OT: Raise the Jolly Roger: Play On, Garth

[Winger for Hire]

I haven't check in lately... but is that 6 for 6 in homers/hits?

 

[ChaosAgent]

I haven't check in lately... but is that 6 for 6 in homers/hits?

He also had a double today.

 

[Winger for Hire]

He also had a double today.

 

[DanielPlainview]

We call it a grand salami.

There's a sausage in Korea called "sundae".

I think whenever Kang hits a grand slam, DQ should give away free sundaes.

 

[cookthebooks]

the legend of jonah davis at least one fun bit of pirates ephemera

 

[ChaosAgent]

Cards finalizing 5/$130 for Goldschmidt. Looks to be a great deal for the Cards. For Goldy's team, you'd think he could get more...but then you see he'd be hitting FA at 32 and the current market and you can understand the decision better. I still think they are leaving a little bit on the table.

Actually, taking a look the Phils are paying Harper $26M/year from ages 32-36 which was probably the point-of-reference here. But they are paying him for 2 more years at $22M/year which I think Goldy's team should have fought to be added on.

 

[ChaosAgent]

Pirates prospects at Spring Training

I find it interesting that Hayes and Tucker are the headliners. The Keller hype train is slowly skidding to a stop. Maybe post-hype Keller will be better.

 

[cookthebooks]

Another pirates pitching prospect that never developed s change up?

 

[ChaosAgent]

Another pirates pitching prospect that never developed s change up?

From the little I've seen of Keller, it's that the fastball is too hittable mostly. I'm not writing him off, just saying the shine has worn off. And I'm concerned about our non-supply of pitching prospects down on the farm. Luckily Taillon/Archer/Williams/Musgrove/Kuhl is locked up for quite a bit of time.

 

[Winger for Hire]

From what I've read around the web, Keller's biggest issue is that his fastball lacks a lot of life and doesn't have enough zip on it to overcome that. He has good secondary stuff, but that fastball really is holding him back.

 

[DanielPlainview]

I really hope Liriano isn't Hurdle's "veteran who just needs more reps" pet this year. What's the O/U on how many games is he will blow?

 

[Winger for Hire]

Hurdle or Liriano?

 

[Empoleon8771]

Kang playing SS today, that's super interesting. He's also 2-3 with a single and double today, good game for him. Too bad Moran is 0/3 with 2 strikeouts and an error now, they may actually be able to play Kang at SS if Moran was even competent at 3rd right now.

It only sounds like Kang is only playing SS to get him ready as an emergency option, but I struggle to see what kind of "emergency" would have him playing SS. You have Gonzalez as the starter, Newman as the backup and Reyes as capable of playing SS. Unless neither Reyes or Newman make the team, I don't even see when Kang would be playing SS.

 

[DanielPlainview]

Hurdle or Liriano?

Yes

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I think there's a reasonable chance that Newman won't make the team, though the point still stands with Reyes as the first backup.

I also have some faith in Liriano's effectiveness as a specific tool in the bullpen, but didn't watch today and hear he looked terrible, and obviously someone who might just walk guys is a disaster waiting to happen in a bullpen that shapes up to be strong while needing to be perfect in order to win small ball games. I'd be somewhat surprised if he doesn't make the team, but if he can't hack it when the games matter, they have to be quick and ruthless to pull the plug.

 

[ChaosAgent]

Kang playing SS today, that's super interesting. He's also 2-3 with a single and double today, good game for him. Too bad Moran is 0/3 with 2 strikeouts and an error now, they may actually be able to play Kang at SS if Moran was even competent at 3rd right now.

It only sounds like Kang is only playing SS to get him ready as an emergency option, but I struggle to see what kind of "emergency" would have him playing SS. You have Gonzalez as the starter, Newman as the backup and Reyes as capable of playing SS. Unless neither Reyes or Newman make the team, I don't even see when Kang would be playing SS.

If Hayes blows the doors off AAA and Kang is hitting/fielding well, I hope they'd consider making that the left side of the infield.

 

[Winger for Hire]

That bullpen scares me a lot now, especially knowing Hurdle's usage tendencies and the super unreliable #5. Three volitile guys, a converted depth starter, and wild card in Rodriguez.

It's nostalgic crap that Frankie made the team. There's no room for Frankie. He's a pitcher who lives on the edge of the zone to be effective and has questionable control. That's not a recipe for a pen arm. You dont want a guy who has a high chance of walking all 3 batters he faces, like yesterday

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I'm not sure I agree – who do you see as the volatile guys? Crick worries me a little bit, but it could just be spring training. I don't see the reason to doubt RichRod much at all.

I've only seen him one time, so maybe the numbers are deceiving, but Liriano looks ok outside of one bad one. I think it's more about taking the gamble that he's refined it and will be mostly effective in the bullpen. Kingham is the only one who can really give length when necessary. Burdi looks like an exceptional plus arm to me, so if Crick is fine, we'll have 5 very good weapons and some questions in the middle of the games. I agree that the 5th starter situation is a bad one, but I don't think we're set up for the flirting with disaster we had last year when we had Smoker and Neverauskas (who, btw, has quietly put together a solid spring).

