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Transcript

Who needs to step up for the Pirates in the 2nd half? · Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: What's up, everybody.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Welcome back to another episode of Bucco Territory, presented to
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: you by the Foul Territory Network.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: I'm Noah Hiles.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Joining me as always are my co hosts Josh Harrison
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: and Platinum Key aka Mark. It's Friday, July seventeenth. The
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Pirates second half of the regular season is about to
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: get underway.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: They have a three game weekend series.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: In Cleveland against the Guardians, a lot of interesting things
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: to get into this show will be our second half
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: of the season preview where we're gonna break down some storylines,
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: some guys that we need to see more from in
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: the second half, and we'll obviously round out our Friday
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: show the same way we always do with our weekly segment.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Jay Hay.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Now, So, guys, we're gonna start off like I said
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: in this first segment.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: Who steps Up?
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: There are a lot of moving pieces to a baseball team,
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: especially a baseball team that's looking to sneak its way
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: into the postseason, and that's what the Pirates are right now.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: They're a team knocking on the door. They're a team
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: three games above five hundred at the time of this recording,
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: and a team a couple of games out of the
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: Wildcard race.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: So with all that.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: Being said, we've seen a whole bunch of guys step
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: up so far.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: When I ask you who's a player that you need to.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: See more from in the second half in order for
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: this team to reach the next level, who's the first
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: guy that comes to mind, We'll start with Mark.
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah, first guy that comes to mind is Henry Davis.
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: We saw him really starting to step up in like
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: his last like fifteen games or so, right before the
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: All Star break, especially with Andy Rodriguez heading into the
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: injured list. Henry took that opportunity and showed something with
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: his bat. Finally looked like the bat that the Pirates
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: had drafted. Obviously, it's been a short sample, but if
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: Henry can continue to do that in the second half,
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: that will just help this team so so much. Because
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: this offense has been productive without his bet providing much
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: of anything. So anything that you're getting above, like a
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: six hundred ops from Henry Davis is going to be
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: icing on the cake and just help this team get
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: a couple more wins.
• 2:11
  Speaker 4: Possibly.
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: We know what he can do defensively, we know what
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: he can do calling games, So no issues there. But
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: if he can keep hitting the ball, that would be
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: such such a help, especially if it helps the Pirates
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: not have to address Catcher at the trade deadline. And
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: it sounds like should be back pretty soon after the
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: All Star break, so it doesn't sound like that's going
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: to be a lingering issue. But yeah, it's if Henry
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: steps up, this team has a whole other gear to
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: get to.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: I love that pick from you, Mark for a couple
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: of reasons.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: One, like you said, Andy's going to be back, but
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: I mean, you got to remember, this is the most
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: baseball Dy has played quite some time, and it's probably
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: going to end up being the most major League baseball
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: he's played in his life when we're all said and
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: done in twenty twenty six.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: So I think it's you.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: Know, I'm not rooting for the guy to slow down
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: or anything, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: Andy to hit a lull at some point this season
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: just because he's he hasn't put his body through this.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Long of a grind for a very long time.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: And if you can get what you've got from Henry
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: Davis over these last fifteen games he's played, where he's
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: hit three home runs, he's driven in ten, he's walked
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: four times and only struck out six. He's slashed two
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: seventy three, three sixty eight, five sixty seven. If you
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: get that from Henry Davis who for the rest of
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: the year, or even a lesser version of that, like
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: if you can just get him to slash two fifty,
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: an on base percentage of three fifty and a slug
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: of like four hundred to five hundred, especially that that
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: is a very very good catching platoon between him and
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: Andy Rodriguez.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: That is an insane influx.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: Of value compared to what you got from him for
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: the bulk of his first half. So if Henry Davis
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: can do that at the plate, you really don't have
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: a bad option at catcher, which I can't remember the
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: last time I said that. Yeah, so that's that's a
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: huge pick for you. I like that one, Josh, what
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: do you think? Yeah?
