Bucs Blather 2.1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hold On

Holds are a good measure of a bullpen. Watch below:

Blame Tyler…and injuries… Not Neal

Now that injury and ineffectiveness have hit the Pirates’ pitching staff, the yinzers are pointing to a poor offseason plan by Neal Huntington. Here are some counterarguments:

• Tyler Glasnow would be in the rotation now if his walks would be in around 3 BB/9 instead of 4.56 BB/9. He also hasn’t ironed out his changeup making him a two pitch pitcher (see Nicasio, Juan).
• A bevy of AAA reinforcements aren’t available due to injuries. The obvious is Steven Brault, who would be my favorite for the Brandon Cumpton/Casey Sadler spot starter role. Add in the real Brandon Cumpton and Casey Sadler, as well as Nick Nickham and Angel Sanchez, who would all be in AAA waiting for callups. Finally, mix in the Ryan Vogelsong, Jared Hughes and Gerrit Cole injuries and its been a perfect storm.
• Offseason fan favorite Mat Latos was signed by the Chicago White Sox. He’s already been DFAed due to being totally ineffective.

15 Draft bullets

• “If he was body beautiful he’d be the first player taken.” – said one scout of 1st rounder Will Craig.
• 1st round supplemental pick, 6′ 6″ LHP Nick Lodolo, has a slot value of $1.5M. The Pirates might have an opportunity to sign him for much less and use the money leftover to sign another overslot pick.
• Stephen Alemais is a glove first shortstop who was nominated for the play of the year by college baseball.
• Braeden Ogle (4th round) has a lot of potential and seems more singable due to his age.
• 5th rounder Blake Cederlind’s college pitching coach, Nate Devine, counts Doug Fister and Pirates’ reliever Curtis Partch as current clients.
• Don’t be surprised if 6th rounder Cam Vieux makes it to the show. He’s a “freakish” athlete and doesn’t have much wear on his LH pitching arm. He was from Michigan where the baseball season is short. He also was redshirted his freshman year at MSU and came out of the pen as a sophomore.

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  Bad decision

• 7th rounder Brent Gibbs is a catcher with good glove work, strong arm and excellent footwork. He mustn’t be very smart, though, as he chose springs and summers in West Virginia, instead of accepting his offer to attend USC starting this fall.

• 8th rounder Dylan Prohoroff is a self made college starting pitcher. He used online videos and workouts to train himself, since he didn’t get into an elite program out of high school
• 10th rounder and RH starting pitcher Matthew Anderson out of Morehead State was named an Academic All-American and his college GPA (3.91) is almost as high as some of the Pirates’ pitchers’ ERAs.
• Max Kranick, the Pirates 11th round pick, seems like the destination for any money signed on underslot deals. The high school pitcher from greater Scranton has a strong commit to UVA.
• The Morgantown Black Bears manager is ex-Pirate catcher Wyatt Toregas. He will manage a couple of the four catchers Pittsburgh selected: Brent Gibbs (Central Arizona College, 7th round), Arden Pabst (Georgia Tech, 12th), Hagen Owenby (East Tennessee State, 14th) and Michigan catcher Harrison Wenson (39th round).
• In April of 2014, Pirates 17th round pick, pitcher Matt Frawley of Purdue, was getting Kyle Schwarber to groundout. A mere two years later, Schwarber had a successful rookie campaign, knocked the Pirates out of the Wild Card game and then blew out his knee.
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  20th rounder and college pitcher Adam Oller looks excited to be a Pirate… as do his family.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Injuries during his junior year caused 21st rounder, Matt Eckelman, to fall in the draft. He had a great sophomore year and was a lights out closer during the Cape Cod league in 2014 earning all league honors.
• 29th rounder, pitcher Geoff Hartlieb, is a 6’6″ RHP that hasn’t gotten the most out of his big frame. He lost his mother due to cancer during his time in college which obviously affected him. He could be a lottery ticket if it all comes together.
• If there was one pick in the draft that was what I thought the type of guy the Pirates would pick it would have been 37th round pick, Colin Brockhouse, out of Ball State. Brockhouse is a really young college pitcher with really good athleticism. He pitched a gem in his first summer league game making him more intriguing to me.