Where Things Stand
Happy Hump Day, everyone. The Pirates dropped game two against the Brewers last night 7-3. Andre Jackson got the start and looked really good his first time through the order. Things kind of went downhill for him after that and he ended up allowing six earned runs in 4.1 innings of work. That ended up being the difference in the game. Woodruff looked pretty sharp for the Brewers and pretty much shut the Bucs bats down for seven innings. It was looking like it would be a shutout, but Connor Joe hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. It just wasn’t the Pirates’ night. I’ll let Doug and DiNardo give you that hard-hitting analysis that I know that you’re all craving.
Up Next
The rubber match of the series will be today at 12:35 P.M. EDT. The Brewers will look to Freddy Peralta as their starter. Right now the MLB website still has the Pirates starting pitcher listed as TBD, but Justice delos Santos is reporting that Colin Selby will be getting the start. This would’ve been Mitch Keller’s spot in the rotation, so they appear to be trying to get him an extra couple of days of rest with Thursday being a day off for the Pirates. I’m not sure if they plan to make it a full bullpen game or if Falter will come in after Selby opens the game. Falter just pitched on Saturday but only went 3.2 innings and only threw 43 pitches. Peralta has been really good lately. In his last seven games, he is 5-0 with a 1.71 ERA. The last time the Bucs faced Peralta was on June 30th and they managed to score three runs on him in 5.1 innings pitched in a game that they won 8-7 in Pittsburgh. In 9 career at-bats against Peralta, Andrew McCutchen is batting .556 with a home run. Reynolds is hitting .455 with a home run in 22 at-bats against him. If Cutch’s injury in the first game of the series really is nothing, I would expect to see him back in the lineup today with his success against Peralta. Well, can the Bucs get the series win today? Let me know what you think in the comments.
Quick Hits
The Chicago White Sox have claimed Yohan Ramirez off of waivers from the Pirates.
The Pirates designated Ramirez and Cal Mitchell for assignment on Friday to make room for Miguel Andujar and Max Kranick. Pittsburgh picked up the right-hander from the Cleveland Guardians for cash considerations last summer.
Ramirez initially inked a deal with the Houston Astros during the 2016 international signing period. He ended up with the Seattle Mariners as a Rule 5 Draft pick in 2019. Seattle traded him to Cleveland for cash and a player to be named later.
The 28-year-old pitched well at times for the Pirates after beginning the year with their Triple-A affiliate. Ramirez recorded a 1.25 ERA over his first 16 appearances with 21 punchouts in 21.2 innings. The Dominican reliever had three stints in the big leagues this year and eventually ran out of minor-league options.
He performed better with Pittsburg's big-league club before being waived. In 26 MLB relief appearances, he compiled a 3.67 ERA in with 31 strikeouts and 14 walks in 34.1 innings.
The Pirates have shut down their number one pick Paul Skenes for the season. Skenes has already pitched a full college baseball season this summer and accumulated 122.2 innings during that time. His workload is already fairly heavy this year, so I really don’t think that this is a bad thing. I know that this organization hasn’t given fans any reason to trust them with their handling of prospects, so I do understand why some folks are frustrated over this. I just don’t know that it’s really that bad of a thing, honestly.
Regarding the move, the club released the following statement from general manager Ben Cherington:
"We're excited and encouraged by the positive things Paul has been able to accomplish in his short time in the Pirates organization. He's checked all of the boxes we aimed for him to check during the 2023 season.
"The goal now is to focus on a complete off-season in preparation for his first full professional year in 2024."
As the name implies, the development list for minor-leaguers is designed to aid the player's skills growth. It is almost always not a repository for injured players. Given Skenes' substantial workloads during his junior season at LSU earlier this year, the move is probably on some level about limiting his high-stress pitches in his first professional season. As well, players on the development list can work on specific facets of their game without having to do so in a competitive setting and without compromising the roster flexibility of their team
Derek Shelton has said that he expects hitting coach Andy Haines and pitching coach Oscar Marin to both return next season.
In an interview with 93.7 The Fan on Tuesday, Shelton confirmed that hitting coach Andy Haines will return to the team for a third season, and he expects pitching coach Oscar Marin to come back as well.
This was not the news Pirates fans had hoped for... at least regarding the Haines part.
Since taking over in November 2021, the Pirates have been one of MLB’s worst offensive teams, finishing 29th in cumulative batting average in 2022 (.222) and coming in tied for 25th this year (.236) as of Sept. 5.
The Pirates also tallied the second-most strikeouts last year (1,497), falling one shy of tying the Atlanta Braves for most in the National League. Meanwhile, they sit 10th across all MLB and 5th in the NL with 1,216.
Keep in mind, though, he hasn’t been given much talent to work with aside from a few players this season.
Alright. That wraps us up for today. We’ll be back here again tomorrow looking back at the Brewers series. As always, #LetsGoBucs!