2014 Pittsburgh Pirates thread: Will it be two in a row?

• gport_tennis

  Headhunting like this simply pisses me off. Are they happy now?
• Heretic

  

  gport_tennis;1641352 wrote:Headhunting like this simply pisses me off. Are they happy now?

  Since Arizona cares more about the unwritten rules than winning games, yes.
  
  At least, if there's anything positive to come from it, virtually every site I've seen is having a time of it writing columns to blast the DoucheBacks, Gibson and up to the front office because they encourage headhunting in any situation imaginable as their way to "police the game". Well, that and the fact that Kirk the Incompetent will in all likelihood get fired for sucking after the season.
• GoPens

  

  Good news. It's not an oblique injury for Cutch but a rib injury. Not going on DL for now.
  Pedro put on the bereavement list. Might be for the death of his career.
• Heretic

  

  Last night showed the effects of not having a deep bullpen quality-wise.
  
  Morton pitched seven strong innings and left with a 2-1 lead.
  
  The usually solid Hughes got an out, gave up a baserunner and then, due to an error on Harrison, it was first and second.
  
  Wilson, who's not been good this year, but still gets put in high-leverage situations because he has "good stuff" and they apparently feel he'll magically get back to last year's form if he keeps getting trotted out, gave up a single to load the bases and then walked two straight batters to turn 2-1 into 2-3. Still with one out.
  
  And so Jeanmar Gomez, who's good as a middle relief guy or a long guy, but not in high-leverage situations, was able to get out of the inning...surrendering all inherited runners in the process. Score was 2-6 after a five-run implosion. Team loses 6-3. Fuckin' A!
• Ironman92

  

  Josh Harrison with 20 hits (including 12 XBH) in his last 10 game....most by any Pirate since Dave Parker in 1978.
  
  Patiently waited and made it big. Good for him.
• Heretic

  

  Ironman92;1641965 wrote:Josh Harrison with 20 hits (including 12 XBH) in his last 10 game....most by any Pirate since Dave Parker in 1978.
  
  Patiently waited and made it big. Good for him.

  He's been huge this year -- probably the biggest reason the team is where they're at, not counting McCutchen, but he's been more of "roughly where he's supposed to be" while Harrison was essentially the 25th guy (or tied with Pimentel for 24th) coming out of spring training.
  
  Things just unfolded perfectly for him, too. Both Tabata and Snider stink it up, so he starts playing in RF (no real experience there, but whatevs). Right when the team calls up Polanco, Walker goes on the DL, so he moves to 2B. Around when he comes back, Marte starts having injury issues, so it's off to LF. And by the time that was over, he'd become integral enough to the team's hot streak to get semi-regular time (just not everyday). But then, Pedro became totally inept at 3B, so he's more or less taken over there. And has been hitting for better power than him over the past couple months.
• Ironman92

  

  Heretic;1641970 wrote:He's been huge this year -- probably the biggest reason the team is where they're at, not counting McCutchen, but he's been more of "roughly where he's supposed to be" while Harrison was essentially the 25th guy (or tied with Pimentel for 24th) coming out of spring training.
  
  Things just unfolded perfectly for him, too. Both Tabata and Snider stink it up, so he starts playing in RF (no real experience there, but whatevs). Right when the team calls up Polanco, Walker goes on the DL, so he moves to 2B. Around when he comes back, Marte starts having injury issues, so it's off to LF. And by the time that was over, he'd become integral enough to the team's hot streak to get semi-regular time (just not everyday). But then, Pedro became totally inept at 3B, so he's more or less taken over there. And has been hitting for better power than him over the past couple months.

  His versatility is huge....would love to have him on the Reds. He's just a ball player
• Heretic

  

  Ironman92;1642230 wrote:His versatility is huge....would love to have him on the Reds. He's just a ball player

  Yeah, he just seems to be the guy who fits in the "hustle/great teammate/infectious enthusiasm" mold. I truly hope this year wasn't a complete fluke because he's a joy to watch and, like you said, having a guy with that versatility is a huge benefit, especially when most of your starters have missed time with one minor injury or another. All he does is fit in wherever and perform (usually better than the starter offensively, at least).
• Heretic

  

  Last night, they moved into the top wild card spot thanks to both STL and SF losing. Pretty good, considering they're playing without Cutch or Walker, but then Harrison has entered GOD MODE to compensate for that and the pitching has been awesome.
  
  I read somewhere the Reds are the only team in at least the NL with more 21-out performances by their starters, which is incredible considering Liriano hasn't been as good as he was last year and the rest of the rotation is essentially no-names and reclamation projects. And Morton, whom I'm not sure exactly how to classify, although I do know that getting him and Locke from Atlanta for Nate McLouth looks more and more like an utter trade-rape the more time goes on.
• Ironman92

  

  My daughter and her college friends are going to tonight's Pirates game.
• Heretic

  

  After losing the two games in Pittsburgh, Detroit returns home and will pitch an A-ball pitcher who has made a total of two AA starts. At the least, that gives me a lot of hope the Pirates will get 3/4 from the GREATEST COLLECTION OF BASEBALL TALENT EVER ASSEMBLED (Schertzer tomorrow will be a tougher conquest than broke-down Verlander, Robbie Ray or, hopefully, this Buck Farmer kid). In an article I read, it was hilarious reading Dombrowski trying to talk Farmer up. To paraphrase "I think this kid is good. We'd like to work on the development longer. I haven't actually seen him, maybe once. But we like him!"
  
