Pittsburgh Pirates - A new beginning...

[moore4807]

We went 11-17 for the month, an 8 game losing streak and 5 game winning streak sums it up nicely. After Mgr. Hurdle's comment I went back and looked up the trades, and he's right of course, NINE trades between me and other teams, one trade between other teams. But like I said I'm churning to find advantages here, not all trades will pan out but hopefully enough will to make a difference.
Here is our Player Development Update. (Page 1 of 2)

[moore4807]

Here's the rest

[moore4807]

The following players won their respective awards for their performance in May. Again our Asst. GM Neal Huntington has an overage player (P Liranzo) in the low minors. Neal has promoted him to AA Altoona since, but it is aggravating that we are keeping the younger players from advancing and getting experience when we have these older players blocking them.

[moore4807]

Here is the reports, most are NOT good, Our offense is the exception, however our pitching and defense are ruining that perspective. I've made a move to help the pitching, the defense metrics are not horrible, just top 10, like I hoped.

[moore4807]

As always I'm looking for feedback, constructive criticism, general conversation about the team and the thread.

My thoughts right now are to bite the bullet and bring Reynolds up from AA/AAA to play LF. That would leave Frazier odd man out since he only plays 2B in the infield, while IF Gonzalez and 1B/IF Nick Franklin play the other IF backup positions. I also placed OF Melky Cabrera on the Trade Block list to see if I can get some prospects for him

[moore4807]

A easy win... is never easy with this team. We added 2 insurance runs to go from 8-2 to a 10-2 lead into the top of the ninth. then needed them when the Brewers put a 6 spot on the board, before CL Keone Kela put out the fire.

It was nice to see four HR's in the game for the Bucco's, especially P Madison Bumgarner helping his own cause in the 4th inning with a two run shot.

[moore4807]

Current voting totals as of 6/2/19;

[moore4807]

Current voting results as of 6/2/19;

[moore4807]

A blowout, 20-4. The dominoes started to fall with an injury to P Joe Musgrove in the 1st inning.

I'm sort of disappointed with the Manager's pitching change decisions that led to two position players pitching. That's a topic for another day.

Just chalk it up to a bad game and lets look forward to next week.

[moore4807]

The end of May brought another series win with the sweep of the Reds, then the Brewers came to town and ruined that good vibe, winning three games to one. Still the Buc's ended up with a winning weekly record (4-3) and somehow we are still with the pack chasing the suddenly vulnerable Cubs.

Roster moves - SP Matt Shoemaker and SP Joe Musgrove go on 10 day IR and youngster LHP's Thomas Burrows and Blake Wieman make their return to the bullpen. Moving LF Adam Frazier to AAA was as unpopular with the Manager and coaches as the players, but room had to be made for OF Lonnie Chisenhall at the MLB level.

Also of note - we moved up a couple of spots in the weekly power rankings from 21st to 19th. Woot!

[moore4807]

Well all that scouting and time invested into the draft pool, now we see if it pays off. Our Pirates draft at #18 and get a supplemental pick at #38 before settling in at #17 in the rest of the draft. Pitching, Pitching, and more pitching is the order of the day, with he occasional BPA (Best Player Available) thrown in for good measure.

We also have a three game series at home vs. Atlanta, Braves CL Felipe Vazquez has been a good trade for Atlanta as he is shutting down the opposition during the braves 8-2 run coming into tonight's game.

[moore4807]

Here is how different the starting Draft boards look for Potential / Actual ratings under default. (1st two are Pirate's Scouts, 2nd two are OSA scouts)

[moore4807]

For our 1st Round pick Joe DelliCarri was adamant we pick OF Riley Greene, I overruled him noting his draft bonus alone was for $6M, placing him out of our reach. We compromised and settled on SP Matthew Thompson, a four star draftee with good outlook on both Pirates/OSA scouting reports.

Then for our Suppleemental draft pick we chose our consensus #1 draft pick Mason Feole who is likely to be a dominant reliever with the ability to be a starter too, depending on his grooming (SP holds a warm place in my heart for him)

We will do top 5 rounds here - then finish with a complete draft list.

[moore4807]

we took a CF who Joe DelliCarri raves about with the second round pick, we took my ick of RP Charles King with the third rounder.

[moore4807]

We started getting some balance in our picks between OSA and Pirates Scouting. I especially like these two picks as they both grade out to 2.5 - 3 stars or better in the scouting reports.

[moore4807]

Here is the first year draft and all hopes are looking 3-5 years down the road for a plentiful bounty! 33rd round pick Taylor Lomack is asking for more than either of my 1st round picks and doesn't have their talent! here's your $1, have a nice life

[moore4807]

This is a nice bounce back game, after getting lit up by Milwaukee Sunday afternoon, The Pirates put their best foot forward and denied Atlanta any runs in a 4-0 whitewashing.

Jameson Taillon was masterful going 8 IP, 2H, 1 W and 7K's. This win gets him back above .500 at 6-5. Trayvon Robinson helped out with a 3-5 day, and Pablo Reyes going 2-4 with a 2 run HR in the 2nd inning to start the offense.

[moore4807]

We were able to quickly sign our 1st round supplemental draftee LHP Mason Feole and our 4th rounder CF TJ Hopkins to minor league contracts with bonuses. Mason is assigned to -A West Virginia (NY-Penn league) to start his career.

I think the sleeper of the draft is a little known RHP, John Murphy a University of Maryland Terp graduate with a hometown of Merchantville NJ - a tiny hamlet just outside of Camden NJ. John was drafted by Pittsburgh in the 23rd round. John was not a shining star for the Terp's, but a reliable RP with two pitches, a good fastball and a good curveball that scouts see becoming elite as he matures. What the scouts are projecting is for John to rise quickly as he becomes accustomed to minor league batters.

[moore4807]

Giving away games is NOT the way to win!
The Pirates staked themselves to a 6-1 lead, then watched the Braves chip away then take the lead for good in the 8th inning. GM Moore sits dejectedly in the Skybox chair, knowing he will not go downstairs for the evening press conference. Skipping the press conferences has become a habit lately and Pirates Manager Hurdle is making the all right sound bites for the press, so not too many questions are being asked anymore about GM Moore not attending.

[moore4807]

I don't know why I didn't think of this the first time I tried to do positional analysis... Here is the top three at each position according to Pirates Scouting reports.

I will also do the top 5 at OF as usual.

1) RF Gregory Polanco - Pirates starter at RF, started year on IL. Has played good positional defense in RF, good stick and smart player. Polanco is relatively cheap now , but his contract has increases every year for 5 more years...

2) LF Brian Reynolds - AAA starter at LF, currently injured and on IL. Strong range and weak arm force him to left corner. His batting is average but can sustain streaks for weeks. Should be at MLB level now - glut of OF's is keeping him down at AAA.

3) IF/OF Pablo Reyes - currently a reserve in MLB, defensively below average everywhere, but his natural position of LF, there he is just average. Hitting skills are slightly below average, but gap and eye is above good, but not great. Most likely to fill reserve role for Pirates.

4)OF Jason Martin - Currently the RF at AA Altoona, he is slightly above average overall, able to play all three OF spots. Jason's natural position is LF, but he is in a battle at AA for several upcoming prospects.

5) RF Myles Straw - currently platooning RF at AA. Good bat and top of the scale speed makes Myles one to watch coming up soon.