You can call it the year of the shortstop as the Pirates drafted shortstops Kevin Newman and Kevin Kramer, while also drafting third basemen Ke'Bryan Hayes. "It's a good year for shortstops and it's been a good year for middle-of-the-diamond players," Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said. "Each Draft has strengths. Each Draft has challenges. This just happened to be a good year for middle-of-the-diamond players." Newman got the call two minutes before the selection was made and ... Read More
Why MLB Draft is unique
The Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft is probably the most complex draft process out of the big four American sports leagues. The best players eligible do not always get drafted in the first or second round. Sometimes they do not get drafted at all. Others may get drafted, but won’t sign with the team that picked them. So why is that? One word can explain that – signability. In the NFL, for example, a team signs the players they draft within a matter of weeks of them ... Read More
Pirates draft INF Ke’Bryan Hayes with 32nd pick
The Pittsburgh Pirates, with their 32nd pick in the 2015 MLB Draft, selected third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes. The 18-year-old native of Tomball, Tx., and graduate of Concordia Lutheran High School, the pick was received as compensation from the Toronto Blue Jays after they signed Russell Martin to a 5-year $82 million contract. The son of former big league outfielder has intangibles that could one day translate into MLB production, but the Pirates will need to work on his conditioning and ... Read More
Pirates lose rainy contest to Brewers
You could hear the dozens of PNC Park fans left screaming "cheater" to Ryan Braun. That's what two rain delays totaling two hours and 13 minutes will do. A runner sliding on the bag, the ball hitting the backstop, the ball popping in Herbie Andrade's glove in the bullpen could be heard by everyone left at PNC Park. None of this did the Pittsburgh Pirates any well as it lost 2-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers. Almost every last one of the 18,016 in attendance left during one or both of the ... Read More
Pirates select SS Kevin Newman in first round
With the 19th pick of the 2015 MLB Draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected short stop Kevin Newman from the University of Arizona. The 20-year-old may not be well known for his power, but his raw ability to hit the ball, discipline, base running and defensive play makes up for all of that. The Poway, California native stands 6 feet high and is weighs 175 pounds. Newman shows great potential in the batter’s box, on the base paths, as well as on defense. He is also the only player who has back to ... Read More
Cole wins fourth consecutive start; Pirates win another series
Gerrit Cole won his fourth start of the season throwing seven innings in a 3-0 Pirates victory against the Atlanta Braves. Cole [9-2] now is tied with Felix Hernandez for the most wins and ERA [1.73]. His 116 pitches represent a career high. He also is the first Pirates pitcher since Emil Yde in 1924-25 to win 30 games in his first 53 starts. Since September 7, 2014, Cole has 12 wins, which represents the most in the major leagues during that time period. Pirates starters have now recorded ... Read More
Pirates comeback falls short in loss to Braves
Vance Worley allowed a run for the first time as a reliever and the Pittsburgh Pirates lost on walk-off home run to the Atlanta Braves. The 5-4 victory ends a four-game winning streak. Worley [2-4] allowed a lead-off homer to Christian Bethancourt. The 84 mile-per-hour slider went over the right field wall. "I thought it was a good pitch to him," Worley said. "Somehow he got enough barrel on it." The Braves scored the first two runs. A Chris Johnson solo home run off Jeff Locke in the ... Read More
Pirates win streak hits four with victory over Braves
The Pittsburgh Pirates offense had 12 hits in a series opening 10-8 victory against the Atlanta Braves. Charlie Morton [3-0] did just enough to earn a victory against his former team, throwing five innings allowing four runs [three earned]. Morton also walked three batters and struck out one on 82 pitches, 50 of which were for strikes. Morton once again displayed his ground ball ability as the Braves had nine ground ball outs and two fly balls. The Braves scored two runs in the first ... Read More
Cervelli is no Martin, but still quality find for Pirates
It’s another year and another former New York Yankee catcher is having success with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Almost feels like clockwork at this point. First it was signing Russell Martin in 2013, and then last year it was acquiring Chris Stewart for cash. This year, it was trading for Francisco Cervelli. The 29-year-old has been a quality backstop for the Pirates and is only costing the team $987,500 this year. But so far this year, how does Cervelli stack up against Martin, who signed ... Read More
Pirates secure series sweep
It took a while for Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer to hit his first home run of the season, however his second came in Wednesday's 5-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants and represented the winning run. This is the first Pirates sweep in San Francisco since May 14-16 2004 and the third sweep in the past four series. The Pirates have won 11 of their past 13 games and at 29-24 are a season best five games above .500. As was the case in the first two games, it was the Giants who ... Read More