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Pirates heat up heading into the All-Star Break · Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast

0:09
Speaker 1: What's up, everybody.
0:10
Speaker 2: Welcome back to another episode of Bucko Territory, presented to
0:13
Speaker 2: you by the Foul Territory Network.
0:14
Speaker 1: I'm Nola Hyle's joining me as always are my co hosts.
0:17
Speaker 2: Josh Harrison and Platinum Key aka Mark. We're coming to
0:20
Speaker 2: you on Monday, July thirteenth. It is the All Star
0:24
Speaker 2: Break and your Buckos are headed into the break red
0:28
Speaker 2: hot off of a sweep over the first place Milwaukee Brewers.
0:32
Speaker 1: Paul Skens capped off.
0:34
Speaker 2: That sweep with his second straight win in as many starts.
0:37
Speaker 2: We're gonna talk about both of those things, and then
0:39
Speaker 2: we will round out the show as always on Mondays
0:42
Speaker 2: with Platinum Keys Key of the Week. Fellas. Like I said,
0:46
Speaker 2: these Buckos, they're.
0:48
Speaker 1: Doing it again.
0:49
Speaker 2: It feels like this is what they do around the
0:51
Speaker 2: All Star Break. I remember in twenty twenty four they
0:54
Speaker 2: went to Chicago. They swept the White Sox in a
0:56
Speaker 2: four game series to get to five hundred. They kept
0:59
Speaker 2: that momentum going in after the All Show break. There
1:01
Speaker 2: were buyers at the deadline we talked about on the
1:03
Speaker 2: last show. In twenty eighteen, they swept the Milwaukee Brewers
1:07
Speaker 2: in a five game series five wins in four days,
1:09
Speaker 2: and they went to Ohio, but I believe swept the
1:12
Speaker 2: Reds and the Guardians or the Indians at that time.
1:15
Speaker 2: That was part of that infamous eleven game win streak
1:18
Speaker 2: that led to some very big decisions being made that
1:22
Speaker 2: maybe didn't help them in the long run. And that's
1:24
Speaker 2: why Josh isn't smiling while I'm talking about But anyway, overall,
1:30
Speaker 2: we've seen this before and it seems like it's happening again.
1:33
Speaker 1: Guys. The Pirates are.
1:34
Speaker 2: Heating up at one of the most exciting times to
1:36
Speaker 2: heat up, right in the middle of the summer.
1:39
Speaker 1: Mark will start with you. You were at the game Sunday.
1:41
Speaker 2: What was the atmosphere like and how is Bucko Nation
1:43
Speaker 2: feeling about it?
1:44
Speaker 3: Oh, the vibes in P and C Park were unlike
1:47
Speaker 3: anything I'd really seen since maybe like Paul Skeen's debut,
1:50
Speaker 3: as far as the optimism in the stadium, the belief
1:54
Speaker 3: in this team. Where I mean, it's easy to believe
1:57
Speaker 3: in this team when they're up eleven runs or what
2:00
Speaker 3: have you on the second best team in baseball. Yeah,
2:02
Speaker 3: that's one good game. But they're finishing off a sweep
2:05
Speaker 3: like that and they're doing it in dominating fashion where
2:08
Speaker 3: this offense is just electric. I was just sitting there
2:12
Speaker 3: looking around at all the people in the crowd, like,
2:13
Speaker 3: this is so much fun to watch this team play baseball.
2:17
Speaker 3: And it's because they're good and it's not like they're
2:19
Speaker 3: just fun and like, oh, they have like a cone
2:22
Speaker 3: and they have a mask and that's all fun and like, yeah,
2:24
Speaker 3: they'll hit a couple of home runs. No, this is
2:26
Speaker 3: a legitimate offense. I think they have the second best
2:29
Speaker 3: ops in the league right now, which is ridiculous most
2:34
Speaker 3: runs when we're coming off a year where it was
2:37
Speaker 3: the complete opposite. I mean this, just to put it nicely,
2:42
Speaker 3: like this offense was completely lethargic last year just just
2:46
Speaker 3: sold it almost And the juxaposition from this year to
2:50
Speaker 3: last year is just it's hard not to be encouraged
2:53
Speaker 3: as a Pirates fan at this point in the season. Yeah,
2:56
Speaker 3: this season could have there's so many points where it
2:58
Speaker 3: could have gone better. They could be way more games
3:00
Speaker 3: up over five hundred than where they're at, but they're
3:05
Speaker 3: still over five hundred at the All Star break and
3:08
Speaker 3: looking like they should be buyers at the deadline. No,
3:11
Speaker 3: I saw you tweeted out a slight change of heart today.
3:15
Speaker 3: Where are your thoughts on the scene right now?
3:18
Speaker 1: Well, I wrote that column in June about how the.
3:22
Speaker 2: Pirates didn't deserve to be serious buyers until they showed,
3:26
Speaker 2: until this current group showed that it could be better
3:28
Speaker 2: than what it was, because they went for a whole
3:31
Speaker 2: month essentially where they were never higher or lower than
3:34
Speaker 2: a game above or below five hundred, And now they're
3:38
Speaker 2: getting past that. They were two games over five hundred
3:40
Speaker 2: earlier this week when Schemes got them a win Tuesday
3:44
Speaker 2: against the Braves, and now they're three games over five
3:47
Speaker 2: hundred for the first time since early June. So they
3:50
Speaker 2: kind of checked the box that I asked them to check.
