Nationals bottom three pitching staff has so far limited the Pirates bottom three offense.
Pirates have moved up the home run leaderboards, but unfortunately a lot of those home runs have come with no men on base.
A resurgent Mitch Keller (2-5, 4.77) will look to salvage the series in Washington, D.C., going up against Paolo Espino (0-1, 2.21).
Espino has very limited starting experience, having only started his last three appearances, out of his 23 total appearances this season.
Espino, a RHP, has been dominant against lefties (.480 OPS against), so hopefully there will be some reverse magic.
PIRATES @ NATIONALS
Time: 1:05 PM EST
Pirates Starter: Mitch Keller (2-5, 4.77)
Rays Starter: Paolo Espino (0-1, 2.21)
Lineups: Check back prior to the game.
LINEUPS:
Pirates
Mitch on the mound.#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/TDN7UkriOr
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) June 29, 2022
Nationals
DAY BASEBALL 😍#NATITUDE pic.twitter.com/13zLQnoBQX
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 29, 2022
Keller appears to be nothing more than a mediocre back of the rotation guy as a starter. Maybe he’s better suited in the bullpen? The Pirates bullpen needs help. Starters can’t seem to pitch more than 5 innings and the pen is getting overused and exposed… Crowe is Exhibit A. Bring Burrows up and put him in the rotation…Keller can push Stratton out the door.
Can we get a thread only to discuss this super weird 4 out rule? I’m dying to cipher this shit. Dude doesn’t tag, and if no one appeals it’s okeydoke? That’s like hidden ball trick, but for runners.
I think MLB will be putting out a statement that the umps blew it. Adrianza, by stepping on the bag, was in effect appealing that Jack left early. The crew chief statements is that Adrianza must verbally say he’s appealing the runner left early when stepping on the bag. I don’t think so, this happens all the time in doubling up runners who don’t tag. It doesn’t matter if he already tagged Park for the third out. The rule then says the defensive team can take the out that benefits them the most, which would of course be taking Jack’s out by stepping on third.
Thank you Navas! RTFJR!!
Yippee!!!
Raise it! Ugliest win of the season except for Reynolds of course.
Ooooooo, Yerry with a dime piece to end it
He appears to be a keeper…good timing with Crowe breaking down
WoooHoooooo!!!!
Cruz does things no other SS has ever done…often.
in the field, not at bat.
Go Yerry Go!!!!
No history for Reynolds today!! MLB Network Jinxed him!! They just had to have a live lookin to watch the attempt……
I mean, it’s not as if they’re in the running for WC or anything, but the biggest thing that worries me with this pitching staff, is if they alter the balls in any fashion to boost offensive numbers, Pirates are going to get obliterated.
Strike zone for their pitchers is bigger than for Buc’s pitchers again today. When does robo ump get to MLB?
Yeah it’s the zone that’s the reason their pitching is crud. That’s it.
Can’t wait till Framing is a relic. It is going to be interesting to see how many of the big breaking ball pitchers will turn into strike out artists when they can bend a ball and hits a corner of the zone after starting way high and wide and then going way low. Those are never called strikes now but should be called strikes and will be virtually unhittable.
I know they edited the robo zone after some feedback, so the big breakers aren’t getting called strikes that clip the back of the zone on top, or bottom of zone in the front.
That sucks if you are pitcher
It’s give and take. Cause then they widened it to give strikes for pitches on the edges, like a fastball on the black.
That’s a really good point. Some guys are really good but are actually penalized for it because of the umpires.
File this inning under better to be lucky than good.
Shelton will now feel justified to keep overworking bullpen arms for another month.
They all let up runs. Blaming the woes of the bullpen on Shelton is hard to figure out. Until we have guys that can get outs and put up zeros then it’s going to be hard to manage. We have 1 bullpen arm that is reliable, I don’t blame Shelton for trying different things. When a guy looks good and pitches a good first inning I actually like the idea of keeping him in for another inning. It worked very well early in the year, No doubt it hasn’t worked lately but you can’t just blame the manager every time relievers stink.
They have a 14 man pen, he keeps using them two innings, the second inning seems to be the one they have the most trouble if not all the trouble. If you use the relievers an inning two to three games in a row, you might get better results than using them once for two + ineffective inning per every four days. Add to that, using that “tactic” in close games, not matching up and sticking to that approach, when you have an expanded bullpen is nonsensical. I could understand getting length in a game that you are either ahead or behind by let’s say 3-5 runs, but is done no matter the situation. That’s just the relievers, could go a paragraph each on pinch running, pinch hitting, and defensive replacement late in games, even something as simple as a consistent line up.
Add to that, using that “tactic” in close games, not matching up and sticking to that approach, when you have an expanded bullpen is nonsensical.
Shelton’s approach is consistently nonsensical because he insists on “scheduling” pitchers for a certain number of innings on certain days. I’ve never heard of anything like that outside of the minor leagues. Determining in advance who’s going to pitch when and for how long does completely defeat the purpose of the huge bullpens the Pirates always carry by removing all flexibility, and all ability to match the pitchers to the situation. And, of course, it absolves the manager from responsibility for in-game decisions, because the “schedule” was already established.
