2K24: Pittsburgh Pirates

[madducks]

Mitch Keller finishes the season with 11 hitless innings. The 24-year-old right-hander is the first NL pitcher with back-to-back no-hit outings of at least five innings since Johnny Vander Meer’s back-to-back no-hitters in 1938.

Keller though, may have to work a little on that 0.88 (16/18) K/BB ratio.

[madducks]

With the Rangers win on Saturday, the Pirates received their 2020 participation trophy, also known as the first overall pick in the 2021 MLB draft.

[madducks]

Not to be greedy (ok i am), but if next season is canceled, does that mean they would also get the 2022 first pick?

[ShawnRobinson]

With the Rangers win on Saturday, the Pirates received their 2020 participation trophy, also known as the first overall pick in the 2021 MLB draft.

Who do you think they go with? Under new management it’s hard to gauge. Will they go with Rocker? Would instantly be a fan favorite. Or maybe Fabian that might have more upside?

[rhd]

I clicked on thread thinking that the recent posts would be about Ke'Bryan Hayes but I dont see anything about him anywhere. He looks like one very bright spot in an otherwise generally forlorn franchise. He line currently is .370/.433/.654, 81 AB, 30 H, 16 R, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 1 SB. In this short season which he's played only about half of, he's compiled a 1.6 bWAR, which would be solid average for an entire season. Also, in a small sample his defensive metrics are also above average.

[ShawnRobinson]

I clicked on thread thinking that the recent posts would be about Ke'Bryan Hayes but I dont see anything about him anywhere. He looks like one very bright spot in an otherwise generally forlorn franchise. He line currently is .370/.433/.654, 81 AB, 30 H, 16 R, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 1 SB. In this short season which he's played only about half of, he's compiled a 1.6 bWAR, which would be solid average for an entire season. Also, in a small sample his defensive metrics are also above average.

I think that’s the problem - one player won’t save this team. Now he is fun to watch and seems like a good dude but I feel like the team is filled with good dudes. Just not good baseball players. Like Archer - extreme class act. Really good with the community but probably won’t be a solid MLB player again. But as a life long fan I would love to be wrong!

[madducks]

I think that’s the problem - one player won’t save this team. Now he is fun to watch and seems like a good dude but I feel like the team is filled with good dudes. Just not good baseball players. Like Archer - extreme class act. Really good with the community but probably won’t be a solid MLB player again. But as a life long fan I would love to be wrong!

Yeah, Hayes went 5-5 with 3 doubles on Saturday, but didn't get any RBIs. You have to be hitting in a really bad lineup to pull that off.

BTW, Hayes just homered in today's game. Solo home run, of course.

[madducks]

Looks like Colin Moran gets the first base job now that Josh Bell has been traded.

[joncarlos]

2B Adam Frazier
3B Ke'Bryan Hayes
1B Colin Moran
LF Bryan Reynolds
RF Gregory Polanco
CF Anthony Alford
C Jacob Stallings
SS Erik Gonzalez

Somewhere in the mix: Kevin Newman (a 1st round pick in 2015, probably will play a lot of 2B ) and Cole Tucker (1st round pick in 2014, probably will play OF and a little bit of infield) and Jared Oliva (think a younger version of Jarrod Dyson). Maybe Will Craig (1st round pick in 2016) gets some time at 1B/3B. Maybe Nick Gonzalez (1st round pick in 2020 and a legit good prospect) forces his way into the discussion at 2B before the end of the season.

Rotation:
Mitch Keller (should be a huge sleeper)
Steven Brault (a pretty good singer)
Chad Kuhl ("Kuhl Story, Brault" is a great fantasy team name even if Brault is prounounced Broh-lt and not Breaux)
JT Brubaker

Right now Wil Crowe (acquired in the Musgrove deal) is slotted in as their #5.

Bullpen
Richard Rodriguez
Kyle Crick
Michael Feliz
Chris Stratton? Sam Howard?

[swampdragon]

Are any of these hitters top ten (or potential top ten) in their position? top 15? for the upcoming year

[Ken]

Are any of these hitters top ten (or potential top ten) in their position? top 15? for the upcoming year

Hayes is probably fringe top 15 on potential.

[joncarlos]

Are any of these hitters top ten (or potential top ten) in their position? top 15? for the upcoming year

Reynolds maybe top 45 in the outfield... Hayes definitely could be at 3B... that's about it. Polanco was hitting the ball hard and missing like crazy in 2020 and should be recovered from his off-season broken wrist, but as a low-ish AVG, injury prone power source, I doubt he can be top 50 even if he does well.

[Gregg]

Are any of these hitters top ten (or potential top ten) in their position? top 15? for the upcoming year

Nope.

[revo]

I'm reviewing the Pirates in my analysis today, and it struck me -- how can a team that constantly dumps be so completely devoid of talent across the board?

No hitting. No starting pitching. No bullpen. Few MLB ready prospects. Hardly any MLB top prospects.

If there's one thing they have a lot of, it's stink. They all stink (except for a very tiny handful of players). Sad!

[ThatRogue]

I'm reviewing the Pirates in my analysis today, and it struck me -- how can a team that constantly dumps be so completely devoid of talent across the board?

No hitting. No starting pitching. No bullpen. Few MLB ready prospects. Hardly any MLB top prospects.

If there's one thing they have a lot of, it's stink. They all stink (except for a very tiny handful of players). Sad!

When they "went for it", they traded away Meadows, Glasnow and Baz for Chris Archer. Had they not traded those three, perhaps they keep Musgrove, Bell and Taillon this offseason. And they had Starling Marte on an affordable contract. That represents a nice collection of home grown talent graduating to the majors (well, Musgrove was really Cole, but they couldn't reasonably have kept and resigned him, could they?).

The front of the rotation could have been Glasnow, Musgrove and Taillon. The OF could be Marte, Meadows and Polanco, with Reynolds as the 4th OF. They could have had Bell and Hayes at the corners. That's the foundation of a very solid team.