Speaker 1: What's up, everybody?
Speaker 2: Welcome back to another episode of Bucco Territory, presented to
Speaker 2: you by the Foul Territory Network. I'm noahile's joining me
Speaker 2: on today's show. It is Platinum Key aka Mark Josh
Speaker 2: Harrison is on vacation. How selfish of him become a
Speaker 2: family vacation in the summertime and enjoy his time.
Speaker 3: No, especially after he gave all of us fans like
Speaker 3: every single one of his summers before. Yeah, I guess
Speaker 3: he can take one or two.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And also, you know, as a guy who literally bought
Speaker 2: this SEC Champions Women's Golf t shirt on his vacation
Speaker 2: where he just was Yeah, so Mark, I don't know
Speaker 2: what we would do if you went on vacation.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we'll figure it out. Yeah, my laptop travels.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're you're also your vacations are to this.
Speaker 3: I was gonna say it's the PNC Park. Yeah. I
Speaker 3: was just sitting there thinking today. I was like, it's
Speaker 3: been too long and it's been what like a week
Speaker 3: and a half for two or something.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so yeah, your airbnb is the Futon Yeah right
Speaker 1: behind you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's pretty comfy, so hy ricommend. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So pretty simple show today, the Pirates.
Speaker 2: We're recording this Thursday evening after the Pirates just wrapped
Speaker 2: up a series victory over the Seattle Mariners. They improved
Speaker 2: to forty one and forty on the year, which marks
Speaker 2: the exact halfway mark of the twenty twenty sixth season.
Speaker 1: We did this at the end, I believe. Do we
Speaker 1: do this? Yeah, we did this at the end of
Speaker 1: the first quarter of the season.
Speaker 2: We're so we're gonna do our mid term report card
Speaker 2: for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Speaker 1: I have the the.
Speaker 2: First quarter report card pulled up so we can compare
Speaker 2: and contrast our grades. But the way we're gonna do
Speaker 2: this first segment of the show, this opening segment we're
Speaker 2: gonna do starting pitching and bullpen. The second segment we'll
Speaker 2: do catcher, infield and outfield, and then the last segment
Speaker 2: will just be coaching and then our overall grade. So
Speaker 2: that's where we're at. Mark, We'll start off a starting pitcher.
Speaker 2: You tipped your hand to me before we started recording.
Speaker 3: The one grade you know, Yeah, so you have.
Speaker 1: The starting pitching in an A minus.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think just with how good Brax and Ashcraft
Speaker 3: and Paul Skins have been It's really hard for me
Speaker 3: to go below in a just with the two of
Speaker 3: them included in this grade. Mitch Keller has been somewhat disappointing.
Speaker 3: I don't think we've seen the best of Mitch Keller
Speaker 3: so far. Bubba Chandler got off to a slow start
Speaker 3: and has started to really pick things up. Jared Jones
Speaker 3: we've only seen very small sample size of and Karmen
Speaker 3: Macginski looked good when he was in the rotation. So
Speaker 3: I think a minus is probably a little optimistic. I'm
Speaker 3: probably a little bit higher than you. But this is
Speaker 3: a team that this starting pitching staff is really making
Speaker 3: up for a lot of errors and made up for
Speaker 3: like a lot of deficits with this team as well.
Speaker 3: I'm trying to pull up here. I was gonna have
Speaker 3: their fangrafs there get Yeah. They have the third best
Speaker 3: or ninth best ERA in Major League Baseball right now,
Speaker 3: ninth best whip, giving up the least home runs and
Speaker 3: striking out the fifth most per nine, so top third
Speaker 3: of Major League Baseball for this rotation, and I think
Speaker 3: they there's a lot of room for improvement as well
Speaker 3: as we see Bubbla Chandler taking a step forward, as
Speaker 3: Jerry Jones gets back into the mix of things, as
Speaker 3: Paul Skins kind of reverts back to what he should be.
Speaker 3: I think right now he's getting a little unlucky with
Speaker 3: the results, but under the hood, everything looks great. So yeah,
Speaker 3: I'm pretty content with the starting pitching. I don't think
Speaker 3: that's been an issue for this team. So I went
Speaker 3: a minus.
Speaker 1: What about you, I'm a lot different than you.
Speaker 2: I gave him a B minus, and I'm grading them
Speaker 2: on I'm greeting the starting pitching harder than any other
Speaker 2: element of this team, just because I know it can
Speaker 2: be so much, right Yeah, Yeah, It's almost like the
Speaker 2: starting pitching is taking an AP class and I'm grading
Speaker 2: it there. Like I would say they have they they're
Speaker 2: like at an I'd give them like an eighty two
Speaker 2: percent on the season, which is like a B minus
Speaker 2: C plus. Maybe maybe a little higher, like an eighty three,
Speaker 2: but that's still that's like a B minus.
Speaker 1: And like they're they're.
