Despite making the playoffs in 2013, the Pittsburgh Pirates knew its biggest deficiency was pinch-hitting so immediately assistant hitting coach Jeff Livesey was tasked with putting a change to this. Pinch-hitting is by no mean an easy art to master. Essentially a batter is coming in cold to a pitcher that sometimes is very locked in or at the very least has thrown many pitches. The batter is then tasked with making a contribution that can help his team. Last season, Travis Snider found ... Read More
Byrd, Giants rough up Locke; even series
Pittsburgh Pirates fans remember Marlon Byrd for his time with the team in 2013 and more recently, for being one of the instigators in a benches clearing incident with the Cincinnati Reds earlier this season. Though fans booed him loudly, he had a single, double and home run five innings, helping he new team, the San Francisco Giants, beat his old team 6-4 on Friday night. Giants starter Madison Bumgarner [15-6] went 6.1 innings and threw 102 pitches while allowing three runs. It was first time ... Read More
Pirates pregame 8/3: Pirates return home; face Cubs in game with wild card implications
Following a four-game split against the Cincinnati Reds, the Pittsburgh Pirates return home for six games first with a National League Central series against the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs come in tied for second place with the San Francisco Giants in the NL Wild Card race and four games behind the Pirates for first. “We’ve been playing some really good baseball lately and I think we have a really good shot," Kris Bryant said. "Our team has really good chemistry and overall we’re excited about ... Read More
Pirates acquire Morse; say good-bye to Tabata
It was a rather quiet trade deadline day for the Pittsburgh Pirates however shortly after 4 p.m. ET the team traded Jose Tabata to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Michael Morse and cash. Earlier in the season Pirates general manager Neal Huntington stated that he did not think Tabata would make the major league club this season and that they were looking for other ways to find him a starting opportunity. Tabata did appear in 27 games this season with the Pirates though sparingly ... Read More