Fifth Avenue Forum

I don’t understand the softball schedule thing. They’ve played an even schedule, yeah, they’ve played 10 agains the tigers and White Sox, but they’ve also played all three division rivals and had 4 game road series’s against two of the better east teams

Folks getting high on a softball schedule. Delicious.

They're 7-2 against the Cards, Brewers and Cubs if that floats your boat

A lot of the Pirate prospects are starting to get hot at AA and AAA. Even Will Craig is starting to show some power.

Kevin Newman is still going to be a Jordy Mercer clone, but Kevin Kramer has developed some power at AAA and is slotted at 2B.

I'm just parroting Madden.

Zeise was toeing that line as well. Had a segment complaining about the pirates, never once mentioned that they’re one of the best teams in not striking out. They used to be a team that bit only had little power but struck out a ton, they’ve cut the k’s and added power at the same time. It’s not a mystery why they’re a good offensive team now

Buster Olney said this team is a contender on Sportscenter this morning. So there's that.

Kuhl is bad.

Austin Meadows is getting called up tomorrow.

Bullpen? More like kuhlpen! Because that’s where Chad Kuhl belongs. Amirite

When things are going your way, they are going your way...Bucs take a 5-4 lead on an error at third.

26-17. I know we aren't supposed to get excited about beating bad teams, but hey it's better than losing to bad teams. Raise it

The Pirates have the most wins in the National League

We meet again

This is real we ain't gotta pretend

Regardless if the wheels eventually fall off or they just fall back to .500 .. the way they are playing right now is better than sucking.

Their record to this point is remarkable considering that Williams has been far and away their best starting pitcher. I have faith ole Piss Hands Taillon will rebound, but Kuhl and Nova have been major disappointments.

With BR's Team WAR by Position:

Total: 11th @ 2.1
SP: 14th @ 1.1
RP: 15th @ -0.2
C: 1st @ 1.4
1B: 23rd @ -0.4
2B: 21st @ -0.3
3B: 9th @ 0.4
SS: 28th @ -0.9
LF: 1st @ 1.1
CF: 9th @ 0.6
RF: 22nd @ -0.5

Whether it's Kuhl or Nova improving, the emergence of Kingham, or an acquisition, starting pitching needs a boost from somewhere. The RP number is primarily because Glasnow sucks and Kontos isn't much better. Logically, C and LF will dip some but will hopefully be offset by improvements at 1B and RF. I still don't know what to make of Moran but hopefully he and Freese can keep things consistent. 2B should get a boost from Harrison's return or whatever the hell they end up doing with Kang, but Frazier and Moroff have done that position no favors. Jordy Mercer sucks ass and is a bane on the existence of baseball and the sooner the Pirates can move on from him the better.

If Kang somehow ends up being a positive addition to infield depth and SP improvement comes from anywhere, I'm starting to believe this team can keep things up. Jettisoning Mercer into the Mon would only be a cherry on top.

Does Kang have the range to play SS? Especially after a year away from the game?

Does Kang have the range to play SS? Especially after a year away from the game?

Unlikely. No innings there at all in 2016.

I also forgot that Musgrove exists. If he’s alive and doesn’t suck that would help the starting rotation out a bit.

Kuhl and nova need to sht or get off the pot. Musgrove is coming, Kingham is coming, and Holmes and Eppler are both pitching well and are fully seasoned in AAA.

Plus, this team *might* be a contender. if they are still contending at the trade deadline and the rotation is a bunch of rookies and no names, they better pick up a starting pitcher

Musgrove is crushing his rehab starts and in starting to get excited for him. I think at the least he'll be better than Kuhl. Plus we have Kingham probably starting tomorrow as well. Weeee

Greg Brown just lost his absolute shtt because the crowd made some noise with bases loaded, full count, 2 outs. It was absurd. What a shill

The Brown thing was embarrassing. My wife looked up from Candy Crush and was like “What is he going on about?”

Real limp lineup tonight.

What exactly was he shilling for? He pointed out there were only 19k there on a Friday night

What exactly was he shilling for? He pointed out there were only 19k there on a Friday night

So he reported the attendance? He was acting like there were 40,000 there. All you need to do is listen to an interview or follow him on twitter. He clearly doesn't like people criticizing the Pirates. And this goes beyond just this quarter of a season.

Not jung ho kang, but the OTHER Korean shortstop in the pirates organization (ji hwan bae) apparently is heading back to South Korea after a supposed domestic violence incident. Reported by the athletic and the pg. perhaps the pirates should revisit their Korean strategy

Woooooooo.