• 4:13
  Speaker 5: I definitely agree. There's no secret that we've spoke on
• 4:16
  Speaker 5: it before. But it just shows how valuable he can
• 4:20
  Speaker 5: be to a team that is already doing good offensively
• 4:23
  Speaker 5: when he does show up better than what he was giving,
• 4:26
  Speaker 5: and that just makes your team that much stronger. Because
• 4:29
  Speaker 5: you know, all offenses talk about being tough one through nine,
• 4:33
  Speaker 5: and realistically we'll say that they weren't tough one through nine.
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: But with the way he's sworn at the.
• 4:37
  Speaker 5: Last fifteen games or so, it definitely takes it back
• 4:41
  Speaker 5: to say, okay him platoon as you mentioned with Indy
• 4:44
  Speaker 5: when he gets back healthy, it is definitely something that
• 4:46
  Speaker 5: makes your often stronger and also makes your defense stronger
• 4:49
  Speaker 5: because you're scoring more runs.
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: Josh, help, go ahead.
• 4:54
  Speaker 5: Yeah, well I'll answer both of these questions. Yeah, my
• 5:00
  Speaker 5: my guy would be Mitch Keller. I know this off season,
• 5:03
  Speaker 5: a lot of you know, trade talks ROMed around him
• 5:06
  Speaker 5: preseason then going through the season, and obviously we know
• 5:10
  Speaker 5: we highlighted him I think a couple episodes ago and
• 5:12
  Speaker 5: talked about maybe this All Star break being kind of
• 5:15
  Speaker 5: that like reset button for him and uh, you know,
• 5:18
  Speaker 5: kind of flipping the script as opposed to what's happened,
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: you know, previous in his career where he kind of
• 5:23
  Speaker 5: hits you.
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: Know, a little low and kind of falls off.
• 5:26
  Speaker 5: I'm looking at it as you know, a little reset
• 5:28
  Speaker 5: after All Star Break and then knowing that you got
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: this offense. It's no secret that if Mitch pitches, you know,
• 5:34
  Speaker 5: to what he's capable of, where he's eating innings, going
• 5:37
  Speaker 5: six innings and handing the ball over to the bullpen.
• 5:40
  Speaker 5: And given quality starts, this team is gonna be that
• 5:42
  Speaker 5: much better because you already know Paul, you know Ashcraft,
• 5:46
  Speaker 5: as you mentioned, Bubb's getting better, Jared his I think.
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: His previous alt went six. You know, when you're firing,
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: when you're firing on all cylinders. I think pitching is something.
• 5:57
  Speaker 5: That you really don't want to waiver, you know, on
• 6:00
  Speaker 5: this teeter totter, because if you once you get to
• 6:02
  Speaker 5: the place play playoffs, postseason, sometimes offenses going to a
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: little law. But if you got pitching staff that is
• 6:09
  Speaker 5: keeping you in games, it allows, you know, offense that
• 6:12
  Speaker 5: may be struggling to get that you know timely ending
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: where they put pressure on the other team and get
• 6:17
  Speaker 5: that time to you know double one, a gap or something.
• 6:19
  Speaker 5: So I think Mitch is gonna be big for the
• 6:21
  Speaker 5: starting staff because you know what Paul and those other
• 6:24
  Speaker 5: guys are bringing. So for me, I'd really like to
• 6:27
  Speaker 5: see Mitch step up and hopefully this All Star break
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: was a nice reset for him.
• 6:30
  Speaker 4: What do you guys think?
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, uh, Mitch Keller's been through a lot of bad baseball.
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: He's suffered through a lot of bad baseball teams. The
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: players finally have a chance to be good. He's the
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: veteran on this in this starting rotation. He needs to
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: step up. He needs to be the guy that puts
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: his foot down and says, you know what, this is
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: the year that we're actually going to be a good
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: baseball team and make the postseason. He has that chance
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: to do it. So, yeah, in the second half, we
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: need to see Mitch Keller improve, be better and be
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: the veteran ace and not ace, but the veteran starter
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: in this rotation that can go out and be that
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: Chad Inians here, like you said, Josh, So he's got
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: quite the opportunity right in front of him. So I'd
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: love to see Mitch Keller show off that veteran leadership
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: and sees on it.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and just to kind of follow up on everything
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: Mark said, it's you just need to get something from Mitch,
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: and if it can't work in the starting rotation, then
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: maybe he goes to the bullpen and gives you an
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: answer there. Because he can't throw a wide pitch mix
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: right now. Maybe if you simplify it and say, look,
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: we just need you to cover the seventh today, We
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: only need you to throw two pitches.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: They need that too.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: I mean, they could use Mitch Keller the starter a
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: lot more than Mitch Keller the seventh inning reliever. And
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: I'm sure Mitch doesn't want to be that guy. But
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: you got to find a way to contribute somehow, and
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: sometimes you know, if it ain't your year, it ain't
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: your year.
