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Yeah...its early
But
Cutch is back. At least the Bucs have this going for them.
But
Cutch is back. At least the Bucs have this going for them.
Did they get Rudy Stein back?Our pitching staff is starting to round out.......![]()
Guy is playing for the one team that will have him at this point in his career. Not sure that is having something going for you.Yeah...its early
But
Cutch is back. At least the Bucs have this going for them.
Guy is playing for the one team that will have him at this point in his career. Not sure that is having something going for you.
Case in point, KeBryan Hayes' bat finally showed some signs of catching up to his glove toward the end of last season, but it's premature to say he has finally turned the corner.
Great post Steeltime!I have been an avid baseball fan for most of my life and learned about some things that modern teams look for in assessing a player's production. Baseball is so statistically driven that we now know the difference between stats that are descriptive (what the player did) and predictive (what the player is likely to do in the near future). In this regard, Hayes' hitting shows a LOT of promise.
Specifically, something called launch angle. players with low launch angles tend to hit a lot of ground balls, which are rarely extra-base hits, never HR's and are outs about 75% of the time. Improving launch angle is something teams started to research and teach about 10 years ago.
Another important stat is exit velocity, i.e., how hard a guy hits the ball. Low exit velocities are often squeak hits and bloopers but again, rarely extra-base hits and never HR's.
Hayes' launch angle the past 3 seasons has gone from 2.6 degrees to 5.2 degrees to last year's 13.2 degrees. The five-fold increase in launch angle is intentional as Hayes is looking to get the ball off the ground. Hayes also has exit velocities that range from the good to last year's excellent, from 90.2 mph to 91 mph to 92.2 mph. The latter number was in the 93rd percentile. Hayes also does not K much (though his walk rate cratered last year for some reason).
Baseball Savant - Ke'Bryan Hayes
So don't be surprised when he hits 20+ HR's this season and winds up hitting something like .285/.340/.475. How good has his hitting become? Good enough to win the Gold Glove (yes, that's a joke with substantial factual basis).
The Pirates have some entertaining bats - Cruz, Hayes, Reynolds, Suwinski, Peguero, Davis, and a very underrated Edward Olivares. Their pen is very good and the starting pitching is ... did I mention the pen? The starting pitching improves when Jared Jones and Skenes join the rotation. Those two are F-I-L-T-H-Y.
Great post Steeltime!
In addition, there are several really great prospects in the organization that weren't mentioned in your posts.
Middle infielders - Cheng and Tremarr Johnson
and look out for Jase Bowen - OF/!B down the road.
In addition---Numerous young arms!
This team might be poised for near term success more than any sports organization in Pittsburgh at the moment.
Watching these guys grow will be very enjoyable!
I have been an avid baseball fan for most of my life and learned about some things that modern teams look for in assessing a player's production. Baseball is so statistically driven that we now know the difference between stats that are descriptive (what the player did) and predictive (what the player is likely to do in the near future). In this regard, Hayes' hitting shows a LOT of promise.
Specifically, something called launch angle. players with low launch angles tend to hit a lot of ground balls, which are rarely extra-base hits, never HR's and are outs about 75% of the time. Improving launch angle is something teams started to research and teach about 10 years ago.
Another important stat is exit velocity, i.e., how hard a guy hits the ball. Low exit velocities are often squeak hits and bloopers but again, rarely extra-base hits and never HR's.
Hayes' launch angle the past 3 seasons has gone from 2.6 degrees to 5.2 degrees to last year's 13.2 degrees. The five-fold increase in launch angle is intentional as Hayes is looking to get the ball off the ground. Hayes also has exit velocities that range from the good to last year's excellent, from 90.2 mph to 91 mph to 92.2 mph. The latter number was in the 93rd percentile. Hayes also does not K much (though his walk rate cratered last year for some reason).
Baseball Savant - Ke'Bryan Hayes
So don't be surprised when he hits 20+ HR's this season and winds up hitting something like .285/.340/.475. How good has his hitting become? Good enough to win the Gold Glove (yes, that's a joke with substantial factual basis).
The Pirates have some entertaining bats - Cruz, Hayes, Reynolds, Suwinski, Peguero, Davis, and a very underrated Edward Olivares. Their pen is very good and the starting pitching is ... did I mention the pen? The starting pitching improves when Jared Jones and Skenes join the rotation. Those two are F-I-L-T-H-Y.
Termarr Johnson reminds me of the young Joe Morgan..Yep. Tomlin's quest for 9 wins is an anchor to the Steelers and the Pens have just become old.
I was in a discussion/debate last year with another guy about Termarr Johnson. Dude was talking about Johnson's disappointing production and I noted the TJ was 18 years old at the start of the season, playing against grown men, hit 18 HR's and had a .422 OBP. "But, but, but ... BATTING AVERAGE" was the guy's response.
Termarr Johnson reminds me of the young Joe Morgan..
Seriously… not just a compliment, but his play and skill sets align with Morgan’s, especially as a young man just breaking into the league..of course IMHO.Wow, what a great comp - the eye at the plate, the speed, the power, even the position.
Skenes looked impressive in his short outing against the Orioles.
He can hit 100+mph on his fastball with little effort and seems to already have a decent feel for his change up. He seems to have that strong mound presence that the great ones have as well.
It just sucks to know the Pirates have zero chance of resigning him when the time comes.
Healthy, middle of the road players murder the Pirates’ budget.Yeah, for the first two years of the new contract but the simple fact is that long-term, expensive pitcher contracts to guys over age 30 are a massive negative. Take a look at some examples:
Don't commit to pitchers over age 30. Just don't. It will murder the budget.
- Justin Verlander - 2019. More time on the DL than the mound.
- David Price - 2022. Yikes.
- Zack Greinke - 2021. Yikes.
- CC Sabathia - 2017. Yikes.
- Max Scherzer - 2021. Yikes.
- Jacob Degrom - 2023. Soon to join the "yikes" list.
- Felix Hernandez - 2019. Yikes.
- Cole Hamels - 2019. Yikes.
Jones looked good. Wish they would have let him finish the 6th, but very good debut.Jared Jones struck out 10 in just under six innings, giving up three runs.
He definitely can be something special, but given how hard he throws without the largest stature, I worry a little bit about stamina and durability going forward.
He's not built like Paul Skenes.