Latest / Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast / Pirates' April Report Card
Transcript
- 0:09Speaker 1: What's up, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Buco Territory,
- 0:12Speaker 1: presented to you by the Fall Territory Network. My name
- 0:15Speaker 1: is Noah Hiles, joining me as always I my co
- 0:17Speaker 1: hosts Josh Harrison and Platinum Key aka Mark. It is
- 0:22Speaker 1: a mailbag Wednesday here on Bucko Territory. And rather than
- 0:26Speaker 1: answering questions, because it is the final show, we will
- 0:30Speaker 1: publish in the month of April, we are doing our
- 0:34Speaker 1: monthly report card. We will do this for the final
- 0:36Speaker 1: show every month throughout the season, and I'll give a
- 0:41Speaker 1: quick way. We're gonna break things down, so we are
- 0:44Speaker 1: gonna give a letter grade for the following categories. The
- 0:48Speaker 1: first segment we're gonna cover pictures or starting pictures, relief pictures,
- 0:52Speaker 1: and catchers. Second segment will go infield, outfield and DH
- 0:56Speaker 1: and then the third segment to wrap it up, we
- 0:58Speaker 1: will evaluate the coaching and overall team performance, giving out
- 1:02Speaker 1: our letter grades along with a little bit of analysis
- 1:05Speaker 1: for each one. Guys, before we get into it, one
- 1:10Speaker 1: month of baseball. Just and obviously don't tip your hand
- 1:12Speaker 1: for the end, but I mean, what are your just
- 1:15Speaker 1: quick thoughts on everything?
- 1:17Speaker 2: I've been so impressed with this team, especially just juxtaposition
- 1:22Speaker 2: from last year to this year is crazy. The vibes
- 1:26Speaker 2: have really stood out. They seem more cohesive, and it's
- 1:29Speaker 2: nice seeing even when they do lose a lead that
- 1:32Speaker 2: you still have faith that, oh this team can still
- 1:34Speaker 2: put on some runs and come back and win a
- 1:37Speaker 2: couple of games. Uh So it's been really great to see.
- 1:39Speaker 3: What about you, Josh, It's definitely been an eventful first month,
- 1:45Speaker 3: which you always expect with the first month of the season,
- 1:49Speaker 3: you know, from opening day to you know, extreme change
- 1:52Speaker 3: of weathers.
- 1:54Speaker 4: What I got coming out of this first month is
- 1:56Speaker 4: the email central being the email central y. That is
- 2:00Speaker 4: what I'm used to, and it's nice to see, you know,
- 2:05Speaker 4: because every game is going to matter and that's how
- 2:06Speaker 4: you want to be. And even the games that they
- 2:08Speaker 4: somewhat you know, let's slip away, that's in L central
- 2:11Speaker 4: for you. Those games are going to add up, so
- 2:13Speaker 4: you want to, you know, as you say, tighten up
- 2:15Speaker 4: or whatever case may be.
- 2:16Speaker 5: But the inn L Central is in L centraling right now.
- 2:19Speaker 1: Yes, all right, so let's get into it. The Pirates
- 2:23Speaker 1: are in the thick of the central race, I think
- 2:25Speaker 1: because of their starting pitching. I wouldn't be surprised if
- 2:29Speaker 1: this was the highest grade for us all. So, Mark,
- 2:31Speaker 1: we'll start with you and we'll just go right down
- 2:33Speaker 1: the line. What's your grade for the starting rotation one
- 2:35Speaker 1: month into the season.
- 2:37Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd say they're at like a ninety two percent,
- 2:39Speaker 2: so like a minus but just on the border of
- 2:42Speaker 2: an A. Paul Skins ever since the first start has
- 2:46Speaker 2: been Paul Skan's. He looks like a cy young candidate
- 2:49Speaker 2: best pitcher in the world. Uh, Mitch Keller really been dominant,
- 2:53Speaker 2: Brax Nashcalfks really stepped up a ton, and I think
- 2:56Speaker 2: Carmen Macinski and Bubba Chandler are the two question marks
- 3:00Speaker 2: at the at this point in the year. Through one
- 3:02Speaker 2: month of baseball, we've seen some good stuff from Carmen,
- 3:05Speaker 2: we've seen some not so good stuff and same with Bubba.
- 3:08Speaker 2: So a little bit of a mixed bag towards the
- 3:09Speaker 2: end of the rotation. So that's why I didn't bump
- 3:12Speaker 2: them up, Ton, But it's the centerpiece of this team
- 3:15Speaker 2: right now.
- 3:20Speaker 5: I'm agree with you.
- 3:21Speaker 4: I might go a little higher A maybe ninety three
- 3:23Speaker 4: ninety four just from the standpoint, I think their top
- 3:26Speaker 4: five r A that right there is deservingly. So you
- 3:31Speaker 4: know you're giving me your your offensive chance. You're giving
- 3:33Speaker 4: your team a chance every every night, even with the
- 3:36Speaker 4: question marks at the back end you mentioned Mark, But
- 3:39Speaker 4: you know I give that because Braxton Ashcraft at that
- 3:43Speaker 4: third slot, man, you you know, schemes to killer to
- 3:46Speaker 4: him at that top three. Man, that's a tough top three.
- 3:48Speaker 4: And you know then you you throw Bubble in there
- 3:51Speaker 4: when when Bubba figures it out completely, that's a dangerous four.
- 3:55Speaker 4: And they say that that back in the rotation is
- 3:57Speaker 4: kind of a flippable coin right now. But I would
- 4:00Speaker 4: give them an a overall. You top five in the
- 4:02Speaker 4: r and you got a nice top three. That's tough,
- 4:04Speaker 4: that's tough to beat.
- 4:06Speaker 1: Yeah, I lean more toward Mark here. I think I'm
- 4:08Speaker 1: gonna go a minus for a lot of the reasons
- 4:11Speaker 1: he highlighted, and also just because I know this group
- 4:13Speaker 1: is going to be better, like I just like I
- 4:16Speaker 1: think Bubba Chandler's gonna get better as the season progresses.
- 4:18Speaker 1: I think that fifth spot of the rotation will be
- 4:21Speaker 1: more productive. I'll be you know, if they use an
- 4:24Speaker 1: opener for Carmen, if Jared Jones gets back there, if
- 4:26Speaker 1: it's Hunter Barco if it's another external addition, whatever it is.
- 4:30Speaker 1: I expect the four five to maybe not be as
- 4:33Speaker 1: good as the one two three because their one two
- 4:35Speaker 1: three is really damn good. But overall it's been the
- 4:38Speaker 1: best part of the team, and they've performed well despite
- 4:41Speaker 1: not being used, probably to the extent of which they
- 4:44Speaker 1: should have been. So that's why I give it an
- 4:46Speaker 1: A minus. I'll wrap it back around with me for
- 4:48Speaker 1: the bullpen. I'll keep it short and sweet here. I
- 4:50Speaker 1: have the bullpen with a C plus. I think overall
- 4:53Speaker 1: they've been probably slightly above a net neutral. There's been
- 5:00Speaker 1: probably more good than bad. Like I when I look
- 5:02Speaker 1: at like the performances there, I still think there are
- 5:05Speaker 1: more guys in that bullpen that had a good April
- 5:07Speaker 1: than a bad April. Now, the guys who had a
- 5:10Speaker 1: really bad April were the reason for most of their losses,
- 5:14Speaker 1: so I think that's why it drags the Great down.
