WEBVTT - Is the ship sinking? 0:00:09.880 --> 0:00:13.080 What's up, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Buco Territory, 0:00:13.080 --> 0:00:15.320 presented to you by the Foul Territory Network. I'm Noah 0:00:15.360 --> 0:00:18.000 Hyle's joining me as always are my co hosts, Platinum 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:21.919 Ky Aka Mark and Josh Harrison. No need to bury 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:25.279 the lead here. Things are not going well for the 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:30.520 Pittsburgh Pirates. After a very underwhelming, disappointing home stand, they 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:34.640 go to Cincinnati, and while they avoided a four game sweep, 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:38.320 it feels like things pretty much couldn't have gone worse 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:41.520 for them in that road trip as far as injuries, 0:00:41.600 --> 0:00:45.400 as far as key players performances, as far as overall results. 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:48.880 It was a disaster. We're gonna talk about that. We're 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:52.600 gonna talk about probably their biggest disappointment of that series. 0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:55.680 His name is Paul Skeins. And then we will wrap 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:58.360 it up with Platinum Keys Key of the Week, which 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:02.720 we talked about on every Monday show. Happy Trade Deadline Day, guys. 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:07.360 So an exciting one, right, so let's get right into it. 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:09.839 The Pirates go to Cincinnati. They lose three of four. 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:17.480 Two of their first losses were incredibly winnable baseball games, 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:22.160 just very dejecting. I would argue Saturday's loss might have 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:26.640 been the worst Pirates loss I've seen, I can't tell you, 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:29.920 and how long like it, like it literally might be 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:33.480 their most dejecting like Pirates loss I've witnessed since Josh 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:36.080 was on the team and the games actually mattered, you know, 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:40.360 like that's it's been that far back. Mark. We'll start 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:42.680 with you just as a fan man, I mean, take 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:46.959 us through it. It just what is the most aside 0:01:46.959 --> 0:01:50.160 from schemes, who will get to what was the most 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:52.120 dejecting thing from this weekend for you? 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:57.360 The Rhino Hearn injury. Absolutely that rhyano Hearn's such a 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:02.360 leader on this team and contribute so so much. To 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:05.240 lose one of your best bats, a guy who has 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:11.000 just been driving in runs all year. That stung, Like 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:15.480 this Red Series sucked. But that's three losses. You can 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:18.960 move on. It's baseball. There's one hundred and fifty plus 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:22.720 more games to go, like in a season. But losing 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:26.880 Ryan O'Hearn for six to eight weeks for essentially the 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:31.520 rest of the regular season, that's a gut punch. The 0:02:31.560 --> 0:02:34.120 only benefit I see is that at least it happened 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:38.640 before today Monday of the tread date trade deadline so 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:40.720 that the Pirates can go out and possibly get like 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:44.680 a right handed bat to address that injury. A bit 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:47.359 ironic that we were just talking about as Marillian Valdez 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:49.880 who we thought might be out, and we listed off 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:52.919 right handed bats like Taylor Ward and Joe Adell as 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:55.840 trade targets, and now those guys are still trade targets, 0:02:55.919 --> 0:02:59.959 just for a different replacement. So yeah, the Ryan O'Hearn 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:04.400 injury to me was probably the biggest loss or like 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:09.320 biggest negative of the series outside of schemes looking not great. 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:15.400 What about you, Josh, Yeah, obviously you know O'Hearn is 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:19.119 a big gut punch, as you mentioned, given what he's 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:21.240 done so far as you know for this team, stepping 0:03:21.240 --> 0:03:23.640 in and you know, being one of the better offenses 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:26.560 is one of your better hitters. So that's definitely a 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:29.320 gut punch. To not be missing, you know, for like 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:31.560 ten days, to be missing for that substantial amount of 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:34.880 time definitely sucks. But to not say the same thing 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:40.880 as you, I'm gonna say, losing winnable games and I 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:44.480 don't want to continue to sit here and be like oh, 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:48.720 but at the same time, like winnable games means there's 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:52.960 something that is not allowing you to finish games. We're 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:55.080 not talking about this is baseball. They got a bloop, 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:58.640 they got a dribbler, right, these