The Pirates announced four roster moves, including the news that catcher/infielder Endy Rodriguez has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to right elbow inflammation. Left-hander Joey Wentz was also designated for assignment. In the corresponding roster moves, the Bucs selected the contract of catcher Brett Sullivan, and called up right-hander Isaac Mattson from Triple-A Indianapolis. (Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was among the beat writers who noted earlier today that Sullivan and Mattson had locker space in the Pirates’ clubhouse while Wentz’s locker was gone, and manager Don Kelly told Hiles and other media and Rodriguez was going to the IL.)
Rodriguez has been limited to 18 games and 52 plate appearances in what has been another injury-plagued season for the former top prospect. A lacerated finger sidelined Rodriguez for six weeks, and he played in just one inning of his third game back from the IL before elbow discomfort forced him out of yesterday’s 5-4 Pirates win over the Phillies.
The exact nature of the elbow issue isn’t known, but it’s a notable red flag given that Rodriguez missed the entire 2024 season due to UCL surgery. The best-case scenario is that Rodriguez is just feeling some residual soreness perhaps more related to this year’s IL stint than anything lingering from his UCL procedure, but for now, Rodriguez will face additional time on the sidelines. With only a .173/.246/.250 slash line through his first 57 plate appearances, Rodriguez could also potentially use this absence as a reset on his season.
Rodriguez has split time between first base and catcher when he has been able to play. For the latter position, since Joey Bart is also on the seven-day concussion IL, Sullivan will now head to the majors to join Henry Davis as Pittsburgh’s catching combo. Sullivan was acquired in a trade with the Padres in mid-April soon after Rodriguez was placed on the IL with his finger injury, as the Pirates wanted to add to their depth behind the plate.
Sullivan has hit .206/.243/.299 over 103 PA at the big league level (all with San Diego in 2023-24). Over 11 pro seasons, the 31-year-old has posted some good numbers in the minors, including a .268/.338/.443 slash line and 43 home runs over 1670 Triple-A plate appearances. Sullivan has been considered a middling defensive catcher, which could explain why he hasn’t received much big league time even while spending most of his career with the Rays and Padres — two clubs that have their share of needs at catcher in recent years.
Wentz is out of minor league options, so the Pirates had to designate the southpaw and expose him to waivers before trying to move him off the 40-man roster. Pittsburgh acquired Wentz on a waiver claim from the Tigers last September, and he has been decent if unremarkable over 38 innings of bullpen work. Twenty-six of those innings came this season, with Wentz posting a 4.15 ERA, 19.1% strikeout rate, and 9.6% walk rate. As per usual, Wentz has performed better against left-handed batters than right-handed batters over his career, though his splits this year (.661 OPS against lefties, .716 OPS against righties) don’t reveal a huge gap.
While his 2025 work remains a smaller sample size, it does represent a big step up from the 6.03 ERA Wentz posted in 173 innings with Detroit and Pittsburgh in 2023-24. That could be enough for a southpaw-needy team to put in a claim on Wentz’s services, but if he clears waivers, he doesn’t have a prior outright on his resume so he’d have to accept an outright assignment to Indianapolis.
And the cheapness continues
Nothing cheap about these specific transactions. Go troll another team
i’m not a troll d-bag
This team needs runs, this catcher isn’t good enough offensively to make any
And if you don’t like my comments mute me.
Lmao
That didn’t make a bit of sense.
He’s here to be a backup. That’s it.
How is it possible to spend money in June to get a good hitting catcher. Who’s here to back up for a few days til Bart returns. It’s doubtful he’ll see the field.
Cheapness has absolutely nothing to do with these moves.
With no dog In this fight barts stats aren’t exactly lighting up box scores this season, why not give Davis some runway even if/when Bart returns ..be nice to see if the guy you chose 1/1 can keep improving ?
Muting is cowardly.
And he’s right. These transactions have NOTHING to do with money.
You just want to moan incessantly about the Pirates spending and ignore the fact that Pittsburgh is an historically bad market for baseball.