- 5:18Speaker 1: They've been dependable as a unit overall, but probably not
- 5:21Speaker 1: what you would like it to be. It's i would argue,
- 5:24Speaker 1: probably the weakest area of their team right now, but
- 5:27Speaker 1: the team's still playing well, so I give it a
- 5:28Speaker 1: C plus. Josh, what about you.
- 5:31Speaker 4: I gave it a C just from a standpoint when
- 5:34Speaker 4: when you want to bridge that gap, you got a
- 5:37Speaker 4: starting you know, rotation that is top five. You know,
- 5:42Speaker 4: the most you want to do is when you hit
- 5:44Speaker 4: the ball to the bullpen is I don't want to say,
- 5:45Speaker 4: don't screw it up, but you know, you got to
- 5:48Speaker 4: be aggressive. And in their moments that I felt that,
- 5:50Speaker 4: you know, the relievers just really haven't been aggressive. And
- 5:54Speaker 4: you can deal with, you know, giving up a lead
- 5:56Speaker 4: or whatever if you know guys are getting their way
- 5:58Speaker 4: on by swinging it. But you know, when when you're
- 6:01Speaker 4: getting lead off walks and not being aggressive in his zone,
- 6:04Speaker 4: to me that that's not pitching. I don't want to
- 6:06Speaker 4: say the contact, but that's not pitching aggressive and uh,
- 6:08Speaker 4: that's just average, which isn't bad. But you know what
- 6:12Speaker 4: if it is, what I tell my kids, hey see,
- 6:14Speaker 4: we're not just average. Now if you try your best
- 6:17Speaker 4: and you really study, Okay, there's something we got to
- 6:20Speaker 4: get better at. And right now I'm not saying they
- 6:22Speaker 4: didn't try their best, but they need to study. Go
- 6:24Speaker 4: back to the drawing board and figure out, you know,
- 6:26Speaker 4: how to get that see up to a b get
- 6:27Speaker 4: some extra credit to something.
- 6:30Speaker 2: And I'd say this is like one of the hardest
- 6:32Speaker 2: groups to grade because it is like, this is like
- 6:35Speaker 2: the group project where half the students are doing a
- 6:38Speaker 2: really really good job and half of them kind of
- 6:40Speaker 2: art and so it's like, what do you do with that?
- 6:42Speaker 2: As a teacher? How do you great that? And so
- 6:44Speaker 2: I went with the B minus for the bullpen especially.
- 6:47Speaker 2: I know that's way optimistic about ever think that. Yeah,
- 6:55Speaker 2: but like who's whose Erkidi was one of the big issues.
- 6:58Speaker 2: He's no longer in the bullpen. We've seen Isaac Mattson
- 7:01Speaker 2: have a phenomenal season, Johan Ramirez has really really stepped up,
- 7:06Speaker 2: Gregorrisoto has been great, Dennis Santana, despite what happened on
- 7:09Speaker 2: Monday Night, having a great year, and so those four
- 7:12Speaker 2: guys are really encouraging. But then you get into like
- 7:15Speaker 2: the Hunter Barco, the Evans says, the Cam Sanders justin Lawrence,
- 7:20Speaker 2: where it's been wishy washy. So I think there's definitely
- 7:24Speaker 2: an argument for below a B minus. But with how
- 7:26Speaker 2: good that top half of the bullpen's been, I wanted
- 7:29Speaker 2: to give them a little bit of shine and give
- 7:31Speaker 2: them a little bump in the rankings.
- 7:32Speaker 1: So all right, Catcher, let's go to Josh to start
- 7:36Speaker 1: this one.
- 7:37Speaker 5: Yeah, Catcher, I purely have to give them just a
- 7:43Speaker 5: bet overall because you know, for me, offense is going
- 7:47Speaker 5: to be up and down. But if you if you
- 7:50Speaker 5: men and.
- 7:50Speaker 4: That staff that way to starting staff and you got
- 7:53Speaker 4: a top five staff, and I mean that's part of
- 7:55Speaker 4: game plan and you know, keeping lineups at bay and
- 7:58Speaker 4: giving your team and opper sooner need to win. Now
- 8:01Speaker 4: that picture, catcher dynamic is something that's important. And with
- 8:04Speaker 4: the pictures being as you know, starting pitchers and not
- 8:07Speaker 4: saying that the relief pictures is just purely on a
- 8:09Speaker 4: relief picture. Sometimes that's the communication of you know, as
- 8:11Speaker 4: you mentioned those guys that's on the fringe as okay
- 8:14Speaker 4: man Barco's a start, but now he's a reliever. Which
- 8:17Speaker 4: pitch do we maximize? You know, he's never been in
- 8:20Speaker 4: a situation. So that right there is just you got
- 8:23Speaker 4: to get a feel for guys. But you know you're
- 8:25Speaker 4: doing that with a staff that has an a you
- 8:27Speaker 4: know from the starting staff and you got to see
- 8:28Speaker 4: from the you know, the relievers. I'm gonna give him
- 8:31Speaker 4: the be because offense is pretty much wash. You know,
- 8:33Speaker 4: anything that they can give us is gonna be a plus.
- 8:36Speaker 2: I wing c minus for catchers. Joey Bart has been
- 8:42Speaker 2: pretty disappointing. He's I mean, he's not really bringing anything
- 8:46Speaker 2: with his bat, his game calling in comparison to Henry Davis.
- 8:50Speaker 2: You can really really notice, which is worrying when you're
- 8:56Speaker 2: not bringing anything with the bat as well. So I
- 8:59Speaker 2: I want to see minus Henry Davis obviously, like he's
- 9:02Speaker 2: great catching, but the bat has been non existent. So
- 9:07Speaker 2: two players with negative war at this point, albeit like
- 9:10Speaker 2: only like point one point two, but below average, below replacement.
- 9:14Speaker 2: So I went see minus.
- 9:16Speaker 1: Yeah, I would I gave him a D. I mean,
- 9:19Speaker 1: I agree with what Josh said, like the game calling
- 9:22Speaker 1: has been this group's strength, but the game calling has
- 9:25Speaker 1: only been good by one of the two catchers. If
- 9:28Speaker 1: you look, as Mark pointed it out, I mean you
- 9:32Speaker 1: look at the production when Bubba's on the mound and
- 9:35Speaker 1: Henry Davis is catching him versus when Joey Bart's catching him.