are winnable games or 0:03:58.720 --> 0:04:02.080 like something and somebody's control could have caused that outcome 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:05.440 to be, you know, in a pirates favor. And you know, 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:07.520 you can deal with giving up pitch, you can deal with, 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:10.480 you know, things not going your way, but when you're 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:13.720 not taking care of the ball, you're not really giving 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:17.720 yourself a chance. And defense for me was one of 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:19.840 the things that you know, I spoke on earlier in 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:21.840 the season that I didn't want to be the biggest 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:24.720 disappointment in not saying it's the biggest disappointment, but in 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:26.800 these moments where you're going through the skid. I think 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:31.080 they're three and seven in the last ten. Your your 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:33.760 guy Paul Schemes, not only is he not pitching well, 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:36.960 the team overall isn't playing well. You got injuries. You 0:04:37.000 --> 0:04:39.880 cannot afford to have series or games that you are 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:43.600 able to win and fumble the ball and allow teams 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:47.240 to to you know, pretty much still not one. A 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:50.520 couple from up under you and me those don't sit 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:53.279 well because there's something that could have been done. Injuries 0:04:53.320 --> 0:04:56.520 are something that you really can't prevent. But yes, the 0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:58.880 injury is definitely a gut punch because that's somebody that 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:05.400 you really need. But you know, losing winnable games at 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:08.960 some point, it's got to be done with losing those games. 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:11.240 You know, it's early part of the season. Okay, we 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:13.919 have to yeah, okay, we went through our little struggles, 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:17.880 but you're down to the final with less than sixty games. 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:24.440 There's no time for those type of mistakes. And that 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:26.560 is a part that that I mean, I feel like 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:33.279 we've said this every other week, and it is obviously 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:35.279 going to show up at these times because you're nearing 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:38.640 the end of the season, your trade deadline. But by 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:41.080 that time you would hope to, you know, clean up 0:05:41.120 --> 0:05:43.560 all the issues that you have or you're gonna address 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:46.880 it through the trade deadline. But the way those winnable games, 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:50.160 that's not really addressa but the trade deadline. That's got 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:52.280 to be done in the clubhouse, and that's just attention 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:53.320 to detail and focus. 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:57.599 You lost your first two games of this series because 0:05:57.640 --> 0:06:00.200 people who are playing positions they have no business is 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:04.640 playing made wrong decisions and high pressure situations. That's just 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:08.880 what it is, yep. And I think that's a product 0:06:09.000 --> 0:06:12.720 of a few things. I mean, one, it's a product 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:15.480 of injury in a way, right, Like if Connor Griffin 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:19.240 is at shortstop, probably something a little different happens on 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:24.200 the Friday, the Thursday night loss maybe, But like the 0:06:24.200 --> 0:06:28.040 bigger thing is just like we said it all, Like 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:30.920 Nicknzalez has been one of the best hitters in the 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:35.000 National League as far as pure hitting is concerned, but 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:37.800 he is not a third baseman. And that's a very 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:42.520 tough position to play. And it just goes to show 0:06:42.600 --> 0:06:45.120 when you play people out of position and you have 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:49.440 these high pressure situations and all eyes are on you, 0:06:50.279 --> 0:06:54.400 it's like the stadium pulse and NCAA like the controller 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:57.520 shaking the heartbeat. Like that's That's the thing that baseball 0:06:57.520 --> 0:07:00.279 players will always say is like being able to control 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:02.840 you're breathing your heart breath, Like when the game speeds 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:07.560 up on you, how do you react. And we've just 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:10.880 seen it so many times defensively with this team, where 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:12.840 the game just speeds up on it. It looks like 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:16.160 and I'm not trying to like demean professional athletes. I 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:18.600 understand how hard this game is to play at that level. 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:20.600 I don't fully understand because I didn't do it, but 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:23.720 like I comprehend the difficulty of which they're playing this sport. 