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OT: Raise the Jolly Roger: Congrats to the Houston Cheaters on their win

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I was going to post that Castillo was the only young guy not really pulling his weight at the plate, but he's crushed 2 balls today that could have been HRs
 
You feel bad for Castillo, but I almost wonder if he has to change his approach. The reality is pretty clear that he's not going to hit homers consistently at this level to the center of the ballpark. He can definitely yank it out to left or hit some cheapies to short porches in right, but when it comes to up the middle he's gotta find a way to reduce the launch angle to hit gap shots instead of long outs.

I'd buy so much stock in Alek Thomas as well. He's a stud.
 
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ImporterExporter said:
I like the idea of Reynolds getting Tuesday off for Swaggerty. BR looks like garbage right now.
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I don't understand a hitter that alternates years between slightly-above-replacement level and a world-beater. Maybe we trade him after his next World Beater year scheduled for 2023.
 
DocEmrickSkitters said:
You feel bad for Castillo, but I almost wonder if he has to change his approach. The reality is pretty clear that he's not going to hit homers consistently at this level to the center of the ballpark. He can definitely yank it out to left or hit some cheapies to short porches in right, but when it comes to up the middle he's gotta find a way to reduce the launch angle to hit gap shots instead of long outs.

I'd buy so much stock in Alek Thomas as well. He's a stud.
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With the present state of the baseballs in mind, have to agree.
 
Marcano impresses me with his all around game. Looks smooth at 2B. Taking some walks today. And he hustles down that line no matter where he hits the ball.

Bullpen locking things down now. Chavis with some nice stretches at first.

Great team game today.
 
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ImporterExporter said:
Marcano impresses me with his all around game. Looks smooth at 2B. Taking some walks today. And he hustles down that line no matter where he hits the ball.

Bullpen locking things down now. Chavis with some nice stretches at first.

Great team game today.
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I'm at the point that my preference is to lock him in @ 2nd for a month and see what happens. Kind of got the feeling he's that super utility guy with a decent bat that we're clearly looking for.
 
Nice game to cap off a nice stretch of games on the whole. Need to keep it up vs. the Tigers, but Skubal will be really tough Tuesday.

Btw, for those who don't usually have MiLB tv, you can watch Altoona's game at 6pm on MLB tv, and I don't think you even need an MLB tv subscription to do it.
 
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DJ Spinoza said:
Nice game to cap off a nice stretch of games on the whole. Need to keep it up vs. the Tigers, but Skubal will be really tough Tuesday.

Btw, for those who don't usually have MiLB tv, you can watch Altoona's game at 6pm on MLB tv, and I don't think you even need an MLB tv subscription to do it.
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Skubal is a tough lefty.

Swaggerty has hit them well this year so I imagine he'll be in.

Lineup will look something like:
3B Hayes
CF Swaggerty
1B Chavis
ss Castillo
DH Chang
LF Suwinsky
RF Mitchell
C Heineman
2B Marcano

We really look terrible against lefties these days, but hopefully Chang does anything and we waste enough pitches to get to the bullpen. Reynolds needs to sit either way.
 
Gallatin said:
I'm at the point that my preference is to lock him in @ 2nd for a month and see what happens. Kind of got the feeling he's that super utility guy with a decent bat that we're clearly looking for.
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I think after a game like today it'll be Marcano there more than anyone else.

Like I posted last night, I think these are the main starters more often than not moving forward.

C - Heineman
1B - Chavis (will start against lefties and some righties)
2B - Marcano
SS - Castillo
3B - Hayes
LF - Suwinski/Swaggerty
CF - Reynolds/Swaggerty
RF - Mitchell/Swaggerty
DH - Vogel, Swaggerty

Swaggerty can take a start at any of the 3 OF spots + DH. I'd look for him to start in CF on Tuesday and then either play RF/LF or DH at least 2 outta 3 nights moving forward.

That's largely the gang that's been on hand for this 8-4 stretch we've had over the last 2 weeks. We/all of us need to continue to practice patience. I'm not naive to think this group of rookies is going to send us to the playoffs but the influx of talent, many of whom aren't even among the top/2nd tier of prospects within the system, has definitely shifted momentum and energy in the positive direction.

I certainly think Chang must go.

Martin is slumping hard. And he's the type of guy I'd like to call up when hot. Bae has been in a slump for about a week now and just doesn't have many avenues to at bats for the ML team. I really don't see the need to bring anyone up other than Cruz in the next week or two.
 
Another lefty reliever to keep your eye on:

Nick Dombkowski. Didn't get drafted last year, signed w/us and has been fantastic between Bradenton/Greensboro so far this year.

Those K/walk numbers are impressive.

1654466599622.png
 
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Speaking of trades that look great now, I know people (especially the Bucs writers) love Stallings, but here's another trade that Cherington won based purely on MLB production from Thompson vs Stallings, not to mention we have 2 prospects now, both of whom have been solid for Altoona (Nicolas and Scott).