- 9:39Speaker 1: It's it's two different players. Same thing for Carmen Majinski
- 9:42Speaker 1: and Joey Bart. Just you have him on the roster
- 9:47Speaker 1: to keep Henry Davis fresh. And to hit left handed
- 9:50Speaker 1: pitching right and he hasn't done that. And when those
- 9:53Speaker 1: two things that he's supposed to bring value to when
- 9:56Speaker 1: you can't play him as much as you would like
- 9:58Speaker 1: because he's not playing well, he's not left handed pitching,
- 10:01Speaker 1: and when he's out there, he takes away from the
- 10:03Speaker 1: only strength of your position group there that hurts. And
- 10:06Speaker 1: Henry Davis, like you said, Mark, I mean, the offense
- 10:10Speaker 1: just isn't there. I mean there have been certain things
- 10:12Speaker 1: I like, I mean he's hitting the ball more to
- 10:14Speaker 1: the right side, I guess, which is good. Yeah, yeah,
- 10:19Speaker 1: but like it's really hard, Yeah he is. And like
- 10:22Speaker 1: this is just the type of the reality is. I
- 10:24Speaker 1: think right now they have two backup catchers. I think
- 10:28Speaker 1: Henry Davis is a fine catcher if you want to
- 10:31Speaker 1: partner him with Paul Skeins and then maybe someone who's
- 10:35Speaker 1: a little younger, like Bubba Chandler to get the most
- 10:37Speaker 1: out of your rookies and also the most out of
- 10:39Speaker 1: your most prized asset on the team. I think that
- 10:42Speaker 1: makes sense. But I haven't seen I haven't seen a
- 10:46Speaker 1: Pirates catcher look like a capable everyday big league catcher
- 10:50Speaker 1: for a while. Really since yes, MONI grandal at the
- 10:53Speaker 1: back end of twenty twenty four, and that's no I mean,
- 10:56Speaker 1: and that's even saying something. So yeah, yeah, so I
- 11:00Speaker 1: give them.
- 11:02Speaker 5: Catchers.
- 11:03Speaker 1: Yeah, so all right, Well that that wraps up our
- 11:09Speaker 1: first set of grades for the starting pitching, the relief pitching,
- 11:13Speaker 1: and the catcher group. We're going to take a quick
- 11:15Speaker 1: break you hear from our sponsors, and when we get back,
- 11:18Speaker 1: we're going to grade the infield, the outfield, and the
- 11:21Speaker 1: DH position.
- 11:23Speaker 6: This episode is brought to you by fan Duel Baseball fans.
- 11:26Speaker 6: The MLB season is in full swing and fan Duel
- 11:29Speaker 6: is giving you a chance to call your shot with
- 11:31Speaker 6: Daily Dingers. Joining the action is easy. Just make your
- 11:34Speaker 6: free pick on who's hitting a home run in their game,
- 11:37Speaker 6: and if you're right, you'll get a profit boost to
- 11:39Speaker 6: use on your next bet for a chance at extra winnings.
- 11:42Speaker 6: It's just another reason why fan duel is the home
- 11:45Speaker 6: of home runs. So are you ready to play your game?
- 11:47Speaker 6: Head over to FanDuel dot com Slash podcast to get started.
- 11:51Speaker 6: That's FanDuel dot Com Slash podcast to opt in for
- 11:56Speaker 6: Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who's hitting
- 11:59Speaker 6: a homer. All in swing for the fences on fan Duel,
- 12:02Speaker 6: an official partner of Major League Baseball. No purchase necessary,
- 12:06Speaker 6: often required. Bonus issued as non withdrawabal profit boost tokens.
- 12:10Speaker 6: Restrictions apply, including any token expiration and max wager amount.
- 12:16Speaker 6: See terms at sportsbook dot FanDuel dot com. Gambling problem
- 12:20Speaker 6: call or text one eight hundred gambler.
- 12:24Speaker 1: All right back to grading. Now we're gonna go into
- 12:26Speaker 1: the infield and guys, this one I'll start off with
- 12:30Speaker 1: it is an interesting group because I don't think they've
- 12:33Speaker 1: done anything particularly horrible. No. Now, I think a lot
- 12:39Speaker 1: of the guys in this group you could argue like
- 12:42Speaker 1: will be better, Like I expect Connor Griffin to be better,
- 12:48Speaker 1: I expect Spencer Horowitz to be better. But my overall
- 12:51Speaker 1: great as a B plus, I think they've been probably
- 12:55Speaker 1: the most solid position player group on the field. Their
- 13:01Speaker 1: ceiling hasn't been as high as others, but their floor
- 13:04Speaker 1: hasn't been as low as others as well, and they've
- 13:06Speaker 1: made mistakes. They've had slumps, but third base has been
- 13:09Speaker 1: a pleasant surprise so far this season. Brandon Low has
- 13:12Speaker 1: been a fantastic addition. Spencer Horowitz eventually got going and
- 13:16Speaker 1: they actually have a shortstop. He's learning, he's young, he
- 13:21Speaker 1: just got a bouncy house for his birthday. But overall,
- 13:24Speaker 1: I really like how this infield is gelling together. I
- 13:27Speaker 1: think defensively actually, they've been a little better than what
- 13:29Speaker 1: I've expected them to be so far, so I give
- 13:31Speaker 1: them a V plus. Josh, what about you, I went.
- 13:36Speaker 4: Just when you look at everything as a whole, as
- 13:39Speaker 4: you mentioned, they've been the most consistent on the defensive
- 13:41Speaker 4: side of the ball, and offense hasn't gotten off to
- 13:45Speaker 4: the greatest start, but low has presented enough offense, you know,
- 13:48Speaker 4: from second base as you mentioned, Spencer getting hot and
- 13:52Speaker 4: just the time we hits that Connor has had and
- 13:54Speaker 4: Nikki g as we highlighted him last week or just
- 13:57Speaker 4: the last episode.
- 13:58Speaker 5: I think they've done enough offensively as a group to you.
- 14:01Speaker 4: Know, not say that they've been, you know, anything better
- 14:04Speaker 4: than a little bit above the league average, But defensively,
- 14:07Speaker 4: as you mentioned, making a routine plays, and when you
- 14:11Speaker 4: make the routine plays and you're getting out, I think
- 14:13Speaker 4: it's hard to give anything other than you know, you're
- 14:16Speaker 4: doing your job which you're supposed to, and you know,
- 14:18Speaker 4: if those bats get hot. I mean you're looking at
- 14:21Speaker 4: an NFL, you know, with some pieces that are looking
- 14:23Speaker 4: at an A, and that's you know, just adding to the
- 14:25Speaker 4: strength of your your pitching.
- 14:28Speaker 2: Yeah, and I I'll echo Josh a minus. This has
- 14:31Speaker 2: been a fantastic group for the Pirates. They haven't done
- 14:34Speaker 2: anything to hurt On defense, Brandon Lowe has been mashing.
- 14:39Speaker 2: Spencer Horwartz has a positive WRC plus right now, even
- 14:42Speaker 2: with him not playing his best baseball, everyone's contributing. All
- 14:47Speaker 2: four starters across the infield have positive war on at
- 14:50Speaker 2: least Baseball Reference right now. So even with Connor Griffin
- 14:54Speaker 2: not contributing much at the plate right now, his defense
- 14:58Speaker 2: and base running is still I mean positive values in
- 15:01Speaker 2: this team. Third base has looked really great. Nick Gnsals
- 15:04Speaker 2: is crushing it. I think he's up to like point
- 15:06Speaker 2: seven b ward through a month of baseball, which is crazy.
- 15:11Speaker 2: So yeah, a minus. And I think if you went
- 15:14Speaker 2: up to A I went and disagree with you.
- 15:16Speaker 1: See my my reason I couldn't go up to a
- 15:18Speaker 1: minus is I gave the starting pitchers a A and
- 15:21Speaker 1: this group just wasn't as.
