Buccos Cove

Before he landed on the COVID IL in late July, Chad Kuhl was one of the hottest pitchers in the starting rotation. Now that he is back, he isn't stopping and is embracing his new role in the bullpen. At the beginning of the 2021 season, Chad Kuhl looked like a broken starting pitcher. He had trouble just getting out of the first inning, and control issues plagued him throughout the early part of the season. He had a 6.32 ERA through the month of May and was not pitching like the Opening Day starter that he was named coming out of Spring Training. He had walked 16 batters and struck out 14 batters over 15.2 innings of work. He had an opponents batting average of .222, but his control issues were setting him up for failure every time out. He ended up landing on the 10-day IL with "right shoulder discomfort" and would be shut down for nearly a month before going on a rehab assignment. He came back at the end of June and, after a sub-par June, he came back with a ...

The Pittsburgh Pirates entered Wednesday night's game with a chance to sweep for the 11th time this season. For the 11th time, they failed to pick up a sweep, and are the only team in the MLB without a sweep this season. You haven't gotten the chance to say it much this season, but the Pittsburgh Pirates entered Wednesday night's game as the better team on paper. The Pirates were 46-80 entering play against the Arizona Diamondbacks, who sat at 42-85. The Pirates had taken the first two games of the series and entered Wednesday still looking for that first sweep of the year. In ten previous chances, the Pirates were 0-10 this season, but this time it looked like they had a shot. Bryse Wilson did his part, throwing five shutout innings and the Pirates rewarded him with a 2-0 lead. However, that lead would fade as the Diamondbacks tied the game in the sixth and scored five runs in the past three innings to win 5-2. It moved the team to 0-11 this season when they ha...

Entering play on Monday, the Greensboro Grasshoppers are 60-36 and sit in second place in the High-A East standings. With many of the Pirate's key future pieces here, this could be a sign of good things to come for the Pirates. On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Pirates finished a series win in St. Louis, but for the tenth time, they failed to secure a sweep. They fell to Adam Wanwright and the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0, and are the third team in Major League Baseball to reach the 80-loss mark this season. They followed it up by taking the first two games against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and open up play tonight at 46-80. Things look pretty grim for the Major League club, but down in the Minor Leagues, there is a different tune. A lot of the prospects that Ben Cherington has been acquiring over the last year and a half are playing 430 miles south in a little town in North Carolina. They are giving Pirates fans something to hope for as this rebuild takes shape. That group is the P...

Throughout the 2021 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates have made several waiver claims and small trades to fill gaps on their team. Today, we look at some of those signings that may stick around past this season. In a year of rebuilding, there are times when teams pick up players who are just there as a "warm body." While they may not necessarily have a future on the team, they are getting playing time because there is simply no one ready at the Triple-A level to take their place. During the 2021 season, we have seen the Pittsburgh Pirates make many of these types of signings, from Dustin Fowler at the beginning of the season to John Nogowski most recently. Nine times out of ten, these trades end up being short-term moves that fill a need now, but in the end, don't mean very much. However, every now and then, you see a guy who breaks the mold and shows he could have a longer-term benefit. The latest example of this was Phillip Evans before his injury last season, ...

Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Pirates made headlines when it was announced that they had placed Gregory Polanco on outright waivers. However, with him being in the starting lineup last night, we breakdown what went down for Polanco. The Pittsburgh Pirates dropped their series finale on Sunday to the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0. While they still secured a series win against the hated Red Birds, the big news of the day didn't happen until a few hours after the game was over. Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic reported that the Pirates had placed Gregory Polanco on outright waivers. After struggling mightily this season, to the tune of a sub-.200 batting average, and ever since the slide where he blew out his shoulder in 2018 he hasn't been the same. However, he was always a great teammate and a great person who would light up a room and always had time to talk to the fans. But, the story of Polanco in Pittsburgh looked like it had reached its epilogue. Then, the lineup came out ...

As the 2021 season has gone on, we have seen not only Pittsburgh Pirates starters, but starters around the league becoming shorter and shorter. Is this a product of the shortened season, or part of the new normal in Major League Baseball? On a sunny day in St. Louis, Steven Brault took the mound for the Pittsburgh Pirates as they were looking for their first sweep of the season. Brault entered the game with a 1.84 ERA in his first three starts, and after giving up an early run was on track to turn in another strong outing. He got into a jam created by his defense in the fourth, having runners at the corners and no outs, and worked out of it thanks to an incredible defensive play on a bunt by Brault. He finished the fourth inning at 80 pitches and allowed just the one run on five hits while walking two and striking out one. He wasn't nearly as efficient as he was in his other three starts, but he looked primed to go out there for the fifth inning. However, as the Pirates...

Since joining the Pirates in Los Angeles after signing as a free agent, Yoshi Tsutsugo has taken advantage of his opportunity. Today, we look at whether it will last or if he will fade like the many players before him this season. During the 2021 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates have taken a chance on several guys on the waiver wire. Guys like John Nogowski, Ka'ai Tom, and Ben Gamel have all joined the Pirates and have followed a similar pattern. They have all faded out and, with the exception of Ben Gamel, are still a part of the Major League roster. Some just never got going while others got started off with a bang. In the case of Nogowski, he started out hitting nearly .500 in his first 10 games and it looked like he was going to be a move that actually worked out for the Pirates. However, he ended up dropping his average as low as .233 Nd was DFA'd by the Pirates and outright to Triple-A Indianapolis. The latest new addition to the Pirates didn't come off the ...

