Pittsburgh Pirates - A new beginning...

[moore4807]

Once again, a late innings Pirates lead, and the bullpen cant hold onto it!

I think Thomas Burrows is a terrific youngster and will be a mainstay to the Pirates, but right now he needs more seasoning in the minors, a player will be recalled to take his place, probably Kyle Crick off his rehab assignment.

[moore4807]

We have a weekend series to play after a short plane ride south from Atlanta to Miami. Soon I will be reviewing SP and RP to complete the team scouting and top 5.

Our 5th round pick P Gunnar Mayer has signed his offer sheet of $150,000 and a minor league contract, he is now at GCL Pirates to begin his career.

[moore4807]

GM Moore finally sits in on the postgame press conference - he is noted and asked several questions, refusing to comment on his absence from the previous press conferences.

Some quotable quotes from the presser...

"Our losing streak hits 4..."
"We ran into a hot pitcher today, Niedert was his name?" "I'll remember that name now."

"More concerning is the fact I've got two pitchers in the trainers room right now". "No we have no report on their condition, like the skipper says, we will get by."

[moore4807]

Both SP Jameson Taillon and RP Kyle Crick are suffering from sore shoulders, Taillon's is being called a tendonitis and is expected to sideline him for 3-4 weeks. RP Crick is just a sore shoulder and he is out at least a week. Both players have been put on the 10 day IL and reserves are being called up to fill in.

In MLB injury news Oakland A's pitcher Jesus Luzardo has a torn rotator cuff and is done for the season.

Also in the minors CF Travis Swaggerty has a fractured finger that is going to sideline him for 5-6 weeks. This is a shame as Travis had recently heated up, winning his leagues P.O.T.W. award last week.

[moore4807]

GM Moore once again sits in on the post game press conference. He takes some questions and here are some of his replies...

"The losing streak is snapped at 4."
"This is what I envision our Pirates doing every day out there."
" SP Chris Archer pitched his butt off out there." (8.0 IP, 4H, 1R, 1BB, 6K's)
"RF Chisenhall, CF Reyes, and C Diaz really hit the ball well and carried this team today"

[moore4807]

P Charles King has signed with the Pirates. The 21 y/o 3rd round pick out of TCU will receive his $240,000 bonus money along with a chance to start his career with the GCL Pirates.

Head Scout Joe DelliCarri says he sees King developing as a starter or swingman, with an added bonus (Contact 12/30, Gap 15/16, Power 19/62, Eye 19/46, Avoid K's 21/43).

33rd round draft pick Taylor Lomack has refused our offer (of $1) since his agent and the player were demanding more money to sign than our first three round draft picks combined! We wish Taylor all the best in his career, and are moving on, happy with the signings we have succeeded with.

[moore4807]

Results as of 6/16/19;

[moore4807]

Voting results as of 6/16/19;

[moore4807]

It's a maddening, drive you slowly crazy, frustrate you until you grind your teeth together, this slow march to mediocrity... Oh did I mention we lost again AFTER going to the trouble of tying up the game in the 8th inning???

This one goes to leaving a relief pitcher out there too long. Rodriguez had pitched a perfect 7th, we have rested relievers available for the 8th, pulling Rodriguez when the first runner got in scoring position was the money move and the manager missed it.

[moore4807]

Pirates are 2-5 for the past week, Pirates pitching still seems clearly the problem with this ballclub. The Pirates offensive metrics are top 5 in most primary categories, while the pitching is completely the bottom of the NL barrow this year. This MUST change now!

In the minors 23 y/o OF Jason Martin has won the Eastern League P.O.T.W. for his play last week. Going 13-24 AB, 2HR's, and 9RBI's propelled him to the AA award.

[moore4807]

The Pirates have again slipped in the power rankings to 23rd place out of 30.

In MLB news RP Brandon Morrow is headed to the injury list for an extended stay with a torn meniscus. He expects to spend approximately 4 months on IL.

[moore4807]

RP Francisco Liriano had already cleared waivers, when he was told of the plan to send him back to AAA Indianapolis. Surprising everybody Liriano balked and refused the assignment. That sent GM Moore back to his desk to see what options he had, other than eating Liriano's salary and releasing him.

