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Jason Mackey's Pirates chat: 05.14.21
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Jason Mackey
12:37
Not a big Dead & Company guy. Tempo is too slow for me, and I've never been a big Mayer fan. 1. Miguel Yajure is pitching tonight. They bumped Anderson and Keller back. 2. While I agree Frazier is a trade target, along with Anderson and Rodriguez, I think it's too early for that stuff to happen right now.
Joel
12:37
Jason, I'm pretty pleased with the early returns on some of the GM's trade targets. Roansy Contreras? Wow. Who in your view are the three Pirate prospects that must succeed if the Bucs are ever going to get back to contending?
Jason Mackey
12:39
Good question, Joel. I'm inclined to go pitching, honestly, which would put me in the Quinn Priester, Brennan Malone, Roansy Contreras discussion. But I also have a hard time omitting Nick Gonzales and Liover Peguero. Or an outfield prospect, which could be Oneil Cruz. So, I guess what I'm saying is I can't really arbitrarily boil it down to three.
Hugh
12:39
Hey Jason, thanks for the chats and your appearances on The Fan.  As of now, who do you think Cherington will draft, Rocker, Lawler, Leiter, other?
Jason Mackey
12:41
Hey Hugh. Another good one. At this point, I think they go Lawlar. But, I also don't feel terribly confident there. I've had a couple scouts mention Sal Frelick to me, the outfielder from Boston College. But I think that might be more tied to the Pirates' lack of outfield prospects. I think Lawlar is tremendous. And I can understand maybe saving some now to spend in the compensatory round. I wouldn't necessarily understand taking House or Mayer over Lawlar for that reason.
Joel
12:42
Jason, the draft has gone from super clear (Rocker vs. Leiter) to a complete muddle and draft analysts are now all over the place in their rankings at the top. Gut feeling: who will the Pirates end up going for?
Jason Mackey
12:43
Just got a version of this, so I'll expound. I don't think it will be Rocker. Taking him 1-1 is probably above where most would draft him, and you probably wouldn't do that for a Boras guy who's gonna want $$$. Leiter? Maybe. But this midseason dip/resting worries me. Next crop are the high school position players. Lawlar is a stud. You create an insane logjam at shortstop, but they also have athletes. Maybe someone can move. Worry about that later.
Justin R.
12:44
Small sample size notwithstanding, which three prospects acquired by GMBC have you been most impressed with so far?
Jason Mackey
12:46
Contreras is up there, for sure. Might be No. 1. I'll go Liover Peguero No. 2. And No. 3, I'm going off the board: C Endy Rodriguez. Dude has been raking this year. And he was like the fifth piece in the Musgrove trade, technically acquired from the Mets. Switch-hitting catcher who can play defense, in an organization with hardly any catching prospects. I like it.
Dave
12:46
I don't really get this mindset of disappointment that seems to be being aired. Yes, recent sloppy play at times is frustrating to see, and in general a very bad offense makes things less watchable. But there are plenty of individual storylines to keep an eye on, and it only costs 40 bucks for an MiLB subscription to have the other eye on the system, especially the low minors where the rebuild is fully taking place. The MLB team is a handful of young players doing well and hoping to catch lightning in a bottle. Not sure why anyone would expect otherwise. I don't mind having baseball to watch every day after 2020 knocked out any real season.
Jason Mackey
12:47
I'm in your camp, Dave. I understand why people might tire of the MLB product, but you're right about the minors. Seriously. $40 for the year, and you can track/watch 3-4 games every night. It's super fun.
Donna
12:47
Hi Jason.  It seems John Wehner hasn’t been on the tv and radio broadcasts as much as last year.  Any idea why?   Thanks.
Jason Mackey
12:48
Hey Donna. They've been rotating in McKenry and Capps, and it's a combination of things. Wehner has some other stuff going on (nothing bad, I just don't know what he wants public about what he does away from the Pirates) to where his road-only schedule worked for him. This is similar. I think Walk has wanted to travel less. Plus, the Pirates have wanted to hear/see more of McKenry and Capps (who, by the way, has been really good, I've thought).
Guest
12:48
Will Bryan reynolds receive an extension?
Jason Mackey
12:49
Oddly, yes. And I think he will sign to stay here.
DaGama
12:49
Are you in favor of MLB making changes to reduce the advantage pitching currently seems to have over hitting?
Jason Mackey
12:50
Such as ... ? I'm not sure which changes are on the table. I don't want the money raised or changed in any way. I'm probably not in favor of any changes, to be honest with you. I wish guys would stop swinging for home runs and prioritizing launch angle. Some of these issues can be fixed with more of a contact-based approach.
