Latest / Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast / Another series win, but Postseason hopes remain slim

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Another series win, but Postseason hopes remain slim · Bucco Territory: A Pittsburgh Pirates Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to another episode of Bucko Territory. I'm Mark, a.k.a.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Platinum Key. Joining me, as always, is my co-host, Josh Harrison, a.k.a.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Jay Hay. Coming to you on Sunday night here, Labor
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Day weekend. Coming off the Pirates winning yet another series,
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: this one against the Angels. It's their fourth series win
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: in a row. They've won six of their last seven,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: so starting to stack together some series wins. But still
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: five games out in the playoff race from that last
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: wildcard spot as every single team, including the Pirates in
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: the NL wildcard hunt, won tonight on Sunday. So didn't
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: make up any ground despite the win against the Angels.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: So we're going to get into that. We're also going
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: to preview the White Sox series, a franchise, a team
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: that my co-host over here, Josh, spent a year with
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: in 2022. Had a good year for the White Sox, too. Um, and, uh,
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: round out this week or this episode with my key
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: of the week. Uh, but first let's, uh, talk about
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: the angel series, Josh, uh, another series win, despite the
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: pirates only scoring three runs, the entire series, uh, pretty
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: hard to win a series like that. Uh, obviously if
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: you're winning that way, uh, two, one, nothing victories, uh,
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: with Jared Jones start and then Paul Skeen start. Um,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: so Josh, I want to throw it over to you. Uh,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: What do you like about this Angels series with the
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: pitching staff stepping up? And are you concerned at all
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: about the bats just not showing up? Or do you
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: think they'll be coming back alive here soon?
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: Name of the game is win. And as you mentioned,
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: they've won six of the last seven series. Yes, you
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: look at the Angels series and say, oh, we won
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: that series. And as you mentioned, only scoring three runs.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: That is the beauty of baseball sometimes. even when things
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: aren't going right offensively, sometimes you just need your pitchers
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: to keep you in it. And it doesn't seem like
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: the pirates have had too many of those opportunities this
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: year where everything is kind of, you know, falling where like,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: if one thing isn't going, the other is and vice versa.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: So it was nice to have a serious win against
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: a team that everybody considered a less weaker, you know,
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: a much weaker opponent, but, You know, it's a big
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: league team. And while you might have been looking to say, oh,
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: this is a team we should be looking to jump
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: up on, you know, winning games, winning nothing, no matter
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: how you win them, you got to win ballgames. That's
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: the name of the game. And they won another series.
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: Might not have been pretty, but definitely, you know, something
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: to kind of, you know, I don't want to say
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: raise your eyebrow, but you know that going into, you know,
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: the last, what, 20-something days or so.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: 18 games left, yeah.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: You can't really bank on trying to win too many
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: one nothing ball games. But if you end up winning
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: 18 in a row, one nothing, who's going to say anything?
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: But that's very hard to do. You're going to need
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: some offensive help. But as I mentioned, you know, it's
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: nice that, you know, pitching was able to, you know,
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: kind of dominate the series and, you know, pitched just
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: well enough to where, as my old manager Clint Hurdle says,
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: you just need to score one more run than the
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: other team. And that's what they did, was score one
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: more run than the other team.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was super nice. We came into the season saying,
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: this pitching staff, it might carry this team, this starting
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: pitching staff in particular. And we saw that this series. Obviously,
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: with the next three series against playoff teams, with the
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: White Sox, Cubs, and then the Brewers, Those teams are
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: going to be a lot harder to beat 1-0 than
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Angels. So this offense really, really needs
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: to find a way to start grooving here. But also
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: just as far as this Angels series go, it was
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: nice to see Connor Griffin back out there. Didn't pick
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: up a hit, but he got on base. And when
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: he did get on base, made quite the impact, looking
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: like a gazelle out there going from first all the
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: way to home. on a Brandon or a Jake Mangum double. Uh,
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: so just love seeing the energy that Connor brought. Um,
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: I felt like the vibe of PNC park was just
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: a little bit more, there's a little bit more confidence. It's,
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: it felt like coming through the broadcast. Um, you know,
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: there's people in like the rotunda with huge blankets with
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: Connor's face on them and like Connor's corner and kids
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: going up and getting all their autographs from him. And
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: it just felt like, like the pirates were back. Um,
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: and so it was nice to see them, you know,
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: come and pick up that one, nothing victory on that
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: run that he did score, uh, see that immediate impact,
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: have them like share a conversation with Mike Trout, uh,
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: before the game. I thought that was, that was pretty cool. Uh,
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: cause not many people, you know, have been in Connor
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: Griffin's position where you call up or you're, you're called
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: up as a teenager, uh, and asked to make an
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: impact right away. Um, So yeah, just really fun series there.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: And one last thing. So Paul Skeens got to pitch
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: against the Angels today, the team he grew up rooting for. Josh,
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: does that, as a ballplayer, obviously, you know, you got
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: a job to do, go out there. Paul was like,
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: I didn't really think about it until after the game,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: but pretty cool going out and, you know, pitching against
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: Mike Trout and the team he grew up rooting for.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: Did you ever have that feeling where, I guess, What'd
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: you grow up a fan of? Were you a Reds
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: fan growing up?