Speaker 2: Definitely above average, and like they're they're an asset. Anything
Speaker 2: above a C plus I think is an asset to
Speaker 2: the team.
Speaker 1: They've been an asset. But aside from Braxton.
Speaker 2: I can't really pinpoint another starter that from Game one
Speaker 2: to Game eighty one has exceeded or even met.
Speaker 1: The expectations I've had.
Speaker 2: And now there's different reasons for all of these guys.
Speaker 2: Like Paul Schemes we've talked about on the show. I
Speaker 2: think he's just been the victim of some really bad
Speaker 2: fielding and that's kind of hindered his numbers a little bit.
Speaker 2: But he's also not going as deep into the games
Speaker 2: as I would like to see, which I think fielding
Speaker 2: again plays a part, yeah.
Speaker 1: But not all of it.
Speaker 2: Mitch Keller's had a bad year for Mitch Keller standard,
Speaker 2: especially in the front half of the year. Compared to
Speaker 2: how he normally pitches in the first half of a season,
Speaker 2: this has probably been one of his worst first half
Speaker 2: since he became this established top end of the rotation
Speaker 2: type pitcher. Derek Jones has been still a little too
Speaker 2: early to judge. I think there's been some good, there's
Speaker 2: been some bad. Carmen same thing, although I'm docking Carmen
Speaker 2: points because of you know, his antics. Yeah, Bubba Chandler
Speaker 2: wasn't good for a large majority of this first half,
Speaker 2: but it's hard not to feel encouraged with what he's
Speaker 2: done recently.
Speaker 1: So overall, people are.
Speaker 2: Gonna see the B minus if we make a graphic
Speaker 2: for this, and they're gonna be like.
Speaker 1: Oh, there's no again being hard on the Pirates.
Speaker 2: But I am hard on this part pitching staff because
Speaker 2: I know if it clicks and plays to the level
Speaker 2: that it can, it can be something similar to what
Speaker 2: the Seattle.
Speaker 1: Mariners had last year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like a really really lethal rotation one through five
Speaker 2: wherever if you fall in a series, these guys can
Speaker 2: change a game.
Speaker 1: They give you an advantage, and I.
Speaker 2: Feel like for the most part, the starting pitchings kept
Speaker 2: the Pirates in just about all of their games. I
Speaker 2: feel like there's so much more for them to achieve.
Speaker 2: I don't think they're a better rotation than they were
Speaker 2: last year overall, and last year, you know, and the
Speaker 2: goal was to be better. So that's why I give
Speaker 2: them a B minus. We'll move on now to the bullpen,
Speaker 2: and I'll keep this short. I'm giving them an F.
Speaker 1: Yep, the bullpen is a failing grade.
Speaker 2: They if the bullpen was just even, if the bullpen
Speaker 2: could get a C minus mark.
Speaker 1: This team would be This team would be where the
Speaker 1: Saint Louis Cardinals.
Speaker 3: Right easy they would be.
Speaker 1: They would be at the top of the wild Card.
Speaker 2: They would be six seven games over five hundred rather
Speaker 2: than one they would be looking into I just wrote
Speaker 2: a column saying they don't deserve to be buyers right
Speaker 2: now until more like this current group shows it's capable
Speaker 2: of being anything more than average. The Pirates have never
Speaker 2: been more than five games over five hundred, They've never
Speaker 2: fallen lower than two games under five hundred.
Speaker 1: They've just kind of hovered in that.
Speaker 2: Middle area, which is where they are now. And I
Speaker 2: think if the bullpen had just been even close to
Speaker 2: what we expected it to be, which wasn't even anything special.
Speaker 2: We just expected to be an average bullpen. If it
Speaker 2: was just an average bullpen, this would be a team
Speaker 2: that would be getting tons more attention right now. But
Speaker 2: the bullpen has held this team back. And unlike other
Speaker 2: areas of the team, you could point out the poor
Speaker 2: fielding right, but most of the guys who stink at
Speaker 2: fielding are also hitting the absoluteness bringing value.
Speaker 1: There's value right where.
Speaker 2: It's just like the bullpen is just not given you much,
Speaker 2: So I give it an f Do you have anything better.
Speaker 1: Than enough on this mark.
Speaker 3: I went D just because I'm me, but there's an
Speaker 3: argument for F. I will say, as frustrating as this
Speaker 3: bullpen has been, they're not the worst in baseball. They
Speaker 3: have the nineteenth worst year or nineteenth best era, twentieth
Speaker 3: with twentieth twenty fourth, walks per nine fifth, and k
Speaker 3: per nine. So it's been bad, and it's been bad
Speaker 3: at the worst times. But yeah, I think there's still
Speaker 3: room for them to get a worst grade. So that's
Speaker 3: why I kept it as a D because there's there's
Speaker 3: it's always room to go down.
Speaker 2: But I see where you're You're looking more like metrics
Speaker 2: and I when I would do my report cards when
Speaker 2: I was on the beat, that's how I would do.
