Buccos Cove

Every week during the 2020 regular season, we will pick a Buccos Cove Player of the Week for the guy who made the biggest impact. After a week of games, our first Player of the Week is none other than third baseman Colin Moran. The Pittsburgh Pirates have officially played a week's worth of games and they have seen their share of ups and downs on both sides of the ball. Through their first six games of the season, they sit at 2-4 and are currently tied for last place in the National League Central. With that in mind, it is time to pick our first 2020 Pittsburgh Pirates Player of the Week. For week 1, it wasn't very hard to come up with the winner as he was the man who has kept the offense afloat over the first six games. Colin Moran has been on fire to start the season and is our first Buccos Cove Pirates Player of the Week! Moran has been the life blood of the Pirates offense so far this season, leading all of the "everyday starters" in all three statisti...

It has been a slow start to the 2020 season for the Pirates as they dropped each of their first two series of the season, going 1-2 in each. They look to rebound as they head to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field to take on the Chicago Cubs. At the beginning of the 2020 season, you knew the Pirates were going to have to battle to compete with a roster of mostly young guys. Through the first two series of the shortened 2020 season, that inexperience has shown through as the Pirates have gone 2-4 dropping both of their opening series. They now head back on the road for their second road trip of the season, and their competition doesn't get any easier. They are staring down the red hot Chicago Cubs, who enter Friday's series opener having won each of their first two series sitting at 4-2. Even though it is still early in the season, the Pirates are going to have to start making some moves if they want to compete in the Central this season. The offense needs a defin...

Joe Musgrove made his second start of the season on Wednesday and turned in almost the same numbers he did on Opening Day. However, the offensive support was not there for him as he and the team fell to the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0. As a pitcher, when you are pitching well you normally are feeling good and the game just slows down for you. Over his first two starts, Joe Musgrove has pitched well, turning in two quality starts, but he is feeling anything but good. His record sits at 0-2 and his ERA is slightly higher than he would like at 4.76, but he has pitched well enough to keep his team in ball games. However, the offense hasn't done anything to help Musgrove's case in the early going. In his first 11.1 innings of work, Musgrove has allowed six earned runs and received zero runs of support. The Pirates were in a position to give Musgrove a no-decision in game one but, with only one hit on Wednesday night, they didn't even smell an opportunity to help Musgrove t...

While the pitching has struggled for the Pirates so far this season, the one consistent thing so far has been the offense. It played a key factor in the Buc's second win of the year coming back from a 6-2 deficit in the last three innings. Throughout the first five games of the season, the main focus of the Pirates struggles has been their pitching staff, and particularly their bullpen. However, for as bad as the bullpen has been, the offense has been that good over the first week of the season. They were the stars once again orchestrating a four-run come from behind victory in the last three innings to move to 2-3 on the year. Six of their right rubs came over the last three innings of the ball game and saved the Pirates from what could have been a disastrous 1-4 start. The bullpen then came out and held the lead with Nick Burdi picking up his first Major League save. Over the first five games of the season, the offense has done their part scoring runs in bunches. Over...

The bullpen continued its 2020 woes last night blowing a four-run lead in the ninth before eventually falling 6-5 in the 11th. There were positives and negatives throughout the night, but the closer's role has really come into question as of late. Going into the ninth inning of their home opener against the Milwaukee Brewers, it looked like the Pittsburgh Pirates all but had the win. They were leading 5-1 and had just put up a crooked number two innings ago on a Jarrod Dyson two-RBI single. However, a combination of Michael Feliz and Kyle Crick saw that lead evaporate and the game went into extra innings. The Pirates eventually fell 6-5 in 11 innings and went from possibly being a 2-2 team in a good position to a 1-3 team battling from behind. If the Pirates want to have any chance of being competitive this season, the bullpen has to step up and be more reliable late in games. The biggest concern in the Pirates bullpen right now is who is going to step up and hold down ...

After picking up a win in the finale of the three-game series in St. Louis, the Pirates return home to PNC Park. Awaiting them is a team who has had their number for the past several seasons in the Milwaukee Brewers. The Pittsburgh Pirates are riding high after their first victory of 2020. They defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 in the series finale and, while you don't want to lose too many series this year, it is good to get that first win under their belts. They now return home to PNC Park to open the home half of their schedule, but a not so easy opponent awaits them. The Pirates entertain the Milwaukee Brewers, a team they went just 4-15 against last year as they look to pick up back-to-back victories. The good news, the Brewers also enter the game with a record of 1-2, the bad news the Pirates have not had a lot of success against the Brewers in the past. Even though it is the fourth game of the season, it is a big series for both teams involved. A 4-2 or 3-3 st...

The Pittsburgh Pirates picked up their first win of 2020 when they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday 5-1. The power bats got the Bucs the lead, and the bullpen was able to finish it out as the Pirates got the win. Heading into Sunday's series finale in St. Louis, the Pittsburgh Pirates were sitting at 0-2 after back-to-back tough losses. After the bullpen blew the game late in the opener, the Bucs got obliterated in game two of the series 9-1 and was looking to salvage a win before returning home. Game three of the series saw the Pirates ahead 3-1 after the fifth inning, and the bullpen was coming in trying to keep the Bucs in front. Manager Derek Shelton decided to go with rookie JT Brubaker, who was making his Major League debut, and the young right-hander combined with two other pitchers to preserve the win. Brubaker was the most impressive out of the three relievers used, and he helped jumpstart a bullpen that has been otherwise stagnant in the exhibition g...