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: So I didn't grow up with the fan of a
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: favorite team. My uncle, John T. Bone, Shelby, when I
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: was growing up at the time, was coaching the Dodgers.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: So I was, you know, rooting for the Dodgers, not
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: from a standpoint of, oh, I'm bandwagoning. One, you know,
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: I had a tattoo of my uncle won a World
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: Series with the Dodgers. He's coaching the Dodgers. But more importantly,
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: I was under the impression, which obviously as I got
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: older and I played and I understood how things worked,
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: you know, I was under the impression that if the
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: Dodgers go to the playoffs, I'm going to the games.
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: I'm missing school, you know, you know what I mean?
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: So that's why I was rooting for him. But like
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: growing up, didn't have a favorite team, but obviously being
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: from Cincinnati might be a little different for a pitcher
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: and Paul could have just been blowing smoke too. Cause yeah,
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: You know, you might say that, but being from Cincinnati,
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: I know when I was here, it wasn't a matter
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: of me feeling like I had to play harder or
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: do anything more. You're just like, man, for me, I
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: was like I knew I had family in the stands.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: And I was like, hey, just do something cool. Not
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: that I was trying, but, you know, it's always one
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: of those things like if I'm going to have a
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: good game, let's do it at home. And, you know,
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: it's one of those things where if that's the team
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: you grew up rooting for, not saying that you got
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: an extra chip on your shoulder. Like you said, he
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: might not have thought about it until after, but, you know,
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: it sometimes can be a little sweet just to kind of,
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: you know, be like, oh, yeah, this is a team
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: I grew up rooting for.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the pinch me self moment. Yeah, you know, like, oh, I.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: Am a big leader. Yeah, one of those surreal moments.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: So I wouldn't say added motivation maybe for some guys,
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: but I think it's just more one of those things where,
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: You kind of acknowledge it, and then it's kind of cool.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: You're like, oh, dang, that actually happened. That's kind of cool,
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: you know? I love it.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: All right, well, we're going to take a quick break
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: to hear a word from our sponsors. But when we
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: get back, we'll preview the upcoming series against the White Sox.
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• 8:25
  Speaker 1: All right. Pirates are off on Monday when this episode releases,
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: but Tuesday they start a three-game series in the South
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: Side against the Chicago White Sox. And Josh, you asked
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: me before we started recording, you're like, are they facing
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: any left-handed pitchers? And luckily the Pirates, as things stand
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: right now, the projected starters for the White Sox are
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: three right-handed pitchers. So, you know, maybe this will be
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: an opportunity for the offense to get going again. the
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: white Sox, they're starting pitchers have the 26th worst era, uh,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: fifth worst, I should say era in major league baseball
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: this year. Uh, their bats, they hit a lot of homers, fifth,
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: most homers in major league baseball, but obviously that kind
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: of lines up with how the pirates are. Um, so Josh,
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: I want to ask you as a guy who spends
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: a year playing 81 games at guaranteed rate or close to,
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: I think you've got pretty much up there. Um, at
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: guaranteed rate field now rate field, uh, bring us a,
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: like what, what's it like hitting there? What, what can the, uh,
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: the batters expect stepping into the box there?
