2K24: Pittsburgh Pirates

[madducks]

He has 93 Ks in 74 IP, on pace for 279, with an 11.2 K/9.

Last year he had 138 Ks in 159 IP, a 7.8 K/9.

Mitch Keller added a cutter to his pitch repertoire this year. It seems to have made a real difference.

[madducks]

Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Vince Velasquez has undergone season-ending right elbow surgery. See you in 2024. Maybe.

[madducks]

Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports the Pirates are promoting top prospect Henry Davis for Monday's series opener against the Cubs.

Davis was the first-overall selection in the 2021 MLB Draft and will make his highly-anticipated debut on Monday at PNC Park. The 23-year-old backstop has batted .284/.433/.541 with 11 homers and 9 stolen bases across 232 plate appearances this season between Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis.

[rhd]

If I were a Pirates fan rt now, I would be saying "Don't pinch me, I don't want to wake up!".

Inevitably, Pirates fans were awakened from their beautiful dream where the Pirates were in first place and had one of the best records in MLB. On 4/29, they were 20-8 and in 1st place. Since then, they have gone 20-39 and are in 4th place in the sub-par NL Central. As late as 6/11, they were above .500 at 34-30 and still in 1st place. They've gone 6-17 since.

[madducks]

What really killed the Pirates was the 10-game losing streak in June. To make matters worse, nine of those losses were to division opponents Chicago and Milwaukee.

I can't figure this team out. Last month they almost got swept by a historically bad Oakland team, salvaging one late-inning comeback win in that series. Then immediately after losing 12 of 13 games, they swept a really good San Diego team. In late April they won 11 of 12. Then they followed it up by losing 11 of 12 in early May.

Even when the Pirates were in first place in April, I wasn't buying it. I thought the early schedule was easy and they had yet to play Milwaukee, who I considered to be the division favorite. The Pirates also lucked out playing two series against Cincinnati (winning 5 of 7) in April before the Reds called up their big prospects. The Reds are going to pose a serious challenge to the Brewers now.

It's possible that McCutchen, Santana, Hill, and Bednar all get dealt at the trade deadline. Those first three guys could probably be had for any team's number 30 prospect. Bednar could probably be had for a pair of any team's top 20 prospects or one top 10 prospect.. It looks like Reynolds will stay now that he is signed for 7 years.

I'm going to predict a 74-88 finish for the Pirates which is an improvement over their previous two 100-loss seasons. But, there is still a long way to go before they are contenders.

[madducks]

[madducks]

Paul Skenes (and Dylan Crews) analysis by CBS Sports:

[madducks]

MLB Network on Skenes:

[madducks]

Skenes can hit too as evidenced by his .367/.453/.669 line along with 24 HR & 81 RBI in 341 at bats during his first two college seasons at Air Force. He focused on pitching and didn't bat during his one season at LSU.

https://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=37986803

[madducks]

Skenes has already thrown 122 innings this year. So, I'm thinking he only gets a few 5 inning starts in the minors this season. It will be interesting to see what level of the minors he starts out at and whether the Pirates let him get any at bats.

[rhd]

Skenes has already thrown 122 innings this year. So, I'm thinking he only gets a few 5 inning starts in the minors this season. It will be interesting to see what level of the minors he starts out at and whether the Pirates let him get any at bats.

I seriously doubt they let him hit, unless he makes it a point of it affecting whether he signs or not, which I also seriously doubt.

[madducks]

The Pirates are calling up top prospect Endy Rodríguez from Triple-A Indianapolis on Monday.

[rhd]

The Pirates are calling up top prospect Endy Rodríguez from Triple-A Indianapolis on Monday.

And they're calling up Quinn Priester to start tonite's game.

[Sour Masher]

They called up Liover Peguero too. Gotta love their willingness to see what the kids can do.

[madducks]

The Pirates signed first overall pick Paul Skenes for a record-breaking $9.2 million signing bonus. Skenes will begin his professional career in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League.