July 21: Pittsburgh officially designated Crowe for assignment Friday afternoon. They also activated Jose Hernandez from the 15-day injured list while optioning righty Yohan Ramirez to Triple-A.
July 19: The Pirates are going to designate right-hander Wil Crowe for assignment, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Crowe has been on the 60-day injured list since April and has been on a rehab assignment of late, but the Bucs evidently don’t plan on putting him back on their roster.
Crowe, 28, was a starter earlier in his career but switched to a relief role last year. He tossed 76 innings over 60 appearances for the Pirates with a 4.38 earned run average. His 20.5% strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate were both a couple of ticks below average but he kept the ball on the ground at a 49.8% rate. Those solid results moved him up the club’s bullpen chart, allowing him to record four saves and 16 holds on the season.
This year, he made just five appearances before landing on the IL due right shoulder discomfort. He began a rehab assignment a couple of weeks ago and made five appearances in the minors with a 1.59 ERA, but it seems the club doesn’t want to put him back on the 40-man roster. The Pirates have been funneling various prospects to the big league level in recent weeks, which has involved selecting the contracts of players like Henry Davis, Nick Gonzales and Quinn Priester, perhaps crowding things out too much for Crowe.
The Bucs will now have a week to trade Crowe or pass him through waivers. He still has an option year and has yet to qualify for arbitration, which could perhaps give him some appeal to clubs looking for an extra depth arm. If he were to clear waivers, he would not have the right to elect free agency since he has not previously been outrighted in his career and it still shy of three years of major league service time.
Maybe he can start going by Jeff Tweedy again.
Roger that
if he’s hungry enough, he will crow for worms…
Josh Bell trade didn’t turn out well, but in all honesty, while the Pirates may have sold low, I just don’t think his market was going to grow much.
Josh Bell simply isn’t that good.
I agree, he had no glove and was too inconsistent to be a bat-only guy with the PIrates. Still is.
Bell did what he did in in 2019 in Pittsburgh in Washington/San Diego last year. Blazing start and fell off the cliff. You are right. The would have let him go by now anyway. if they had kept him.
The Pirates did sell low on Bell,probably as a salary dump like Marte, but he is now making $M16.5 this year with the Guardians with a player option for the same amount next year.
They usually are careful with their money.
He is hitting 235 with a 0.1 WAR.
I had high hopes for him but I think that he was a little too lackadaisical to ever really make it.
Plus he seems like he may have gained 25 pounds.
If they had the DH for the years Bell was here it would have been a better fit but he was also too inconsistent to sign long term. Not too upset about this but if he’d have been here on a 2-3 year deal, he would have been equal to or better than the Vogelbach/Santana from the past two years I guess?
Bell reminds me of Reynolds. Both are switch hitters, both have power but go easily into prolonged slumps, both know the strike zone and both swing at pitches nowhere near the plate
The only difference, Reynolds is a good defensive player, Bell is not
This is really the first time Reynolds has had a prolonged slump, unless you count 2020. Bell was always a Rollercoaster. Also don’t see how you can say Reynolds and Bell swing outside the strikezone often. They both have/had above average chase rates during their time in Pittsburgh.
Waited too long to move him.
Getting Bell’s attitude problem out of the organization was benefit enough.
Pirates eating sum on this one
Not surprising roster is getting cramped now.
Shame, i figured Will would be at least a solid 6th man
How about his brother, Jim?
Pirates couldn’t figure him out. His change up is something to work with. Either teams will trade for him or all 29 others don’t think there is anything worth while. No lose for pirates. Yankees like to take guys with 1 pitch so maybe they would be interested like Holmes. Crow isn’t close to that but can see a team trying to out coach Pittsburgh.
His numbers aren’t bad; a decent reliever. Better than most of what the As have.
He will get picked up
Like Shelton does with most of the pitchers, Crowe was overused last year which I believe contributed to his issues this year
Tbf, it’s not like Crowe wasn’t used to a larger workload. Crowe started 25 games and pitched 116.2 innings in 2021, and started over 20 games in the minor leagues on two occasions.
Crowe could have been used as an innings eater so Shelton doesn’t need to overuse the bullpen as he does now.