  Oh, and this tidbit from the preview article, where I found out just who Buck Farmer is:
  
  Pittsburgh's Josh Harrison doubled Tuesday, giving him 15 extra-base hits in his last 16 games and 57 total bases since July 27 - 13 more than anyone else in the majors.
  
  And I also read that this year, he's actually been better than Miggy in certain advanced stats (bWar was the one I noticed). Pretty good for a guy who'd been essentially a AAAA for his career to date and whom I thought probably peaked at being that bench utility guy who pinch hits from time to time and RARELY gets a start when enough people need days off.
• Heretic

  

  This whole "Neil Walker being hurt" thing is turning into a real downer, because you could combine Jayson Nix and Michael Martinez and would still only have one really large hunk of shit.
  
  Nix was beyond worthless last night (0-4 with a crucial error that played a big role in a 4-1 lead turning into a 4-4 tie in what became an 8-4 loss) and Martinez is even a bit worse offensively. They're both batting roughly .150, meaning that even with a DH, we still essentially have a pitcher in the #9 hole.
• Heretic

  

  Despite slumping badly for a bit, with the whole seven-game losing streak and all, the team still is in solid contention. Be nice if they could get 2/3 from the Cards by winning today, though.
  
  On the negative side, Wainwright is pitching for StL.
  On the positive side, Wainwright has been struggling a bit recently.
  On the negative side, it's Wainwright. Against the Pirates. Best hope is to drive up the pitch count and hope Locke matches him with 0s and the Pirates win the battle of the bullpens.
• Heretic

  

  2/3 from the Cards after 2/3 from the Brewers. A few more series like this and that 7-game losing streak will be forgotten.
  
  If the Giants lost tonight, they'll only be .5 out of the second wild card. Although I'd rather have more as (1) as the second wild card, they'd be on the road where they are 500 times worse than at home and (2) as a wild card, it's a best of 1 series and they'd have to be the underdog against anyone in that situation because they don't actually have an ace on their staff.
• Heretic

  

  Never would have guessed at any point of this season, I'd be reading blog columns like this about Harrison.
  
  http://www.bucsdugout.com/2014/8/30/6085463/postgame-josh-harrison-does-everything-in-win-over-reds
  
  Stat-wise, he's not going to be a MVP candidate, even if this is kind of a down year in the NL, but one could make an "intangibles" argument, considering he can play most positions, has been very good defensively and is the #1 reason the team has been in contention for a playoff spot despite a 20-28 start and a ton of injuries.
• Heretic

  

  This team's like a daily heart attack. They alternate between winning streaks and losing streaks, so that one day, they're in the mix for the playoffs and then a couple days later, they're on the verge of being irrelevant. After yesterday's two wins, they're back in the mix. By Wednesday, who fuckin' knows?
• Ironman92

  

  Harrison playing?
• Heretic

  

  Ironman92;1651571 wrote:Harrison playing?

  I think he's available to pinch hit, but listed as day-to-day. So they have (sigh) that Morel guy and his .120 average starting at third, meaning that the 8-hole is the weak spot in our offense, as Gerrit Cole is far better at hitting the ball than him.
• Heretic

  

  17 games to go and a 1.5 game lead for the second wild card. And only 3.5 back of the division leading Cards.
  
  At the least, it'll be a tense end to the season where I can see the standings changing every few games.
• Heretic

  

  Entering a huge home series with Boston (gotta pull away from the Brewers and/or catch the Cards/Giants) with Charlie Morton starting the first game with his 5-12 record and horrid past couple months before going on the DL with a sports hernia where I was reading just a couple weeks ago that he still had a lot of discomfort.
  
  One of those "expect the worst; hope for the best" things.
• Heretic

  

  Two steps closer last night with a win over Bahstun and a loss by the Brewers.
  
  That StL/Mil series is about as conflicting of one as I've paid attention to in a long-ass time. On one hand, every win by the Brewers helps the Pirates get closer to the division title (very preferable to the wild card and a one-game play-in series). On the other, every win by the Cardinals gives the Pirates a bit more breathing room to simply get in the playoffs. Another Cardinal win today combined with a Pirates win AND Pittsburgh then going on to sweep the Brewers over the weekend would essentially have a playoff spot of some sort locked up by their seven-game road trip to end the season.
  
  Not likely (primarily because Mil always plays Pittsburgh way too tough), but nice to dream about.
• Heretic

  

  MLB says Pittsburgh's playoff probability is 90+%. That seems rather high, as while they have a nice buffer between them and the Brewers, they're playing three games with them (and they've generally owned the Pirates this year). And then close with 7 straight road games, where they're notably worse than at home.
• thavoice

  Heretic;1655560 wrote:MLB says Pittsburgh's playoff probability is 90+%. That seems rather high, as while they have a nice buffer between them and the Brewers, they're playing three games with them (and they've generally owned the Pirates this year). And then close with 7 straight road games, where they're notably worse than at home.

  Look for the reds to return the favor from last year against the pirates........
• Heretic

  

  thavoice;1655563 wrote:Look for the reds to return the favor from last year against the pirates........

  I'm hoping that when the Pirates play the Reds, all they're going for is playoff positioning (either at home for the wild card or, preferably passing the Cards for the division). Right now, they're 4.5 up on the Brewers with 9 to play (Milw has 8). If they split the next two and maintain a 4.5 lead into the final week, the playoffs should be locked up when we get to Cincy. If they win both, it's all but over then. If they lose both, things will be dicey, since they'll only be up 2.5 and are finishing with 7 on the road, where they're a lot worse than at home.
• Ironman92

  

  Hope they can catch and surpass the Cards