2015 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

Postby **meow** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 10:38 pm

Mets with 8 home runs tonight.

Holy buckets. They were getting clubbed last I saw. It was 7-2 I think.

Postby **willeyeam** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 9:56 am

This team is awesome. So fun to watch. Man, if AJ comes back healthy with a fresh arm, look out.

Postby **willeyeam** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 9:57 am

And Polanco - not only is he hot, he is HOT. Everything is jumping off his bat. Seems like everything comes off the bat at about 800 MPH. That thing must look like a beach ball to him. Props to the Buccos for waiting him out and letting him sort it out at the MLB level.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 10:01 am

And Polanco - not only is he hot, he is HOT. Everything is jumping off his bat. Seems like everything comes off the bat at about 800 MPH. That thing must look like a beach ball to him. Props to the Buccos for waiting him out and letting him sort it out at the MLB level.

Gregory Polanco went 4-for-5 with two doubles, a stolen base, and an RBI in Monday's victory over the Marlins.
Polanco singled and scored in the third inning to help the Pirates take a 2-0 lead. In the eighth, he singled, stole second base (his 21st of the season) and advanced to third on a throwing error, but was stranded. The 23-year-old has had a terrific August, batting .366 (34-for-93) with three doubles, three triples, three home runs, and nine RBI. Polanco is starting to show why he was a highly-regarded prospect.

Rotoworld blurb on him. .366 as a leadoff hitter this month is probably the main reason they've gone 20-8 in their last 28 games.

Postby **columbia** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 10:04 am

And Polanco - not only is he hot, he is HOT. Everything is jumping off his bat. Seems like everything comes off the bat at about 800 MPH. That thing must look like a beach ball to him. Props to the Buccos for waiting him out and letting him sort it out at the MLB level.

"If he doesn't start hitting soon, they have to send to AAA".
"I couldn't agree more, Joe...You're listening 93.7 The Fan".

Postby **Troy Loney** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 10:11 am

And Polanco - not only is he hot, he is HOT. Everything is jumping off his bat. Seems like everything comes off the bat at about 800 MPH. That thing must look like a beach ball to him. Props to the Buccos for waiting him out and letting him sort it out at the MLB level.
"If he doesn't start hitting soon, they have to send to AAA".
"I couldn't agree more, Joe...You're listening 93.7 The Fan".

That was probably a lot of people. I think this is the benefit of having a guy like Hurdle as the manager. He seems to know how to manage people. Luckily, I think the stats people take a lot of the tactical decision out of his hands.

Postby **slappybrown** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 10:26 am

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/mlb-t ... -schedule/

In case it wasn’t hard enough chasing the division-leading Cardinals and fending off the surging Cubs, the Pirates also had to deal with a murderous stretch of schedule. Following an August 3 rainout, Pittsburgh faced a stretch of 18 games against teams ranging from deceptively tough to downright scary. With two against the Cubs, three against the Dodgers, Cards, Mets, and D-backs, then four against the Giants, this 18-game stretch threatened to undo much of the great work the Pirates had done to thrust themselves into playoff position for the third straight year.

Well, the results are in, and the Pirates went 13-5 over those 18 games. They’re just a half-game behind the Royals for the second-best record in baseball and three and a half back of the Cardinals in the NL Central race. Plus, with that brutal stretch out of the way, the Pirates now own the fourth-easiest remaining schedule in the majors.

Can they catch the Cards and avoid the minefield that is the one-game wild-card playoff? It’s not out of the question. From Andrew McCutchen shaking off that concerning early-season knee injury and rounding into pristine form, to Jung Ho Kang making a run at the NL Rookie of the Year award (and the “bargain of the decade” award) with continued heroics, to the Cardinals potentially being due for some luck-related regression, there are plenty of reasons to believe.

*cue c2i screenshot of shad predicting Bucco doom*

Postby **Rocco** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 11:11 am

The Cardinals have been due for luck-related regression for the last decade and it never happens. I'll believe it when I see it.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 11:23 am

*cue c2i screenshot of shad predicting Bucco doom*

They are tremendously fun to watch, but it's hard to be super-excited facing a one-game playoff, sorry. I think the Cubs are a favorable matchup, and thankfully they have a 6.5 game lead on the Giants. I don't think we want to run into the Bumgarner buzzsaw again

Postby **Troy Loney** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 11:28 am

*cue c2i screenshot of shad predicting Bucco doom*
They are tremendously fun to watch, but it's hard to be super-excited facing a one-game playoff, sorry. I think the Cubs are a favorable matchup, and thankfully they have a 6.5 game lead on the Giants. I don't think we want to run into the Bumgarner buzzsaw again

It also wouldn't be fun to face the Dodgers in a 5 game playoff with Grienke/Kershaw.