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: Um, definitely a fair park. Um, you know, a park
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: that when you go to that for, for them, it's a,
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: it's a good park to get back offensively. Um, not
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: anything that's really going to hinder you as a hitter,
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: where it's like, obviously you're in Chicago, Windy city, you
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: might have a little bit of wind, but in my opinion,
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: it's not as much wind factor as Wrigley. Um, But
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: a pretty cool place to hit. I think it's a
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: place where you can get on track offensively. And I
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: asked if they were facing lefties because lefties obviously have
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: been their kryptonite. And I know the White Sox are
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: in first place, I think, by two games. But winning
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: six of the last seven series very well could have
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: won the last seven if we go back to the
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: Dodgers series. And I'm looking at Just facing righties, this
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: is an opportunity to where, you know, you're not going
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: to be facing your kryptonite. You're going to be facing
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: some righties. Good ballpark to where, you know, you stay
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: with your approach. You make good contact. You're going to
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: be rewarded more times than not, which also goes to say,
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: you know, pitching also has to be, you know, up
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: to par. But, you know, I think it's a situation
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: where lately it almost seems like the Pirates have kind of,
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: you know, risen to the occasion as far as, you know,
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: what their opponent is and not saying plan to the
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: level of their opponent. But you mentioned what next nine
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: games against playoff. Yeah. So, so these are just as
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: important as the previous games, obviously, but these are moments
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: to where we talked about it in that series against
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: the Dodgers. You cannot make mistakes. You cannot make mental mistakes,
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: but it should be a good series for them to,
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: as I said, you're facing righties.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: Facing righties, get the offense going, and hopefully that gives
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: them good mojo in a place that, as I said,
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: is a good place to hit. And for them, hitting
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: can be contagious. So let's get them going.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: They need some contagious hitting right now.
• 11:34
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: And for the pitching side of things, we have Bubba
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: Chandler starting Tuesday, Jared Jones on Thursday. TBD currently listed
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: for Wednesday, so we'll see how TBD pitches. But my
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: guess is that's going to be Christian Curtis, maybe Lake
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: Bacher with an opener role. But I'm really hoping to
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: see Christian Curtis in that spot. He's looked really, really good.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: at the major league level. Um, I'd love to see
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: him get a start, you know, get an opportunity to
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: show off what you can do as a starter. We've
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: seen more come out of the pen lately. So would really,
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: really be a fun thing to circle on Wednesday to
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: see Christian Curtis come and make a start in Chicago. Um,
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: but yeah, that's, uh, that's about all I got for
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: the white sack series. Anything else for you, Josh?
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Um, obviously we hit on the pitching, you know,
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: staying where they are and good series for the offense
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: to get going. Also, from a standpoint, you know, Connor
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: got some games back under his belt, obviously going to
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: be a little rusty just jumping back in. But, you know,
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: as you mentioned, made his presence felt scoring from first.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: So looking to possibly say, you know, this is a series.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: Not only does the offense get going, you know, a
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: series to get, you know, Connor back into the flow
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: of things, because obviously you said he got on base.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: He was able to make some things happen and ride
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: that high, you know, got that off day on Monday.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: And then, you know, going to Chicago, good place to hit.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: So take a little bit of the added pressure off
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: to feel like you don't have to do too much.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: But as I said, might be a good little thing
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: just to get the offense going in with Connor getting
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: some games under his belt. You mentioned he didn't get
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: a hit, but, you know, he still made his presence felt. What,
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: played three games? Yeah.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: So barely been back. But at the same time, you know,
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: you get him going. The team itself, as you can tell,
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: is probably going to ride. you know, that wave. Cause
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: even though he didn't get ahead, his presence was felt
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: and you put that along with, you know, good pitching
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: and then, you know, timely hitting. It's going to be
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: interesting series. Yeah. Yeah.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: So, all right. Another quick word from our sponsors and
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: then my key of the week.
• 13:46
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  Speaker 5: all of them, at being alive for the postseason. So
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  Speaker 4: your team's either in the playoffs or the team they're
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  Speaker 4: playing has a chance in the playoffs. So all these
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  Speaker 4: games in September, you got to get on there, get
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• 14:54
  Speaker 1: All right, this week's Key of the Week segment is
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: going to highlight O'Neal Cruz and specifically his defense. We
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: talked all offseason coming into this year about how this
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: outfield defense might be a little suspect. And we saw
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: that the very first game against the Mets, obviously, on
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: national TV. But since he's come back from injury, O'Neal
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: Cruz has looked really, really great in center field. And
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: in particular, he showed off a couple of diving catches
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: in the outfield against the Angels this series. And especially
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: in Sunday's game, a game where they won 1-0. Not
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: only did he make a diving catch that completely robbed
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: a hit, but also just hit Brandon Lau for a
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: perfect cutoff throw to catch a runner at home and
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: save a run and keep the shutout. So O'Neal Cruz,
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: if he can play just even average defense and pair
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: that with the power that he has with his arm,
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: that that's a great, great weapon in center field. So
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: I just have loved the strides he's taken literally and
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: figuratively in center field lately. He's really starting to finally develop.
