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Bill Brink's Pirates chat: 5.2.18
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Bill Brink
12:02
Hello and welcome to today's Pirates chat. Thanks for the questions, and keep them coming. Here we go ...
Frederick Warren
12:02
Early last spring, McCutchen was struggling mightily, as is his custom.  Clint moved him down in the line-up, from 3rd to 6th, and Cutch improved, and dramatically so.  Importantly, Cutch was a veteran and an established producer in the past.  I feel this same tact might help the struggling Gregory Polanco.  However, he is not as seasoned and has yet to establish himself.  I wonder how this move may affect both Polanco and the rest of the lineup.  Dickerson is having a nice season, and is a logical #2 hitter, but he is producing nicely in his place.  I don’t see another candidate to move to #2 in the lineup.  What are your thoughts?
Bill Brink
12:04
I agree with you that it's different because of McCutchen's pedigree. I think it's important to note that Hurdle did that near the end of May, when he could dismiss the smaller sample size of one month and treat McCutchen's performance as the bad hitting that it was. I think we could see something similar, and it might not take as long.
Bucc'nutz
12:04
With Brault moved to the pen, Kuhl continuing to struggle and Polanco showing no signs of climbing above the Mendoza line, what moves need to be made to address these problems?  Call up Meadows, add a starter?
Bill Brink
12:04
Adding a starter seems more likely, but I don't think they'll do that before Musgrove comes back at the end of the month. I know Meadows is raking in the past week or two but I don't see him coming up to replace Polanco in the lineup.
Stu
12:05
I was at last night's PIRATES game, sitting in the first-row behind the dugout. The inning prior to Diaz coming into catch, there was a pitch in the dirt that Cervelli initially couldn't locate; HURDLE and CORA immediately started screaming the balls location to Cervelli, who appeared to not really care where the ball was, and made no effort to recover the ball while a baserunner advanced to second.  My thought was Hurdle relieved him for giving-up on the play. What have you heard regarding why Diaz entered the game?
Bill Brink
12:06
I remember the play; it looked to us like he couldn't find it, and by the time he did, Rodriguez was on his way. Cervelli is not a guy who doesn't care about stuff like that (although the body language was what it was) and I'd be surprised if that's why Diaz came in rather than the fact that it was a blowout.
gary@northernVirginia
12:06
Bill....The possibility of KIngham really producing is exciting, but with the ineffectiveness and inconsistency of Brault and Kuhl, isn't another SP still a big need?
Bill Brink
12:07
It's looking like it might be. Taillon (despite recent struggles, he'll be fine), Nova and Williams are solid, Kuhl is up and down and Kingham is an unknown. He pitched great in his first start, obviously, and looked comfortable at this level, but I don't think the Pirates can put any expectations on him. I do think they'll wait to see what Musgrove can give them, though.
PhillyJake
12:07
Dickerson ‘18 > Cutch ‘17. This is why team has winning record today and didn’t have winning record this time last year. Discuss.
Bill Brink
12:08
It's not the entire reason, but it's a big part of it. Dickerson has started strong, like he did last year in Tampa, and McCutchen last year started poorly. The first week from Polanco helped, Moran has helped, and a big part of it is what Cervelli has been able to provide, but the addition of Dickerson has a big impact.
Retire21
12:09
Two Jung Ho ?s.  (1) If he comes back, third base looks a little crowded with Moran and Freese. Does he go to SS or can he play 2B? (2) Fans and media moralizing on his past, isn't it a double standard when, speaking of Freese, you look at his wiki page?
Bill Brink
12:10
Kang has played all over the infield in his baseball career, but given the fact that he's been away from the game for so long, they're going to start working him at third base before moving him around. If he makes it back -- and as Huntington said, there's an "if" attached there -- he'll probably work in with Moran at third, pinch-hit, etc. As for Kang's DUIs, I'm aware of Freese's history, but it's not my place to tell the fans how to feel.
PhillyJake
12:11
What's the teams record since JHay went down?
Bill Brink
12:11
6-9
Stu
12:12
Bill we've heard a lot about Glasnow adding a slider to his arsenal. He didn't throw a single one last night (according to the scoreboard). Your thoughts?
Bill Brink
12:13
Interesting, huh? Statcast had him at one, out of 35 pitches. He seemed so excited about it after his previous outing, which was his best of the year, and it looked pretty good then, when he threw six. Maybe he didn't have it in the bullpen. It didn't look like he had his best command of any pitches last night.
Hippo
12:14
Glasnow has given up a run in most of his appearances. His era is now 7.71. He should not be in the bullpen. He has never put it together and please dont mention his last outing. We need consistency and he isn't it. Do you think he should be sent down?
Bill Brink
12:15
Neither I nor the Pirates have a good answer for what to do with Glasnow, because he's shown the minors don't provide the necessary challenge for him. Last year when he went down after struggling, he got guys out in ways that would have gotten major leaguers out, rather than just out-stuffing triple-A guys. And as much as you don't want me to mention his last outing (before last night), I will, because it happened, and it showed that he can be effective. But you're right, they need more consistency and he isn't giving it to them.