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:27.680 But at the same time, these are mistakes that you 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:30.880 make in high school baseball. That is something I would 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:34.400 see covering the Whipio playoffs, and a kid who's like 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:38.920 a sophomore make that play throw to second base, and 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:43.320 that's just inexcusable major League baseball that you cannot blame 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:46.440 a coach on that. That is just something where it's 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:50.520 like anyone who's watched baseball just knows, throw the ball 0:07:50.560 --> 0:07:53.520 to first base. There man throw the ball to first 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:55.160 base and Brandon Low's got to catch it. But at 0:07:55.200 --> 0:07:57.760 the same time, I can't blame Brandon Low a ton 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:00.520 for that. But it's just how many games have they 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:03.200 lost because of things like that? How many Paul Skeen 0:08:03.280 --> 0:08:06.120 starts have been ruined because of things like that or 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:09.440 other things? And you look back, so who do you blame. 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:11.400 Do you blame the guy who built the team or 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:13.160 do you blame the budget that he had to work 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:16.560 with where he couldn't go out and get certain players 0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:19.800 at certain positions, they take whoever the hell they could get, 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:22.440 and whoever the hell they could get was a whole 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:25.280 bunch of left handed power hitters who all played on 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:27.440 the right side of the infield or the right side 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:29.960 of the outfield or designated hitter, and they had a 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:32.719 whole bunch of the same thing. And they've tried their 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:35.280 best to make it work. But in reality, you're not 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:39.120 going to survive a season with a third of your 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:43.920 lineup at minimum playing out of position every single day. 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:46.640 And then when guys get injured, you have more guys 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:50.880 playing out a position every single day. And that's the 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:54.640 one thing I mean, I hate when people bitch about 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:57.240 it analytics, because analytics, at the end of the day, 0:08:57.480 --> 0:09:00.480 all it is is information, and information should go into 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:03.080 every decision you make, whether if you're buying a car, 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:05.600 if you're buying toothpaste, or if you're buying a major 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:08.440 league baseball player. You should use the most information you 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:11.880 have at your disposal to make an informed, accurate decision. 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:14.520 But at the same time, some things that analytics don't 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:18.240 account for is a guy's heartbeat playing a position and 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:21.360 against the division rival in the bottom of the eighth inning, 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:24.600 in a game that they have to win, what is 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:27.640 he going to do? And in that instance, for lack 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:30.240 of a better term, and I apologize for the blunt 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:32.880 way to put it, he pissed down his leg. That's 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:36.280 what happened. And that's very unfortunate for the Pittsburgh Pirates 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:40.200 because you follow that up by your leader, your clubhouse 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:45.040 suffering probably a season ending injury. Where do you go 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:47.199 from there? And it's just stuff like that where it's 0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:50.440 like Nick Gonzalez should not be playing third base. They 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:52.400 have to play them at third base because they couldn't 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:53.960 find a way to get a third baseman to come 0:09:53.960 --> 0:09:57.200 to Pittsburgh this year. And that's on Ben Cherrington, that's 0:09:57.240 --> 0:09:59.640 on Bob Nudding, that's whoever. But at the same time 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:02.839 Nick and he also has been playing third base all year, right, 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:06.559 make a play man. So there's so many, so much 0:10:06.600 --> 0:10:10.160 blame to go around. It's baseball, and it's just immensely 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:16.000 disappointing to watch. It's disappointing to watch Mitch Keller, Bryan 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:19.760 freaking Hayes, it's a it's embarrassing to watch this starting 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:23.080 rotation who puffed his chest out and talked all offseason 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:25.439 about how it was gonna blow doors and how it's 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:30.560 gonna get Yeah, and not one of them has been 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:33.160 as good as advertised this year, aside from the guy 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:36.920 who they refuse to let actually help their team more 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:39.880 than just five to six innings, and he's only been 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:41.880 good for like a month, by the way, but he's 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:44.800 still been their best starting pitcher this year. Him are 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:48.760 their all star who can't keep it together consistently anymore, 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:51.400 And then you just look at the fielding. The offense 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:54.320 also has had maybe two games in the last two 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:57.000 weeks where it's done its job. And I get that 0:10:57.040 --> 0:11:01.960 it's banged up, but man, I mean, maybe you shouldn't 0:11:01.960 --> 0:11:04.120 have put so much faith in the in the twenty 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:07.720 two year old. Yeah who Yeah, he went scorched earth, 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:10.000 But how long was that gonna last? I think we 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:11.000 found the answer to that. 