Fifth Avenue Forum

It's classic "You got traded for [insert Pirate player here] and so I must dislike you".

He is slow, his beard sucks, and his bat is impotent (this years' home runs not withstanding)

I'll take a crack. He's a mopey lookin doofus with a dumb beard who has a -0.7 career WAR which included -1.1 last year. He's slow and he can't field a ball that isn't hit directly between his shoulders.

That said, his batting stats actually weren't that bad last year and he does have an accurate and consistent arm.

If anything, hes enigmatic and the bat plays better at 1B or DH (well, on this pirates team). Which we might see a lot of as Philip Evans forces his way into the lineup.

At any rate hes probably traded this year or next if he continues to show any value with the bat.

He is slow, his beard sucks, and his bat is impotent (this years' home runs not withstanding)

A simple, he sucks, would suffice.

The bat is not impotent, but he did seal his fate in the eyes of pirates fans in 2018 when he had a hot April and then didn't get another extra base hit until after labor day.

He is a guy you can plug into a lineup that won't embarrass you, and he is a good pinch hitter.

What i was ambiguously getting at was, his bursts of productivity like this, will continue getting him at bats and starts.

29th in slugging percentage for third basemen last year

but hey at least he makes it up with crappy fielding

Hayes is Rona'd so they have an excuse with him, but I'm getting too much Phillip Evans and not enough Cole Tucker: Short Stop in my life. Best case scenario for Tucker is developing a competent bat for the low batting demand position he fields extremely well. Knock off the outfield, position flexibility bullshit. Newman can play third, but the easier route is to stick Frazier in the outfield, where he has played a ton in his career, move Newman to second, and get Tucker reps where he belongs.

Anything to gleam from these first 5 games?

Not one to make any conclusions through 5 base ball games but Kuhls stuff really impressed me, same as Brubaker. Let's see if they can replicate it

I can't arrive anywhere else, Moran is disliked because he is not good.

If folks were complaining about Musgrove, then the Cole trade theory could be entertained.

Anything to gleam from these first 5 games?

Not one to make any conclusions through 5 base ball games but Kuhls stuff really impressed me, same as Brubaker. Let's see if they can replicate it

Yeah, wasn't meant to make conclusions, I should have worded it better. That post was meant to ask for developing situations and things to look for.

I can't arrive anywhere else, Moran is disliked because he is not good.

If folks were complaining about Musgrove, then the Cole trade theory could be entertained.

Is it ok to complain about the other gem of that trade (Michael feliz)?

I can't arrive anywhere else, Moran is disliked because he is not good.

If folks were complaining about Musgrove, then the Cole trade theory could be entertained.

Is it ok to complain about the other gem of that trade (Michael feliz)?

You can also state that Martin looks like a dud.

it's not like Musgrove is exactly "good"

it's okay to admit the trade stunk

Anything to gleam from these first 5 games?

Not one to make any conclusions through 5 base ball games but Kuhls stuff really impressed me, same as Brubaker. Let's see if they can replicate it

Yeah, wasn't meant to make conclusions, I should have worded it better. That post was meant to ask for developing situations and things to look for.

lol it's all good - this isn't the place for too much reason anyway. I am with DD - play Tucker at SS, Newman at 2B and Frazier in the OF.

This basically is coming down to giving Dyson/Heredia ABs or our 1st round SS pick Cole Tucker. Come on, Derek

The deference to veteranosity is far to Hurdle-esque for my liking.

Moran has little to no range at 3B. They often shifted Newman/Gonzalez over to cover his inadequacies last season.

That said, the bat plays. So in he stays.

Crick and Holmes to the DL

Crick hasn't looked right...well since last season.

Moran's an average bat that a) hits way too may singles and b) gives back any value he has at the plate by being a pylon on defense.

The deference to veteranosity is far to Hurdle-esque for my liking.

Veteranosity...there's a word I haven't heard in a long, long time.

The new-ish Pirates beat writer for DK had a good article on Moran's defense back in January.

I was going to copy pasta bits of it here, but it was long and had some cool graphics that probably wouldn't work here.

Anyhoo, in 2019 Moran was the deepest positioned 3B in the four years Baseball Savant tracked that stat. He's a full step behind the average positioning of MLB third basemen. He also was playing deeper than he had in previous years.

Also, he was among the top three 3B in moving to his left to make a play - behind Nolan Arenado and Rafael Devers. So he moves to his glove side very well. But...and you knew there would be a big but...he is AWFUL moving to his right. Bottom three in OAA (Outs Above Average) in the league in plays to his right.

There's a lot more here, if you subscribe: https://www.dkpittsburghsports.com/2020 ... fense-ajs/

Anything on where he's typically positioned in relation to the bag? If he moves pretty well to the left you'd think they'd position him closer to the bag to cut down on the right movement, though I guess there's far more balls hit to the left of most third basemen than the right. Regardless, I would put him a bit closer to the bag and put a strong fielding SS (Tucker over Newman) at short hoping he can make up the difference. Then Newman goes to 2B, Frazier to the OF, and Dyson and Herredia can **** off. See, my master plan is coming into full effect.

This is where he setup last year, on average:

Is the red dot the one he fielded