Latest / Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast / He gets on base: Spencer Horwitz continues to rake

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He gets on base: Spencer Horwitz continues to rake · Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: What's up, everybody?
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Welcome back to another episode of Buco Territory, presented to
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: you by Foult Territory Network. I'm Noahilas. Joining me as
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: always are my co host Platinum Key aka Mark and
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Josh Harrison. It's another mail Bag Wednesday where we answer
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: all of your questions related to all things Pittsburgh Pirates,
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: and we're going to get into it right now.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Mark, queue it up. What's our first question?
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah, first question comes to us from y us Photos,
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: who asks, I know Horowitz is batting well in the
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: leadoff spot, but would this be a good opportunity for
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: Connor to bat leadoff and move cruise or Horwitz to
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: clean up? Yeah?
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Go ahead, started off.
• 0:45
  Speaker 4: I was just gonna say, not to be funny, but
• 0:47
  Speaker 4: you said, you know Horowitz is doing well on the
• 0:49
  Speaker 4: leadoff spot, So that right there.
• 0:51
  Speaker 5: Answers your question if you ask me.
• 0:55
  Speaker 4: I know, I know the two games have been kind
• 0:57
  Speaker 4: of a small sample size, but let off the other
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: dnswer with a leadoff Homer first pitch yesterday, I think
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: he got out, was first at bat, but he was
• 1:05
  Speaker 4: on base a couple of times for Brandon Loud behind him,
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: a guy with you know, OVP.
• 1:11
  Speaker 5: I think he leads the team in OVP. A guy
• 1:13
  Speaker 5: that gets on base like that, it's not a bad
• 1:15
  Speaker 5: guy to having a lead off spot.
• 1:17
  Speaker 4: And while yes, you look for ways, obviously the question
• 1:21
  Speaker 4: has come about, you know, Connor Griffin being moved up
• 1:24
  Speaker 4: this or that, but at the same time you still
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: allow him to settle in where he's down. You know,
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: where he's been because a guy like Spencer. Did Spencer
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: lead off at all last year?
• 1:36
  Speaker 5: Yeah?
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: A couple of games, Okay, Okay.
• 1:38
  Speaker 5: So I mean not that.
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: I mean, yes, we know long term Connor for his
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: career would be a nice lead off, but that's still
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: something you want him to, you know, ease into especially
• 1:48
  Speaker 4: you know, there's a lot more of the parts of
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: the game, more than just hitting, and you want him to,
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: you know, keep doing what he's doing person as I say.
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: And Spencer, I think gave a nice little joke and
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: you know you got a the guy that's the team
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: in OVP. I think that's a guy you might want
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: to have at the top of your Carolina, you know,
• 2:04
  Speaker 4: to you know, be on base for those guys coming
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: behind him and proven yesterday you know, Loud drove him in.
• 2:11
  Speaker 4: You know, with the dub off the wall.