Speaker 1: I'd pull up fangrafts and compare and contract.
Speaker 2: But I'm more I'm more grading this on the expectations
Speaker 2: for this team and.
Speaker 3: The assignment that they had, and.
Speaker 2: It's like the starting pitching has been good, but I
Speaker 2: know it can be better. The bullpen is the bullpen
Speaker 2: has objectively failed this absolutely.
Speaker 1: You're eighty one games.
Speaker 2: So to compare in the first quarter, I had the
Speaker 2: starting pitching at an A minus, as did Mark Mark
Speaker 2: kept that great. I pushed it down to a B
Speaker 2: minus at the midturn grade, and then my bullpen grade
Speaker 2: was a C plus. Marx was a B minus. So
Speaker 2: Mark dropped down to a D. I dropped down to
Speaker 2: an F. Josh had an A and C for the
Speaker 2: starting pitching in bullpen. So we're gonna take a quick
Speaker 2: break when we come back. Catchers infield and outfield. Here
Speaker 2: on Bucko Territory.
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Speaker 2: All Right, picking back up mid term grades for the Pirates,
Speaker 2: we start with the catcher position now in the second segment.
Speaker 1: Mark, I'll let you go first.
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is one of the hardest ones for me
Speaker 3: to assess, because I feel like it's changed pretty recently.
Speaker 3: I think if you have asked just a few weeks
Speaker 3: ago what the grade would be for Catcher, my grade
Speaker 3: would be a lot worse than it is now. I
Speaker 3: went C minus for Catchers, Okay, solely because I've so
Speaker 3: so encouraged with what Endy Rodriguez has been doing. He's
Speaker 3: up to zero point seven f wour on this season
Speaker 3: right now. That's pretty impressive. Obviously. Henry Davis, we just
Speaker 3: talked in detail about how his struggles have been super
Speaker 3: frustrating and detrimental. And obviously Joey Bart just got traded
Speaker 3: for a guy that was dfaide. So outside of Ndy,
Speaker 3: things are really, really, really bad. And I get that.
Speaker 3: But if any Rodriguez can step up and continue to
Speaker 3: call games like he did on Wednesday night where we
Speaker 3: saw Brax and Ashcraft and Karmen Majinski throw the highest
Speaker 3: strike percentage of any Pirates game since they tracked it
Speaker 3: starting I think two thousand, so the highest strike percentage
Speaker 3: of any game in the last twenty seven years. With
Speaker 3: Any Rodriguez calling the game, Pirates saying throw a ball
Speaker 3: at all, like he looks like he can be the
Speaker 3: starting catcher on this team. I think there's you can
Speaker 3: still improve that. But yeah, I'm really encourag by end,
Speaker 3: and that's why I went all the way up to
Speaker 3: a C minus. What about you, I know you're gonna
Speaker 3: probably not yeah, I mean, I mean.
Speaker 1: You also saw Henry Davis get two hits today and you're.
Speaker 3: Like, yeah, yeah, Homer, yeah, a nice little double.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm gonna I gave him a D in the
Speaker 2: first quarter.
Speaker 1: I'll stay with the D.
Speaker 2: I was tempted to go F but they haven't been
Speaker 2: as bad as the bullpen. I mean, Henry Davis has
Speaker 2: been bad and Rodriguez has been good. We've just seen
Speaker 2: less of ending, right, and Joey Bart was replacement level, I.
Speaker 1: Guess while he was here.
Speaker 2: It's not like I had high expectations for this group,
Speaker 2: but like, it's just Henry Davis has just not been
Speaker 2: even close to good enough.
Speaker 3: Our expectations were low. And yeah, I still haven't gotten.
Speaker 2: There and so right, so and and he's been fine,
Speaker 2: and he's been good at certain points, but overall, I mean,
Speaker 2: this is a this is.
Speaker 1: A well below average catch.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so that's why I stick with the D grade.
Speaker 2: I won't go any lower that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's a reason why two of our trade targets
Speaker 3: in the our episode previously were catchers. Cuz, yeah, this
Speaker 3: this position group needs some help.
Speaker 1: Infield. I'll start off here, mister tough grader. I'm giving
Speaker 1: the infield in a I.
Speaker 3: Was curious about this one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I just I don't have a lot of bad
Speaker 1: things to say.
Speaker 7: Now.
Speaker 2: There have been some bad defensive plays, like Spencer's made
Speaker 2: some bad plays, Knicks made some bad plays. Connor made
Speaker 2: one really bad play the one time when he like
Speaker 2: spiked the ball, but like that was just one, one
Speaker 2: literal mistake overall, man, and like Triolo has been kind
Speaker 2: of I mean.
Speaker 1: Not kind of.
