Buccos Cove

He patrolled centerfield for the Pirates to start 2019, and now he is in the playoff hunt with the Chicago White Sox. Our Pirates in the playoff series rolls on as we move to Jarrod Dyson and the #7 seed Chicago White Sox in the American League. Before the 2019 season got underway, Jarrod Dyson was just another free agent looking for a place to play. At 36 years of age, he is coming to the tail end of his 11-year Major League career, which includes a World Series Championship with the Kansas City Royals. The Pirates had a need in center field, and General Manager Ben Cherrington made a deal to sign the outfielder as the Pirates starting center fielder. It may not have been the ideal situation for an outfielder at the ladder part of his career, but Dyson was prepared to take what he could get and face the challenge head-on. His speed played well in the spacious outfield of PNC Park and, at 36-years old, Dyson showed that he did in fact have some of that defensive ability lef...

We continue our position by position grade report as we move to first base, a position that saw a lot of rotation. It was the group that had one of the most impressive and least impressive players on the team this season. When the National League implemented the Designated Hitter for the 2020 season, it set the Pittsburgh Pirates first base situation for a loop. The only clear power hitter on the Pirates was first baseman Josh Bell and the Pirates new there would be a carousel of players rotating through the first base position. In total, five different players cycled through first base for the Pirates, but the two front runners had very different seasons. For one, it was a season full of disappointment while for the other it was a break-out year that might have put him back on the Pirates radar for the future. Josh Bell went through one of the worst seasons of his career, while Colin Moran had one of his best at the plate. While the offense had its ups and downs, the defen...

We continue our series of Pirates in the Playoffs as we stay with the Milwaukee Brewers pitching staff. See how a 17th round Pirates draft pick finally made his MLB debut and is now in a playoff bullpen. The 2013 to 2015 seasons were some of the most successful times in Pittsburgh Pirates' recent history. They broke a 21-year losing streak and made the playoffs in three consecutive seasons under then-manager Clint Hurdle. This was a time of great success for the Pirates and their scouting department was receiving high praise for the talent they brought in. The 2013 draft saw that same type of good baseball talent come into the system with players like Austin Meadows, Adam Frazier, and Chad Kuhl all coming out of that draft. However, there are some other names picked in that draft that are just now making an impact in the Major Leagues that you might not have heard of. One of those names is now in the playoffs in the form of Milwaukee Brewers reliever Justin Topa. After ...

With the 2020 Pittsburgh Pirates season at an end, it is time to evaluate each position group and how they impacted the 2020 team. Today, we look at the catching core led by first-time starting catcher Jacob Stallings. Prior to the 2020 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates catching situation was a major question. You had Jacob Stallings taking over the reins as the team's starting catcher for the first time in his Major League career. Behind him, there was no depth with Christian Kelley and Jason Delay being the next men up for the back-up catcher's role. New General Manager Ben Cherrington addressed the situation right away by signing two veteran back-up catchers in John Ryan Murphy and Andrew Susac to create some competition in Spring Training. When all was said and done Stallings won the starting catcher job and Murphy was the back-up with Susac being the third option in satellite camp. Turns out that this was one of the strongest position groups for the Pirates this s...

With the Pittsburgh Pirates being eliminated from playoff contention in 2020, we thought it would be fun to look at former Pirates in the playoff race. Former prospect Josh Lindblom looks to help the #8 Milwaukee Brewers. It was the off-season just before the 2015 season and pitcher Josh Lindblom was down on his luck. He was coming off a decent showing with the Oakland Athletics, appearing in one game and giving up two runs in 4.2 innings of work in his only appearance of the season. With no room for the righty on their roster, the Athletics designated Lindblom for assignment. Then, the Pirates came in and signed the right-hander on December 8th, 2014 beginning a three-year career in the organization. He would appear in just four games for the Big League club and was released in May of 2017. He was signed as a free agent the following off-season and is now a member of the Milwaukee Brewers. He earned his first full-time spot in a Big League starting rotation and took advant...

With the Pirates 8-6 loss to the Cleveland Indians last night, the 2020 season has officially come to an end. There were some ups and a lot of downs this season, but each moment was a learning opportunity for this young bunch. Coming into the 2020 season, many Pittsburgh Pirates fans knew it was going to be a rough year. With a lot of young and inexperienced players, the Pirates were going to have to go through a learning curve as their young guys grow and develop. There were several exciting moments, like the Major League debut of Ke'Bryan Hayes, that helped build hope for the future, but ultimately the record would get to them as the Pirates finished a Major League worst 19-21 in the 60-game shortened season. Injuries and ineffectiveness were the biggest hamperings to the Pirates successes they missed key players throughout the season. As the 2020 off-season approaches, General Manager Ben Cherrington and his staff have a lot of work to do. They have some quality piec...

Prospect Ke'Bryan Hayes has appeared in almost a month's worth of games now and has proven he can consistently hit in the Major Leagues. Last night was the icing on the cake as he had a 5-5 performance with two doubles. One of the keys to not only getting to the Major Leagues but staying for a long time is the ability to hit the ball on a consistent basis. For Pirates #3 overall prospect Ke'Bryan Hayes, he was molding himself into an everyday player that could produce consistently for the Pirates. Entering play on Saturday night, Hayes was hitting .329 and having the bat streak of his young career. He had picked up a hit in each of his last seven games, including three multi-hit games. However, last night was the perfect cap to his rookie season and proved that he deserves a place in the Pirates lineup in 2021. Hayes finished Saturday's game 5-5 with three doubles and three runs scored in the team's 8-0 win over Cleveland. It was the first time this seas...