Yeah, the Pirates’ bullpen sucks. But BC doing a terrible job at putting together a bullpen doesn’t excuse Shelton not trying to create the best chances for success.
I will state the obvious they are already overworked and undertalented, so the rest of the year is just a crap shoot…
Leaving a RP in too long is definitely one of Sheldon’s spiritual gifts. Watch Beede implode here.
His theory is if you walk him he can’t get a hit, I guess.
A miracle, an out.
Perez does a 2nd thing good offensively in the same game and…………the Bucs waste it
Hayes walk. Hayes walk. Come on, Hayes. Walk. Walk. Walk. Or HBP. Whatever it takes for bases loaded with B-Rey up next.
Live look into the Nats and Pirates trying to figure out who can be the most bad at bad baseball
Great bunt!
I’m in for a 9-out save. Beede’s arm looks fresh. With Yerry on stand-by.
Six outs gets thru the last 2 innings.
Can Cruz resist swinging at pitches out of the zone?
Six straight pitches out of the zone and he swings at two of them. Needs to go back to AAA to learn the strike zone.
No one can learn how to recognize and hit major league pitching in the minor leagues. He needs to remain exactly where he is until he gets it.
oh for fucks sake
As long as the pitcher throws six in a row he’s okay, apparently.
Hmmm. BRey is guaranteed at least one more AB. Interesting . . . .
HR Cycle!!!
They’re gonna need it.
Thank God for BRey!
Reynolds is going to bring back so much talent at the deadline.
Joking. Joking.
But am I?
Not as much as you’d think.
Assuming we use Tampa Bay as a model for a successful low budget organization, what would they do with him? Are we a playoff team in 23? If not, trade him when his value is high.
Shut it!!!
cue the Bryan Reynolds Vince McMahon meme template!
😂😂😂 I’m dying
BRey
Mr. Reynolds holds the secret!
BRey! Whew!
NO. HE. DIDN’T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We must take advantage of Perez’ one hit per month!! Lets GO!
A PR would be a good start.
Fletcher warming up….
No, not Fletch time….. You faked me out !!!
Fletch Time !!!
Wait. They changed Cruz’s FC to a single?!
Mitch deserved the earned runs.! That was a poor outing.
Not going to disagree, but he pitched well enough after the first that he should’ve been able to complete 5 innings with 3 runs against, which in most cases should be more than enough from a starter.
This smells a lot like the “if you remove his bad outings, he’s good” rationale I saw with Jeff Locke. 3 in 5 innings isn’t good.
I was going to ask if we were seeing a flashback of the old Mitch or was the new Mitch just having a bad game. Haven’t watched it yet but I have it on DVR to watch this evening.
Call me old school but a 5.40 ERA ain’t gonna do it…
8 hits (not counting the error ruled a hit) plus 4 walks. Three DP’s saved him.
For this team? No. But from a backend starter, it should keep you in the game. 5 runs is, “Ok. Pack up”
Wham!! another homer!!!!
I was hoping you were ahead, and Jack was about to hit a bomb lol
Isn’t hard to see why these are two of the very worst teams in MLB. This is as bad a display of heads up baseball I’ve seen in a very, very, long time.
At least with the Nats, it was inevitable. They were a consistent contender for nearly a decade, won a WS. In fact, one reason Pirates fans should be warned: two big prospect pieces they were likely counting on to bridge them through the next contender with Soto were Robles and Kieboom.
Rebuilds are terrible for the game of baseball.
Especially when they stop at the teardown part.
Especially LOOOOOOOONNNNGGGG and arduous ones.
I know this is going to come as a surprise to some of you, but Pirates are not a well coached team.
Ruiz didn’t tag on that foul pop up that dropped, Nats announcers not happy. It’s bad coaching contagion.
These teams need to be relegated.
About to get one more out, then bunch of runs will score as to all not be earned against Vieaux
I feel bad for Keller. Grinded after a rough first. Gifted a lead heading into 5th, then the ump and defense let him down. Then the ump hoses Vieaux on an 0-2 pitch, before Ruiz hits a RBI single on a FB at his eyes.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all. I’d be hot if I was a Nats fan right now.
Atrocious called ball 4, followed by a booted DP ball. Wonderful
#FreeBae
LOL! This is the stuff that usually happens to the Pirates on Defense. Get an inning ending DP but do it in the wrong fashion to allow a go ahead run to score. Amazing….
This is a BAD umpire crew…lol
Bell caught the ball. It’s a DP. Lol
So, was it a contact play? Cause Park and Jack both took off on a ball they shouldn’t have.
If we get a run out of this. Then wow.
This team figures out new and exciting ways to muck up an inning.
Come on, Suwinski. Josh Bell would’ve had a double on that! lol
They’ve ended in outs, but that’s the third throw from Cruz that almost got away from him.
That being said, I’d probably feel less uncomfortable if we had a real 1B. Someone not under 6’0″
2 XBH’s given up to a LHB this season for Espino
You can’t fool the Fatman!
Every now and then, Keller throws a slider that’s just absolutely filthy.
Robo Ump, please!
Clearly MLB sent their worst Umpire crew to work this series.
We need to see the Umpire Scorecard tomorrow. Navas is really bad today, for both teams.