Pool-Henry has improved very much and is Skenes’ catcher.
He may never be Johnny Bench at the plate but he is improving there also.
It takes time for these young hitters to develop and the Pirates have not exactly been the best coaching team for young hitters.
If he keeps improving he will end up being the Pirates first catcher.
The man is WRONG.
Money had NOTHING to do with these transactions.
And, even if it did, it would only be because Pittsburgh is an historically bad market for baseball.
No, its not a bad market for baseball! 60’s Steelers were 1 – 13 every year!? Should they of moved to another city because they didn’t ever win! People said it wasn’t a football town? When you win in this city, they will come. Please quit saying that,stupid comment!!
I’ve provided the proof that Pittsburgh is a bad market for baseball. Even when the team was one of the very best in baseball the fans did not show up.
2015: Third straight playoff year and 98 wins.; The attendance was 9th of 15 NL teams. The Brewers, who won only 68 games had a higher attendance that year.
1990s: Couldn’t sell out NL Championship Series.
1979: The Pirates won the World Series and were Tenth of Twelve NL teams in attendance.
Being middle of pack in attendance isn’t a bad thing!
Yeah pirates need runs but that really isn’t a big topic in this move. Not like they are going to trade for a better offensive catcher and they likely won’t be able to find a big batt free agent catcher that would be cost effective in another dumpster season
@dice 66, So you are saying that Pittsburgh fans are bandwagon fans, only showing up for winning teams? Not a strong recommendation. (I’m old and was a Steeler fan in the late 60s.)
@RichardJarzynka
The Pirates aren’t moving, Pittsburgh is NOT a bad market for baseball, Bob Nutting is cheap, and Skenes will never be traded.
What is quite cowardly is you getting kicked out and ostracized on FOB Sports and having to bring your misery here to MLBTR.
They Ninth of 15 in the NL in attendance when they had the second-best record in all of MLB and reached the postseason for the third straight year.
That is a Bad Market for Baseball.
The Brewers had a record of 68-94 and had a higher attendance than the Pirates who were 98-64.
You have no evidence to show that Pittsburgh is a good market for baseball.
I’ve got 50 years worth of evidence that it is a bad market.
2015: Third straight playoff year and 98 wins.; The attendance was 9th of 15 NL teams. The Brewers, who won only 68 games had a higher attendance that year.
1990s: Couldn’t sell out NL Championship Series.
1979: The Pirates won the World Series and were Tenth of Twelve NL teams in attendance.
Being 9th,11th and 9th in NL attendance during your best years isn’t ba, that’s true.
It’s terrible .
It’s amazing that being banned from a sports blog because of your boring repetition didn’t teach you to STFU. You either know nothing about business or are just desperate for attention.
You said that. No need to keep repeating. That’s what makes you a troll.
Say your piece and move on. Everyone has an opinion, and we have heard yours. Move on.
@Richard J
Pittsburgh is not a “historically bad market for baseball.” They would be supportive of a team who had an Owner who cared about fans properly.
That’s called cherry picking stats that fit your narrative Richard J. Hardly definitive proof of your claim.
Provide some evidence that Pittsburgh is a good market for baseball.
Tugboat54,
Provide some evidence that Pittsburgh is a good market for baseball.
I’ve provided 50 years worth of evidence that it is a bad market for baseball;
My statements about the bad Pittsburgh market are not nearly as repetitive as the decades-long, daily moaning that the Pirates are cheap.
I repeat it when others repeat the moaning that the Pirates are cheap..
Pittsburgh hasn’t supported the team through the last four ownership groups, dating back to 1970.
Richard J how are you defining a good baseball market? the overiding definition of a “good market” is if the product is profitable and based on recent SI analysis your attendance data means little compared to the fact the pirates make a profit every year…it really doesn’t matter if nobody shows up to watch so long as the team is making money the owner will consider it a good investment and at the end of the day the person investing his or her money in the team has the only opinion that matters.
Too bad that downvotes wee eliminated several years ago.
