OT: Pirates Talk: That Skenes guy is okay at teh baseball

[ChaosAgent]

exactly, 99 games doesn't tell you anything.

Davis: .191/.283/.307
Player B: .258/.275/.337

But the Pirates didn't commit the inconceivable act of meanness in asking player B to play a different position. Maybe Hank can get to his numbers!

I'm not 100% writing Henry Davis off, but take a guess at who player B is and maybe it will give you an idea of how horrifically bad Davis has been at the dish considering he is a bat-first player who broke into the big leagues at age 23-24. I'm just 80% writing him off. Name me bat first top prospects who acquit themselves as badly as him in their first 340 ABs and then rebound. Aaron Judge was famously bad when starting, but he never sunk to the levels of 2024 Henry Davis.

 

[pistolpete11]

Davis: .191/.283/.307
Player B: .258/.275/.337

But the Pirates didn't commit the inconceivable act of meanness in asking player B to play a different position. Maybe Hank can get to his numbers!

I'm not 100% writing Henry Davis off, but take a guess at who player B is and maybe it will give you an idea of how horrifically bad Davis has been at the dish considering he is a bat-first player who broke into the big leagues at age 23-24. I'm just 80% writing him off. Name me bat first top prospects who acquit themselves as badly as him in their first 340 ABs and then rebound. Aaron Judge was famously bad when starting, but he never sunk to the levels of 2024 Henry Davis.

Bat first catcher
2nd overall pick
Broke into the league at 23
In 503 ABs across 4 seasons hit .219/.288/.335/.623
Last season, hit .265/.337/.462/.799

Not holding my breath on Davis and granted he was even worse, but Bart is about as close of a comparison as you can get. Of course Bart is going to have to repeat something close to last year over an entire season before he can shake the bust label.

 

[ChaosAgent]

Bat first catcher
2nd overall pick
Broke into the league at 23
In 503 ABs across 4 seasons hit .219/.288/.335/.623
Last season, hit .265/.337/.462/.799

Not holding my breath on Davis and granted he was even worse, but Bart is about as close of a comparison as you can get. Of course Bart is going to have to repeat something close to last year over an entire season before he can shake the bust label.

Bart is also better defensively. And if a beat case scenario for Davis is Bart, we already have Bart?

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

The problem with Davis is there is an obvious exploitable hole in his swing at the top of the zone.

In AAA those are getting called ball often enough (due to the abs system) that its not hurting him. If he can vlose that hole he will be fine. If he cant he will be unplayable.

 

[pistolpete11]

Bart is also better defensively. And if a beat case scenario for Davis is Bart, we already have Bart?

Hey man, you asked for a comparable and I gave you one

But I'd say if Davis has a .800 OPS, they can likely find him a spot in the lineup whether it be DH, 1B, or C when Bart needs a day off.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I'm not holding my breath on Davis anymore, but the best case scenario is that his bat pans out and you move one of Davis or Bart to DH/1B. Bart last year is basically what Davis can max out to be and Bart is not ideal at C. The ABS system will help him but they're still both terrible at blocking.

If they all pan out, I think the best setup with their C room would be Endy as the primary catcher, Bart as a backup C and platoon 1B for Horwitz and Davis as a DH and third catcher. But this is putting the cart way before the horse, let's see Davis hit at the MLB level first. And frankly Endy for that matter too.

 

[Fogel]

Yes, Bart did well, but it was only 282 PAs. Whether or not he can keep his mechanical tweaks and adjust as needed, is a giant unknown, and one that the people shouldn't necessarily bank on. Hayes has shown a couple of 200+ PAs stretches of equally high offensive peaks over the past couple years and it always seems like he has finally made the necessary tweaks and it falls apart.

 

[McGroarty2]

I know it's really early but what is the 5 man pitching rotation and lineup looking like?? Thanks.

 

[WickedWrister]

I know it's really early but what is the 5 man pitching rotation and lineup looking like?? Thanks.

From MLB projected opening day lineups: https://www.mlb.com/news/projected-lineups-rotations-for-every-2025-mlb-team

Probably something like Skenes-Keller-Jones-Heaney-Falter to start with Bubba Chandler and Thomas Harrington called up soon. Not sure what Oviedo's status is or if he's pitching yet. There's been talks about moving Mlodzinski out of the bullpen to join the rotation too.

1. McCutchen, DH
2. Reynolds, RF
3. Cruz, CF
4. Bart, C
5. Gonzales, 2B
6. Horowitz (injured till late April-early May) probably Triolo or Endy?, 1B
7. Hayes, 3B
8. Pham, LF
9. IKF, SS

Not sure who leads off between Cutch, Pham, IKF.

Nick Yorke can play a little 2B, OF, 1B and DH and I'm hoping he works himself into an everyday player like Gonzales did last year. Adam Frazier is there but feels redundant. Billy Cook can play OF and 1B a little bit. Palacios, Endy, Davis, Delay rotating in when available.

 

[Gallatin]

Anyone have details on how to join the Fire Bob Crew? I've got some extra time to invest this Spring and need a new owner for the 2026 Labor Negotiations...