3:53
Speaker 2: And so that's why my position changed on them, was
3:56
Speaker 2: because I said, you know, like, you need to prove
3:58
Speaker 2: that you're more than average like you've been when when
4:01
Speaker 2: you tread water for two thirds of your front half
4:04
Speaker 2: of the season, then maybe you're just a team that's
4:06
Speaker 2: treading water.
4:08
Speaker 1: But they prove that they're not.
4:10
Speaker 2: They prove that hey, like, yeah, we treaded water because
4:12
Speaker 2: we've been going through injuries and we have guys going
4:14
Speaker 2: through slumps. But the high the ceiling is higher than
4:18
Speaker 2: probably what I anticipated it. And I'll totally own that
4:22
Speaker 2: they're a team that deserves further investment. And they're not
4:26
Speaker 2: a team that needs a ton of further investment either,
4:29
Speaker 2: if you look at what they need. I mean, they
4:32
Speaker 2: went out and they made a trade, which ironically we
4:34
Speaker 2: didn't even talk about yet. Yeah, and we can kind
4:37
Speaker 2: of break down, I guess somewhere in this show.
4:40
Speaker 1: But they went out made a trade.
4:42
Speaker 2: They found some depth at shortstop, which we all agreed
4:46
Speaker 2: was the primary focus. They prioritized that over the bullpen.
4:50
Speaker 2: Right the starting pitching has looked a lot better. Aside
4:53
Speaker 2: from one guy, everyone else is throwing the ball better,
4:56
Speaker 2: Bubba Chandler's been better over the last week, Jared Jones
4:59
Speaker 2: coming off of a perfect six innings, Paul Skins, we're
5:02
Speaker 2: gonna talk about him in the show.
5:03
Speaker 1: Brax and Ashcot an All Star.
5:05
Speaker 2: So their rotation is trending upwards. Their bullpen is still
5:09
Speaker 2: a mess, but like it's maybe not as bad as
5:12
Speaker 2: it has been. And then the lineup man like Valdez
5:17
Speaker 2: and Mangum, the way they've stepped up, Tyler Callahan, the
5:20
Speaker 2: way he stepped up, it's pretty impressive to see the
5:24
Speaker 2: position player depth in this group, and you might not
5:27
Speaker 2: have it in all areas. You don't really have a
5:30
Speaker 2: true third basement. You have a guy who can hit
5:32
Speaker 2: well and he can play third base, but I wouldn't
5:34
Speaker 2: say he's a true third baseman. You don't have a
5:36
Speaker 2: lot of depth at shortstop, but the right side of
5:39
Speaker 2: the infield. All throughout the outfield, you have so many
5:42
Speaker 2: guys who can mash. They have like the problem of
5:45
Speaker 2: not knowing how you're gonna keep Valdez and Mangum in
5:49
Speaker 2: this lineup whenever Cruz and Horowitz return, And that's just
5:52
Speaker 2: something that would have been unfathomable for this organization to imagine.
5:56
Speaker 2: Even going into this year, I think we all thought
5:58
Speaker 2: the offense was gonna be better. I don't think anyone
6:00
Speaker 2: in Major League based, including the Pirates, thought it would
6:03
Speaker 2: be this good.
6:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm not thinking they're gonna be this good. Yeah,
6:07
Speaker 3: No one thought they were gonna be this good.
6:08
Speaker 4: Yeah.
6:10
Speaker 2: I think everyone would have thought their ceiling would have
6:12
Speaker 2: been top third, maybe top five, but the best in baseball.
6:14
Speaker 2: That is unbelievable how good they've been. Josh, I know
6:18
Speaker 2: you have stuff to.
6:19
Speaker 4: Add, well, you mentioned Red Hot Bucks Man. They're scorching,
6:23
Speaker 4: especially given where they've been in injuries, things that you've
6:26
Speaker 4: talked about. You look at the body of work throughout
6:30
Speaker 4: the first half of season. Yes there's been a lot
6:32
Speaker 4: of this, but you mentioned they've gone through some injuries.
6:35
Speaker 4: They are missing a lot of key players, and honestly,
6:38
Speaker 4: you say, what happens without Is and Mangam, Win, Horowitz
6:41
Speaker 4: and O'Neill come back. That's honestly a good problem to have.
6:44
Speaker 4: I don't think either one of them being sent to
6:46
Speaker 4: Triple A. But it makes you bench stronger. But it
6:48
Speaker 4: also makes your matchup stronger because at this point the
6:51
Speaker 4: second half of the season, now you got guys coming back,
6:54
Speaker 4: you got guys coming off the All Star break. You're fresh,
6:57
Speaker 4: so you're able to say, okay, this matchup they make sense.
7:00
Speaker 4: But I think Valdaez and Mangham have both done enough
7:04
Speaker 4: that when these guys went down, we talked about guys,
7:07
Speaker 4: we're gonna have to step up next man up. You
7:09
Speaker 4: need guys you know that may not be the prototypical
7:13
Speaker 4: guy to step up. There's gonna be a lot of
7:15
Speaker 4: opportunity for a lot of people, and those guys have
7:18
Speaker 4: seized that opportunity and when Horowitz and O'Neil come back
7:23
Speaker 4: and makes your team that much stronger. And yes, it
7:25
Speaker 4: is kind of sucks a little bit because obviously they're
7:28
Speaker 4: playing time is going to be diminished. But as I said,
7:31
Speaker 4: that's a good problem to have because those guys are
7:33
Speaker 4: playing really well. And if you got those guys coming
7:36
Speaker 4: off the bench or you know, you know, starting a
7:38
Speaker 4: couple of games a week, that makes your team really dangerous.