A thorough, four-month-long investigation found that the Pirates did NOT make a profit last year.
In 2023, they ranked 26th in total revenues, including revenue sharing money.
A bad market is a market that makes far less profit than a large majority of the other markets in its industry. That is now, and always has been, the Pittsburgh baseball market. The amount of revenue sharing money they receive proves that.
There’s been several catchers recently dfa by other teams who are offensively better than Sullivan.
That was my point about this team being cheap.
Nutting bought the pirates for 92 million in 1996 the team is currently valued around 1.3 billion per Forbes it’s a wildly profitable investment regardless of annual revenues comps with other teams/cities. The bottom line is owners are not losing money any way you choose to slice it with rev sharing or anything else you choose to say.
Kelly isn’t going to use Davis in every game.
Sullivan will start at some point this upcoming week.
His whopping less than decent run scoring talents will prove my case for this team’s cheapness.
You can’t win every game by scoring between 1-5 runs
Please stop posting this ridiculous inaccurate information over and over and over again.
PNC Park has a capacity of about 37500.
Multiply that by 81 home games and you’re never going to be a top 10 in attendance
Poor Richie needs attention.
it makes sense if you realize that there’s several catchers who are available from being dfa that can occasionally produce and are better defensively than Sullivan
But the Bucs are too cheap to have to pay for cash considerations to make a trade
Only D-bags wouldn’t understand this
@Richard
Here’s proof that Pittsburgh is a good market for baseball, they have had the same MLB team for well over 125 years!
This fact trumps any cherry picked attendance stat you choose to believe is evidence of your claim.
So, you’re moaning that they called up one minimum salary catcher rather than acquiring another minimum salary catcher who had been cast off by another team.
PNC Park is almost NEVER sold out. Even when they were on of the very best teams in baseball, PNC wasn’t close to sold out for most games.
Sitemap,
Post some information which shows that Pittsburgh is a good market for baseball.
I’ve posted fifty years worth of evidence that it is not.
2015: 3rd straight playoff season. 98 wins – second most in MLB. 9th of 15 NL teams in attendance.
1990s: can’t sell out NL Championship Series.
1979: Won World Series: 10th of 12 NL Teams in attendancxe.
2023: 26th of 30 in total revenues, even with revenue sharing included.
2024: Lost money.
Tugboat54,
I’m happy. And very wealthy.
Remaining in a bad market doesn’t make the bad market a good market. It just means that you continue to make less money (or even lose money as the Pirates did in 2024) than you would in a good market.
The lease on PNC Park ties the team to Pittsburgh through the 2030 season. If they’re not gone after that, you’ll have the generosity of Bob Nutting to thank for it.
Rochard ..Bob Nuttings opinion is the only one that counts and as of right now his ROI on the pirates is truly astonishing he has zero reason to move them
@TheMan 3
I hope you’re not referring to Stallings. This isn’t 2017.
Why do you argue with this mental midget? Surely you must see he is mentally unstable.
Did you know you can look up historical attendance figures?
Try it before you post .
@richard. To be fair pnc park capacity is semi small
The fact they can’t fill it, means it’s a little big for them.
That was the rationale when they built it. Three Rivers was too big, so fans could always walk up and get tickets, even for playoff games.
They can still do that.
And there’s a few 1000 standing room if needed
Which it hasn’t been this year.
I get what you are saying, but even if they where sold out every weekend getting in the top half of attendance would be a trick
They averaged 21,200 last year.
10k more would be average.
Getting 40k for a mid week series is the problem. And has been for 50+ years.
Bad attendance isn’t a recent phenomenon.
Skenes first two home starts this year brought out a whopping 21k.
Combined.
They’ve not come close to selling out a weekend series. Even with Cleveland and philly fans being in the majority.
If not for baseball tourism, attendance would be a bigger disaster. That shows up in mid week series.
Over 32K at the game last night for a team that’s already out of the playoffs. What a tremendous baseball town this is!
Is that a joke?