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:14.080 And how much can he do when there's only four 0:11:14.120 --> 0:11:16.320 hits on the entire day by the team? 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:19.480 You know, Yeah, they're they're behm. 0:11:20.240 --> 0:11:26.040 I will say this their schedule, I mean besides yeah, 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:28.920 besides the next four days where they're playing the Milwaukee Brewers, 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:32.120 and that just seems like we're gonna see a position 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:34.720 player on the mound at least twice that series. Based 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:38.960 off the way this is trending, it's like it doesn't 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:42.439 get easier altogether. But I will say like it's definitely 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:45.120 easier than what they've gone through when you look over it. 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:47.880 But it's like, can they recover? I don't know if 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:51.440 if they did, it would be the most unpirates thing 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:55.280 I've seen them do in a long time, because it 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:58.640 just feels like the wheels have fallen off here. And 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:01.360 that's the one thing that I will give this team 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:04.800 credit for is that they never allowed things to snowball. 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:08.240 They've never been two games below five hundred. While they've 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:11.120 never been able to stack wins, they've never allowed it 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:13.960 to spiral out of control. I'm looking at here. I 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:17.640 don't see how this doesn't spiral. I just don't. Between 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:20.680 the injuries, between the four games that they have coming 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:25.520 up here, man, I mean that that Reds team was dead. 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:28.520 That Reds team has no heart, no soul. Half that 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:31.120 roster is not even gonna be on that team tomorrow. 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:35.440 The broadcast was on Hugwatch for them, Yeah yeah, and 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:36.840 they just there. 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:40.720 It's gonna have to change attention to detail people playing 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:43.040 out a position which we knew coming into the season. 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:48.120 As you said, still big leaguers, you gotta know where 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:50.120 you're going with the ball. You gotta know the situation. 0:12:50.760 --> 0:12:55.560 Even in that situation, Low you know, covering second, might 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:57.200 not have been ready for the throw just because. 0:12:56.960 --> 0:12:58.200 He's like, oh, he can't throw this to me. 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:00.720 A little bit of focus of still expect to throw, 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:04.360 Nick Gonzales, Yes, you should be going to first even 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:06.720 if you committed, you know what, put yourself in episode 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:08.840 you're covering second base and you're not there. You don't 0:13:08.840 --> 0:13:11.360 want to throw coming when you're that far away. But 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:14.400 as you said, things speed up. But man, we're here 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:17.199 at this point in season. There's no more excuses because 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:19.640 when you know you got guys out of position, you 0:13:19.720 --> 0:13:23.960 need to hone in on the routine plays, plays like that, 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:26.360 hey in this situation. Granted, the only way you learn, 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:29.560 honestly is in those situations. But that's why you have 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:31.760 to have that much more attention to detail and focus 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:34.319 when you're going through the drill work, when you're taking 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:37.120 your ground balls and you know, doing situational work to 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:39.480 know that, okay, hey, if he's not covering second, I 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:41.280 got to be able to reset my feet and fire 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:43.400 throw the first, because not everybody's going to be on 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:46.360 the same wavelength. Low might have got a bad jumper, 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:48.760 didn't see the ball. So sometimes you just can't assume. 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:51.200 And a lot of times when you got guys playing 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:53.840 out of position, they're going to assume what they've been 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:55.480 told it's supposed to happen. 