Pirates Insider Podcast, Episode 43 (7/16 mailbag edition)

Will the Pirates add at the trade deadline? Does Seth Hernandez have a chance of making a September cameo? What happens when Oneil Cruz and Spencer Horwitz return? Jason Mackey answers fans' questions in this edition of the Pirates Insider Podcast.

Transcript

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All right, what's going on everybody? This is the Pirates Insider Podcast. I am your host, Jason Mackey. Midweek. There's no games. Pirates are off until Friday in Cleveland. So let's take some of your questions. Long overdue for a mailbag edition of this and a lot of great questions from Twitter. If you're not following me on Twitter, do that at J Mackey underscore PGH. But let's get right into it. Butch Meyer kicks us off at Butch Meyer. What are the chances the Pirates trade for Mason Miller? And what are the chances they call up Seth Hernandez to be the setup guy just for the end of the season? Well, Butch, I hate to be the bearer of bad news with this one, but I don't think it's very good for either one. Believe me, I would love to see Mason Miller come back to Pittsburgh. Boy, it addresses a need. It would be fantastic. It would be great theater. I don't I couldn't have a higher opinion of him as a pitcher. That being said, if I'm the San Diego Padres, I'm not waving that flag. I'm not letting him go. And if for some reason they do get to a point where they need to listen, I'm asking for an arm and a leg, then some. I just don't know if it makes sense for the Pirates to make that deal. If they can make that deal, what the Padres would be looking for, it would just be nuts. I'm not holding my breath. And sort of similar stuff with Seth Hernandez. Um amazing kid, amazing, talented pitcher. Again, very high opinion of him. It says nothing of him, but he's young. He's a year out of high school. He's in his first year of Pro Ball. He's come along well, but the Pirates are taking it slow with him, and I just really don't see them risking that. That would be an absolutely insane trajectory for him to develop. Now, next year, different conversation, but I'm not sure I can see them doing that this year. All right, Thomas Fitzgerald at FitzG Thomas. Does this team add more than one high leverage reliever at the deadline? Could you see them trading one of their offensive weapons for a closer? Lau, for example. You bring up an interesting point, and I would hate to see Brandon Lau traded. I don't think Brandon Lau will be traded. But um, can we go with one high leverage reliever at the deadline? I think that's probably the number. And I think you get one high leverage reliever, and then you, you know, you hope for some internal improvement. That's certainly within the realm of possibilities. I look at a guy like Garrett Whitlock from the Red Sox. I've talked about him before. Somebody's right-handed, they need some right-handed help, especially now after the Brandon Isert trade. And if you get a right-handed reliever, it balances out your bullpen. You can use Carmen Majinski the way they've been using him. They like that, um, clearly. I know I've been talking about, you know, would like to see him at the back end of games. Doesn't seem like that's gonna happen, but that doesn't preclude them from adding somebody else. Even an Antonio Senzatella makes a lot of sense for me. I'll go with one, and I'm gonna go with Lau staying here. I think he's too important to that clubhouse. I still think they can extend him. I hope they extend him, and I don't think that sends the right message to those guys. If you're gonna compete, if you're gonna go after a playoff spot, you need Lau here. Is Hank Davis making a true turn in offensive productivity? Asks Smythe at Pit Smith 21. Also, could Marcelo Zuna be traded with his increased productivity for at least a prospect with players coming off the injury list soon? And how many turns does Keller get before being replaced? Does Carmen Majinski take that spot? Smith, Smythe, Smith, you're talking in questions, my friend. It's okay, though. That's why we're here. Um, I mean, I hope Hank Davis is making a turn in offensive productivity. I think I need to see more than what we saw against the Brewers. I think it's in there. Whether he gets to it, I don't know. I will say this about the catching situation, and it matters while Andy Rodriguez is out. And this actually ties into Mitch Keller because I can't give you a number on turns that they'll stick with Keller before abandoning ship, but I would like to see Keller throwing to Henry Davis. I think there are certain pitchers on this staff that are more receptive to catchers and how they call games, and I think Mitch is one of those. Um, Braxton Ashcraft, not so much. Paul Skeens likes Henry Davis. I would try to find some matches while you can. I think Bubba Chandler is probably a little bit more of a receptive to somebody catching him. You've noticed he throws to Henry Davis a lot. So I'd give Henry Davis some playing time. That being said, when Andy Rodriguez comes back, I want his bat in the lineup. Now, if that makes it a 50-50 split, I can live