Speaker 2: He's been a week back, but like, I don't know
Speaker 2: how much more you could have hoped to get from
Speaker 2: this group. Low is the best offensive second basement in
Speaker 2: the National Spencer Horowitz is one of the best leadoff
Speaker 2: hitters in baseball right now. Connor Griffin, before he got injured,
Speaker 2: was way better than I anticipated him being and I
Speaker 2: thought he would be good. But the month of May, like, yeah,
Speaker 2: he's he's play yeah, yeah, Like he's gonna have like
Speaker 2: a three to four Warst season this year if he
Speaker 2: can come back and stay healthy. And then Nick Gonzalez, Man,
Speaker 2: I mean, he hasn't been amazing, but he hasn't been
Speaker 2: a total liability.
Speaker 1: Like I was super concerned about third.
Speaker 2: Base, and I mean Nick York started it off well
Speaker 2: and then Nick Gonzalez earned that spot.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he took it from Triolo and York and he's
Speaker 1: been good.
Speaker 2: And they've got good contributions from like some bench guys too,
Speaker 2: like Callahan as like a rotating piece. Has been a
Speaker 2: nice little bump over the last couple of weeks overall. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I can't remember a Pirates in field being this productive.
Speaker 1: In a long time. Really. I mean, you'd have to
Speaker 1: go back to when Josh.
Speaker 2: Was playing, when they had you know, him and David
Speaker 2: Freeze and Jordi Mercer and you know, or even the
Speaker 2: teams before that when they were like a playoff team. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean, they have three guys who are gonna be
Speaker 2: like four war players in this infield.
Speaker 1: I again, like we.
Speaker 2: Could go back and look, but it would be my
Speaker 2: guess at least a decade since that's been the reality
Speaker 2: year in Pittsburgh where.
Speaker 1: Three of your starting four infielders are four win players.
Speaker 3: I mean first base alone, you look at that and
Speaker 3: that's just such a massive, massive improvement from the past
Speaker 3: few years.
Speaker 1: So yeah, in second base too, I mean, loo, I
Speaker 1: don't know, I mean.
Speaker 2: Lao's probably not gonna be here for more than this season,
Speaker 2: but like that, that's one of the best trades the Pirates.
Speaker 3: Have made, and such a perfect fault.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's been excellent, and he's been even better defensively
Speaker 2: than I anticipated. Connor with the extension, with everything, you've
Speaker 2: just you feel good when you look at that infield,
Speaker 2: there have been very few times where you're just like,
Speaker 2: who are they playing? Yeah, and that's been the case
Speaker 2: for Pirates infield for a very long time. So I yeah,
Speaker 2: I have no complaints, Mark, do you have anything different
Speaker 2: to add?
Speaker 3: I kind of do. Actually I went lower. I went
Speaker 3: an yeah, solely because I think the defense has been
Speaker 3: a little disappointing. Obviously that's gonna change with counter coming back,
Speaker 3: because I just Triolo at shortstep is just mhm. And
Speaker 3: I think Nick and Zalez has made a couple of
Speaker 3: throws that have just really cost this team. But outside
Speaker 3: of that, I mean it's been yeah, so so so good.
Speaker 2: They're opposed to the next group, who I would argue
Speaker 2: is probably even better offensively. Yeah, Like the hitting production
Speaker 2: from the infield is here, and their defensive ineptitude is
Speaker 2: here right whereas the outfield it's a little bit more
Speaker 2: even probably not even that close, but you know what
Speaker 2: I'm saying, where it's like they're pros so heavily outweigh
Speaker 2: their consent.
Speaker 1: And I also expected this to be a poorly fielding
Speaker 1: right right infield.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Like I thought their defense was going to suck,
Speaker 2: and it's it's hard for me to dock them a
Speaker 2: ton with Triolo at shortstop because he's not a shortstop.
Speaker 1: And we kind of knew this.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I you know, sometimes when you're starting shortstop
Speaker 2: gets hurt, you have to play someone out of position
Speaker 2: for the time being. And but yeah, overall eighty one
Speaker 2: games in, I could not imagine this infield being realistically
Speaker 2: much better than what it has been.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So yeah, we'll move on now to the outfield. That's crazy.
Speaker 2: I have a higher grade than I know for context
Speaker 2: infield grades. I had them at a B plus in
Speaker 2: the first quarter. Mark had them at a minus. So
Speaker 2: all right, I'm gonna go with the outfield now, I'll
Speaker 2: start us off again.
Speaker 1: I'll go with a B. Yeah, I think, I mean.
Speaker 2: It's yeah, it's tough to great, but I mean I
Speaker 2: will say their outfield defense hasn't been horror in the
Speaker 2: last month.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, but I.
Speaker 2: Mean Brian Reynolds takes this group to a higher letter grade.
Speaker 1: Man, I mean, he's been good.
