Remember all week when Browns fans were saying that the Steelers were gonna take a cheap shot at Baker because they're dirty? I bet there's total silence from them about the Browns hitting Boswell in the head and chanting "Pittsburgh sucks" as Boswell's still on the ground
Entering today, in the Statcast era, there were 688 batted balls with an exit velocity of at least 113 MPH that traveled at least 400 feet:
662 home runs
24 doubles
1 triple
1 out
This Oneil Cruz flyout today was the second such batted ball ever recorded to not result in a hit
Imagine being told this 3 months ago:
Cruz broke his ankle in April; Brubaker, Velasquez, Burrows all had elbow surgery; Contreras just lost his rotation spot to a non-prospect with a 6.75 ERA in his last 4 starts...and the Pirates are in sole possession of 1st place on June 11
One of my new all-time favorite baseball facts is that Jason Kendall, Russell Martin, and Carlos Santana all played for the Pirates spanning four different decades and all have caught Rich Hill (but not with the Pirates)
Reds called up one of their top guys and he just hit a pinch-hit go-ahead homer for his first MLB hit
Pirates called up three of their top guys yesterday and have been outscored 21-1 since
First big league hit, first big league HOMER!
@Reds
No. 5 prospect Christian Encarnacion-Strand clobbers a 426 ft. go-ahead 3-run shot in his fourth career at-bat:
Lot has been said lately about how important Carlos Santana has become to this team. The infielders waited to do the postgame celly until he came sprinting in from the dugout
Pirates' runs scored in last 15 games:
3
1
1
1
2
1
4
2
2
5
0
4
2
1
2 (thru 7 innings tonight)
That's barely 2 runs per game. On track to go 3-12 in those games. People should have been fired, like, last year
Every team ever with 20+ wins at the end of April, with their season win total:
01 SEA (116)
03 NYY (101)
08 ARI (82)
14 MIL (82)
18 HOU (103)
18 BOS (108)
18 ARI (82)
19 LAD (106)
23 TB (99)
23 PIT (76)
Pirates the first ever to do so and fail to have a winning season
Former Pirates Jameson Taillon, Gerrit Cole, Joe Musgrove, Chad Kuhl, and Tyler Anderson since yesterday:
35 IP, 13 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 28 K
0.26 ERA, 0.51 WHIP
A Trade that makes a lot of sense to me?
Blue Jays & Pirates swap Vladimir Guerrero Jr and Connor Joe
PIrates GM has familiarity with Guerrero back to days in Toronto
Jays get 4 Yrs of Control & Pirates concede that they need to roster a real first baseman
A Trade that makes a lot of sense to me?
Blue Jays & Pirates swap Alek Manoah & Mitch Keller
PIrates GM has familiarity with Manoah back to days in Toronto
Pirates get 4 Yrs of Control & Blue Jays concede a Championship contender can't go into a season trying to fix Manoah
Don’t ever compare that Oneil Cruz or whatever his name is to Elly de La Cruz ever fucking again. Don’t disrespect Elly like that.
Ever.
1 of 1.
No words.
#Reds
Since the Pirates' sheer inability to develop pitchers has been a hot topic lately, these less-than-flattering comments from Jameson Taillon and Erik Kratz feel relevant
We're a week into June and David Bednar still has yet to issue an unintentional walk. His ERA is 1.13. The best closer in baseball plays in the NL Central but not for the Reds
Greg Brown just said on the broadcast that Roansy Contreras has now had Angel Hernandez as his home plate umpire for 3 consecutive starts. That shouldn't be allowed
Complete game shutout for Mitch Keller. Now has a 2.72 ERA and 1.09 WHIP through 8 starts. He's the second-best starter in the NL Central and
#1
is not who you think it is*
The Pirates are trying to avoid getting swept by a team that is starting Pablo Reyes at 1B and Tyler Heineman at DH today. Let that sink in for a minute lol
Updated NL Central prediction from Fangraphs
86-76 Brewers
83-79 Pirates
81-81 Cardinals
79-83 Cubs
70-92 Reds
Pirates are projected to be the top NL team to miss the playoffs
- "Pirates bad lol" is not good journalism, that's just being an idiot
- Spell Oneil Cruz's name right
- Stop using only batting average to grade players
Pulling Jared Jones isn't what cost the Pirates the game today. The offense being abysmal and Ortiz/Hernandez pitching like minor leaguers is what cost them the game
Today is my birthday and I have absolutely not a single thing planned and I'm going to pretend it's because I knew that Paul Skenes and Jared Jones were pitching today
MLB's unluckiest home run hitter in 2023?
Edward Olivares
Olivares, confined to the massive dimensions of Kauffman Stadium, had the largest negative differential between home runs hit (12) and expected home runs (17.4) in 2023.
His 5 unluckiest non-homers from 2023:
I hate when Pirates go on Foul Territory because of how often they get forced these questions about how awful the Pirates are and how they should hope to only be there til the deadline. Good on Rowdy for not dealing that that crap
Here's the problem - Hayes didn't even make the "just missed," which was Chapman, Jung, Burger, Suarez, McMahon, Candelario. They really believe Hayes is - AT BEST - the
#17
3B right now. That's indefensible
1) let me get this out of the way. Saying Turner or Muncy is better than Hayes is so stupid. Hayes is at the very worst the
#8
3B in baseball…. Probably top 5 and that’s without my bias
My bias… Jose Ramirez is the best 3B in baseball and it can’t even be debated
Shit list
Every instance so far this year of Pirates outfielders not making the play on balls with a catch probability of at least 70%
(no audio, it's depressing enough as is)
If the Pirates are serious about competing next year, as they claim to be, there are zero excuses for having Haines and Marin on the staff. Absolutely none
Probably Jones' worst start of the season. Still in line for the W, only gave up 3 runs, same amount of strikeouts as innings, and no walks. Dude is special
Was working last night so I wasn't watching the game or on Twitter much so somebody might have pointed this out already but I was reminded of that time when the Pirates walked off the White Sox because Yasmani Grandal couldn't catch a routine throw lol
According to Fangraphs, there have been 31,092 instances in all of MLB history of a player recording at least 200 plate appearances in a season. Jared Triolo's .440 BABIP last year was the highest ever. Literally
#1
out of 31,092. He shouldn't be guaranteed a starting spot
Couldn't be more excited to share that I've taken over as a Site Expert/Editor at
@rumbunter
. I'm fully dedicated to helping Rum Bunter fulfill its promise as "the best Pittsburgh Pirates blog." Many thanks to everyone who helped me get here and are trusting me in this role.
There are 232 relief pitchers with at least 30 innings pitched this season. Here are all of them with a lower WHIP than Ryan Borucki this season:
(end of list)
Henry Davis and Jack Suwinski both being optioned within the first two months of the season is a real shame. Embarrassing that it's gotten to this point
We have recalled LHP Jose Hernandez from Triple-A Indianapolis, and optioned OF Jack Suwinski to Triple-A Indianapolis to make room on the 26-man active roster.
Robert Murray confirms the Pirates' strong interest in Kyle Gibson and adds that the Pirates are "far from done" and "active behind the scenes" in regards to pitchers and outfielders
The Baseball Insiders: Insight on Mike Clevinger, Jose Abreu deals; updates on the free agent market and what I’m hearing; answering questions. With
@AdamWeinrib
:
I'm more pro-Pickett than most. I think he's been dealt an irresponsibly bad hand thus far. I fully believe(d) that he could look a lot different under Arthur Smith. But when you have the chance to add a QB with that pedigree (who played well last year) for that cost, you do it