OT: Raise the Jolly Roger: New season of plundering begins

[WickedWrister]

 

[ImporterExporter]

Boy I was wrong about him....his stuff was electric in person in AA a few years ago.

Honestly, at this point it's better we just shit the bed and pray everything gets turned over after the season.

Even getting rid of the coaching staff leaves us with a GM who has really whiffed more often than not, especially when look at the trajectory of Henry Davis and Termarr Johnson.

Not that any of this matters. We'd just hire another lackey GM who will in turn hire a manager who isn't fit to pour piss out of a boot with instructions written on the heel.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Yeah Contreras ended up a bust because his huge velocity increase in 2021 and 2022 was just not sustainable for the long run. If I remember right, he was throwing more in the 93-95 MPH range when the Pirates acquired him in the Taillon trade.

From the Fangraphs article at the time of the trade:

Scouting the Prospects Acquired for Jameson Taillon

The Pirates continue to add to an already talented farm system.

blogs.fangraphs.com

Like Yajure, Contreras also displayed a little velocity bump in 2019 despite throwing more innings than ever before, and he also walked fewer batters. That year, Contreras worked 92-95 while flashing an above-average curveball and changeup.

What made him really effective in 2021 and 2022 was that he was sitting more in the 96-98 MPH range. Without that extra velocity on his fastball, he's simply not a viable MLB pitcher.

 

[ImporterExporter]

Yeah, he was routinely hitting 96/97 with a few 98's sprinkled in when I saw him. It was nasty stuff between the fastball and slurve.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Disappointing that this is how things ended with Roansy, though I am not sure how much different it would have been if we made the decision earlier in the spring.

I wish him the best, though the Angels might be one of the worst places to land.

I'm not sure this is being overlooked in the sea of how miserable everything is, but the pitching depth is pretty middling at this point. We basically lost the two games in Milwaukee due to SP blowing up, but it's also feasible that we'll lose some games where the pitcher shoves and then the bullpen blows it.

It's especially annoying that every loss feels so magnified. To some extent I think you need to be able to write those kinds of losses off because they are inevitable over a 162 game season, but we wasted so many golden opportunities that it already feels like we are "in the hole" for several losses. If we were closer to the leaders of the division, losing games like this would also be frustrating, but the current losses and the current stretch feels more like we are cementing the 4th/5th spot in the division.

We pretty much need 3-1 in Chicago to try and tread water and claw back a little. Seems highly unlikely, and 1-3 pretty firmly cements the Cubs and Brewers as the primary frontrunners.

 

[ChaosAgent]

Tbh I am back to expecting to lose every game. I may even take 1-3 against the Cubbies.

 

[GilbertSeinfeld]

Cherington acquired Nutting's favorite player; cash.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Tbh I am back to expecting to lose every game. I may even take 1-3 against the Cubbies.

Yeah, I wouldn't be totally shocked to get swept in this series with the way everything has been trending.

We really need a kind of surge to just get out of the funk, even if the upshot on the season is still bad. Always risky to project our sentiments onto the team, but it's no good to get out to a small lead and still feel like it's a hopeless, inevitable loss.

Jones seems to be pitching with a lot of poise.

 

[Factorial]

Yeah, I wouldn't be totally shocked to get swept in this series with the way everything has been trending.

We really need a kind of surge to just get out of the funk, even if the upshot on the season is still bad. Always risky to project our sentiments onto the team, but it's no good to get out to a small lead and still feel like it's a hopeless, inevitable loss.

Jones seems to be pitching with a lot of poise.

Step back from the ledge.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I don't want to believe too much but Nick Gonzales is suddenly seeming legit.

He's making really good and really consistent contact, even on ABs where he's getting outs.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Nice Reynolds makes it 4-2 on a hard hit grounder. Hope that 4 should be enough to win this game.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Step back from the ledge.

Just trying to keep it real. I don't mean to be melodramatic with "hopeless, inevitable", it just feels that way given the past several weeks.

 

[WickedWrister]

Good for Jones only allowing one there, in line for the W if the bullpen can hold on.

Olivares almost with two!

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Really would be nice to convert a second run this inning and make it 6-3. Let Jones air it out for one more inning and then hope and pray the bullpen can close it out.

 

[ImporterExporter]

Jones pitches like he's been at the front of a rotation for years. I'd say he's one of the very few bright lights we can look fondly on.

I just pray to all that is holy, Skenes doesn't end up like Glasnow. I mean he shouldn't, but you just never know with this lot.

If Skenes can hit his ceiling, coupled with Jones, and Keller, NOW you have the makings of a WS rotation. Cheap. Just like Nutting likes it.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Hell of a start for Jones.

Wesneski has been hit around a fair bit, so adding some insurance would be nice. He deserves the W.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Olivares has been hitting the ball really well all year, I'm glad to see him get rewarded for it. Just need to hope his batted ball data can turn into stronger results.

Same with Gonzales, I've been fooled too many times before but he looks legit this time around. He's making really good and consistent contact.

 

[JakeNBake59]

time to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

 

[sovietsanta87]

Henry Davis adjusted his stance in AAA and is starting to hit again. Lmao

Suwinski 3 strikeouts. Fourth at bat

Late on 91 in the zone
Takes a strike 90 mph right down mainstreet
Almost swings at a 45 foot pitch
Check swing on 88. See ya.

Change something. Please. I’m begging. Either trade the roster or change a coach. Change an approach. SOMETHING

 

[Sorry]

MLB.tv is trash.

 

[sovietsanta87]

Congrats to Shelton on his 100th win as a pirates manager. What an accomplishment

 

[ImporterExporter]

 

[ChaosAgent]

Bednar looking good again.

Gonzales very very solid.

Suwinski needs to take a short car trip to Indianapolis IMO.

 

[Empoleon8771]

The biggest thing that frustrates me about the outfield is that Shelton isn't using Olivares as an everyday player like he should be. He has only started 25 of 45 games at this point despite hitting the ball really well (.727 OPS and 5 HRs after today).

Is he good defensively in RF? Not really, but it's inexcusable he's not an everyday player with how the offense is struggling.

 

[MrBrightside]

Suwinski and Triolo have to go to AAA, but man is the cupboard bare in terms of replacements. I guess you can call up Bae and wait until Hayes is between IL stints, but just not a lot of options...but you can't keep running Suwinski out there when he's like this.