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you go ahead.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: Well, I was just gonna say, it's absolutely where Spencer
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: Horowitz belongs.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: It's what and when they acquired him.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: I remember having conversations with people in the Pirates organization.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: Some of them aren't around any longer, but uh, that
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: was their intention. They brought him in to be a
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: leadoff hitter. They kind of viewed him to be like
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: a John Jason with more pop jo, and that's kind
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: of what he is. He's a better defending John Jaso
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: with more power, but a very patient approach, a guy
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: who can recognize his pitch and knows what to do
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: with it when it comes across the plate. In today's
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: game of baseball, the top the two most important spots
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: in your batting order to get right are the first two,
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: number one and number two, especially on this team, because
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: Reynolds makes so much sense as a three hitter on
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: this team, because if he's just because of a switch, yeah,
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: you can turn it, you know. That way, you don't
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: have say you have o'hearne or Cruz or whoever batting cleanup.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: You can have Spencer leading off low, batting second, and
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: then you're guaranteed to either if it's a righty on
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: the mound, have three lefties in a row, or if
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: it's a lefty on the mound, you're you're not stuck
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: with three left handers in any type of stretch there.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: But yeah, I love Spencer, especially against right handers. I
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: don't know if I love it against left handers. I'd
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: probably bet Connor lead off against left handers right now
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: or Nick Gonzalez, whoever.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: You like better there.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: But in your normal lineup, which is assuming against the
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: right handed pitcher, I love Spencer's approach.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: At the top.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: Brandon Lowe number two is really the the new number
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: three in the batting order. That's what it's turned into.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: That's I mean, that kind of changed when Mike Trout
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: moved to that spot. So your number two hitter is
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: supposed to be probably your best overall hitter, probably the
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: guy with the highest OPS and that's Brandon Lowe. So
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: you have him at the number two two spot, highest
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: OBP at the number one spot. You have a guy
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: like Reynolds who's consistent in a switch hitter at number three,
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: and then you can get really creative for that middle third.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: You could put O'Neill in the cleanup spot. I personally
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: like O'Neill a little lower. I like O'Hearn just with
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: his higher contact rate to move guys over and drive
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: runs in. And then you can let O'Neill go boom
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: or bust in the five hole and let him go
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: at it. And then after him, you put Connor behind
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: O'Neal Cruz and now you have two of the fastest
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: best bastealers in the game batting right behind each other.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: That's essentially another leadoff number two hitter batting and sixth,
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: and that's just a long lineup right there. And then
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: you have Nick and Zalez, who's hitting over three hundred,
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: batting seventh, And I mean doesn't matter who's batting eighth
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: or ninth. Sure it does to a certain extent, but
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: not much when you have that amount of lineup length,
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: and you know, you're still looking at like an Ozuna
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: or justin San Garcia or whatever you want it, at
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: the eighth spot, and man like, that's that's a that's
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: a playoff caliber lineup right there. And so I like
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: moving Cruise out of the leadoff spot. I liked what
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: he did there, but I mean he's striking out more
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: than anyone in baseball. I'm not saying he's having a
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: bad year, but I'm saying that you would like someone
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: who's not leading Major League Baseball on strikeouts batting leadoff
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: for you to put him in the middle of order.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and do what he does.
• 5:22
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I didn't go ahead, go ahead, no, no, I'll
• 5:27
  Speaker 5: be able to add on.
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: I don't want you to fo Yeah. So I mean,
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: just to follow up on that note, O'Neal Cruz right
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: now has a three eighteen on base percentage. For comparison,
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: Spencer Horwitz has a three eighty nine on base percentage,
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: So you want him getting on base at the top
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: of the order so that the guys like Brandon Lowe,
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: Bryan Reynolds, Ryan o Hernwin gets back have someone to
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: drive in on base for them. So I really like that.
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: I also really think that it's a great fit for
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: Spencer because he works competitive at bets and he doesn't
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: really have the same kind of power that a lot
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: of the guys that you can put in the two
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: through five hole. So I just think it makes way
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: more sense. And I don't really like counter as like
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: a leadoff yet again, it's outside of against left handed pitching.
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: I don't think he's there yet. For right handed pitching,
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: only has a three twenty one on base percentage, so
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: obviously that's going up and improving. But I'd rather have
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: Horwitz there and like count of document if he gets there.
• 6:26
  Speaker 4: So yeah, and before we go to the next what
• 6:30
  Speaker 4: I was just gonna say as far as O'Neill being
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: in the lead off and Spencer, obviously, Spencer is a
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: patient guy, not a bad guy to have leadoff, Not
• 6:38
  Speaker 4: that O'Neill may not have his moments of being patient,
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: but sometimes guys getting a lead off spot and it's
• 6:43
  Speaker 4: a little hard for them to adjust to it.
• 6:45
  Speaker 5: Because they don't know how to approach it. Should I
• 6:47
  Speaker 5: be aggressive?
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: Here?
• 6:48
  Speaker 5: Should I this?
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: And you know, when you got a guy like Spencer
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: who's patient, nothing probably changes for him.
• 6:54
  Speaker 5: So it might be.
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: A win win where O'Neill, you're hitting fourth, fifth, wherever
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: you you know, now you're free to say, you know
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: the game has already come to you runner the scoring position.