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: I don't think.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: Mitch Keller has done enough this year, even as bad
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: as he's been, to completely give up on a moving forward.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: But we've seen other great pitchers, guys with resumes far
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: better than Mitches, take a back seat or a lesser
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: role while their team is on a heater and they
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: still find a way to contribute. I mean Tim Linscom
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: did it, Barry Zito did it on those great Giants
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: teams who had other pitchers, and it's just like, yeah,
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: it's not my year right now, And both of those
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: guys ended up rebounding and having a great season later.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: On after accepting those lesser roles.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: And I'm not suggesting that's what Mitch needs to do,
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: but if he does, like I don't see anything wrong
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: with that. I'm gonna go ahead and name mine. Now
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: it's another guy in the starting rotation. It's Jared Jones.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: I picked Jared over Mitch just because Jared at his
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: best has the second highest ceiling that we've seen in
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: the Major leagues on this rotation. What Jared Jones did
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: in April and May of twenty twenty four, that's the
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: best two months pitching stretch that any pitcher in this
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: rotation has had not named Paul Steins, yep. Mitch Keller
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: at his best never looked as good as Jared Jones
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: did his first two months in the major leagues. Brax
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: and Ashcraft has looked really damn good. He never looked
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: Jared Jones level dominant. Now, the whole thing with Jared
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: is obviously sustainability.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: Can he stay healthy? Can he continue to stack that up?
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: And there's always been something that he's had to deal with,
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: be it an injury or a pitch count, or an
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: thing's limit or a workload restriction something, and he's gonna
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: have to continue dealing with that. But if Jared Jones
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: can return to first half twenty twenty four, Jared Jones,
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: I mean Mitch Keller still matters obviously, but my god,
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: that's the best one two three punch in baseball. YEP,
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: with Paul continuing to trend upward, and Paul is the
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: most important player on this team in the second half,
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: but we all know that he needs to step up
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: and Brax and Ashcraft.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: You have two all stars already.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: If Jared Jones, who has the upside of an All Star,
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: if you can get that from your third guy, even
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: with an innings restriction, if he can give you six
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: strong every night, if he can give you a quality
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: start three to four times a month and his five outings,
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: this is going to be a very difficult baseball team
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: to beat in a three game series.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: And it starts on Friday against the Cleveland Guardians.
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: So I love it.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Anything to add on, guys.
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: No, I think you've got that covered perfectly.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, all right, So we're gonna take a quick break
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: when we come back. Second half questions that we need
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: to see answered from the Pittsburgh Pirates here, I'm Bucko Territory.
• 10:35
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• 11:38
  Speaker 2: All right, second half questions. Things that we need to
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: see improved. We mentioned individuals. Now, let's talk about storylines,
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: something that we would like to see either resolved, improved,
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: or really just anything that pertains to this team and
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: getting better and reaching the postseason by the time October arrives.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: I'll start us off here. I for my storyline, I'm
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: gonna go with Marcelo Zuna. How much longer is this
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: guy gonna be here? In a couple of weeks, Spencer
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: Horowitz will be back, O'Neil Cruz will be back as
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: Merlin Valdez has been everything that you hoped Marcello Zuna
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: would be. His production has exceeded Marcelo Zuna in about
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: a third of the opportunity. Tyler Tyler Callahan has been
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: a solid bench player. Jake Mangam has been one of
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: the most valuable fourth outfielders in Major League Baseball, a
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: guy who probably still deserves to be in the starting
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: lineup every day. Jared Triolo is a Gold Glove utility defender.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: That's your bench right now. Oh and by the way,
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: Henry Davis is slashing what we just said you was
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: slashing over the last fifteen games. He's your backup catcher.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: You have a lot of position player depth. I'm very
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: curious to see if they do the right thing and
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: just say, hey, these guys are helping us win, and
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: they're helping us win more and just admit that Ozuna
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: wasn't the right move.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: Guys, do you think that that happens.
