Latest / Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast / Time for the Rotation to Howl

Transcript

Time for the Rotation to Howl · Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast

0:09
Speaker 1: What's up, everybody?
0:10
Speaker 2: Welcome back to another episode of Bucko Territory, presented to
0:13
Speaker 2: you by the Foul Territory Network. I'm no Oahiles, joining
0:15
Speaker 2: me as always on my co host Josh Harrison akaj
0:18
Speaker 2: Hay and Platinumkey aka Mark.
0:21
Speaker 1: It is Monday, July twenty seventh.
0:23
Speaker 2: The Pirates just concluded a big weekend series against the
0:26
Speaker 2: Chicago Cubs where they lost the first two, avoided a
0:29
Speaker 2: sweep with a big win on Sunday against former Bucko
0:32
Speaker 2: Jamison Town.
0:33
Speaker 1: Got a little close at the.
0:35
Speaker 2: End there, but they hit held on for an eight
0:37
Speaker 2: to seven win, and they are set to start an
0:40
Speaker 2: equally important series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
0:43
Speaker 1: Who let me check the schedule or let me check
0:45
Speaker 1: the standings.
0:46
Speaker 2: We're recording this after the Pirates game or the Diamondbacks
0:49
Speaker 2: still playing, do we know? Regardless, the wildcard standings are
0:52
Speaker 2: still pretty tight. Yeah, Arizona. So they trail Arizona by
0:55
Speaker 2: one game right now as of the time of this recording.
0:58
Speaker 2: So big series. We're gonna talk about the starting pitching.
1:02
Speaker 2: Starting pitching is going to be tested in this series.
1:05
Speaker 2: We're gonna see Mitch Keller, We're gonna see Bubba Chandler
1:09
Speaker 2: and Jared Jones again, So those will be three very
1:12
Speaker 2: interesting starts, all in their own right. Struggles against lefties,
1:17
Speaker 2: that was the big takeaway from this past weekend series
1:19
Speaker 2: against the Chicago Cubs. They lost both games against left
1:23
Speaker 2: handed starters, and that's been unfortunate trend for this team
1:26
Speaker 2: throughout the whole year.
1:27
Speaker 1: And then we will wrap up.
1:28
Speaker 2: Today's show with as always, Platinum Keys Key of the Week.
1:32
Speaker 1: So, guys, let's start with starting rotation.
1:36
Speaker 2: It's been We've been pretty vocal on this show about
1:40
Speaker 2: like that's that's what needs to drive this team in
1:42
Speaker 2: the second half. I would say so far, the rotation
1:46
Speaker 2: has been fine. Actually, I would say it's actually probably
1:48
Speaker 2: been good. Like Mitch Keller looked good in his one
1:51
Speaker 2: outing post All Star Break, Bubba Chandler had his best
1:54
Speaker 2: outing of the season at Yankee Stadium last week. Paul
1:58
Speaker 2: skeins Is, I mean, I don't think he looked horrible,
2:01
Speaker 2: but he didn't really look good.
2:04
Speaker 1: Well, he looked really good.
2:05
Speaker 2: In the first four innings and then he kind of
2:08
Speaker 2: ran out of gas in the fifth and the velocity
2:11
Speaker 2: wasn't good. We'll talk about that. And then there's the
2:13
Speaker 2: Jared Jones dilemma. There's there's a whole bunch to get into,
2:16
Speaker 2: So I guess I'll open the floor mark when for you,
2:20
Speaker 2: when you look at this rotation, what is your biggest
2:24
Speaker 2: concern right now? Who are you most concerned with? And
2:27
Speaker 2: it doesn't necessarily even have to be a concern over
2:30
Speaker 2: a guy not pitching well? Are they using this guy correctly?
2:33
Speaker 2: Are they not giving him enough leash? Is this guy
2:35
Speaker 2: running out of gas? Who is your biggest worry in
2:37
Speaker 2: this rotation right now?
2:40
Speaker 3: I think I gotta go with Brax and Ashcraft. Maybe
2:43
Speaker 3: it's just the recency bias, but you talk about running
2:45
Speaker 3: out of gas, this is uh, it's starting to get
2:49
Speaker 3: concerning where his last few outings he just hasn't looked
2:52
Speaker 3: nearly as dominant as we saw which led to his
2:55
Speaker 3: first Alcar nomination.
2:58
Speaker 4: So I think that's my biggest.
2:59
Speaker 3: Concern right now, is it does seem like the gas
3:03
Speaker 3: is kind of running out and he's starting to show
3:06
Speaker 3: that he really hasn't gone a lot of Indians in
3:09
Speaker 3: his career ever, so that would be one of my
3:12
Speaker 3: biggest concerns. Obviously, he's still really good even with not
3:17
Speaker 3: a lot of gas. In his tank, but we just
3:20
Speaker 3: aren't seeing the same level of dominance that were used
3:23
Speaker 3: to seeing from Ashcraft, and frankly, what this team needs
3:26
Speaker 3: from him if they're going to be a postseason team.
3:28
Speaker 3: What about you, Josh?