7:42
Speaker 4: And you mentioned it, Noah's saying that they have to prove,
7:47
Speaker 4: you know, sweeping you know the Brewers this weekend, especially
7:50
Speaker 4: after taking the first one against the Bridge, losing the
7:53
Speaker 4: next two right and then going against you know, the Brewers.
7:57
Speaker 4: We knew what was at hand, and they did it.
8:00
Speaker 4: And as you said, putting the cherry on top today
8:02
Speaker 4: was how they won. You know, it was almost like, Okay,
8:06
Speaker 4: we're just gonna put you out of your misery and
8:08
Speaker 4: y'all can go ahead and get ready to go to
8:09
Speaker 4: All Star Break as well. But I think they've done
8:12
Speaker 4: everything that they needed to, as we mentioned this last week,
8:15
Speaker 4: going into the All Star break to you know, go
8:18
Speaker 4: in there one, get your guys healthy, that finish the
8:21
Speaker 4: All Star break and you're hoping to get guys coming back.
8:23
Speaker 4: So I think that's a good problem to have because
8:26
Speaker 4: that means you can invest a little bit more in
8:29
Speaker 4: other areas that you might have thought you needed to.
8:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I'll just follow up by saying that I
8:33
Speaker 3: think having the good like this great problem to have
8:37
Speaker 3: with Mangum and Valdez. When Howards and Cruise return, it's
8:40
Speaker 3: just gonna make everyone better because they're gonna be able
8:43
Speaker 3: to play to the best, like the best matchups for them.
8:47
Speaker 3: They don't have to get overextended. If you don't want
8:49
Speaker 3: to play ONEO Cruise against lefties, that's fine. You can
8:52
Speaker 3: put Mangum in center field and throw Valdez out, and
8:55
Speaker 3: you know that you're gonna have a lefty masher out
8:57
Speaker 3: there with Valdez. So the flexibility, oh yeah, I mean,
9:02
Speaker 3: if you have your Don Alvarez in the lineup, you
9:04
Speaker 3: leave him in. And that is what the production level
9:08
Speaker 3: that as Relan Valdez has been bringing. I don't know
9:10
Speaker 3: if he's gonna continue to hit like your Don Alvarez.
9:13
Speaker 3: I don't think so. I think there will be a
9:15
Speaker 3: little bit of a but while he's doing this, I
9:19
Speaker 3: mean you can't take him out now, but we'll cross
9:22
Speaker 3: that bridge when.
9:22
Speaker 1: We get there.
9:23
Speaker 2: So yeah, I mean this is the this is the
9:26
Speaker 2: deepest position position player group they've had in ten years.
9:29
Speaker 3: They had one player. It's over one hundred WRC plus
9:32
Speaker 3: last year.
9:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, this is this is this is the
9:37
Speaker 2: position player group. It's not the same team because the
9:40
Speaker 2: team I'm going to compare it to had an equally talented,
9:44
Speaker 2: if not better, pitching staff.
9:46
Speaker 1: But this, this position player group is as deep as
9:48
Speaker 1: is the fifteen team.
9:50
Speaker 2: Like you have multiple guys where it's like, oh, guy
9:53
Speaker 2: gets hurt at third, It's all right.
9:54
Speaker 1: We'll plug him in over here, blah blah blah blah blah,
9:57
Speaker 1: and like.
9:57
Speaker 2: You just have you have an answer for everything in
9:59
Speaker 2: this lineup right now, especially after the trade, which we're just.
10:03
Speaker 1: Going to get into real quick here before we go
10:04
Speaker 1: to a break.
10:06
Speaker 2: On Friday evening, the Pirates acquired infielder Jacob Gonzalez and
10:09
Speaker 2: left handed reliever Brandon Isisert from the Chicago White Sox
10:13
Speaker 2: for the number thirty four overall pick, which was actually
10:15
Speaker 2: used on Jim Tomey's son.
10:18
Speaker 1: Which I thought was pretty coo.
10:19
Speaker 3: White Sox.
10:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, by the White Sox.
10:21
Speaker 2: They also traded Jayden Woods to the White Sox as well.
10:25
Speaker 1: Guys, just your your quick thoughts on this. I'll give
10:27
Speaker 1: mine real fast.
10:28
Speaker 2: Like I tweeted this, and like we said in the show,
10:30
Speaker 2: and I said it earlier in uh this segment, shortstop
10:34
Speaker 2: was the priority, that was the immediate need. And this
10:38
Speaker 2: this kid, Gonzalez, you know, he never even started at
10:40
Speaker 2: shortstop before, uh, you know, coming to Pittsburgh. All of
10:44
Speaker 2: his playing times at first base, it's because they have Montgomery,
10:46
Speaker 2: yep at shortstop in Chicago, and you're not going to
10:50
Speaker 2: play him on the Montgomery.
10:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's a beast, But this is a guy I
10:55
Speaker 1: like that. He hits from the left side.
10:56
Speaker 2: This is a platoon fit with Triolo at short probably
11:00
Speaker 2: a platoon fit with Gonzalez.
11:02
Speaker 1: If Nick's bat ever cools down.
11:07
Speaker 2: Like I like that, I would have liked to train
11:09
Speaker 2: a lot more if it was a right handed reliever.
11:11
Speaker 2: You look under the hood is cert stuff is better
11:14
Speaker 2: than probably what his numbers indicate.
