Buccos at the halfway point

[voncap]

[font=Arial]As of the start of today's game, the Bucs are officially at the halfway point in the season.   What does everyone expect and/or hope to see in the second half of the season?   Are they a legitmate playoff contender?[/font]

[font=Arial]I expect the Buccos will continue to wallow a few games under .500.   I believe the FO felt in the off season they had the pieces in place for 2017 to be the season to compete for a World Championship,  and therefore they did not make many  impact moves in the off season.   Unfortunately, many of those pieces have fallen apart.   They have had to rely on too many rookies and first year players to put together any winning momentum, and I don't expect that to change much in the second half of the season.[/font]

[font=Arial]Until they get above .500, I have a tough time seeing them as a playoff contender.   I have not done the research, but I would bet it is safe to say no team in recent years has made the playoffs with a below .500 record. [/font]

[font=Arial]A few things I hope to see in the second half:  [/font]

[font=Arial]1.  Marte come back to be as good as he was before.   Not only is that necessary for any success in the second half of this season, but extremely important for the next few years. [/font]
[font=Arial] 2.  Glasnow to come back and be able to throw strikes.   The dude has nasty stuff, but if he can't throw strikes big league hitters will destroy him.  [/font]
[font=Arial] 3.  Cervelli comes back from his concussion issues to be a catcher again.  They just signed him to a three contract to catch, and if he cannot catch, his bat does not play well enough to play anywhere else.[/font]
[font=Arial]4.  And finally for more than one or two players on the roster to start to produce at a level that is near to what any realistic fan would expect from them.[/font]
 

[Crimson's Ghost]

As long as the Cubs scuffle, they'll be doing this 4 games out one day, and 6 games out a few days later.  I could see this dance going on for a while.  The Brewers aren't good enough to put the division away, and the Cubs still haven't decided they want it yet.  Eventually they will. 

The Pirates will be better with Marte, it allows for more roster flexibility, and it gets guys like Max Moroff off the team.  Frazier and Freese can work on third base primarily, and that will help the bench overall.  If they had Kang and Marte all along, a bench of Freese, Jaso, and Frazier wouldn't have been that bad. 

I'd like to see....

-- Elias Diaz to play more.  Cervelli is always hurt, Stewart can't hit.  Diaz seems to be the best of the bunch defensively.  I'm not sure he's a great hitter, but they might as well find out. 
-- I too would like to see Glasnow up here again. He's too good not to be up here. He's dominating AAA already.  He'll be back, and hopefully that's the last time he'll have to go to the minors.  
-- I'd like to wait about 2 more weeks to decide their trade deadline fate.  If you are semi-close, you have to add another reliever.  If you are partially out, you can trade some pieces. If you are 12 games out, maybe you think about trading McCutchen.  Still in wait and see mode. 


In the first half I think we've realized....

- Tony Watson is not good anymore. Hurdle overused him for years and it's showing.  Someone will take a chance on him in a trade.
-  Knowing what he know now, I hope they are careful with Rivero. He pitches a lot.  And Rivero is awfully good. Nationals fans are regretting that trade quite a bit.  
- Josh Bell is going to be pretty good. We heard horror stories about his defense, but he makes some nice plays over there. He's an athlete. He might not be a big average guy, but 25+ homers a year seems very doable. 
-- I have to credit Josh Harrison, his contract always looked and felt bad, but he's been their most consistent player all year. 
-- Jordy Mercer is having a fine season, he doesn't always get a lot of credit, but he's a steady baseball player. 
-- If you would have told me a month ago, Cutch would be batting in the .280's right now, not a chance on earth I'd believe you. Incredible turnaround. 
-- Seeing as how winnable this division is, it sucks Marte and Kang did what they did.  Hate to play the "What if" game, but man they'd have a few more wins if those 2 were around all season long. 
-- Gerrit Cole has 3 good starts, then blows up on Friday. It's maddening watching him pitch sometimes. He'll still get big money on the open market in a few years, and he'd still bring back a hefty haul if you trade him.  I don't think they WILL trade him, but the Astros like him, the Astros have a good farm system. So it's something NH may think about. 

They just don't seem to have it. They are playing too many rookies and second year guys, their big guns got suspended, and the pitching is too inconsistent. This division is winnable, so at the very least they're kind of contending and playing meaningful games.  They aren't good this season, but they aren't 2007 bad either. 

[dadw/2sons]

This team is so frustrating!! I saw first thing on Saturday afternoon. How can you be given 10 walks and score 1 run. They stranded 14 runners. That is a sign of a young and inconsistent team, as Crimson has already said. As frustrating as this team has been, there are some bright sign. Diaz, Frazier, Bell, and Osuna have shown flashes of brilliance and some pretty good talent. Williams looks like he is growing into a pretty decent number 4 guy. Rivero is a stud and it is good to have him for a while. The rest of the bullpen is up and down. Cutch, Jordy, Jayhay, and Jaso have done well. Freese and Polanco are still underachieving and not living up to their ability. Jamo, Cole, and Nova are 3 pretty good starting pitchers to build around. If Glasnow gets it together, the starters would be a plus for this team. As Crimson said, it is nice this team is not as bad as 2007. This team cam compete with the best teams out there and the they turnaround and get swept at home by the Giants. Baseball is hard to figure out sometimes. 

[crfball]

If you can't play 500 ball by this time of the season, then you need to ignore the four games back mirage. I'd rather be sellers in their situation than buyers. Wild card isn't happening. Division I just have a hard time believing in. So things I'd like to see are:

Trade J-Hay, Cutch, and Cole, get a haul of prospects and go on another fun run starting round 2020

[Crimson's Ghost]

The nice thing is, they can trade guys like that and still have a good bit of talent around. They can sell off pieces, but it's not a "burn it down, start entirely over" thing.  

[Crimson's Ghost]

A bit surprising Felipe Rivero was left off the All Star game, there just aren't many relief pitchers better than him in all of baseball.

[knowitall]

If you have any hope of winning in 2018 you do not trade Andrew McCutchen, Josh Harrison or Gerrit Cole.  I think some of you are infatuated with suspects or as you like to call them prospects.  The Pirates should trade for suspects if they think winning in the next three years is impossible.  Then they might as well trade Marte, Polanco and what the heck even Taillon.  If there are any fans left we'll see you again in 2022.

[DragonsDoExist]

A bit surprising Felipe Rivero was left off the All Star game, there just aren't many relief pitchers better than him in all of baseball.

Yeah Maddon made the comment a short time ago that their aren't 5 better relievers in baseball than Rivero. Then what's he do? Picks 5 different relievers including his closer Wade Davis.


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[dadw/2sons]

Reserves were not picked by the managers this year. They were picked by the players and the commissioners office. So we can't blame Maddon on this one. To be honest I'm glad he can go rest for 3 days.

[Crimson's Ghost]

Another problem this year is that some teams needed a representative on the all star team. So a guy from the Phillies and Padres probably took Rivero's spot.