3:30
Speaker 2: Well, well, I was going to just ask Josh on
3:33
Speaker 2: that note, just to maybe talk about, like I'm sure
3:37
Speaker 2: you've seen that where you see a young starter in
3:40
Speaker 2: his first full year as a starter, have such a
3:42
Speaker 2: good first half, but this is a long season and
3:45
Speaker 2: sometimes guys, especially guys like Ashcraft who have not had
3:50
Speaker 2: an extended like I remember talking in May about what
3:53
Speaker 2: are they going to do to pace this guy?
3:55
Speaker 1: What are they going to do to limit his workload?
3:58
Speaker 2: Do you think that that just going off of pure
4:01
Speaker 2: signs here obviously because you're not around the team anymore, Josh,
4:04
Speaker 2: But does that sound like something that could be happening
4:06
Speaker 2: with Braxton?
4:09
Speaker 5: Definitely, And it's Baseball one hundred and sixty two games.
4:13
Speaker 5: You mentioned it's gonna test you, and that's not just
4:16
Speaker 5: physically you mentioned. You know, you get to this point
4:19
Speaker 5: of the season, he's had a lot more stressful endings
4:22
Speaker 5: than he's ever had in his life before. So when
4:24
Speaker 5: you couple that with you know, workload, You know, not
4:28
Speaker 5: not only is workload getting up to you now mentally
4:31
Speaker 5: you know that there are some things that you know
4:34
Speaker 5: cause challenges, and you know.
4:36
Speaker 6: It's all the work in progress.
4:37
Speaker 5: And I'm sure these guys wild tell you, man, every
4:39
Speaker 5: time I grabbed the ball, and I told the rubber
4:40
Speaker 5: every five days, you know, I feel like I'm going
4:42
Speaker 5: out there, I'm gonna get my best start. But realistically,
4:45
Speaker 5: you know, a young guy that hasn't been tested for
4:49
Speaker 5: a long time throughout the season is not uncommon for
4:52
Speaker 5: them to, you know, hit a little bit of a
4:54
Speaker 5: wall and it's not like their stuff has gotten any worse.
4:56
Speaker 5: It's just it's the nature of baseball. You know, you're
5:00
Speaker 5: gonna take some lumps. And it's not even about taking lumps,
5:02
Speaker 5: it's about, you know, how do you whether the storm
5:05
Speaker 5: when you know you might just be missing pitches, something
5:08
Speaker 5: feels just a little bit off, or hey, you're throwing
5:10
Speaker 5: the ball well, but things aren't going your way. And
5:13
Speaker 5: then you mentioned I'm sure in the back of his
5:15
Speaker 5: mind he knows workload is going to be watched, and
5:17
Speaker 5: then you know, anytime he gets a stress winning that's
5:20
Speaker 5: another thing. Oh, I can't have too many of these.
5:22
Speaker 5: It's just one of those things where you don't know
5:26
Speaker 5: how to get through it until you've gone through it.
5:28
Speaker 5: And you know, you mentioned some of his stuff is
5:32
Speaker 5: still it is not like alarming. You know, he's still
5:34
Speaker 5: having you know, success and still but it's not quite
5:37
Speaker 5: what you saw in the beginning. And that's part of
5:40
Speaker 5: baseball where you see, okay, is he going to catch
5:42
Speaker 5: a second win? Because you know, when I was playing,
5:45
Speaker 5: it used to be all the dog days of August.
5:46
Speaker 5: That's where everybody you know would kind of hit that wall.
5:50
Speaker 5: And you know, then you mentioned him being an All
5:53
Speaker 5: Star first time. We talked about it before the All
5:56
Speaker 5: Star Game. The All Star week is madness. It's made him.
6:00
Speaker 5: Even when it's over, you still might take a week
6:03
Speaker 5: or two to recover, just based off of where it was.
6:06
Speaker 5: You know, how late you knew, If you find you
6:08
Speaker 5: find parents, family, it's a lot of going on. And
6:11
Speaker 5: I just think at this point of the season, he's
6:14
Speaker 5: been tested in ways he's never been tested before, and
6:18
Speaker 5: it's not uncommon, but you do have to make sure
6:23
Speaker 5: that you're giving him every opportunity to succeed, but also
6:27
Speaker 5: the team and if you are having questions about his workload.
6:31
Speaker 5: You got to have a plan to make sure that
6:33
Speaker 5: he knows it's not due to his performance, because that's
6:35
Speaker 5: another thing you don't want a young guy saying, all right, man,
6:37
Speaker 5: I was going seven out to keep pulling me after five.
6:41
Speaker 5: That's stressful winnings. That's also a maybe they acquire something
6:44
Speaker 5: in a pen that allows them to say, you know what,
6:46
Speaker 5: your workload can be lightened or offense you know takes
6:49
Speaker 5: care of that.
6:49
Speaker 6: But I think it's something that.
6:51
Speaker 5: You definitely have to watch because you know, I'm I
6:54
Speaker 5: don't believe in the whole sophomore slump and this or that.
6:57
Speaker 6: That's just the nature of baseball. It's adjustments.
7:00
Speaker 5: There's physical adjustments, there's mental adjustments, and then there's also
7:03
Speaker 5: just adjustments to say, baseball is gonna do what baseball does.
7:06
Speaker 5: I got to stick to the process and trust the
7:08
Speaker 5: grind and know that if I do that, I'll be
7:10
Speaker 5: where I need to be helping my team.
7:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, And I think that a lot of
7:16
Speaker 2: what you said applies to other guys too, with just
7:20
Speaker 2: the longevity of it. I mean, you see certain guys fade,
7:23
Speaker 2: you see other guys come on, like Bubba Chandler has
7:26
Speaker 2: gotten better as the season's gone on.
7:27
Speaker 1: Look how much Jared Jones has improved compared to he.
7:32
Speaker 5: Was gonna be my guy that I'm like, do they
7:35
Speaker 5: extendedly show on him, like you know what I mean,
7:37
Speaker 5: especially after his past couple wildings, And I mean you
7:40
Speaker 5: only learn from going through it. Not saying you're trying
7:43
Speaker 5: to wear a guy down, but you know, those concerns
7:46
Speaker 5: with Ashcraft are opposite of Jared where he's going out
7:48
Speaker 5: there and it's like, all right, man, maybe maybe you
7:50
Speaker 5: need to let him go another ending and you know,
7:53
Speaker 5: not necessarily another inning, let him get another batter, and
7:55
Speaker 5: you know, let that dictate it. But at the same time,
7:58
Speaker 5: you also understand you got, as in a book, pin
8:00
Speaker 5: that you're trying to you want them to work for
8:02
Speaker 5: a clean inning, and you also, you know, you want
8:05
Speaker 5: your guy that is coming off an injury to continue
8:07
Speaker 5: to build off of these starts. But I think there
8:09
Speaker 5: are definitely some questions that they have to answer because
8:12
Speaker 5: you know, you're gonna need all those guys one way
8:14
Speaker 5: or another, and they got to pick each other up.
8:17
Speaker 2: I go ahead have it on pretty good authority that
8:20
Speaker 2: I think we're going to see the same type of
8:22
Speaker 2: workload for Jared Jones for the rest of the year.
8:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think that maybe Bubba Chandler would be
8:30
Speaker 3: the one guy that could step up and go deeper
8:32
Speaker 3: now because I understand.
8:33
Speaker 2: It's both him and Mitch's That's that's what I was
8:37
Speaker 2: gonna say, mark the ground this out. It's that's their job,
8:41
Speaker 2: right The high end guys are Paul, Jared and Braxton. Yep,
8:46
Speaker 2: Jared is their best picture right now. Paul Schemes needs
8:48
Speaker 2: to be their best picture. He regressed this week, but
8:51
Speaker 2: that can just be one that can be a one off.
8:53
Speaker 2: He's been getting better as the season, you know, has
8:56
Speaker 2: over the last however, many like he looked really good
8:58
Speaker 2: against Cleveland Flush the Cubs thing just get better.
9:03
Speaker 1: Jared Jones has been great.
9:04
Speaker 2: Braxton we already talked about the caveat here is what
9:08
Speaker 2: the other two can do. Can the rookie keep not
9:10
Speaker 2: looking like a rookie? And can Mitch Keller build off
9:13
Speaker 2: of what was probably his best start since April, because
9:17
Speaker 2: that's what they're gonna need. They need to win this
9:19
Speaker 2: Arizona series. They have to take two of three, and
9:23
Speaker 2: the first two games are Mitchell on Monday, Bubba on Tuesday,
9:28
Speaker 2: and they're both going up against righty's, so you would
9:31
Speaker 2: think they're probably gonna get some pretty good run support.
9:33
Speaker 1: And then Arizona's Star, they're all Star.
9:36
Speaker 2: Rodriguez is pitching against Jared Jones in the final series
9:40
Speaker 2: finale and he's a leftyat so that's.
9:43
Speaker 1: Gonna be a low scoring ball game.
9:45
Speaker 2: You need to win these first two and your back
9:48
Speaker 2: end of your rotation, you're four and you're five, which
9:51
Speaker 2: is what Mitch and Bubba are.
9:52
Speaker 1: They need. They need to be at the very least serviceable.
9:58
Speaker 2: They got to cover innings because, yeah, you talked about
10:01
Speaker 2: the depth here.
10:02
Speaker 1: Mark.
10:03
Speaker 2: The next off day this team has is August tenth.
10:06
Speaker 2: They're going to play fourteen games, well there, since their
10:09
Speaker 2: last off day was Yeah, it's seventeen and seven seventeen days.
10:13
Speaker 2: They're three games into it, so they've got fourteen more
10:15
Speaker 2: days in a row. Is at least one baseball game
10:18
Speaker 2: barring a rain delay, and you know, maybe they'll have
10:20
Speaker 2: two in one day there or something like that. And
10:22
Speaker 2: this is in early August trade deadline. These are the
10:27
Speaker 2: stretches where the gap starts to widen between the real
10:31
Speaker 2: teams and the pretenders the dog days of August. Like
10:34
Speaker 2: Josh mentioned, this is the stretch, and I mean you've
10:38
Speaker 2: got Arizona, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and the Mets, so two not
10:42
Speaker 2: so good teams, two teams that are pretty good, and
10:45
Speaker 2: then the Mets again.
10:46
Speaker 1: Right, oh no, Mets, my bad. That ends it.
10:49
Speaker 2: So yeah, it's it's gonna be a challenge, but it
10:51
Speaker 2: starts with the rotation. That's that's where it's gonna Ultimately,
10:55
Speaker 2: if this team's still alive in the playoff standings by
10:58
Speaker 2: August tenth, it means it's because starting rotation stepped up
11:01
Speaker 2: and kept them in it.