- 15:23Speaker 5: Yeah, I gave my starters in a yeah.
- 15:26Speaker 1: Yeah, So like I give them. If we're going percentages, like,
- 15:29Speaker 1: I think this is like an eighty nine percent. And
- 15:32Speaker 1: if I was a good if I was a nice teacher,
- 15:34Speaker 1: maybe i'd round up. But I'm I'm a mean guy.
- 15:36Speaker 5: I think I am. Well, I'm nice. I gave the
- 15:39Speaker 5: catchers a B.
- 15:40Speaker 1: Yeah, right, yeah, I want to take your class all right. Outfield,
- 15:44Speaker 1: this is where the nice teacher needs to go away.
- 15:47Speaker 1: This is the hardest group by far, I think to
- 15:49Speaker 1: evaluate Mark, you want to start us off.
- 15:53Speaker 2: Sure, because I I'm definitely gonna be more optimistic here.
- 15:56Speaker 2: I went with a B plus for the outfield, which
- 16:00Speaker 2: obviously the harder part is how do you account for
- 16:03Speaker 2: the defensive impact because it's been a mess to be
- 16:08Speaker 2: nice about it, I mean, but at the same time,
- 16:11Speaker 2: you have three guys in Cruise O'Hearn and even now
- 16:16Speaker 2: Brian Reynolds is coming on that are just providing phenomenal offense.
- 16:21Speaker 2: I mean, even with O'Neil Cruz's defensive struggles, he still
- 16:24Speaker 2: has point seven b war right now, Like he's still
- 16:27Speaker 2: putting on a clinic out there, and so I'm really
- 16:33Speaker 2: excited about the offensive contributions. But yeah, I value that
- 16:37Speaker 2: more so. That's why I went with a B plus
- 16:40Speaker 2: is because I think that's just more valuable to this team,
- 16:44Speaker 2: but I could see that being a little lower. What
- 16:45Speaker 2: about you, guys, Josh, I'll give him a bee.
- 16:51Speaker 4: Obviously, we know offensively, as you mentioned, they've been really good,
- 16:54Speaker 4: defensively hasn't been that good. But also I'm gonna you know,
- 16:59Speaker 4: this could also be I don't even think it's a
- 17:02Speaker 4: category that we're gonna degrade later today, but you know,
- 17:05Speaker 4: you got the coaches or the front office, which might
- 17:07Speaker 4: be like superintendent of principles. You know, I think their
- 17:11Speaker 4: defensive grades are gonna be a representation of you know what,
- 17:15Speaker 4: them being put in classes they probably shouldn't be in.
- 17:18Speaker 4: So I'm not gonna grade them too heavily on that where, yes,
- 17:23Speaker 4: you're trying, you know what, you are in an AP class.
- 17:26Speaker 5: We should probably be in college prep.
- 17:28Speaker 4: But you know what, take on that challenge and you
- 17:31Speaker 4: know what you gotta be because the other part of
- 17:33Speaker 4: it is really good.
- 17:35Speaker 5: So that's where I'm going with it. These guys are
- 17:38Speaker 5: a little bit over.
- 17:39Speaker 4: Their heads playing positions that otherwise they shouldn't as a whole,
- 17:42Speaker 4: So I'm not gonna completely put that on them. But
- 17:45Speaker 4: they have lost quite a few games, but offensively, they've
- 17:48Speaker 4: done enough for me to say, you know what, if
- 17:51Speaker 4: you can clean up just half of those defensive mistakes,
- 17:54Speaker 4: you're gonna be okay.
- 17:56Speaker 5: Yeah.
- 17:56Speaker 1: When you look at this group, they've clear were constructed
- 18:01Speaker 1: to do one thing, and that's hit the ball. And
- 18:03Speaker 1: all three of them right now are above league average producers.
- 18:07Speaker 1: All three of them have an above league average OPS.
- 18:11Speaker 1: So they're they're doing what they were constructed to do.
- 18:14Speaker 1: Now that being said, they still have to play the
- 18:18Speaker 1: position that they're playing, and that's been a problem. The
- 18:21Speaker 1: way I look at this group, if I were equivalenting it, yeah,
- 18:25Speaker 1: like comparing it to like something I've seen as a student.
- 18:28Speaker 1: This is the student that does not attend a single
- 18:31Speaker 1: college class, but he bought the textbook, he studied, and
- 18:35Speaker 1: he show up, and he shows up and he gets
- 18:37Speaker 1: an A on the test, but he never did any homework.
- 18:40Speaker 1: He did the bare minimum and group projects. So I'm
- 18:42Speaker 1: giving them a B minus. I think offensively I would
- 18:47Speaker 1: give this group an A. But their defense has I
- 18:50Speaker 1: wouldn't say hurt the team as much as their offense
- 18:52Speaker 1: is helped, but their defense has been the biggest detriment
- 18:55Speaker 1: to the team so far. Yes, and like again, we
- 19:02Speaker 1: knew this coming in. Like this is like something that
- 19:04Speaker 1: stood out to me when we spoke with Ben Sherrington
- 19:06Speaker 1: earlier this month was when I asked her about the
- 19:10Speaker 1: defense of outfield, like his evaluation on he goes, yeah,
- 19:13Speaker 1: it's about what we expected, like he kind of and
- 19:15Speaker 1: like no one made a huge deal about that because
- 19:17Speaker 1: they were about to extend Connor Griffin and you know
- 19:19Speaker 1: that was a bigger story. But like I thought that
- 19:21Speaker 1: quote stood out. It's like, yeah, they they knew what
- 19:23Speaker 1: they were getting into with this. They put together at
- 19:26Speaker 1: outfield that was gonna bop, and they bop. Man. They've
- 19:29Speaker 1: been hitting the ball well and they've been they've been
- 19:32Speaker 1: a better team. They've been better than they've you know,
- 19:35Speaker 1: they've helped their team more than they've heard it. But
- 19:37Speaker 1: they're still hurting it consistently with some of this defensive stuff.
- 19:41Speaker 1: Mangum also should be added into this equation. I think
- 19:43Speaker 1: he's been Afiedler and Billy Cook. Like we said on
- 19:46Speaker 1: the show earlier, we don't see him a ton, but
- 19:48Speaker 1: I think he's been great in that twenty sixth man role.
- 19:52Speaker 1: So yeah, they're B minus. I think they're capable of
- 19:54Speaker 1: being better. O'Neil Cruz I think is trending in a
- 19:57Speaker 1: better direction defensively. Ryan O'Hearn has been solid defensively, and
- 20:01Speaker 1: I almost want to give them a B actually, just
- 20:04Speaker 1: because of like the value that Ryan o'hearns provided off
- 20:07Speaker 1: the field. Same for Low. But if we're keeping it
- 20:09Speaker 1: on field right now, I give them a B minus.