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: And again, this is a guy that really hasn't played,
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: you know, a whole bunch of time in center field.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: This is only his second season really. So finally seeing
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: him get acclimated, get adjusted, look comfortable, play with some confidence,
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: those diving catches, he could have, you know, just figured
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to get there, you know, back up,
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: allow the hit, um, but played aggressive and it worked
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: out for him. And I, I just, I love that
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: from O'Neill Cruz, um, left to see him build on
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: that going into 2027. Uh, cause if he can bring
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: great defense, that is just look out with his speed, his,
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: the power of his arm. And once he gets comfortable
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: out there, it, it could be really, really a strong
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: suit for him. Um, Josh, have you noticed the same
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: developments here? Do you think it's just a couple flashy plays?
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on O'Neal Cruz right now with
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: his defense?
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: I won't say flashy plays. Obviously, they look like flashy plays,
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: but that's showing his athleticism, things that he's able to
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: do that really can't be taught, but things that he'll
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: probably get a little bit more comfortable and confident, as
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: you say. Center field is a very important position. You
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: talk about center field shortstop. catcher right directly in the
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: middle um you know you got connor griffin back to
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: shore up your shortstop as you mentioned o'neill has already
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: come back and made his presence felt offensively so to
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: do what he's done defensively um is just going to
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: continue to make strides and that's ultimately what you want
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: to do especially on a team that we said defense
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: is going to be one of the weak spots um
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: as you're getting this team closer and closer to you
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: know full strength Um, it's nice to see your center
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: fielder who, as you mentioned, this is only his second
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: year there, you know, making plays that, you know, you
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: would look at somebody that's probably played the position, you know,
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: their whole career. And as I said, I don't think
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: it's just flashy plays because yes, it is flashy. But
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: I think as he continues to get more comfortable manning
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: center field and understanding who's to the right, left of him,
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: certain situations, getting good jumps, good reads and knowing this
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: or that, you're going to see more of that because
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: obviously you're His athleticism is through the roof, but you
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: can't just rely on that. The more reps he's getting,
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: the better he's getting. It's obviously shown with the plays
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: he's making. That's just him probably being more comfortable and
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: knowing what he can get to and which ones to
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: pull up on.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: If he can become a better defender... Just allowing him
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: to stay in games, not having to make that defensive
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: replacement in center field. Because we've seen the Pirates get
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: burned by those defensive replacements sometimes this year where you
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: have these guys in the lineup that bring a lot
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: of offensive power, and then you sub them out because
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: you have a lead. Your bullpen blows the lead, and
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: then all of a sudden, you don't have your best
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: bats in the lineup anymore. And we've seen that a
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: few times this year. And so going into 2027, if
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: you can just keep O'Neal Cruz out there and feel
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: confident about it, um, and not be a defensive liability, that,
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: that would be just a massive, massive jump. So shout
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: out to O'Neal Cruz for, uh, some stellar work this week, defensively, uh,
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: really impressed. Uh, and that, that was my, uh, my
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: key of the week.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: So, uh, I mean, definitely impressed, but, um, I'd be
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: even more impressed if you all hit that subscribe button, um,
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: you know, just click that link, follow, um, We're working
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: our way to 3,000 subs. I know we're inching there.
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: Continue to show us some support. Spread it. Tell your friends.
• 19:34
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• 19:39
  Speaker 2: you guys need to tune in to. Love it. Also,
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• 19:49
  Speaker 2: for all the support. Appreciate it.
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: Perfect.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: My final thought, Henry Davis picked up his first extra
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: base hit today. It was a clutch one. It's our
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: first extra base hit since the either trade deadline or
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: all-star break. It's been a minute either way.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: And big, big one. Uh, so love that from Henry.
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: One of these days, his bet is just going to
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: click again.
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: Um, I.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: I'm still a believer in Henry, but Hey, he still
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: brings quite a bit of value with his defense at
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: the very least. Uh, any final thoughts for you, Josh?
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: Timing was everything for, for that. Um, but yeah, no,
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: just going to say happy labor day, everybody. Um, just
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: the last thing I got really got nothing. Yeah.
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: I appreciate you guys spending your, a little bit of
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: your holiday with us. So, For Josh Harrison. Oh, and
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: shout out Noah, you know. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Being
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: a best man for his friends on a bachelor trip or, yeah,
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: bachelor party. So, yeah, what a guy, you know, just
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: bailing on his podcast to support one of his childhood
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: best friends, you know. Come on, Noah. But, yeah, shout
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: out to Noah. He'll be back for Wednesday's episode. So,
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: for Noah, for Josh, I'm Platinum Key signing off from
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: another episode of Bucket of Territory brought to you by
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: the Foul Territory Fowl Territory Network. There we go. Take care.
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: If you've made it this far, you'll love this next video.
• 21:12
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• 21:14
  Speaker 2: to Buckle Territory for more pirates coverage like this multiple
• 21:17
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