11:02
Speaker 1: So exactly, all right, well we're gonna take a quick break.
11:05
Speaker 2: When we come back, we're going to talk about another
11:08
Speaker 2: area of the team that needs to get better, and
11:09
Speaker 2: that's the offense against left handed starting pitching.
11:11
Speaker 1: Here on Bucko.
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12:16
Speaker 2: All right, So the Pirates lost two games this weekend.
12:20
Speaker 2: They lost both of them against left handed starting pitching.
12:23
Speaker 2: I don't think we need to dive into the numbers
12:26
Speaker 2: to talk about how bad that's been. I think that's
12:28
Speaker 2: pretty well established that if there is one flaw for
12:31
Speaker 2: this lineup, it is that that they don't have enough
12:34
Speaker 2: guys who can consistently hit lefties. And even though you
12:37
Speaker 2: have Zmerlin Valdez who's been a difference maker, I think
12:39
Speaker 2: it's rather clear now that teams recognize that and they
12:42
Speaker 2: give him nothing to hit. And it kind of looks
12:44
Speaker 2: a little bit like last year, where it's like where
12:45
Speaker 2: you only have one or two threats and if those
12:48
Speaker 2: threats can be pitched around, you're kind of in big trouble.
12:52
Speaker 2: And it doesn't also help right now that some of
12:55
Speaker 2: their top players are all slumping collectively. I don't expect
12:59
Speaker 2: that to sis, but that also makes it so you
13:03
Speaker 2: see the offensive display that you.
13:05
Speaker 1: Saw this weekend.
13:06
Speaker 2: My question here, and this doesn't have to be that
13:08
Speaker 2: long of a segment, is when you assess this team's
13:10
Speaker 2: deadline needs. Right this is coming out on the twenty seventh,
13:13
Speaker 2: so it'll be one week before the trade deadline expires.
13:17
Speaker 2: Obviously you're thinking bullpen, maybe you're thinking starting pitching. There
13:20
Speaker 2: is some thought to maybe adding another right handed bat.
13:24
Speaker 2: If you're doing that, where is this bat playing?
13:26
Speaker 1: Is my question? Who are you trying?
13:28
Speaker 2: And we don't have to even think of a name
13:30
Speaker 2: right now, but.
13:32
Speaker 6: But who where are they going to fit in?
13:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, who's who's it? Bats?
13:35
Speaker 2: Are you taking away? Like where where are you going?
13:39
Speaker 2: Where are you going?
13:39
Speaker 1: And finding a guy that slots into this lineup? I
13:43
Speaker 1: can think of maybe.
13:44
Speaker 2: Two positions where I would consider it, but I'd be
13:47
Speaker 2: curious to hear what you guys think.
13:48
Speaker 1: We'll start with Josh.
13:52
Speaker 5: Honestly, I can't sit here and think of a position
13:56
Speaker 5: off the top of my head, but if there was
13:58
Speaker 5: one that they would be thinking, I would definitely think
14:01
Speaker 5: a corner like infield, maybe third base, But that is
14:05
Speaker 5: that that is, you know, a position that we've talked about.
14:09
Speaker 5: But obviously Nikki g would bounce around even Triolo unless
14:14
Speaker 5: something was to happen. But if you're if you're getting
14:16
Speaker 5: somebody to play third base, something has to happen to
14:19
Speaker 5: where somebody's expendable, because.
14:22
Speaker 6: You know what I mean.
14:23
Speaker 5: I think if you're getting a back, you're letting somebody go,
14:26
Speaker 5: and it's just a matter of who are you letting go?
14:28
Speaker 5: Is that you know outfielder, is that a infielder, is
14:32
Speaker 5: that a DH you know, who knows? But it is
14:37
Speaker 5: a situation where you obviously know, like you're going to
14:41
Speaker 5: the field it's a tough spot to say where you're gonna,
14:45
Speaker 5: you know, find you know, a right handed hit or catcher.
14:51
Speaker 6: That I mean, you look at the outfield.
14:54
Speaker 5: We got a lot of outfielders that you know got
14:56
Speaker 5: switch hit or Brian Reuns it's a DH. You got
14:58
Speaker 5: make them switch hitter. So factor of them in his
15:00
Speaker 5: right handers. You got Esmer Lynn who plays outfield d H.
15:04
Speaker 5: I mean outfield, yes, could use some help. But at
15:08
Speaker 5: the same time, if that guy's going to the outfield,
15:10
Speaker 5: those other guys are slotted to DH where it's hard.
15:12
Speaker 5: But I said, if you're finding gay back right handed,
15:15
Speaker 5: that's helping. Somebody is going to be out and who's
15:18
Speaker 5: that odd man that's still to be seen. But you know,
15:23
Speaker 5: obviously you said they scored one run this weekend against
15:27
Speaker 5: two lefties, and when you don't see him a lot
15:30
Speaker 5: or one, they're not overpowering lefties. That's the other thing,
15:35
Speaker 5: you know, So maybe that's the thing where guys a
15:38
Speaker 5: little comfortable. But at the same time, you know, uncomfortable
15:41
Speaker 5: with at bat sometimes is the worst because if this
15:43
Speaker 5: guy is in overpowering, now you're chasing, you might be
15:46
Speaker 5: making weak contact.