My sense is that this is the best initial squad, as much as I'd like Kingham to just be the starter with Lyles in the pen, and that Holmes is going to undergo some real retooling as mid-relief in AAA to serve as a backup in case Kingham and/or Liriano can't hack it. I have some minor worries, but I'm pretty confident with the backend, and will be moreso if I see Crick return to his dominant form when the games matter. Of the options, I saw Burdi the most this spring, and he looks like someone who will utterly dominate even if maybe have a bad game or two as he settles in.

 

[Winger for Hire]

I can certainly see you're POV, but I think the floor is just as lengthy as the ceiling with what they have now.

Burdi certainly deserves to make the team and has some filth in the arm, but does need some refinement. That my volitile guy #1.

Crick did show some really good stuff last year, but this year in spring looks sloppy vs opponents many levels below him. If it was a homer problem in spring, I can overlook that because the wind and parks in ST generally lean home friendly, but he's getting hit around, catching lots of the zone. If he had a slightly longer track record of good pen work, I wouldn't be worrying too much, but his control has always been a question mark and he got in trouble in the minors, noted as a starter, trying to be too fine with his control to compensate and getting hittable. He's my volitile #3.

Frankie is my #3, for reasons I mentioned... edge of the zone pitcher who would rather put someone on base over letting them put the ball in play.

Rich Rod is a wild card for me because, yea, his 69 nice innings were superb last year, but I'm hesitant to to call a reliever a safe bet after 69 (nice) innings of big league work. I can certainly see talent and why he's thought of how he is. I just want a little longer track record before I anoint him the 3rd head of the hydra. He could just as easily regress as continue his upward trend.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Melky also made the Pirates, which I'm happy to see. The Pirates broadcast is also talking about Reyes as if he's a lock to make the team, so you know at least 3 of the bench bats are Moran, Melky and Reyes to start the year.

I'm not sure they should he keeping 5 outfielders on the roster when Polanco is healthy, though. Can either Chissenhall or Cabrera play 1st?

 

[Winger for Hire]

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I can certainly see you're POV, but I think the floor is just as lengthy as the ceiling with what they have now.

Burdi certainly deserves to make the team and has some filth in the arm, but does need some refinement. That my volitile guy #1.

Crick did show some really good stuff last year, but this year in spring looks sloppy vs opponents many levels below him. If it was a homer problem in spring, I can overlook that because the wind and parks in ST generally lean home friendly, but he's getting hit around, catching lots of the zone. If he had a slightly longer track record of good pen work, I wouldn't be worrying too much, but his control has always been a question mark and he got in trouble in the minors, noted as a starter, trying to be too fine with his control to compensate and getting hittable. He's my volitile #3.

Frankie is my #3, for reasons I mentioned... edge of the zone pitcher who would rather put someone on base over letting them put the ball in play.

Rich Rod is a wild card for me because, yea, his 69 nice innings were superb last year, but I'm hesitant to to call a reliever a safe bet after 69 (nice) innings of big league work. I can certainly see talent and why he's thought of how he is. I just want a little longer track record before I anoint him the 3rd head of the hydra. He could just as easily regress as continue his upward trend.

This is fair, but I think some of it is the nature of bullpens. Outside of the Yankees true bullpen of death, we can probably spin these out about any successful bullpen, because the truth is they differ wildly year in and year out. So in that regard I think it's a mistake to be cavalier about the bullpen this year, although I do think for example that it's a great luxury to have Burdi effectively lined up to take over for Santana exactly.

I think the plan for Bell's backup will be some combo of Chisenhall, Moran, and Cervelli. I suppose there's some chance Chisenhall might not hack it, but I think he'll at least be on the team, and can play the corners.

If Reyes finishes the spring hot, it will be interesting to see how much they want to ride that early in the season. With Marte potentially slightly dinged up already, we don't want to waste the opportunity to take a series against the Reds right from the jump, and then be in the weeds very quickly with a bunch more NL Central games.

Btw, today's game was maybe an exact replica of the kind of work we might hope to get out of Lyles. 5 passable innings and 4 clean bullpen innings. We're going to need both timely hitting and some other pitchers to be going 7+ fairly often.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Kang with another homerun today, it's crazy how much he's killing the ball this spring. His spring training batting line would be like a 8+ WAR player over a full season with average defense.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

The K numbers seem alarming a little bit, but it's all just spring. I'll be more relieved if he can hit a couple of singles in the first few games and no HRs, but I think it might be some feast or famine for a while, which is ok as long as the Dickerson-Bell-Marte group is pretty consistent, and Frazier stays hot.

 

[Beauner]

Tangentially Bucco related. But I've made it known that my baseball allegiance has shifted towards the Indians the past few years, mainly because of family ties AND their willingness to "go for it". But these recent quotes by their owner remind me of something Nutting would say. Way to dampen any excitement for a team supposed to be competing for a world series. Baseball and the economics surrounding it are so f***ed. It's my second favorite sport behind hockey but I can't keep getting excited about teams/players when THIS is the response from small-market ownership.