2015 Pirates thread

[madinsomniac]

Cole likely will pitch 9/30 against the Cards skipping Locke. The NL wildcard playoff is 10/7 giving him 6 days rest.
If the Pirates are out of division by last game. Locke will likely take Burnett's spot and AJ would open up division series if
Pirates get by the one gamer.

Id think they would start with Liriano in the series if they get to the cards... Id go lefty, righty, Lefty, righty, Lefty vs them So Liriano, Aj, Happ, Cole, Liriano....

 

[madinsomniac]

Also, while they fixed it today, for a bit last night ESPN put the cards up as having clinched the best record in baseball:


* -St. Louis CardinalsSTL97 57 .630 - 54-25 43-32 622 495 +127 L1 7-3 100.0%


if that aint a jinx I do not know what is...lol

 

[Steelers Rule!]

Also, while they fixed it today, for a bit last night ESPN put the cards up as having clinched the best record in baseball:


* -St. Louis CardinalsSTL97 57 .630 - 54-25 43-32 622 495 +127 L1 7-3 100.0%


if that aint a jinx I do not know what is...lol

One can hope!

 

[Steeltime]

Also, while they fixed it today, for a bit last night ESPN put the cards up as having clinched the best record in baseball:

* -St. Louis CardinalsSTL97 57 .630 - 54-25 43-32 622 495 +127 L1 7-3 100.0%

if that aint a jinx I do not know what is...lol

Well, they have clinched a better record than the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Cubs, the Dodgers, the Angels and the Mets.

Those are the only other teams in baseball, right?

/s ESPN

 

[madinsomniac]

Here's a couple of hypotheticals. Assume the Bucs and Cards win today, in that case, Madden knows he has no chance at the division and about a 0% chance of a home WC game. Plus he has an extra make up game to play yet against KC. Does he jigger his rotation starting Sunday by pulling Arrietta and realigning the lineup so he pitches Tuesday to start the rotation fresh in preparation for the WC and subsequent division series if they win? Their last six games are Reds and Brewers and with no chance of moving up in the play off standings. Be a good time to reset and start over.

Second hypothetical. Same scenario, Bucs and Cards win today. Assume Madden does pull Arrietta. If I'm Hurdle, do I play Morton maybe instead of Burnett and get AJ,Happ, and Cole against the Cards? Wouldn't that be nice? Then have Liriano, Morton and (depending on the situation) either Locke or AJ for that very last game. Cole would be well rested for a WC game if needed. You give yourself a much better chance against St Louis, and no second string pitcher for the WC.

There are two possible reasons the cubs do push arietta back a start, first off, we would have to win today and the Cards lose... The cubs don't want to see cole in a 1 game elimination... while Lackey and the Cards other pitchers have been great, he has collectively been better and has high end ace potential just like Arietta. Given both the Pirates and Cards are close, the pirates bullpen has still benn overall better than the cards, especially in long relief.

Id think Maddon might not want the Pirates to face Arietta again so close to the WC plus, if they have no shot at a home game, give the Pirates the chance to actually win the division, because while the Bucs have a legit shot against a healthy Cards roster in a series, im not sure the cubs do. Its totally plausible with their manager that they give us a shot at the series, because they can concede cole and negate Liriano with Lester and after that have AJ, who is still just coming back from injury and has chinks in his armor, and Happ, who has looked as good as a Cards pitcher, but doesn't have the track record. and one of them would face arietta before bringing Lester back for a game 5 if needed That gives them a one off with the Cards that is way more winnable than a series

 

[madinsomniac]

Just a reminder of our pitcher's salaries for the season... Blanton's isn't available... Garrit Cole may be the best deal in all of sports

11666667 Francisco Liriano
8500000 A.J. Burnett
8000000 Charlie Morton
7000000 Joakim Soria
6700000 J.A. Happ
5400000 Mark Melancon
3100000 Antonio Bastardo
2450000 Vance Worley
1750000 Tony Watson
1075000 Jared Hughes
531000 Gerrit Cole
531000 Jeff Locke
517500 Rob Scahill
515500 Arquimedes Caminero

 

[steelermania]

If the Cubs lose today, it might be in their best interest to tank tomorrow. The best thing that could happen for the Cubs is for the Bucs to be in position to catch the Cards. If we were to end up in a one game playoff with St. Louis, both teams would have to burn their aces in that game, leaving the loser to face Arietta with a second tier pitcher. As a win over the Cards in a one game playoff would put you through to the division series, you'd have to use Cole in that game.

