*depressed sigh* Pittsburgh Pirates 2022 stuff until I lose interest in everything

Three straight over the Brewers. Considering how they tend to regularly dominate the Pirates (and had been this year through the first 10 or games between them), that is a nice thing to see.

Watching Pirates not winning

My congrats to Professional Playing Time Thief Josh Van Meter for sucking so bad, I don't even have to pay attention to today's loss to Atlanta while at the office.

The game was close through three innings and easily could have been tied, but Cruz' record-setting exit velocity hit smacked the top of the wall and was only a single instead of a homer. But then, in the top of the fourth, Van Meter -- a guy who still has a job despite being bad at everything AND not actually being a prospect -- committed two errors to lead to five unearned runs being recorded to turn 2-0 into 7-0. I mean, dude bats .188 with nearly 200 ABs and doesn't have anywhere near the amount of power it would take to make that shitty of hitting even be considered a Joey Gallo-esque necessary evil.

I'd say it'd be a shock if they don't DFA him after this shitshow of a performance, but I've said that about 5 different times with him just over the summer months and his worthless ass is still kicking around, stealing time and ABs from guys who potentially might have an actual future.

Hard to believe they trail the Reds after the Reds started about 2 - 24 ...............

posted by QuakerOats

Hard to believe they trail the Reds after the Reds started about 2 - 24 ...............

I think, since the All-Star Break, their high water mark is getting 1-of-3 in a series and they have to be around a .250 winning percentage. At the break, I thought they still had hopes of winning 70 games or 75+ if the young guys really gelled. Instead, they've turned into a team with inconsistent pitching and consistently horrible offense.

On the plus side you can get a great seat for probably $15

posted by Heretic

I think, since the All-Star Break, their high water mark is getting 1-of-3 in a series and they have to be around a .250 winning percentage. At the break, I thought they still had hopes of winning 70 games or 75+ if the young guys really gelled. Instead, they've turned into a team with inconsistent pitching and consistently horrible offense.

After checking out the standings from the All-Star Break until now, I was exactly right. Well, exactly right as of now; a bit off when I typed this.

Since the break, they've been 8-24, which is an actual .250 winning percentage. With the annoying part being how there definitely seems to be signs of regression among a lot of integral players. If the team does ANYTHING after this year, firing the batting coach should be #1 on that list. For some fun numbers:

29/30 in batting average

28/30 in on-base percentage

28/30 in slugging percentage

28/30 in OPS

3/30 in most strikeouts

20/30 in walks

28/30 in RBIs

18/30 in homers

28/30 in runs scored

So, the only number they're even close to being middle of the road in are walks drawn and homers. And with them being at the bottom of the league in RBIs, the whole thing where they're bottom of the league in batting average and on-base percentage means that an inordinate amount of those dingers are coming with no one on base.

Oh, they're also worst in the league in fielding percentage and, as far as pitching goes, 26/30 in ERA and 27/30 in WHIP. Although, as far as pitching goes, it seems their main problem is "when it rains, it pours". They'll go 3-4 days with decent-to-good performances and then give up 19 runs in a complete shitshow the next day. And they might (LOL!) move up a spot or two if you take out the 21 runs in 5 innings surrendered by two position players mopping up in games like that. One of whom is Josh Van Meter, who has been with the club much of the year despite sucking at every single aspect of the game. Still, it says a lot when your win leader is a pair of relievers tied with five each, while you have three starters currently with 10+ losses.

To be fair to the hitting coach a lot of these guys don’t really belong in the majors 

Just ran across this meme:

posted by geeblock

To be fair to the hitting coach a lot of these guys don’t really belong in the majors 

My issue is that no one really seems to be progressing under him with the exception of Castro, who has been raking after coming back from AAA and having that "phone in pants" incident.

At least, they're mainly working with young guys. I'd rather watch kids like Cruz, Castro, Marcano, etc. try to get established than watch sub-par vets steal at bats even though they have no future with the team. I was happy as hell when they released Tsutsugo because fucking Shelton seemingly stuck him in the line-up nearly every game even though he sucked horribly this year. At least Van Meter is rarely playing now, although I'd rather have him get cut so the temptation to use him would no longer be a possibility, but they seem determined to keep him on the roster.

Have to give the team credit. For three straight days, they've found a way to hit a new low.

Tuesday: Lead 8-4 at the Yankees going into the bottom of the ninth. Lost 9-8 without getting a single out in that inning.

Wednesday: Lost 14-2 to the Yankees, tying a MLB record with 6 losses of 12 or more runs in a season.

Thursday: In a 3-2 loss to the Cubs, were Immaculate Inning'd by the Cubs starter.

And, can't remember the day in the 4-game sweep by the Mets, but they tied a record by striking out 20 times in one of those games. I stand firm in my assessment that every day that Bob Nutting is allowed to draw breath as the owner of a sports team is a bad day for the franchise because all that worthless POS cares about is generating personal revenue.

posted by Heretic

Have to give the team credit. For three straight days, they've found a way to hit a new low.

Tuesday: Lead 8-4 at the Yankees going into the bottom of the ninth. Lost 9-8 without getting a single out in that inning.

Wednesday: Lost 14-2 to the Yankees, tying a MLB record with 6 losses of 12 or more runs in a season.

Thursday: In a 3-2 loss to the Cubs, were Immaculate Inning'd by the Cubs starter.

And, can't remember the day in the 4-game sweep by the Mets, but they tied a record by striking out 20 times in one of those games. I stand firm in my assessment that every day that Bob Nutting is allowed to draw breath as the owner of a sports team is a bad day for the franchise because all that worthless POS cares about is generating personal revenue.

Oh, and the "highlight" of that 14-2 loss on Wednesday was how they walked Judge on four pitches in the ninth while down 11-2. A great moment in the "Yeah, you're kicking our asses, but your guy ain't getting #61 on us, so who's the real winner now?!?!?" archives.

That loss on Tuesday looked brutal.

posted by justincredible

That loss on Tuesday looked brutal.

It was definitely something that happened. There I was, paying attention to it on my computer. Bryan Reynolds had a four-hit game and the team was playing really well in a clutch sort of way where the Yankees made a run or two at them, but they responded to put some space between them. The sort of game where the season might suck, but with all the young guys they're playing, you can see the potential because they're showing the ability to beat up on a legit good team in the sport.

And then they stopped getting batters out and the Yankees got a run and kept putting guys on base and then a grand slam and it's over and I'm just staring at my computer thinking it's a good thing that Bob Nutting's impotent ownership has made me dead inside because if I still had the capacity to care, that one would have hurt.

In the month of September, Pittsburgh is 7-0 against Cincinnati! And 3-16 against everyone else... I'm not sure what that says, other than how it sucks they have no more games against the Reds, as that would be their only legit hope of avoiding 100 losses and the division cellar.

The view from inside PNC is hard to beat.

posted by Ironman92

The view from inside PNC is hard to beat.

If only the product on the field also was...

Getting loss #100 in a game that they blew a 7-3 lead in is the most 2022 Pirates thing ever. Well, maybe other than getting it in a 15-2 loss.

Oneil Cruz is going to be fun to watch over the next 10+ years