2016 Pirates

[Darkstone42]

Love the Freese signing. He's a fringe starter, but he'll be a bench bat for us. It'll really help while Kang is recovering, and while he's getting into game shape and maybe can't play every day.

Also, since I suggested the Bucs should look at him some posts ago, I'll just go ahead and let you all know I'm actually NH, and I've just been messing with you guys on this board.

 

[damien232307]

Horrible signing of Freese. He was very well known as a partier and had a problem with an illegal substance here in St Louis. He was a popular figure at an all hours night club called Pops and the strip joints and hung out with known drug dealers. It was actually those issues that led to his decline in productivity. Not a good teammate either. Not a Pirates kind of player.

 

[stillmatic32]

Horrible signing of Freese. He was very well known as a partier and had a problem with an illegal substance here in St Louis. He was a popular figure at an all hours night club called Pops and the strip joints and hung out with known drug dealers. It was actually those issues that led to his decline in productivity. Not a good teammate either. Not a Pirates kind of player.

Interesting. Had no idea. Maybe that's why he's been so up and down.

 

[Darkstone42]

Or his down year could have been due to his well-documented back injury.

 

[Darkstone42]

Nicasio continues to shut teams down, four more scoreless innings today. I don't think it's unreasonable for him to beat out RV for that fifth rotation spot.

 

[damien232307]

Or his down year could have been due to his well-documented back injury.

I could tell you some stories about Mr Freese. Big time character issues. He went downhill the last two seasons in St Louis because he was out literally every night. He drank like a fish and although I never saw him use any drugs the rumors were widespread. I lived within 10 miles of the nightclub and strip clubs he visited. The late nights actually started in the World Series year but became routine after they won in 2011.

 

[Darkstone42]

I could tell you some stories about Mr Freese. Big time character issues. He went downhill the last two seasons in St Louis because he was out literally every night. He drank like a fish and although I never saw him use any drugs the rumors were widespread. I lived within 10 miles of the nightclub and strip clubs he visited. The late nights actually started in the World Series year but became routine after they won in 2011.

His last year in St. Louis, he suffered from back problems, but 2012 (his second to last year) was the best year of his career. Since then, his offensive profile has been roughly the same, except that more recently his BABIP has been more consistent with a player without a lot of speed.

If he doesn't do terrible things to anyone, I don't care how often he drinks or goes to clubs. But even if he is a horrible person, that's not the reason his 2013 was a down year. His 2013 was a down year because the back trouble affected his defense and power, and his BABIP stopped being .370, the latter of which is an expected result for anyone.

 

[Darkstone42]

So I've been playing with a few ideas regarding the lineup lately. I am convinced batting Cutch second is the best move. I'm convinced Kang will be the cleanup hitter. The rest I'm a bit shaky on, but I'm leaning toward:

Polanco
McCutchen
Marte
Kang
Jaso/Morse
Harrison
Cervelli
pitcher
Mercer

Cervelli's a better hitter than Harrison, but the gap might be small enough that Harrison's baserunning makes it worthwhile to hit him in front of a high contact guy with gap power like Cervelli. With Cutch batting second, having a non-pitcher two spots ahead of him matters a little more, so I flipped Mercer and the pitcher. I toyed with Jaso batting third, but Morse wouldn't fit in that spot as well, and I think there's value in letting guys hit in the same spot every day. Plus, more pop might be more valuable at 3, while a higher OBP skill might be more valuable at 5.

Jaso leading off also intrigues me, given his on-base skill, but I think Polanco will be good enough at getting on base this year that his speed will make any difference a wash. Plus, Morse cannot lead off, so this allows them to have roughly the same lineup against righties and lefties aside from the platoon.

 

[stillmatic32]

So I've been playing with a few ideas regarding the lineup lately. I am convinced batting Cutch second is the best move. I'm convinced Kang will be the cleanup hitter. The rest I'm a bit shaky on, but I'm leaning toward:

Polanco
McCutchen
Marte
Kang
Jaso/Morse
Harrison
Cervelli
pitcher
Mercer

Cervelli's a better hitter than Harrison, but the gap might be small enough that Harrison's baserunning makes it worthwhile to hit him in front of a high contact guy with gap power like Cervelli. With Cutch batting second, having a non-pitcher two spots ahead of him matters a little more, so I flipped Mercer and the pitcher. I toyed with Jaso batting third, but Morse wouldn't fit in that spot as well, and I think there's value in letting guys hit in the same spot every day. Plus, more pop might be more valuable at 3, while a higher OBP skill might be more valuable at 5.