Mitch Keller's 2019 Slider
12:50
Anyone who has doubts about Keller needs to go look up this pitch and how effective it was. He needs to find it again. By my eye, the last several starts have all been about dialing the FB command in. He's mostly gotten there, though he fell apart in the 4th inning last time when the pitch mix changed and then the FB command departed too. He needs a third pitch along with the loopy curveball for everything to click. By my eye it almost even seemed like Stallings was repeatedly calling for the slider in that 4th inning to see if he can get a feel for it. Almost as if he's tried to drill in FB command, and next up is getting the slider back to where it was. As long as he's dotting in mediocrity and measured success with the blowups, there's nothing to be overly worried about. Pitching can take a long time for everything to come together. Not sure why recent Pirates fans need a lesson in being patient in this regard. It's better than just pounding a one-size-fits-all approach that clearly isn't working.
Jason Mackey
12:51
Some good points made here. I also think it's smart to pare down the breaking ball usage. I'd rather have one he can command than two he can't. I know that's not the decision, but the feel for the slider has slipped. I'm OK shelving it in games or at least using it less.
The Dude
12:51
No problem watching prospects and seeing them develop. I can be patient with Castro and Priester. The problem is that if they do develop, it is likely their best years will be elsewhere.
Jason Mackey
12:53
Couple points there. 1. I don't totally agree with you. Cherington would not come here if he knew he was going to automatically lose guys when they entered arbitration. He just wouldn't. He had other offers. He's not dumb. Why would he be OK coming here? 2. It's OK to lose guys. It's about losing the right ones. The Pirates are going to have to make some tough decisions. They might trade your best player, too. But the key here is gonna be trading that guy because they have some 21-year-old they've been grooming who's ready and can come up and play on a cheap contract. In that case, it's OK to trade away the veteran contract.
Yuri
12:53
Hello Jason.  Do you foresee Cruz being groomed to play outfield with the current depth at shortstop and lack of outfield depth?  Thank you Jason.
Jason Mackey
12:54
As of now, based on everything I've been told, no. They've maintained he's absolutely a shortstop. The logical, baseball-loving person in me, though, says that Cruz will eventually have to move.
DJS
12:54
Thanks for the draft reports, Jason. I'm not scout but I love the sound of Frelick if things have gotten too risky at the top. Hard to say anything about projectable prep one way or another, but if we're off the Vandy pitchers, then Frelick can truly rake. Seems like it wouldn't be too different than Gonzo last year -- and both guys have a good chance go get up here and be plugged into a lineup with Hayes, Reynolds, and ideally a couple guys like Swaggerty and Cruz in short order.
Jason Mackey
12:55
Yeah, I don't hate it. But I do think fans would lose their you know what. I'm not saying it's going to happen. I'm just saying it has come up in speculative conversation, that's all.
Guest
12:55
Will priester debut next year or in '23?
Jason Mackey
12:56
Next to impossible to predict, but I'll go 2023.
Don
12:56
Good Afternoon Sir,  Thank you for your time.  Do you think Bob Nutting knows where PNC Park is?  If so, has he ever watched the Pirates play?  Rhetorical.  Real question.  Is it possible to know how many pitchers the Pirates have, that had to have Tommy John surgery over the last 5-10 years compared to the rest of the MLB?
Jason Mackey
12:57
Not that I know of, unfortunately. That would be neat. But I'm not aware of any such list.
Too Tall 21
12:57
On a Reynolds extension, why do you say, “Oddly, yes.”?
Jason Mackey
12:58
Because they hardly extend anyone! But I can see this making sense for both sides. I can see Reynolds being comfortable here and wanting to stay, knowing he's a part of the rebuild. And I can see the Pirates knowing that they have to pay someone to be here for it, almost as a gesture to fans.
DJS
12:58
Yeah, I think fans will probably be mad if we don't take Leiter or Rocker. I'd still love both and am anxiously looking forward to Leiter this weekend. Hard to gauge what fans would think of Lawlar since he's a consensus guy at the top of boards but probably not known by casual fans. I like the sound of Mayer and also Khalil Watson a lot, but if we're gonna save some slot, getting a college bat with good speed and defense (Frelick) sounds wonderful to me. I guess Henry Davis is in that camp, even though I worry incredibly about taking any catcher in the first round due to attrition.
Jason Mackey
12:59
I had one scout believe that Khalil Watson could drop to them in the comp round. I have a really hard time believing that. Agree on Davis. Plus, if they have something in Endy Rodriguez, I'd rather use the pick elsewhere. It does kill me to not take pitching, but I'm hoping something swings around in the comp round, provided they go this route.
1:00
OK, folks. That will do it for this week. Thanks so much, as always, for chatting. We'll do this again next week!
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