Since there were other moves to make GM Moore lit up the phone lines to other GM's, looking for a trade partner, then halfway through Moore struck pay dirt. Kansas City GM Drayton Moore (no relation) said he would accept Liriano if Pittsburgh picked up more than half his remaining salary. KC GM Drayton Moore then offered a choice of 3 24 y/o relief pitchers in return. All would be at league minimum, but all were on 40 man roster also. I accepted KC GM Moore's proposal taking RHP Devan Watts in return.

Now nobody from scouting or the manager/coaching staff was a part of this transaction, They needed to be brought in the loop for the rest of the roster moves. There was some grumbling about it until I pointed out I had NOT forced any changes or fired anyone in the room yet - and our Pirates were sinking fast WITHOUT these moves!!!

Surprisingly nobody outright complained about bringing up Ke'Bryan Hayes and optioning Brian W Anderson down to AAA. That it got no response was telling from the coaching staff that they saw the need too.

RP Dovydas Neverauskas and 1B Erich Weiss are called by phone and told that they are the unfortunate players caught in the numbers game here. I hope they both stay with the organization, if not I wish them well with their careers.

[moore4807]

We have a 2 game set against the Detroit Tigers at home. We should have a chance to win against the Tigers as they currently have a worse record than we do.

The Dodgers and Red Sox have gotten together on a trade. The only thought I have is 3B Michael Chavis is now the heir apparent to 3B Justin Turner.

I am looking at our team defense and see that SS Kevin Newman is perfectly average defense at SS, but there have been some plays that he got to the ball but couldn't make the play for the out. I'm looking at Jose Iglesias as he is currently the third highest rated SS in all of MLB, worth $2.5M, but also a free agent at the end of the year. That sets us up for shelling out big bucks, which we are not in a position to do currently.

[moore4807]

Jake Marisnick is found! lol. After getting released outright from the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise for posting a horrible start, Jake has resurfaced in Detroit. Marisnick isn't apparently much better, he still doesn't have Mendoza batting line stats yet.

Enough on him though, our Pirates put together a good performance tonight. Our #1 thru #5 hitters all went 2-4 or better, and scored 8 runs to pace the pitching.

[moore4807]

ugggh! inconsistency is our only constant this season, we let the Tigers leave with a win in the second game, this time the bats were pretty quiet after last nights performance. Start looking forward to our next series against San Diego.

[moore4807]

RP Blake Weiman is coming off the IL, SP Wilmer Font's performance and stats make him the odd man out. Fon't has been removed from the 40 man roster and placed on waivers for the purpose of sending him to AAA.

In MLB news Indians SP Carlos Carrasco suffered an shoulder injury supposedly he will be out 6-8 weeks. Red Sox LF Andrew Benintendi helped the team overpower the Minnesota Twins. Benintendi hit 5-6, and had 2 RBI's on the day.

[moore4807]

We start a 3 game series this weekend with the San Diego Padres at home. The Padres swept us when we were out at San Diego, we would love to return the favor.

[moore4807]

A nice win! Finally get rid of the oh-fer versus San Diego. Now win one of the two remaining games for our series win.

[moore4807]

Joe Musgrove comes off the IL, he is sent to AAA for an injury rehab assignment.

In MLB news;

Arizona pounded San Fransisco yesterday to the tune of 30 - 9. Eduardo Escobar went 5-5 to lead the Diamondbacks to the win.

Seattle SP Justus Sheffield had a season ending injury yesterday - a torn rotator cuff was his kryptonite.

Cincinnati SP Luis M Castillo reaggravated a shoulder injury and will likely be shelved for an additional week.

[moore4807]

Our win streak is at two. Pirates faced S.D. opener/follower again, the results were much better this time around.

SP Bumgarner got his second win against 4 losses as a Pirate, allowing only 1ER on six hits, 1BB and 5K's. Melky Cabrera was the offensive spark, going 3-4, 1R, 2 RBI.

Its also our first series win for the month, with the chance for a sweep in tomorrow's afternoon game.