11:17
Speaker 1: But I don't think he's like a massive fixed to
11:20
Speaker 1: anything they have.
11:22
Speaker 3: What do you guys think, Yeah, I'll go ahead, draft.
11:25
Speaker 2: You go first.
11:26
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'll be quick I was just gonna say, definitely
11:28
Speaker 4: address the depth or short stuff. I think that was
11:30
Speaker 4: number one, just because it's like you can't wait around
11:34
Speaker 4: too long. That's an important position. And as you mentioned
11:37
Speaker 4: left handed batter, I think he'll be nice to compliment with.
11:39
Speaker 4: As you said Gonzales Triolo, you also got Callahan that's
11:43
Speaker 4: in there too, so it's just another guy that you know.
11:45
Speaker 4: And you mentioned he played first or which is down,
11:47
Speaker 4: so that's a guy that has shown he can play first.
11:50
Speaker 4: So his versatility is as another guy that you mentioned
11:53
Speaker 4: that could be plugged in some other places and left
11:56
Speaker 4: handed reliever. Don't really know much about him, but I
11:58
Speaker 4: agree with you would have been looking for writing. But
12:01
Speaker 4: at the same time, you know relievers, Hey, you'll take
12:05
Speaker 4: what you can get. If he proves to be value
12:07
Speaker 4: performing against them outs, I'm sure they're not going to
12:09
Speaker 4: be upset about it.
12:11
Speaker 3: I was a little underwhelmed by the trade. I thought
12:14
Speaker 3: they left a little bit of meata on the bone.
12:15
Speaker 3: But going back and looking at what these like comp
12:18
Speaker 3: picks are, like the return for them, it doesn't seem
12:22
Speaker 3: like it's too far off. They just aren't really valued
12:25
Speaker 3: in baseball like you see like picks and other leagues
12:28
Speaker 3: get these, you know, like diamond hands around them where
12:33
Speaker 3: they get super valuable. Not the case with mob. Jacob
12:36
Speaker 3: Gonzalez can just play all over the infield. He's showed
12:41
Speaker 3: a lot of power in Triple A. Although the Chicago
12:44
Speaker 3: White Sox, their Triple A ballpark, I guess is pretty
12:48
Speaker 3: pretty hit or friendly, so those yeah, so those stats
12:52
Speaker 3: are slightly skewed, but I mean overall it was it's
12:56
Speaker 3: infield depth, which is what we wanted, and more bullpen depth.
12:59
Speaker 3: And you know, maybe Jacob Gonzalez, I don't know too
13:02
Speaker 3: much about him. Maybe he's just a guy that was
13:04
Speaker 3: blocked by Colsa Montgomery. We saw that with Spencer Horowitz.
13:08
Speaker 3: You know, he was blocked by Vladimir Guerrero Junior. Maybe
13:11
Speaker 3: we're you know, skimming off where other teams have surplus
13:15
Speaker 3: that we can get some extra added value from a
13:19
Speaker 3: guy who may not have the name recognition.
13:21
Speaker 2: You know, Gonzalez kind of gives me the rep like
13:24
Speaker 2: it seems like somebody in between a Callahan and a
13:27
Speaker 2: Spencer Horowitz, Like Callahan was a guy who probably, like
13:32
Speaker 2: I think that was a really good acquisition considering what
13:34
Speaker 2: they gave up for Callahan, and I was skeptical on that,
13:37
Speaker 2: but like, there are some overlying traits here and he's
13:41
Speaker 2: just a better defender. And then yeah, like the Horowitz
13:44
Speaker 2: element of it, it's like this was a talented minor
13:47
Speaker 2: leaguer who was blocked by an elite player at his
13:50
Speaker 2: primary position. So yeah, and then just on the value
13:55
Speaker 2: to wrap this up, they weren't gonna get crazy value
13:58
Speaker 2: for this because it was abundantly they were desperate.
14:00
Speaker 1: To trade this PI.
14:01
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, they had no leverage and when you're going
14:04
Speaker 2: and that's that, I'm not folding the pirates for that.
14:07
Speaker 1: Like they had they they had.
14:08
Speaker 2: To make this move, and so they had to do
14:11
Speaker 2: like you got to go into it knowing you're probably
14:14
Speaker 2: not gonna walk away with dollar for dollar equivalent value here.
14:18
Speaker 1: You're gonna probably walk away with a little bit of
14:21
Speaker 1: an underwhelming return.
14:22
Speaker 2: And you know, I don't think it's an amazing return,
14:24
Speaker 2: but I don't know how much better they probably could
14:27
Speaker 2: have got because it, like you guys pointed out, it
14:30
Speaker 2: addresses a paragon.
14:31
Speaker 1: So we're gonna take a quick break. When we come back,
14:33
Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about that guy.
14:35
Speaker 2: Paul Schemes, who we never talked about on this show
14:37
Speaker 2: here on Go Territory.
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15:42
Speaker 2: All Right, guys, Last Week Written in the Pittsburgh Post
15:46
Speaker 2: Gazette Byeline Noah Hayles said, this is the biggest week
15:51
Speaker 2: of Paul Skein's major league career. He had two starts remaining.
15:56
Speaker 2: He needed to win both of those starts. That was
15:58
Speaker 2: what I said on this show. That's what I said
16:01
Speaker 2: in the newspaper. Put in an ink, as they say,
16:04
Speaker 2: I don't know if he's a subscriber to local journalism
16:06
Speaker 2: in Pittsburgh.
16:07
Speaker 1: I hope he is.
16:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, he can afford it. And if not, you know,
16:13
Speaker 2: maybe his girlfriend I was might know someone. Yeah, yeah,
16:18
Speaker 2: but no, Paul Skins answered the bell and props to him.
16:23
Speaker 2: And I'm not sitting here obviously. I'm not sitting here
16:25
Speaker 2: and being like.
16:26
Speaker 1: Oh, he's stupped up to my challenge. That's not what
16:29
Speaker 1: Paul needed to be great this week.
16:31
Speaker 2: They had six games at home against two first place teams.
16:35
Speaker 2: They needed to win at least three of them. They
16:38
Speaker 2: won four.
16:40
Speaker 1: He won half. He was responsible for half those wins.
16:43
Speaker 2: Granted, they scored a combined six runs his two starts.
16:48
Speaker 1: So like if he.
16:49
Speaker 3: Didn't win a lot of lost time.
16:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, he received a ten run inning on Sunday
16:58
Speaker 2: and then one guy drove in ten runs by himself
17:01
Speaker 2: on Tuesday, So like again, but Paul Skeins. This is
17:05
Speaker 2: the best back to back starts he's made probably in
17:07
Speaker 2: a month.
17:08
Speaker 1: And he's not all the way back, I don't think.
17:11
Speaker 2: But this was such a necessary step forward because Paul
17:16
Speaker 2: Skins is gonna have to take the reins here and
17:19
Speaker 2: put this team on his back in the second half.
17:23
Speaker 2: And you feel a little better about his chances of
17:26
Speaker 2: doing that after the way you've seen him pitch this
17:27
Speaker 2: past week.
17:29
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the one thing he needs to really
17:31
Speaker 3: improve on is just continue to go deep and ye
17:35
Speaker 3: give this bullpen as much rest as possible when he
17:39
Speaker 3: is stepping on the mound every five days, because the
17:43
Speaker 3: more benefit or the more rests that he can provide
17:45
Speaker 3: this bullpen, and he is the starter who I think
17:48
Speaker 3: has that the biggest potential to go as deep in
17:51
Speaker 3: the games as possible. He's got to be that ace
17:55
Speaker 3: and step up and say I'm going to go six,
17:57
Speaker 3: but hopefully even seven. And we've seen him do that
18:00
Speaker 3: in the past, we just really haven't seen it as
18:01
Speaker 3: much this year. And so that's where I'm looking post
18:06
Speaker 3: All Star break. Skins is skinting the wins now. He
18:08
Speaker 3: put the losing street behind him, putting his team in
18:11
Speaker 3: position to win. Now, put your bullpen in a position
18:14
Speaker 3: to continue to provide wins after you're not starting, so
18:17
Speaker 3: the next day, in the next day, put your team
18:19
Speaker 3: in a position to succeed. And that's the impact I'm
18:22
Speaker 3: looking for him from after the UL Star break.
18:24
Speaker 4: What about you, Josh, Yeah, obviously, you know you look
18:29
Speaker 4: forward to the offense doing what they did every night,
18:31
Speaker 4: regardless who's on the mound. That'll help all the pitchers.
18:35
Speaker 4: But as you mentioned, his back to back starts probably
18:38
Speaker 4: his best back to back starts in a while. And
18:41
Speaker 4: as you mentioned though, it still left a lot out
18:43
Speaker 4: there that you know, you think you could improve on.
18:45
Speaker 4: But you also take a step back to say, two
18:47
Speaker 4: first place teams, you know, so it's not like these
18:51
Speaker 4: back to back wins were against And I don't want
18:53
Speaker 4: to call anybody a cupcake because it's a major league team.
18:55
Speaker 4: You know, it's a team full of major league players,
18:57
Speaker 4: so regardless who you're facing, but you in back to
19:00
Speaker 4: back first place teams, I think that's enough of a
19:04
Speaker 4: statement to say, you know, let's get ready to correct
19:07
Speaker 4: this thing, because you know, when you're facing teams like that,
19:09
Speaker 4: you gotta be on it. And as I said, it
19:12
Speaker 4: helped that the offense was on it as well. But
19:16
Speaker 4: that's just for some of the starts that you know,
19:18
Speaker 4: things didn't go his way defensively or you know, they
19:21
Speaker 4: might not have gone offensively. Sometimes you need a little
19:23
Speaker 4: help from the whole team to get not only yourself
19:26
Speaker 4: off the slide. But I'm sure everybody else knew. Man
19:29
Speaker 4: we've lost so many if his starts in a row.
19:31
Speaker 4: Everybody knows that, especially when you're dealing with a guy
19:34
Speaker 4: like Paul Schemes, those numbers aren't gonna go unknown because
19:38
Speaker 4: you know, most part people like that's an automatic win
19:42
Speaker 4: until it wasn't. So I think just the way he
19:46
Speaker 4: handled it not necessarily answer No, it's you know, challenge.
19:49
Speaker 4: But you know that's just part of him being a competitor. Know.
19:53
Speaker 4: I know he knew that he had two starts lined
19:55
Speaker 4: up before All Star break. He's like, you know what,
19:57
Speaker 4: give you know, give my guys a chance. And I
19:59
Speaker 4: think he did everything he was supposed to to get
20:01
Speaker 4: him headed right back, you know, headed towards the right
20:04
Speaker 4: direction of cleaning up the things that he needs to
20:06
Speaker 4: clean up.
20:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you just look at it, Like I
20:11
Speaker 2: said before, Paul Skeins needs to be the best player
20:14
Speaker 2: on this team and the remainder of July, all throughout August,
20:19
Speaker 2: all throughout September, and if they get the privilege to
20:22
Speaker 2: play in October that time too.
20:25
Speaker 1: He needs to do it. And and the reality is
20:29
Speaker 1: his struggles him.
20:31
Speaker 2: Not pitching deep into games should give him the availability
20:36
Speaker 2: to have just the longest leash possible. If he's able
20:39
Speaker 2: to give you eight every night from here until the
20:41
Speaker 2: end of the year, there shouldn't be a worry about
20:44
Speaker 2: that because his pitch count and his total maybe nice
20:47
Speaker 2: pitch count, but his total of endings for sure is
20:49
Speaker 2: probably not as high as they anticipated it being.
20:53
Speaker 1: So I mean, maybe a giant woke up this weekend.
20:58
Speaker 1: And if they did, if this, if.
21:01
Speaker 2: If you're gonna see Skemes turn into twenty twenty five
21:04
Speaker 2: cy Young Skimes in the second half, paired with this offense,
21:08
Speaker 2: that's gonna be a problem for the National even with
21:12
Speaker 2: the bullpen being what it is. You're not gonna beat
21:15
Speaker 2: this team very often with him at his best with
21:18
Speaker 2: this run support.
21:19
Speaker 1: You're just not so. And yeah, it.
21:22
Speaker 2: Starts with him, and they have an opportunity with him
21:25
Speaker 2: starting Sunday. They don't play again until Friday. He can
21:29
Speaker 2: you can line up the rotation where he's gonna get
21:31
Speaker 2: the most starts for the second half of the y.
21:33
Speaker 2: So they are in a pretty good spot when it
21:36
Speaker 2: comes to uh, mister Skeens.
21:37
Speaker 1: So we're gonna take another quick break when we come back.
21:40
Speaker 2: We will round out today's show with Mark's Platinum Key
21:43
Speaker 2: of the Week here on Bucko Territory.
21:51
Speaker 3: Bucco Territory is brought to you by FanDuel Baseball Fans.
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Speaker 3: home runs. So, guys, it's the All Star break. The
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Speaker 3: run Derby. So who you guys think is gonna win
22:21
Speaker 3: the home run Derberty this year?
22:25
Speaker 1: I'll go first, Okay, go ahead, Josh, Nope, Nope, go ahead, Josh.
22:30
Speaker 4: It's in Philly, Citizens Bank Park, it's gonna be hard
22:33
Speaker 4: to go against Schwarber. And I don't know who's throwing
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Speaker 4: the home run derby champion Citizens Bank go ahead.
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Speaker 2: No, yeah, you know, I was gonna say Murakami. I'm
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Speaker 2: looking at the odds right now. Schwarber's the favorite. He's
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Speaker 2: plus three forty. I know who Mark's gonna say. And
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Speaker 2: if we would have said, if I would have said
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Speaker 2: Murakami would have picked the top three odds guys. So
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Speaker 2: I'm gonna instead, I'm gonna go with another Philly. I'm
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Speaker 2: gonna go Bryce Harper plus eight hundred. He's won the
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Speaker 1: To him when he won.
23:21
Speaker 2: So yeah, I'll go with another Philly. I'll go Bryce
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Speaker 2: Harper plus eight hundred. I like the value there, even
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Speaker 2: though I'm not allowed to gamble on baseball. If I
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Speaker 3: You got Oh, I think we're gonna see the emergence
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24:26
Speaker 3: All right now for the best graphic in all of podcasting,
24:30
Speaker 3: the best transition My Key of the week. All right,
24:43
Speaker 3: this week's Key of the Week another former Key of
24:46
Speaker 3: the Week, but he's gonna get some more shine because
24:49
Speaker 3: he just continues to mash. Who else could it be?
24:52
Speaker 3: It's the magician s Marilyn Valdez. Just I mentioned it
24:56
Speaker 3: just earlier. He has this higher WRT plus right now,
25:00
Speaker 3: and Jordan Alvarez just the highest and MLB with one
25:05
Speaker 3: hundred at bats, just absolutely clutch hitting this whole series.
25:09
Speaker 3: I'm scrolling down to this OPTA stats here where he
25:14
Speaker 3: just continually tied the game, just brought up clutch hit
25:17
Speaker 3: after clutch hit, the go ahead grand slam. Just this
25:22
Speaker 3: kid's so much fun. And that's my favorite part as
25:25
Speaker 3: a fan is not only is he really really good
25:28
Speaker 3: and mashing the baseball, but he's so easy to root for,
25:32
Speaker 3: and it's just so awesome to see that the one
25:34
Speaker 3: guy on this team that is really taking a big
25:37
Speaker 3: step forward is the guy that the Pirates developed themselves,
25:41
Speaker 3: that came up through this international development program, that is
25:45
Speaker 3: showing power. That the Pirates actually developed a power bat.
25:48
Speaker 3: I don't really recall them doing a lot of that
25:52
Speaker 3: since maybe like a guy like Andrew McCutchen or something
25:55
Speaker 3: even yeah Josh Bell, yeah yeah, but just a guy
26:00
Speaker 3: that has come up through the system looks great as
26:02
Speaker 3: a twenty two year old, We're gonna have to find
26:05
Speaker 3: a way to get him in this lineup. Makes the
26:08
Speaker 3: decision with Marcelo Zuna really easy whenever they need to
26:11
Speaker 3: make that call. And yeah, I just I am so
26:15
Speaker 3: so happy that as Marilyn Valdez is on this team,
26:18
Speaker 3: mashing and just been a great, great addition to this
26:22
Speaker 3: roster this year. Well, where you got thoughts on as
26:26
Speaker 3: Marillian I know, Josh, you've talked about him a few
26:28
Speaker 3: times here. Well you see it, like, do you think
26:31
Speaker 3: this is something he can sustain? Where you see him
26:34
Speaker 3: like settling out.
