Know Your Pirates

[whippoorwill]

Know your 2026 Pirates! Compiled from stats as of 8/4/26 and cowritten by Mr. cooby!

 

First, I'll get this out of the way. Forget Paul Skenes. He's not good this year and he is not someone to consider as a team helper. Plus the Mets won't face him.

 

The Pirates have some legitimate hitters this year. Some should/could have been on the All Star team in my humble opinion, instead of the aforementioned Skenes.

 

Batters include:

 

• The handsome Nick Gonzales batting .315 (as of this writing, Tuesday) with 17 doubles and 47 RBI

• Bryan Reynolds (most certainly should have been an AS) .269 average, 26 DB, 15 HR, 61 RBI

• Brandon Lowe by now has 100 hits, batting .253, 22 HR, 69 RBI

• Ryan O'Hearn .277 average, 17 HR, also 69 RBI,

• Esmerlyn Valdez (Magic Man, get it?) .285 average 14 HR IN 39 GAMES! He's the ROY candidate for Pittsburgh – and he was NL Rookie of the Month for July!

• Jake (Mayhem) Mangum adds a nice spark and hopefully will have a place when Cruz comes back, as also the aforementioned “Magic Man”. You'll know he's coming up to bat because the Outfields will start singing.

A big disappointment has been DH Marcell Ozuna, heavily booed when he leaves the dugout, but so very encouraging to his teammates. You'll see him front and center watching the game and cheering but with just 251 ABs for the season, he has a BA of .203, 8HR, and 29 RBIs. Not what they are paying $12M for. *****RELEASED!****

Missing from that list is Oneil Cruz, who has been injured for two months and may be back by this weekend and Spencer Horwitz, who just returned from an IL stint.

Also Konnor Griffin, who signed a huge contract before he even turned 20, was doing well and then got hurt. Hopefully he'll be back soon as well.
That plus a host of part time players who have really contributed. Honestly, there is just so much to talk about!

 

Pitching for the Pirates are

 

• Paul Skenes, 9-9 , but 149 Ks

• Braxton Ashcraft, 10-4 135 Ks

• Carmen Mlodzinski who has been and probably will be a starter again. Banished to the bullpen as a back up to Jared Jones, but has sparkled.
  Jared Jones, back from elbow surgery in late May, has pitched 52 innings with 58 strikeouts.

• Mitch Keller has recently been scratched for shoulder surgery, which makes me think Mlodzinski (pronounced Majinski, btw) will return to starting duties. But what do I know?

 

The bullpen has been deplorable. I won't get into names but they have blown 20 games out of 42 opportunities. Ouch. They got some new guys at the trade deadline but mostly it seems like there is a pool of awful middle relievers out there that just get passed from team to team.

 

All in all the Pirates are playing .500 ball, well above recent years; of course the internet explodes when they lose a game, much as it does when the Mets lose. Following two teams is exhausting, boys.

 

Managing is the long suffering Don Kelly, a really good manager who plays the analytics and pitch count game way too much.

A few of my favorite Pirate things: They use the traffic cone as a celebration tool; if you are unfamiliar with the background, it's because a printer making Tshirts printed “Raise the Cone” instead of “Raise the Colors”. Puzzling for sure, but the Pirates made it a real slogan. It's fun watching them prance around with it. Plus, if you have ever driven in PA, THE CONE is ever present as are our famous potholes! This actually started in Cincinnati, and a Reds' clubhouse man provided the original cone that they keep in the dugout!

The welder's mask is for homeruns. I hold my breath that the fellow wearing it doesn't trip and kill himself. It is a tribute to the working class in Pittsburgh.

Earlier this year, the Pirates had a “Dad Roadtrip” in which their dads accompanied the team on a roadtrip! It was great fun :D

And their sideline reporter Hannah Mears is just the best: a real trouper when doused with ice water, asks the right questions and listens to what they say. None of the “oh I was just doing what I supposed to” answers either.

 

The Pirates generously air all their games on TWO alternating TV channels, so now you know why I love them.

 

Now for some real fun, see if you can see the relationship between Spencer and Jay Horwitz!

 

Or how about former Pirate Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ralph Kiner?

Try to get both!

 

Adios, heading out on Thursday morning!

 

 

 

 

 

[Edgy MD]

I feal like I just earned myself a PhD in Pirate knowledge!  Thank you for this!

I have to say that my information differs somewhat from yours.  When I doused Hannah Mears in ice water, she was not cool about it at all. 

[whippoorwill]

I do not believe you :)

[The Hot Corner]

Well, the Pirates bullpen should have gotten a little better with the addition of Luke Weaver.

[MFS62]

Tell him he did a great job. 
beat ‘em Bucs. 
later

[whippoorwill]

[whippoorwill]

Think this last one is the Pirates getting home from their trip. 
we just happened to be walking by

[Frayed Knot]

Is that first one Mazeroski? The second, I assume, is the Clemente bridge.

[whippoorwill]

It’s Clemente. Was darker than I thought. Correct on the bridge!

 

we took a break an sat down on the Honus Wagner statue

[whippoorwill]

Avi

[metirish]

Excellent KTE , I'm fully briefed on the Pirates 

[DocTee]

I read somewhere not too long ago that if all games were eight innings (maybe it was seven?) the Pirates would have the best record in baseball, such is the horror of their bullpen.

[Benjamin Grimm]

7 minutes ago, DocTee said:

I read somewhere not too long ago that if all games were eight innings (maybe it was seven?)

It's probably just a matter of time...

[Edgy MD]

Still, I'd hate to take that bullpen for granted, staying close until the late innings, only to have Lucius Weaver shut the door in my face.