Speaker 2: O'hearne is looks like a Russell Martin esque signing. O'Neil
Speaker 2: Cruz was playing fantastic and mangum Mangham is a flawed
Speaker 2: player in some areas. I wish you'd have a little
Speaker 2: bit more patience than his approach at the plate. Sometimes
Speaker 2: I think he over hustles and creates problems, but overall
Speaker 2: he's a good fourth outfielder on a team, and when
Speaker 2: a guy goes down like Cruse, you feel fine with
Speaker 2: Jake Mancum being your center fielder for an extended stretch
Speaker 2: and a guy who the team he helps the team
Speaker 2: win games. So yeah, I'll go with the outfield as
Speaker 2: a B mark I I I think again in comparison
Speaker 2: to prior groups, and even as far as expectations, I
Speaker 2: was concerned with how Loo and Reynolds would perform offensively,
Speaker 2: not Low and Reynolds. Oh Her and Reynolds perform offensively
Speaker 2: with the demand of being an everyday outfielder.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I.
Speaker 1: Think both of them have been really good.
Speaker 2: So yeah, yeah, I'm still stuck out there, but they're
Speaker 2: killing the base fall.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah. I went as for the outfield because I
Speaker 3: again I recognize the defensive woes, but we've seen a
Speaker 3: vast improvement, especially with Jake Mangham getting more playing time. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think that's helped both Oharan and Reynolds as well,
Speaker 3: just because Mangham can cover up a little bit more
Speaker 3: of what they're not great at with their corner defense.
Speaker 3: And yeah, I just Brian Reynolds is having just a
Speaker 3: fantastic season. I think it's up to like three point
Speaker 3: zero U. I think it's f war already. And just
Speaker 3: that's crazy. Eighty one games through the year, he's played
Speaker 3: every single game. Yes, I don't think he started every
Speaker 3: single game, but he's played in every single game. Ryan
Speaker 3: O'Hearn just perfect fit. And then yeah, Cruz, before he
Speaker 3: got hurt, he was really taking a step forward on
Speaker 3: pace for thirty thirty obviously has the strikeout issues are
Speaker 3: still like an issue for him, and the defenses was
Speaker 3: getting better, i'd like to say before he got hurt.
Speaker 3: So yeah, I think this outfield group has kind of
Speaker 3: exceeded my expectations.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I'll even add in I like the supplemental help,
Speaker 2: not that anyone is, Like I mean, Callahan has been
Speaker 2: getting a lot of run in the outfield, and he's been,
Speaker 2: like we said, he's been a good little joelt.
Speaker 1: But even the fact that they were able.
Speaker 2: To bring up Garcia and Valdez and in past Pirates teams,
Speaker 2: like when those guys are coming up, it's like good luck.
Speaker 1: We need you to bat like fifth and right. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like the weight of the world's on your shoulders.
Speaker 2: They've allowed them to come up and fail, and they've
Speaker 2: had good moments, like Garcia has had a couple of
Speaker 2: good games, Valdez had like, yeah, some really good moments
Speaker 2: as well. But they've got their toes wet. They're both
Speaker 2: gonna be guys who play an impact on this team
Speaker 2: and years down the road. And this has been good
Speaker 2: for them too, that they have this outfield depth where
Speaker 2: they can get by without I mean, and we said
Speaker 2: Cruise got hurt, Mangum I believe was hurt at some
Speaker 2: point this year, and O'Hearn was hurt, and the outfield
Speaker 2: for the most part has.
Speaker 1: Been a net positive. So yeah, I'll go with a B.
Speaker 1: I think I had them at a B minus mark
Speaker 1: you had.
Speaker 2: Them at a B plus in our first quarter grades.
Speaker 2: So we're gonna take another quick break when we come back.
Speaker 2: D H grade coaching grade overall grade Here on Bucko Territory.
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Speaker 1: All right, we picked back up with the DH grade.
Speaker 1: It's easy.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's an f and I don't want to
Speaker 2: spend too much time on this because we've talked about
Speaker 2: Marcelo Zuna probably more than any other player on the show.
Speaker 1: But like you just go back and look at it.
Speaker 1: And it's like that acquisition.
Speaker 2: Screwed up so much, so much, because if you spend
Speaker 2: that twelve million dollars on the bullpen, on another left
Speaker 2: side infielder, on another outfielder, I'm literally not.
Speaker 3: A start literally anything.
Speaker 2: Else, literally anything else, even a better DH who can
Speaker 2: like occasionally play in the field, they're a better team. Like, yeah, no,
Speaker 2: I wouldn't work either, but but I'm just thinking out
Speaker 2: loud here, like it's just like like the bullpen just
Speaker 2: hasn't performed.
Speaker 1: Ozuna has just brought them down.
Speaker 2: He's like an anchor. He weighs them down. He just
Speaker 2: makes them worse. And they're just kind of stuck with
Speaker 2: this now. And I hate to like hone in on
Speaker 2: this and hammer this home. But again, we're halfway through
Speaker 2: the season and he's just been one of the worst
Speaker 2: players in baseball from the very start.
Speaker 1: He didn't know he didn't look good in spring. For
Speaker 1: all the other good.
