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Bill Brink's Pirates chat: 9.12.18
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Bill Brink
11:41
Good morning (it's morning here) and welcome to this week's Pirates chat. It'll be a little shorter than usual because of the day game but we'll still get to some good stuff. We'll start at noon, but you can begin submitting questions now.
12:00
We currently have one (1) question in the queue, so if you've ever wanted to ask a question, today is the day. Here we go...
art from iowa
12:01
Why no Crick or Kela in the 8th inning Monday? We were riding a 5-game winning streak and a sweep of Cards would have provided a glimmer of WC hope!
Bill Brink
12:02
Crick pitched a scoreless sixth inning Monday and the Pirates, who are playing for next year at this point, are giving Kela a rest after a season in which he pitched more innings than the previous two, and all of those innings were high-leverage. Santana was a fine option; he just had a bad night.
Mark
12:02
For next year, the outfield should be OK with Marte Polanco Dickerson and Frazier.  For the infield, I believe the Pirates need to pony up and get a 2B and/or SS in free agency with some power.  I'm OK with Bell and Red Beard at the corners.  Your thoughts?
Bill Brink
12:04
Agree, outfield should be OK. I think they'd like more production, or at least more power and better defense, out of the corner guys but I don't see them looking to replace them yet. I agree that they should probably look at a shortstop (they've got Frazier who can handle second, and it would be unlike them to start a rookie on opening day. Finding one with power will be hard -- power-hitting shortstops are among the most valuable players in the game, and they aren't signing Manny Machado -- but finding one who can handle the position defensively at least would be good.
12:06
What other questions do we have today?
I don't know when Le'Veon is coming back.
12:07
I don't know what went wrong for Pitt.
I have takes on the Penguins' third-line center situation but I'll keep them to myself.
Baseball, though, I've got answers.
Greg P
12:09
Wow, multiple injuries on a slide. Am I the most uncoordinated athlete ever, regardless of sport?
Bill Brink
12:10
We should have an update on Polanco's injury status from the Pirates' medical staff after today's game. It looked as though the spike catching in the dirt caused the knee to jam, which might have contributed to jamming the shoulder as he hit the bag, but we'll know more later.
12:12
Alright, I'm going to leave the chat open for a bit and do some work. I'll check back in a few minutes and see if there are any more questions
ralph
12:16
how did Frazier get lost in the shuffle/ he has always been a dependable hitter. Yet they seemed to almost give up on him.
Bill Brink
12:20
Well, he was hitting .239 with a .355 slugging percentage when they sent him down for good this year. In the minors, with the help of his dad, he realized his hands were in the wrong spot, which was disrupting his timing. He fixed that, came back up and has not only returned to his previous level of production but outstripped it.
GMoney
12:20
Our minor league system is now pretty void of good talent. All these pitchers are terrible that have been brought up. Should we as fans be concerned because of the bad drafting and development Bill?
Bill Brink
12:22
Yes, to an extent. Keller is a legitimate prospect and there are others in the high minors who have had nice years, like Brubaker, but for an organization that prioritizes pitching depth, the contribution from home-grown talent that joined the club this season is troublesome.
GMoney
12:23
Do you think Moran is the answer at 3rd base? His defense is terrible and he isn't doing much with the bat either. With all the money saved by Nutting any chance he goes out and brings a power bat here?
Bill Brink
12:24
I agree that Moran has lacked power and played poor defense; I don't know that, one year after acquiring him, the Pirates are going to spend big on a replacement, especially with the possibility that Hayes starts next year in triple-A and could contribute late 2019 or in 2020.
Brian
12:27
i think we can perhaps contend next season but again the keys are bell, marte and polanco. Unfortunately they are all too streaky and go way too long not hitting which hurts the offense. Shouldn't jeff branson be on the hot seat and we get a different coach?
Bill Brink
12:30
Maybe. The sense I get is that while the offense and individual players have been inconsistent, the view is not that Branson is at fault. He worked hard with Polanco when Polanco moved off the plate, introducing drills to shorten his swing and keep his front shoulder closed, and Polanco told me earlier this year that they helped. Branson and Hurdle have both said that Bell needs to commit to working on timing rather than messing with his swing, and Bell finally committed to that this month. However, sometimes the info can be good, but if it's not getting through to the players, a change could help.
NeonDeon
12:30
looks like josh bell is finally hitting the ball well and showing his power. Problem is it took over 5 months of the season for him to come around. What happened to him and will he have a bounceback year next season? I'm pretty worried about him. We mighta been right there for a wildcard spot now if Bell actually hit like he was supposed to.
Bill Brink
12:31
No reason not to worry about him after he went from hitting 26 homers to nine. I do think he still has 20-plus homers in there, that last year wasn't a fluke, and based on conversations with Hurdle and Branson, it seems as though if he committed to a path and stuck to it rather than switching focus, he might have more success.
NeonDeon
12:33
SI just wrote that the Archer trade was terrible for the Pirates. Said we gave up too much for a guy who was regressing in Tampa for a couple of seasons now. Do you agree? He hasn't been good at all here in his short time with the club.
Bill Brink
12:38
I don't. I do agree he started poorly, and I do agree he had regressed in Tampa the past two years, and I do agree that Glasnow has been better since the trade, but I don't think it was terrible. Learning to pitch in the NL Central, where not every pitch has to miss a bat, and pitching out of the stretch has helped. They have him for three more seasons after this one if they so choose and think a spring with the Pirates and better knowledge of the division will lead to better results. Meadows stings; he's going to be good. Glasnow has been very good with the exception of one start, which baffles me, and probably baffles the Pirates, who worked hard to get him to do that here, and might not have traded him if they thought that was still on the table, but at the time of the trade he was a middle reliever without much of a path back to the rotation. Baz is tough to gauge now, so talented but young and far from the majors. Not a slam dunk, maybe, but not terrible.
Professor Plum
12:39
Does Dickerson's struggles the last 2 months dissuade the Pirates from trying to sign him long term? I was excited about the guy but now I'm not sure he should be re-signed. What do you think?
Bill Brink
12:41
Possibly, because that's two seasons in a row in which he has regressed in the second half. I don't know who plays left next year if they don't bring him back, so I think they do that.
Coming up on game time. Lightning round. Go.
Professor Plum
12:42
What do you see Cutch's next contract look like? I kinda feel bad for the guy because he took a huge discount to sign a team friendly contract here right? Then inexplicably he lost a lot of his ability and the past 2 years have not been that great. So he might be washed up soon. So this next contract probably won't be for very much. To help the Pirates he probably cost himself 40 million or more huh?
Bill Brink
12:44
I wouldn't feel too bad for him, he made $51 million, and he was under no obligation to sign that contract. He probably did cost himself money, and especially the way he's played and how last year's free-agent market treated older players, he might not get as much as he'd hoped, but he's made good money in his career.
Professor Plum
12:44
If we finish with a losing record this season and again next year, extension or not is Hurdle gone?
Bill Brink
12:45
If next season unfolds like this one, halfway through the extension, then yes, that could be a legitimate possibility.
12:47
That's it for today, thanks for the questions. We'll do this again next week.
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