- 20:12Speaker 1: And I expect I expect this grade probably to be higher,
- 20:16Speaker 1: uh for one reason or another. I think eventually something's
- 20:18Speaker 1: gonna give where, you know, we might see different people
- 20:21Speaker 1: playing out in the outfield, or the guys who are
- 20:24Speaker 1: there are gonna be better defensively, because if they could
- 20:28Speaker 1: just be close to the league average defensively, this could
- 20:31Speaker 1: be one of the more productive outfields in baseball. So
- 20:34Speaker 1: if they keep hitting this way anyway, all right, we'll
- 20:37Speaker 1: round up this segment with designated hitter. I'll keep mine
- 20:40Speaker 1: real short and sweets. I'll give it a D minus
- 20:45Speaker 1: and I'm reluctant to give it an F. I think
- 20:48Speaker 1: it maybe should be an F. But when Ozuna hasn't
- 20:53Speaker 1: been the designated hitter, it feels like they get more
- 20:56Speaker 1: out of the designated hitter spot. Ozuna had a nice
- 20:58Speaker 1: little stretch there. I'm still not sure if you give
- 21:02Speaker 1: up on him just yet, but like one month in,
- 21:05Speaker 1: you signed a guy to be your primary DH and
- 21:07Speaker 1: he's been one of the worst players in Major League Baseball.
- 21:10Speaker 1: So I don't want to again. I don't want to
- 21:13Speaker 1: give that position group as a whole an f just
- 21:16Speaker 1: because when Reynolds plays there or Hearn plays there or
- 21:20Speaker 1: Allow plays there, they seem to get more from it,
- 21:23Speaker 1: and Ozuna's given them I guess something. But it's been
- 21:26Speaker 1: the worst spot on the team by far as far
- 21:29Speaker 1: as a position is concerned. So I give a D minus.
- 21:30Speaker 1: What about you, Mark?
- 21:32Speaker 2: I went D D for DH and it's been bad.
- 21:37Speaker 2: Marcellison is at NEGA of zero point eight war B
- 21:40Speaker 2: war right now, which is maybe up there with like
- 21:43Speaker 2: top of the MLB. Obviously it's gotten better. A lot
- 21:48Speaker 2: of that was from this how slow you started the season,
- 21:51Speaker 2: But yeah, I was gonna say, even when it's gotten
- 21:56Speaker 2: a little bit better, I mean he slowed right back down. Yeah,
- 22:01Speaker 2: So it's been frustrating. It's definitely something concerning. You can't
- 22:05Speaker 2: give up on him quite yet. But if we're having
- 22:07Speaker 2: the same conversation next month and we're giving out a
- 22:11Speaker 2: dgrade again. That's when I think it might be time
- 22:14Speaker 2: to start looking at other options. So uh yeah, hopefully
- 22:17Speaker 2: it improves. What about Josh going D for dang.
- 22:26Speaker 4: DH you get signed or that's your position that you
- 22:30Speaker 4: got one job to do, and that's not saying you
- 22:32Speaker 4: gotta hit a million homes, but you gotta have good
- 22:34Speaker 4: at bats, you gotta put the ball in play, not
- 22:36Speaker 4: getting much, not getting really anything from there, So definitely
- 22:40Speaker 4: getting a D. Anything below see, to me, is failing.
- 22:44Speaker 4: So I mean DF, it's all the same. And I
- 22:47Speaker 4: don't really like saying it because it feels like it's
- 22:49Speaker 4: on one guy. But realistically, he got signed at a
- 22:52Speaker 4: job and here we are, it's one month in, and
- 22:55Speaker 4: as you said, we don't want to be saying it's one,
- 22:57Speaker 4: you know, two months in. But at the same time
- 23:00Speaker 4: we've had this discussion. He knows what's at hand, but
- 23:03Speaker 4: primarily it's been him, and I mean, he's agreed it
- 23:06Speaker 4: hasn't gone well.
- 23:07Speaker 2: But I respect how he's handled it well for.
- 23:10Speaker 4: Sure, But I mean, I guess I'm that teacher that
- 23:13Speaker 4: doesn't really give f's because anything below a C is
- 23:15Speaker 4: failing to me. So the is just to be nice,
- 23:17Speaker 4: but you still feeling if you ask me, it's unacceptable.
- 23:21Speaker 1: Just to chime in here. As we wrap this up
- 23:23Speaker 1: on my grade, I think the only reason I didn't
- 23:26Speaker 1: give this position group inn F is because it showed
- 23:28Speaker 1: that they do have good DH options on this team.
- 23:31Speaker 1: It's just not the guy that they're paying to be
- 23:33Speaker 1: their DH. Like I think when they were playing their
- 23:36Speaker 1: best baseball, it was when Ozuna wasn't starting at DH.
- 23:39Speaker 1: It's with Reynolds at DH and Mangum and leftfield or
- 23:43Speaker 1: neck York at a corner outfield spot like they have,
- 23:46Speaker 1: they have a good answer at d H. And I think,
- 23:50Speaker 1: and we've said this a million times on this show,
- 23:52Speaker 1: it's Reynolds in lal and o'hearne and maybe even a
- 23:55Speaker 1: little Spencer Horowitz and rotating in ending on who needs
- 24:00Speaker 1: a day off their feet, depending on matchups, depending on
- 24:03Speaker 1: what's going on with the rest of the guys in
- 24:04Speaker 1: the field. And you know, the only way you were
- 24:08Speaker 1: going to sacrifice your biggest flaw, which is outfield defense,
- 24:12Speaker 1: was if Ozuna came in and held up his own
- 24:15Speaker 1: end of the bargain. And he's not just failed to
- 24:18Speaker 1: hold that up, he's been a detriment to the team
- 24:20Speaker 1: as far as production. I don't think he's been a
- 24:22Speaker 1: problem in thehouse. I think he's probably a net pogetive there.
- 24:25Speaker 1: But he's one of their highest paid players and he's
- 24:27Speaker 1: among the worst players in baseball one month in. So yeah,
- 24:30Speaker 1: it's it's a failing grade for Ozuna, but for the
- 24:33Speaker 1: position group, I give it a D minus because I
- 24:35Speaker 1: see better options than Ozuna for that position to be utilized.
- 24:39Speaker 1: So we've got one final segment remaining where we grade
- 24:44Speaker 1: the Pirates coaching and their overall team performance. But first
- 24:48Speaker 1: one final break from our sponsors.
- 24:54Speaker 2: It's April, which means I'm trying to get out of
- 24:56Speaker 2: the house and go to events, especially Pirates games, which
- 24:58Speaker 2: is why I want to give the sponsor sure of
- 25:00Speaker 2: today's video, sea Geek a huge shout out. With over
- 25:02Speaker 2: thirty five million downloads, seekeek is the number one rated
- 25:05Speaker 2: ticketing app. There are more than seventy thousand events listed
- 25:08Speaker 2: on sea Geek, including concerts, sports, festivals, and more. The
- 25:11Speaker 2: Pirates are playing their best baseball in years. The NBA
- 25:14Speaker 2: and NHL playoffs are underway. The NFL schedules coming out
- 25:17Speaker 2: soon and you can even get World Cup tickets on
- 25:19Speaker 2: sea geek. And with sea Gek being MLB's official ticket marketplace,
- 25:22Speaker 2: your tickets are fully guaranteed and instantly fulfilled in your
- 25:25Speaker 2: account after purchase. I love using Sekek whenever I could
- 25:28Speaker 2: go to P and C Park. Makes it easy with
- 25:30Speaker 2: each ticket rate on scale of one to ten, so
- 25:33Speaker 2: you know if you're getting a good deal. So look
- 25:34Speaker 2: for the green dots. Green is good. And of course
- 25:36Speaker 2: I have a code for you guys. You can use
- 25:38Speaker 2: code Territory ten for ten percent off your next of
- 25:41Speaker 2: tickets at sea Gek. That's ten percent off any tickets
- 25:44Speaker 2: with promo code Territory ten. Make sure you click the
- 25:47Speaker 2: link in the description to download the app and have
- 25:49Speaker 2: the code automatically added to your accounts so you can
- 25:51Speaker 2: use it later. Thank you see geek.
