Pittsburgh Pirates - The Covid-19 Years (2020-2029)

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2020

Decade

101

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100

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Titles:

Top Pirates Players of the Twenty Twenties

None

Pitchers:

Ballpark:

David Bednar (5.08) - 27

PNC Park

Mitch Keller (7.14) - 26

Chris Stratton (0.19) - 8

Team Name:

Paul Skenes (5.9) - 8

Pirates

Wil Crowe (0.18) - 7

JT Brubaker (0.49) - 7

Owners:

Richard Rodriguez (1.92) - 7

Robert Nutting

Johan Oviedo (2.77) - 6

Luis Ortiz (3.58) - 6

General Managers:

Bailey Falter (1.7) - 5

Ben Cherington

Catchers:

Managers:

Jacob Stallings (4.01) - 8

Derek Shelton

Joey Bart (2.2) - 6

Hall of Famers:

First Basemen:

None

Rowdy Tellez (-0.4) - 3

Rookie of the Year:

Second Basemen:

None

Adam Frazier (3.77) - 10

Nick Gonzalez (0.8) - 3

MVP

None

ShortStop:

Oneil Cruz (5.09) - 23

Cy Young:

None

Third Base:

Ke'Bryan Hayes (13.28) - 25

No Hitters:

None

Outfield:

Bryan Reynolds (15.5) - 50

Notable Events:

Jack Suwinski (1.54) - 15

Andrew McCutchen (2.3) - 13

2020 - Like the movie Awakenings, the Pirates had this tiny window of success

Connor Joe (1.3) - 9

in '13-'15 amidst a sea of failure. Pittsburgh was a horrific 19-41 in '20 as the

Ben Gamel (0.07) - 7

failure continued.

Colin Moran (0.45) - 5

□ Robert Nutting has been the owner since '07. There have been four winning

Notable Events:

seasons in 14 years. Compared to the previous regime, Nutting is a savior.

However, in the real world, it's no bueno.

2024 - I wouldn't be planning on going to the World Series in '24 if I

were a Pirate fan. Not anything in October actually.

□ Ben Cherington, former Red Sox and Blue Jays GM, was hired on in '20 by

The Bucs will go as far as their pitching will carry them this season.

the Pirates. Got off to a bad start in '20. Chris Archer deal in '18 sealed previous

They have, if all goes well, a potentially solid starting rotation and

GM Neal Huntington's fate. Bucs gave up Shane Baz, Austin Meadows and

there are a lot of good young arms in the organization to add solid

Tyler Glasnow to the Rays for, essentially, nothing.

bullpen depth behind stud closer David Bedner.

The Pirates will not be a good offensive team this year.

□ Derek Shelton was hired as manager in '20

The Pirates starting rotation has the potential to be much improved this

2021-2022 - The Pirates go 61-101 and 62-100. This is very bad.

season. Staff ace Mitch Keller, 28, was 13-9 last season and is one of

They don't even bother going thru the motions of changing GM's or managers

the better starters in the league. Veteran lefthander Martin Perez, 33,

any more.

was picked up from World Champions Texas. He was 10-4 last year.

Another veteran lefthander, Marco Gonzalez, 31, was picked up from

2023 - There are a handful of major league quality players on the roster coming into the

Seattle in the offseason. He was a solid starter for the Mariners until

season. The farm system, with great effort, brings one of them up from time to time.

he went down with an injury last season. If fully healthy, he could be a

And the team never spends to acquire new talent or keep whatever existing top

nice addition to the rotation. The Pirates had the number one overall

talent there is. Keller, Bednar, Cruz, Reynolds, Suwinski and Hayes are the

pick in last year's draft and grabbed righthander Paul Skenes.

existing quality on the team. That's clearly not enough to contend for anything.

Skenes dominated at LSU last year and is starting at AAA. He has the

potential to move in at the top of the rotation this year.

2023 - Pittsburgh tops seventy wins for the first time since 2018 to 76-86.

Twenty two year old righthander Jared Jones, a '20 second round pick

They're still not very good and overachieved on their runs totals which would

has high nineties heat and may be ready to do some damage.

have given them a 71-91 mark. Closer David Bednar won the close ones

Unfortunately, Johan Oviedo, 25, who was a respectable 9-13 last

for the Pirates which explains their overachieving runs wise.

season went down with TJ surgery.

There's a lot of youth on the squad so the Bucs should be trending upward.

Closer David Bednar, 29, returns. He is a stud and had 39 saves last year.

Veteran lefty Aroldis Chapman, 36, was picked up from the World

2023 - One thing that shallow-pocketed owner Robert Nutting has finally done is

Champ Rangers in the offseason. He adds some quality bullpen depth.

start holding onto some of his homegrown talent. OF Bryan Reynolds and 3B Ke'Bryan

There are a number of twenty somethings in the pen who can help turn

Hayes on not stars, but they are very good players and Nutting has signed both of

the Pirate pen into a real strength this season.

them to long term deals. That's a great step forward for an organization that lives

from penny to penny.

The Pirates offense was below league average, as well, last year.

There are two solid above average big leaguers on the roster in

3B Ke'Bryan Hayes, 27, and OF Brian Reynolds, 29. A sharp dropoff

after them. SS O'Neil Cruz, 25, broke his leg last year after a productive

rookie season. He is 6'7" which is probably not a good thing for a shortstop.

OF Jack Suwinski, 25, has good power, but K's half the time. No bueno.

First overall pick in the '21 draft, C Henry Davis is talented but raw.

After that, you are really crossing your fingers that anybody emerges as

any good. 2B Ji Hwan Bae, 24; SS Tucupita Marcano, 24; 1B Llover

Peguero, 24; and 2B Termarr Johnson, 20, are all young and unproven.