to watch Chang or Tsutsugo or Marsnick take another AB and I’ll even be patient until the Pirates realize Cruz can’t play SS in the bigs.
Honestly can you ever say anything positive.
I just remembered, I really like FC Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga. I was living in Hamburg in the 90’s when they won the UEFA Cup 🙂
I positively believe Pittsburgh can support a $100 million team payroll and I positively believe the community of Pittsburgh and Pirate fans are being ripped off by a family of greed heads who take money designed to make small market teams competitive and they stick it in their pockets. Beyond that, there are a few players to be positive about but if you watch this team play every day, how do square that with being positive?
The Pirates can support a $120M payroll without filling a single seat at PNC. So can every team in baseball, except Miami, which has $400M in assumed debt from the Jeffrey Loria administration. It’s not that difficult to see – KC, Milwaukee, Cincinnati and Cleveland have all exceeded $140M in payroll for multiple years on end. They eventually cycle out, but each one has hit the median payroll at least once in the last decade. The Pirates have never been higher than 23rd, and are almost always among the bottom four.
I think Tsutsugo sticks, but Chang and Marisnick will be gone. Marisnick was a desperation sign, and circumstances have changed a lot in the 6 weeks since he went down. Chang was a puzzling acquisition at the time, still is. Important to keep in mind there are 42 guys on the 40-man with Madris’ promotion; they can only get away with this because Marcano and Underwood are on the COVID-19 IL. As soon as they’re back, two guys are getting DFA’d.
There is just under 4,000,000 reasons Yoshi sticks.
Just watching the DVR game. Didn’t Hoy Park have a leg kick before? His front-toe did not leave the ground on his home run hit.
I am pretty sure that he did have a leg kick last year
Wow what a game! Jack’s power will play- could hit .220/.310/.430 and project as a dangerous 7 hitter with power or could be .260/.350/.480 and thrive as a 5 hitter. Keller is on a roll of strong appearances and with cruz coming up, our lineup just got a bit deeper and a bit more dangerous as even if he struggles he will still be more dangerous than our usual 6-9 hitters. Even just a couple guys sticking after this year would be a win for the organization
We’ve seen enough of a sample size to now ask if Suwinski is B-Rey 2.0 (semi-unheralded prospect who we called up after 10 games cause we had no Super 2 concerns and he just takes)
Fun facts
bligh guy coming up with cruz. awesome stuff
also macgregor and toribio to aaa. all the things are happening!!
Bligh’s been playing first some. Hopefully Chang goes away.
Liover down and Vog DFA?
13 hitters: Heinemann, Perez, Chavis, Chang, Castillo, Park, Cruz, Hayes, Reynolds, Suwinski, Mitchell, Madris, Vogelbach. Liover down.
13 pitchers: Quintana-Keller-Thompson-Brubaker-Roansy, Bednar-Crowe-Stratton-Banda-DeJong-Hembree-Beede-de los Santos. Vieux down.
It’s not what I would do, but it’s what they usually do.
For now Marcano and Underwood are on COVID-19 IL which allows them to exceed the 40-man until they’re cleared. Kick the can down the road a couple days. They can clear one of those spots by calling Kranick up to the major leagues and placing him on the 60-day IL. The other one is anyone’s guess, but I’m going with Delay. Seems like the kind of thing they’d do (and have done – Tucker, Sulser, Alldred).
Damn, are we in some new dimension?
The window will start in 2023. So we’re getting Joe Musgrove back and adding Willson Contreras 😄
Today is an example of what this season should be. Stick with Jack despite the ups and downs. Give some young guys like Cam a shot in leverage spots. Hopefully keep moving forward with Keller. And do more of the same, even when there are glitches, which there will be, a lot. When it clicks, it’s a blast. Make the Pirates fun again!
Very well put!
If given 600 PAs, Jack projects to 41 HRs.
Who was the last one to do that for us? Giles
He never got past 39. Kiner and Pops are the only ones.
Wow – would have put money on Giles reaching 40 at some point.
He only played in 141 games the year he hit 39.
Is there a more underrated player-perhaps in the history of the game-than Brian Giles? He played at a HOF level while playing with us. Had he not been blocked by Ramirez, Gonzales, and Lofton in Cleveland he might have made it to the Hall.