15:47
Speaker 6: But if they're struggling like that against lefties. It's not.
15:52
Speaker 5: It's not out of question to want to improve the
15:55
Speaker 5: lineup with the right handed hitter, but I think it's
15:57
Speaker 5: going to cause for some you know, I can't even
16:03
Speaker 5: sit here and say, you know, shuffling or the roster,
16:05
Speaker 5: but obviously against lefties, would you slot Nikki g or
16:10
Speaker 5: Triolo to shortstop and give Jacob the day off because
16:12
Speaker 5: he's left hand?
16:13
Speaker 6: Like you know what I mean, I'm.
16:13
Speaker 5: Thinking, yeah, it's just so many ways. But it's like
16:18
Speaker 5: you acquired this guy, Jacob because I was that. I'm
16:20
Speaker 5: sure they're trying to give an opportunity. He's been playing well,
16:23
Speaker 5: you know, from a little bit.
16:24
Speaker 1: So that's what's that's what's really tough.
16:26
Speaker 2: I mean, third base is really the only place that
16:28
Speaker 2: makes sense, and your two third basemen are both right
16:30
Speaker 2: handed hitters.
16:31
Speaker 1: And yeah, I don't think that's the worst thing.
16:34
Speaker 2: I mean, in reality, this problem is emphasized because of Azuna.
16:39
Speaker 2: If Ozuna was doing his job and this wouldn't be
16:42
Speaker 2: a problem. And Mark, I think you're muted, but uh exactly, yes,
16:47
Speaker 2: I just see you see you get like preach, you know,
16:50
Speaker 2: and it's all silent, But thank you for your support. Oh, nonetheless, Yeah,
16:54
Speaker 2: I think Ozuna would be the one you move, or
16:57
Speaker 2: maybe you option Callahan or whatever, but yeah, third base
17:02
Speaker 2: would be interesting.
17:03
Speaker 1: Or maybe you get a guy who.
17:06
Speaker 2: Plays second base and you just don't play loud against
17:09
Speaker 2: left handers, yeah, or you.
17:12
Speaker 4: Get a guy I like.
17:15
Speaker 1: It's just the first base.
17:16
Speaker 2: I just I o'hearne has still got to play against
17:19
Speaker 2: left handers.
17:20
Speaker 1: He has to.
17:21
Speaker 2: That's that's the one where it's like him and Cruise,
17:23
Speaker 2: Like Cruise has hit left he's well this year, so
17:26
Speaker 2: like I'm still I'm playing Cruise against left handers when
17:29
Speaker 2: he's back. I mean, you're playing Reynolds every day. So
17:32
Speaker 2: there's two outfielders right there, and you're playing o'han o'hearne
17:35
Speaker 2: at first base. You're gonna have Valdez in the lineup,
17:39
Speaker 2: so he's either dhing for you or he's playing right field,
17:42
Speaker 2: so either way, so now you have a d H
17:44
Speaker 2: spot open or third base, and it's just kind of
17:48
Speaker 2: like it's it's it's weird because like they have all
17:51
Speaker 2: these things.
17:51
Speaker 1: It's just the fit. It's almost like if someone.
17:55
Speaker 2: Were to get injured, it would make it a little
17:57
Speaker 2: easier to be like, all right, well there's your need.
18:00
Speaker 6: They're not wishing that on anybody.
18:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what I mean.
18:04
Speaker 2: It's just like or if someone just were not to
18:06
Speaker 2: be available, it would make an acquisition like this probably
18:11
Speaker 2: easier to figure out because it's like.
18:13
Speaker 1: How do you.
18:16
Speaker 2: I mean, they already have kind of like a convoluted
18:19
Speaker 2: lineup structure as is when they get fully healthy in
18:22
Speaker 2: the outfield, and it's like third base, it's like, all right,
18:24
Speaker 2: well you got to play Gonzalez, so do you just
18:28
Speaker 2: make him your second basement against lefties?
18:30
Speaker 1: Are you really not going to play Brandon Lau at
18:31
Speaker 1: all against lefties?
18:33
Speaker 2: Like? Is that?
18:33
Speaker 1: Is it that bad? I don't know, Mark, what do
18:35
Speaker 1: you have to say to.
18:36
Speaker 3: Yes, Triolo actually has been pretty decent against left handed pitching,
18:40
Speaker 3: so I feel all right against left handed pitching at
18:44
Speaker 3: third base. I think second base is probably where you
18:46
Speaker 3: would want to make the improvement, just because Lao hasn't
18:49
Speaker 3: been the best against lefties. But also we just saw
18:52
Speaker 3: earlier this week the Boston Red Sox and Nationals made
18:57
Speaker 3: a trade where the Red Sox acquired right handed Curtis Mead,
19:02
Speaker 3: and they have to give up a really talented young
19:05
Speaker 3: pitcher and kind only early. So the market for right
19:10
Speaker 3: handed bats is pretty expensive right now. I don't know
19:14
Speaker 3: if you want to factor that in, I don't know
19:16
Speaker 3: how much.
19:16
Speaker 2: I wouldn't say that that's the market. I think they
19:19
Speaker 2: just overpaid because they made a trade. True, more than
19:22
Speaker 2: a week ahead of the deadline, and they made a trade.
