Coverage: Even the Pirates’ runs aren’t runs

Call ghosthunters to see who is haunting all three pittsburgh sports teams. Time for an exorcism lol. Seriously where has the "clutch" gone??

Boy, DK, it must be a heck of a lot more fun to cover this team when they're playing well. Everyone has sort of taken it for granted that they'll come around, especially given last year's poor start but...the pessimism is contagious, and it looks like it has infected the clubhouse. Not good.

The way these Pirates are playing right now isn't giving me a ton of hope, especially for a division with the way the Cubs and Cardinals are playing. Not saying it's not possible, as some of these players have proved us wrong over the last few years.
But if Cutch is hurt and can't produce, this season is sunk. If JHay is on the other extreme of the luck factor for half a season, this team won't make it.
Here's hoping that isn't the case and it is a legitimate slump that they can break out of, and soon. One 10 run game could turn this around pretty quickly.

For someone who is still adjusting to faster pitching, Kang saw Chapman pretty well. Love what he's been bringing. Makes contact most of the at-bats and finds holes. It's still early but all good signs.

Time to panic and run and scream for heads to roll. Clearly this must be Rutherford's fault for so badly managing the Pen's salary cap, coupled with horrible decisions on last week's Steelers draft!!

Life sucks, sometimes

I keep hearing "Pirates are better than this" but are they really? Harrison was an unknown he hit well last year but only other time he appeared in 100+ games he hit .233 for season. Mercer is a .250 hitter -- Pedro is home runs that's it and he's not hitting them he's just a .230 hitter.. Polanco is an unknown with less than 120 MLB games... That leaves Marte, McCutchen and Walker now imagine if/when Neil is gone.. The question isn't when will the offense come around but is this the real offense.

calm down, its April. great speech by Walker

Instead of worrying about dribblers down the 1st baseline, we should be denting left and right center field walls.

And maybe putting a few over now and then for good measure.

I'm not ready to panic just yet....but the longer this continues, the more it feels like 1989. Back then, the Bucs had their young core intact (Bonds, Van Slyke, Bonilla, Bell, Drabek, Smiley) and were expected to take the next step and contend after going 85-75 in 1988. Instead, they stumbled out of the gate and didn't recover until a decent record in September saved them from being truly awful. That team needed to take a step back before they could be a real contender. Here's hoping my feeling is wrong and we don't have to wait for 2016.

O for May - Nice

J Hay seems totally lost. Kang deserves more time at third. J Hay swinging at everything except strikes. I'd sit him for a spell. Mercer needs to play for his defense. We need to win a 1-0 game.

New lineup: 1. Cervelli. 2. Cutch. 3.Walker. 4.Marte 5.Pedro. 6.Kang. 7. Polanco. 8. Mercer. 9. Pitcher.

Stuart

gotta go back to a few quotes from an old baseball movie. you'll know which one. "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes, it rains." And they need to "breathe through their eyelids."

Good rah rah report. :)

The bad/weird thing about baseball is that it's full of streaks that seem to defy the odds and make people quick to overreact. The good thing about a Major League Baseball season is it being 162 games. Those streaks, especially those like hitting with runners on base, usually settle in near their most likely average. In other words, chill Pirates fans. They had a 7 game losing streak last year and made the playoffs. They were shutout 12 times in 2013 and won 94 games. Just chill...

I don't even know what to say at this point. It's Charlie Brown trying to kick that football. Over and over and over again. And then they took that run away. Good grief!

My $0.02. Last year the Bucs didn't shake out of their early season funk until Josh Harrison "forced" his way into the lineup with both his bar and his glove.

So far, no one has done that. This year it may be Kang if Hurdle continues to pencil him into the lineup and he continues to produce.

In the hindsight is 20/20 category, the trading of Travis Snyder may have been a poor choice. His current OPS is .763 That would certainly be nice to see in the Pirates lineup especially if it meant giving McCutchen the time needed to rest his sore knee.

You're 100% wrong on the Polanco call and it wasn't even close. Umpires area going to call that every time. In fact, in my managing days we used to teach our guys to purposely hit the runner in the back with the ball if they were iffy about making the play cleanly. It's a cheap and easy out 99% of the time. Even when the runner is legally in the 45 foot lane. Polanco was in the grass when he was hit, no brainier for the ump. And the reason for the pause in the call ? Conroy made eye contact with the first base ump who nodded and then the call was made.

One sure way to avoid such a play, hit the flipping ball out of the infield.

I like the bats to break out next week at Citizens Bank against the Phillies awful rotation. But for now a split in the next 4 days would be the best case scenario.

as your soon-to-be-hired new antagonistic columnist Flounder would say....."Go Nutting's Wallet...Go Nutting's Wallet"

Check the replay of Cole coming off the mound after Votto's at bat... Cole ever so coyly glanced over at Votto and chirped at him and that set Votto off even more...

Cole can be a real flake on the mound. After the first two strikes of the game you could see him come undone. Throwaway for ball one on Hamilton and then nibble for ball two, nibble for ball three (though it was a strike) and then give-away meatball that a competent high school hitter could have hit for a single.

