Buccos Cove

With the Pirates stockpiling prospects at the Minor League level, it leaves a Major Question for the MLB rotation. We look at who will be the Pirates ace in 2021 with the recent trades of Jameson Taillon and Joe Musgrove. Entering 2021, the Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation looks a lot different than it did last season. Gone are Joe Musgrove, Jameson Taillon, and Chris Archer as the Pirates plan to build for the future. They have done a good job of that already, adding 11 top prospects between their three big trades this off-season. However, when you look at the Major League team, there is no clear cut ace on the current roster. Of the current eligible starters, only Chad Kuhl has pitched more than 30 games in a season, and he is coming off Tommy John surgery. The other two locks have not pitched a full season as a starter in the Major Leagues. The starters are going to be relied on to go deep into games all season after the group averaged just four innings per start las...

Last season, Jameson Taillon was forced to sit out the entire year due to his second career Tommy John Surgery. It leads to the question, just how effective will he be as he looks to. lead the rotation in 2021. Last season, the Pirates suffered through a long season that saw them finish a disastrous 19-41, the worst record in the MLB. Part of the problem was that the Pirates had several injuries that they had to contend with throughout the season. Three of those injuries were the Pirate's top three starting pitchers. Two of the three are returning for the 2021 season, and leading the list is right-handed pitcher Jameson Taillon. Taillon has spent parts of four seasons with the Pirates and has made more than 30 starts in a season just once. That one season was a successful one as he went 14-10 with a 3.20 ERA over 32 starts during that season. However, it is very hard to come back from one Tommy John Surgery, but a second come back from the surgery is even harder still. ...

In 2020, infielder Cole Tucker went through a big change as he converted from infielder to outfielder, playing a majority of his time in centerfield. Will he stay in the outfield for 2020, or is he moving back to the infield? When the Pittsburgh Pirates found out that Gregory Polanco tested positive for COVID-19, they were short outfielders an unlikely source became the solution. The Pirates transitioned Cole Tucker from infielder to outfielder and he filled in as the team's fourth outfielder. He ended up splitting time between center field and right field and played pretty well from a statistical standpoint. He did not commit an error in 247.1 innings in the outfield, collecting 54 putouts during the season. However, there were some growing pains that came with the transition as Tucker could have taken some better routes and let balls drop in that he probably should have caught. As we enter the 2021 season, Tucker is going to have some more competition in the outfield ...

Infielder Phillip Evans burst onto the scene for the Pirates in the early part of 2020, proving to be a utility man with a good glove and power in his bat. Looking at the make-up of the 2021 Pirates roster we look at where Evans fits in the Pirates plans this season. Before Ke'Bryan Hayes ever graced the PNC Park field in 2020, there was another infielder who was making his mark on the Major League club. After being released by the New York Mets in 2018 and Chicago Cubs in 2019, the Pirates took a chance signing Minor League free agent Phillip Evans. They gave him an invite to Spring Training, and he impressed the Pirates coaching staff hitting .333 (11-33) with two home runs, nine RBI, and six total extra-base hits. He earned his way onto the Big League roster for Opening Day and was a bench player through the early part of the season. He was never guaranteed playing time but ended up earning his way into the Pirates lineup. He filled in at first base, second base, thi...