The Pittsburgh Pirates opened their 2020 schedule in St. Louis when they took on the Cardinals. The Pirates competed all night long but didn't have enough to keep up with the Cardinals. The game looked like a loss as the Pirates entered the ninth inning of their Opening Day game against the St. Louis Cardinals. The team was down by three runs, and the offense looked pretty stagnant except for one offensive burst in the fifth inning. However, the Cardinals were bringing in their rookie closer and the heart of the Pirates order was coming to the plate. They did provide some fight, but it wasn't enough as the Pirates fell to the Cardinals 5-4 and dropped to 0-1 on the season. While there were some down moments, it wasn't all bad and I like the way the Pirates competed throughout the game, even when it looked like they were down and out. After day one, it is important not to over-react and be entirely negative. While you hate to start the season 0-1, 15 other teams ...

Prior to the 2020 season, Phillip Evans was a little known name from the New York Mets Organization. Let's take a look at how he powered his way from Minor League Free Agent to earning an Opening Day roster spot. Before the last three exhibition games, the only news you probably headed about Phillip Evans was that he is a Minor League free agent. He hasn't had very much playing time in the Major Leagues, and the time he has had hasn't been very productive. In 54 Major League games, Evans has hit just .241 with no home runs and 2 RBI. However, he has shown power throughout his Minor League career and is looking to now translate that power to the Big Leagues. He showed a glimpse of that power against the Indians when he hit a 410 foot home run into the left-field seats, but he is looking to consistently produce that kind of power at the Major League level. In nine seasons in the Minor Leagues, Evans hit .262 with 61 career home runs while driving in 316 RBI in bot...

The 2020 Major League Baseball season is finally here and the Pittsburgh Pirates open up their schedule against the St. Louis Cardinals. It is the first of a three-game series and here is what you can expect as the team gets set for 2020. It is official, baseball is back! The 2020 season kicked off tonight, and the Pittsburgh Pirates will start their 60-game slate tomorrow when they head to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals. Over the last six seasons, the Cardinals have owned the Pirates going 67-46 against are beloved Bucs. The last time the Pirates didn't have a losing record against St. Louis was in 2013 when they went 12-12, and their last winning season against the Cardinals was 2011 when they went 9-7. 2019 was the worst season yet for the Pirates in the all-time match-up as they went just 5-14 against the Cardinals in 19 matchups. So, how do the Pirates turn the tide and get back to at least competing with one of the top teams in the National League Central? It ...

The Pittsburgh Pirates wrapped up the exhibition portion of their 2020 schedule on Wednesday with a 5-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians. They dropped all three games and are now looking to leave that behind them as they get ready for the 2020 season opener on Friday. The Pittsburgh Pirates ended a disappointing exhibition schedule on Wednesday night when they fell to the Cleveland Indians 5-3. It ended what has been a dismal exhibition season as they combined to go just 3-18 in their 21 games combined between Spring Training 1.0 and 2.0. While they say record doesn't matter in Spring Training games, winning only 14% of the games you play is cause for concern. There have been plenty of negatives throughout the process, but some players have shown promise in the short span of games the team got to play. However, all of that is forgotten as every team starts fresh at 0-0 tomorrow as the 60-game sprint to the playoffs begins. While the Pirates aren't one of the team's...

The Pittsburgh Pirates 2020 Opening Day Roster is starting to take shape with the start of the season being just two days away. They added two of their Minor League Free Agents to their 40-man roster adding depth in both the bullpen and behind the plate. The abbreviated 2020 MLB season is just around the corner, with the Pittsburgh Pirates opening their slate of games on Friday. Manager Derek Shelton and his coaching staff have to cut their roster to 30 by the trip to St. Louis. That roster started taking shape when the Pirates added left-handed pitcher Robbie Erlin and catcher John Ryan Murphy to the 40-man roster. Both players provide veteran leadership to their side of the ball and can help the young players develop during this sprint of a season. Both Erlin and Murphy have been around the league and hope to bring that veteran leadership to the Pirates clubhouse. LHP: Robbie Erlin Robbie Erlin is a six-year MLB veteran, pitching all six of those seasons with the San Dieg...

As we await the start of the 2020 MLB season due to Corona Virus concerns, we will take a look at every player on the Pirates roster and outline what they will bring to the table and projections for the 2020 season. I hope this brings some positive reading to the current situation and helps us all as we wait for baseball. As one of the older players out of the 2018 International Free Agent pool, Luis Nova had to be quick in his development in the Minor Leagues. After two years in the system, he has already advanced five levels in the system, working as high as Advanced-A Bradenton last season. He has decent velocity and has experience working out of both a starters role and a reliever's role in his professional career. He has shown good control numbers and strikeout numbers throughout his career but allows way too many hits and that gets him into trouble. His road hasn't always been the smoothest, but he is looking to establish himself as a prominent Minor League pi...

The Pittsburgh Pirates may have dropped the first two games of their three-game exhibition series against the Cleveland Indians, but they are getting some good individual performances. Guillermo Heredia is one guy taking advantage of his opportunity driving in three runs in the first two games. Last week, the Pittsburgh Pirates found out that they would be without their starting right fielder at the beginning of the season. Gregory Polanco was diagnosed with a positive test for COVID-19 and will be away for the Pirates for the start of the season. This opened up the question of who was going to be in right field on Opening Day in St. Louis? Names like Jose Osuna, JT Riddle, and even Cole Tucker have been bounced around as options. However, the guy who was given the opportunity in the first two exhibition games is off-season signing Guillermo Heredia, and he has been making the most of those opportunities. In the first two games of the three-game series with the Cleveland In...