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: You know, the game is already presented to where it's like, oh,
• 7:05
  Speaker 4: I'm not leading off and having to sometimes.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, a couple of things I'll add before we
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: round it out one, I think long term, the answer
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: is Spencer. Next year, Spencer's leadoff guy, Connor Griffin's number two,
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: and that's gonna be your one two for a very
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: long time moving forward. I think, assuming you know, like
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: I mean, Garcia could end up being something special and
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: maybe they want a bat Connor third, But like I
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: just look at Connor Griffin. Connor is going to be
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: the number two hitter for the Pirates, probably for the
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: large majority of the duration of his time in Pittsburgh.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: I just don't think you need to do it right
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: now because Brandon Lao is one of the best two
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: hitters in the sport right now, so why why would
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: you move him out of it. The only weakness with
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: Spencer at the top of the order is he's slow.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: He's not a he's not a great bass dealer. But
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: I like the idea of, like I said, stacking Cruise
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: and Griffin together in the back half of the order
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: like five and six. That way you get both of
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: those guys on and then you get your contact hitters
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: up like Gonzalez, like Mangum, and that's where.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: You create chaos.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: The front half is get on base take big swings,
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: back half is speed in contact. That's that's a complex
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: lineup to pitch against for any team. And the final
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: thing I'll say on this with Spencer in the leadoff spot,
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: I mean, he's a guy that if you want to
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: make a late game sub, like if you're starting a
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: whole bunch of left handed pitchers and they bring in
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: a lefty, you're probably pinchhitting for him aside as opposed
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: to pinchating for Lao or O'Hearn or O'Neill.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: And having him at the top of the order.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: It's more of an advantageous spot where his spot's gonna
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: come up, where the lineup turns, and it's like, all right,
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: well this is this is where you bat Ozuna if
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: he's not playing, or Garcia if he's coming off the bench,
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: or whoever else.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: It's it's a more advantageous.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: Spot to make your substitution offensively. So I just think
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: there's so much going for it. I really like that question,
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: and I think we covered it pretty well. So take
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: a quick break when we come back more questions.
• 9:04
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• 10:07
  Speaker 3: All right, All right, what we got yeah? Next question?
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: Next question comes to us from Mals, who asks, is
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: it time to make a zuna walk the plank?
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: I mean man we're in We're in the final week
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: of May.
• 10:24
  Speaker 5: That's a creative question.
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: First off, yeah, the water, but yeah, I mean to
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: answer it, we're getting as close to making the decision
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: because as a fan, I've lost confidence and even if
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: he does turn things around, like, what what's the ceiling
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: at this point of a successful Marcello Zuna, Because we
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: were seeing the floor, we know how bad it can
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: get right now. Maybe it can't get worse. I don't know,
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: but it's pretty bad right now. Ops is below six
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: hundred for your DH just his walk rate's been cut
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: and half basically since last year. His batspeed is a
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: little bit faster, but we've seen one hundred and sixty
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: three at bats from this guy. I feel like we're
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: you're starting to get to the point where it's a
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: big enough sample size and it's not like he's been
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: doing anything recently that's been you know, really like, oh,
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: maybe he's finally turning a leaf, getting back to the
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: past all star that he has been. Right now, in
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: this past seven games, he's batting one seventy four and
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: slugging three forty eight. In his past fifteen games, he's
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: batting one seventy three and slugging three twenty seven. That's
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: just not sustainable. And we're seeing it already where he's
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: being omitted from lineups and now he's just taking up
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: a roster spot. So what do you do? When do
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: you do it? What do you guys think?
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: I I think you you can't do it right now?
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: But when over O'Hearn's back, Yeah, you have to have
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: a serious conversation because I mean, and I think that's
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: why they're getting such a close look at Garcia and Malvez,
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: because they're trying to see, you know, like, can these
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: guys give more production than what Ozuno would give in
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: a reduced role, And that's the question they need answered.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: Like obviously, you know O'Hearn's gonna go back into the
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: starting lineup and all of the players that we just
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: named are going to play less because of that, But
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: you know you.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: Need to see, like, Okay.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: Well, who is a better platoon player, who's more valuable
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: on your bench?
