OT: Raise the Jolly Roger: Good Vibes Only

[Scandale du Jour]

Last few pertinent posts:

Among the myriad of sh1t I've said, betting on Erik Gonzalez to be a late bloomer is more likely than betting on Cole Tucker. I stand by that.

Although you just look at him and await the PED suspension.

This game should be the end of Alford in a Pirates jersey. Bring up Oliva.

Any chance for Swaggerty?

I think they'll service-time manipulate. Also he isn't ready yet...not ready to throw him in the fire.

They still have Oliva, Goodwin and Stokes at the alt site. And Hunter Owen who looks cool taking BP in some Youtube videos

Continue...

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[ChaosAgent]

Given the pitching today, it'd be nice if we could get 5+ out of Anderson tomorrow and then see Underwood make a multi-inning appearance.

I love Musgrove but I hope Moran and Reynolds take him deep.

 

[DanielPlainview]

I can honestly say I'm having more fun watching these Buccos than the last couple of Hurdle/Huntington teams

Doesn't look like Hayes will be playing tomorrow. Appears he hasn't yet swung a bat. Maybe this weekend?

 

[NewAgeOutlaw]

Am I the only one who thinks Gonzalez can be a respectable bat at short if he continues having solid plate appearances?

He has had a pretty good approach so far and hits the ball hard. He'll never hit a lot of bombs, but I could see some solid doubles totals this season.

 

[ChaosAgent]

Am I the only one who thinks Gonzalez can be a respectable bat at short if he continues having solid plate appearances?

He has had a pretty good approach so far and hits the ball hard. He'll never hit a lot of bombs, but I could see some solid doubles totals this season.

I said in the last thread I have more faith in Gonzalez as late bloomer than I do in Tucker.

I also think he has notable power potential. He also has 80 game suspension potential.

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

If there was an all star team for player that look like they should be good just by looking at them Gonzalez would be its starting SS.

 

[ChaosAgent]

If there was an all star team for player that look like they should be good just by looking at them Gonzalez would be its starting SS.

Gonzalez is nice defensively at both short and 3rd.

I think he can be a Mercer-type 1-2WAR player to hold down the fort if Newman/Tucker/Cruz all bust or can't stay at short.

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

Gonzalez is nice defensively at both short and 3rd.

I think he can be a Mercer-type 1-2WAR player to hold down the fort if Newman/Tucker/Cruz all bust or can't stay at short.

If he hd some lunch angle he could be that yeah. He hots the ball hard but always on the damn ground

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I think at this point, Gonzalez should play for a week straight while Newman comes off the bench or fills in at 2B or the OF if someone needs a day. Gonzalez looked good in the spring and in the way that seems way more sustainable than Newman's ..999 BABIP or whatever. In fact, even if Gonzalez just shows some big power and not a great average or walk rate, that could be enough to make him flippable, since he can give you plus defense all around the infield and I imagine would be an upgrade for contenders over their utility IF. He's cheap, too. Not necessarily going to garner a huge return, but could be something, or you could look into a lowkey extension. It's not like having him as depth for a few more years would be a nightmare.

One thing I think we should keep an eye on with Evans over the next week or two is if he starts hitting the ball in the air more. His hard contact rates have been very good, which I think is a good sign because historically he has always been seen as more of a scrappy contact guy than a power guy (despite his looks, though presumably he has bulked up considerably in recent years). So far he's hit the ball on the ground a lot more than is typical for him, so if that stabilizes back to his career norms, then it seems likely that he could provide some genuine big power.

 

[ChaosAgent]

If team docs determine that Stalling's knees will continue to hold up, I'd like a 4 year contract extension with him signed by the end of this month. 4 years, $30-$40M sounds right.

Would be a tremendous goodwill gesture towards the team, the pitching staff and the fans.

