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Jason Mackey's Pirates chat: 09.01.21
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Jason Mackey
11:34
Hey everyone. Welcome to my weekly Pirates chat. We'll get going in about 30 minutes, but feel free to fire away now. Thanks so much!
11:52
OK, gang. Gonna get started a little early this week. Let's roll.
V. Fontaine
11:52
Great story on the all minority lineup from the best beat writer in MLB. I believe that Al Oliver deserves serious consideration for the Hall of Fame. He was 257 hits short of 3,000. But people forget he was a free agent during the infamous collusion scandal the owners engaged in during the 80s that effectively ended his career. His last season wasn't a typical year for him and he was 38. But he absolutely could have DH'd another two seasons and reached 3,000 hits. Other than Rafael Palmeiro, tainted by steroids, everyone eligible for the Hall with 3,000 hits is in.
Jason Mackey
11:53
V. Fontaine, I would absolutely not disagree with you. I think about that often when I look at all of what Scoop accomplished. "How is this guy not in the Hall?" Again, I wish the bar was higher all around. But, it's not. And as such, given what Al has done, he absolutely deserves consideration, in my opinion.
V. Fontaine
11:53
Why doesn't MLB institute a worldwide draft? I saw the list of Top 50 eligible international players and the Pirates were projected to sign one Top 15 player. The argument that it's too difficult doesn't hold water. The NHL has no trouble with a worldwide draft. I can see exempting South Korea and Japan. Then it's essentially just the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Venezuela, Panama and Colombia. They all have scouts in those places. It would seem like a more fair way to do things even if you limited it to two or three rounds.
Jason Mackey
11:56
I don't agree here. I think there's so much baseball being played -- again, not a bad thing globally speaking but tough when it comes to the draft -- that it would really make things too hard. In terms of what baseball needs to fix, I don't think this is anywhere near the top of the list. Just overcomplicates things. And just because you have scouts places doesn't mean you have the requisite draft intel. Would be too much of a crapshoot, IMO.
Steven
11:56
Hi Jason - Thanks as always for the chats. What’s the ETA on Yajure coming up?
Jason Mackey
11:57
Of course. He's not a plane. Ha. There's no ETA. Would imagine at least another solid start, stretching him out a little more and seeing him pitch well. Would say maybe next week or the week after. But again, you're making him sound like a pie or something.
Justin
11:57
Who do you think would benefit most by getting a new hitting coach in the building?   I gotta say I'm at least somewhat intrigued by what a new coach might be able to do with Newman.  I kinda refuse to believe that someone who is so good at putting the bat on the ball is truly this bad.
Jason Mackey
11:58
He's been better in August, Justin. Honestly, I know it's revisionist history, but I would like to have seen what another set of eyes could do with Polanco. I'm not saying it's Eckstein's fault because it's not. But what if he goes to Toronto and something there resonates with him? But as far as guys who will be Pirates, Newman is up there. Maybe Cole Tucker, too. I'd like to see someone get Hayes to be a little more consistent driving the ball than he has been.
Steven
11:58
I’m sure you’re gonna get asked this as well, but why was Rick Eckstein fired? Like, I understand they’ve struggled offensively (Polanco to be specific) but it sounds like he was a scapegoat. Could you explain a little bit what exactly a hitting coach does? I’m of the impression that.. the hitting coach can do all the coaching and tips and tweaks he can to guys, but at the end of the day he’s not the one at the plate seeing the pitches and knowing when to lay off or swing, etc. I just don’t get it.
Jason Mackey
12:01
I don't see Eckstein being a scapegoat here. They haven't gotten results and want to go in a different direction. I would qualify that statement by saying that Eckstein hasn't had very good hitters with which to work. But can I fault them for trying something else? No way. Hitting coach does a lot of things. Watches video. Watches cage work/BP, etc. Keeps charts on guys, what they're doing, what they're adjusting. Designs drills around that. Works on approach and what to do to hone that approach. Helps with prescouting opposing pitchers and game-planning.
Guest
12:01
why even cover the pirates, its been 20 years since they tried to win games, i as a sports watcher  i refuse to watch when the owner doesn't try to win, bottom line for him is money !!!!!! please stop covering them, maybe they'll just go away
Jason Mackey
12:03
Well, one, because you're dead wrong. Two, you're being rude because this is what I do for a living and what many other people in this chat spend a lot of time caring about. As far as accuracy -- and this is not a brag, more to illustrate a point -- I was told recently that I had more traffic associated with my stories than anyone else at our paper over the past month. I ... cover the Pirates. I obsessively track numbers. This chat participation has gone up. Twitter engagement has gone up. Page views have gone up. People are mad. They should be mad. But Pirates traffic has been very, very good, especially when tailored toward the future. So, sure. Sit there and try to crap on something people care about because you're mad. That's productive.
Bill
12:03
Hi Jason-- Thanks for doing these chats all season. Nice to see Diego Castillo get promoted to AAA. Hopefully he does well and can be part of 2022 plans. Think they add him to 40 man this winter?
Jason Mackey
12:04
Of course, Bill. Umm ... I think it's a smart promotion. I'm excited to see what he can do. But I think that might be too much too much. I would rather them allocate that time to Newman and Tucker, honestly, to figure out what they have (or don't) in the future with those guys.
