The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

Collapse

Recommended Videos

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • Karlos05
    -
    • Mar 2003
    • 5814

    #196
    Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

    Here we go. An exhaustive look at Craig's hair (Seriously it's the Pirates what are we going to talk about? Basebell?)

    Tonight


    Last Year


    2004

    Comment

    • mjb2124
      Hall Of Fame
      • Aug 2002
      • 13649

      #197
      Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

      Originally posted by Rag3vsW0rld
      That was his problem in 2003. Greg Booker, the Padres pitching coach at the time, tried tinkering with Oliver Perez's approach, delivery, and focus that season to throwing strikes and Oliver was trying to hard to do that, missing on location more often than in 2002 and his stuff looked really bad. IMO he should be left doing what he does best and he'll end up figuring it out. He's still only 24. When he's got it going he's hitting 96-97 on the fastball with a slider that doesn't matter where it's located... but once he starts focusing on locating his pitches and thinking about his pitch count that's when he gets into trouble. It has a lot to do with his mentality and that's why right now I really don't consider him to be an ace, he has the stuff but he doesn't have it upstairs yet.
      They should just leave the guy alone. All these pitching coaches want to make him a different type of pitcher than he really is. Just let him sling it for 5-6 innings and K 9-10 people. Like you said, he's young and will mature into the type of pitcher he can become (ala Randy Johnson).

      Comment

      • LetsGoPitt
        Cr*m*n*lly *nd*rr*t*d
        • Jul 2002
        • 5673

        #198
        Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

        I don't know....Jim Colborn is starting to piss me off, even if there's no definitive evidence that he's at fault.

        He made Duke tinker around with his mechanics in spring training -- Duke is 0-1 with an ERA over 7. He's already given up 2 homeruns this year, and he only gave up 3 all last season!

        Maholm hasn't been the same as last year either.

        Snell has been a major disappointment, though he never impressed me much before either.

        And I know this is cynical of me (hell, I'm a Pirates fan, I've earned that right), but don't you just feel that as soon as our pitchers come around, we're going to stop hitting?
        “In my lifetime, we've gone from Eisenhower to George W. Bush. We've gone from John F. Kennedy to Al Gore. If this is evolution, I believe that in twelve years, we'll be voting for plants.” - Lewis Black

        Comment

        • mjb2124
          Hall Of Fame
          • Aug 2002
          • 13649

          #199
          Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

          Originally posted by LetsGoPitt
          And I know this is cynical of me (hell, I'm a Pirates fan, I've earned that right), but don't you just feel that as soon as our pitchers come around, we're going to stop hitting?
          Not cynical at all. It happens every year.

          With that said, Ollie got hammered today. Vogelsong was brought in and he promptly got hammered as well.

          Ollie is not going to ever be successful this way. I blame the past coaching staff and I blame the current staff. Stop trying to change him. Go with what was successful. I don't care if he throws 150 pitches by the 4th inning. At least he'll have been successful more times than not. Right now he can't even get past the 4th inning without giving up 5-10 runs.

          Comment

          • Karlos05
            -
            • Mar 2003
            • 5814

            #200
            Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

            About Maholm last night, I think he actually pitched much better but the numbers don't really show it.

            He had the curve and fastball working and was locating both of them very well. His change was brutal though. It wouldn't drop at all and just sat belt high over the meat of the plate. He started to get hammered because Cota kept calling for the change. Cota wouldn't stop calling it even after it got Maholm into trouble. Maholm takes some blame for not shaking him off, but with a young pitcher like that Cota's gotta be smarter.

            As for today: UGH

            Comment

            • dieselboy
              --------------
              • Dec 2002
              • 18040

              #201
              Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

              What happened to Perez?

              Comment

              • mjb2124
                Hall Of Fame
                • Aug 2002
                • 13649

                #202
                Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                Originally posted by dieselboy
                What happened to Perez?
                Coaches are trying to change him to be more of a control pitcher and less of a flamethrower. What they haven't figured out is that Perez never had good control and I don't think he'll ever get it. He just doesn't fit that mold.

                They don't like that when being a flamethrower, he throws too many pitches. I guess throwing less pitches and getting shelled everytime out is better.

                Comment

                • dieselboy
                  --------------
                  • Dec 2002
                  • 18040

                  #203
                  Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                  Originally posted by joeboo
                  Coaches are trying to change him to be more of a control pitcher and less of a flamethrower. What they haven't figured out is that Perez never had good control and I don't think he'll ever get it. He just doesn't fit that mold.

                  They don't like that when being a flamethrower, he throws too many pitches. I guess throwing less pitches and getting shelled everytime out is better.
                  Ya, it really is amazing how far he has fallen. I don't see many Pirates games, so I had to ask what was up. Oh well, he is still young. Plenty of time for the Pirates to lose him and a good coaching staff to harnass all that talent.:wink:

                  Comment

                  • BatsareBugs
                    LVP
                    • Feb 2003
                    • 12553

                    #204
                    Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                    Ollie only has good control when he doesn't have his pitching coaches telling him to be a strikethrower and worry about his pitch count instead of just pitching. I remember when he first came up he was just slinging his fastball in and throwing the slider and guys were just fooled with it. I'm not sure if he still does this but occasionally when he had two strikes against a lefty (never saw him do this against a righty) he'd throw sidearm, almost submarine like. Sure he'd get up to 100 pitches by the end of the fifth, but he was more effective like that.

                    Comment

                    • mjb2124
                      Hall Of Fame
                      • Aug 2002
                      • 13649

                      #205
                      Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                      Originally posted by dieselboy
                      Oh well, he is still young. Plenty of time for the Pirates to lose him and a good coaching staff to harnass all that talent.:wink:
                      Ya know.....that really isn't too far from the truth. The old coaching staff and this new coaching staff doesn't impress me much. The new staff talks a great game, but I'm not seeing it on the field.

