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OT: Raise the Jolly Roger: New season of plundering begins

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ChaosAgent said:
I honestly don't understand what Ortiz had to do to win a spot over Falter.
Maybe they really like him piggy-backing Falter or want to use him as a 2x/week 2-3 inning guy.

I also like Perez. He is a sound bet to bounce back, IMO. Marco makes me almost as nervous as Falter.
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Im not sure who said it (maybe eno sarris) but i think it holds water.

A good sign when teams are trying to turn the corner is sticking guys like roasny snd ortiz in the bullpen because yoir trying to optimize the roster rather than optimize the asset. Falter is a stop gap but ortiz can be a weapon if hes in the pen.
 
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MrBrightside said:
I look forward to the Sunday lineup with Delay and Williams. Guess it's good that they are really the only two minus bats we really have.
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I fully expect it, but I hope we run back yesterday's lineup except we swap Delay in for Davis due to the day after a night game.

Cruz is giving ok ABs vs the LHP and I think I'd rather give him the day off vs. Gore or even Corbin over Rogers, though realistically he could just be lumped in with Hayes, Reynolds, etc., as a guy who isn't getting a day off just yet. He's had some ups and downs for sure, but I also see him generally spitting at bad pitches below the zone, which were sort of step 1 to his spiraling in PAs vs LHP in 2022.

I'm ok with Suwinski having the occasional start against LHP, but otherwise I think he and Tellez are more obvious guys to sit. In any case, there's less pressure for it to be perfect given this start, but there's also no reason not to go for the throat.
 
ImporterExporter said:
This team has played some really sloppy baseball and are 3-0. The hits and runs are there. The bullpen has been lights out.

Jared Jones was unbelievable. That debut was better than Cole's IMO.

Hard not to he excited after that showing plus Skenes dominant performance in his first go.
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It's nice to see you express some optimism.
 
MrBrightside said:
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Yeah I really noticed Jones' slider looked especially filthy, I think his slider looks even better than Skenes' slider. With their fastballs, I think Skenes obviously has the higher velocity but I think Jones has more movement with his fastball.

Regardless though, Skenes and Jones look like they're going to be a lethal duo going forward. I think both have the stuff to push Keller into a #3 role, if they can develop them right.

ChaosAgent said:
It's Bailey Falter szn
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Watch him have like a 6 inning, 1 run against outing tomorrow :laugh:
 
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I guess the only thing with Jones is that a 10 K showstopper is a pretty good way to set the bar incredibly high for yourself, but I'm not extremely worried based on the eye test. I am sure that teams will adjust to him and he'll have to struggle and adapt, but he's clearly got a very good mound presence, poise, and the ability to think about what he's doing out there and not just throw.

He was also very efficient, which is what makes the 10 Ks over basically 6 innings even more impressive. He did seem to tire a bit towards the end but that's not too surprising as I am sure there was a lot of adrenaline. He wasn't an incredible workhorse last year, but it was also a year with some ups and downs. He was around 5 or 6 a lot of the times, which will be plenty. We don't need him shouldering 7 every single start.

It will be nice to see him get the nod for the home opener. Baltimore's lineup is tough, but I don't think it's as gaudy as the Dodgers' is or anything. There's still plenty to worry about before then, as tomorrow is a great opportunity even if it's Falter, and the Nationals might not be as much of a pushover this year. I think with Jones, though, it will still a question of refinement and taking strides forward. Nice to have a debut that blew the doors off any expectations, now let's stay healthy, keep this thing moving forward, and not drag our feet stupidly with Skenes.
 
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The latter point by Stumpf here reminded me that Joe was on a tear to start last year. He makes a good point although I'm not quite sure how to draw that up.

Maybe you give Suwinski some more run in CF on those days with Joe in RF, and then have Taylor for a defensive replacement. I don't know if it's worth sweating it out, since Shelton is going to find his spots and mix and match, pinch hit, etc.
 
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I don't think it's fair to view Joe as only a righty in a lefty/righty platoon, because I think he's a legitimately solid player in general. He should be viewed as a legitimate regular playing, or at least a legitimate option to be playing in any game.

I think ABs against righties will be hard to come by for him though, just because you want Tellez's power in against righties and 3 guys (Olivares, Joe and Taylor) are battling for 1 OF spot against righties. With that being said, having Joe in for roughly a third of games against righties in the OF while playing every game against lefties should yield a good amount of ABs for him. Another part of it depends on McCutchen as well, just based on a question of how many games he'll actually play over a full season at this point in his career.

Either way, the Pirates are actually in a good spot right now with MLB caliber depth on their roster, which is never a bad situation. Having trouble finding ABs for Joe means you have another MLB caliber bat in place of him, this isn't Ka'ai Tom or Cole Tucker playing if Joe isn't playing.
 
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Kinda what we feared but whatever. Cutch has good career numbers against Rogers and I would have liked to see him back in there in order to help lengthen the lineup even more.

Williams is just a tough sell and the Suwinski-Triolo-Tellez trio are going to have to shoulder a lot of weight. I'd rather ride with Cruz and see Cutch in the field in order to save Suwinski for pinch hitting and defensive replacement and/or pinch hitting opportunity. We have taxed the Marlins pitching a lot, so this feels like the kind of game that we could go out and steal the sweep if we are attacking, but this isn't the lineup to do it.
 
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Sunday lineup in full effect. At least this is really as bad as it can get with this roster, but sitting all of Cruz, Davis, Cutch, and Taylor at the same time is annoying. Bad day to do it with your weakest SP going.
 
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Yea I get the slow start but cutch is only DHing. Rest isn’t a thing with him. Get him back in there. At the very least he should be in and no Tellez.
 
I didn't even notice Taylor out initially. Yeah, this is not the greatest thing. Delay is an auto-start obviously, and I can even get down with getting Williams into a game so that he's not just sitting completely as the season starts.

With as much potential as Suwinski has, there's still no reason to force him into the lineup, or if you want to, it can be over Olivares in order to give Falter better OF defense. Taylor in CF against LHP should be an easy slam dunk lineup decision, and to top it off he has come up with some big hits early on.

There's also little situational pinch hit possibilities on paper. Even if you force Suwinski in over Olivares, then you have Cruz and Olivares to pick a spot for if necessary.

This game has 5-0 Marlins written all over it, so I am sure we'll win even more decisively somehow.
 
MrBrightside said:
Sunday lineup in full effect. At least this is really as bad as it can get with this roster, but sitting all of Cruz, Davis, Cutch, and Taylor at the same time is annoying. Bad day to do it with your weakest SP going.
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Is this a Pirates thing (Sunday roster) or do most teams employ this strategy?
 
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