2024 Pirates Season Thread

[DigitalGypsy66]

Alright, it's that time again. 143rd season of your Pittsburgh Baseball Club starts today in Miami at 4:10.

Let's get our record predictions going: I'm thinking 77-85

[Beveridge]

68-94

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

70-92

[skullman80]

75-87.

[Dickie Dunn]

82-80

[count2infinity]

69 wins.

[LeopardLetang]

78-84

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

77-85

One game improvement

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

[Dickie Dunn]

I'm the optimistic one? That's not a good sign.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

The talent level is most definitely an improvement. But there’s going to be too many bumps in the road along the way. Plus, last year’s team played above their heads for two decently long periods

[Troy Loney]

I'm the optimistic one? That's not a good sign.

83-79

I think the division is bad. Cardinals are old, brewers are retooling, and the reds will crumble facing expectations. Cubs will run away with first place. But pirates compete with the other teams.

[Dickie Dunn]

I'm the optimistic one? That's not a good sign.

83-79

I think the division is bad. Cardinals are old, brewers are retooling, and the reds will crumble facing expectations. Cubs will run away with first place. But pirates compete with the other teams.

That's my reasoning as well. Plenty of opportunity to accumulate wins in the division.

[Morkle]

71-91

[dodint]

76-86

[faftorial]

84-78.

[Ad@m]

Finish 2nd in the division behind the Cubs.

85-77

[robbiestoupe]

Pirates never do well in division.

68-94

[Orlando Penguin]

[Ad@m]

[willeyeam]

78-84

[Troy Loney]

The talent level is most definitely an improvement. But there’s going to be too many bumps in the road along the way. Plus, last year’s team played above their heads for two decently long periods

I think Hayes, Cruz, and Reynolds are core pieces that have high production floors that will at least raise the baseline offensive production of the team.

I think Tellez, Triolo, McCutchen, and Joe are depth guys with limited ceilings.

Beyond Termarr, there really isn't much to look forward to in the minors to supplement this group, and maybe when Endy gets back, him and Davis share C duties and get in at bats at DH, or 1B (Endy). Not really sure if that's even feasible, but it does seem like the Braves basically have two starting catchers, and that works for them.

As for '24, I see Suwinski and Davis as two wildcards, I think they currently reside in between the core and the complementary guys. Ideally you want one or both to become penciled in there, and then those 5 become the 1-5 in the batting order. Then you mix and match with the complementary pieces to make up the 6-9.

But at the same time, except for Suwinksi, those other four guys seem to miss a lot of time. Cruz lost time in the minors a lot, Hayes has back issues, Reynolds is good for one lengthy IR stint, and Davis missed a lot of his first season. And your outfield depth is like Palacios and CSN, and the IF is Gonzales and Pegeuro.

The pitching staff will go through probably like 5 different iterations over the course of this season. It's just going be a mad scramble to get outs all year. It's going to make watching games painful, and also put significant pressure on Keller, Perez, Chapman, and Bednar. Like, if those guys blow a start, or give up a lead, game over. Not sure those guys are capable of carrying the staff.

[genoscoif]

81-81

[Morkle]

The way I see it, the team is one major injury away on the Pitching staff to be sub-.500, and one Oneil/Reynolds injury away from the same thing.

[robbiestoupe]

Injuries and the pitching staff are reasons that I am tempering any excitement.