Shelton doesn’t allow any reliever to pitch more than one inning per game
I would have DFA borucki for Crowe. Crowe can go multiple innings. Neither guy has any place going forward but you are just trying to get to the finish line now. They have 3 lefties in the pen with Hernandez back.
Borucki is the starter for tonight’s game against the Angels
Should be another Shelton delivered blowout
I don’t think getting DFAd is something he Wil Crowe about
How about Crowe for genesis cabrera? Cabrera wants more opportunity and Crowe wants a job. Works for both teams
Forever in the history books for giving up Aaron Judge’s 60th homerun. I was there.
I was there when Jon Matlack gave up Roberto Clemente’s 3000th career hit, a double
Yeah, I can “top” that
I was there for Clemente’s 2,999th hit and Schmidt’s 499th home run
Almost unbelievable
too bad they can’t DFA Shelton. I get why he wants to play the youngsters but so far, Endy is 2-12 with 9 strikeouts
That can’t be good for his confidence
Marcano needs to go back to Indy
Which way Wil Crowe fly?
Don’t understand why they didn’t give him a few major league outings. It is not like their bullpen is solid.
Everyone in the pen is better than Crowe. Need to 40 man space. Alika and Andujar will be up. Prospects will be coming in from trades. Waiver claims will be made.
I don’t trust this management team to make decisions that could help the offense.
From what I’ve been reading, there’s no interest yet for Santana, and they’re too money minded to release him if he’s not traded
I also think Marcano needs to return to Indy, he’s been truly ineffective at the plate
they needed his roster spot
Came here for the name jokes, and was not disappointed!
Pete Crow-Armstrong cannot seem to put it all together for some reason.
Jose Hernandez coming off the IL is a big boost to the bullpen. In my opinion he’s the third best pitcher on the team behind Keller and Bednar. I like the potential that Angel Perdomo has and he could eventually be a late inning/high leverage lefty in the bullpen but he needs better control to tap into that potential. Hernandez however already established himself in that role after about two months in the big leagues having never pitched in AAA as a rule 5 draft pick. Very impressed with his fastball-slider combo and looking forward to seeing him continue to develop.
so good he gave up 2 homers in the same inning in last night’s game
Jimmy–Not too good yesterday but I think that that was his first really bad outing of the year.
Makes sense that Shelton would pitch him in a close game just getting off the DL.Par for the course.
I otherwise agree with your assessment.
He was quite a steal assuming that he gets back to where he was.He more than offsets losing Sabol..
I agree Mendoza, both that it was Hernandez worst outing and that Shelton again misused him just returning from the IL
Tonight’s game won’t be any better with Borlicki as the penciled starter. It’s probably going to be a bullpen game, Shelton will wear out the relievers then make comments during a pre game interview that his bullpen is overworked without seeing the irony of his statement
Paul-In Shelton’s defense,which I rarely do,he is not exactly dealing with the 1971 Baltimore Orioles’ starting staff.
Other than one home run,Borucki has pitched extremely well since his first couple of games.They May be trying to showcase him.
The pitching staff is so thin that I would keep Hill and Borucki unless they get a really good offer for them.I am tired of this circus,and have been for over a year.
They plan on bringing in Bido after a couple of innings.
Cherington needs to sign someone like Sonny Gray for next year in addition to his annual hodgepodge starter addition on which he and Marin have been very successful.
That is if Cherington is around for next year.Nutting knows less that I thought about baseball since major changes have not been made by Cherington since sometime during the season last year.
I have never seen any team stay with the same first year manager for four years while having the worst winning % in all of baseball.It boggles my mind that Nutting has given that much power to a GM who failed in Boston and who does not have someone over him who is knowledgeable about baseball.
You have to feel good about the progress of Henry Davis…my biggest take away from last night
But some other thoughts:
-Again, here’s hoping Suwinski hires his own hitting coach this off season. The kid has power. Now all he needs is consistency
-interesting to see Oviedo and Hernandez missing dead red last night. Between wildness and throwing pitches down Main Street, Marin has some work to do with Oviedo.
