The 2021 Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball Team Season Thread

Postby **Dickie Dunn** » Wed Sep 29, 2021 9:43 am

Huh. I haven't seen the first inning of a game since the first game of the year. I think hayes went deep right? I've watched total about an hour this year. I'll check out this start though

That might have been the only HR of the year for Hayes.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Wed Sep 29, 2021 9:45 am

Same. I'm gonna try to watch this one. Maybe the 4th game this year I'll see

He has been pretty mediocre since his crazy start to the season. I am not expecting much from this debut

Postby **King Colby** » Wed Sep 29, 2021 10:13 am

I might go

Postby **willeyeam** » Wed Sep 29, 2021 10:32 am

Same. I'm gonna try to watch this one. Maybe the 4th game this year I'll see
He has been pretty mediocre since his crazy start to the season. I am not expecting much from this debut

he's only made 4 starts since June after he got hurt. His last one was pretty good

Postby **Troy Loney** » Wed Sep 29, 2021 10:39 am

Yeah, his last two before the injury were not good either.

I think it’s just some balance between how much the injury impacted him before, and since coming back. Plus, they are clearly being very cautious with the return in terms of workload.

But, he might also be real amped up to make the debut and pitch lights out. He could have been just throwing at 75% in Altoona this month.

Either way, interesting jump from essentially rehab starts to a big league debut.

Postby **willeyeam** » Wed Sep 29, 2021 10:41 am

oh wow yeah I didn't even realize he's only had 1 AAA start. Interesting

Postby **willeyeam** » Wed Sep 29, 2021 7:20 pm

Roansy doesn't look too shabby

Postby **willeyeam** » Wed Sep 29, 2021 7:25 pm

Done after 3. Lame!

Postby **willeyeam** » Wed Sep 29, 2021 11:18 pm

This guy is a machine. He's given me major Polanco vibes his entire ascent so I'm hoping that isn't our end result. I can't do that again

Postby **King Colby** » Wed Sep 29, 2021 11:22 pm

He even looks like Polanco up there

Postby **Dickie Dunn** » Wed Sep 29, 2021 11:24 pm

I can’t wait to be disappointed again.

Postby **MrKennethTKangaroo** » Thu Sep 30, 2021 7:37 am

He is a much smoother athlete than polanco. Or bell for that matter

Postby **Troy Loney** » Thu Sep 30, 2021 7:40 am

I don’t think Polanco has opposite field power like that.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Thu Sep 30, 2021 8:16 pm

This is how you lose the 100th game

Postby **Troy Loney** » Thu Sep 30, 2021 8:55 pm

Dude is just barreling balls like crazy.

Perhaps….they can develop players now?

Postby **MrKennethTKangaroo** » Thu Sep 30, 2021 9:09 pm

That wasn’t even a good pitch to hit

Postby **willeyeam** » Thu Sep 30, 2021 9:34 pm

God damn it the last prospect that dominated the minors like this was Polanco I almost hate it. It's like he's too good to be true

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Thu Sep 30, 2021 10:00 pm

We've been conditioned to expect mediocrity. I hope Cruz ends this conditioning.

Postby **faftorial** » Thu Sep 30, 2021 10:40 pm

Just watched the first 3 innings with Contreras and he looks promising.

Postby **MrKennethTKangaroo** » Thu Sep 30, 2021 11:11 pm

God damn it the last prospect that dominated the minors like this was Polanco I almost hate it. It's like he's too good to be true

AA is the best measure of success because it has the best pitching in the minors. Cruz has much better numbers than Gregory at AA. Polancos numbers we’re also skewedr by an insane year at Bradenton. Cruz has been steadier

Postby **LeopardLetang** » Fri Oct 01, 2021 12:04 am

Iirc polanco hit AAA guns blazing right? And cruz is topping that even

Postby **Troy Loney** » Fri Oct 01, 2021 7:42 am

They had different minor league careers.

Polanco had a major breakout season in 2012 as a 20 year old in low a. Cruz was promoted aggressively by the dodgers, and was an 18 year old in low a when they traded for him. He was really just a freak then, striking out a ton and occasionally blasting long home runs. Cruz has basically been improving incrementally each year since that aggressive 2017 promotion. Cruz also deals with nagging injuries a lot, but he had a really good 2019 and this year he has taken a major step forward after returning from a mid season injury.

He’ll be 23 soon, so 2022 will be his age 23 season. He will likely start out in the minors for service time reasons. But he is a freak, and good observation by area scout ktk on that pitch he blasted, to turn on an outside pitch like that is impressive. I don’t think I’ve seen effortless power like he has, and against a left hander no less.

Postby **willeyeam** » Fri Oct 01, 2021 8:10 am

Is my man going to be turning on MLB pitching outside pitches like that or rolling them over to 2B?

Postby **Troy Loney** » Fri Oct 01, 2021 8:19 am

I imagine he’s going to look bad against major league off speed stuff

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Fri Oct 01, 2021 8:28 am

Cruz may destroy MLB pitching too. The real Cruz will be exposed when he starts to accumulate PA and teams have the book on him. Does he defy all scouting reports, or does advanced scouting ruin him? One has to imagine MiLB does not over-analyze like the majors.