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: Who's more valuable?
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's clear that they're a better team without
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: him playing every day, right, they just are, Like we've
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: been saying that on this show for months now, and
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: I think the Pirates are realizing it with them out,
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: you're seeing O'Neill and Reynolds playing the dh as of Lake. Now,
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: I mean Ozuna. You could make the argument he was
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: better in May. He had a seven forty eight oh
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: ps in May, but I mean he's still under six hundred.
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: He's hit two nineteen and May. I mean the OBP
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: was fine, a three forty two.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: But again, like, I don't think they're gonna ditch it,
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: Like I think they'll just option as Merlin Valdez down.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: But I think you have to reduce his role, and
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: then you need to see what he does in this
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: reduced role, because if he continues to perform, I mean,
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: if he gives his May production in a platoon role,
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: I guess it's fine, right, A seven forty eight, seven
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: to fifty ops guy as a platoon player, that's fine.
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: He's hitting seven sixty seven. That's his ops, sorry, his
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: ops against lefties this year, seven sixty seven.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: And they need that against left handed pitching. So I
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: think that's probably what's gonna happen. I don't see you,
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: I don't see them getting rid of him, but like
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: I think he is like officially going to get demoted
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: to yeah, part time role in here left the only
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: DH and and in the meantime, if Garcia can continue
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: to play well, or as Merlin Valdez can continue to
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: play well, they might have an argument to get him
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: because it's like, all right, well, you know, like, yeah,
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: we have to eat that money. But it's better for
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: the team short term and long term to have these
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: guys up here if they're going to play and if
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: they can replicate, if either of those guys can give
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: you a seven to seventy ops against left handed pitching,
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: you're more incentivized to run with them on the roster
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: than Ozuna because they can also play in the field
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: and play in the field better than some of the
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: guys who are gonna be playing ahead of them, So.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: And there, it's better long term. I don't know.
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: I don't think they're going to get rid of him
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: anytime soon. I think he's probably with them until at
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: least July. But like you really start to explore this
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: seriously whenever O'Hearn comes back, and it's like, what's the
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: benefit here?
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: Right?
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah, y'all pretty much covered a lot of everything. Just
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: to go off of that, I think they write it out.
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: I think one of our previous conversations we mentioned kind
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: of the nime, but before that O'Hearn wasn't hurt. So
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: I think that obviously, you know, changes things as we
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: see now, and I think we covered it last week
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: saying that this is an opportunity for these guys to
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: pretty much show what they can do and force their
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: hand and things that has Ozuna kind of things that
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: may be going for him right now, as you mentioned
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: his numbers against lefties, so that that right there is
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: something that as you could, I could sit here and say, like, yes,
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: it might just be a rollers like you know what,
• 15:34
  Speaker 4: you're only gonna face lefties when O'Hearn is back, But
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: at the same time, you know Garcia, and that is
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: they they show enough over these next however long it is,
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: it's something that they're really gonna have to wait because
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: if that ends up being the move where Ozuna is
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: officially gone, that means that they are replicating or at
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: least at least replicating or doing better offensively.
• 15:58
  Speaker 5: But it also makes you better defensively.
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: So that is something that they don't just want to
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: pull the plug right now, just because obviously there's so
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: much going on, you got to make sure that you know,
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: guys are health.
• 16:10
  Speaker 5: You got to make sure you're doing everything right and
• 16:12
  Speaker 5: that you covered before that happens. But that's also time
• 16:15
  Speaker 5: for Azuna.
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: As you say, I don't know if there's really much
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: that he can do that's gonna be like, Okay, when
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: no Hearn comes back, you're fully dh As you mentioned,
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: his numbers against lefties might be enough to keep him
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: at Bay to say, Okay, you're still gonna go face lefties.
• 16:30
  Speaker 5: But at the.
