2K24: Pittsburgh Pirates

[pitbull]

A couple of deep league picks from the Pirates:

OF Anthony Alford is getting another look in the Pirates outfield after hitting .307/.420/.593 with 14 hr & 9 sb in 56 games at Triple-A. The 27 year-old Alford says that he made some adjustments to his swing after being demoted in early April. He went 3-4 with 2 2b, k, cs (pickoff) in his first game back. He can play all 3 OF spots, so he should see plenty of playing time down the stretch.

OF Hoy Park's first 5 MLB starts last week were at SS, CF, RF, LF, & SS. He is 8-21 (no hr or sb yet) for the Pirates so far after being obtained from the Yankees in the Clay Holmes trade. The 25 year-old Park, in the minors this year, has hit .288/.435/.500 with 11 hr & 11 sb in 61 games. He's been batting leadoff for the Pirates and could push light hitting SS Kevin Newman into a utility role. Or maybe Park becomes an everyday super utility type.

LHP Steven Brault made his 2021 debut after missing 4 months with a severe lat strain and gave up 1 er in 4 ip. He's probably only going to be a 5 inning guy for the next several starts. But, the best singer in baseball could be a sneaky pick for September if he can duplicate the mini-breakout that he had last September (2.92 era, 1.01 whip, 24 k's in 24.2 ip).

Good information. I picked up Park last week and got Alford last night. Do have insight on whose closing? I have Bednar and it looks like he should be the #1 guy but I'm not the manager.

[madducks]

Good information. I picked up Park last week and got Alford last night. Do have insight on whose closing? I have Bednar and it looks like he should be the #1 guy but I'm not the manager.

Everyone says that Bednar is the Pirates closer. After blowing his first save opportunity on July 31, the Pirates haven't had any save opportunities for him. He still looks like their best bullpen arm.

[rhd]

Kevin Newman tied a MLB record by hitting 4 2Bs in 1 game. It's been done over 50 times before but today is probably the 1st time it's been done in a 7-inning game. He also scored 4 R and had 2 RBI. Nice day in what's been a very miserable season.

[madducks]

Everyone says that Bednar is the Pirates closer. After blowing his first save opportunity on July 31, the Pirates haven't had any save opportunities for him. He still looks like their best bullpen arm.

On Saturday, Bednar finally got another save opportunity and converted for his first career save.

[pitbull]

On Saturday, Bednar finally got another save opportunity and converted for his first career save.

And I had him activated.

[Judge Jude]

first Pirates SV since July 23, RRodriguez - remember him?

I have owned Bednar and Soria during their team's respective month-long SV drought

#guh

[pitbull]

first Pirates SV since July 23, RRodriguez - remember him?

I have owned Bednar and Soria during their team's respective month-long SV drought

#guh

Only been a month. I'll pencil Bednar in for 1 more save.

[revo]

Pirates placed Polanco on outright waivers

[pitbull]

Hitting below .200 will do that. Alford will be activated tomorrow so some type of rotation between Gamel, Tsutsugo, Alford and maybe Park.

[madducks]

Pirates placed Polanco on outright waivers

What a disappointment he ended up being. Polanco hit .198 over his last 3 seasons in Pittsburgh. And he was healthy for the last two. The Pirates still have to pay him another $4 million to buy out his two option years. He turns 30 years old next month. I'm sure some team will take a chance on giving him a minor league deal for 2022.

[revo]

Hitting below .200 will do that. Alford will be activated tomorrow so some type of rotation between Gamel, Tsutsugo, Alford and maybe Park.

Apparently the Bucs will keep him on the roster if he goes unclaimed, and they are just doing this to "potentially have him play for a contender." What philanthropists! Also, but definitely secondary, they wouldn't really mind clearing $5.5m they would still owe him off the books either.

[madducks]

Apparently the Bucs will keep him on the roster if he goes unclaimed, and they are just doing this to "potentially have him play for a contender." What philanthropists! Also, but definitely secondary, they wouldn't really mind clearing $5.5m they would still owe him off the books either.

No team would be stupid enough to pay millions of dollars for a few weeks of a .198 hitter. They could just call up any Triple-A player to bat .198 for a few weeks.

[madducks]

And now after clearing waivers and starting a few more games, the Pirates made it official and released OF Gregory Polanco.

[rhd]

Yoshi Tsutsugo has been more or less great since coming to the Pirates. Hit another HR tonite. His stats before and after coming to Pittsburgh:

Pirates: .306/.394/.682, 8 HR, 21 RBI, 17 R in 85 AB
other MLB teams: .181/.291/.273, 8 HR, 31 RBI, 34 R in 260 AB

His Babip was very low before coming to Pittsburgh (.238) but has been around league avg since joining the Pirates (.304). He was a superstar in Japan. Before his recent success, it was speculated that he would return to Japan after this year. His success w the Pirates w the more normal Babip may indicate that he could be at least a somewhat productive MLB player going forward. He's left-handed so he'd get the lion's share of a platoon. However, so far he has reverse splits in MLB: .256 vs. LHers but .192 vs. RHers.

[madducks]

Shortstop Oneil Cruz gets the extremely late season call up as the Pirates make a desperate attempt to salvage fan interest for 2022. Cruz hit .310/.375/.594 with 17 home runs and 19 stolen bases across 302 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A this season. Even if he goes 10 for 10 with 5 homers in these final 2 games, he'll still "need" another half season in AAA next year to work on his bunting.