For the Pirates to move forward in the future, they are going to have to find some stability in their starting rotation. It has been a group that has been ever-changing in 2021, and we look at who the key pieces will be down the stretch. One thing that makes a good Major League Baseball team is a solid starting pitching staff. When you have a guy that keeps you in the game night in and night out, it gives your offense that much more confidence and can in turn help put more wins on the board. For the Pittsburgh Pirates, one of the biggest weaknesses of their team has been inconsistent starting pitching. From Chad Kuhl to Trevor Cahill the Pirates starting pitching would continuously turn in a start that makes it look like they will turn things around followed by a start that takes five steps back. It is this constant cycle of inconsistency that leaves the Pirates in their current position and is only one of several holes on this team. Over the final month of the season, we a...

In a season that has been marked by a ton of negative, we look at the positive as the team builds towards the future. Here are our Pirates players to watch during the final month of the season. Heading into St. Louis tonight, there has been a lot of negativity surrounding the organization. The team has lost 22 of their last 28 games and are on a five-game skid after being swept in Los Angeles. They are at a season-low mark of 42-79 and the schedule doesn't get much easier. They head into St. Louis to take on the Cardinals this weekend and end the month with another four-game series at home against the Red Birds. 100 losses are looking more and more inevitable and the Pirates will have to finish the year 20-21 to avoid losing 100 games this season. While the Minor Leagues have a lot to be positive about this season, the Major League team is trending in the opposite direction. However, it hasn't been all bad as there have been some positives for the Pirates this seaso...

The month of August has been more than just bad, it has been downright terrible for the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are just 2-16 this month and are looking for some beam of hope as they finish out 2021. Heading into the 2021 season, we all knew that the Pittsburgh Pirates would once again be one of the worst teams in all of baseball. After finishing 19-41 the year before, the Pirates traded Josh Bell, Jameson Taillon, and Joe Musgrove as General Manager Ben Cherington does his best to rebuild a farm system that was ranked near the bottom of the league last season. He has done wonders for the system so far, raising them to a top-5 farm system in the MLB, but many of those prospects won't be ready for a couple of seasons. With no depth in Triple-A, the Major League team is suffering big time. They have no reinforcements for struggling players and are left with having to grab players off the waiver wire and hoping that they turn out. On July 31st, the Pirates were bad but th...

At the very beginning of the 2020 International Signing period, the Pirates were able to sign the top Taiwanese pitcher Po-Yu Chen. Through six professional starts, Chen is dominating rookie ball and starting his pro career off with a bang. Just as the 2020 season was ending, Ben Cherington and his staff got to work on their off-season plans. Cherington made it clear he wanted to bring talent into the organization through trades and international free agent signings. They wasted no time getting to work, signing their first International Free Agent just 20 days after they dropped their series finale against the Chicago Cubs to end the 2020 season. They ended up signing 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Po-Yu Chen to a 1.25 million dollar signing bonus. While it was the last signing of the 2019-2020 International Free Agent signing period, it is probably the one that had made the biggest impact so far. Prior to his signing, Chen already had Big League experience, helping the 18U ...

Over their last three games, the Pittsburgh Pirates offense has almost been non-existent at the plate. They have scored just two runs over their last 25 innings of play, and aren't supporting some strong starting pitching. After a rainout on Friday evening in the opener against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Pittsburgh Pirates came back ready for a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. The offense took off in game one scoring 14 runs on 19 hits while recording more hits than outs in the game. It was a season-high for runs scored in a single game by the Pirates this season, and everyone looked like they were locked in at the plate. Kevin Newman led the charge, going 4-4 with four doubles, and ended the day just two doubles shy of the doubleheader doubles record. Every position player in the lineup got at least one hit, and six of them had at least multi-hit games. It looked like the game that would finally get this offense going, and they were heading into the second game with...

Late season free agent signings are rate, but the Pirates added to their 26-man roster last night. They signed Yoshi Tsutsugo to a Major League contract and designated John Nogowski for assignment. The Pittsburgh Pirates' first base position has been one that has been on a carousel all season long. Ever since Colin Moran's first stint on the Injured List in late May, we have seen Phillip Evans, Erik Gonzalez, and even Ben Gamel take on the position, but no one was able to stick. Evans is down in the Minor Leagues, Gonzalez has been DFA'd, and Gamel is currently on the Injured List. The Pirates thought they had found something when they claimed John Nogowski off waivers, as he was fast out the gate with a batting average of .345 on July 17th. However, since then he has gone downhill, hitting .094 in August and seeing his average drop to .233 on the season. It was the beginning of the end for Nogowski, as he was Designated for Assignment to make room for the newes...

Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Pirates offense went cold again as they fell to the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1. It was a strong debut for left-hander Dillon Peters but was hailed as Derek Shelton came with the early hook. In the first inning of yesterday's series finale against the Milwaukee Brewers, it looked like it would be a long day. Dillon Peters was making his Pittsburgh Pirates debut, and had already allowed one unearned run, and had runners at first and second with two outs. He had already thrown 23 pitches, and it had the makings of a short outing. However, he buckled down over the next 3.2 innings, averaging just 13 pitches an inning. By the time the game made it to the top of the fifth, Peters' stat line was looking pretty good. He had thrown just 75 pitches and lasted 4.2 innings allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits while walking three and striking out three. He had allowed a check-swing double against the shift to Christian Yelich, but with two outs was lo...