1 wrote:When Bruce and Dickerson carry us to the playoffs, we’ll all be wearing gold-plated diapers.

Starling Marte stood on first base with the potential go-ahead run and convened with Kimera Bartee, the Pirates first-base coach. Pittsburgh had already attempted and failed twice to steal a base. It was the 10th inning of Monday night’s game.

And Marte had the green light.

It did not matter that J.T. Realmuto loomed behind the plate. Phillies reliever Mike Morin was slow enough to the plate on Bartee’s stopwatch that the Pirates deemed it a favorable moment. The Pirates also knew that Morin, ahead in the count after throwing a first-pitch slider for a strike, could deploy the slow changeup that he loves.

“The game right now is in such an analytical state,” Morin said. “There is so much knowledge in terms of technology. They are having somebody watch all of my tendencies. Right? Then, it’s an educated guess.”

Realmuto called for a fastball away. Marte had a good jump. But Morin was about 1.2 seconds to home — a decent time. “He chose the wrong pitch to run,” Morin said. “By happenstance. He can fly. I ended up throwing a modified pitch-out.” Realmuto held the ball for all of 0.69 seconds before he unleashed an 86.4 mph throw to second base.

The whole exchange — from catcher’s mitt to Jean Segura’s glove — was 1.81 seconds. An elite pop time. The throw wasn’t perfect, but Segura snared it and contorted his body toward Marte’s so he could slam down the tag. Realmuto had nabbed his third potential base-stealer of the night.

Cabrera, the batter, could not believe it.

“I looked at him,” Realmuto said. “He’s looking out of the corner of his eye at me. He goes, ‘Wow.'”

Realmuto didn’t say a word. Cabrera laughed.

“So,” Realmuto said, “that’s why I winked at him.”

phorever wrote:to me, what klentak did wrong is pretty much limited to going with the combo of talented but high-risk starters backed by a deep and proven but expensive pen instead of going with the alternative fewer expensive vets in the pen and using the money for corbin and/or keuchel. that was a gamble that could have paid off, but instead he got pretty much the worse case scenario out of it: all risky starters regressed, all expensive old relievers ... and most of the young ones... got hurt. and yes, i am probably overly forgiving of this because i convinced myself it was the right gamble.

what klentak did right in the offseason was acquire bryce, cutch, jtr, and sequra. all have contributed vastly more than the guys they replaced, and cutch may well have been right up there with jtr in the top ten of fwar if he hadn't gotten hurt.

what klentak did right during the season is pick up enough talent to keep them in the playoff hunt despite the injuries, and spend next to nothing doing it so that they can go all-in on the likes of cole and cole this coming offseason.

PA_Dan wrote:From The Atlantic...

Starling Marte stood on first base with the potential go-ahead run and convened with Kimera Bartee, the Pirates first-base coach. Pittsburgh had already attempted and failed twice to steal a base. It was the 10th inning of Monday night’s game.

And Marte had the green light.

It did not matter that J.T. Realmuto loomed behind the plate. Phillies reliever Mike Morin was slow enough to the plate on Bartee’s stopwatch that the Pirates deemed it a favorable moment. The Pirates also knew that Morin, ahead in the count after throwing a first-pitch slider for a strike, could deploy the slow changeup that he loves.

“The game right now is in such an analytical state,” Morin said. “There is so much knowledge in terms of technology. They are having somebody watch all of my tendencies. Right? Then, it’s an educated guess.”

Realmuto called for a fastball away. Marte had a good jump. But Morin was about 1.2 seconds to home — a decent time. “He chose the wrong pitch to run,” Morin said. “By happenstance. He can fly. I ended up throwing a modified pitch-out.” Realmuto held the ball for all of 0.69 seconds before he unleashed an 86.4 mph throw to second base.

The whole exchange — from catcher’s mitt to Jean Segura’s glove — was 1.81 seconds. An elite pop time. The throw wasn’t perfect, but Segura snared it and contorted his body toward Marte’s so he could slam down the tag. Realmuto had nabbed his third potential base-stealer of the night.

Cabrera, the batter, could not believe it.

“I looked at him,” Realmuto said. “He’s looking out of the corner of his eye at me. He goes, ‘Wow.'”

Realmuto didn’t say a word. Cabrera laughed.

“So,” Realmuto said, “that’s why I winked at him.”

phorever wrote:

mtcal wrote:for getting ripped pretty frequently by a lot, klentak's acquisitions in the pen and to fill in have kinda kept us alive re: Dickerson morin etc

get well soon jay bruce!

to me, what klentak did wrong is pretty much limited to going with the combo of talented but high-risk starters backed by a deep and proven but expensive pen instead of going with the alternative fewer expensive vets in the pen and using the money for corbin and/or keuchel. that was a gamble that could have paid off, but instead he got pretty much the worse case scenario out of it: all risky starters regressed, all expensive old relievers ... and most of the young ones... got hurt. and yes, i am probably overly forgiving of this because i convinced myself it was the right gamble.

what klentak did right in the offseason was acquire bryce, cutch, jtr, and sequra. all have contributed vastly more than the guys they replaced, and cutch may well have been right up there with jtr in the top ten of fwar if he hadn't gotten hurt.

what klentak did right during the season is pick up enough talent to keep them in the playoff hunt despite the injuries, and spend next to nothing doing it so that they can go all-in on the likes of cole and cole this coming offseason.