He was outstanding on defense and offense
Had a run of 39 35 37 38. Crazy.
I think Keller has finally figured it out. It’s been a month of him looking good. Also Suwinski is fun! I think he’s a future starter on this team. Maybe him Reynolds and Swaggerty? But anyways sounds like Cruz is coming up!
I want to see this over an extended stretch. Encouraging though!
Inclined to agree. Not even sure how much credit to give the Pirates coaches. He redid his mechanics over the winter himself and chose to switch the kind of fastball he throws himself. So how much input from them led to those decisions?
Yeah all I care is he looks a lot a better and it’s been a good sample size. I hope they were somewhat involved but who knows.
I’m kind of speechless, and considering the way it played out it’s one of the most gratifying Pirate wins I’ve seen in a few years.
Robert Murray (?) tweeted Cruz is coming up.
MLB Trade Rumors is reporting it, too. I’d fuck with his head and hand him a first baseman’s mitt when he walks in the clubhouse.
Go all in on messing with him… lace an old school pitching toe on his cleat and ask him if he prefers throwing a 2 or 4 seam fastball.
Shelton said he’s playing SS.
But… he also played his first game at 1b today.
I dont see that in the box
Somebody mentioned it in the post game. Yeah, I didn’t see it the box either. Maybe they confused him with Madris, but Madris has 3 starts at 1b. Or maybe Cruz took practice there. I’m just repeating what I heard.
Fair enough!
Holy Shit!! Did he really?
Maybe he got the message and we could sure use a 1B.
Jack Jack!
Probably could’ve got Suwinski at 1000-1 to win NL ROY in April. After today, he’s probably even money.
My roommate got him at 40-1 on June 9th and he’s 13-1 after today. Idk who would have even had him listed in April but he had to be up there.
P
BAT HIM THIRD AND PLAY HIM EVERYDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wowwwww!
Walk it off Jack!!
Will be very interested to see what Reynolds does next series…that red hot stretch turned into a 1-12 series with a walk in the blink of an eye.
How do you pinch hit a 120 hitter for a 260 hitter who has already hit a HR?
He looked pretty shaken up on that play when Crawford bumped into him. I agree with the announcers. Crawford probably expected Park to get out of his way after he tagged the bag but he stood right on the bag.
Amazing hey though Park may be hurt!
Get Vieaux out of there, he doesn’t have the command today. We want a win for Keller
Maybe not
They already have more confidence in Vieaux than Banda.
Not good, need to fill up the zone in relief.
Yep
BAT HIM 3RD AND PLAY HIM EVERYDAY
Yeah, I would pencil in Hayes-Reynolds-Suwinski at the top of the lineup card. The problem is the other 2/3 of the lineup.
It is a problem but the top three should be an easy call unless Suwinski starts to go under. But there’s no reason not to hit him 3rd. There’s no one else who should hit there against RHers. I’d bat Chavis 3rd against LHers and move Suwinski down in the lineup but he should bat 3rd against RHers until he proves he can’t.
Double eyed Jack is made for PNC…Great pull-side power
You have to give Keller credit for hanging in there so far. Didn’t use to work this way. Hopefully, Dumbo won’t leave him in too long.
He appears to be slowly gaining some real confidence in his stuff.
Not a terrible six innings.
I want to see him go at least 6. He’s mowing them down, hitting 98, off-speed is working well. Only 74 pitches. This is 6 consecutive good starts for him, assuming he doesn’t implode in the 6th.
And he got squeezed badly in the first and stung with a seeing eye dribbler. He’s pitching great.
I think he’s only given up one hit since the 1st. Only one earned run.
Bat him 3rd and play him everyday!
Someone should tell Vogelbach that that gut hanging over his belt slows his swing down and is nothing more than a sign of early onset of heart disease.
Can put a pin in all that Mitch Keller improved talk. Yet again.
It’s deja vu all over again.
Pretty typical 1rst for a 100 loss team
Just the out and out stupidity of the lineup. If you’re going to play Vogelbach and Suwinski, why bat the fat one third and the kid who can run fifth? The lard ass who can’t run is at the top of the lineup!! Hell, Shelton (and I’m sure the GM) even led off the waddling beast a few games. They have no sense and, it seems, even less shame.
Peguero’s not in the lineup. Yeah, this organization is just like bad fish. It all smells and rots from the top down.