Speaker 2: Moves they made, he almost like kind of undid the
Speaker 2: momentum of some of them just by being this dad.
Speaker 2: And it's just funny because I was like, Okay, well,
Speaker 2: if we're grading the DH spot, could I give it
Speaker 2: a better grade than a failing grade because you know
Speaker 2: how other people prefer. Reality is literally every other person
Speaker 2: you put at DH has just been better than Ozuna.
Speaker 2: It could be Cruised, it could be Reynolds, it could
Speaker 2: be O'Hearn, Connor Griffin.
Speaker 1: Those two games like loo like, And that's.
Speaker 2: Where it's I'm encouraged because if they eventually do cut
Speaker 2: dait with this guy, that's such an opportunity where if
Speaker 2: they if they get in a place where they can
Speaker 2: make a big addition, you.
Speaker 1: Have that revolving D.
Speaker 2: I would love to see this team with a revolving
Speaker 2: DH position where they could add another position player and
Speaker 2: get really creative with their lineup.
Speaker 3: Because if it's this roster, Yeah, did you give I went?
Speaker 3: I went D minus solely because they've stopped playing Ozuna
Speaker 3: so much and other people are playing so I felt
Speaker 3: like I needed to recognize that. Yeah, I know, I
Speaker 3: got your logic.
Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, because it's like, okay, well you should have
Speaker 8: been doing this all year, right, Yeah, so exactly, this
Speaker 8: is the hardest one to grew coaching, Mark, I'll let you.
Speaker 3: Start, all right. I give Don Well all encompassing for coaching,
Speaker 3: So I would give Don Kelly a B. But I
Speaker 3: think this whole staff I would give probably like a
Speaker 3: B minus C plus right around there, because obviously Bill
Speaker 3: Murphy has been The results for Bill Murphy's staff, I
Speaker 3: should say, have not been good, and when the staff
Speaker 3: was so good last year and wanted to improve and
Speaker 3: take a step forward, that's been extremely disappointing. I think
Speaker 3: Don Kelly has done a great job with this clubhouse,
Speaker 3: the cohesion. I think that these guys really seem like
Speaker 3: their teammates and believe in each other and want each
Speaker 3: other to succeed and are better with each other around.
Speaker 3: Rather than just a bunch of twenty six individual ballplayers
Speaker 3: all trying to improve their career. There, it feels like
Speaker 3: they're trying to win for the team, most of them
Speaker 3: at least, And so I think Don Kelly is done
Speaker 3: a fantastic job of getting those guys to buy in,
Speaker 3: believe in themselves, believe in this franchise. He's way easier
Speaker 3: said than done. So perhaps to Don Kelly, he just
Speaker 3: got as one hundred win as if we're recording this,
Speaker 3: so yeah, But outside of that, I think like third
Speaker 3: base coach, first base coach, no issues. But yeah, I
Speaker 3: think just the pitching coach has been the big biggest concern.
Speaker 3: I think Matt hag you could probably say it's been
Speaker 3: pretty good. Yeah. I think it's hard to judge because
Speaker 3: like you're seeing Lao and O'Hearn and Reynold. It's all
Speaker 3: these like established veterans. It's exactly who I was going to.
Speaker 3: It's I think Spencer Horwartz is someone that Matt Hay
Speaker 3: can really say I helped with that a little bit,
Speaker 3: but I helped, and so I think that's good. How'd
Speaker 3: you grade the coaching staff?
Speaker 1: I gave it a C. I think it's been average.
Speaker 1: I'll start with Don Kelly first. Six.
Speaker 2: First, what a lot of people who like aren't around
Speaker 2: the team, Like I've had obviously.
Speaker 1: Very good access to the Pirates.
Speaker 2: And I talked to people who are in the front office,
Speaker 2: who work for the team, who are around the team,
Speaker 2: who are on the team, and you get a really
Speaker 2: good idea of how things work day to day there.
Speaker 2: This is not an easy organization to be the manager for.
Speaker 2: You got to deal with a lot of headaches that
Speaker 2: you probably don't have to deal with and other franchises,
Speaker 2: that's just the reality of a lot of small market teams,
Speaker 2: but especially a small market team where they don't have
Speaker 2: a winning culture, they don't have a lot of success,
Speaker 2: and yeah, like they're they're more known for their ineptitude
Speaker 2: than anything else. Yeah, and so I give Don Kelly
Speaker 2: a lot of credit for handling the things that don't
Speaker 2: get out there, things that you know, rumors that I
Speaker 2: hear and I'm like, it's not enough for me to report,
Speaker 2: but just you just hear stories, You hear things, and
Speaker 2: it's like and some of it's not even worth reporting,
Speaker 2: but it's just small little things where it's like, you know,
Speaker 2: you might think your boss is an idiot or isn't
Speaker 2: doing good enough, but then like you really sit down
Speaker 2: and you see what your boss goes.
Speaker 1: Through every day, and you're like, you know what, I
Speaker 1: can understand why.
