OT: Raise the Jolly Rodger: Shipmates starting to report for duty

[MrBrightside]

Perrotto: What Pirates Do With Jared Jones Will Be Telling

It is hard to imagine Jared Jones doing anything more to make the Pittsburgh Pirates’ opening-day roster. The right-handed pitching prospect has been a phenom in spring training. He has not allowed an earned run in 16.1 innings. Jones was impressive again in his last start of the Grapefruit...

pittsburghbaseballnow.com

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I think I saw Mackey say that Shelton said the rotation (and perhaps final roster) would be set within 24 hours, so I suppose we'll get some clarity by tomorrow.

My only hazy guess is that Contreras definitively to the bullpen might be the domino that was needed for Jones to be given the chance (beyond the plainly obvious that he has earned it). If that move doesn't happen, then it's even easier for them to waffle about how roster considerations etc.

That's still possible now, but it's a lot harder to point to Falter or Priester as needing spots, even if the former is out of options and the latter showed some flashes. I think the same can be said about Ortiz, who has probably earned a spot due to the depth, but with the walks still being a slight concern, could be better off being sent to Indy with a clear agenda to work on.

Maybe a kind of "compromise" of sorts is in the cards, which I say based on the assumption that no one in their right mind wants Falter on the staff. Jones makes it, but so does Falter as the initial 5th starter, someone who is easy to replace with Ortiz, Priester, or a stretched out and performing Lauer or German.

 

[MrBrightside]

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Not entirely sure of the bullpen options, but if anything this seems to increase Jones' shot of making the rotation. Mackey also noted that Mlodzinski hasn't pitched in a while so it seems unlikely he is healthy to start the year (and it's forearm tightness, which could be worse).

Seems pretty easy to pencil Falter into mop up duty/bulk reliever, which is basically the best possible role you can argue for him in terms of wanting him around as depth rather than immediately exposing to a DFA.

That leaves Jones vs. Ortiz and Priester for two spots, and it's harder to spin with all three of them being optioned. I still think the team can and will do it -- the easiest excuse for them would be 40-man space, though with Moreta being hurt and neither Lauer or German seemingly ready to be added yet, that also seems like it may not be an issue.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I think Jones' chances at making the roster could potentially be hurt with the injuries to Mlodzinski and Holderman, but that's because they don't have a ton of DFA candidates on the 40 man roster and you need 2 to replace Mlodzinski and Holderman. My guess is that they'd replace those two with:

-Holderman and Mlodzinski on the 15 day IL
-DFA Selby and Nicolas
-Add 2 of Stratton, Honeywell Jr and Peralta to the 40 man roster to replace Holderman and Mlodzinski

After that, I'm actually not sure who I see on the 40 man that makes a ton of sense to DFA after that. I don't see a batter I particularly want to DFA, and the only pitcher DFA candidate I see is Falter who you'd immediately have to replace in the bullpen. Mlodzinski ending up on the 60 day IL would suck for the bullpen, but it would actually make it a good bit easier to open a spot for Jones on the 40 man roster.

Edit: Mackey is implying here that Ali Sanchez is getting DFA'd:




That plus Selby and Nicolas would open up the 3 spots needed for Jones and the replacements for Holderman and Mlodzinski.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Mackey saying here that he thinks both Jones and Davis make the team, to the point of saying “I don’t even think it’s a question at this point”.

 

[MrBrightside]

Good for them. Didn't think they had it in them. Jones just HAD to be in this rotation.

Bae, Grandal start on 10-day IL

Mlodzinski, Holderman start on 15-day IL

 

[ImporterExporter]

Davis and Jones make the team.

At least the obvious was obvious to the staff making decisions.

 

[MrBrightside]

Skenes starting in Indy as well. Looks like the Indy rotation will include Priester, Skenes, German, and Lauer, at least at some point.

 

[WickedWrister]

Not trying to be a debbie downer with the good news about Jones, but an article on Domingo German just came out. It's paywalled so I can't read the whole thing, but someone posted some excerpts on twitter.



I get that it's a minor league deal so whatever, just kind of concerning that the guy doesn't even think he has a problem.

 

[MrBrightside]

I get that it's a minor league deal so whatever, just kind of concerning that the guy doesn't even think he has a problem.

Yeah I think the odds on this one ending well are slim.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Pleasantly surprised by the Jones news. I was kind of trying to talk myself into it with recent posts, as the Contreras to the bullpen domino really cleared up a lot of options for it to happen.

He's pitching Saturday, which seems like it could make him line up for the home opener as well.

The bullpen is a lot thinner than may have been expected. The backend is still very solid, but I think the actual W/L conversion in terms of close games that we are in is going to depend pretty heavily on guys like Contreras and Fleming being dialed in.

I haven't really looked at the schedule until now, but we got a pretty decent draw in the first two months. If we can handle business against equally mediocre teams, then there's some chance to get out above .500 and establish a slight cushion. The Marlins are a capable opponent, but 7 vs. them and the Nationals is as good a chance as any to leap out to a 5-2 start or something like that.

