OT: Raise the Jolly Roger: Let the Kids Play

[Empoleon8771]

It's nice to see the Pirates starting SS Ahmed hit a home run today. I'm so glad they went out and got him this off-season instead of settling on Gonzalez to be their SS.

Wait.

 

[pistolpete11]

A negligibly better BA. They had more walks and HBP but that doesn't explain the run difference.

I'm blaming who deserves to be blamed. The Pirates hit enough to score runs, they just didn't do it when they needed to. That isn't the fault of the owner.

If you have a lot more runners on base when you hit for a higher average and higher power, you're going to score more runs. This really isn't that hard to figure out.

Here's another stat for you. Plate appearances:

Cubs : 5624 (most in MLB)
Pirates : 5447 (second fewest in MLB)

More chances = more runs.

 

[pistolpete11]

This game is over and the Caps are up 2-0 already. I might get caught up on Game of Thrones instead (only on Season 5, no spoilers, please).

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Finally something to make me smile! Bell!

 

[Scandale du Jour]

This game is over and the Caps are up 2-0 already. I might get caught up on Game of Thrones instead (only on Season 5, no spoilers, please).

Spoiler: Jon Snow knows nothing.

 

[pistolpete11]

Spoiler: Jon Snow knows nothing.

I said 'please'.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

This doesn't have a lot to do with how shitty it feels to watch right now, but IMO the biggest thing in these next few days is salvaging terrible into bad. Get at least a game in this series, and don't get swept in LA. That would end a 10-game stretch with 4-6, which is perfectly fine from the perspective of the season.

The offense has some real question marks about it, that's obvious, and I think when people are healthy, the weeks where everything clicks are going to be incredible. Minimizing damage somehow when that isn't the case (i.e., right now), while not sexy, is crucial to keeping the team on a good pace overall.

 

[DanielPlainview]

Looks like we're getting underway after a short delay.

Lineup:

 

[DJ Spinoza]

More of the same. We're now in the part of the cycle where the starting pitchers go overboard to try and compensate for how abysmal the offense is.

We're in a tailspin, the only question is how bad it's going to be.

 

[DanielPlainview]

With Hurdle managing, it will bottom out sometime in June.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

If Taillon can't put up 0s the rest of the way, this is gonna get brutal again. I actually think Archer would have been our best bet vs the Diamondbacks. The fact that they don't whiff is killing us – it's unfair to them to put it this way, but several of them are riding way high unsustainable BABIP luck. That's how it goes though. Ultimately the only salve is that these ugly losses count the same as close losses, but that only matters if we are able to stop the bleeding on this upcoming road trip.

I think a lot of us would still have taken a 12-11 record at the beginning of the season for this date, but that hardly matters. We've churned through the bit of good luck/good will we've generated, but the division is still a dog fight. Can't get trampled.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

LOL, I don't think Tucker has had one instance where he ran and his helmet stayed on.

Need a blast here.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

I hate afternoon games during the week... I cannot watch

 

[DanielPlainview]

Did Polanco lose that ball in the clouds? Not sure why he played that off the wall.

Welp. 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Difference between them and the Pirates is their ability to actually score in these situations.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Yeah, they are going to score at least two runs here, even if they get a sac fly and a single. Best case scenario is we're down 4-0.

Taillon's inconsistency with getting the swing and miss is what holds him back from being a true shut down pitcher. He had two gret innings, but Walker hammers a big mistake pitch and that pretty much ends this game. We are not scoring 4 runs today. Hard to put much blame on Taillon, there's just nothing whatsoever going right at this moment. Just abysmal and brutal. Luckily we're still 12-11 after today, because it sure doesn't feel like it.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

At least Cole Tucker is good. His throwing motion is kinda weird, but he can pick it, and his bat is plus. All of the balls he's hit have been hard, and he's also lofting it. I'm not sure he's a star, but he's ready to stick in MLB for good IMO.

 

[TNT87]

I hate afternoon games during the week... I cannot watch

Consider yourself fortunate today so far.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

There's absolutely no chance we're even going to score in this game, so I'd say to just consider yourself fortunate in general.

The game was over when the Diamondbacks scored. We have maybe a shot to scratch out two runs in a game with this lineup, but that's about it. Bell is good, Tucker seems to have some upside, and we desperately need Marte and Frazier in there. I'm not sure there's any hope for this offense until we have all of Frazier, Marte, Dickerson, and Polanco healthy. And even then, it's a pretty middling lineup.

 

[DanielPlainview]

I'm starting to sour on Polanco. I don't think he's a good fielder at all and his bat isn't spectacular. Honestly I feel like they were better off with Melky in RF.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I don't think Polanco is 100% healthy.

I am trying to do the thing where you just curse this team and be negative, but also this is a serious remark: there's an extremely high chance we are about to continue this losing streak for at least 8 games. Facing three lefties in LA, an an offense that is markedly better than the Diamondbacks, who are really just a decently solid offense, not a great one. About the only chance we've got is if for whatever reason, the floodgates open and we put up like a 10 spot in the second inning tomorrow.

If you gave me the option right now, I'd take a 1-2 series loss just to cap this horrible stretch at at least 3-7 and hopefully get better for the Rangers series. Things are pretty bleak right now, and the difference has really just been an inability to slap a couple of hits in key moments to secure wins. A lot of the games on this losing streak were quite winnable before they got out of hand.

 

[cheesedanish87]

Just an awful series, 3 of these 4 games have been total blowouts.

And Arizona isn't even that good.

Its so discouraging being a fan of a team that has no offense.

You go down a couple runs early and it feels like you have no chance of winning.

 

[2wayPlay]

This team is horrible. Time to watch the Steelers screw up the draft!

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Just an awful series, 3 of these 4 games have been total blowouts.

And Arizona isn't even that good.

Its so discouraging being a fan of a team that has no offense.

You go down a couple runs early and it feels like you have no chance of winning.

Yeah, I think it's just kind of the way things break sometimes. Monday seemed like it was lining up to just be a feelgood game, and we could have had a little bit of BABIP luck in order to come away with a huge lopsided lead right away. Maybe if so, the rest of the series is a lot different. Instead, it's the start of probably sometime like 5/35 or worse with RISP, and now we're just taking it on the chin.

I had some hopes that Taillon would be able to make a statement game today, but you could see immediately from Dyson slapping a single, he was trying to be perfect and it just wasn't there. Basically the only path for us to win games right now is if we can put up 4 or 5 0s in a row, claw 1-3 runs, and pray the bullpen doesn't blow it. That is not a recipe for beating a team like the Dodgers, and the whole team has just looked like a completely different team than the one that fought the Nationals for a tough series win. No easy answers.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

JB Shuck is like the antithesis of Pirates' outfielders, in that he can violently jolt his body, sprint 150% down the line, etc., but remains indestructible.

While I'm not looking forward to seeing how long this is going to continue, the record is right about what you'd expect for the healthy version of the team. A team with some bandaids was putting up a 90-win pace, and then they needed some more bandaids and got kicked in the teeth. I don't think the pace will continue for horribly long, but weirdly we don't know what kind of performance the healthy version of this team will put together.

I suspect that if everyone does get healthy and click, a lot of hype will build, because a better offense with the starting pitching will look completely unstoppable (which is what things looked like briefly on Monday evening). But all it takes is a single rotation turn where everybody is getting hammered and the bottom looks like it's fallen out. Swap some stories and names around and this was exactly the kind of thing that happened last season. I feel like I'm watching a replay a lot of the time.

 

[cookthebooks]

pretty putrid effort all around today