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: Same time, we don't know how long that least is
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: because if Garcia and Valdez do a really good job,
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: it might end up really making that job that much
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: easier for them to answer. Because at the end of
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: the day, you want to put your best team forward,
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: and as you continue to get closer to July, that's
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: what teams that are in continent are trying to do.
• 16:50
  Speaker 4: Put their best team forward. And if you got to
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: cut ties one way or another, it's better to do
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: it early rather than late.
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: And I just have one quick question for you, Josh.
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: If you're like a free agent and looking at to
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: sign with the Pirates, do you care at all about
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: how they handle Marcelo's unit this year? If you're thinking
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: about signing twenty twenty seven, Would that matter at all
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: to you as like a player be like, if they're
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: cutting ties with him in may or, is that just baseball? Well?
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: I mean no, there's been guys that's already been cut
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: ties way earlier than that.
• 17:26
  Speaker 5: But uh no, I think.
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: It's encouraging because I mean, look around the league. What
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: other team is going to allow you to have one
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: hundred and sixty three at bats? And you know, and
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: that's not pigging on as just being honest, right right,
• 17:38
  Speaker 4: what other DH is out there running out those numbers? Obviously,
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: his veteran tenure has allowed for a we know what
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: this guy's track record is, but at some point, you know,
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: this game is what have you done for me lately?
• 17:52
  Speaker 4: And you know it hasn't been the greatest form. So
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: I don't think that would deter any veterans for because
• 17:58
  Speaker 4: I mean, if you win, of veterans.
• 18:00
  Speaker 5: Are going want to come, you know, And I think
• 18:02
  Speaker 5: it might be even.
• 18:03
  Speaker 4: More encouraging because when they let him get at least
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: one hundred and sixty at bats to you know, get
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: it together, that's.
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: You know, that's yeah.
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: I've seen guys get cut in half the amount of
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: that backs, you know, so.
• 18:18
  Speaker 5: That that is their commitment to saying, hey, we want
• 18:20
  Speaker 5: it to work. We signed you for a reason.
• 18:21
  Speaker 4: But at the same time, you know, if their hand
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: is forced, their hand is forced. And I don't think
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: that has anything to do with you know, future you
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: know signs signings.
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: To my And if I'm wrong on this, I apologize
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: in advance. I'm pretty sure this is my understanding of it.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: I think he gets a one point five million if
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: they cut him.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, right, yeah, So I think that that's something as
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: well to keep an eye on. I mean in multiple ways, right,
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: Like it's like, okay, maybe they don't want to pay
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: the extra one point five or if they do, it's
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: like wow, Like I think that to answer like Mark's question,
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: like shows it's like yeah, like they're they're willing.
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: To pay you what you agreed to.
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: Like it's like they had that in the agreement, being
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: like if you stink, we will pay you a million
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: and a half dollars to leave, and like, if you're
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: a player, I think that that's probably something that you recognize,
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: Like all right, like they upheld the agreement rather than
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: keeping me on the bench and not playing me right
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: just so they didn't have to pay.
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: Me a little bit of extra money.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: And also, like to answer Mark's question just a little further,
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: but to round it out, like the Pirates have had
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: every reason not to employ this guy, like they he
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: makes their defense worse.
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: They're paying him to do offense, he's making their offense worse.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: And there are younger players that he is logjamming like
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: he's like between Creuz and Reynolds, one of them has
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: a future as a designated hitter in this league. They
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: would be better off probably getting on with that line
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: of work, but Ozuna prevents that.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: And also so it's log jamming.
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: Garcia from staying up here potentially whenever o'haran gets healthy,
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: or as Merlin Valdez or Jake Mangum, all three guys
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: who are going to contribute to Pirates teams in twenty
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: twenty seven, in twenty twenty eight. So it's like they're
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: doing right by him against probably their best interests in
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: multiple facets. And I think that anyone like paying close attention,
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: especially guys in the league, can recognize that.
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: And it's not like a thing.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: Where they're being cheap or I mean, it might be
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: a little bit depending on how long they ride this
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: out if they don't want to pay them.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: And again, if I'm wrong on that.