It was a home crowd for Philly
😂 😂 😂
There was some pretty loud clapping by the Phillies fans when the Pirates won the game.
There was a sea of red all three games.
Did you miss that, too?
It really did not help them much though did it?
Did you miss that too?
What does that have to do with being outnumbered in your own park?
😂🤣 😂
Once those Philly fans left, they drew 23000.
For two games.
Twice as many crowds under 10k than over 30.
And those 30k crowds were because of visiting fans. Outnumbered by Cleveland fans.
Great support as usual
The were awful under Shelton and mediocre under Kelly.
They get a lot of fans when Skenes pitches.
Pittsburgh does not support bad teams.
That does not make them bad fans.
It makes them bad and few, no matter the manager, the players, the owner, the stadium.
As in 3 times in the top half of NL attendance since 1970.
Facts>your opinion.
Look up facts instead of being willfully ignorant.
Skenes drew 8k, 10k,
15k, 13k at home. The only 2 starts he drew well, the fans were filled with Cleveland and philly fans.
As per usual you are the one being willfully ignorant.
And I have come to the conclusion that you are no more than a simple troll who thinks that he is smart having college degrees.
You,like Richard,cherry pick your facts to prove your points.
You continue to not understand the concept of small market teams.
You disregard the fact that the Pirates other than one three year stretch have generally had bad teams for the last 35 years.
I would have to verify your Skenes data because I do not believe anything that you say.You are incompetent enough to justify that conclusion.
For some reason you like to disparage Pirates fans.Not sure why because you claim to be well educated but it certainly seams a sham to me.
You are a one trick pony,continuously harping on the same troll like subject.
You bore me to no end,but I enjoy tantalizing you because of your smugness and your need to be better than everybody else.
And with that I bid you au revoir until you come up with a similar troll like post hopefully on another subject.
Not one fact from you. Ever. Just repeating your same obtuse opinion over and over.
Just a simple minded troll child who runs screaming in the face of evidence .
You won’t verify the Skenes or any data which conflict with your opinion, because facts dont matter to you.
Time to grow up. Run off now and invent more idiotic lies.
Is 54 years of evidence “cherry picking” to you??
Now that’s funny.
Maybe look up words before you use them.
I see why you don’t like Richard. He’s all about facts.
You don’t even know where to find them.
😂 😆
I can see that I have accomplished my goal.
Unlike you Richard is a fairly classy guy who is just stuck on something.
Non Vp on the other hand is simply a simple troll trying to degrade Pirate fans to bolster his own minor league ego.
Adieu simple troll.
Your goal of not producing a single fact?
You’ve accomplished that 100 fold.
You’re a no class lying clown, so that’s to be expected.
Waddle off now, and go spread your ignorance elsewhere.
The facts are these dimwit.
The 2025 attendance boost for Skenes is less than 2024 but can be at least somewhat attributed to the generally poor weather in April and the poor showing of the Pirates.
Bobblehead night drew a full house even in April when they played the Guardians.It was mainly because of the giveaway and not because of 25,000 Cleveland fans.
The attendance boost in 2024 was 25%.
I bet that you did not check that year in your fact finding mission did you?
I know that the Pirates fans are losers according to you and Richard but check this out.They were 24 th in attendance last year with a less than mediocre record.They were fifth in the small market team group.The highest,by far,was the Milwaukee Brewers.All were in the second half of ML attendance,with the Brewers 16 th,and the other 7 21,22,23,24,26,29,and 30.
Which small market team did you two geniuses pick as representative? Voila!The Milwaukee Brewers.
Milwaukee lost a fairly good team in 1966 when the Braves moved to Atlanta after only 13 years in Milwaukee moving from Boston.They had played the Yankees in the World Series in 1957 and 1958 winning the first and losing the second.Do you think that their fans appreciate having a good team now?
Here’s more!The White Sox had almost 25,000 fans per game in 2022 with an 81-81 record.They had a little over 15,000 fans last year.Do you think that it had anything to do with them losing 121 games?
