Buccos Cove

The flurry of roster moves began for the Pirates as seven players were sent outright off the 40-man roster. One addition the team made was claiming catcher Michael Perez off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays. Now that Jacob Stallings has shown the ability to be an everyday catcher, the Pirates are in need of a quality back-up catcher. Last season, John Ryan Murphy did the job, but he and Like Maile have since been outrighted off of the 40-man roster. With a plethora of back-up catchers available on the market, the Pirates made their first move of the off-season claiming catcher Michael Perez off waivers. Perez has spent the last three seasons going up and down in the Tampa Bay Rays organization and is looking for his first shot full-time in the Big Leagues with a team and the Pirates might be the one to give him that shot. Perez is and exceptional defensive catcher, posting fielding percentages above .995 in each of the last two seasons. He saw the most playing time of his ca...

The 2020 Rule 5 Draft is scheduled to take place on December 10th, 2020, as part of the Winter Meetings and the Pirates have some interesting prospects eligible. We will break down all the Rule 5 players and whether or not the Pirates should worry about losing them or not. Looking at many of the Pirates catching prospects in the system, they are defensive first type of players. At a position where defense is key, it is hard to find someone talented on both sides of the baseball. When catcher Raul Hernandez was signed by the Pirates out of Venezuela, he was exactly the opposite of the other Pirates catching signees. He was very good with the bat, but his defense needed some work if he wanted to become a true professional catching prospect. His defense has begun to improve every single year, and now he is sitting at about league average in fielding while still hitting the ball at a good clip. Hernandez has the offensive skills that the guys above him in the depth chart are la...

Major League Baseball free agency started and there are some interesting names on the market. While the Pirates won't be in on the top names on the market, we look at some more affordable free agents who could be on the Pirates radar heading into the 2021 season. If there was one area where the Pirates needed the most help in 2020, it was starting pitching. Out of the 11 players who finished the year on the Injured List, six of them were pitchers, including two key starting pitchers. As a result, the Pirates had to make a lot of moves with the starting rotation and never could get a consistent five-man rotation going. It allowed some of the younger pitchers to make their Major League debuts but depleted the Pirates farm system moving into 2021. A look at the team's projected 2021 rotation, only Jameson Taillon has spent at least two full seasons in the Major Leagues. The Pirates could use a veteran arm to help guide the young guys through a full season. One of those...

The 2020 Rule 5 Draft is scheduled to take place on December 10th, 2020, as part of the Winter Meetings and the Pirates have some interesting prospects eligible. We will break down all the Rule 5 players and whether or not the Pirates should worry about losing them or not. When you are looking at a middle infield prospect, one of the traits that normally doesn't come to mind is power hitter. Usually, they are good defensively and can hit for average, but power is a rare feat for a second baseman or shortstop because of how much work they have to put in on their defense. However, Rodolfo Castro is a different kind of middle infielder who is showing that he can be a five-tool player in the lower levels of the Minor Leagues. Castro has had double-digit home runs in each of the last three seasons and has kept his average in the mid .200s. Castro got his first taste of the upper levels of the Minor Leagues last season and is looking to make that jump in 2021. However, if the...

The Pittsburgh Pirates faced a lot of injuries in 2020 and ended the year with 11 players on the injured list. However, now the Pirates have to face the tough questions of who gets DFA'd and who remains on the 40-man roster. In each of the last two seasons, injuries had been a big part of the Pirates season. Several key players spent time on the injures list and the effects of these losses were felt on the field. It forced players to be thrust into new roles and young guys were called up too early. 2020 saw the injury bug strike before the shortened season even began. Jameson Taillon has been out with Tommy John Surgery since last July and Chris Archer went down in June after requiring Thoracic Outlet Surgery. By season's end, the Pirates had 11 players sitting on the injured list and the team suffered finishing with the worst record in all of Major League Baseball at 19-41. Now that the off-season is upon us, those players have to either be released, put back on th...

The 2020 Rule 5 Draft is scheduled to take place on December 10th, 2020, as part of the Winter Meetings and the Pirates have some interesting prospects eligible. We will break down all the Rule 5 eligible players and whether or not the Pirates should worry about losing them or not Over the last several seasons, the Pittsburgh Pirates have had a history of developing good outfielders in their Minor League system. It all started with the emergence of Nate McLouth during the 2008 season, and every year since the Pirates have had an all-star caliber player in centerfield that was developed through the farm system. After McLouth, Andrew McCutchen took over and manned the position for nine seasons. Starling Marte followed him and now Bryan Reynolds is the next up and coming outfielder from the Pirates system. The Bucs are hoping that trend continues, and one of those development projects is Minor League outfielder and #23 overall prospect Lolo Sanchez. Sanchez is a 21-year-old sp...

While 2020 had its share of bad moments throughout the season, there were several good games where the Pirates showed a spark. Every Wednesday, we look back at one of those exciting games as we get ready for all the fun and excitement that the off-season can bring. For a majority of the 2020 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation was subpar at best. By mid-September, the team only had one starting pitcher who had lasted seven innings in a game and the overall ERA was in the low fives. One of the pitchers struggling the most at that time was left-handed pitcher Steven Brault. He had allowed 12 earned runs over his last 14.2 innings of work. He started the year off by not allowing an earned run in any of his first five starts, but an outing on August 21st against the Chicago White Sox where he allowed four earned runs shot the left-handed's confidence down and started the drought of success. Not only was Brault struggling, but the team was struggling as well ent...