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: I totally apologize, but I believe that that is my
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: understanding of the situation. And even if it's not, like
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: they are giving him every chance to get right because
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: they made an investment in him, and I don't see
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: how any either side could be upset with how this
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: situation is being handled.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: It's just frustrating, right yeah, So all right, we'll take it.
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: We'll take another break, and then our third and final
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: question when we come back.
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• 22:09
  Speaker 1: Real quick before you read the question. I did a
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: little bit more research.
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: He gets a one point five million dollar buyout if
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: the option is declined for next year.
• 22:16
  Speaker 5: Tikaya.
• 22:17
  Speaker 4: But I mean that's I mean either way. I mean
• 22:19
  Speaker 4: that's what get they got rid of him. Probably no,
• 22:23
  Speaker 4: I mean you'll get it.
• 22:26
  Speaker 5: So it's basically so he signed for twelve.
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: Million, right, Yeah, and it's ten point five guaranteed. That's
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: where I'm trying, I guess.
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: So, Yeah, the one point five is guarantee whether they
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: pick up his option or not, because you either getting
• 22:40
  Speaker 4: one point five to go be a free agent or
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: your one point five is going to be added to your.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: Year next Yeah.
• 22:47
  Speaker 5: Yeah, but it's like.
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: Base it's pretty much a way That's why it's like
• 22:50
  Speaker 4: he's guaranteed. It's pretty much planning on a twelve million
• 22:53
  Speaker 4: dollar deal this year. That's pretty much how guys look
• 22:55
  Speaker 4: at that bug out because it's a guarantee that you're
• 22:59
  Speaker 4: getting that if the option is picked up, obviously you're
• 23:02
  Speaker 4: getting the second year, but that buyout is kind of that. Like,
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: I guess it makes it sound better, but realistically you
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: put it all together because you're you're you're getting you're
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: guaranteed that.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: But he would get that up front, yeah, rather than
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: at the.
• 23:16
  Speaker 5: End of no, his I think they just got to
• 23:18
  Speaker 5: pay the buyout.
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: Basically, when you gotta pay lik incentives, it would be
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: before like the end of the year.
• 23:23
  Speaker 5: I think That's what I'm like.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, So like if they were to cut him today,
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: if they were to.
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: Cut him today, I don't think they have to pay
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: the one point five million bis.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: Okay then.
• 23:34
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think, But but I could be wrong. I could.
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, right, Ethan will be texting me about all of this.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: We don't have to cut this out of the show either,
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: because we addressed it later on, and I think I
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: did a decent.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: Job of giving the caveat there.
• 23:47
  Speaker 4: But yeah, I'm glad we follow, But I think I
• 23:50
  Speaker 4: think they would just be they could pay it whenever
• 23:52
  Speaker 4: they want, but most teams will probably just pay his
• 23:55
  Speaker 4: salary and how it's paid, like, oh, you're just gonna
• 23:58
  Speaker 4: get paid when everybody else gets paid. We're not going
• 23:59
  Speaker 4: to pay you the rest of your lumpsome. You're gonna
• 24:02
  Speaker 4: get paid when everybody else gets paid. And then when
• 24:03
  Speaker 4: we're figuring out the end of the year roster and
• 24:06
  Speaker 4: who's been declined and so that will pay out when
• 24:09
  Speaker 4: we got to pay that out. Because I'm pretty sure
• 24:12
  Speaker 4: that's how they do it.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: I could be wrong, yes, and he needs to get
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: lest bad.
• 24:22
  Speaker 4: And your comments aren't wrong because he is guaranteed his
• 24:24
  Speaker 4: one point five and whether they give it to him
• 24:26
  Speaker 4: that day or before December.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: Okay, all right, Mark Third question YEP.
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: Next question comes to us from Tyler, who asks, the
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: day night splits for Paul Skins is truly bizarre. Has
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: there been any indication for why that's happening and what
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: could be done to fix it?
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: I don't know, man, I mean, if you look like.
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: Paul Skins has just pretty much been good always, like
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: it's just been a couple of bad Yeah, his day.