19:24
Speaker 2: Those are Those are two teams that are I mean
19:27
Speaker 2: the Red Sox are a playoff team right now, the
19:28
Speaker 2: Nationals are. Yeah, I wouldn't say that's a good Okay,
19:35
Speaker 2: but I don't think that's an accurate representation of the
19:37
Speaker 2: costs where the market is.
19:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
19:40
Speaker 3: But also I will say, uh, as as like frustrating
19:44
Speaker 3: as it is to watch because this offense is so good,
19:47
Speaker 3: usually second best OPS in the league against right handed pitchers,
19:53
Speaker 3: and that's what's been carrying this team. But it we're
19:56
Speaker 3: only like middle of the pack as far as team
19:58
Speaker 3: OPS goes against left handed pitching, like in like the
20:01
Speaker 3: twelve to fifteen range. It's fluctuating based on games. Pirates
20:06
Speaker 3: have a seven oh five OPS going into Sunday against
20:09
Speaker 3: left handed pitching seven to seventy nine OPS against Raye's
20:13
Speaker 3: So I'm I'm not really as concerned about this as
20:16
Speaker 3: I am. The bullpen struggles, yeah, for sure, but it
20:20
Speaker 3: is definitely a cause for concern and something that was
20:24
Speaker 3: very very clearly frustrating this weekend.
20:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I guess to round us out because
20:30
Speaker 2: of your position player flexibility being that like I think
20:35
Speaker 2: maybe you add a right handed in field that after
20:38
Speaker 2: addressing other needs exactly like if you can go find
20:41
Speaker 2: someone and regardless of what position they play, because I mean,
20:45
Speaker 2: whenever Griffin gets back, you can maybe option someone else,
20:48
Speaker 2: but you're not thinking about that right now. So it's
20:50
Speaker 2: like if you go find a third basement, all right,
20:52
Speaker 2: So when a left he's on the mount, your righty
20:54
Speaker 2: platoon at third base is your acquisition. You move Triolo
20:58
Speaker 2: to short on those days and then you have no
21:00
Speaker 2: g play at second, and now you have three right
21:03
Speaker 2: handed bats there, plus Valdez plus O'Hearn, who I thought
21:07
Speaker 2: looked pretty good at the plate against the two lefty
21:09
Speaker 2: starters this weekend, and Cruisers hit what lefties well and
21:13
Speaker 2: then Reynolds and everybody else, or you know, if it's
21:15
Speaker 2: second baseman, then you're only playing like it's just like
21:19
Speaker 2: a true platoon guy, where it's just like Hey, Like,
21:22
Speaker 2: you're on this team for one reason, and it is
21:24
Speaker 2: to pinch hit against lefties latent games or start against
21:27
Speaker 2: lefties for Brandon Lau. So, yeah, all right, I think
21:32
Speaker 2: we talked it over. I think we checked all those boxes.
21:35
Speaker 2: All right, We're gonna take a quick break again when
21:37
Speaker 2: we come back. We'll round out the show with Platinum
21:39
Speaker 2: Keys Key of the Week here on Bucko Territory.
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Speaker 4: All right, now, time for my Key of the Week segment.
23:28
Speaker 4: All right.
23:29
Speaker 3: In this week's Key of the Week, I wanted to
23:32
Speaker 3: highlight or kind of give a little shout out to
23:35
Speaker 3: the return the upcoming return of Spencer Horwitz here this
23:39
Speaker 3: He's been out from the team since June twenty fifth.
23:42
Speaker 3: He just started his rehab assignment a few days ago,
23:46
Speaker 3: and this is a guy who adds a completely different
23:49
Speaker 3: level to this team. He had an eight forty one
23:51
Speaker 3: OPS prior to going on the injured list, was hitting
23:55
Speaker 3: in the leadoff spot and putting together the best season
23:59
Speaker 3: we've seen from Spencer Horwitz, and putting him back in
24:02
Speaker 3: that leadoff spot just three eighty six I think, or
24:06
Speaker 3: three as on base percentage, getting him on base, opening
24:11
Speaker 3: up more RBIs for Brandon Lowe, Ryan O'Hearn, Brian Reynolds,
24:14
Speaker 3: more protection in this lineup for all of them, and
24:17
Speaker 3: getting all those guys back on track. I think bringing
24:20
Speaker 3: Spencer Horwartz back will seriously help with that. So my
24:23
Speaker 3: key of the week this week is whenever Spencer Horwitz
24:26
Speaker 3: does come back. I don't know if he'll rejoin for
24:28
Speaker 3: the Diamondback Series or join for the Mets series, but
24:32
Speaker 3: whenever the Payers getting back, I think that's going to
24:34
Speaker 3: be a massive, massive improvement. They've gone thirteen and eleven
24:39
Speaker 3: without him, but adding Spencer Horwartz to this team with
24:43
Speaker 3: a hot Esmerland Valdez. I mean Esmerland Valdez really wasn't
24:47
Speaker 3: even on this team doing what he was doing when
24:49
Speaker 3: Spencer Horwitz was on it. So pairing those two together,
24:53
Speaker 3: I'm just excited to see where this team goes when
24:55
Speaker 3: Spencer Horwitz comes back.