The 2020 Rule 5 Draft is scheduled to take place on December 10th, 2020, as part of the Winter Meetings and the Pirates have some interesting prospects eligible. We will break down all the Rule 5 eligible players and whether or not the Pirates should worry about losing them or not. While many people focus on the Major League portion of the Rule 5 Draft, every year several players end up getting taken as part of the Minor League Rule 5 Draft. Thousands of young and talented players switch between teams in hopes of finding their path to the Big Leagues one day. For Pirates prospect Yerry de Los Santos, he has already cracked the Pirate's top 30 prospect list at the age of 22 and has risen from a 17-year-old pitching prospect in the Dominican Summer League to a modified starter in Low-A Baseball last season. De Los Santos is a young pitcher with a lively arm, which could make him enticing to another team looking to add depth to their Minor League system. He saw the biggest...

In a season that was otherwise uneventful, the Pirates brought some excitement to the team by calling up #3 overall prospect Ke'Bryan Hayes in September. After his strong showing in his first 24 games, we project how he might perform over his first full big-league season. Every year, several players across Major League Baseball end up making their Major League debuts. For many of those players, there is really no fanfare involved as they just slide into the mold of their teams. However, there are a few players who end up sending their fanbases in a frenzy waiting to see what they can do. For the Pirates, that exciting type of call-up came on September 1st, 2019, when the Pirates called up third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes to make his MLB debut against the Chicago Cubs that night. Fans had heard about Hayes since he was drafted 32nd overall in the 2015 MLB draft and were excited to see if he lived up to the hype. Hayes did not disappoint and was able to win out the everyd...

The 2020 Rule 5 Draft is scheduled to take place on December 10th, 2020, as part of the Winter Meetings and the Pirates have some interesting prospects eligible. We will break down all the Rule 5 eligible players and whether or not the Pirates should worry about losing them or not. At just 22-years old, left-handed pitcher Can Vieaux had already built himself an impressive baseball resume. He had already led the Michigan State Spartans to the Big Ten Playoffs three times and was the school's all-time leader in wins (17) and strikeouts (206). He had already been drafted once in the 2015 MLB Draft, but didn't sign and returned to college for another year. The move ended up working out for the lefty as he put together the best year of his college career and turned some heads after putting up good but not great numbers in his first three years as a Spartan. He went 7-4 with a 2.28 ERA in 15 games, 14 starts, and struck out 77 batters in 82 innings of work while walking ...

For the second time in this 2020 World Series, Clayton Kershaw was dominant as he led the Dodgers to a Game 5 win over the Rays 4-2. However, Kershaw could have been in the Black and Gold had it not been for a draft goof-up. When you think of Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitchers, one of the first names that come to mind is right-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw. He was drafted seventh overall by the Dodgers in the 2006 MLB draft and has pitched for Los Angeles for the entirety of his 13 year Major League career. He has been a part of the MLB postseason in 10 of those 13 years and is having the best postseason of his career in 2020 going 4-1 with a 2.93 ERA. Some of his accolades so far include an NL MVP award, three NL Cy Young Awards, and eight NL All-Star Game appearances. He is the face of the Dodgers organization as they look for their first World Series Championship since 1988. However, the entire course of his career could have been altered by none other than the Pitts...

The 2020 Rule 5 Draft is scheduled to take place on December 10th, 2020, as part of the Winter Meetings and the Pirates have some interesting prospects eligible. We will break down all the Rule 5 eligible players and whether or not the Pirates should worry about losing them or not. As the Pittsburgh Pirates were going through their playoff years from 2013 to 2015, 259 miles east of Pittsburgh a future member of the organization was training for professional baseball. Max Kranick was an ace at Valley View High School and was emerging as one of the best right-handed pitchers in the country. He ranked 179th on MLB.com's top prospect list and was gaining attention from bot only the Pirates, but the rest of Major League Baseball as well. He was able to touch 95 with his fastball and had two promising breaking pitches to build off of that pitch. The Pirates decided to take a chance on the young right-hander drafting him in the 11th round of the 2016 MLB draft. Since being dra...

With the off-season in full swing, it is a nice time to reflect on past Pirates and past teams. This is a new series called Little Known Pirates where each week we will look at a player who even some of the top fans may not remember played for the team. In the early 2000s, the Pittsburgh Pirates had some star players but just didn't have the overall talent to be successful. Guys like Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, and Jack Wilson graced the roster but several guys weren't as talented. The Pirates took a fly on several players who were trying to bounce back, and one of those players was outfielder Alfredo Amezaga. Amezaga was no rookie when he came to the Pirates, and had just come off a year in 2004 where he played in the postseason with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. However, things weren't going his way, and Amezaga was looking to get back on track. However, when you hear the name Alfredo Amezaga, you probably think more of his time with the Florida Marlins after...

The 2020 Rule 5 Draft is scheduled to take place on December 10th, 2020, as part of the Winter Meetings and the Pirates have some interesting prospects eligible. We will break down all the Rule 5 eligible players and whether or not the Pirates should worry about losing them or not. A big late-game pitcher is so important for a team to be successful. If you have a guy who can come in at the end of a game and shut things down, it makes the game that much shorter for your opponent. Over the last two seasons, Pirates prospect Matt Eckelman has been developing into that late-game option for the Pirates. He appeared mostly as the closer for Indianapolis last season appearing in 45 games, one start, for the Indians. However, Eckelman is a guy who has filled almost every role you can as a pitcher in his professional career. He has been a starter, a long reliever, a middle reliever, a set-up man, and a closer throughout his five years in the Pirates organization. However, he has see...