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: I think it's gotta be close. It's you never really
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: want to say, like, oh, time to give up on
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: the guy, But at this point, we have just so
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: many better options on the bench. And yeah, they made
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: a significant investment into this guy, but it just hurts
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: this team more than anything. So maybe you have him
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: like DH against left handed pitching for a little bit,
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: but you just can't keep a bench slot with the
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: options that are available otherwise. So I think it's as
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: soon as either Horwitz or O'Neal gets back, you gotta
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: move on.
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 13:33
  Speaker 5: I don't want to say he's lasted longer than you
• 13:36
  Speaker 5: know we've anticipated.
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: We obviously know injuries have probably helped his case.
• 13:41
  Speaker 5: I would say stick around, just from a standpoint, you
• 13:44
  Speaker 5: didn't really have many options to go down into. But
• 13:48
  Speaker 5: that is a storyline that I think will catch some
• 13:50
  Speaker 5: steam as guys start to get healthy, because as you mentioned,
• 13:54
  Speaker 5: you're at that point of season where you have to
• 13:56
  Speaker 5: justify it and if you're serious about winning and riding
• 13:59
  Speaker 5: this momentum, you might have to cut ties with.
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: You know what is dragging you down.
• 14:05
  Speaker 5: And not to say he's dragging him down, but he
• 14:08
  Speaker 5: hasn't really helped much. And you know, I'm not a
• 14:10
  Speaker 5: guy that likes to talk about guys not producing, because
• 14:13
  Speaker 5: I know how hard this game is. But at the
• 14:14
  Speaker 5: same time, I've also been a guy who's been designated
• 14:17
  Speaker 5: myself when my last year with the Phillies, I didn't
• 14:20
  Speaker 5: really get the I think I might have had one
• 14:21
  Speaker 5: hundred at bats going into August, so even then hard
• 14:24
  Speaker 5: to get ab.
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: So when you don't have abs, just as you.
• 14:27
  Speaker 5: Mentioned before the break, there were moments where he wasn't
• 14:31
  Speaker 5: even in the lineup, so you got to make decisions
• 14:34
  Speaker 5: that sometimes aren't easy. But at the same time, if
• 14:37
  Speaker 5: you're trying to make a team better, it's necessary.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: When it's hard to find a player who you deserve
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: more playing time, then then you.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: Don't deserve to be on the roster. And that's it.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: Like Mark mentioned, maybe batting him as a DH against lefties.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: Why in the world would that not be as Merlin
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: vald does right, and O'Neill's healthy and you're already crowded
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: for outfield spots, Like, how in the world do you
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: justify playing him ahead of as Merlin val does. There's
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: just nothing you could do to justify that. So that's
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: my storyline, Josh, what about you.
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: Mine kind of ties into yours.
• 15:16
  Speaker 5: It was the lineup construction because obviously we know guys
• 15:19
  Speaker 5: are being healthy, and it was honestly saying that you
• 15:23
  Speaker 5: know that DH spot is you know, deserving of you
• 15:26
  Speaker 5: know s Merlin against lefties, and then you know, when
• 15:29
  Speaker 5: the righty's there, you can kind of rotate, rotate that
• 15:31
  Speaker 5: with whether so hearn or you know, b Ray. You know,
• 15:35
  Speaker 5: because as you mentioned, Mangum's played well enough to where
• 15:38
  Speaker 5: you want to keep them in a lineup, and you know,
• 15:40
  Speaker 5: if that's gonna put O'Hearn or or Reynolds at d H,
• 15:43
  Speaker 5: you know, that slides Mangum into the outfield, which makes
• 15:46
  Speaker 5: your defense better. And at the same time we've talked
• 15:49
  Speaker 5: about it, these guys have seized, you know, the opportunity
• 15:53
  Speaker 5: that's been in front of them. Same thing with Nick Gonzalez.