 

[Empoleon8771]

On the final roster the only part that kinda surprises me is that Ryan was the last bullpen arm over Peralta or Honeywell Jr. Ryan did have a decent camp, but he wasn't even really on my radar to making the team. But beyond that, every other player selected was expected to me.



Nice talk from Jones here, but something he mentioned is that Shelton told him that they don't plan on extending Jones much beyond the 120 innings he has thrown in the minors in the past few years. That's what I expected them to do, it's exactly what they did with Roansy as well. They'll send him down in mid-June for like 6 weeks to AAA to keep his inning count in check and then will call him back up once rosters expand in September. I'd actually be curious to see if Skenes comes up when Jones goes down.

If their limit on Jones is 130 innings, that likely means that he'll only give about 23 starts for the Pirates this year.

 

[Empoleon8771]

The bullpen is a lot thinner than may have been expected. The backend is still very solid, but I think the actual W/L conversion in terms of close games that we are in is going to depend pretty heavily on guys like Contreras and Fleming being dialed in.

Yeah I'm not surprised the bullpen looks thin when you consider that Moreta, Mlodzinski and Holderman are all out to start. I think losing Moreta is really going to sting throughout the season. With that being said, I also think they'll probably get some quality innings out of guys like Stratton, Honeywell Jr and Peralta throughout the year. While they're not sexy options, they should be able to provide decent MLB innings.

I'm waiting to see the corresponding roster moves to give Jones, Stratton and Ryan spots on the 40 man roster. Ali Sanchez is one guy that will be DFA'd, I'm just curious about who will be the other 2 guys.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Gonzales had a pretty nice final start to the spring, with 3 innings pitched and only 1 run against. He was super efficient, I think he only ended up throwing about 35 pitches in those 3 innings. Davis also had a nice double to score a run as well.

 

[The Great Mighty Poo]

Not trying to be a debbie downer with the good news about Jones, but an article on Domingo German just came out. It's paywalled so I can't read the whole thing, but someone posted some excerpts on twitter.



I get that it's a minor league deal so whatever, just kind of concerning that the guy doesn't even think he has a problem.

High functioning alcoholism FTW!

 

[ImporterExporter]

Wasn't David Wells hammered when he threw a perfect game? Doc Gooden and a lot of the 80's guys were doing massive amounts of coke, I remember watching Jim Leyland smoking cigs in the Pirates dugout as a kid...

I'm not condoning substance abuse. I personally don't care if a person drinks or does drugs, but don't let it negatively impact another person directly, which is hard to do for most people when engaging in those choices.

 

[MrBrightside]

 

[MrBrightside]

Wasn't David Wells hammered when he threw a perfect game? Doc Gooden and a lot of the 80's guys were doing massive amounts of coke, I remember watching Jim Leyland smoking cigs in the Pirates dugout as a kid...

I'm not condoning substance abuse. I personally don't care if a person drinks or does drugs, but don't let it negatively impact another person directly, which is hard to do for most people when engaging in those choices.

I mean, that may be true for some people but German clearly has a major problem with alcohol abuse. It's why he was a street free agent in March.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I think using Falter for anything beyond mop-up duty after his spring is silly, but I'd wait to see what kind of starter's role this team has in mind for him before getting too mad about it. Is it a situation where Falter and Ortiz piggy-back and give you like 2 or 3 innings each? I don't think that's a bad strategy. The confusing part to me is why they're picking Falter for that role.

Fleming is another soft throwing lefty that didn't have an awful spring, so you could do the same exact thing with Fleming and Ortiz while making Falter perform better to get that role.

 

[Factorial]

I think using Falter for anything beyond mop-up duty after his spring is silly, but I'd wait to see what kind of starter's role this team has in mind for him before getting too mad about it. Is it a situation where Falter and Ortiz piggy-back and give you like 2 or 3 innings each? I don't think that's a bad strategy. The confusing part to me is why they're picking Falter for that role.

Fleming is another soft throwing lefty that didn't have an awful spring, so you could do the same exact thing with Fleming and Ortiz while making Falter perform better to get that role.

Yeah, Falter has looked bad so far.

 

[BusinessGoose]

Look, Pirates and drugs go back a long way

From the Parrot

To Dock Ellis' perfect game

... But anyone who isn't ready to be sober won't be, and hopefully it doesn't affect German's life... But it sounds like he could use some counseling

 

[The Great Mighty Poo]

Look, Pirates and drugs go back a long way

From the Parrot

To Dock Ellis' perfect game

... But anyone who isn't ready to be sober won't be, and hopefully it doesn't affect German's life... But it sounds like he could use some counseling

Doc had a no hitter not a perfect he hit a couple batters and walked a few.

 

[GilbertSeinfeld]

Doc had a no hitter not a perfect he hit a couple batters and walked a few.

YOU try to pitch straight high AF.

 

[ImporterExporter]

I could absolutely see pitching high (weed) and probably coke and performing strongly. Drunk? Not a chance. If you're legit drunk and able to throw enough pitches anywhere near the plate, consistently, bravo.