0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:57.280 It's gonna happen, and it's like no. 0:13:57.280 --> 0:13:59.080 You still have to be an athlete and make an 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:01.240 adjustment to say, oh O, my guy's not at the base, 0:14:01.559 --> 0:14:02.520 let me throw it first. 0:14:03.880 --> 0:14:08.679 Yeah, well we haven't even got to the worst part yet. 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:11.880 We're going to get to that next. Here on Bucco Territory. 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:16.000 It's the summertime, aj and this is a time to 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:21.240 feel free, wild make some phone calls that you're overdue for, 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:25.040 and also get some deals that you should be getting 0:14:25.160 --> 0:14:25.960 that you deserve. 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:28.200 Yeah, it couldn't be any easier though. It's just one 0:14:28.280 --> 0:14:32.440 price for unlimited talk, text and data. It's really simple. 0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:35.200 It is one price for all the data and all 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:36.760 the phone calls you could want per month. 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:38.000 It's simple, that's right. 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:40.440 All of Mint Mobiles plans are fifteen bucks a month 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:43.120 with the summer sale, even unlimited. To get your new 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:45.240 wireless plan for just fifteen bucks a month, go to 0:14:45.240 --> 0:14:48.200 mintmobile dot com slash territory. 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He walked too many people, 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:38.440 His stuff wasn't good. It just didn't work. I'm gonna 0:15:38.440 --> 0:15:41.880 start off by just saying this. If this team doesn't 0:15:41.920 --> 0:15:44.080 make the playoffs, there is plenty of blame to be 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:46.720 placed around. There's plenty of blame to go around on 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:51.640 the front office, on ownership, on coaching, on many people 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:53.720 in the locker room, in the clubhouse. I should say 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:58.800 Paul Skans deserves a lot of blame on this season 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:03.280 if they don't make the plays, because if he isn't 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:07.240 going nothing else matters. We can talk about the defense, 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:11.000 we talk about the offense going cold. We could talk 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:13.920 you know, you could call Don Kelly a bad manager, 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:17.160 point out how Ben Sherrington hasn't built a winning roster 0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:21.160 in seven years, or if Paul Skins can't have a 0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:24.960 sub three e r A. This just doesn't matter. It 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:29.720 just doesn't because that's that's the thing that everyone once, 0:16:30.160 --> 0:16:32.480 all the people who were cheering for the Pirates or 0:16:32.480 --> 0:16:34.480 even non Pirates fans who are like I would love 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:36.920 to see this team get into the playoffs. Why it's 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:40.200 to see what Paul Skeens could do. Because we've seen 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:42.720 what elite pitchers can do. Look at what Yamamoto did 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:45.600 for the Dodgers last year. He wasn't the sole reason 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:47.640 why they won the World Series, but they probably don't 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:52.720 win it without him. Bys and Bumgardner literally carried a 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:56.320 baseball team, sorry, Josh, carried a baseball team to a 0:16:56.360 --> 0:17:01.720 World Series championship. Like you when you have that ace, 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:06.840 that horse it is the ultimate equalizer. And for two 0:17:06.920 --> 0:17:09.360 years all we did was here about, Oh, this guy 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:11.280 could just get an offense and they could get him 0:17:11.320 --> 0:17:16.560 in there. It will be a game changer. He's not 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:19.120 getting there this year because of himself. And I don't 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:21.040 know if he's hurt or I don't know if he 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:23.880 didn't condition to himself properly. I don't know if he's 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:26.200 in his own head. I don't know if it's coaching. 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:29.800 Surely the defense hasn't helped him. But at the same time, 0:17:30.359 --> 0:17:33.400 how many times has Paul Schemes won this baseball team 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:36.200 a game this year? Think about it. I can tell 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:40.600 you how many times he's gotten a win and a blowout, right, 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:43.680 I mean now, all his last three wins, they were 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:47.919 lopsided scores, some of them as defense even made plays 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:50.840 to help him. But when's the last time this guy 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:54.200 pitched them seven innings of shutout ball and a one 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:58.119 nothing win. I you might have to go back to 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:02.800 like April early May. I'm sorry, and I get it. 