Jaso leading off also intrigues me, given his on-base skill, but I think Polanco will be good enough at getting on base this year that his speed will make any difference a wash. Plus, Morse cannot lead off, so this allows them to have roughly the same lineup against righties and lefties aside from the platoon.

I like your lineup. You think they will put Polanco leadoff vs lefties? There's no other clear cut option, so perhaps.

 

[HammerDown]

I really wish the ole Padres could have kept him.

 

[Darkstone42]

Joyce is really trying to force his way onto the opening day roster, and given the lack of bench lefties, I think he'll be there. Lots of walks and showing his pop, he might have found a bit of his old form.

 

[HammerDown]

I hope he does good for you. Real decent dude.

 

[old1r1sh]

So I've been playing with a few ideas regarding the lineup lately. I am convinced batting Cutch second is the best move. I'm convinced Kang will be the cleanup hitter. The rest I'm a bit shaky on, but I'm leaning toward:

Polanco
McCutchen
Marte
Kang
Jaso/Morse
Harrison
Cervelli
pitcher
Mercer

Cervelli's a better hitter than Harrison, but the gap might be small enough that Harrison's baserunning makes it worthwhile to hit him in front of a high contact guy with gap power like Cervelli. With Cutch batting second, having a non-pitcher two spots ahead of him matters a little more, so I flipped Mercer and the pitcher. I toyed with Jaso batting third, but Morse wouldn't fit in that spot as well, and I think there's value in letting guys hit in the same spot every day. Plus, more pop might be more valuable at 3, while a higher OBP skill might be more valuable at 5.

Jaso leading off also intrigues me, given his on-base skill, but I think Polanco will be good enough at getting on base this year that his speed will make any difference a wash. Plus, Morse cannot lead off, so this allows them to have roughly the same lineup against righties and lefties aside from the platoon.

Idk why but batting Cutch 2nd seems weird to me. Why would it make more sense to hit him 2nd then move the pitcher to 8th to have 2 non pitchers batting in front of him rather than just batting him 3rd? It seems like having him at 3rd makes the most sense if you want two non-pitcher batters in front of him in the lineup.

 

[Etrius24]

I liked the Freese signing... It gives the bucs time... Time for Kang to heal.... Time for Bell and Hanson to hit a little this spring in AAA... Honestly there were serious questions around the infield with the injury to Kang and the departure of Alvarez and Walker...

No he is not going to win a silver slugger... but he can get on base 34 or 35% of the time ( if healthy ) He can play a couple of positions well... He was cheap!!!! Not a bad signing at all. If Kang makes a 100% recovery he becomes a great utility player for us to have on the bench. It is worth noting that the Pirates did not have to commit to him long term with a multi year contract either...

 

[steelparrot]

Pittsburgh Pirates Top 20 prospects for 2016

John Sickles prospect list. Also, he has Glasnow as the number 2 prospect in baseball. He can really change our rotation when the 'super-2' deadline is in the rear view mirror.

 

[stillmatic32]

Has there ever been a reliever with more underwhelming stuff than Lobstein?

 

[Darkstone42]

Has there ever been a reliever with more underwhelming stuff than Lobstein?

Fortunately, it whelmed the Cardinals enough.

 

[psaboy]

Question, Y'all know more than I do on this. Why did Cole not start second game. I figured he was #2 man?

He hurt?

 

[thedddd]

Question, Y'all know more than I do on this. Why did Cole not start second game. I figured he was #2 man?

He hurt?

I think it had to do with timing of his final ST start. I think they wanted the additional ST start due to his late start with the rib injury.

 

[thedddd]

Has there ever been a reliever with more underwhelming stuff than Lobstein?

He doesn't worry me as much as Luebke does. He looks like he is pitching BP to me.