24:59
Speaker 4: Noah, have you heard any like insights?
25:02
Speaker 6: You know?
25:02
Speaker 4: Is he going to be back soon? Am I jumping
25:04
Speaker 4: the gun here with this?
25:05
Speaker 1: Or no? I you saw my facial reaction there. I
25:09
Speaker 1: thought I had forgot to get my laundry out of
25:11
Speaker 1: the dry or that, but no I did. We're all good.
25:15
Speaker 1: So back to baseball. Sorry to get that false alarm,
25:19
Speaker 1: but the real life problems right Theah, Yeah, you're just like,
25:23
Speaker 1: oh my god, did I just leave them?
25:24
Speaker 4: But I'm like, no, coming right, Yeah.
25:27
Speaker 1: He definitely is.
25:29
Speaker 2: I don't know the exact date, right, But to just
25:31
Speaker 2: build off of what you're saying, because I was listening
25:33
Speaker 2: to what you're saying, work, I wasn't just wandering off.
25:35
Speaker 1: The laundry thing just popped out ino my head for
25:37
Speaker 1: a second.
25:38
Speaker 2: The thing that they gained from him is just that
25:41
Speaker 2: length in the lineup right like mangum.
25:44
Speaker 1: I think he's done a fine job at the top
25:45
Speaker 1: of the order.
25:46
Speaker 2: He's been their primary lead off guy since Spencer's been out,
25:48
Speaker 2: well really after Spencer and Connor went out. They're just
25:52
Speaker 2: a better team when you have Mangum batting like seventh
25:55
Speaker 2: through ninth. Yeah, like exactly having a three hundred hitter,
26:00
Speaker 2: turn the lineup over with a switch hitter, a guy
26:02
Speaker 2: who can steal bases, and you know Mangum's approach he does.
26:06
Speaker 2: He's aggressive like Spencer is more patient. The OBP is
26:09
Speaker 2: a lot higher.
26:11
Speaker 1: I don't hate.
26:12
Speaker 2: Mangum at the top of the order because I mean,
26:13
Speaker 2: if you have a three hundred hitter, that's that's fine
26:15
Speaker 2: at the top of the order. But I mean Mangum
26:18
Speaker 2: chases a lot outside the zone pitches and he's a
26:20
Speaker 2: contact guy. I really like what he does at the
26:23
Speaker 2: bottom of the third's that's the type.
26:25
Speaker 1: That's the place when at full health.
26:28
Speaker 2: When you have him and Nick Gonzalez at the bottom third,
26:31
Speaker 2: where it's just like, all right, you guys go be savages,
26:34
Speaker 2: like you just watched the first two thirds of this lineup.
26:37
Speaker 2: Take a million pitches, work counts, get on base, take
26:41
Speaker 2: big aggressive swings. You two are contact hitters. It's gonna
26:46
Speaker 2: change the whole flow of the game. That makes this
26:49
Speaker 2: lineup so much more dangerous. So by getting Spencer back
26:52
Speaker 2: at the top, you're getting probably a more traditional look
26:55
Speaker 2: as a leadoff hitter, and it makes the team so
26:57
Speaker 2: much better. When you have Mangum down in the bottom,
27:00
Speaker 2: it's a long line up, it's so much harder to
27:02
Speaker 2: pitch against.
27:02
Speaker 1: Not to say that the guys at the bottom third.
27:04
Speaker 2: Haven't been doing well recently, because I feel like Triolo's
27:07
Speaker 2: kind of held his own as a more regular player,
27:10
Speaker 2: But overall, man, I mean getting Mangham back down there
27:13
Speaker 2: low and having Spencer at the top, that's good for
27:16
Speaker 2: this team.
27:18
Speaker 6: Yeah, I don't disagree. Before Spencer got hurt.
27:21
Speaker 5: Right when they moved him to that leadoff spot, I
27:23
Speaker 5: feel like he was just taking off.
27:26
Speaker 2: Yeah.
27:26
Speaker 6: It was almost like because I think he got.
27:28
Speaker 5: Off to a slow start to start the season, but
27:29
Speaker 5: it's like when he got moved to leadoff, it was
27:32
Speaker 5: almost like, not the identity of the team changed, but
27:35
Speaker 5: it was almost like, Okay, I think we found our
27:38
Speaker 5: guy to set the table for the rest of the squad,
27:41
Speaker 5: and it was just like, man, he's having great at bats.
27:43
Speaker 5: Not that you know, Mangum hasn't and you know when
27:47
Speaker 5: Connor was there, but like it was like Spence was
27:49
Speaker 5: settling into that leadoff spot to say, all right, y'all,
27:52
Speaker 5: I'm gonna set this table. I'm gonna let y'all know
27:54
Speaker 5: what he got, and it was just like then second
27:58
Speaker 5: time the line is about to come through, as you mentioned,
28:00
Speaker 5: you God, Nikki Gi or Mangam and they've down there
28:03
Speaker 5: and it's like, oh, now, Spence, one of your better hitters,
28:06
Speaker 5: you know, patient hitter, is now hitting with guys on base.