Hippo
12:16
Question got cut off. Polanco is hitting .145 since those 2 HR's on April 12. I think 9 for 63. He is not helping the team at all. Why at the very least doesnt Hurdle move him to 7th in the lineup and or bench him for awhile and bring up .360 hitting Osuna. It can't get any worse Bill.
Bill Brink
12:17
The .178 batting average on balls in play during that stretch is troubling, because it indicates he's getting some bad luck but also that he's not hitting balls hard. 16 Ks to two walks isn't good either. I think he might drop down in the order, but I don't see Osuna, who had a .269 OBP in 227 plate appearances last year in the majors and isn't as good of an outfielder as Polanco,  supplanting him just yet.
Hippo
12:18
Moran's defense is not good. Is he an option to be replaced when Kang gets called back here?
Bill Brink
12:19
I'd be hesitant to see the two errors last night and surmise that he's not a good defender. The metrics have him around average to slightly below; from an eye test perspective, I've been impressed with his hands, feet and arm, especially for a guy as tall as he is.
Stu
12:19
Bill, is there a website where us average fans can search individual game/player StatCAST data?
Bill Brink
12:20
Indeed there is: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/, home of the Statcast tool. It takes a little messing around with to get the hang of it because of the sheer volume of things you can do, but it's great. The Statcast search function is a good place to start.
Hippo
12:20
When is it time for Jose Osuna to get called up and stay up. The fact that he comes up for 1 game, goes 2 for 4 with 3 RBI's and a HR gets sent down is criminal. And there is room for him, you make room for a guy who is tearing it up in Indy and contributed here for that game.
Bill Brink
12:22
I think the argument to call him up is the .397 OBP and .625 slugging in Indy rather than the one-game performance in the doubleheader. The question becomes where do you play him. Right now the only logical spot is right field and I don't think they're at a point (I know Polanco is really struggling) to bench Polanco. He's healthy and they're going to let him try to correct himsefl.
OHIO412FAN
12:22
Bill, besides Kingham, what other prospects do you see potentially getting the nod to come to Pittsburgh?
Bill Brink
12:23
I could see Newman coming up at some point. Maybe Meadows in case of an injury to an outfielder, or maybe as a September call-up.
Hippo
12:25
Bill sure weather is a factor but I read the Pirates so far have the 2nd lowest attendance in the majors. Some of the games look downright empty. Do you think the fans are sending ownership and mgmt a message finally? Do you think Nutting and Coonelly care and will receive that message and spend more?
Bill Brink
12:27
I heard from a lot of fans during the winter saying they'd stop coming so as to send that very message, and the free agent-less offseason only reinforced that. Sure, weather hasn't helped. I know Coonelly has heard the message because he spoke with Liz Bloom about it at the start of the season, and said he and Huntington met with season-ticket holders to discuss the team's plan. As for Nutting, I don't know.
OHIO412FAN
12:27
Can you give me an update on Josh Harrison, how is he doing with his finger? How close is he to getting back?
Bill Brink
12:29
We'll know more today when talk to the trainer, but I spoke with him at home before the road trip and he said he was doing well two weeks out from the injury. He's fielding balls rolled slowly to him with a big padded mitt thing, and he's allowed to take his brace off from time to time. This is one of those things where you can't rehab the hell out of it and beat the timetable; the bone's gotta heal. Still looking at beginning of July as a reasonable return.
Hippo
12:29
Would you assign some blame to the hitting coach for the struggles of some of our guys? Bell isn't playing well, obv Polanco isnt, Frazier isn't, most of our bench isn't. Sure the first week there were lots of hits and runs but not anymore.
Bill Brink
12:31
Bell certainly is not a hitting coach issue, and any blame given because of Polanco would have to counteract the praise for how he started. It's always an easy grab to blame them when players struggle, but I don't think Branson and Livesey are at fault here. When hitting coaches try to make all kinds of tweaks for the sake of tweaking, or no longer have the ear of their charges, that's when they deserve blame, and I don't think that's the case here.
Dinosaur
12:31
Has there been talk with the Harrison to move Moran to 2nd and call up Osuna to play third?
Bill Brink
12:31
No; Moran doesn't play second.
Bake
12:32
Considering his poor performance in the winter league, can we realistically expect much from Kung?
Bill Brink
12:33
The prudent play for the Pirates would be to not expect much at all and treat whatever they get as a bonus. He's been away from the game for a long time and that showed in winter league, an admittedly tough environment for someone who's not used to it. He also has been a good player in two countries for a long time, and if he can tap into that and get up to game speed, he could have value.
Lee Foo
12:33
Osuna must really be bad defensively, because Polanco is already at -5 DRS which is pretty bad. Why wouldn't they call him up to at least platoon vs LHPs? And, why is SRod anything more than a late inning defensive replacement?
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