I have been on this site for nine years now and while seeing numerous knuckleheads and losers like you I have never seen someone as smug and stupid as you who also claims to have more than one financial degree.
Those are all facts Veal Parm.
Dealing with you is like shooting fish in a barrel.
What is your retort now loser?
You didn’t even look at the skenes attendance before you ran your fool mouth.
Now youre making up idiotic excuses why reality didn’t match your idiotic opinion.
😂 😂 😆
Your pathetic attempts to explain away 55 years of bottom of the barrel attendance is a fools errand that found the biggest fool.
Newsflash, half wit. They were 14 out of 15 in NL attendance last year.
Did your tiny brain miss that, too?
Have another moronic excuses for it?
Butbut, it was up!!
And still next to last.
Keep being a pathetic troll, half wit. Your lying and ignorance is entertaining
Not VP-You pick and choose your “facts” to fit your conclusion.
25 th in MLB last year.
Which facts of my post do you disagree with?
You are only using NL because it suits your purpose.
You and Richard quote the 2014 Brewers because it fits your purpose.
When I bring up facts that go against your biased stupid rant you react with your typical bs.You do not address them in a logical honest manner because the answers do not suit your agenda.
By the way,guess who were 9 of the top 11 last year?
Large market teams.
The 2013,2014,and 2015 rankings were 19th,15th,and 15th.
Keep on calling me names.
That is the mark of a true loser of a lost argument.And you fit the bill perfectly.
Maybe look things up first, gather the facts, and you wouldn’t look like such a moronic troll.
Are numbers too complicated for you, old timer?
Not a VP- Suffice to say what you wanted me to do was to state facts which I did and you have no retort so I have caught you in a lie.
You are also an arrogant ageist but we knew that already didn’t we?
You have lost credence with any knowledgeable Pirate observer so slink away under the nearest stone and spew your lies to any other team’s posts that you choose until you are outed out by them as you have been here.
You are not quite as smart as you thought you were.
You state your opinion. That’s it. Over and over and over.
Then there’s your moronic attempts to characterize 54 years of being in the top half of NL attendance three times seem like an achievement.
My fave was your skenes stupidity. First you make up they draw great with him. Then when churn that’s an idiotic lie, your tiny troll brain invented that it’s because of weather.
Is 10,000 for a beautiful 75 degree day in April good, troll?? Go invent another idiotic excuse.
You can’t even lie well.
Such vituperation!
You cannot even troll well.
Check out the Skenes 2024 figures troll man!
You even have a song written about you-Troll Man- sung by Sam and Dave!
Your non sensical gibberish and vehement distorted argument tells me that you are a bad loser of an argument that you thought would be an easy winner.
I present facts and figures while you just spout garbage.
I see that you are on other team’s posts too Troll Man.
I am sure that you will spout your foolishness there too and get caught up as being the lying pos there too.
So, now it’s 2024, and not 2025?
Giving up that latest lie already, dotard?
You didn’t check those either,
😂 😆
Lying troll strikes again.
You still haven’t explained for being in the top half of attendance 3 times in 54 years is good.
Ask the ladies who empty your bedpan for lying help.
Calling 54 years of data “cherry picking” is stupid even for you.
🤡
Here’s a lesson on life boy.
Attendance at MLB games is affected by many things.
You go back 54 years to troll but you won’t go back one?
😀😀😀
I can use emojis too awipe.
I have explained it but you are too stupid to realize it by putting facts together.Get out of your mother’s basement and face the facts.
I’m a Trollman,dadaditta,I’m a Trollman.Sam and Dave were great artists.I do have that to thank you for.Not anything else though.
Large market team attendance makes up 2/3 of the top half of the 30 teams genius.Occasionally perhaps the Brewers and the 2014-2015 Pirates and the mid size market teams make up the rest.
It does not matter how good the small market teams are or how many fans or how good the fans are.They are doomed to finish in the bottom half.
Particular area demographics also plays a part.
Allegheny County for years had the highest concentration of people over 70 in the USA other than Florida.Do they go to many games a wipe?