This was a smart baseball move. 32 year old C, almost surely to regress in the short and long term, moved at peak value for young talent.

www.mlb.com

Bucs get 3 players from Miami for Stallings

The Pirates acquired three players from the Marlins for Jacob Stallings, one of their most respected clubhouse leaders, on Monday. The haul includes two of the Marlins’ Top 30 Prospects at the time of the trade in right-hander Kyle Nicolas (No. 16) and outfielder Connor Scott (No. 23), alongside...
www.mlb.com www.mlb.com
 
I think the OF situation makes sense for the next 3-4 weeks. It seems like Gamel's injury isn't going to enable him a fast comeback, and so having 3 OFs in addition to Reynolds, with 1 that can play anywhere, works out well. I am not at all ready to just write off Vogelbach, but if all of the young guys get locked in, there's also room for them to all be playing with the DH and Chavis able to slide to other infield positions, etc.

In all likelihood, at least one of them will be positioned to go back to AAA when Gamel is healthy, so I expect that to work itself out based on performance.

For other moves, I think it's likely that we'll give Yoshi a little more run, and that Chang will be ticketed for a DFA at that point (we don't need the 40-man spot, but he's out of options). Given Chavis + Vogey, this isn't that big of a deal honestly -- as IE noted, Martin is in an enormous slump, and there aren't many ABs here anyways, though I will say that I think Chavis is so much better as a part-time player.

That just leaves Cruz and the almost foregone conclusion that he will get the call in 10 days for the next home stand. It makes too much sense, IMO -- best case scenario, the team continues to play pretty well and you have the off day Thurs 6/16 to pump up the return of your most exciting prospect to join a team that's also exciting. He's performed perfectly fine since early May, so I think dragging it out much further would be a real surprise. Doubly so since Newman isn't going to be back by then.

I'm as guilty as anyone of mapping out 4D chess moves to think about how things will line up, when the reality is that someone's performance will probably warrant a demotion, or there will be an injury. Ironically with Cruz, the young OF group may block the idea of him in LF/RF, at least temporarily. I suspect the decision to be made is probably whether you want to see Castillo work on anything in AAA or not. My instinct is no, as he's held his own and contributed phenomenal defense. He and Marcano are pretty good complimentary utility players, and I think in the short-term, there could still be enough ABs to go around, with it making some sense to see both as rotation players.

There's always the chance that injuries or performance throws a curveball, but I think that's the bulk of it until the ASB. If we count Cruz as arriving, then I think barring injuries, one of the prospects will find themselves back in AAA when Gamel is ready to go, and the only question is Newman's health. I don't expect us to force room for Yoshi, so the two spots for Gamel / Newman could easily be prospect / Chang. I think it makes sense to clear the spot for Gamel and try to trade him, but I am also not going to lose any sleep over it if 2 OF prospects force him to a part-time role.
 
I may give Reynolds tomorrow off then DH on Wednesday. Give Swag a couple days in CF and give Bryan a few days to focus on his batting before a tough road trip.

Wouldn’t mind:
Marcano - 2B
Hayes - 3B
Vogelbach - DH
Chavis - 1B
Suwinski - LF
Castillo - SS
Mitchell - RF
Swaggerty - CF
Heineman - C
 
I'm about to something a few of you may experience as quite blasphemous.

I believe the Bucs Do Have the pitching they need in the system. I say this because I've gotten away from performance as my primary evaluation focus. Tools development is where it's at - performance usually follows.

I'm seeing a lot of Bucs pitchers in the Minors making progress on tools. Guys that appear close to putting it all together in the next year or two because of that.

I love the Bradenton staff. A lot. We're getting at least two major league pitchers from that group IMO.

Zach Thompson is a legit 3/4 MLB starting pitcher. You have Contrares of course. And I'm very much down with resigning Quintana. We got several legit guys in the Pen right now too. That is a solid foundation, one I did not expect to appear this season.

I'm not going to get into all the names cuz I don't have time. But the pitching we have is enough given what's coming IMO.
 
Gallatin said:
I'm about to something a few of you may experience as quite blasphemous.

I believe the Bucs Do Have the pitching they need in the system. I say this because I've gotten away from performance as my primary evaluation focus. Tools development is where it's at - performance usually follows.

I'm seeing a lot of Bucs pitchers in the Minors making progress on tools. Guys that appear close to putting it all together in the next year or two because of that.

I love the Bradenton staff. A lot. We're getting at least two major league pitchers from that group IMO.

Zach Thompson is a legit 3/4 MLB starting pitcher. You have Contrares of course. And I'm very much down with resigning Quintana. We got several legit guys in the Pen right now too. That is a solid foundation, one I did not expect to appear this season.

I'm not going to get into all the names cuz I don't have time. But the pitching we have is enough given what's coming IMO.
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I disagree. Performance matters. Keller sucks. The pitching is better than we thought but not nearly good enough.

We will have a gazillion dollars to throw in free agency next winter. Why so intent on protecting Bob's wallet?
 
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