Pittsburgh Pirates - A new beginning...

[moore4807]

Bounce back win does wonders for Mgr. Hurdle's disposition.

SP Joe Musgrove didn't go deep into the game, but RP Kyle Crick bailed him out by striking out 6 of the 9 batters he faced over 3 innings. Mgr. Hurdle noted SS Iglesias and DH Newman for timely offense and the lineup for spread out hitting and scoring.

Then Clint warmed to his task, "Look you fellers yesterday were all in a lather over a HR that we lost on, well today even though we won the game, RP Trevor Cahill (5IP 0H, 2BB, 5K's) absolutely killed it on the mound" "Thank God he wasn't the starter or we'd been in real trouble.." "Its a finicky game boys, I been either playing, coaching or managing baseball my whole adult life, and when I finally figure it out, I'll be glad to let you know..." These were just some of Mgr. Hurdle's half admonishment - half lecture to the press corps.

In MLB news;

Boston LF Andrew Benintendi is the latest to try to extend his streak past 20 games, the publicity bug has tended to derail most efforts this year. Good luck to Andrew in his quest.

[moore4807]

Wishing all out there a Happy Memorial Day. Please take a minute and give prayer to those who gave their all in defense of this great Nation.

Thank a vet for our freedom, Thank a healthcare worker for our health, and please remember "We all must hang together, or assuredly we will hang separately" - Benjamin Franklin.

[moore4807]

We win another series by a close margin. The Angels were a good test for our ballclub, strong pitching and batting ratings, and we overcame the odds to take the series two to one.

SP Jimmy Nelson (6.1IP, 7H, 2ER, 0BB, 6K's) pitched a nice game today. Ryan Brasier and CL Archie Bradley combined for 2.2IP of no hit 2 BB 2K relief, with Bradley picking up his 4th save of the season.

Once again the team batting was balanced, with 2B, Gonzalez, SS Iglesias, and RF Straw combining for six of the eleven hits today.

In MLB news;

Cincinnati Reds RP Jared Hughes (another former Pirate) was told his season was done after suffering a fractured elbow 3 days ago in a game. No word on his replacement on the roster from team officials.

Washington Nationals OF Victor Robles will be out up to a week additional for his sprained ankle after it didn't heal as quickly as team doctors expected.

[moore4807]

The Pirates have the day off after a red eye flight home from Los Angeles. After today the Pirates have 16 straight days of baseball to play before the 40 man roster expansions take effect, so carrying the extra P on staff will help here. If needed we can bring up a position player or two giving the regulars playing a break.

In MLB News;

New York(A) SP James Paxton shut out the Baltimore Orioles 8-0 yesterday.

Houston LF Michael Brantley (.352BA, 19HR's, 63RBI) is having an awesome season so far, yesterday he continued his excellence with a 5-6 hit day against the Chicago(A) White Sox, leading the Astros 12-2 win.

Boston LF Andrew Benintendi became the latest player to see his 20 game hit streak die as soon as it was reported on by BNN.

Arizona Diamondbacks RP Manny Parra joined the ever growing list of P on "Heartbreak Hill" as his season was officially declared over by team management. A partially torn UCL has stopped the 36 y/o RHP and led to questions of a comeback bid or retirement loom in Manny's future.

[moore4807]

Our Bucs begin a 10 game homestand today with a weekend series with the Central Division leading Chicago(N) Cubs. The Cubbies have pretty much owned us this season with a 7W/3L record, but if we can get a series win it will do wonders for morale and fans interest.

SS Kevin Newman has signed a contract extension with the team. Details haven't been released but its speculated its a one year extension in the neighborhood of $750K. While he is not a highly popular figure among fans, teammates say he is a valuable commodity in the clubhouse and they are glad to see him stick around.

In MLB news;

Houston SP Gerritt Cole (13-3 3.34 ERA) has thrown another shutout (4-0) for the Astros, this time the Oakland A's were his victims only managing 3 hits off the RHP.

[moore4807]

Friday night's alright for winning! The three game win streak is alive too.

SP Lucchesi (6.2IP, 6H, 1ER, 1BB, 6K's) threatened he was going to sue the offense in kangaroo court for lack of run support. The very next inning the hitters put up a 9 spot against the division leading Cubbies! RP Josh Lindgren got the win in relief while RP Matt Shoemaker went the final two innings to finish the rout.

C Elias Diaz (2-4AB 2R, 4RBI 1GS/HR) has really come on lately with his hitting. 1B Josh Bell (2-4AB, 1R,) is the steady Eddie of this lineup, while newcomer CF Monte Harrison is bashing HR's on a exciting frequency for Pirates fans.

