OT: Raise the Jolly Roger: The Condemned of Altoona

[DJ Spinoza]

Another 4PM Saturday game. Meadows in RF today, Diaz catching.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Thats what we need from Moran.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Slow moving game so far, but turning into exactly the kind we need to convert. Castillo vs Nova isn;t the most amazing matchup for us, but we've been able to get a lead, and are almost through the halfway point of the game. I remain hoping to be convinced by the bullpen, but this type of a game is where we need to have a full killer instinct.

Sometimes you can go down a couple or miss opportunities for any number of reasons early in the game (ie today, great situation in the first, but Marte only grounds out and then Castillo does a great job vs Moran to only give up 1 run). We've shot ourselves in the foot defensively again a few times, but we've got a good chance to get the W and need to convert, with a further chance at a sweep given that Musgrove is going tomorrow.

And of course, as I type this, Nova gives up a leadoff double to start the 5th.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Harrison increasing that trade value.


Brice faces 6 batters letting up 3 runs on 3 hits and 1 walk with 15 pitches.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Would be nice if Brault could just finish this one.

 

[DanielPlainview]

I know it's the Reds, but they are playing much better baseball today than at anytime in the past month.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

I know it's the Reds, but they are playing much better baseball today than at anytime in the past month.

Probably due to finally ending that streak of only one win every two games, this is the result. Should have happened weeks ago.

Need to go on a long win streak now to make up for it.

 

[DanielPlainview]

3! A series win! Back to .500!

 

[Rossi Rat]

Not sure if any HockeyMeesh fans out there, but Meesh had a big tailgate today. Got to meet him finally. MBA, attorney, PSU grad. Great guy, very successful (no surprise for a PSU man). Great time. We are.

Nice to see the Bucs at .500 too.

Mike Darnay and barefootszn was there too for any of you Twitter peeps. Great people.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

The Brewers lost, and have to go up against Nola tomorrow. If things go favorably for us, we could be looking at a Brewers series where winning means that we get back to 5 games behind in the division, which is a minor miracle given that that's like a game and a half off where we were before the disaster slide.

Lots to like about the last two games, despite it being the Reds. Only a few instances of bad defense rearing its head, which doesn't seem like something that's going anywhere (even if today was moreso soem weird stuff with Nova, it still was close to routine).

The Cubs look like they are turning it on a little bit, but I'm still skeptical that anybody will be able to get real separation in the division. I think it's anybody's division, but whether we are in that or not depends pretty heavily on if we can get back to within 4 games or so by the week after the deadline.

 

[DanielPlainview]

I doubt Hurdle will actually do it, but tomorrow would be a great time to forego the Sunday lineup.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. My hope is that we have all regulars except for Dickerson, who I think is scheduled for an off day anyways, and is struggling. But you know Rodriguez will play 2B or SS. Ideally Moran will at least have forced his hand on not putting Freese in.

I guess the flipside is that we don't have an offday for a bit, and we should be able to get it done with some backups, but we can't really afford to give away opportunities for wins, and the pitching matchup is in our favor with a lineup that's hitting pretty well. We need to nail down the sweep and worry about the Brewers on Monday.

 

[DanielPlainview]

I could live with it if Dickerson sits and Polanco plays and Freese plays 3rd. But that's the extent of it. SeanRod playing is just infuriating.

I honestly don't know why SeanRod still has a job here. Surely Newman can play middle infield better and hit for a higher average.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Yeah, that's the definition of same old Pirates. It doesn't even make any sense from a longer term perspective, either, because we need to see what Newman can bring at this level since Mercer is gone after this year. Kang coming up for Stallings might help relegate him to the very last spot on the bench, but I have no clue what it will take to get him off the team. I doubt any of these relievers will force a roster crunch, but Rodriguez will be healthy soon, and Romero is ostensibly rehabbing (have to imagine we'll just try to have him clear waivers and be AAA depth, but still).

My hope for tomorrow is that Dickerson sits and that's it. Freese is moderately useful, but Moran has had so many good at-bats lately, and is a nice fit in that 4th spot. A top 5 of Harrison, Meadows, Marte, Moran, Cervelli should be able to get the job done.

 

[DanielPlainview]

Well what do you know. A regular lineup

 

[DJ Spinoza]

No Sunday lineup today, but I guess it's Marte's day to rest, not Dickerson's. Everybody else is in.

I may catch flak for this, but I think the outfield rotation remains a wise move. Given our position and how many wins we need to get, I understand the frustration with it, and I think that Hurdle probably shouldn't follow it to an absolute routine, but in general, I think it's not the disaster that seems implied. Dickerson is prone to a bit of streakiness and has not played a full season's worth of games in the field for a while in any case, Marte is on record as still feeling some soreness with the oblique, and Polanco might be the best power bat on the team at this point.

Polanco's really struggled, but there's not a lot of easy solutions to that. We need him to get going if we're going to climb back into things, and I think it's worth keeping in mind that he's been good in stretches, and had some of his struggles compounded with terrible luck. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that his batting average would be more passable if he hadn't had such terrible BABIP luck. Some of that is undoubtedly due to selling out for launch angle and hitting a bunch of popups, and then strikeouts flared up for him too, but in any case, I don't think it's the worst thing in the world to let him continue to battle through this while we've also got other players who have similar injury concerns and streakiness.