He just doesn't have the confidence, or the pitch, to finish off hitters... at least he didn't last night.

.250 0 hr 4 rbi
.286 7 hr 18 rbi

Being at last night's game, it was rough to watch only because I wanted to be a bleacher coach. I was pretty livid and mentioned it on Twitter last night that they intentionally walked the catcher who's career average was below .200 (now at .200 after last night) for the pitcher who has a career average above .200 and is known to be able to hit the ball. I know we are supposed to trust that they know what they are doing, but I felt this was the set of at bats that began the downfall of the rest of the game since it didn't go at all as planned.

Second thought, or more of a discussion question.

Is it harder to watch a close game in which your team can't seem to have anything go right?

...or...

Is it harder to watch a game where your team is getting completely blown away?

I'd say the latter is harder because in a blow out, there is little hope. In a close game, even if they appear to be playing terribly, there is always a greater hope of that comeback.

3.5 games until last place.

I have to respectfully disagree with your last sentence DK. This team could've used any kind of offensive momentum. Scoring a run there could've started something. We will never know

Cole pitched like crap because the confidence in his team to score a run, let alone enough runs to get him a win, is gone. ridiculous to act as this isn't affecting the pitchers as well....I'm not implying that you said it wasn't dk

Rule 6.05(k) runner is permitted to have his foot on either line of the running path. Check it for accuracy. More important, every manger should know the rule book front to back or have somebody right beside him who does. No big deal? If he asked the umpire what the rule is and the umpire gets the rule wrong, protest, upheld 1 run. If he says in his judgement blah blah blah no protest. Hurdle needs to help manufacture run with bunts, steals, hit and run, squeezes, or whatever at this point

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/05/06/brook-jacoby-and-umpire-doug-eddings-were-in-a-loud-obscenity-laced-nose-to-nose-exchange/

I don't know if this incident comes into play as reference for how Votto could be punished or not.

It's funny....10 years ago...or less we would have been thrilled with a 6 and 6 home record and 12 and 15 overall. The bar has been raised for sure with 2 playoff appearances and such. Yep, I am as frustrated as the next person, I really am. If this were late August, I'd be really concerned. Let's see what happens tonight and this weekend vs. the Red Birds then off to Philly....

Here's my solution to the present problems:
1. Sit both Cutch and J Hay.
2.Play Kang at Third.
3. Move Marte to Center.
4. Platoon left field between Rodriguez (home) and Hart (away)

Cutch is THE key to this team, but he can't do it by himself. Until the rest of the team starts to produce minimally, it is a lot like asking an injured Malkin with Winnick and Bennett as line mates, to make the Pens win by himself.

J Hay really needs to learn how to take a pitch or two. He is swing at balls and watching strikes. But, I wouldn't play him till he works it out. Meantime Kang is getting some great experience. Cutch can have time to heal while my platoon would be better than current Cutch. No one presently on the roster can replace a healthy Cutch.

Come on gnome king, be bold!

Stuart

I BLAME JOSH YOHE!!!!!!!

Not only are the Pirates now scoring like the Penguins . . . .

. . . . but now the Pirates are getting goals (runs) taken away, as has been a regular feature for Chris Kunitz since Josh Yohe was on the Penguins beat!

The Pirates are now scoring "negative" runs since Josh Yohe signed on.

I BLAME JOSH YOHE!!!

At what point int time does MLB finally step up and do something about their horrid officiating? As a causal fan it's getting to the point that the game is getting unwatchable. In the last week I've seen at minimum a dozen pitches that were well outside the strike zone called strikes, the majority of them low even though MLB claims to want a higher strike zone. Couple that with multiple absurd calls like the Polanco call last night and the game just makes no sense anymore. I watch the game to see the players perform and decide the outcome not for the officials to decide the outcome because of human error. And before people come out with the standard "that's just part of the game and the players have to find a way to overcome" replays, why would you want to watch players try to overcome someone elses mistakes when you could easily eliminate those mistakes and watch players actual play the game?

Randall Simon thinks this is a joke

Pirates offense is just terrible right now. Pitching so great that I actually feel bad for the pitching. Literally NO ONE is hitting right now. Why are they not stepping up while Adam Wainwright is hurt for the Cardinals?!?!

I've watched Todd Frazier career since he was 12 years old.
1998 Little League World Series Champs MVP.
Great player and person.
Wish the Pirates traded for him a few years ago.

How much longer does 22 stay in the 3 hole?

That curve ball of Gerrit Cole was getting hit a lon-n-n-n-ng way last night!

I wouldn't have minded the Steelers signing La'El Collins as a free agent, especially at the price the Cryboys just announced signing him for.

So Votto definitely lost his cool but I never saw any head to head contact. Touching an ump in any way is a suspension. Aggressively chest bumping is an even bigger offense. But there was no head butt there. His head veers to the side by a good bit.

that base runner interference call was total BS! you say it didn't matter, but that makes it 3-1, and who knows after that. inexcusable that an ump would make that call on a lousy throw by the pitcher and lousy glove position by the first baseman - regardless that polanco was straddling the line.