2023 Pirates Season Thread

[willeyeam]

Oh yes it is

[faftorial]

It's not

Can we give it a few weeks or months?

[LeopardLetang]

It is

[robbiestoupe]

What is it?

[Ad@m]

Kebryan Hayes with 3 home runs in 30 at bats compared to 7 all season in '22. Is this the year?????

Predictions?

I’ll say under 12

[willeyeam]

What is it?

Ke'bryan's year

[Troy Loney]

So '21 he had the wrist issue, and in '22 it was a back issue. If you ask him, I think he'll tell you that he's been fighting hard just to be available to play.

Kind of think you can have only so many sub .700 OPS seasons until you are in fact, a sub .700 guy. But, I think there's more there. Hopefully the added bulk helps his body hold up better, but worst case scenario is a guy that bring value with the glove and isn't completely lost with the bat.

[King Colby]

He looks huge

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

Hayes has good exit velocity and if I recall, his hard hit ball rates are good too. He just hits every single thing on the ground.

That being said, he isn't a big person, by normal person standards or by athlete standards. Maybe he did add 10 pounds of muscle in the off-season, but I'll believe it when I see it.

[Ad@m]

[LeopardLetang]

Kebryan Hayes with 3 home runs in 30 at bats compared to 7 all season in '22. Is this the year?????

Predictions?

I’ll say under 12

I'll take over given 450abs. Breakout year coming

[Troy Loney]

Over for sure

[Dickie Dunn]

I know it's all projections based on previous flaccid performance, but only one forecasting model at Fangraphs has him hitting 12 HRs. I don't think 15+ is an unreasonable expectation for him, but I need to see it to believe it.

[Troy Loney]

Conveniently, Fangraphs just posted their third base positional rankings for the season.

Hayes has the highest defensive projection on this page, even higher than Arenado and Chapman — the Pittsburgh third baseman should start collecting Gold Gloves any day now. Name any defensive metric you like, and you can rest assured that somewhere in its source code it has been scrawling its initials next to Hayes’ and drawing little hearts around them.

All-world defense with a below-average bat makes for a valuable third baseman, but with Hayes the prospect of more is just so tantalizing. Still, after another season with a wRC+ in the high 80s, it seems less likely that he’ll unlock the potential that his bat so clearly possesses. Hayes hits the ball plenty hard. In fact, he does almost everything right at the plate, and if he can ever figure out how to hit the ball skyward, the sky is the limit. His 5.2-degree launch angle was the seventh-lowest in the majors in 2022, even though it doubled his 2021 launch angle.

[willeyeam]

Pirates are all the way back now

[dodint]

I have never seen pierogi spelled that way.

[willeyeam]

I don't agree with it but it's a pretty common spelling

[dodint]

Nah.

[willeyeam]

Mrs T's uses pierogy

[dodint]

Not sure that's helping.

[willeyeam]

wait mrs T's MADE UP pierogy, I'm on your side now

https://www.mrstspierogies.com/blog/wha ... r-pierogy/

[Dickie Dunn]

Conveniently, Fangraphs just posted their third base positional rankings for the season.

Hayes has the highest defensive projection on this page, even higher than Arenado and Chapman — the Pittsburgh third baseman should start collecting Gold Gloves any day now. Name any defensive metric you like, and you can rest assured that somewhere in its source code it has been scrawling its initials next to Hayes’ and drawing little hearts around them.

All-world defense with a below-average bat makes for a valuable third baseman, but with Hayes the prospect of more is just so tantalizing. Still, after another season with a wRC+ in the high 80s, it seems less likely that he’ll unlock the potential that his bat so clearly possesses. Hayes hits the ball plenty hard. In fact, he does almost everything right at the plate, and if he can ever figure out how to hit the ball skyward, the sky is the limit. His 5.2-degree launch angle was the seventh-lowest in the majors in 2022, even though it doubled his 2021 launch angle.

5.2 was double 2021? Jfc swing up a bit kid.

[Troy Loney]

We are somehow one week from opening day

[King Colby]

Guess that explains my pants suddenly getting tighter

[faftorial]