26:37
Speaker 4: I don't want to say that it's something he can't
26:39
Speaker 4: sustain because obviously he's got over one hundred bats, so
26:44
Speaker 4: he's been swinging it really well. Obviously these numbers are
26:48
Speaker 4: something that people are going to keep an eye on
26:50
Speaker 4: because there are some numbers.
26:52
Speaker 2: It's like, man, but.
26:54
Speaker 4: He's not getting cheap hits. So for me, I'm like,
26:58
Speaker 4: he's making contact on pitch is in a little bit
27:01
Speaker 4: of what I've seen is he's starting to work a
27:02
Speaker 4: little bit more walks too. But I mean I see
27:06
Speaker 4: him coming in, I see him coming in doing his
27:08
Speaker 4: little one thing. Man, it's it's kind of infectious because
27:11
Speaker 4: you see the whole team kind of goes crazy when
27:14
Speaker 4: he does it, and I can imagine the whole you know,
27:17
Speaker 4: the whole dugout, the whole crowd, especially this past weekend.
27:21
Speaker 4: But you know, as you mentioned, is very rare, and
27:24
Speaker 4: I own stay very rare. But you know, there haven't
27:27
Speaker 4: been many times that the Pirates have had, you know,
27:29
Speaker 4: power batch to get excited about. You know, you both
27:32
Speaker 4: mentioned you know, Josh Bell, Andrew mccutchy, you know, my
27:35
Speaker 4: boy Page Robarez is another one. You know, just some
27:38
Speaker 4: names that you know, it's not that many is exciting
27:42
Speaker 4: to see, especially you know at the ballpark that isn't
27:44
Speaker 4: considered hit or friendly. It doesn't matter where he's at.
27:47
Speaker 4: He's making these ballparks look small, and you know, it's
27:50
Speaker 4: exciting to see because, as we've mentioned earlier in the show,
27:54
Speaker 4: he's just taking advantage of an opportunity that you know
27:57
Speaker 4: might have come a little sooner than people may have,
28:00
Speaker 4: you know, thought, But that's the game of baseball, is
28:03
Speaker 4: being ready when your opportunity comes. And uh, he's been
28:07
Speaker 4: exciting to watch and I hope he keeps it up.
28:09
Speaker 4: I'm rooting for him.
28:10
Speaker 5: To keep it up.
28:11
Speaker 4: It's gonna be hard to but he's probably not gonna
28:13
Speaker 4: pitch him as much. But you know that's part of
28:16
Speaker 4: the game. The adjustment are going to see it is
28:18
Speaker 4: he gonna chang Chase more. But you know, as far
28:21
Speaker 4: as what he's done for this early part has been
28:23
Speaker 4: very impressive.
28:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, just some quick thoughts.
28:26
Speaker 2: I mean, the names that we just mentioned, Cutch, JB, Pedro,
28:31
Speaker 2: I mean, all those guys debuted more than a decade ago.
28:34
Speaker 1: So it's been a long time.
28:35
Speaker 2: And also to note on those guys, all three of
28:38
Speaker 2: those guys, JB might have been a second round pick
28:40
Speaker 2: or a comp pick, but Pedro was like second over all.
28:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, and Cutch was top ten.
28:46
Speaker 3: So yeah, this guy wasn't he got one hundred and
28:51
Speaker 3: thirty thousand dollars signing bonuts. He wasn't even like top
28:54
Speaker 3: ten or fifteen in that international signing class.
28:57
Speaker 2: He was. He was a lottery ticket guy. There's hundreds
29:00
Speaker 2: of those guys in every word, and this is a
29:05
Speaker 2: huge win. He was someone I mean, at this time
29:07
Speaker 2: last year, I was interviewing him at the Futures Game
29:10
Speaker 2: and he had an Altuna curve had on and he
29:12
Speaker 2: wasn't even remarkably productive in Altuna last year.
29:17
Speaker 1: Hell, I mean, his numbers in Triple A aren't nearly
29:21
Speaker 1: as good as how good he's been in the major leagues.
29:25
Speaker 2: And like I've been, I feel like it could if
29:28
Speaker 2: you go back and look at my analysis on Valdez
29:30
Speaker 2: on this show, I could come back come off as
29:32
Speaker 2: a hater just because I've been skeptical in the sense
29:35
Speaker 2: where it's like this guy has never been a high
29:37
Speaker 2: rated prospect. This guy, I mean, yeah, he mashed in Greensborough,
29:40
Speaker 2: so's everybody else, and like he's been fine in these
29:44
Speaker 2: other levels.
29:44
Speaker 1: But like I kind of expected him to be like another.
29:46
Speaker 2: Tyler Callahan or just like you know, a platoon guy,
29:49
Speaker 2: a bench guy, someone who maybe he could start for each.
29:54
Speaker 1: He's like a guy where it's like you gotta have
29:56
Speaker 1: him in the lineup. But that's what he is right now.
29:59
Speaker 2: And to go up what Josh said here to round
30:01
Speaker 2: out my point, there's nothing that gives a spark to
30:04
Speaker 2: a major league baseball team more than a productive young player.
