Colin Beazley's Pirates chat: 09.08.26
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Sunner in Orlando from Lebo
12:54
Hey Colin! Thanks for the chats! If the Pirates finish at or above 500, but miss the playoffs, will heads still roll or will they give a pass to everyone because of injuries and lack of depth at those positions?
JK
12:54
Assuming the front office doesn't change and Kelly stays, what do you think needs to happen with the rest of his staff.  Hard to make a case for Hague or Murphy.
Colin Beazley
12:54
Figured I'd group these together -- we'll see, Joel, Sunner and JK. Very interested to see how the Pirates will react to this season.
A Battlin Schmuck
12:55
Well well we'll look who stinks. Skenes, Keller, Jones and Chandler all regressed and only Ashy Surpassed expectations. Now what do they do moving forward?  Hope it rights itself??
Colin Beazley
12:59
I wouldn't say Jones and Chandler regressed. Jones has been fairly similar to 2024, while Chandler didn't dominate as some (including me) thought he would.

I don't think you need to reinvent the rotation. I'm very encouraged by Ashcraft and expect both Jones and Chandler to be better after another year of experience. Next year, I expect Skenes to be closer to what he was. I'm not certain what to expect from Keller.

I don't think anything drastic needs to be done, but I would like to see some more depth. Maybe that's going out and adding that veteran lefty.
Ryan
12:59
Colin what do you think about the play of Bryan Reynolds that was a Good home run he hit on Saturday i think he has looked good and maybe hits some more in Chicago
Colin Beazley
1:01
I was blown away to see he went 34 games without a homer. I don't think it's a coincidence that the Pirates' offense dipped and they went 15-19 during that stretch. Other injuries matter, but the Pirates need Reynolds to play like a star regardless of who's in the lineup with him.
CT ART
1:02
Do you know what the Bucs’ record is in designated bullpen games?  I bet it’s a winning one
Colin Beazley
1:04
The Pirates are 21-11 when Carmen Mlodzinski pitches, including 11-3 between his starter stints. That's a very skewed statistic, considering they only used him in games they were already leading/had a shot to win.

More importantly, they went 0-4 on the bullpen games they needed him for when he was a starter in August.
Sunner in Orlando from Lebo
1:04
What to do with Carmen? He bitched about being taken out of the starting rotation, but when he went back into the rotation, he was terrible. How would you use him as he is very effective as a long reliever?
Colin Beazley
1:05
To me, he's one of the best bulk relievers in baseball. If he is willing to do it, I'd keep him. But if he goes into this offseason wanting to be a starter again, I'd trade him.

At least publicly, he's said all the right things about going back into the bullpen. I've heard of productive conversations behind the scenes, too. But this can't continue to be a storyline in 2027.
Sunner in Orlando from Lebo
1:06
If and when Ohearn comes back this upcoming weekend, does it make sense to play him after the Pirates get eliminated or do they play guys from AAA?
Andy Carnegie
1:06
Do you see them bringing up any young guys to get some big league reps in before the season ends?
Colin Beazley
1:09
I'd be careful with O'Hearn if/when the Pirates are eliminated, as the Pirates are being aggressive with his timeline. But there's not really a position player he's blocking in Triple-A at the moment.

I'm not expecting any more major league debuts this season. I want to see more of Dotel/Kelly/Curtis/Barco, especially as the starters wind down, but those are the young guys. I'd guess they'll add Mitch Jebb to the 40-man this offseason, but I don't think they'd be hurting him to push his debut to 2027.
Takoma Tom
1:09
Why not trade Skenes?  Everyone knows they won’t sign him long term.  Too cheap and no commitment to winning.  FREE SKENES!!!!  There’s zero confidence that they’ll be a playoff team anytime soon.
When do you honestly think the pirates will make the playoffs?
Colin Beazley
1:16
I'll close this chat with this two-parter from Takoma Tom...

I honestly don't believe the Pirates are that far away. Yes, really. I think they'll be good in 2027 and 2028. I don't think those Stephenson/Bohm signings I predicted earlier would be what gets them over the hump -- again, bring back Brandon Lowe -- but I don't think this team needs to be torn down. If even one of these three:
  • a 2-3 ERA season from Paul Skenes
  • the current bullpen all year
  • someone, anyone, who could hit a lefty
had been fixed this year, I think this team could (and maybe should) have been the ones to do it.
1:19
What's that mean for Cherington? I don't know. It'd be wrong to say this year's struggles are solely health-based, too, and they'll have to deal with injuries next year, too.

So I don't know. I don't think the Pirates are far away, but I certainly think they'd be farther if they traded Skenes and started another rebuild.

It'll be an interesting offseason, to say the least, but I really don't think they're that far.
1:20
That'll do for this week. Thank you for all the questions, and as always, if I didn't get to yours, feel free to email me (cbeazley at post-gazette dot com) and I'll respond when I can. Thanks for reading.
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