I doubt it will happen, but I think Meadows should play a bit more, and generally that Hurdle should be more strategic with what lineup he uses when. So assuming we win today, Dickerson is slated for rest tomorrow. If we drop the game tomorrow, then unless he's caught fire, Polanco should probably see the bench Tuesday and Wednesday. Meadows can have his day down Thursday. And so on. It's not difficult to keep some kind of rotation going but also play matchups and hot streaks a bit, and default to the strongest lineup when we really need it.

Unfortunately, as we know, Hurdle doesn't really seem to have much of a strategic mindset, and seemingly does stuff on a total whim. But still, given the circumstances, I don't see the rotation as a huge issue, and I remain probably more confident than most that Polanco will start emerging out of it. He has in fits and starts with this new approach, and while I don't think batting average amounts to a lot, he's in danger of dropping below .200. But with Marte still on the mend a bit, I want to see him with the new stance for two more weeks. If he can't put anything together, then I think there's no choice but to drop him down to one or two starts a week for a bit. Marte in particular getting semi-often rest is not something to underrate. Besides Cervelli, he's probably our most important position player.

 

[DanielPlainview]

The rotation isn't a bad idea, it's Hurdle's execution of it that has been frustrating. There's really no reason to sit Meadows at all right now. He's absolutely dominating at the plate and is used to playing everyday being the guy in AAA. That might suck for Polanco, but there's no good in removing the team's best hitter at the moment for a guy struggling not to strikeout. Compounding the issue has been the overuse of Rodriguez and Bell's struggles, which would often leave the team with a massive hole in the back of the order. It's just bad managing, and it's plain as day to everyone, except those with the authority to do something, apparently.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Yeah, that's a good point. I am obviously a Polanco-defender, but Meadows has undeniably been a catalyst for the offense. Even accounting for some rest days, Polanco should probably only see about two starts a week. I think the ongoing rotation is still a (losing) gambit that he's going to turn it around. It's hard to be confident in that idea, but with the new stance, he's squared up a bunch of balls. If he can start getting some luck and some to fall, and the power stroke returns, then the rotation will be much more formidable, as opposed to a quasi-handicap (it's only quasi- because Meadows has been on such a tear, so whenever he is out of the lineup, it's a big weakness. I don't think the same goes for Dickerson or Marte, even if they are obviously outperforming Polanco by a whole lot too).

In any case, I'd happily settle for a nice Polanco blast today and a couple more this week. He's overdue for some luck.

 

[cheesedanish87]

I'm definitely not a fan of this outfield rotation.

I heard Greg Brown talking the other day that the reason they are doing this outfield rotation is because they don't want to crush Polanco's confidence.

So the Pirates are basically putting Polanco's confidence ahead of putting the best lineup on the field.

IMO it just comes down to money.

If the Pirates didn't sign Polanco to that contract they would be willing to play their best players, but since they have that money invested in Polanco they are going to try and do everything they can to get him going even if it means losing games by playing a lineup that doesn't give you the best chance to win.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I just don't think it's that cut and dry. The rotation is a solution to several problems, one of which is that there's money invested in Polanco and the team needs to get him going. If anything, the team is wasting money by letting Meadows earn super two status while not being an everyday player.

I think it comes down to Meadows forcing his way into the mix with the opportunity, as well as not wanting to overexpose Dickerson, and keeping Marte as close to 100% as possible. Does investing in Polanco factor into that? Obviously so, as does the way that investment (financially and otherwise) looms over the current core.

The Polanco-factor in both senses is clearly the biggest part of the equation, and I think there's a good case to be made that he's been given too long of a leash, especially since he never really saw the bench even for a series (nor did Bell). But for me, I still weigh the things I've seen from Polanco, and some of the peripherals, and think that he'll come out of this funk. I'm not sure that one or two games a week is enough for him to play out of it, or that AAA is any kind of solution. If another month goes by and there's no power or balls falling in, then AAA might become the drastic option, but as far as the team's performance goes, for me it starts and ends with what the pitching is doing. We aren't losing games because Meadows has one or two off days a week.

 

[cheesedanish87]

I don't think the Pirates will let Meadows get super two.

He will eventually get into a slump like every MLB player does, once that happens they will send him down.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

When Musgrove is at his best like this, he's some kind of evil hybrid of a pitch efficiency guy generating weak contact and a strikeout machine. He's able to attack with quality pitches and then keep attacking to either set up swing and miss stuff, or swings at bad pitches that will result in easy outs. It's a nice relief from guys like Kuhl and Taillon, who tend to get themselves into these counts where players keep fouling off a million pitches (Taillon moreso, lately).

In any case, it's easy to dream on Musgrove as a front end starter because of flashes like these.

 

[DanielPlainview]

Redbeard!

They're hitting DeSclafani pretty hard so far. Hopefully this gets out of hand soon.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Yeah, it'd be nice to just get to a lead and let Musgrove cruise and see if he can get a Maddux.

We need to get Feliz going again and the Cole trade is going to start looking a lot more than palatable.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Well, so much for that. Better get the bats back out in the next inning. Terrible pitch from Musgrove there.