One thing about baseball is that it takes 25 guys to win most of the time and not just the nine guys who take the field for the first pitch. That is something that has been especially true about the Pittsburgh Pirates under Clint Hurdle as during his tenure in as the Pirates manager, he has proven that he is willing to go deep into his bench on almost a nightly basis. This season the Pirates bench is rewarding their managers’ faith in them. Just a couple years ago the Bucs had one of ... Read More
Pirates Gameday 5/9: Lineups, Suspensions Given, DL Update
Good afternoon from PNC Park where the Pirates (14-20) begin a three-game weekend series with the St. Louis Cardinals (18-17). Francisco Liriano (0-3, 4.54 ERA) will again look for win #1 tonight against Michael Wacha (2-3, 2.55 ERA), who is making his first start at PNC since his dominating performance in game 4 of last seasons NLDS. Suspensions Handed Out MLB has made a ruling on the appeals from Travis Snider and Russel Martin. Both rulings were upheld and Snider will serve his two games ... Read More
Pirates Get to Lincecum Early, Take Series from Giants
Gerrit Cole followed Charlie Morton's lead by going eight strong innings on Wednesday afternoon following Morton's eight strong last night. Cole also recorded the teams first starting pitching win in 20 days as the Pirates (14-20) defeated the Giants (21-13) 4-3 to take the three-game set. Cole didn't get off to the start he wanted when Brandon Belt took a belt-high fastball into the right-centerfield seats with two outs in the first. He wouldn't be trailing long as the Pirates struck back in ... Read More
Pirates Gameday 4/21: Lineups, Snider Comments on Brawl
Good afternoon from PNC Park where today the Pirates (8-11) start a four game series with the Cincinnati Reds (8-10). Francisco Liriano (0-3, 3.96 ERA) will look for his first win of the season against Mike Leake (2-1, 2.95 ERA). Travis Snider on Yesterday's Brawl On how the confrontation started -- "When I saw Carlos Gomez take his helmet off and push the umpire to the side acting like he's going to physically do something to our pitcher who said something to him and walked away. That's ... Read More
Pirates Position Preview: Right Field
We continue our preview of the 2014 Pittsburgh Pirates with a look at right field, a position that had some question marks going into spring training. Gregory Polanco will be the Pirates right fielder once he gets the call up from AAA -- Most likely mid-to-end of June -- but before he gets his shot, it will be the tandem of Travis Snider and Jose Tabata to hold down the spot. Jose Tabata: Tabata experienced an up-and-down season in 2013 which included a stint on the DL that made him miss ... Read More
Pirates Game Day: Grilli Talks Rehab, Locke Optioned to AA
The Pirates (76 - 55) look to bounce back after last nights disappointing loss to the Brewers (58 - 73) in game two of this 3-game set. Charlie Morton (5 - 3, 3.42 ERA) will oppose former Pirate, Tom Gorzelanny (3 - 5, 3.60 ERA) Leading Off Marlon Byrd will make his first start as a Pirate tonight as he will bat in the cleanup spot and play right field. John Buck will be available off of the bench. To make room for these two on the 25-man roster, Tony Sanchez and Jeff Locke have been sent to ... Read More
Bucs must address struggling bench
There are plenty of opinions of exactly what Pittsburgh Pirates' general manager Neal Huntington needs to do when the trade deadline approaches. Huntington certainly has his options to choose from as targeting a productive right fielder certainly makes sense, as would more production at shortstop and maybe an additional arm or two. However neither is as pressing as the need to upgrade the woeful Pirates bench. Pirates' manager Clint Hurdle has been known for frequently using all 25 ... Read More
Travis Snider is hitting his stride
When Travis Snider was quickly making his way through the minor leagues, scouts raved about his raw power. One of the more known scouting reports said he was “dripping with power.” Yet, in the Major Leagues, he has yet to produce the long ball. But that might be starting to change. Snider was drafted out of high school by the Blue Jays. He hit double digit home runs in his first two minor league seasons. Then in 2008, he crushed 23 home runs between high A, AA, and AAA. This led to his major ... Read More
Opportunistic Pirates make Brewers pay in 4-0 win
In baseball, especially when you're struggling like the Pirates are, you have to strike when your opponent makes a mistake. Thankfully for the Pirates and their fans, that's exactly what they did. With matching scoreless frames going into the bottom of the fifth, it was an error to lead off the inning by center fielder Carlos Gomez to allow Neil Walker to reach. Now errors are costly for teams, but in no way did the Brewers, Pirates or any of the 37, 568 in attendance see it being this ... Read More