                      Comment

                      • mjb2124
                        Hall Of Fame
                        • Aug 2002
                        • 13649

                        #206
                        Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                        Originally posted by Rag3vsW0rld
                        Ollie only has good control when he doesn't have his pitching coaches telling him to be a strikethrower and worry about his pitch count instead of just pitching. I remember when he first came up he was just slinging his fastball in and throwing the slider and guys were just fooled with it. I'm not sure if he still does this but occasionally when he had two strikes against a lefty (never saw him do this against a righty) he'd throw sidearm, almost submarine like. Sure he'd get up to 100 pitches by the end of the fifth, but he was more effective like that.
                        I agree. I'd guess he throws sidearm about the same amount. His only problem is everytime I've seen him do it, he's been all over the place.

                        The first game of the year I saw exactly what I've been harping about. 0-2 count on a Brewers hitter. Catcher calls for the high heat. Ollie throws.....radar gun says 89 MPH......Brewer hitter deposits it to dead center for a HR. In 2004 when he was humming at 95+, that hitter doesn't touch that pitch. Now, he should've thrown it a little higher and out of the strikezone, but when he misses by those few inches and throws 5-6 MPH slower, that's what happens.

                        Ya know, the funny thing is these changes are meant so he doesn't throw so many pitches. Of course, it's not working. Since teams are hitting him, he's being forced to throw a ton more pitches. He's still at 100 by the 5th inning!

                        Comment

                        • mjb2124
                          Hall Of Fame
                          • Aug 2002
                          • 13649

                          #207
                          Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                          Well, I thought I'd bump this as I have a few Pirate thoughts running through my head today at work.

                          1. Ian Snell has really dissapointed. Ever since he was named a starter in spring, he's stunk. He can't get his slider or changeup over the plate and is grooving his fastball. 0-2 heaters right over the heart of the plate? C'mon Ian. That's a "no-no" in Pitching 101.

                          2. Rumor has it that Tom Gorzelanny could very well get called up and replace Snell in the rotation. Tom pitches in AAA today. If Snell has 1-2 more bad starts and Gorzelanny has 1-2 good starts, I think it will and should happen.

                          3. Tracy showed his first sign of impatience with everything this weekend. I got the impression from his interview that he was thinking "WTH did I get myself into?". Yes Jim, this is the life of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

                          4. Sean Casey's injury was terrible, but it does force the Pirates to start Craig Wilson everyday. Craig is crushing the ball right now. He's on one of his infamous hot streaks. This COULD be good. Craig's contract is up at the end of the year and I don't see the Pirates being able to afford him. Better trade him before the deadline when you can get something for him instead of losing him in the offseason for nothing. Of course, they could pull a Mark Redman and wait too long......Craig is very streaky and seems to cool off at the end of the year.

                          5. Roberto Hernandez has been a very pleasant surprise. There have been a few occassions where he entered the game and shutdown a potential rally. From what I've read, he seems to be a very good clubhouse guy and excellent mentor to Gonzo.

                          6. A tough stretch of games against STL, HOU and then STL again is coming up. We could really get behind the 8 ball if the starting pitching doesn't come through now. Not that it matters as this team isn't going anywhere, but it could get very ugly.

                          7. Doumit's injury put him on the 15 day DL. Paulino was called up, but the PG states Cota will get the majority of starts if not all of them. Great.....just what I want to see.....more cota. How about giving Paulino a shot? He actually has a chance at providing some offense.

                          On this same topic, I thought it was funny what Tracy said.

                          On 4/15/06 Tracy said "I'm seeing good signs of improvement" regarding Doumit's injury.

                          On 4/16/06 Tracy said "
                          ...there's not a whole lot of improvement from where he was a couple of days ago."

                          Flip flop much Jim?

                          8. Next game on TV isn't until this Friday. I guess the Pirates figure it's best not to air the teams pitiful play on TV, or they might end up with less than the 15,000 fans they're drawing right now!
                          Last edited by mjb2124; 04-17-2006, 01:48 PM.

                          Comment

                          • mjb2124
                            Hall Of Fame
                            • Aug 2002
                            • 13649

                            #208
                            Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                            We lost.....again. 2-1 to STL.

                            Good to see we got some decent pitching. Of course, the bats stopped once we got that pitching, but that's the Pirates.

                            We still fell behind early on a Pujols 2 run HR in the 1st inning. That means the Pirates have now been outscored in the first inning by 27 runs! That's absurd.

                            EDIT - Ohh, and Jody Gerut filed a grievance against the Pirates today regarding his disputed surgery. The Pirates say he doesn't need it and won't pay for it. Gerut says he does. This might get interesting.
                            Last edited by mjb2124; 04-18-2006, 08:04 AM.

                            Comment

                            • BigRed
                              MVP
                              • May 2003
                              • 1683

                              #209
                              Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                              Albert Pujols hit his 18th career homerun at PNC tonight.

                              I was wondering if anyone knew who the career leader overall at PNC was? I'm thinking Pujols must rank pretty high on that list.
                              Pecos Pete

                              Comment

                              • mjb2124
                                Hall Of Fame
                                • Aug 2002
                                • 13649

                                #210
                                Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                                Originally posted by BigRed
                                Albert Pujols hit his 18th career homerun at PNC tonight.

                                I was wondering if anyone knew who the career leader overall at PNC was? I'm thinking Pujols must rank pretty high on that list.
                                I'm sure Pujols is the leading visitor. I can't recall another visiting player having more.

                                Jason Bay is probably the all time leader. I suspect Craig Wilson is high as well. I'd have to do some searching to find the actual leaders though. A quick google search didn't come up with much.

                                Comment

                                Working...