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

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Have the Pirates improved:

  • Yes

    Votes: 4 36.4%

  • No

    Votes: 7 63.6%
  • Total voters
    11
MrBrightside said:
We really aren't doing the thing where we take 5 games in early Spring Training and extrapolate anything from it are we.
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No? Who's doing that?

Suwinski was horrendous last year but I think people here forget that he was a 107 OPS+ hitter that averaged 23 HRs a season in his first 2 years. I'm not declaring that he's reformed because of a few spring games, but him hitting well again suggests he could return to past form as a platoon power hitting corner OF.

If he ends the spring hot, you keep him on the MLB roster and see if he can return to his past form. I don't see why that statement is controversial.
 
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Empoleon8771 said:
No? Who's doing that?

Suwinski was horrendous last year but I think people here forget that he was a 107 OPS+ hitter that averaged 23 HRs a season in his first 2 years. I'm not declaring that he's reformed because of a few spring games, but him hitting well again suggests he could return to past form as a platoon power hitting corner OF.

If he ends the spring hot, you keep him on the MLB roster and see if he can return to his past form. I don't see why that statement is controversial.
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He's likely going to make the team because they really don't have a lot of quality OF options. I just cringe reading the breathless reports from Spring Training about how Suwinski and Matt Gorski are raking and Hayes stole a base (!) and the like as if these things actually matter. Yes, it is better that he's hitting over the last week than not, but to put any significance on a few early ST games just seems wishcasting at its finest.

Signed,
Kenny Pickett 2023 Preseason
 
Interesting development, Yorke is playing 1B today. I'm not sure that Yorke really has the HR power you want out of a 1B, I think he's more of a gap power kind of guy, but Yorke as a 1B would be really useful in the long run if he can successfully play the position.

If he can play 1st, having a Horwitz/Yorke platoon at 1st while Yorke plays other positions against righties would be pretty solid IMO.
 
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I’m not rushing to judgement from a spring training game, but Peguero probably ends up in the bust category without a significant improvement this year.

Dude looks really rough defensively.
 
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Griffin looks super encouraging, I'm excited to see how he does once the season starts. Would be really nice to see one of their younger hitting prospects actually thriving.

Yorke had a fairly quiet game but you can clearly see the hit tool he has. I'd be pretty satisfied if they focused on him being a LF/RF/1B player and only play 2B and 3B if it is an emergency. He doesn't really project to be good defensively at 2B or 3B and I don't think this team needs him there either. Having him as primarily a corner OF that platoons with Horwitz at 1B seems to be a really smart plan for the long run.
 
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I haven't paid a ton of attention but it does seem like there's encouraging signs in the early stretch from a few guys, maybe most notably Hayes, even if basically everyone has already punted on him. I don't think there's a lot more to say about him. He's hitting the ball hard and apparently healthy. Those things will be true until they are not. Maybe he gets a full healthy season and changes the equation a little bit.

Still, I hate to keep beating on the same dead horse, but the offense looks like it will be so unreliable. Yorke has some promise for sure, and maybe DJ Stewart can cameo at 1B and be passable, but the whole situation could have been decisively addressed in the offseason and it wasn't. Even setting aside some big deal, the one player who obviously stands out to me is Josh Naylor. It would not have changed payroll that much and would have only cost some prospects of so so caliber. Even if you just had him for the year, he would change the dynamic entirely on offense because you'd actually have a reliable masher and suddenly an offensive core of 5 guys could take shape that looks decent.

As it stands now, you just hope Reynolds stays consistent, but then also pretty much need Hayes and/or Suwinski in that group. It's just the same team we've had for multiple years. Even assuming the best from Hayes (by which I mean above average offense including something like 15 SB / 15 HR, not the MVP type stuff he did for a month one time) and generously penciling Horowitz in (I think there's a real chance this injury lingers), the core group is still on the low end of middle of the pack at best.
 
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Yep that's usually what happens when you leave a slider right down the dick :laugh:

Endy also had a HR today too:



Either way, I really hope Davis continues hitting. This team desperately needs at least 2 of Davis, Yorke, Suwinski, Cook and Endy to pan out offensively for this offense to be anything above average.
 
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His numbers suck but pitching at Coors does hurt things. He's out of options so he'll be on the MLB team coming out of camp, but I'm really interested in seeing who doesn't make it if he's on the team.

Between this and signing Heaney, I think this is also making it very clear that Oviedo is not on track to pitch in the MLB for a bit. Without any injuries, their pitching staff will probably be something close to:

SP: Skenes, Keller, Jones, Falter and Heaney
RP: Bednar, Mlodzinski, Holderman, Santana, Ferguson, Mayza, Lawrence and Nicolas

Shelton did say that the team views Oviedo as a starter and they think he can be a good MLB starter, but I figure he spends a lot of the first half of the year rehabbing and gradually being built back up.
 
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Outside of a Bart 3 run HR, pretty underwhelming spring training game. Chandler was super wild, definitely needs more development time.

Yorke did have a double while playing 2B, I wonder if he has the inside track to be their 1B to start the year with Horwitz out.
 
Empoleon8771 said:
Outside of a Bart 3 run HR, pretty underwhelming spring training game. Chandler was super wild, definitely needs more development time.

Yorke did have a double while playing 2B, I wonder if he has the inside track to be their 1B to start the year with Horwitz out.
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Even with the loss, it's hopefully good to see Bart making noise

And it's a good game to work out where guys might be effective on the infield, cause we need it.
 
Lawrence seems like an obviously good waiver claim. He's a unique type of pitcher, which is already the starting point for being a very effective reliever considering that a major strategy is to give teams unique and contrasting looks from the whole group. Given Marin's success with many pitchers, just seems like a no brainer.

Falter's line doesn't jump off the page today, but I actually like what I've seen from him in terms of holding down a backend rotation spot. It's hard not to come to the conclusion that the FO chose him over Ortiz, even if that's simplified. They have basically been all-in on Falter for some time... I think this was reported, but they tried to get him even before the deal that ended up getting him.

Still, it's just stuff around the edges + Skenes being unhittable 1 out of every 5 starts. The ship has sailed on improving the offense, so what's left is basically hope Hayes' back is fully good to go and that Davis actually forces the issue with his bat (either now or in May). I tend to think it might not be a bad idea to make him force the issue unless he just turns on the jets and destroys everything in the next three weeks. He's on the outside looking in with how last year went, and Bart is basically one of the most important bats on the team.
 
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