- 25:55Speaker 1: All right, final segment, we've graded the starting pitching, the bullpen, infield, outfield,
- 26:01Speaker 1: and designated hitters. We're not going to grade the bench,
- 26:04Speaker 1: but I'll just throw in my own little feedback real quick.
- 26:06Speaker 1: I think the bench has been really good. It's kind
- 26:09Speaker 1: of hard to grade it because pretty much everyone has
- 26:11Speaker 1: been some form of a starter aside from Joey Barton
- 26:15Speaker 1: Billy Cook, So we won't grade that, but I think
- 26:18Speaker 1: part of the bench evaluation could even factor into coaching.
- 26:22Speaker 1: So our coaching grade, and guys, I want to be
- 26:25Speaker 1: specific when I say this coaching is coaching. It's not
- 26:29Speaker 1: just the manager here. So evaluate coach saw Murphy, evaluate
- 26:35Speaker 1: coach Haig, evaluate the third base coach, the infield, everything.
- 26:39Speaker 1: Take that all into account. Now Don Kelly should carry
- 26:42Speaker 1: most of the weight in this grade, but overall, and
- 26:45Speaker 1: we'll start with Josh, what would you grade the Pirates
- 26:47Speaker 1: coaching for the first month of the baseball season.
- 26:52Speaker 4: I'll give it a a C plus B minus yep,
- 26:57Speaker 4: kind of on a verge of you know, one, it's
- 27:00Speaker 4: been a different offseason, different start to the season, having
- 27:05Speaker 4: to manage that. I think they've done a good job
- 27:07Speaker 4: with all of the outside factors of you know, off
- 27:10Speaker 4: season signings, you know, Connor Griffin, media or sensation, what
- 27:16Speaker 4: are the Pirates going to be, you know, just everything
- 27:19Speaker 4: that they've handled.
- 27:21Speaker 5: I think they've done that really well.
- 27:23Speaker 4: Just because Pittsburgh, as you all know, it is a
- 27:26Speaker 4: town that is starving for a winner, and they are
- 27:29Speaker 4: in a situation where the city is excited about something,
- 27:32Speaker 4: so I think they have been able to realize that,
- 27:36Speaker 4: which on the other side, I give it that C
- 27:38Speaker 4: plus B minus because there are things that I think,
- 27:40Speaker 4: and I don't know behind closed doors, maybe they are,
- 27:42Speaker 4: but things that we've highlighted, you know, being a guy
- 27:45Speaker 4: that has been in been in a clubhouse, not just
- 27:48Speaker 4: particularly that one. Looking at these grades through I think
- 27:52Speaker 4: there's some situations through the first month that have really
- 27:55Speaker 4: been highlighted, you know, whether it's you know, defense of things,
- 27:59Speaker 4: and these are mental things. I'm not talking physical. I'm
- 28:01Speaker 4: talking about knowing where the ball is supposed to be,
- 28:03Speaker 4: you know, just kind of things that the game might
- 28:05Speaker 4: speed up on you. I think some of these things
- 28:07Speaker 4: need to be talked about a little bit more, and
- 28:09Speaker 4: they need to not just talk about it, they need
- 28:11Speaker 4: to drill it. I don't know if they are, but me,
- 28:13Speaker 4: I think there are some games that have been lost,
- 28:17Speaker 4: both offensive and defensively due to not physical stuff, things
- 28:20Speaker 4: that guys just aren't prepared for mentally. And I think
- 28:24Speaker 4: that comes down to coaching and development and that right
- 28:28Speaker 4: there is just guys going out and playing. I think
- 28:30Speaker 4: you gotta hone in on those mental mistakes, because that
- 28:33Speaker 4: is the biggest separator between really good teams. Really good
- 28:36Speaker 4: teams are gonna, you know, take advantage of those, and
- 28:38Speaker 4: I think, as I's say, they've done a good job
- 28:40Speaker 4: with the outside noise and the excitement, but I think
- 28:43Speaker 4: they need to tidy up and really hold these guys accountable.
- 28:45Speaker 4: Teams that win, I mean, we can be cool, but
- 28:48Speaker 4: at the same time, there might be days that you're
- 28:50Speaker 4: mad or upset at me because I pointed out something
- 28:52Speaker 4: that you think is minuscule. But it's the difference between
- 28:54Speaker 4: the winning the loss.
- 28:57Speaker 2: Oh yeah, so I went with a B. For the
- 29:00Speaker 2: coaching staff. I've been pretty impressed with how Don Kelly
- 29:05Speaker 2: is not only like taken over as the new manager
- 29:07Speaker 2: of this team, but brought in and made a cohesive
- 29:10Speaker 2: team with all these brand new pieces. It's a brand
- 29:14Speaker 2: new locker room right now with a lot of different
- 29:16Speaker 2: leaders and even a new pitching coach with Bill Murphy
- 29:19Speaker 2: stepping in, and I feel like Don Kelly up at
- 29:22Speaker 2: the top has done a good job getting everyone on
- 29:24Speaker 2: the same page, meshing and becoming a team really quickly.
- 29:28Speaker 2: I've also been impressed with Bill Murphy just how this
- 29:33Speaker 2: bullpen has been pitching the top guys, a lot of
- 29:36Speaker 2: the starters as well. But my biggest concern has been
- 29:40Speaker 2: a lot of the in game decisions, where Like we've
- 29:43Speaker 2: seen a lot of the pitchers not or the starting
- 29:46Speaker 2: pitchers not be able to go as far we've talked
- 29:49Speaker 2: about maybe they're relying too much on analytics or pregame
- 29:53Speaker 2: decisions rather than going with your gut or the flow
- 29:56Speaker 2: of the game. As Josh has mentioned before on here,
- 30:00Speaker 2: I think overall I'm pretty impressed. I mean, we're writing
- 30:02Speaker 2: the think of a playoff race, which is pretty cool
- 30:06Speaker 2: to say. And yeah, nothing too critical that I can
- 30:09Speaker 2: be towards the pitching staff, what about you know?
- 30:12Speaker 1: Yeah, I give it a B minus. So I'm right
- 30:14Speaker 1: between you know where you guys are. I just this
- 30:20Speaker 1: doesn't seem like an easy team to coach, and I'll
- 30:23Speaker 1: expand upon that. I think the players are very easy
- 30:26Speaker 1: guys too. They're coachabol no doubt, but there are some
- 30:31Speaker 1: difficult decisions that have to be made. Like every game
- 30:34Speaker 1: you go into you're going into it knowing that your
- 30:37Speaker 1: starting pitcher isn't probably going to have as long of
- 30:40Speaker 1: a leash as you would like, that your bullpen barring.