Speaker 2: He goes about certain things this way because there's a
Speaker 2: lot going going on behind the scenes and it's and
Speaker 2: I'm not suggesting it's like dysfunctional or there's drama or anything.
Speaker 2: There's just a lot of moving pieces and it's yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: And it's it's it's just, uh, you know, the.
Speaker 2: Pirates aren't always organized as a franchise. The messaging isn't
Speaker 2: always on the same page. Don Kelly has to kind
Speaker 2: of consider a multitude of factors every time he makes
Speaker 2: a decision when it comes to building a lineup, when
Speaker 2: it comes to who he plays, all that kind of stuff,
Speaker 2: and I think, considering all the hoops that he has
Speaker 2: to jump through, I admire the way he's gone about that.
Speaker 1: I have a lot of respect for that, and I
Speaker 1: think the players do too.
Speaker 2: And he's made every decision I think, with the players
Speaker 2: in mind, keeping that cohesion, keeping everyone in lockstep in
Speaker 2: that clubhouse, And as someone who was around last year's
Speaker 2: clubhouse where it was one of the worst team cultures
Speaker 2: I've ever been around, from Little league all the way
Speaker 2: up to professional sports, just to see that change overnight.
Speaker 2: And obviously that comes players and credibility and winning. But
Speaker 2: Don Kelly sets that tone and I give him credit there.
Speaker 2: As far as his in game management, yeah, it hasn't
Speaker 2: been amazing. I do think there are a lot of
Speaker 2: times where I agree with some of the decisions Don
Speaker 2: Kelly makes and they just immediately backfire. Like the other day,
Speaker 2: I had no issue with him keeping Mitch Keller in
Speaker 2: that game. And then, for of all people, Cole freaking
Speaker 2: young Ka he grew up in Western.
Speaker 1: Kids.
Speaker 2: Seriously, I mean between Weatherholt, him Ian half like it's
Speaker 2: like Don Kelly And the funny.
Speaker 4: Part is knows all of these dudes because they all
Speaker 4: grew up in Western Pa and they just are cruising him.
Speaker 4: But like, yeah, it's the Mitch Keller thing there.
Speaker 2: And again there have been some decisions that I disagree
Speaker 2: with and in real.
Speaker 1: Time I'm like, why are you doing this? Uh?
Speaker 2: But there are a lot of times where I'm like,
Speaker 2: you know what, that is probably what I would have
Speaker 2: done too, considering all factors at hand, and boyded it
Speaker 2: just not where avoided it immediately blow up in his face,
Speaker 2: and you can call that bad management. I think it's
Speaker 2: just more like, hey man, this is the choice I've got. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that's baseball, right.
Speaker 1: So yeah, Kelly. I that's my thoughts on him.
Speaker 2: Haig good, Murphy bad. I mean, at least for now anyway.
Speaker 2: And then overall, yeah, I just think it's an average staff.
Speaker 2: I don't think My big takeaway on this coaching staff
Speaker 2: is I don't think it's made the team any better overall.
Speaker 2: As a net, I don't think it's made much better.
Speaker 2: I also don't think it's holding the team that like
Speaker 2: there are a lot of people who believe, oh, if
Speaker 2: you fire Don Kelly, this, it's like, no, I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't think so like I think like, I don't
Speaker 2: think like. It's it's a replacement level coaching staff right now.
Speaker 1: Could it be better? Yes? Could it be a lot worse?
Speaker 2: I think so too so, And ultimately, if you have
Speaker 2: a replacement level coaching staff and good players, you should
Speaker 2: have a decent team.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's my view. So that's my great. See did
Speaker 1: you give yours yet?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I said, be minus. Yeah, yeah, but no, you're good.
Speaker 3: You're good.
Speaker 1: Been a long day.
Speaker 2: And then overall, Mark, as we wrap it up, overall great.
Speaker 2: On the Pittsburgh Pirates, what are you grading them through
Speaker 2: eighty one games.
Speaker 3: I'm going the same I gave Don Kelly and the
Speaker 3: coaching staff B minus. I think they're slightly above average
Speaker 3: this year for how well they performed. But like we
Speaker 3: said earlier, this bullpen has cost at least probably like
Speaker 3: five or six games where I think those shift in
Speaker 3: their favor that great gets bumped up quite a bit.
Speaker 3: But for how close this team has to play with
Speaker 3: the margins with this wild card race, it's just been
Speaker 3: a hair disappointing at times, overall good. I mean they
Speaker 3: have a winning record halfway through the season. That that's
Speaker 3: it feels fun to say as a Pirates fan. Yeah,
Speaker 3: at the same time, we expected that from this team.
Speaker 3: I think we, I personally expected just a little bit more.