Steven
12:04
Why is Philip Evans here? Kranick fine (though I think it’s temporary) and Park of course with the expanded roster, but why is Evans the one that was called up?
Jason Mackey
12:04
Who else would you have brought up? They need a healthy, reliable body. Not sure Evans is gonna get anyone exciting, but he won't embarrass himself.
Steven
12:05
Is there a chance, even if it’s slim, that if Diego Castillo hits well in AAA, say for like a week or two, the Pirates would entertain calling him up?
Jason Mackey
12:05
Again, never say never. But I would be surprised if that happened.
Justin
12:05
Do you think Yoshi Tsutsugo will be on the 2022 Pirates?
Jason Mackey
12:06
I don't see it happening. I think they should want Moran to play. They have Reynolds and Gamel under contract. I think you'd like Swaggerty to earn a spot. Could wind up playing Cruz or Castro there. Curious on the development of Suwinski, Mitchell and Smith-Njigba, who will be on the 40. Again, if Yoshi really rakes, I suppose. But I'm not expecting it.
Prince Bob
12:06
I gave you a really bad question last week about which of this year's Pirate pitchers would still be in the majors years from now. It was very poorly thought out. Sorry. I'll go to asking if they get the same up and down performances from Brubaker and Mitch Keller will they be in next season's rotation and if so for how long?
Jason Mackey
12:07
You're all good. I've been asked much worse, trust me. I don't know if I would say Brubaker has been up and down. I mean he was good, bad, then good for one start and hurt. They need to figure out what changed. Keller is much more baffling. I think you would have to give both to, like, midseason before doing something.
Prince Bob
12:08
And did Ben Gamel shave just so people could tell him and Colin Moran apart?
Jason Mackey
12:08
They do look pretty similar, huh? Different heights/body builds, though.
Steven
12:08
Back to my Eckstein question, if he was shown the door, does that mean Oscar Marin could potentially be shown the door because of Mitch’s struggles (having to be sent down to AAA specifically) and other pitching issues?
Jason Mackey
12:09
I wouldn't connect them. However, I would say that just because they made the move with Rick, doesn't mean they're done. I think they'll probably evaluate after the season and see. My gut says Marin gets another year. But I think it's fair to question whether he's gotten enough results at this point. On the other side, much of this is about instituting processes that will work when they get better players. I like Marin has done there with more of a new age approach to pitching.
Prince Bob
12:09
PNC Park is now 2/3s as old as Three Rivers was when it was replaced. How long do you see PNC's life span?
Jason Mackey
12:10
I think Three Rivers got to the point where it needed replaced. I know we're not there with PNC. And I don't know if we will ever get there, although they need a new video board, that's for sure.
Steven
12:10
Last question - apologies, lol. Who makes the coaching staff decisions? GMBC, Shelton, or both? - Would it be smarter to let the manager pick his staff solely or do you give those responsibilities to the front office and scouts, etc.
Jason Mackey
12:11
It's a collaborative. Got into this with Starkey the other day on the radio. Ultimately it's going to be Shelton driving the bus. It's his staff. However, he's going to get input from Ben. Same time, Ben is going to shape the roster and do things, but he's going to solicit input from Shelton. I think Shelton felt like they needed something different, talked to Ben about it, and they agreed together. It's not always as black and white as one person making calls.
Dr Bob
12:12
As a reclamation project goes Tsutugo looks like a keeper, some power and hitting abilities, not sure what position he is best at but worth keeping, your thoughts, thanks.
Jason Mackey
12:12
At this point, we would have said the same things about John Nogowski. I think we need to see how this plays out. If this continues, yeah, that's awesome. They should be proud of themselves. Maybe they will try to re-sign Yoshi. I like him a lot. As of now, though, it's been a couple weeks, and I would like to see more.
Carl in Carrick
12:12
Hey Jason, in your opinion, should Dave Parker be considered for the HOF?  Thanks.
Jason Mackey
12:13
Dave Parker should be in the damn HOF. Forget considered. That's 20 times more egregious than Al Oliver.
Ryan
12:13
Good afternoon Jason what do you think about last nights game i think Wilson looked good we looked good go Bucs tonight and the rest of the year
Jason Mackey
12:14
Hey Ryan. I like Bryse Wilson a lot. And it goes beyond last night. His breaking stuff is better than I expected. He's not afraid to attack the zone. The homers he gave up last night were on good pitches. I think there's a very good chance he could be part of their rotation in '22.
Bill
12:14
Loved your article on Cederlind and really feel for him that he felt he needed to push through the pain. The coming back as a starter is interesting because I thought he was converted to relief over control issues. Would imagine there's a quicker path back to MLB as a reliever.
Jason Mackey
12:15
Thanks, Bill. I appreciate the kinds words. It's a tough dynamic. I've done it, too. You don't want to come out. I've used a Tens machine, any rub you can imagine, pills (legal) and just gritting and bearing it to keep pitching and playing. I told Blake, I don't blame you. I would have done the same damn thing. But I think people would benefit from hearing your story. He agreed. I wanna see how his velocity holds up over 5-6 innings, but I'm with you. I think he could be downright nasty as a starter.
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