- 30:45Speaker 1: If you get to the very back end of it
- 30:46Speaker 1: is going to be a little bit of a concern
- 30:48Speaker 1: that your starting lineup is going to score early. But
- 30:53Speaker 1: you're counting down the pitches until you can put good
- 30:56Speaker 1: defenders on the field to preserve the lead that you
- 30:59Speaker 1: are often are able to build in the first third
- 31:01Speaker 1: of the game. And so Don Kelly's making a lot
- 31:06Speaker 1: of decisions that I mean, yeah, has he been perfect?
- 31:08Speaker 1: Absolutely not. And I think it's very easy to point
- 31:11Speaker 1: to the things that he screwed up, you know, pinshitting
- 31:13Speaker 1: York for Lalle the one game, pulling Mitch Keller after
- 31:16Speaker 1: like less than eighty pitches the other game, like, yes,
- 31:19Speaker 1: he messed those up, no doubt. But I mean his
- 31:23Speaker 1: test sheet has a lot more questions to answer than
- 31:26Speaker 1: some of the other guys in his class, and I
- 31:29Speaker 1: think for the most part, he's gotten more right than wrong.
- 31:33Speaker 1: It's just a weird setup that they have here. I
- 31:36Speaker 1: think the situation will be a little bit easier to
- 31:40Speaker 1: manage as the year goes on, once they figure out
- 31:43Speaker 1: like if Ozuna's gonna be if Ozuna starts performing more,
- 31:47Speaker 1: it makes his job a little easier, or if they
- 31:49Speaker 1: get rid of Ozuna. That makes his job a little easier.
- 31:53Speaker 1: If Connor Griffin continues to progress, It's gonna get a
- 31:55Speaker 1: little easier when Jared Trioll goes back and they have
- 31:57Speaker 1: another defender that they can use when when Jared Jones
- 32:01Speaker 1: is healthy, Like if this pitching staff continues to stay
- 32:03Speaker 1: healthy and stay productive, Like, I think they're managing this
- 32:09Speaker 1: with October in mind. It's it's there. I mean, they're
- 32:12Speaker 1: trying to win, but they're also trying to play away.
- 32:15Speaker 1: That keeps everyone preserved well, especially pitching wise. That's not
- 32:20Speaker 1: necessarily the most aesthetically pleasing baseball in April. Uh, there's
- 32:24Speaker 1: definitely some growing pains, but overall, I think that they've
- 32:27Speaker 1: done more good than bad. I like you mentioned Mark,
- 32:31Speaker 1: I think Murphy's been good for the most part. Uh.
- 32:36Speaker 1: It seems like the pitching staff connects with him really well.
- 32:40Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know how much credit you want
- 32:43Speaker 1: to give Matt hagu for the offense. I think they
- 32:45Speaker 1: just have better hitters in the lineup. But then again,
- 32:48Speaker 1: he got crushed last year for his coaching when they
- 32:51Speaker 1: did so if they're hitting the ball now, yeah, right,
- 32:56Speaker 1: he deserves some praise for the good offense. If you're
- 32:59Speaker 1: gonna Rusham last year for the good defense, Now, how
- 33:03Speaker 1: impactful is he? I think it's somewhere in the middle.
- 33:05Speaker 4: Uh.
- 33:06Speaker 1: They're like, I don't think he's helped Ryan O'Hearn and
- 33:08Speaker 1: Brandon lawat on because they're just doing what they've always done.
- 33:11Speaker 1: But you look at some of the other guys who
- 33:13Speaker 1: are taking steps forward, like Nick and Zalez. Maybe Nick
- 33:15Speaker 1: York has been at least competent at the major league level.
- 33:20Speaker 1: Those guys I think deserve some credit. And then another
- 33:22Speaker 1: big coaching upgrade is third base. Their third base coach,
- 33:26Speaker 1: their their decisions. Yeah, Bess has helped them way more.
- 33:31Speaker 1: And I don't mean to talk down on Rebello. He
- 33:33Speaker 1: was a nice guy, but like he made some bad
- 33:36Speaker 1: decisions last year. He had some really bad sense. And
- 33:42Speaker 1: Bees isn't one hundred percent, but I Bees is aggressive
- 33:45Speaker 1: and this team one thing it does have is it
- 33:48Speaker 1: has a little bit of speed. With Griffin, with Mangam,
- 33:50Speaker 1: with Cruz, they have guys who can run the bags
- 33:53Speaker 1: pretty well and they're they're very cognizant of that. They
- 33:56Speaker 1: steal bases, they go from first to third a lot,
- 33:59Speaker 1: and they push the tempo and I think that's especially
- 34:02Speaker 1: important to do in April when guys aren't in mid
- 34:05Speaker 1: season form. The throws home are gonna be a little
- 34:07Speaker 1: bit offline compared to what they'll be in June and
- 34:10Speaker 1: July and August. So I like how he's performed at
- 34:13Speaker 1: third base as a third base coach, and those little
- 34:16Speaker 1: things matter. So overall, yeah, I think B minus is
- 34:19Speaker 1: probably where I have this group. It has a lot
- 34:21Speaker 1: of room to improve, but considering what they're working with,
- 34:24Speaker 1: and I'm not sitting here saying the roster stinks and
- 34:27Speaker 1: they don't have any players to coach, but they have
- 34:29Speaker 1: good players, but a lot of unique fitting pieces, and
- 34:33Speaker 1: for the way this puzzle is shaping out, I think
- 34:36Speaker 1: they're doing just about as good as they could do
- 34:39Speaker 1: for the most part, save a few, like Mark pointed out,
- 34:42Speaker 1: in game decisions. So that will bring us now to
- 34:45Speaker 1: our team evaluation. Give the Pittsburgh Pirates a letter grade
- 34:49Speaker 1: here as we record on Tuesday, April twenty eighth, Mark,
- 34:56Speaker 1: start us off.
- 34:57Speaker 2: I'm gonna go be myself, be a little optim I think,
- 35:00Speaker 2: as there's a ton of good happening on our on
- 35:05Speaker 2: this team right now. With the lowest grades we gave
- 35:07Speaker 2: out were catcher and d h And if your top
- 35:13Speaker 2: grades are going to your starting pitchers and your infield,
- 35:15Speaker 2: I think that's a pretty good like combination of a
- 35:19Speaker 2: team right there. So overall, I'm pretty happy. I think
- 35:24Speaker 2: we could see maybe even a grade if a couple
- 35:26Speaker 2: of these pieces step up. If we see you know,
- 35:28Speaker 2: a Zune really come together, counter Griffin go on a
- 35:32Speaker 2: hot streak. By the end of May, we might be
- 35:35Speaker 2: saying this team isn't a uh not there yet. But
- 35:38Speaker 2: I don't know how you can not be too optimistic
- 35:40Speaker 2: about this team with where they're at, especially coming off
- 35:43Speaker 2: of last year. Well about you, Josh, I want what
- 35:49Speaker 2: to be.
- 35:51Speaker 4: I think they've had a pretty solid first month and
- 35:55Speaker 4: it's been better than average, because obviously we know there's
- 35:58Speaker 4: been some good but we also know there's room for improvement.
- 36:01Speaker 4: But I think they would be sitting like at a
- 36:04Speaker 4: pretty good B, not like an eighty nine, but not
- 36:07Speaker 4: like an eighty one. I'm gonna give them a comfortable
- 36:09Speaker 4: like eighty five, somewhere in the middle, meaning you know
- 36:12Speaker 4: you've done really, you know you've done what you're supposed
- 36:15Speaker 4: to and a little bit more than what you're supposed to.