Speaker 3: I think they're basically on pace for your prediction of
Speaker 3: like eighty two and eighty or whatever, and so yeah,
Speaker 3: I mean, overall, slightly above average, but I think that
Speaker 3: there was so much meat left on the bone still
Speaker 3: with this team.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's why I give a C plus. I mean
Speaker 2: I wrote it the other day. It's they're the definition
Speaker 2: of mediocre.
Speaker 3: Yep.
Speaker 2: Overall, Like you look at my report card, I have
Speaker 2: you know, a couple of b's, an a couple of f's,
Speaker 2: and then some c's, Like I think it averages out
Speaker 2: to just being like a C. And that's I mean,
Speaker 2: they're forty one and forty and so you now, if
Speaker 2: you're grading it compared to last year's team, it's in.
Speaker 1: A yeah, they're so much better.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I'm grading it compared to what they're trying
Speaker 2: to do, which has reached the playoffs. And while they've
Speaker 2: been better and they're still in the mix. The reality
Speaker 2: is the National League really good this year, and being
Speaker 2: a little better than average just isn't good enough. Like
Speaker 2: I do think that this team's potential and overall body
Speaker 2: of work is probably better than a forty one and
Speaker 2: forty record. Yeah, but the reality is you are what
Speaker 2: your record is, and they are one game over five
Speaker 2: hundred right now. If they get healthy and get better,
Speaker 2: that's great. If they make additions at the deadline, that's great.
Speaker 2: But this is the Pirates we're talking about. Nothing is guaranteed.
Speaker 2: Health is not guaranteed. They just lost Spencer Horowitz. We
Speaker 2: don't know even if you buy at the deadline. The
Speaker 2: last time this team bought it the deadline.
Speaker 1: It couldn't have gone worse.
Speaker 2: Like with the transactions, with the results that immediately.
Speaker 1: Followed, all of it went horribly.
Speaker 2: So it's not just to assume, oh, they're gonna make
Speaker 2: a trade and it'll take it to the next level.
Speaker 2: Who's to say this trade's gonna work right if whenever
Speaker 2: it does come So I just think, yeah, it's an
Speaker 2: average team right now, one that does certain things well,
Speaker 2: one that certain things they struggle with.
Speaker 1: So I give it a C plus with the potential
Speaker 1: of being a.
Speaker 3: B team, and I think that's a great grade for
Speaker 3: the Pirates to be for them with down counter Griffin
Speaker 3: down on Cruz. You know, we've had injuries to We've
Speaker 3: mentioned a couple of people already this year, and that's
Speaker 3: part of the game. But when you're still in the
Speaker 3: thick of things with two of your best players down,
Speaker 3: I'm I'm encouraged by how the first half has gone.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I am too. I just think, uh yeah, I
Speaker 1: think if you would have.
Speaker 2: Asked a lot of Pirates fans, if you would have
Speaker 2: won it to him and said, hey, here's how Reynolds
Speaker 2: is playing, Here's how Cruz played, Here's how Lao was
Speaker 2: performing in O'Hearn, Here's what the record is halfway through
Speaker 2: the season.
Speaker 1: Here's where you are in the standings.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people would have taken it.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, absolutely, And honestly, it's like you mentioned, Mark,
Speaker 2: this is pretty much exactly how I envisioned this.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they're just a little bit better than average.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I want to remind everyone to hit that subscribe button
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Speaker 2: Pirates mark any final thoughts as we wrap up another
Speaker 2: week here on Bucket Territory.
Speaker 3: So excited to get Connor Griffin back from injury. He
Speaker 3: was back in Pittsburgh on Thursday, had his rehab start
Speaker 3: in Altoona Wednesday, hit a home run triple h. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I'm just I'm so ready to see him back. I've
Speaker 3: really missed watching him play. This team is just so
Speaker 3: much more fun to watch when when he's out there.
Speaker 3: So I can't wait. What about you?
Speaker 1: It'll be fun. Do I have any parting thoughts? No,
Speaker 1: not really. Hope Josh is having fun on vacation exactly.
Speaker 1: We all are enjoying the show. I'll just say this.
Speaker 2: We are entering a very fun time in the baseball calendar.
Speaker 1: July is he coming? Where? You have the draft coming up?
Speaker 2: We have the All Star break, we have the trade deadline.
Speaker 1: This is real and the Pirates are a part of it.
Speaker 1: They're in there apart they're in it.
Speaker 2: They're probably not as in it as they should be,
Speaker 2: but they're in it. And honestly, I think again every
Speaker 2: fan for this team would have signed up for this
Speaker 2: at the beginning of the year. This is Things could
Speaker 2: be so much worse and it really fun. Stretch ahead
Speaker 2: over the next two three months to see how everything
Speaker 2: unfolds in the next eighty one games, and we'll be
Speaker 2: there to document it all.
Speaker 1: He's Platinum Key aka Mark.
Speaker 2: I'm Noah Hayle, signing off saying thanks for tuning in
Speaker 2: to another episode of Bucko Territory, presented to you by
Speaker 2: the foul tare Time R Network.
Speaker 1: Take care