• 24:57
  Speaker 5: Just how bizarre is bizarre?
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: You know?
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so his I'll pull it up right here. I
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: was checking twenty twenty five, So twenty twenty five, just
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: for the bigger sample size, he had a one point
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: three e RA and day games and at two point
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: zero six e RA A and night games, So no
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: real distinction there. But when we go to twenty twenty
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: six here his e RA is six point five to
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: seven in like or in day games, and then in
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: night games his ERA is zero point five to one.
• 25:31
  Speaker 5: So I mean, I don't think it's anything. Actually can
• 25:34
  Speaker 5: really point.
• 25:35
  Speaker 4: I know, his first start of the year was a
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: day game, didn't go that well, so you can you
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: can obviously attest a lot of that to that.
• 25:42
  Speaker 5: And then he threw the other day against the Phillies
• 25:45
  Speaker 5: day game.
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: That was a game.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was a day game. Score on them five
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: and like five and two thirds, I believe.
• 25:54
  Speaker 4: So you're talking it's those two starts, yeah, so yeah,
• 25:59
  Speaker 4: but he's not in day games.
• 26:01
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean that's the way I'm reading the question.
• 26:03
  Speaker 5: I think that's the way I'm reading the question.
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and day games right now, it's just a weird
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: baseball quirk. I think that's all it is. It's I'm
• 26:13
  Speaker 3: not going to be thinking like Paul Skins need to
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: need to reevaluate his entire day game routine right now.
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: I think it's just weird start.
• 26:23
  Speaker 4: I don't I don't think we have to point to
• 26:24
  Speaker 4: where they got the you know, random fact, Oh he's
• 26:28
  Speaker 4: throwing you know, he has a six point seven e
• 26:30
  Speaker 4: RA on the third Tuesday when they were like, you know,
• 26:34
  Speaker 4: I don't think you.
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: Can cut narrative.
• 26:37
  Speaker 4: Yeah, but but but I mean, yes, you would look
• 26:40
  Speaker 4: at on the outside of oh Man day games, but
• 26:42
  Speaker 4: then when you look at the starts, you're like, well,
• 26:44
  Speaker 4: that first start of the year, and then you know,
• 26:46
  Speaker 4: ran into a tough Philly team that was hot, and
• 26:49
  Speaker 4: you know sometimes that's.
• 26:50
  Speaker 5: Night game, day game. You just ran into a hot lineup.
• 26:53
  Speaker 4: And I mean when you just talking those two, I
• 26:55
  Speaker 4: think if you're looking at a big sample size, but
• 26:58
  Speaker 4: even last year shows that I think they had a
• 27:01
  Speaker 4: little this was yeah.
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we can even go back further. Let's
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: go back to his rookie year. He took two no
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: hitters into the bottom third of a game. On day
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: games as rookie, he had six no hit innings and
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: eleven strikeouts against the Cubs in his second career start
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: at Wrigley, and then he took a no hitter into
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: or he threw seven no hit innings in July of
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty four in Milwaukee. I remember that one that
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: was right before the All Star break. That was probably
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: the best start of his career that season. I would say, yeah,
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: because that's when when I read this stat, like I'm
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: thinking career, because I've seen every scheme start, yeah, and
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: like I don't know, yeah, well, I feel like most
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: of of him pitching well are in day games. Like
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: I remember there was a Sunday game against the Rays
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: where Yondi Diaz led off with a home run and
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: he allowed like one hit for the next seven innings,
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: and like there's there's so many examples of that. So
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: it's like the fact that the night games. I would
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: have thought night games would have been his achilles heel.
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: But it's funny that Josh pointed that out right, Like,
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: I mean, when you allow five and runs or when
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: you get charged for five and runs and two thirds
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: of an inning and you're gonna pitch naturally, you're going
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: to pitch less day games than night games because you
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: play more night games in Major League Baseball, so it's
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: a smaller sample size. And like we just pointed out,
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: that's tener and runs. We just came up within two
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: outings over six and a third innings. So that's why
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: it's cute. It's really just a blip on the radar.