• 15:56
  Speaker 5: You know, he's a guy that has been, you know,
• 15:58
  Speaker 5: kind of the main state this year. That's been a
• 16:00
  Speaker 5: pleasant surprise for the Pirates when coming into spring training
• 16:03
  Speaker 5: was figuring out, you know, how is this guy going
• 16:05
  Speaker 5: to get at bats? We knew he was gonna get
• 16:07
  Speaker 5: at bats, but just win where So my thing is,
• 16:11
  Speaker 5: you're starting to catch that momentum when these guys get
• 16:14
  Speaker 5: back healthy. Horowitz, you know, O'Neill, you're gonna have to
• 16:18
  Speaker 5: make a decision, and we've kind of already hit on
• 16:20
  Speaker 5: that with you know, the Marcelle storyline. I think that
• 16:22
  Speaker 5: gets answered here pretty soon, because one way or another,
• 16:26
  Speaker 5: you can't you can't stay in the middle. You got
• 16:29
  Speaker 5: to make a decision, especially if you're trying to win,
• 16:31
  Speaker 5: and all indications points towards the guys in that clubhouse
• 16:35
  Speaker 5: trying to win, and I'm sure everybody up top is
• 16:37
  Speaker 5: as well.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, just as far as the lineup, I have just
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: a couple of things that I'm curious to see. One,
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: how you get Valdez consistent at bats right because he
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: plays right field, he can play first base, although I
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: don't think they want to play and there's no reason
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: to play him at first base because they've got three
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: guys now with Jacob Gonzalez here as well, who can
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: play in treolo, Like he's like your fifth option at
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: first base as far as overall that, Yeah, so there's yeah,
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: that's it. He is. Yeah, But then it's like, where
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: do you play o'hearen.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: Do you play o'hearan?
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: Right, Okay, then you're playing Spencer at first And that
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: goes into my second thing. How much time do we
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: see O'Neil Cruz playing center field?
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: Yeah?
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: That's another thing where it's if you're getting valdezit bats,
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: where are you playing O'Neill because are you sacrificing.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: Jake Ngum's defense? Are you taking that out of the equation.
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: Jake Mangum's also like hitting over three hundred, so he's
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: playing a lot as well. Just the outfield construction as
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: a whole, you've got five guys, assuming Spencer's the everyday
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: first baseman, Between O'Hearn, Valdez, Reynolds, Mangum and Cruz, you've
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: got five guys who should be playing every day and
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: one of them can play dh but one of them
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: is going to have to sit, and in a way,
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: you keep everyone fresh but in another way, you're kind
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: of putting someone who. I mean, Cruz and Spencer are
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: obviously coming back, but the rest of those guys I
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: just named Lao or oh ohhearn excuse me, Mangum.
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: Valdez, Reynolds, all those guys. Those are probably your hottest.
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: Four hitters outside of Nick Gonzalez, so that'll be interesting.
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: And the third guy, the third O, there's four excuse me,
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: Jacob Gonzalez. How much run does he get it short?
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: Does he become your primary shortstop in the second half
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: or is it Triolo? Because the fourth thing I had,
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: as far as lineup construction, something I'd like to see.
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: I would like to see Jared Triolo be the primary
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: starting third baseman when Paul Skins witches from.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: Here on album.
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: I like just because of his issues with holding runners
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: on base, the left on base percentage being so much
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: higher this or so much.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Lower, I should say this year compared to last year.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: I want the best defense possible for Paul Skins when
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: he's on the mound so he can continue to dance
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: out of jams like he's always been able to. And
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: I think that that means Gonzalez, Jacob Gonzalez at shortstop,
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: and Jared Triolo at third base until Con Griffin's healthy.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: So those are my four things. Triolo getting starts at
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: third just when Paul pitches, and if Henry Davis is hitting,
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: then you know you're not necessarily getting that week of
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: a lineup with both of them starting. Jacob Gonzalez, how
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: much run does he get a short cruise, how much
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: run does he get in center field? And how in
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: the world do you find it bats for as Merlin
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: val does anything to add on the lineup stuff? Mark
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: or do you want to just give your point?