Edit: otherwise he's fetching us a top 100 prospect at the deadline. Which is WILD to think about. But also where it's heading. Someone's going to have a catching issue and if Stallings even hits like he did last year he'll be a hot commodity.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I'd be glad for Stallings to be around for a few more years for sure. He's someone who like Evans, is essentially like playing with "house money", to use a metaphor that is badly anti-player. Since they toiled in the minors and/or had injuries, their service time clocks were really delayed. We have Stallings through arbitration for three more seasons after 2021, up through his age 34 year, and we have Evans for four more years after 2021, up through his age 32 year.

If teams were offering a strong package for Stallings at the trade deadline, I think it would be a tough decision, but ultimately we can probably try and cobble together another solid defender, at least until robo umps are implemented. I tend to think we wouldn't get an amazing package for him, so unless it were guys we really thought could help out (as opposed to more solid depth, etc), then I'd rather just keep him around.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

By the way, I don't think we should have a ton of confidence in an Anderson-Musgrove matchup (obviously), but if we do win tonight and the Cubs lose today, we'll be tied for fourth with the Cubs. The Cubs losing seems like a good bet, they are already down 2-0 with Arrieta on the mound, facing Corbin Burnes who is downright nasty and who we are lucky to be missing in the series this weekend against the Brewers.

That said....



I guess Newman had two hits last night, but he looks like garbage and I just don't get it. Gonzalez has hit when he plays and is better defensively. Hope Newman proves me wrong but this looks pretty dire 5-9. Musgrove has a history of looking fatigued and bad in games where he was used for too long, so wonder if that will happen today. I think our best bet with him is to ambush and make him pay early for living in the zone.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Good to see Polanco's continued solid approach at the plate pay off. Maybe he'll heat up with the power and the BABIP will fall into place for singles and doubles. I remain confident in the process and peripherals. He turned one in a decent place around for that HR.

It's hard not to love watching Anderson, especially coming on the heels of Kuhl. Dude just throws strikes, misses an adequate amount of bats, and generates weak contact. Add in PNC, and I think it was a signing that made a lot of sense for a guy to eat 5-6 innings a lot of the time. Let's hope he keeps it up, we actually have big momentum in this series now I think.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I'm fully on the Anderson hype train after stranding a leadoff double to put up a crucial 0 in a close game.

I think this bottom of the 4th is really key for the Pirates. We need to work Musgrove for 15+ pitches or so. Newman rolled over the first pitch he saw in his first AB, that can't happen here. Can't imagine Musgrove will go super deep, so a good inning here should ensure he only goes 5. He's still looked pretty sharp, for the most part. Maybe he'll hang a slider.

 

[Gallatin]

I'm fully on the Anderson hype train after stranding a leadoff double to put up a crucial 0 in a close game.

I think this bottom of the 4th is really key for the Pirates. We need to work Musgrove for 15+ pitches or so. Newman rolled over the first pitch he saw in his first AB, that can't happen here. Can't imagine Musgrove will go super deep, so a good inning here should ensure he only goes 5. He's still looked pretty sharp, for the most part. Maybe he'll hang a slider.

Musgrove is so much fun to watch pitch these days. That dude can really spin it.

 

[DanielPlainview]

Can’t waste lead off doubles

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Insurance runs baby!

 

[DanielPlainview]

Can EGon play CF?

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Raise it!

 

[ChaosAgent]

Did I say 7 wins?

I meant 70.

Get well soon Ke'Bryan.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

I can honestly say I'm having more fun watching these Buccos than the last couple of Hurdle/Huntington teams

Doesn't look like Hayes will be playing tomorrow. Appears he hasn't yet swung a bat. Maybe this weekend?

Agreed, the 4-5 games I caught were pretty entertaining. Besides the Reds series, the Bucs have been pretty surprising!!

 

[ChaosAgent]

If Keller looks good again tomorrow we can say the org is on track.

Will all these guys be part of the next good Pirate team? No. But 7-8 of them will.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Musgrove is so much fun to watch pitch these days. That dude can really spin it.

He definitely can, though I think it's a little worrisome in terms of his injury history that he seems to have just ditched the fastball (which is not a good pitch, but still seeing him just throw slider after slider after curve after curve is alarming).