 

[Steelers Rule!]

If the Cubs lose today, it might be in their best interest to tank tomorrow. The best thing that could happen for the Cubs is for the Bucs to be in position to catch the Cards. If we were to end up in a one game playoff with St. Louis, both teams would have to burn their aces in that game, leaving the loser to face Arietta with a second tier pitcher. As a win over the Cards in a one game playoff would put you through to the division series, you'd have to use Cole in that game.

Hadn't considered that possibility, but it's the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that Madden would use. He thinks different than most managers.

 

[steelermania]

Hadn't considered that possibility, but it's the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that Madden would use. He thinks different than most managers.

It's kind of what happened last year, where the Bucs burned their best pitchers trying to catch St. Louis, while the Giants, who were locked into their spot, set up their pitching for the playoffs. Not that it likely would have made a difference, as Cole would have had to shut the Giants out for us to have even had a chance.

 

[Steelers Rule!]

And that Francisco, is what they pay you $15M/year for. What an outstanding performance in Wrigley field!

 

[Steelers Rule!]

C'mon guys, Lynn is trying hard to give you this game. Bust it open.

 

[Steelers Rule!]

Holy **** that looked bad. Hope Piscotty is okay.

 

[jitter77]

Ouch that was nasty....Knee to the face and out cold.....

Wonder what the record for most times loading the bases and not scoring is?

 

[Steelerfan81]

We need to hit a homer. Let's go Marte.

 

[madinsomniac]

meh the Pirates need to chillax in the pressure situations... they try too hard sometimes. Bell and Bryant ought to drop their stash off at the bucs clubhouse...they don't test for that in MLB IIRC and frankly it might help them not clutch that bat so hard when the bases are loaded

 

[steelermania]

Oh well. Melancon picked a bad time for a terrible outing. Cole is going to have to shut the Cubs out until Maddon pulls Arrieta out of the game. Knowing Clint, he'll pinch hit for Cole in the sixth inning with Cole shutting the Cubs out, and then bring in Bastardo to get lit up.

 

[Steelers Rule!]

Probably just watched the season end right there. Bad feeling they're one and done again this year.

 

[stillerfaninfl]

Too many LOB. Too many missed opportunities.

 

[USDA#1]

say hello to Jake Arrietta and Pens season.

 

[str8liner]

Well one thing about it when they get shut down by Arrietta and and lose another WC game they dont have anyone to blame but themselves. You just cant watch the inconsistent play and honestly think this team can go very far in the playoffs when they look like they did tonight. The Cards have to be laughing their ***** off right now.

 

[Punxsutawney]

Too many LOB. Too many missed opportunities.

They played both tight and stupid, and it showed. They could not get a single clutch hit with four different bases loaded situations, and Polanco epically sh1t himself both on the bases and in the field in crucial situations.

This reflects why the Pirates remain the Cards' ***** in the division. The Cardinals handle the pressure of these huge late season/post season games much better than the Pirates. That team just seems to never beat itself, and rarely fails to capitalize on opportunities.

I feel bad for Happ, as he was on pace with both his pitch count and effectiveness to perhaps have a complete game shutout, but they could not get him a single run despite numerous opportunities to keep him in the game,

 

[str8liner]

They played both tight and stupid, and it showed. They could not get a single clutch hit with four different bases loaded situations, and Polanco epically sh1t himself both on the bases and in the field in crucial situations.

This reflects why the Pirates remain the Cards' ***** in the division. The Cardinals handle the pressure of these huge late season/post season games much better than the Pirates. That team just seems to never beat itself, and rarely fails to capitalize on opportunities.

I feel bad for Happ, as he was on pace with both his pitch count and effectiveness to perhaps have a complete game shutout, but they could not get him a single run despite numerous opportunities to keep him in the game,

Not to mention all the injuries that Cards have had you would think that if the Pirates were going to win the division this was the year. Hate to say it but we might have seen the high water mark for this team.

 

[JMM]

Who knows what will happen but they missed their chance to advance to the NLCS by squandering their opportunities last night. I think they have the ability to beat the Cards in the first round but I do not see them getting past the Cubs in the wildcard game. Their pitcher is a few levels above dominating at present. Maybe he will come down with the flu or plague.

 

[madinsomniac]

Odd things happen in the wild card game... it just takes one bad play to break through, and what experience does arietta really have in that situation?

 

[21STEELERS21]

I believe we took an Arrietta game to extras this season and won the game, so there is always a chance.