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: I don't think, yeah, I mean, I don't like if
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: I was going off of just the vibe of having
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: covered pretty much every start of his career, I would
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: think that he's probably better in day games.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: Personally.
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: I think he told me that at one point or
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: another that like, I mean, he gives me the schemes answer,
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: you know, like, oh.
• 28:53
  Speaker 6: I don't care.
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: But like in all reality, like I think his routine
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: is better in the afternoon games, if I remember that correctly.
• 29:02
  Speaker 4: So yeah, yeah, nobody wants to face one oh one
• 29:06
  Speaker 4: with all that movement and everything that early, Like let
• 29:08
  Speaker 4: me wake up coffee and yeah, let me ease into
• 29:12
  Speaker 4: the day and see if I can get a partly
• 29:14
  Speaker 4: cloudy you know, seven PM.
• 29:15
  Speaker 5: I don't want to be at one am trying to.
• 29:18
  Speaker 4: I mean one but even then, like you are really good,
• 29:21
  Speaker 4: but yeah, I mean, you got the best picture on
• 29:24
  Speaker 4: the planet. Night game, day game, mid day game. You know,
• 29:27
  Speaker 4: the one that they really don't want is the four
• 29:29
  Speaker 4: o'clock game. Nobody wants to face anybody. But yeah, you
• 29:34
  Speaker 4: got pap schemes. I don't think I think those are
• 29:37
  Speaker 4: just blips on the radar, just some baseball being baseball
• 29:41
  Speaker 4: at its finest. And you know, whether the best picture
• 29:44
  Speaker 4: on the planet, best hitter, uh this base You know,
• 29:46
  Speaker 4: baseball is going to have moments where it's just going
• 29:48
  Speaker 4: to say, you know what there is this game will
• 29:51
  Speaker 4: show you things that you are not prepared for. Just
• 29:54
  Speaker 4: that's that's the beauty of the game that we play.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: And here's the here's the career splits U.
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: He's made thirty six starts at night He's eighteen and
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: nine with a one point eighty two earned run average
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: over two hundred eighteen innings, and he has a ten
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: point six K nine.
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: On day games, he is worse.
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: He's nine and eight with a two fifty five earned
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: run average over thirty starts, one hundred and sixty two
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: and two thirds innings pitched. But his his K nine
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: is higher. It's ten point seven.
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: So uh yeah, I I but.
• 30:28
  Speaker 5: Yeah, we also know two of those from next year too.
• 30:31
  Speaker 5: Yeah yeah, I think, yeah, I think. But either way
• 30:36
  Speaker 5: you still are not mad at either one of the numbers.
• 30:39
  Speaker 3: I'll still take Paul Skins in a day game.
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, so I guess that was wrong. I remember.
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: I mean the night games. He's good all the time.
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: The more iconic games coming.
• 30:49
  Speaker 4: You know, some of your day games might be that
• 30:51
  Speaker 4: four o'clock game that you don't know if they considered
• 30:53
  Speaker 4: that a night game.
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah game, Yeah you know so. Al right, guys, any
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: final thoughts before we wrap it up.
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: None over here, anything, Just I'll take it. I'll take
• 31:04
  Speaker 3: the reins here. Josh did such a great job last time.
• 31:07
  Speaker 3: Just remind everyone to please subscribe. We're trying to get
• 31:10
  Speaker 3: to three thousand subscribers here, can't do it without your help.
• 31:14
  Speaker 3: Almost halfway there, I think we may have just eclipse
• 31:16
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• 31:20
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• 31:23
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• 31:25
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• 31:28
  Speaker 3: scan that QR code right there and it'll take you
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: to the link.
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: Alright, all right, fellas, any final thoughts before we wrap
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: it up.
• 31:39
  Speaker 3: I'm good, yeah, but that's all right, give me another shot.
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, all right now, all right, Well for Platinum, Pak
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: Mark and Josh Harrison, I'm Noah Hiles, signing off saying
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: thanks for tuning into another episode of Buco Territory, presented
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: to you by the Foul Territory Network.
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: Take care. Nonetta Bella the Si