Last year, I took a break during the month of October.
This was the 16th season that I’ve run this site, and last year was the first offseason where I took a break. I published four articles during the month of October, while spending most of my time watching basketball and debating whether I’d return to see the Pittsburgh Pirates lose another season.
Fortunately, this year I’m already prepared to return for another Pirates losing season. And, my hope will be that they actually try this offseason, for the first time in six offseasons, to make the Major League team a contender.
The offseason is a challenging time to publish. There’s rarely new information. There’s way too much speculation. Generating content daily for months when the only baseball is so far off the radar of most fans is difficult. Yet, it’s something that becomes second nature after a decade and a half.
I’ve been recapping the Arizona Fall League results each day. Going forward, I’ll be tracking the results from other winter leagues, while providing recaps each day breaking down where this organization currently stands.
As for First Pitch, I’m going to be including a few non-baseball topics to fill out the daily content. This is mostly going to revolve around other sports that I’m watching during the offseason. And that will heavily be basketball, though I’ll look forward to writing about hockey and football as well. There will also be Pirates thoughts each day, even if nothing is happening.
Behind the scenes, I’m taking a few courses this offseason on coding and data science, in order to add a few upgrades to the site for next season. I’ll have some changes to the site design and functionality in the coming weeks, which might include the return of a comment section. The site went a year without that feature, which allowed me to go a year without dedicating time and energy to moderating a comment section.
Today, I’m catching up on a busy week, ahead of the Yankees and Dodgers in the World Series. Below is the latest going on in the Pirates’ system.
The Royal Tenenbaums
Earlier this week, the Pirates hired Kevin Tenenbaum from the Cleveland Guardians to be their new Vice President of Research and Development. This is the second year in a row that the Pirates have made an offseason hire focused on R&D. They hired Sarah Gelles from the Houston Astros last season. Tenenbaum and Gelles previously worked together in Baltimore’s analytics department. Read more about the hire here.
Pirates Sign a Familiar Name
The Pirates signed right-handed pitcher Yohan Ramirez to a minor league deal. Ramirez was previously with the Pirates in 2022 and 2023, combining for a 3.67 ERA. He hasn’t put up the same numbers since leaving, bouncing around between four teams after being claimed off waivers in late 2023. Ramirez should be used as bullpen depth in 2025.
Pirates Prospects in the AFL
Kervin Pichardo hit his third double in the Arizona Fall League. The Pirates acquired Pichardo at the start of the 2024 season, and sent him to Altoona all year. Read about the latest AFL action in the Pirates Prospect Watch.
Thursday Night Highlights
I was looking forward to the season debut of Victor Wembanyama with the San Antonio Spurs. He was held to 17 points, 9 rebounds, and one assist, going up against Luka Doncic, who scored 28 with ten rebounds and eight assists.
Wemby is only 20 years old, and towers over everyone with an arching shot that is unstoppable when he’s on. His shot wasn’t on last night, and Dallas pulled away from San Antonio late as Klay Thompson lost his mind from the three point line.
Nikola Jokic had a triple-double in the night game, pulling down 12 boards, with 13 assists and 16 points. Late in the game, it took two players to guard Jokic. In the earlier game, Doncic was difficult to contain.
Wemby isn’t on the same level yet, even if he has the height. I’m not sure he will ever be as filled out as Jokic, or even Doncic. I do think that as he adds muscle, he could turn into his own type of star player. I don’t want to use the same-team comp, but it’s easy to see a David Robinson upside for Wemby. Watching him, Jokic, and Doncic last night, it was easy to see why two of them were among the best in the game right now, and how one of them could be among the best in the game for years to come.
What I’m Watching Tonight
The World Series begins between the Yankees and Dodgers. I’m going to be watching the 76ers take on the Raptors, before flipping over to the baseball game for the second half. While this is a dream World Series matchup from a baseball fan perspective, the fact that MLB is so financially imbalanced has me looking to other sports for enjoyment when the work day is finished.
