Pirates (Falter) vs Cubs (Imanaga): 5/18/24, 1:20pm

[gflore34]

Falter has been more lucky than good, even against this Cub lineup, two starts, the Cubs have hit several balls hard with no results.

[profisme]

WTF was that Mastro?! Make the horsefeathering play and stop playing paddycake with the damn ball!

[UMFan83]

Nice job taking your time Mastro. 

[profisme]

That has to be an error.  That was completely routine.

[profisme]

Then he was yelling at Madrigal to check to see if there were two outs.  His head is not in the game at all.

[squally1313]

4 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

Falter has been more lucky than good, even against this Cub lineup, two starts, the Cubs have hit several balls hard with no results.

[UMFan83]

The 3 hits today had an xBA of .010, .060 and .120

[Illiterate Scholar]

Shota is beefing up his GB% today

[UMFan83]

Madrigal, Mastrobuoni, Gomes. This should be good

[UMFan83]

I don’t understand why we don’t send down Mastro for Vazquez. Maybe he won’t hit here but Mastro has a .421 OPS so not like he has a high bar to clear. He’s good defensively (or so I’m told) and he’s on the 40 man

Edited May 18, 2024 by UMFan83

[Transmogrified Tiger]

With Mastrobuoni looking somewhat functional and Morel basically being locked in at 3B for better or worse, the sun might be getting real low for Madrigal if he can't even square up Falter

[profisme]

Well Mastro should get sent down as he has options.  If you think Vazquez would be a downgrade over him you are silly.

[UMFan83]

1:12 into the game and we’re in the 7th

[Derwood]

Is it "Dead Ball Era" day?

[Andy]

Unable to watch today so I'm seeing exactly as much good baseball as everybody else in this thread is

[Transmogrified Tiger]

1 minute ago, profisme said:

Well Mastro should get sent down as he has options.  If you think Vazquez would be a downgrade over him you are silly.

We can want Vazquez to be good and excited if he does well, but that doesn't make him what he isn't.  Mastrobuoni has consistently outperformed him at the same levels.

[WhyCantWeWin]

This team is so crappy offensively, how long can the pitching carry them 

[Illiterate Scholar]

One of Wisdom, Suzuki, or Morel is due to hit one in the seats next inning 

[profisme]

Just now, Transmogrified Tiger said:

We can want Vazquez to be good and excited if he does well, but that doesn't make him what he isn't.  Mastrobuoni has consistently outperformed him at the same levels.

They talk about how he is the best defensive SS in the system. Just that is an upgrade.  He doesn't have to hit even .200 at this level to be an improvement.

[Derwood]

This feels like a game where Shota goes 8 innings and then [insert Cubs reliever here] gives up a run or two in the 9th and we lose 2-0

[profisme]

1 minute ago, Derwood said:

This feels like a game where Shota goes 8 innings and then [insert Cubs reliever here] gives up a run or two in the 9th and we lose 2-0

I've had that exact feeling in my stomach since the end of the first inning.

[chibears55]

24 minutes ago, profisme said:

Watching this team try to hit is horsefeathering painful.  Cut Madrigal, trade Happ for a bag of used baseballs, call up Brennan Davis who can actually make hard contact right now and Luis Vazquez.

Changes has to come soon, they have guys playing well in the minors and guys still trying to figure it out up here in mid May.

If it weren't for the SP this team would likely be under .500 and with any consistent hitting and yes bullpen,  they could have 30 wins

[JHBulls]

Shota has a post-baseball career in mental healthy advocacy lined up. 

Edited May 18, 2024 by JHBulls

[UMFan83]

Ugh that single sucks because it extends the pitch count. If he gets this 3rd out quickly though he should be ok to pitch into the 8th

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Just now, profisme said:

They talk about how he is the best defensive SS in the system. Just that is an upgrade.  He doesn't have to hit even .200 at this level to be an improvement.

A scouting report from Fangraphs this week describes him as a 'fair shortstop defender', and this is basically irrelevant because we're a couple days from either of them being 3rd on the depth chart at the position, plus Mastrobuoni hasn't been a problem defensively.  Offensively, Mastrobuoni's career AAA OPS is 100 points higher than Vazquez.  We don't have to have shiny new toy syndrome every time a bench caliber player plays like a bench caliber player and start pining for guys who might be bench caliber players if things work out well.