I agree with Jimmy. I like Hernandez but the two HR balls were like he was throwing BP. On one hand, the ump squeezed him on a few pitches, necessitating he throw a strike Ok. Just not there. On the other, Endy failing to block the third strike on Ohtani really hurt
-Choi continues to hit his way out of town
-Funny that I said this a few days ago and now the PG is picking it up: Triolo’s play makes Hayes’ return very interesting.
Agree with TheMan3 Kind of amazing the Pirates are in the shape they’re in having to start Borucki. Maybe he’ll surprise us all
Hayes returns, my prediction, and my hope, Marcano goes back to Indy. Triolo has played shortstop before and would keep his place on the roster and in the lineup
Though with this management anything is possible
Yes, pitching is thin, but if they’re that desperate for starters promote Ortiz again. He can’t be any worse than Oviedo
Lastly, they’re on pace to win 71 games but at the rate they’re losing, there’s no rational reason why Nutting doesn’t clean management house this winter
Agree with almost everything here with one caveat about Triolo. When Cruz comes back, then what?
If the kid shows he can hit within that window of .280-.300, how do you sit him?
And quite truthfully, if there’s any truth to that rumor that came about Hayes wanting out of Pittsburgh, it further complicates matters
Hayes is a talented defensive 3rd baseman but he’s no hitter
As for pitching, agree. How are you doing bullpen games with this lot when you might as well pull Ortiz?
I don’t believe they’ll win 70 games although the prediction of 72-75 sure looked good for a while. They have a core here that starts with Davis. Add in Cruz, Keller, Skenes, Bednar, Suwinski, Triolo and perhaps Gonzales and it’s a start. Give Endy some time to see what he can do and maybe those studs on the farm round it all out nicely. And hopefully Reynolds finds himself again
But Shelton isn’t the man to run it and I’ve come to wonder if the Cherington regime needs to move on
Cruz probably shouldn’t be thrown back into every game action and he can share shortstop duties with Triolo for the rest of the season
Shelton misuses all of his players and my fear is he will do the same with Cruz who could get hurt again
That said, I’m no longer convinced Hayes is even remotely close to being worth the money he gets. Two years in a row he’s missed significant time with back problems and add in the fact he’s not a consistent hitter it might be time to field trades for him over the winter
Keller has also been both misused and overused. There was no reason to keep him in his last start after having given up 5 runs alone in the first inning. Shelton doesn’t have a problem with pulling other starters after they give up substantial runs and go early to the bullpen.
Oviedo last night is an example
Shelton’s head should be on the proverbial platter if they don’t start to turn things around and soon
I am not real impressed with Gonzalez’ hitting but he made two of the sweetest plays a couple of games ago that are close to the best that I have ever seen a second baseman make.
Santana should be released and they should bring Andujar up to play first and Williams to play shortstop.They need to decide one way or another on Andujar and give the youngster a shot at shortstop while Cruz is out.
Releasing Santana probably won’t happen only because it would be yet another signing by Cherington that didn’t work out. I would like to think he’s not exactly on good terms with Nutting due to being in the midst of another disappointing season
I do see Choi being traded, perhaps to Milwaukee as they’re looking for a first baseman
Andujar should have been promoted when Palacios was sent down.
Nutting frowns on releasing players with significant salaries but I knew that this was a waste from the start.Hopefully,Cherington is smart enough not to even think about resigning him as Santana wants to comeback,almost certainly because no one else wants him.
I always thought that Choi was a good get.Again,they should make sure that they get something for him or keep him and release Santana.It is a sunken cost at this point.
If they trade Choi,then Santana can be the backup for Andujar.
I am not sure that Cherington is the brightest bulb in the pack as I would not want to tie my job in on lead weights like Shelton and Haines for five years,This was exactly the reason why NH was fired including keeping his farm director.If Cherington does not see this then he needs fired too,or they bring in someone over him.
I have to believe even now that they’ll wait on the trade deadline where any of the vets are concerned. Hill and Choi are no doubt going to be dealt but why drop Santana now when someone might see him as a good defensive sub or as a pinch hitter?