In MLB news;

Kansas City SP Jake Junis (11W/7L 3.66ERA) stopped the NY(N) Mets cold tonight, pitching a 3 hit, 9 strikeout gem. There was a verbal exchange between the Mets Manager and Junis after the game was over but it quickly calmed down and both clubs went back to their respective clubhouses.

[moore4807]

Saturday is get your butt beat day, and the win streak is over.

The Cubs didn't take getting beaten like that kindly, and jumped all over SP Jameson Taillon (4IP, 7H, 5ER, 0BB, 6K's) and RP Dario Agrazal (4IP, 4H, 2ER, 1BB, 4K's) before finishing a 9-2 win by scoring a deuce on RP Matt Shoemaker (1IP, 3H, 2ER, 0BB, 1K). Enough said about that performance.

PH Trayvon Robinson hit a 2 run HR in the 8th inning as one of 4 hits on the day to avoid a shutout. Again enough on that subject.

In somewhat of a surprise SP Jimmy Nelson signed a one year $4.83M contract for the 2020 season. P Nelsons agent had been hard-lining us that his client was out of here after the end of the season, then surprises us by accepting our first offer.

C Elias Diaz personally called GM Moore to jump start the extension process, I advised him of what I offered and told him I was willing to do three years at $4.25M with bonuses. I got a call from a disturbed agent wondering why I was negotiating directly with his client. I replied his client called me! I also told this "agent" that the next time the "agent" didn't convey my offer correctly to my contracted player, I would have him charged with contract bargaining violation with the MLBPA. The were a few more blustery comments and we disconnected.

[moore4807]

Both teams played a heck of a game, the Cubs were a little bit better.

SP Chris Archer pitched extremely well, his only mistakes of the game were two solo HR's by CF Happ and C Tom Davis (his first MLB homer too), two singles were erased by Pirates defense along with Archer's one walk to P Alzolay.

One hit, three walks and that only scored a run because RF Myles Straw stealing 3rd base in the 4th inning, then scoring on a sacrifice by Monte Harrison.

It WAS a masterful performance by the Cubs 24 y/o RHP. The series got away from us and we fall further back with time realistically running out for any move towards the postseason.

[moore4807]

C Diaz apparently plays both sides of the fence after calling my office and expressing happiness with the three year offer, now says I didn't offer enough? I think that's my last dealing with Diaz here, unless something radically changes.

In MLB news;

Milwaukee CF Lorenzo Cain is not healing as fast as Brewers medical staff had hoped. Team doctors now believe he will be an additional week in rehab.

Washington 2B Brian Dozier has signed a multiyear deal to remain with the Washington Nationals. In a rare move the team acknowledged the terms of the deal as 5 yrs/ $77M or $15.4M a year. Will Dozier produce until he's 37? only time will tell here.

K.C. SS Adalberto Mondesi hit 5H in 5AB (all singles) helping the Royals defeat the Mets 7-2.

Houston Astros 3B Alex Bregman (.347BA, 25HR, 96RBI's) hammered 5 hits in 6 at bats and had 3 RBI's helping his team down the Oakland A's 14-6.

[moore4807]

Our Bucco's went 3-3 this week against some good competition, but moral victories aren't winning games and raising us in the standings.

SP was just ehhh! this week, the bullpen had some good individual performances, but overall the stark contrast between good and bad was too much for my liking. Pay close attention to SP Chris Archer's stats, four of the 5 hits he gave up in two games were HR's, solo homers for the most part, but uncharacteristic for him, might be a sign to rest him some, an injury does no one any good now.

Our offense suddenly has become anemic this past week, from from 9 out 12 position players hitting over .300 a week ago, to just TWO players hitting over .250 (I don't Count OF Trayvon Robinson's two PH AB's for the week.). Elias Diaz did well, hitting .474 (9/19 2-2B, 1HR, 4R, 5RBI).

[moore4807]

We have the East Division leading Washington Nationals in Town for a four game tilt. Hopefully our coaches have gotten the players ready, as GM Moore sits in the owners skybox watching the early practice, VP of operations Penny Layne knocks and comes in, Jim laughs as he points out she is more entitled to be here than himself. Penny laughs and says old habits die hard and she still considers me "Boss" Then she wants to talk about numbers and plans for the end of the season. My surprised look mst have got to her, she immediately apologizes and starts trying to explain...

I tell her its not a problem, just I haven't officially gone over the roster and minors with Scouting and Coaching yet. I also need to sit down with the Manager and her to discuss next years budget before I start making plans. Penny says that's fine but Bob Nutting told her to get involved in the nuts and bolts of the offseason as he was going to monitor our work to see if he feels were going in the right direction or not...

I decide to show her the Weekly Review and how I go over this with coaches and Mgr. Clint Hurdle each week. I'm not surprised at all that she picks this up very quickly and analyzed the trends I am seeing too. I then show her our upcoming schedule and roster for the week, I'm curious how she would modify our roster for the week. She picks two players that I was considering moving myself 1B Adam Lind and LF Jason Martin. Our best hitters coming up from AAA are 3B Brian W Anderson and 1B Ryon Healy.