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: No, just great problem to have. And my final second
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: half question here to round this out is what do
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: the Pirates do with Krmen Macginski. He's having a great year,
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: he's super valuable, and they the way they use him
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: after they moved him to the bullpen just minimize all
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: the value that he has. And so I want to
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: see how that adjusts. Is he going to rejoin the
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: starting rotation, is he going to be pitched in high
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: leverage situations? Is he going to be traded? You know,
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: what are they going to do with Krmen Macginski? I
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: don't know. Maybe that question gets answered with injuries. You know,
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: maybe he'll pitching, an injury will happen in the rotation
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: and he gets bumped in and it's not even a
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: big storyline. But the way things stand right now, that
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: feels like a big question going in the second half
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: is are you going to continue to just have him
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: kind of stay stretched out pitching these like long relief outings,
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: or are you gonna use him like a reliever or
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: put him back in the rotation. So I don't know
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: if we'll get any clarity too soon on that, but
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: it's I think it's going to be lingering in the
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: back of my head at least as the second half progresses.
• 20:39
  Speaker 5: I think that's a good question because you just mentioned
• 20:42
  Speaker 5: a lot of options for him, so that options are endless.
• 20:45
  Speaker 5: But at some point, just like I said with the lineup,
• 20:47
  Speaker 5: you're gonna have to go a direction because you can't
• 20:49
  Speaker 5: have this guy stretched out that can help the team
• 20:51
  Speaker 5: that is just not really pitching in situations where you
• 20:54
  Speaker 5: know some might have lined up Like, Okay, I get it.
• 20:57
  Speaker 5: So I think think about the second half. I think
• 21:00
  Speaker 5: that these stories are gonna end up writing themselves. It's
• 21:03
  Speaker 5: just a matter of how soon. But I do like
• 21:08
  Speaker 5: that question because you know, there were questions about him
• 21:11
  Speaker 5: when he first got moved to the pen, and here
• 21:13
  Speaker 5: we are still asking those same questions because it really
• 21:16
  Speaker 5: hasn't been a definitive answer, and that you threw a
• 21:19
  Speaker 5: lot of things out there, you know, possible injuries, possible
• 21:22
  Speaker 5: trade you know, hey, we're going to use you in
• 21:25
  Speaker 5: short innings or you know we are going to keep
• 21:27
  Speaker 5: you stretched out. Lots of questions, but obviously a guy
• 21:31
  Speaker 5: that can help the team and help a lot of
• 21:33
  Speaker 5: other teams as well.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: That's the that's the key point with Carmen.
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: He is where their internal improvement starts getting more value
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: from him, because it's not like you need to see
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: him be better. Maybe may be a better teammate, but
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: like as far as production, he's been really good.
• 21:50
  Speaker 4: He has.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: He's one of their top five starters. He's their best
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: relief pitcher, righty or lefty. It's just getting it to
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: a point where he can help you win more. He
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: is their key to internal improvement on the mount, either
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: in the bullpen or the rotation. So we're gonna take
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: another quick break when we come back. Jay Haynow will
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: round us out here on bucko territory.
• 22:14
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• 23:16
  Speaker 3: All right, Jay Hay, now here we go, there we go?
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: What do you say?
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: Thing of stuck?
