Just looking at the stats, I can’t say I’ve been impressed with Cole Tucker in 2020. He currently owns a 56 wRC+ and a -0.4 fWAR. The Pirates have negated arguably his best tool by moving him off shortstop and into the outfield. I thought he was hitting better recently, but the breakdowns don’t really […]
JT Riddle is almost 29 years old. He did not break into the majors until his age-26 season, and it took him that look to make the major league roster of the Marlins, a team not exactly bursting with infield talent in 2017. His career high in wRC+ is 78, though it’s often been far […]
Sometimes all you can do is laugh. As I watched Eric Sogard’s long drive sail over the center field wall on Saturday night, I expressed neither anguish or disappointment. I was laughing big, deep belly laughs. It was so perfectly Pirates that the team scraped and battled against one of the game’s best closers to […]
You know what sucks? Everything. 2020 has been a bleak year, and the Pirates have done little to bring joy to their fans’ lives. Young players on the team are not taking steps forward — and those are the ones who actually get to play. The rest of the squad is a mix of veterans, […]
Why the 2020 season is extremely dumb, example #3841: the Pirates, who have looked like the 1899 Cleveland Spiders for much of the past month, are now only four games out of a playoff spot after sweeping a doubleheader Thursday against the St. Louis Cardinals. This, the team that still has the worst record in […]
Hello there, young GM. I’ve noticed that you’re right on the edge of a playoff spot, which are bountiful in this shortened season. Can I interest you in some lightly-used Keone Kela? Perhaps you’re looking to upgrade your defense at second — and that aspect only. Adam Frazier could be yours for an A-ball outfielder […]
There have been several reports out of the national and local media that GM Ben Cherington has made just about everyone on the Pirates’ roster available at the trade deadline. He is open to selling off everything in the house, including the kitchen sink. But what do you do when even the kitchen sink is […]
If the Pirates are going to lose — and they have been doing plenty of that in 2020 — I’d prefer they at least make it interesting. Give me a bizarre, fever-dream of a ballgame like that 17-13 loss to the Tigers a few weeks back. Or at least give me some history. The Pirates […]
The customer is always right, as the saying goes, but as someone who worked in the service industry, I can tell you that that saying is bullshit. Especially when we’re dealing with customers of sports teams, also known as “fanatics,” or “fans” for short. Pirate fans wanted to extend Pedro Alvarez in 2013 because he […]
I know it’s for the best if the Pirates lose as many games as possible in 2020, even if it isn’t a particularly fun thing to root for as a fan. I do feel bad for some of the players, though. After the Pirates dropped the finale against Cleveland on Thursday, the cameras cut to […]
Bucco Ball 