- 36:16Speaker 4: But you know, maybe study a little bit more or
- 36:20Speaker 4: you know, you're this. You know, there's a few steps
- 36:23Speaker 4: away from you know, some things that could be cleaned
- 36:25Speaker 4: up from being you know, in A. But there are
- 36:27Speaker 4: some things that you know, if those things don't get
- 36:30Speaker 4: better and some things slide, you you might be you know,
- 36:33Speaker 4: slipping down to a lower B. But you know, that's
- 36:36Speaker 4: not to say that it's been bad. I think they've
- 36:37Speaker 4: been good. There's just some things that have kept them
- 36:40Speaker 4: from getting in A. But there's also been some things
- 36:42Speaker 4: that have you know, not been that good. But some
- 36:45Speaker 4: other areas have been really good that have kept them
- 36:47Speaker 4: at that you know range to where you know what
- 36:49Speaker 4: I mean, you're only as I said, the NL Central
- 36:52Speaker 4: is L Central.
- 36:53Speaker 5: If you are a right there, you don't have it.
- 36:56Speaker 4: In my eyes, you don't have a CD unless everybody
- 37:00Speaker 4: and your division is just not playing well.
- 37:03Speaker 5: And that's very rare.
- 37:04Speaker 4: Central is a tough division, and you know, to be
- 37:06Speaker 4: where they are with given the games that they had,
- 37:09Speaker 4: I went with to.
- 37:09Speaker 1: Be yeah, I'm right there with you, Josh. I gave
- 37:12Speaker 1: them a B as well. My takeaway from this first
- 37:15Speaker 1: month is this is a good team. I think this
- 37:16Speaker 1: is a team that I predicted them to finish below
- 37:19Speaker 1: five hundred. I think I said eighty and eighty two.
- 37:22Speaker 1: Right now, I think they're probably a little better than that.
- 37:24Speaker 1: They're probably around eighty three eighty four. Honestly, Josh's team
- 37:27Speaker 1: reminds me a little bit of the twenty eighteen Pirates
- 37:30Speaker 1: right now, you know, and like you see the look
- 37:34Speaker 1: on Josh's face. That was a decent team, right, but like,
- 37:40Speaker 1: was it what you guys wanted?
- 37:42Speaker 5: I was hurt.
- 37:44Speaker 1: Yeah, it was a decent team. It finished above five hundred,
- 37:49Speaker 1: and it was in the mix. It was Yeah, twenty
- 37:52Speaker 1: eighteen was.
- 37:52Speaker 5: The Archer year.
- 37:54Speaker 4: No, I'm just saying, I mean, you know, after thirteen,
- 37:57Speaker 4: fourteen and fifteen, everything else just felt like it was
- 37:59Speaker 4: a fat hunter.
- 38:01Speaker 1: And that's no, You're good. And but like my point
- 38:04Speaker 1: being is like that team got hot in July and
- 38:07Speaker 1: they bought it the deadline, but it just it lacked
- 38:09Speaker 1: a durability to kind of stay in the race for
- 38:12Speaker 1: the long haul. And that's still my question with this team.
- 38:16Speaker 1: They've they've been pretty much exactly what I expected so far.
- 38:20Speaker 1: Not to say every individual has been exactly what I expected,
- 38:23Speaker 1: but I expected bad defense. I expected good base running.
- 38:25Speaker 1: I expected improved offense. I expected great starting pitching, an
- 38:29Speaker 1: inconsistent production out of the bullpen. I expected Marzella Zuna
- 38:32Speaker 1: as a struggle. And you could go back and listen
- 38:35Speaker 1: to every single pre season show. I said all of
- 38:38Speaker 1: these things, and the two other men on screen kind
- 38:41Speaker 1: of echoed them. So this has been pretty much exactly
- 38:44Speaker 1: why I predicted so far. And when I look at this,
- 38:47Speaker 1: I see some things that have a chance to get better,
- 38:50Speaker 1: and there are some things where I kind of wonder, like, Okay,
- 38:52Speaker 1: what what is the answer here? Is it internal? Is
- 38:55Speaker 1: it external? I still think that if this is I
- 38:58Speaker 1: still think, as currently assembled, this problem isn't a playoff
- 39:00Speaker 1: team just yet. Now, if certain guys make big improvements
- 39:05Speaker 1: this year, which they're more than capable of, maybe, if
- 39:07Speaker 1: they make external additions to build upon the strengths and
- 39:10Speaker 1: address some of the weaknesses, absolutely this can be a
- 39:13Speaker 1: playoff team. They've been a solid ball club so far.
- 39:16Speaker 1: They've been a good ball club. But I don't think
- 39:19Speaker 1: a B grade should go to a team that is
- 39:23Speaker 1: playoff worthy right now. I think they're just on that cusp.
- 39:25Speaker 1: They're certainly knocking on the door, and I think they've
- 39:29Speaker 1: put themselves in a good position to be a B
- 39:32Speaker 1: plus an A minus team moving forward. So it's definitely
- 39:35Speaker 1: more good than bad. But like I said, so far,
- 39:38Speaker 1: this is about what I expected. I expected them to
- 39:40Speaker 1: have a good month of April. It's the later months
- 39:43Speaker 1: in the year that worry me about this team, and
- 39:45Speaker 1: I haven't seen much that is those worries so far,
- 39:50Speaker 1: So we'll see how it goes in May. Guys, any
- 39:52Speaker 1: final thoughts as we wrap this one up, Josh anything.
- 39:58Speaker 4: Nothing I can think of other than you know, hit
- 40:01Speaker 4: that subscribe button. Yeah, you know, follow that link, hit
- 40:06Speaker 4: the subscribe button. You see it right there on the graphic.
- 40:10Speaker 4: I'm gonna take this one over fellas, you know, make
- 40:12Speaker 4: sure you hit the merchant or you know there's a
- 40:15Speaker 4: there's a q R right there. Scam me right next
- 40:17Speaker 4: to the buckle territory shirt. Get you some swag, a
- 40:20Speaker 4: little hoodie. I think we got a beanie, maybe a
- 40:22Speaker 4: duffel bag and a coffee cup and maybe maybe even
- 40:25Speaker 4: the next page may show some little baby gear. Get
- 40:28Speaker 4: your little ones. He is about to get hot out
- 40:29Speaker 4: there at PNC Park. Show some love with the bucket.
- 40:32Speaker 4: Had to protect yourself from the sun and from my
- 40:34Speaker 4: golfers out there. I see a little golf towel or
- 40:37Speaker 4: it's hot at pn C and a fanny pack, you know,
- 40:41Speaker 4: needless to say, carry your valuables there, Fellas, y'all got anything.
- 40:47Speaker 2: That was beautiful?
- 40:49Speaker 1: Yeah? Job, all right, I got a good yeah for
- 40:57Speaker 1: Platinum k A k A Mark and Josh Sindham Ohio
- 41:00Speaker 1: signing off saying thanks for tuning in to another episode
- 41:03Speaker 1: of Bucco Territory, presented to you by the Foul Territory Network.