• 23:35
  Speaker 5: That's my back from All Star Break, Dan's when that
• 23:37
  Speaker 5: beat dropped. So here we are with j now, and
• 23:41
  Speaker 5: what I might say right here it might make you
• 23:42
  Speaker 5: want to dance because it's stemmed off some comments that
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: came from the Futures game my segments. Just a quick
• 23:49
  Speaker 5: hitter on seth Hernandez throwing the filler out there, letting
• 23:53
  Speaker 5: the pirates know. It was pretty electric coming, you know
• 23:56
  Speaker 5: and pitching, you know, out of the pen. So if
• 23:58
  Speaker 5: you need me, you know, I'm ready. Here we are,
• 24:01
  Speaker 5: I think nineteen or twenty years old. You know, he's
• 24:06
  Speaker 5: obviously got electric stuff, and that's that's I think that's
• 24:08
  Speaker 5: pretty cool that he's, you know, letting them know, like
• 24:11
  Speaker 5: I know, I'm a starter and you guys won't be
• 24:13
  Speaker 5: stretched out, but y'all got something going special and if
• 24:16
  Speaker 5: I can help the team now, I'm willing to help
• 24:18
  Speaker 5: the team. And a bull pin and you know, looking
• 24:21
  Speaker 5: at the future stuff. I even think one of the
• 24:24
  Speaker 5: guys that was facing like, man, that's nasty, but just
• 24:26
  Speaker 5: watching it, it's hard not to like what you see.
• 24:29
  Speaker 5: And I just thought that was pretty cool because we
• 24:31
  Speaker 5: talked about highlighting some of the futures and the All
• 24:33
  Speaker 5: Star Break and I thought it was pretty cool because
• 24:35
  Speaker 5: you have a pretty talented arm that's telling the Pirates, Hey,
• 24:40
  Speaker 5: if you need some help in the book, then here
• 24:43
  Speaker 5: I am.
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: So that's pretty cool. Pirates.
• 24:45
  Speaker 5: I don't know if you really listen, and I'm sure
• 24:47
  Speaker 5: you are, but I don't know how much you're gonna
• 24:49
  Speaker 5: entertain it. But I like that from the young man,
• 24:52
  Speaker 5: So that that was kind of my ja hay now
• 24:54
  Speaker 5: segment was something refreshing and looking to help this team.
• 24:57
  Speaker 3: Now, man, you just gotta love Hernandez. I really appreciate
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: those comments, but also just he's so valuable to this
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: team as far as reloading after if Paul Skins does leave,
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: you have another ace right there in the wings waiting
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: who's going to have a ton of team control, open
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: up a lot of possibilities. So I think Seth Hernandez
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: is probably the one untouchable on my prospect list for
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: the Pirates this year. Yeah, you want to go in
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: and this is the opportunity to win, but this kid
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: is so so important to the future of this franchise.
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: So love seeing that, and it would be absolutely electric
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: if he came up in September. I don't anticipate that happening,
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: but man panc would be going crazy seeing him come
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: out of the bullpen, so love him throwing that out there.
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: However, I can help us win, that's the attitude as
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: I have. And if it means developing in the minor
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: league so I can help us win next year, then
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: that's great.
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: But just so you know I'm here.
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: You need me, That's the perfect way for him to
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: handle it. It's the biggest platform he's been offered since
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: he's been drafted, getting to pitch on a national stage,
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: getting some national attention as a top prospect in the game.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: He handled that very well.
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: The Pirates should feel very good about this young man,
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: both who he is on and off the mountain. So
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: that's all we got for today. I want to remind
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: everyone to hit that subscribe button if you have not already.
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: We're on a mission of three thousand subs, can't get
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: there without your help. Also, be sure to check out
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: the Buco Territory Team store where we've got some good
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: Bucko territory merch. And that's also not the only merch
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: for you to check out. We've got some good merch
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: in the Foul Territory shop as well.
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: Some all Star gear for Braxton, Ashcraft and Paul's schemes.
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: You could check out all of that there are all
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: Star collection at Foul territoryshop dot com. Guys, any final
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: thoughts as we round out another episode.
• 26:55
  Speaker 3: Just ready for baseball to start. It's so excited, can't wait.
• 26:59
  Speaker 4: Good, go to Cleveland and get started.
• 27:01
  Speaker 3: Right Yeah, we got baseball the day of this episode uploads,
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: so yeah, that'll be pretty exciting.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: Well, he's Platinum Key, he's Josh Harrison, I'm Noah Hyles.
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: We're signing off saying thanks for tuning in to another
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: episode of Bucko Territory, presented.
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: To you by the Foul Territory Network. Take care