Joe is another story altogether
When they signed Hayes to the extension, many of us wondered if they’d learned anything from the Polanco extension. Granted, Hayes brings more to the table where the glove is concerned but to make him “cornerstone of the franchise” then….and even now…again calls into question where their scouting and player development departments are
It’s funny. They signed Hayes but let Reynolds dangle and although I’m in agreement, didn’t offer anything like it to Cruz, who even with flaws is the more electrifying player
Strange
TheMan3 is right about pitcher usage, as well. It’s mind boggling. We can never know if the pitcher is imploring him to stay in, but we saw this last year and here we are again
You wreck guys this way
Keeping Priester in was bizarre although some might say things got away from him quickly. But Keller? Why?
I’m done talking about Nutting. He’s a business guy and monetarily, has changed direction with contracts. But while Shelton continues to remind me of a guy who’s lost for answers and desperately throwing the kitchen sink at a 10 foot hole in the boat, Cherington is another story
I thought the plan was pretty clear but now you have Endy and Priester here, looking like they still need more time in AAA. And Gonzales has looked iffy quite often lately. Maybe it’s like poker—sometimes you get a guy like Davis or Triolo up here and sometimes you miss
Pitching carried these guys for the first 65 games or so and I hope mlb1225, Buc and Dream are right about studs besides Skenes who are on the horizon. Because boy oh boy, while they may not call games where the starting pitcher begins games, these “reliever” games may comprise a lot of games until the end
I was against the Joe signing from the start too but he became redundant when McCutcheon could not get a big contract and called Nutting up.
Santana is worthless.I would rather have a young player sub or pinch hit.
They are not going to get much more for any of them than a Carter Binns who they got for Anderson two years ago.
If they trade their reasonably good veterans you will be looking at wins in the 50’s.The 70’s are already done.
Cherington did not sign Polanco.He had to sign Hayes because they were used to doing this under Nutting and the Pirates needed the PR.It was for a lot less money than the more proven Reynolds was going to get.
There is absolutely no guarantee that they will ever be good.In professional sports you have to earn it every day.Henry Davis said so,and he seems to get it.
Cruz is not proven.His fundamentals and baseball instincts are not good.Where is his ultimate position?Too many variables to give him a guaranteed contract.
The Pirates do have good young players,but they need good direction.They are not getting it.Davis seems like the real thing,and has the heart and mind for it,but Triolo must prove himself over time,as the rest have to do.
One thing that you have to understand is that these are all young players and they need to become confident in the ML’s and that takes time.The losing is depressing for every one of them,and I am afraid that someone like Keller will not want to sign because of it.
Nutting is not spending money on free agents.He needs to sign an impressive starter like Sonny Gray to impress me.
Hill can only go once every 5 days. Choi doesn’t do much against left handers. Santana is what he is. In other words, they’re looking like a 65 win team either way.
You touch upon my biggest problem with Shelton. Beyond his lineup arrangements and strange game strategies, his inability to communicate with young players is glaring. Too often, they seem ok with losing. And his failure to address cell phones that fall out of pockets on the basepaths or handfuls of sunflower seeds while in live action is pathetic
What has Brian Snitger done when these things have happened in Atlanta? And with stars?
For a while I thought it was a language barrier, but that’s not true. You’d expect young guys to have fire, intensity. You see it in Davis but the rest often look like the Walking Dead of Baseball
And the worst thing you can say about any
manager or any team. Aloof, uninspired, passionless.
So it doesn’t surprise me Hayes wants out. Or his dad wants him out.
Davis has fire. It’s said Skenes will transform a clubhouse. You already have Cutch
Sonny Gray or someone like him. Problem is, the Pirates sign guys on the next wrung down only to flip them at deadline time as they carp about being two years away
You’re right. I don’t see this team turning it around anytime soon
They can turn it around fairly quickly by firing Shelton,Haines,and the farm director responsible for lack of fundamentals teaching.
They really need to do that now too but Cherington is too content with losing and getting high draft choices,It would show that he wants to actually win now.
I am convinced that both Shelton and probably Cherington are too nice of guys to ever really be able to compete in the ML’s.
I am surprised that Nutting allows this to happen but as theorized by others he may be on his way out of wanting to own a baseball club.
Cherington needs a director of operations over him who is a veteran at running baseball organizations and making the hard decisions that Cherington evidently cannot make.He has too much responsibility with a hands off owner to be successful on all aspects of being a GM.