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:07.399 Like people are protective of Schemes. He is one of 0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:10.480 the most popular athletes that this city has ever called, 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:14.919 you know, their own, and deservedly so because Prior to 0:18:14.960 --> 0:18:20.640 this year, he was unbelievable. But the drop off, it's 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:25.359 no longer like a concern. It's just a disappointment. He's 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:28.320 like hovering on a four earned run average. If you 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:32.080 gave me one hundred guesses as to how Paul Skeins 0:18:32.119 --> 0:18:34.760 this season would go, I would have never guessed it 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:37.600 because there and if you're injured, then you gotta sit 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:41.359 down because you're hurting the team. They are a worst team. 0:18:41.400 --> 0:18:43.800 I wrote it earlier this year that they're a worst team. 0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:48.040 When he's on the mound, they're it looked like they 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:50.480 had a triple a call up on the mount on 0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:56.119 Friday against a team where he owns them, and like, 0:18:56.160 --> 0:18:58.520 I'm getting all fired up and everything, and I'm not 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:03.479 even a fan, but it's it is just so I 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:06.240 can't even picture just how disappointing it is for the 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:09.840 fans and even just for someone who covers it. It's like, man, 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:12.640 it was all about putting Paul Skins in a chance 0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:15.440 to give him the opportunity to be great, give him 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:18.240 the opportunity to will your team to win. And they've 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:22.000 done that, and to his credit, in the beginning of July, 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:25.160 he stepped up and again it was run support whatever. 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:27.159 He's still held up at his end of the bargain. 0:19:27.359 --> 0:19:29.679 They needed him to shut down, showed up, or go 0:19:29.800 --> 0:19:32.159 toe to toe with him. He couldn't do it. And 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:36.720 then he goes into the Reds Great American Ballpark, which 0:19:36.720 --> 0:19:38.480 I get as a hitter's part, but come on, man, 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:42.960 come on. That team is dead. This is that should 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:48.000 have been food for him. They embarrassed him. They embarrassed him. 0:19:48.040 --> 0:19:52.000 That's a last place team that made it made him 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:56.479 there is yep. Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna stop talking him. 0:19:56.680 --> 0:19:59.440 Mark Josh go ahead, Yeah, I'll jump in here. I mean, 0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:02.760 at this point, I almost like it feels weird to say, 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:06.960 but I almost hope it's injury related, because if it's not, 0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:11.680 then that is almost more concerning, because yeah, I mean, 0:20:11.720 --> 0:20:15.320 I like, the off speed stuff is obviously like what's 0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:19.480 really been really hurt this year, and but like it's 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:22.680 also why it's like, obviously we've seen the velocity fall off. 0:20:22.800 --> 0:20:25.720 Was the velocity what was driving all the off speed 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:28.680 stuff success in the past and now because that's not there, 0:20:28.720 --> 0:20:32.040 I don't know, but yeah, it's it's just so concerning 0:20:32.080 --> 0:20:35.439 because this team was built around Paul Skins. Right, this 0:20:35.560 --> 0:20:38.200 is why you're going in And we've been saying all 0:20:38.240 --> 0:20:41.240 off season, you only have so many years of Paul 0:20:41.280 --> 0:20:43.760 Skians as a Pittsburgh pirate, or at least that's what 0:20:43.800 --> 0:20:46.919 it looked like, and so to have one of these 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:53.080 years wasted because of him and his performance is it's 0:20:53.200 --> 0:20:57.800 just like you said, it's just disappointing. I still believe 0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:00.480 that he'll figure things out and get better and get 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:03.040 right back to it, but what we've seen this year 0:21:03.400 --> 0:21:05.440 that's just me being optimistic. I mean, there's not a 0:21:05.520 --> 0:21:10.679 lot to go and support that. Yeah, exactly exactly. You're 0:21:10.800 --> 0:21:13.400 looking back and saying, well, he's done it like two 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:16.520 seasons prior, he's got to get back to it. But yeah, 0:21:16.560 --> 0:21:18.719 I don't know if the league's figured him out, if 0:21:18.760 --> 0:21:21.920 the book is out on him, if it like you said, 0:21:21.960 --> 0:21:27.160 if it's coaching, if it's just him not being conditioned enough, 0:21:27.240 --> 0:21:30.360 I don't know, but it it doesn't look good. And 0:21:30.640 --> 0:21:33.720 like I've gone back and watched some of his performance, 0:21:33.840 --> 0:21:37.119 like him pitch a year or two ago, and you 0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:39.920 can just tell it's like, oh, this is a different 0:21:39.960 --> 0:21:44.159 pitcher than who I just watched last week. The movement 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:46.760 just it doesn't feel like it's there, let alone in 0:21:46.760 --> 0:21:50.320 the philosophy, and so yeah, I mean I don't. I 0:21:50.359 --> 0:21:53.480 haven't wanted to be an alarmist because he had put 0:21:53.560 --> 0:21:56.200 in such a body of work that you can trust 0:21:56.800 --> 0:21:59.120 that he's going to get better. But at this point, 0:21:59.160 --> 0:22:02.840 like the pan button is getting pressed for me where 0:22:02.840 --> 0:22:06.280 it's like this, it hasn't been getting better. This is 0:22:06.359 --> 0:22:10.280 concerning Josh as a former player. Seemed like a guy 0:22:11.680 --> 0:22:17.320 go from such dominance to not What are your thoughts? 0:22:19.280 --> 0:22:23.199 Definitely I can see how from a fan standpoint, you 0:22:23.240 --> 0:22:26.080 guys are you know, I didn't know, not even from 0:22:26.240 --> 0:22:29.040