Just because fans do not go to games does not mean that they are bad fans boy.You have made the same mistakes as Richard.I just enjoy dealing with you boy because unlike Richard you are smug and arrogant.
You are boring too.You are using attack terms which I consider to be you running out of bs so you have to attack.
You are just a dumb person.
You have lied about being a financial genius too haven’t you? I think so.You spend way too much time on the Internet.
Facts get in the way of discussions by the dull and ignorant of posters such as Veal Parm.I have included all of the facts and you continue to rant and rave.
I suggest that you empty your bedpan as it is causing a bad odor on this website.
Lessons from a dotard who can’t read, makes up idiotic lies to cover up previous idiotic lies, doesn’t know what words mean, can’t research even the most basic information knows absolutely nothing about baseball, yet can’t wait to forward his old men ignorance and stupidity all day, every day.
😂 😆 😂
Save it for the stupid, half wit.
You’ve said it all.
No facts just drivel.
Rantings of an idiot who has been outed as one.
Have a nice day Not a Vp.😂😂😂
You’re too stupid to understand that 3 top half finishes in 54 years isnt good.
That’s says it all, doesn’t it?
Keep lying, old timer.
It’s hardly noticeable.
😂 😆 😂
Boy-Prove by facts your statement for the eight small market teams of the A’s,Rays,Indians,Twins,Royals,Pirates,Reds,and Brewers over the last 30 years.See how many have been in the top 15ML team attendance.
Get back to me with the %. Can you calculate that boy genius?
Here’s a hint.Total them all up and divide by 240.
Give the number for each of the small market teams.
Do some research like I have done.
You will perform a real service to humanity if you do.
You have plenty of time.
My guess is that you will not do it because you know the outcome in advance.That would prove that you are basing your ludicrousness on your own mentality or lack thereof.
Go ahead,make my day grasshopper.
More excuses, half wit?
How do any of those teams have any bearing on the pirates drawing well or not?
Your pea brain can’t even make yo plausible lies well.
Even for a worthless troll, you’re obtuse.
Are you being intentionally stupid?
3 in 54, half wit. Idiotic troll excuses can’t make that go away .
😂
I knew that you would not do that which is too complicated for your feeble mind.
You may very well find out that the Pirates record is similar to that of other teams and the last leg of your asinine arguement would break.
You would not have a leg to stand on.
It is very evident to all that you do not use facts to support anything,just your narrow macho arrogant stupidity.
I have proved my point and as an added benefit that you are a worthless pea brain.
Anything further that you say will be used against you in the court of public opinion,and will only serve to enhance what I have just said.
You have been put on notice troll.
Just get out of that basement before the smell overcomes you.
Joey Wentz…the pitcher to put in a game when you need more than a 2 run deficit.
Wentz can be an okay middle relief/lower leverage arm. But I’d rather that roster spot be taken by someone else.
Always happy to see Mattson back up though.
Mattsion should have never been sent down this last time
Keeping Rainey over Mattson was a mistake
Agree, pitched very well yesterday.
Wentz has been hit or miss but I think that he has talent.
Cherington erred big time when he traded Delay and kept Chung on the 40 man roster.
They also have two other lefthanders and he was odd man out.
They may be hoping that he passes waivers but I think that he will traded as someone will need a decent left handed reliever.
I agree that Mattson should have stayed instead of Rainey but they knew that they could option Mattson.
Delay has a 599 ops in AAA. He’s no lose. How many other teams have 4 mlb ready catchers on 40 man?
Pirates 40 man roster not exactly loaded with superstars.
Chung is a poor man’s Alika Williams.
Delay is a third string catcher but most teams lose two catchers a year for varying amount of times.
He still has an option left this year.
He knew the pitchers,and is a good catcher.Several
worse hitters remain on MLB rosters.Good hitting catchers are rare,especially as backups.
At the start of the year there was still a lot of questions involving every catcher on the roster.
This is the exact time that they need Jason Delay.
Many think that catcher is the most important position on the field.