This team has really shown a lot of fight and heart after some tough road games and a key cog going down. I am reasonably optimistic about a 1-6 of Frazier-Hayes-Reynolds-Moran-Evans-Polanco, so get well soon Key.

This is definitely projecting a bit, but the Padres just have the look of a team who has been knocked off their feet. With those pitchers against a last place team missing its best player, you have to assume they expected a pretty simple sweep or easy 3-1 series win, and we're just relentlessly taking it to them. It looked like this last night and then even moreso tonight.

Other thoughts: Polanco continues to look locked in at the plate. There were multiple pitches tonight where the old Polanco would have bit on something really off the plate, and he's not only remaining disciplined, but even seems to confidently be acknowledging that he's seeing it and laying off. It's good to see, and he deserves to get red hot with where his peripherals have been. The hard hit rate is exciting, but he looks much different to me at the plate in general from 2020.

Gonzalez pretty much as to play tomorrow and I am wondering what it's going to take to pull the plug on Newman for a while. The dude just isn't bringing anything at all right now, including on defense. I have a bad feeling that Shelton's intervention will be Evans to LF and Reynolds to CF, and while obviously Fowler/Alford are struggling more than Newman, I'd rather just see Evans at 3B and EGon at SS. I guess Evans pretty much is going to have to play some LF for his bat to consistently stay in the lineup when Hayes is back.

 

[Gallatin]

He definitely can, though I think it's a little worrisome in terms of his injury history that he seems to have just ditched the fastball (which is not a good pitch, but still seeing him just throw slider after slider after curve after curve is alarming).

This team has really shown a lot of fight and heart after some tough road games and a key cog going down. I am reasonably optimistic about a 1-6 of Frazier-Hayes-Reynolds-Moran-Evans-Polanco, so get well soon Key.

This is definitely projecting a bit, but the Padres just have the look of a team who has been knocked off their feet. With those pitchers against a last place team missing its best player, you have to assume they expected a pretty simple sweep or easy 3-1 series win, and we're just relentlessly taking it to them. It looked like this last night and then even moreso tonight.

Other thoughts: Polanco continues to look locked in at the plate. There were multiple pitches tonight where the old Polanco would have bit on something really off the plate, and he's not only remaining disciplined, but even seems to confidently be acknowledging that he's seeing it and laying off. It's good to see, and he deserves to get red hot with where his peripherals have been. The hard hit rate is exciting, but he looks much different to me at the plate in general from 2020.

Gonzalez pretty much as to play tomorrow and I am wondering what it's going to take to pull the plug on Newman for a while. The dude just isn't bringing anything at all right now, including on defense. I have a bad feeling that Shelton's intervention will be Evans to LF and Reynolds to CF, and while obviously Fowler/Alford are struggling more than Newman, I'd rather just see Evans at 3B and EGon at SS. I guess Evans pretty much is going to have to play some LF for his bat to consistently stay in the lineup when Hayes is back.

Alford's 0-19 start with 15k's is the single worst start to a season I've ever seen....

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Absolutely no argument here about Alford. It's tough to watch and really frustrating because he's so fun to root for. I guess this is the nature of these kinds of reclamations- both he and Evans showed flashes last year, and one for the moment seems to be surging while the other is totally lost.

I like the tools with Alford and think we can still afford to be patient, but I would like to see us proactive. He needs to "have an injury" and get out of it for a couple of weeks. It's so extreme that I think a little reset could give him a fresh start. I thought we might do this when he was hit by the pitch the other day. At this point, he's probably going to be DFA'd and it's hard to imagine a team claiming him, since Goodwin needs a 40-man roster spot.

It's overthinking, but what I would do is IL him, DFA Difo, and then give Goodwin a look. Fowler doesn't really look good to me at all, and I would try to nurse the situation around Alford longer just in case it's something he can get past, because the control upside is really high with him. Still, he's probably more of a placeholder and eventual 4th OF type, so it's not worth getting too worked up over it. Eventually Oliva will deserve a look, etc. In reality I wouldn't be surprised if Alford is DFA'd this afternoon but I guess we'll see.