I didn’t have this on my bingo card heading into the year, but the thing I’m looking forward to watching most on Christmas Day is the battle between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Miami Heat. The 76ers are my adopted NBA team this year, as I dive into the sport of basketball to experience the same escape that Pirates fans feel when they watch baseball. This is the third time in my life that I’ve attempted to follow the 76ers. The first came in high school, when Allen Iverson single-handedly took the franchise to the NBA finals. The second came a few years ago, when the full-court play of young big-man Joel Embiid stood out to me. As a big man myself, Embiid is the main draw for me on this current 76ers team.
Embiid has been phenomenal over the last month. He currently has a string of ten straight triple-doubles where he’s recorded at least 30 points and 10 rebounds per game. During this stretch, he’s scored 50 points in two games. He’s also been hobbling with an injury, and has mostly confined his performance to the first three quarters. Right now, he’s playing almost beyond the capacity of the biggest and best guy on any court. On Christmas Day, Embiid will take on the Heat, looking to extend his double-double streak. From there, I’ll be watching him live for the first time as he travels to Orlando, while hoping his ankle and knee hold up. The 76ers are currently 20-8 on the season. They’re already involved in trade rumors to see if they can add to Embiid and young breakout point guard Tyrese Maxey. From my fan perspective, I know that I can watch this team on any given night, and escape into the pursuit of winning. When Joel Embiid scores 50+ points in a game, and the 76ers win, it provides the escape I need to come down from my own attempts that day to score as many points as I can, and ultimately win the battles in my life.
Pirates fans know the feeling of embracing a 20-8 team, obviously. The Pirates got off to a great start in 2023, almost to the point where they surprised themselves. Despite injuries and the lack of the younger prospects, the team started the year 20-8, before slumping for the next two months. I actually think this is a long-term positive. The team is being built for 2024 in the same manner they were in 2023. They actually experienced the slump after the 20-8 run, and this offseason they get to address what went wrong. That 20-8 team was banged up, and didn’t have the depth long-term to maintain such a winning pace. What I’ve seen from the Pirates so far this offseason is a boost to their depth. Fans can also show up or tune in each night to see Andrew McCutchen, knowing he’ll be in Pittsburgh as long as he wants to play the game. They can watch Ke’Bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds perform, knowing they’ll be in Pittsburgh for years. This team could still use a boost this offseason to improve their chances. Fans want to see a positive outcome, at the end of the day. Sometimes, that’s a well-played game that the team loses. Sometimes, it’s a win that gives fans hope that every night for the next six months, they can escape the grind of their life by following a team that can win. We’re all trying to win little battles in our lives, and sports allow an emotional displacement, for us to lend that competitive mindset toward a player or a team, allowing them to take over for a bit in generating that winning feeling. The Pirates haven’t provided that comfort for their fans for years. They reside in a city that identifies with their sports teams, so this emotional displacement factor is especially important for the Pirates. Check out some of the moves they’ve made below to see how they’re starting to address this…
THIS WEEK ON PIRATES PROSPECTS
P2Daily shifted focus this week, with three big paragraphs per day. Yesterday, I wrote about how I view the plate discipline stats as the best indicators of a player’s decision making in games.
FEATURES
**MLB Rule Changes Include a Quicker Pitch Clock With Runners on Base. I looked at how this could impact a few pitchers on the Pirates roster.
**Williams: Curtate and Prolate Players in Baseball Development. I’ve been working on theories of baseball player development, after spending 15 years following things up close. This column taps into Geometry and Calculus to explain how I see the player development task at hand for each individual organization.
**Williams: The Battle of the First Overall Picks. The NBA has been my own sports escape this offseason. Recently I had a chance to watch the battle of two first overall picks from the NBA draft, and it had me thinking about the right approach for the Pirates to take with Henry Davis and Paul Skenes.
**Williams: Are the 2024 Pittsburgh Pirates a Winner Yet? I looked at the ZiPS projections to see where the Pirates stand after their additions so far.
TRANSACTIONS
**Pirates Designate Andre Jackson For Assignment. The right-hander plans to play in Japan, and I wrote about how that will be a good move for him. The Pirates lose a pitcher who could add a few productive innings at any point during a bullpen game.
**Minor Moves: Pirates Agree With Jake Lamb, Add Two International Players. Lamb and Seth Beer now give the Pirates two backup corner infield options in Triple-A, with Rowdy Tellez in the majors at first base.
**Andrew McCutchen Returns to the Pirates. This move was expected, but a good one. Not only is McCutchen the face of the modern-day Pirates franchise, he’s also still one of their more productive bats in the lineup.
**Pirates Sign LHP Martin Perez. The Pirates have had success the last few years getting reliable innings out of lefty starters. They went back to this strategy by signing Martin Perez.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Then I traveled through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, past the sea of twirly-swirly gum drops, and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel.”
– Buddy the Elf
SONG OF THE DAY
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