PA_Dan wrote:From The Athletic...

Starling Marte stood on first base with the potential go-ahead run and convened with Kimera Bartee, the Pirates first-base coach. Pittsburgh had already attempted and failed twice to steal a base. It was the 10th inning of Monday night’s game.

And Marte had the green light.

It did not matter that J.T. Realmuto loomed behind the plate. Phillies reliever Mike Morin was slow enough to the plate on Bartee’s stopwatch that the Pirates deemed it a favorable moment. The Pirates also knew that Morin, ahead in the count after throwing a first-pitch slider for a strike, could deploy the slow changeup that he loves.

“The game right now is in such an analytical state,” Morin said. “There is so much knowledge in terms of technology. They are having somebody watch all of my tendencies. Right? Then, it’s an educated guess.”

Realmuto called for a fastball away. Marte had a good jump. But Morin was about 1.2 seconds to home — a decent time. “He chose the wrong pitch to run,” Morin said. “By happenstance. He can fly. I ended up throwing a modified pitch-out.” Realmuto held the ball for all of 0.69 seconds before he unleashed an 86.4 mph throw to second base.

The whole exchange — from catcher’s mitt to Jean Segura’s glove — was 1.81 seconds. An elite pop time. The throw wasn’t perfect, but Segura snared it and contorted his body toward Marte’s so he could slam down the tag. Realmuto had nabbed his third potential base-stealer of the night.

Cabrera, the batter, could not believe it.

“I looked at him,” Realmuto said. “He’s looking out of the corner of his eye at me. He goes, ‘Wow.'”

Realmuto didn’t say a word. Cabrera laughed.

“So,” Realmuto said, “that’s why I winked at him.”

Klaus Daimler wrote:Michael Schwimer has reinvented himself as a tout.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... disgusting

smitty wrote:

Klaus Daimler wrote:Michael Schwimer has reinvented himself as a tout.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... disgusting

I wonder if Scwimlocity applies to touting?

Uncle Milty wrote:

phorever wrote:

mtcal wrote:for getting ripped pretty frequently by a lot, klentak's acquisitions in the pen and to fill in have kinda kept us alive re: Dickerson morin etc

get well soon jay bruce!

to me, what klentak did wrong is pretty much limited to going with the combo of talented but high-risk starters backed by a deep and proven but expensive pen instead of going with the alternative fewer expensive vets in the pen and using the money for corbin and/or keuchel. that was a gamble that could have paid off, but instead he got pretty much the worse case scenario out of it: all risky starters regressed, all expensive old relievers ... and most of the young ones... got hurt. and yes, i am probably overly forgiving of this because i convinced myself it was the right gamble.

what klentak did right in the offseason was acquire bryce, cutch, jtr, and sequra. all have contributed vastly more than the guys they replaced, and cutch may well have been right up there with jtr in the top ten of fwar if he hadn't gotten hurt.

what klentak did right during the season is pick up enough talent to keep them in the playoff hunt despite the injuries, and spend next to nothing doing it so that they can go all-in on the likes of cole and cole this coming offseason.

In baseball today no GM should get a pass when the old, expensive relievers he signed get hurt or suck.

Yes Bryce, Cutch, JT and Segura improved their respective positions over 2018 but other than JT it can be debated if each move was the best option.

mtcal wrote:

Uncle Milty wrote:

phorever wrote:

mtcal wrote:for getting ripped pretty frequently by a lot, klentak's acquisitions in the pen and to fill in have kinda kept us alive re: Dickerson morin etc

get well soon jay bruce!

to me, what klentak did wrong is pretty much limited to going with the combo of talented but high-risk starters backed by a deep and proven but expensive pen instead of going with the alternative fewer expensive vets in the pen and using the money for corbin and/or keuchel. that was a gamble that could have paid off, but instead he got pretty much the worse case scenario out of it: all risky starters regressed, all expensive old relievers ... and most of the young ones... got hurt. and yes, i am probably overly forgiving of this because i convinced myself it was the right gamble.

what klentak did right in the offseason was acquire bryce, cutch, jtr, and sequra. all have contributed vastly more than the guys they replaced, and cutch may well have been right up there with jtr in the top ten of fwar if he hadn't gotten hurt.

what klentak did right during the season is pick up enough talent to keep them in the playoff hunt despite the injuries, and spend next to nothing doing it so that they can go all-in on the likes of cole and cole this coming offseason.

In baseball today no GM should get a pass when the old, expensive relievers he signed get hurt or suck.

Yes Bryce, Cutch, JT and Segura improved their respective positions over 2018 but other than JT it can be debated if each move was the best option.

not to argue re: relief pitchers but the pen was full of holes last year - what other options were there? throw kids in there from inside the org and hope they pan out? (don't forget some of our returning players got hurt this year too - see seranthony)? acquire other random inexpensive unproven bullpen pieces? ask middleton for even more money and get younger expensive guys?