At the very least he is a good AAAA player to be used when necessary.
And you saw who they put on the roster.
I stand by my statement for these ten reasons.
May not see Endy again since will probably need rest and rehab and Bart/Davis capable of handling catching duties.
Bart is still in concussion protocol so we’re stuck with Sullivan as the backup
The Bucs continue to lead the majors in called third strikes
Off topic, it would be nice if they could find a trading partner for Hayes and Pham
Both contribute nothing to this offense
Pham and Triolo continue to get waaaay too many ABs. They provide nothing at the plate.
Triolo plays because he is easily one of the best fielders in baseball and he can play almost every position.
Pham is hitting a little better and is a good left fielder but will play some because of his free agent contract.
What’s the excuse for playing Hayes other than his defensive skills
He’s horrible at the plate and this team needs offense
Hayes Triolo play because Yorke Cook Cheng Bae Brannigan Severino are even worse!!!!!!!!!
Uh, severino is in low A ball, Einstein.
Lol
Paul- I have come to the conclusion that they should trade Hayes for a decent relief pitcher and unload his salary.
Triolo can do just as well for much less money.
Actually Malcolm Nunez is hitting well in AAA and deserves a chance at third base.
It is time to cut bait with Hayes.
And it is shameful to have him hitting anywhere but ninth when he does play.
when Kelly pencils Hayes in the number 5 spot in the lineup, I question his motives.
With Endy out, it’s time to cut ties with Pham and bring Gorski back up
They’re getting no offense from left fielders.
What is the excuse for playing Canario every game?
It’s strike out or bust with him
Dream said that all Canario needed was a chance. He’s been given a chance and he stinks
Paul-I think that they hope that something will click with him and he will show power that they drastically need.
I think that if they just fed him fastballs it may come true.
Several other teams have given up on Canario.
He has been given a good chance as you say but they are looking at the alternatives.
I always say that hitters need a two month chance.
I said that about Andujar and Cherington screwed up there.
But to your point I think that they give him another two-three weeks and see if he improves like Henry Davis seems to have done.
Otherwise I think that they bring up Gorski or Suwinski to take his place.
There are Pirate “fans” who will moan about every move the Pirates make simply because it was made by the Pirates.
I remember when Joey Wentz was with the Tigers he had a lot of potential and lots of control issues. Looked like he did better with the Pirates. I would think that someone may want to make a waiver claim.
Well said-Well said.
Cruz should never play against left handed pitchers
2 plate appearances today, 2 strikeouts
Batting lead off he should be more selective of the pitches he swings at
The Colorado Rockies have won 12 games and lost 52, and they are drawing 27,000 fans per game. That’s less than 1,000 fewer than the Pirates drew when they won 94 games and finished in first place in their division in 2013.
Denver is a good market for baseball. Pittsburgh is not. .
In 2016, Bob Nutting INCREASED the Pirates payroll after the team won 98 games in 2015. and reached the playoffs for the third straight year. After that INCREASE in payroll, attendance DROPPED by 250,000.
When a team is one of the best in baseball AND increases payroll and attendance DROPS, that team is playing in a bad market.
Canario should be dfa and Jack brought back to up to majors
He can’t be any worse
Pham should be dfa and Gorski promoted and Skenes’ agent should tell Cherington to find offensive players who will give the pitcher a chance to win in each of his starts
In defense of Kelly, Marsh historically does well against Skenes and having already thrown 97 pitches, he didn’t want to take any chances
I agree otherwise, Kelly is a Shelton clone
Paul- It certainly was not appreciated by the fans.
But Skenes is their meal ticket and as big and strong as he is they do not want to take any chances.
Yet somehow the Pirates swept the Phillies and are .500 under Kelly., the same club that was 12-26 under Shelton.
I can tell even after 28 games that he is better than Shelton,but that is not saying much.
He brings much more energy than Shelton ever did.
We will not get a good feel for him until the end of the year.
If this hitting does not clearly improve and he still finishes 500 he will get the job for next year.