Buccos Cove

In the second round of the 2013 MLB Draft, the Pirates took Right-Handed Pitcher Blake Taylor. Seven years later, the rookie is making his first playoff appearance in the American League Division Series with the Houston Astros. When he was drafted out of Dana Hills High School in Dana Hills, CA., Blake Taylor was a highly coveted pitching prospect. The Pirates were working on building up their pitching depth and ended up taking the right-hander in the second round of the 2013 MLB Draft. His career with the Pirates did not last long, but he developed into a strong right-handed option and is now a part of the Houston Astros 2020 bullpen. It took Taylor seven years to climb the Minor League ladder, but he finally got his call to the Big Leagues on Opening Day 2020 and has been pitching out of the Astros bullpen all season long. The main reason for the move to the bullpen centers around Taylor having just two primary pitches with no true third option. His fastball is above aver...

After a tragic off-season, an old friend gets a new lease on life with the Miami Marlins. Starling Marte was traded from the Pirates to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the off-season and is now a member of the Miami Marlins in the NLDS. The 2020 off-season was one of the craziest off-seasons for former Pirates outfielder Starling Marte. There were rumors swirling that the Pirates were going to trade the outfielder and they eventually did in January sending the outfielder to the Arizona Diamondbacks. A few months later, Marte had to deal with the loss of his wife Noelia Marte to a heart attack. It was a lot for Marte to go through, and the outfielder thought about quitting baseball, but he came back and has been rewarded for his hard work. He was one of the hottest bats on the Arizona Diamondbacks and would be traded to the Miami Marlins before the trade deadline. Now, he is in the National League Division Series with the Marlins, albeit suffering from a broken left hand. His mo...

Veteran outfielder Matt Joyce came to the Pirates before the 2016 season looking to help the Pirates continue their success. Now, he is a member of the Miami Marlins outfield helping the young team make the NLDS. Outfielder Matt Joyce is a veteran outfielder who has made his way around Major League Baseball. Over his 13 year career, he has played for seven teams and made the postseason five times. One of those teams that he played for was the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 2016 season. For Joyce, it was a move that would make or break the rest of his career. He was coming off a year where he spent more time on the Disabled List then he did actually playing on the field. He appeared in just 93 games for the Angels and hit a dismal .174 with five home runs and 21 RBI. The Angels had no room for Joyce in the outfield and he elected for free agency. Towards the end of the off-season, Joyce still had no offers from any club and looked like he wasn't going to have a home in 20...

In one of the better trades of the Neil Huntington era, the Pirates brought in outfielder Corey Dickerson. He became a Pittsburgh staple and is now helping the Miami Marlins in the National League Division Series. After the Pirates parted ways with Andrew McCutchen following the 2017 season, the team had a gaping hole in left field. Former left fielder Starling Marte moved to center field and there were no Pirates prospects ready to take the position. That is when former General Manager Neil Huntington made one of the best trades of his career in Pittsburgh. He brought in outfielder Corey Dickerson in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays that sent RHP Daniel Hudson, second baseman Tristan Gray, and cash to the Rays. There were questions surrounding Dickerson's defensive and offensive ability, but the Pirates were willing to give the then 29-year-old a shot to play every day in the Pirates outfield. Dickerson would spend a year and a half in left field for the Pirates and tur...

After a few months stint with the Pirates, Stephen Tarpley went on to work his way to the Major Leagues in 2018. Here is how he went from Pirates trade chip to a member of the Miami Marlins playoff bullpen. Following the Pirate's playoff years from 2013 to 2015, the team had to start tearing back down and repair a farm system that was lacking talent. This involved trading several of their key pieces from those playoff runs for top prospects from teams around the league. In one of those trades, the Pittsburgh Pirates sent outfielder Travis Snider to the Baltimore Orioles for a young left-handed pitcher named Stephen Tarpley and a player to be named later. Left-handed pitchers are some of the most coveted players in all of baseball, and at the time was one of the best pitching prospects in the Orioles organization. He had an ERA of 3.28 over his first two seasons of professional baseball and was making the transition from rookie ball to Class-A baseball. He showed a live ...

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 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 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...