It will be difficult to get a proven experienced manager but I am wondering if Mike Shildt would want the job.I do not know what happened in St Louis but he does not seem to be the type that would be content with losing.
Said it before but Joe Espada is the best choice and would be a perfect fit here. Knows how to win and the culture needed
I’m taking a step back from posting for a little while, as you did a while back.
Best regards
Brian Snitzger does not have to deal with this because his farm system is run with teaching good fundamentals.
The Pirates will cause you to take a break.
Keep your pretty smile.
I often consider myself taking a break from posting my opinions but always do so anyway
The shortstop, Liover or whatever his name is, is completely out of his element in the majors and should be swapped out with Williams
He’s 0 for 10 with 8 strikeouts.
Speaking of strikeouts, 13 times they did this last night. Is this because of the hitters solely or is this a partial result of Haines?
Then I again place blame on BC for keeping him.
They’ve regressed this year and someone should be held accountable and not just the players
I was surprised that the relievers combined to pitch a shutout against the Angels last night but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
This effort just gives Shelton reason to do it again
For what reason does Hayes give for wanting out of Pittsburgh? Is it because of his annual back problems? His inability to hit with consistency?
Or does he feel underpaid?
Then I wonder if they brought him back too soon before this latest time they put him back on the IL?
He might be fed up with the management as a result from them doing so.
I know that I’m fed up with management
With me the reasons for stepping back had to do with losing long posts to ads,spending too much time,getting frustrated with all of the losing,and frustrated because no changes have been made in management and coaching.
I am not against reliever games but the other starters should be pulled more quickly when encountered consistent trouble and not having fresh relievers gives the manager a dilemma.
Llover is just too young.
Hayes May be tired of all of the losing already.Join the club.Try to get some good players for him including a starter.
Too many strikeouts to me shows a lack of fundamentals regarding not having a different hitting approach with two strikes.
While I might agree if Hayes wants out due to the constant losing, other than his fielding, he doesn’t exactly set the offense on fire with his hitting either
Maybe if he had 20 homers and didn’t himself strike out so often, they might be a better team and have more wins
I really can’t imagine Nutting not making major changes if they lose 100 games again. I know he’s a businessman but he is repeatedly told by BC that a winning season is right around the corner and clearly it’s not
Hayes was a 260 hitter in the minors with 10 home runs.
He is the same in the majors,and any knowledgeable observer would have predicted it.
He is a wizard with the glove.
When he is not chewing on sunflower seeds.
There is no magic numbers when you are dealing with a consistently poorly run team that is consistently bad.
The Pirates wins under this “rebuild” are 51(equivalent),61.62,and mid 60’s( projected).They should be 51,61,71,and 81.Four years is plenty of time for a well run organization to become relevant and get to 500.If Nutting did not realize that last year at this time,shame on him.
I have never been a Nutting basher But if he cares no more about this team than that then he should sell to someone who will keep it in Pittsburgh.I believe that the capital gain will more than offset the mediocre annual % return of the current value of the team.
As for Cherington,I think that he is proving every day that Shelton and Haines have their jobs that he is fit to be a scouting director but not a general manager.
Today’s lineup is exactly the same as yesterday’s so I expect another dozen or so strikeouts.
Hopefully Keller doesn’t have another blow up like his last start because the bullpen is thin thanks to yesterday’s game
What’s the over/under for the shortstop to strike out 3 times again?
The shortstop is now 0 for 11 with 9 strikeouts
He’s one that needs to learn the strike zone, swinging at every pitch thrown in his direction
There’s very little plate discipline on this team in general. Only Santana, Reynolds and Cutch draw the majority of the walks
By the way, nice home run by Reynolds
once again Shelton left Keller in too long. After giving up back to back homers the manager should have had the bullpen throwing then pulled Keller before he gave up another 2 runs
Suwinkski really needs to learn the strike zone, striking out while looking is becoming a major problem for him or shortening up his swing to foul off pitches close to the plate
While it’s great that Liover got his first hit and RBI there’s no excuse for being 1- 14 with 11 strikeouts
We got best by a pitcher with an ERA over 5,00