30:08
Speaker 1: When you bring that youthful energy. I mean, sure you
30:10
Speaker 1: can go and you can acquire a.
30:11
Speaker 2: Superstar, and there's there's definitely a pop to the energy there,
30:16
Speaker 2: because when you get somebody who's established, but when a
30:19
Speaker 2: young kid comes up and they asked, they needed him,
30:22
Speaker 2: they needed him to be God. Absolutely, He's coming into
30:25
Speaker 2: a lineup where four of your everyday players, you're starting
30:28
Speaker 2: short stuff, you're starting centerfielder, you're starting first baseman, who
30:31
Speaker 2: is your leadoff hitter, and you're starting catcher.
30:34
Speaker 1: All four of those guys go down, you need someone
30:37
Speaker 1: to step up.
30:37
Speaker 2: And Mangum you can expect Mangham to step up because
30:40
Speaker 2: he hit three hundred in the major leagues last year.
30:43
Speaker 2: Valdez many they needed this and then some And when
30:48
Speaker 2: you get a young guy.
30:49
Speaker 1: Who can bring that energy who no one expected.
30:53
Speaker 2: No Ryan O'Hearn and Brandon Lowe when they arrived and
30:56
Speaker 2: they were looking around the clubhouse and who's gonna help
30:59
Speaker 2: us get to talk to Valdez probably wasn't the first
31:02
Speaker 2: guy on their mind. And when a guy like that
31:04
Speaker 2: can step up and be as good as he's been,
31:07
Speaker 2: that brings life to a team in a very crucial
31:10
Speaker 2: point of the season. And so that is invaluable what
31:13
Speaker 2: he's been. He has been so huge, he's been their
31:16
Speaker 2: most valuable players of the month. A long shot because
31:19
Speaker 2: of how good he been and what he was supposed
31:22
Speaker 2: to be.
31:24
Speaker 4: I love it.
31:25
Speaker 2: Yes, you know it's also good is when you hit
31:28
Speaker 2: that subscribe button. Yeah, as Merlin Valdes, he's on a
31:31
Speaker 2: mission of three thousand career home runs.
31:33
Speaker 1: We're on a mission of three thousand subs.
31:36
Speaker 2: Three thousand career home runs has a bit ambitious, but
31:38
Speaker 2: three thousand subs isn't and we need your health to
31:40
Speaker 2: get there.
31:41
Speaker 1: Also, check out our bucket Bucco.
31:43
Speaker 2: Territory Team store where soon enough it will be as
31:47
Speaker 2: Merlin Valdes.
31:48
Speaker 1: On that jumbo tron graphic.
31:49
Speaker 2: Yes, pet your percussion and you can wear your Bucco
31:54
Speaker 2: Territory gear to the ballpart to support them.
31:56
Speaker 1: Guys, any final thoughts before we wrap it up.
31:58
Speaker 3: I just got one quick one shout out to all
32:01
Speaker 3: the fans at PNC Park this weekend. The place was
32:04
Speaker 3: absolutely rocking. Just so much fun to be there, and
32:09
Speaker 3: just I love that atmosphere that you can feel the
32:12
Speaker 3: confidence starting to grow. So keep showing up, keep getting loud,
32:16
Speaker 3: keep taking your shirts off in the tarp section, whatever
32:19
Speaker 3: you do to have fun. It was a great day
32:22
Speaker 3: at the ballpark. So if you haven't yet make sure
32:24
Speaker 3: you go out and cheer on these twenty twenty six
32:27
Speaker 3: Pirates at PNC Park because this scene is very different.
32:33
Speaker 2: Yeah.
32:34
Speaker 4: I just we'll say, from the past couple of weeks,
32:36
Speaker 4: I've been family traveling and stuff, but bits and pieces
32:40
Speaker 4: here and there. They finished strong. It's been exciting to
32:43
Speaker 4: watch these last couple of weeks from AFAR. Enjoyed us
32:46
Speaker 4: All Star break and get back to it and continue
32:49
Speaker 4: to bring that energy you know, to.
32:50
Speaker 5: P and C.
32:52
Speaker 3: And we'll be here throughout the whole All Star Break
32:54
Speaker 3: with our normal schedule as well, so three shows this
32:57
Speaker 3: week as well.
32:58
Speaker 1: Yes, my final thoughts are growing up in Pittsburgh.
33:02
Speaker 2: The barometer for the Pirates was always could they be interesting?
33:05
Speaker 2: By the time the Steelers reported the training camp, I'm
33:08
Speaker 2: now the league calmnist at the Post Gazette. I'm responsible
33:11
Speaker 2: for covering all three teams. I'm looking at my work
33:13
Speaker 2: calendar here. The Steelers first day camp is July twenty eighth.
33:18
Speaker 2: The Pirates will be the main talk of the town
33:21
Speaker 2: on July twenty eighth.
33:22
Speaker 1: They have checked that box.
33:23
Speaker 2: They are a legitimately interesting team that I'm very much
33:28
Speaker 2: looking forward to continue to cover as we get down
33:31
Speaker 2: the final stretch here and we'll.
33:32
Speaker 1: Have you all covered here.
33:33
Speaker 2: I'm Bucco Territory for Josh Harrison and Platinum Key no Ohio,
33:37
Speaker 2: signing off saying thanks for tuning in to another episode
33:40
Speaker 2: of this show, which was presented to you by the
33:42
Speaker 2: Foul Territory Network.
33:43
Speaker 1: Take care,