I don't understand why everyone is so bent out of shape and conceding a WC game loss already.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 11:31 am

Yeah it's not supposed to be easy, that's for sure. I really like their chances in a one game playoff against the Cubs, and I actually like a Cards series more than a Dodgers series, as you mentioned, especially in five games.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 11:34 am

Yeah it's not supposed to be easy, that's for sure. I really like their chances in a one game playoff against the Cubs, and I actually like a Cards series more than a Dodgers series, as you mentioned, especially in five games.

The only thing that I don't like is that the divisional round doesn't reseed based on regular season record. It's pretty lame that we can't get a Pirates/Cardinals NLCS this year.

Postby **willeyeam** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 12:46 pm

A Pirates/Cards 7 game series would be absolutely insane

Postby **King Colby** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 3:27 pm

I'm just tired of people acting like the 27 games over 500 pirates are second rate because theyre in 2nd. Like, this is a special season. As frustrating as it is that theres a decent chance of a one-and-done, people need to enjoy the ride. Sometimes luck can be your unraveling. It is what it is.

Are the Pirates a failure if they don't win the division and then lose the WC? **** no. But just wait to see what happens if that happens...

Postby **count2infinity** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 4:08 pm

We have the best outfield in baseball, we have a rookie of the year candidate (what a signing...), we have an emerging star for our main catcher who replaced one of the best we (MLB) have seen in this generation, our pitching looks great, deep, and young for the most part. After 20 years of being miserable, this is awesome.

Postby **the errey i breathe** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 4:17 pm

We have the best outfield in baseball, we have a rookie of the year candidate (what a signing...), we have an emerging star for our main catcher who replaced one of the best we (MLB) have seen in this generation, our pitching looks great, deep, and young for the most part. After 20 years of being miserable, this is awesome.

To add to this, we've got legitimate prospects who have been doing well at all levels of the minors. Glasnow, Bell, Hansen, not to mention Taillon if he ever gets healthy. This team is looking good for this year and beyond. Most importantly this team is just fun to watch. They never seem to be out of a game and have a lot of likeable players.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 4:19 pm

I'm just tired of people acting like the 27 games over 500 pirates are second rate because theyre in 2nd. Like, this is a special season. As frustrating as it is that theres a decent chance of a one-and-done, people need to enjoy the ride. Sometimes luck can be your unraveling. It is what it is.

Are the Pirates a failure if they don't win the division and then lose the WC? **** no. But just wait to see what happens if that happens...

If one team has a right to complain, it's the Cubs. You have the 4th best record in baseball, and your reward is to go on the road in a one game playoff against a team with 2nd or 3rd best record in baseball.

Postby **Kicksave** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 4:20 pm

I still wish they went and got a better pitcher than JA Happ at the deadline.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 4:21 pm

I still wish they went and got a better pitcher than JA Happ at the deadline.

I wish they had got Tulowitzki

Postby **King Colby** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 4:24 pm

Meh. Tulo is great but id have rather spent the prospects on a tip top starter. Eventually there will need to be a bigger trade... either the prospects they have or the guys whos place those prospects will be taking

Postby **Rocco** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 5:15 pm

We have the best outfield in baseball, we have a rookie of the year candidate (what a signing...), we have an emerging star for our main catcher who replaced one of the best we (MLB) have seen in this generation, our pitching looks great, deep, and young for the most part. After 20 years of being miserable, this is awesome.

Something something don't care about winning something something Nutting is cheap something something mumble.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 5:21 pm

Meh. Tulo is great but id have rather spent the prospects on a tip top starter. Eventually there will need to be a bigger trade... either the prospects they have or the guys whos place those prospects will be taking

The return they got is hard to gauge cause the blue jays also got to dump Reyes on the Rockies. He would have cost mostly money and has some years of control. The impact starters would have all been rentals and cost more prospect talent.

Postby **willeyeam** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 6:02 pm

Trades may not be necessary. Think of the upcoming impact players.. Bell, Hanson, Taillon, Glasnow, Kingham. All replacing players with a year or two left (Pedro, Neil, AJ, Frankie,). It'd be nice to have an impact SS close, but all in all I think the timing of everything is on a pretty nice track.

Postby **cadams** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:43 pm

I'm just tired of people acting like the 27 games over 500 pirates are second rate because theyre in 2nd. Like, this is a special season. As frustrating as it is that theres a decent chance of a one-and-done, people need to enjoy the ride. Sometimes luck can be your unraveling. It is what it is.

Are the Pirates a failure if they don't win the division and then lose the WC? **** no. But just wait to see what happens if that happens...
If one team has a right to complain, it's the Cubs. You have the 4th best record in baseball, and your reward is to go on the road in a one game playoff against a team with 2nd or 3rd best record in baseball.

Being 3rd in your division would make this complaints sound a lot like whining. I'd prefer to not see a play in and if that means the Pirates finish a game back in the future then so be it.

I guess the solution is to change to 4 divisions and bump up to 32 teams which I guess would see an NL East of Bucs, Mets, Nats and Phils potentially which this year would be insane too.

Postby **count2infinity** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:51 pm

lol, such a dumb play there to go to 3rd.