It has been a down year for the Pittsburgh Pirates as a whole, but they did have something go their way in last night's loss. They clinched at least the #2 pick in next year's MLB Draft. With a small marker team, no matter how successful or unsuccessful you are your eye is always towards the future. In 2020, the Pirates have been bad and are looking to replenish a farm system that is almost devoid of talent. That is why Friday night's loss, no matter how much it stung, was a positive for the future of the Pirates. With the loss, their record moves to 18-40 on the season and, with the Rangers win, they secured one of the top two picks in the 2021 MLB First-Year Player Draft. There are two clear-cut favorites to go in those two spots and the Pirates have their pick of one if not both talents. The two pitchers mentioned are Vanderbilt's Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter, who have both been powerhouses in the Vanderbilt rotation. For a Pirates team that severely lack...

Pittsburgh Pirates outfield prospect Jared Oliva has been in the Major Leagues for five days now after his call-up on September 21st. Today, we look at his impact so far through his first four games as a Big Leaguer. With the Pittsburgh Pirates clearly out of the playoff race, and in a race for the worst record in baseball, fans have gotten to take a glimpse into what the future holds for the team. We have seen the promotion of top prospects JT Brubaker and Ke'Bryan Hayes while also seeing exciting young players like Blake Cederlind and Cody Ponce all make their MLB debuts. The Pirates continued that excitement on Monday when they recalled their #10 overall prospect, 24-year-old outfielder Jared Oliva. After appearing as a pinch hitter during his first game on September 21st, Oliva has started every game since then appearing in both left field and centerfield so far for the Pirates. Last season, Oliva made the move to Double-A Altoona and had a solid season hitting .277...

The Pittsburgh Pirates have won back-to-back games against the Chicago Cubs thanks in large part to the work of their starting pitchers. All five pitchers had good outings last time out, making for an interesting battle entering the 2021 season. Pitching is one of the keys to any team's success, and for the Pirates, it is something they haven't really gotten a lot of this season. Entering play on Thursday, the Pirates rank 21st in the MLB in starters ERA (4.97) and 19th in Bullpen ERA (4.60). The struggles have been for a number of reasons including injuries that have hampered the entire pitching staff and some ineffectiveness throughout the organization. When the pitching isn't good, the offense has a lot of pressure to score runs, and guys can try to do too much at the plate. All of these things combine to put the Pirates where they stand now at 17-39 with the worst record in baseball. However, something has clicked with the starting pitchers and it has led to...

Catcher Jacob Stallings has proven to be one of the few bright spots for the Pirates during the 2020 season. He put the icing on the cake last night when he hit his first career walk-off home run to help the Pirates defeat the Cubs 3-2. At the beginning of the 2020 season, a look at the Pirates lineup looked good but saw some gaping holes. The top six of Frazier, Newman, Reynolds, Bell, Polanco, and Moran looked good, but it was the bottom of the lineup many were worried about. However, one of the guys at the bottom of that lineup has shown that he can outshine even those first six batters in a 60 game season. Jacob Stallings has been one of the Pirate's most consistent hitters this season and came through once again in last night's 3-2 win over the Chicago Cubs. He capped off the night by lifting his first career walk-off home run into the left-field seats to give the Pirates their 16th win of the season. It wasn't just that one game that Stallings has shown su...

Infielder/Outfielder Jose Osuna has been up and down between the Majors and Minor Leagues since 2017. We take a look at what the future holds for the young utility player with the Pirates. Last night, the Pittsburgh Pirates recalled another one of their top prospects as #10 Jared Oliva got the promotion. Oliva made his MLB debut, pinch-hitting for Colin Moran in the ninth inning and going down on strikes. With the call-up, another outfielder will be vying for playing time over the final six games of the season. The odd man out this season has seemed to be utility man Jose Osuna, making three different trips between the Major Leagues and the Minor Leagues. Osuna is a guy who has performed well in spurts but has never had a consistent approach at the plate to get the job done every time. In parts of four seasons with the Pirates, Osuna is a career .238 hitter with 22 home runs and 85 RBI. The 27-year-old has never appeared in more than 104 games in a season, and that came dur...

The Pittsburgh Pirates have played much better baseball at PNC Park this season then they have on the road. The Pirates wrap up their 2020 home slate of games when they take on the Chicago Cubs in the first of four games tonight. For the Pirates, PNC Park has been sort of a safe haven for the team this season. Of their 15 wins this season, ten of them have come at home, including the team's only sweep of the year when they beat the Milwaukee Brewers. Today marks the start of the final home series of the year for the Pirates, and it won't be easy as they have a date with the National League Central-leading Chicago Cubs. The Pirate's last series against the Cubs came earlier this month when they lost two out of three games at PNC Park. However, the series spelled a lot of excitement as Ke'Bryan Hayes made his debut in the opening game of the series. However, this time around all the buzz and hoopla has faded away and the Cubs focus has shifted solely to the NL...

Pitcher Mitch Keller missed a little over a month of the abbreviated 2020 season with a left oblique injury. Since returning on September 14th, Keller has shown his ace-like stuff in his two starts since his injury. At the beginning of the 2020 season, all eyes were on Mitch Keller as he was ready to embark in his first full season in the Major Leagues. Many thought it was the year that the Pirates #1 overall prospect would take his spot atop the Pirates rotation and become the ace of the staff. However, Coronavirus gave Keller his first delay to the season, and injury caused his second delay, leading to Keller appearing in just four games so far this season. Once the season officially did get started, Keller was slated into the number three spot in the rotation and started the third game of the season against the St. Louis Cardinals. Keller pitched well turning in a quality start and earning his first win of the season and helped the Pirates move to 1-2. Keller was rolling right along...