For as long as Peguero is up, he should be in the lineup. Period! Seems like he is trying to save face over the Holmes trade by giving Park more opportunities than he deserves. He has shown absolutely nothing so far.
Park paying dividends already, lol.
I sincerely believe they’ll send him down tomorrow and Cherington did not want to risk the idea of the kid having another good game and then having to send him down. No thought to keeping him up and seeing if he can keep his head above water but they’ll play Chang and Tsutsugo and a bevy of .180 hitters. It’s all bullshit and it’s all because the owner refuses to operate a major league franchise.
Even though we know he’s going back down soon it would have been fun to watch him play the weekend. But Hoy had a hit yesterday and he’s a left handed hitter so Shelton’s got to Shelton. Going to be interesting today to see his bullpen usage today. Shelton better hope for a miracle outing by Keller or further risk the exposure of just how bad he manages a bullpen.
Happy Father’s Day to all of the fathers out there on this page!
Ok Mitch let’s see you against a fringe playoff caliber team. Let’s see a good 5 or 6 innings and the progress will continue. Part of me thinks he is due for a bad start, but as lame is it sounds, if he has a bad start but does not implode it is still small progress. When I think of Keller I picture 2 good starts, 2 bad starts etc. Without doing any homework this may be about his best stretch ever. It is back of the rotation results, but that beats my expectations of him at the start of 2022.
Until ownership changes everything else is futile. We need an owner who desires to win, cares about the fans, will invest meaningfully in the roster, and will assemble the best front office and coaching staff possible. Until that happens expect everything else to spin its wheels.
Yesterday’s loss is on BC and Shelton. BC for saddling Shelton with a pathetic roster and mishandling player personnel decisions, Chang, Park, Heineman, Perez, Hembree, Vogelbach, etc. The catching situation is worse than most AAA teams. Shelton for mismanaging the game day roster and having to allow Heineman hit in the game’s biggest moment. Shelton for continuing to use Stratton and Hembree in high leverage situations.
In some ways, this is worse than NH at his worst. I saw most of the problems under him as a limited, insecure guy trying ineptly to deal with suffocating financial restrictions. His strategies were bad, but at least there was an identifiable, faulty logic behind them.
With these guys, there’s nothing. So much of what they do is just inexplicably stupid. When NH’s catchers all got hurt, he stumbled around until he found McKenry. GMBS won’t even try. AAAA catchers grow on trees and you can’t possibly do worse than their current situation. What TF is stopping him?
Huntington was never close to this level of dereliction.
What we’re watching is essentially year 3 of tryouts at the MLB level. You’re watching AAA baseball. Just wait until the glut of injured AAAA players come back.
At the major league level, no, he wasn’t. NH brought in his share of crappy veterans, but nothing near the outlandish level of incompetence we’ve seen the last three years. Multiple players struggling to hit .100, first basemen who hit like 3rd string AA catchers. No offense from the OF, except from the guy GMBS inherited. You just have to look at the OPS+ figures from some of these zeroes — 5, 56, 13, 1, 15, 57, 14. It’s a truly special level of ineptitude.
And we never saw offense as bad as what we’ve seen the last three years. The Pirates have rebuilt before, every year there are other teams rebuilding, but I don’t ever remember seeing such a complete inability to put anything close to a major league lineup on the field. Rebuilding doesn’t explain it. Nothing does, other than mind-numbing stupidity.
The arrogance of ignorance or just the bad karma of being owned and operated by a family of thieves? And by thievery, I mean the years of sticking revenue sharing profits in their pockets rather than back in the team. And they’ve been doing it ever since they got their greedy, ignorant hands on the team.
I hope they aren’t going with the “we need stability for our young pitchers” stuff when the reality is the young and inexperienced pitchers they actually have in Roansy, Cam and Yerry were probably all caught by the four AAAA catchers in Indy so it should be a no brainer to be recycling Delay (on 40 man) dfa’ing Perez or Heineman to get Ritchie or Bins up.
Yah I don’t get the inept guys at catcher either. Delay was drafted because he is an investment on defense. So why isn’t he up here doing that? Or Bins for that matter
With Delay already on the 40 man it’s even more perplexing.
yes, DFA the chump catchers
Doubt they would get claimed anyway.