28:10
Speaker 5: And realistically, it's just something that, as you mentioned, having
28:13
Speaker 5: a long lineup makes it tough on the other team,
28:16
Speaker 5: not only the picture, but also defense because hey, long
28:20
Speaker 5: lineup means they are putting the ball in play, they're
28:23
Speaker 5: fighting pitches off, they are, man, that is tough. It's
28:27
Speaker 5: not just mentally grinding for the picture. It is for
28:30
Speaker 5: you know, defenders too, because you're out there trying to
28:32
Speaker 5: make it play like all right, man a, this lineup
28:35
Speaker 5: ain't not a joke with we we gotta hit cut off,
28:38
Speaker 5: we gotta if it's a double play, we gotta turn
28:40
Speaker 5: that unconventional one like it puts. It just makes it
28:43
Speaker 5: so much tough for on other team when you know
28:45
Speaker 5: there's not you know, many weeks by saying okay, and
28:49
Speaker 5: this dude might not be a power hitter, but this
28:50
Speaker 5: dude puts the ball in play as tough at bats.
28:52
Speaker 5: It's not just for the picture, that's also the defenders,
28:55
Speaker 5: because we know we got to get that out for
28:56
Speaker 5: our picture to be like, man, undeath that.
28:58
Speaker 6: Little you know, that annoying dude.
29:00
Speaker 5: I get called annoying a lot, like Dan do your
29:02
Speaker 5: bats and then really good at bats, but man, you're
29:05
Speaker 5: annoying because you know there's pitches that you think you
29:07
Speaker 5: got this guy out on any spoils if he fouls
29:09
Speaker 5: it off, and having a dude do that and then
29:12
Speaker 5: you got to pitch the spencer who's not gonna chase,
29:14
Speaker 5: it's like, all right, come on, man. And it's just
29:17
Speaker 5: one of those things where when you got an offense
29:19
Speaker 5: that's already good, it makes your offense that much better.
29:22
Speaker 5: And I thought Spence was really settling to his own
29:24
Speaker 5: before he got hurt.
29:27
Speaker 2: All right, Well, you know what we need people to
29:30
Speaker 2: settle into is hitting that subscribe button. If they haven't
29:34
Speaker 2: already settle in, stick around for a little bit and
29:37
Speaker 2: you can't do that until you hit that subscribe button.
29:40
Speaker 2: We need your help doing that. Also, check out our
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Speaker 2: team store, Bucco Territory Team Store. We've got a lot
29:45
Speaker 2: of good stuff on sale there. Wear it out to
29:47
Speaker 2: the ballpark. Gonna have a reason to wear Pirates stuff
29:49
Speaker 2: all the way through September, I think this year, folks.
29:51
Speaker 2: So some Bucco Territory gear will fill that void. Also
29:55
Speaker 2: check out our stuff at the Foul Territory Store.
29:58
Speaker 1: You're still promoting that as well. Ye, yes, here we
30:00
Speaker 1: are all right there we go. Yeah, all right, so
30:04
Speaker 1: we did that. Got the All Star shirts.
30:06
Speaker 3: Final thoughts, just shout out Ryan O'Hearn hitting rand slam
30:11
Speaker 3: on his birthday. That was awesome. I had so much fun.
30:14
Speaker 3: And also Sean Ross holy bomb four hundred and thirty
30:20
Speaker 3: eight foot home run into the second deck of left
30:23
Speaker 3: field and PNC for his first career major league hit
30:27
Speaker 3: one hundred and ten point six off the bat. His
30:30
Speaker 3: minor league sat cast page is hilarious. He doesn't really
30:34
Speaker 3: make too much contact, but when he does, lookout because
30:39
Speaker 3: it is hard, hard heard contact.
30:41
Speaker 4: So that was fun to watch. In his not his
30:43
Speaker 4: major league debut.
30:44
Speaker 3: He debuted Saturday, night in the blowout, he checked in.
30:48
Speaker 3: But second at bat, ever, Sean Ross comes in and
30:51
Speaker 3: just obliterates the baseball.
30:53
Speaker 4: So that was pretty fun to see. You have any
30:55
Speaker 4: final thoughts, Josh.
30:58
Speaker 6: Go take care of business.
31:01
Speaker 5: As you said, two important series here or an important
31:04
Speaker 5: series with Diamondbacks.
31:05
Speaker 6: Take care of this first game?
31:08
Speaker 4: Sweet all right? Well for oh there he is. Okay, wait, no, I.
31:13
Speaker 1: Had to grab something. I had to grab something.
31:15
Speaker 2: So my my final thought is Monday when this comes out,
31:19
Speaker 2: It's the biggest game of the year.
31:21
Speaker 1: It's the Wolf Game. Wolf Wolf Game is Monday.
31:26
Speaker 2: If you know, if you know, you know, If you don't,
31:30
Speaker 2: just go with it. It's the Wolf Game. It's Monday.
31:33
Speaker 2: It's here. It's the biggest game of the year. Regardless
31:36
Speaker 2: of what happens moving forward, always think about the Wolf Game.
31:40
Speaker 2: Always think about it. So four Josh Harrison and Platinum.
31:45
Speaker 1: Key aka Mark.
31:46
Speaker 2: I'm no ohile signing off saying thanks for tuning in
31:49
Speaker 2: to another episode of Bucko Territory, presented.
31:52
Speaker 1: To you by the Foul Territory Network. Oh take care.
32:00
Speaker 6: The date of
32:01
Speaker 8: The date and the lateral flo the con