I call down to Mgr. Hurdles office and he signs off on the moves. Penny Layne cant believe it's that simple to make the roster moves. I tell her she is familiar with he process from being the secretary, but Penny replies it was always handed to her as completed and she never saw the process before. I joked Penny would be taking my job shortly...

We take a free fall in the power rankings back down to the 20th position, which is slightly better than I expected.

In MLB news;

the top 5 active players with the best on-base percentage in their career are listed below.

[moore4807]

Wow 2800+ reads? and NO complaints? lol! Thanks for reading and I would like some feedback here, No skin too thin, this is therapeutic fun for me. Sharing it isn't what I'm used to.

[moore4807]

This is the "what can you do?" game. SP Joe Musgrove (7IP, 7H, 2ER, 0BB, 5K's) had his one mistake game, a fastball to SS Trea Turner after Adam Eaton got on base and one two run shot later its Washington 2, Pirates 0. We managed to get a run back in the bottom of the first, and it was all zeroes after that. Final score 2-1.

CF Monte Harrison and SS Jose Iglesias each had two hits for the Pirates attack.

Just have to get ready for tomorrow's game.

In MLB news;

Minnesota SP Jose Berrios struck out 15 batters in leading his team to a 7-1 win in front of the home fans.

[moore4807]

Its a close win after two close losses. We could use some more of these games.

SP Jimmy Nelson (6IP, 2H, 1ER, 3BB, 5K's) pitched effectively against the Nationals. RP Josh Lindgren pitched two scoreless innings, and CL Archie Bradley struck out two of the three batters he faced for the save.

RF Myles Straw went 3-4 with 1 RBI, C Elias Diaz hit a HR, and with only hitting a total of seven hits, every run counts.

[moore4807]

Be careful of what you ask for? lol! Its another win and it was close, AND we only had seven hits again.

SP Joey Lucchesi (6.2IP, 3H, 2ER, 2BB, 7K's) was very good, holding the Nationals to three hits and two runs on a 2 run HR by OF Juan Soto. Other than that he was masterful in limiting the Nationals chances.

Monte Harrison hit his 5th HR of the season to put the Pirates up 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning. Elias Diaz also had another 2/4 day with a run scored.

In MLB news

Boston SS Xander Bogaerts is now out for the season after a shoulder injury in a game. Bogaerts was having a great season and Boston will certainly miss his contributions as the season progresses.

Baltimore is the first team eliminated from playoff contention. A shame but someone always has to be the first out the door.

[moore4807]

Head Scout Joe DelliCarri found a prospect with potential in his travels in Venezuela. 16 y/o Luis Hurtado has two star potential currently but Joe feels he is going to be better than that. Hurtado was signed and placed in the International Complex.

In MLB news;

Kansas City Royals P Jake Newman joins the others who have been sidelined by injury for the season. A shoulder injury has put him on the shelf, he hopes to be back strong for next year.

[moore4807]

I want to say its hard to believe but we beat Washington today and won the series 3-1. The Pirates especially over the last week are now showing consistently good pitching efforts, and I make sure that pitching coach Joel Hanrahan knows it.

SP Jameson Taillon (7.2IP, 5H, 2ER, 1BB, 7K's) was effective and combined with RP Ryan Brazier and CL Archie Bradley to shut down the Nats. Our RP/CL pitched 1.1IP with no runs, hits, walks and 1K for Bradley. VERY nice work!

C Elias Diaz (2/4 1R, 1HR, 2RBI) is doing his talking between the lines, his hitting has been great so far this week.1B Josh Bell also went 2/3, 1R, 1W to pace the eight hit offensive explosion... (just kidding)

[moore4807]

We play the Reds at home for a 3 game weekend series.

[moore4807]

Pitching makes the Pirates day brighter. We score 4 runs on 8 hits while our pitching staff allows one run on 5 hits. Nice!

GM Moore is still concerned about SP Archer's (5.2IP, 4H, 1ER, 2BB, 9K's) pitch counts. His stuff is fine and gets batters out, however he is getting to high pitch counts while still in the middle innings on consecutive starts now.
Our relievers today picked up the slack with RP John Axford and RP Rich Rodriguez combining to provide 3.1IP of one hit no run relief. P Rodriguez even picked up his 5th save today.

Pirates are getting a good return on their 8 hits a game lately. 3B Brian Anderson and C Reese McGuire both had two hits each accounting for half the hits, but only had no runs and 1 RBI between them to show for it. Our top three hitters RF Straw, CF Harrison, and 1B Bell accounted for the 4 runs on three hits and two walks.

[moore4807]

A few news reports to catch everyone up on.