with that. Um I I'm not as down on Henry Davis as some people. I think he does add value with his defense. He does need to hit more than he has this season. And it'll be interesting to see if he catches Keller, his first start out of the break. I don't see how they can trade Ozuna. Um I wouldn't be against it. I don't see how he fits their roster. Once O'Neill Cruz and Spencer Horwitz come back, I don't see how you have the playing time to give to him to get him on track. But we're talking about 12 million bucks. You know, that's his full contract plus the buyout. Uh, but that's an expensive, expensive DH only guy with no speed who's not hitting. I just don't see that at this point. Jeff Snyder at Snyde's 2149. What do you do with Neil Cruz when he comes back, not sitting anyone who's playing the outfield now? It's a fascinating question for the second half and the Pirates. I mean, obviously you're going to play Cruz, right? Like he could have been an all-star, he could have been a participant in the home run derby. Obviously, you play Brian Reynolds, obviously you play Ryan O'Hearn somewhere. That's non-negotiable. But what does that mean for them in the second half? I'm not in a hurry to sit Jake Mangum. Since the end of May, Mangum's been hitting over 350, I do believe. Uh he's added a lot. Um, and you really don't have anywhere for him to play. You can use the DH spot a little bit more creatively. That's what I'm talking about with Ozuna not really having a spot. But you know, if you're gonna play Reynolds, Cruz, and O'Hearn, you're probably playing Horowitz at first. Um or you DA, or maybe maybe you play Mangum in center and DH Cruz. I don't know. At that point, where's Ez Marilyn Valdez playing? I don't know. Um, I wish Jake Mangum could like play shortstop or something. I know he can't. Um, or or maybe they go with four outfielders. I don't know. But it's I don't have the answer to it, but it's certainly something the Pirates are gonna have to work out, how they balance playing time with Mangum, with Cruz, um O'Hearn, Horwitz, Valdez, etc. I mean, you know Brian Reynolds can be in the lineup, and you know you know the other guys are gonna be in the lineup, but you gotta make sure you get enough at bats for everybody. Photos from all over at DC in PGH. If the Pirates truly believe there will be a salary cap, would you bring up Seth Hernandez to be in the bullpen? He gets used to the majors, doesn't kill his inning count, and helps the pen before coming a starter next year. Precedent for this is John Smiley. And once again, no, I don't think that's going to happen. I don't think it has anything to do with the salary cap. It would have to do if you were going to make this move, and again, I don't think the Pirates will, but you would have to be convinced that Seth Hernandez could handle himself in the major leagues and also wasn't going to blow past any previous innings limits. And the way he's going now, I just don't see how that happens, and you still have innings to spend. Could he come up here and get outs? Yeah, probably. But that would be an extremely aggressive use of Seth Hernandez. And I mean, it's great that John Smiley did that. A couple other people have done that. It's certainly not unprecedented. Um, but in this day and age where you're so worried about pitch counts and innings and all this stuff, and Hernandez is where he's at, I just, man, I really, really, really don't see it. Father Bible asks, any chance the Pirates temporarily move Cruz back to shortstop until Connor Griffin returns. I like the team with both Cruz and Magnum. Mangum in the lineup, but the defense may not be worth it. No, I uh I'm sorry, Father. I don't think they're gonna be moving O'Neal Cruz back to shortstop. I think you need to just let O'Neill Cruz do his thing in center field. Um I actually think the defense has grown a little bit this year, uh, but I'm no, I'm I'm not in that camp. A little Cruz teaser, by the way. I'm gonna have a story at pirates.com on O'Neal Cruz and some surprising statistics. I didn't realize this. I knew he hit lefties well, but what he's done this year against breaking stuff, it's been pretty darn impressive. Uh the left-handed pitching thing, just to get that out of the way, hit 102 last year. He's at 312 this season, slugging 706. But against breaking stuff, Cruz is all the way up to 506, and he was at 294 last year. And talking about slugging percentage against breaking balls. That's beside the point, but no, I don't think I don't think you're moving him back to shortstop. Sergeant Barnes, 67, asks, what do they do with Mitch Keller? Do they trade him or keep him in the rotation to give up 5.14 runs every start? Um, well, I that's his ERA. He's not giving up 5.14 runs every start. Um, but I I don't think in the immediate you do anything. I think Mitch Keller has earned the right to go through the all-star break and try to figure it out. You give him a couple starts. Talked earlier in the pod about wanting to see him with Henry Davis. I think that makes a lot of sense. But what do you do with Mitch Keller, at least for the time being, as you keep running him out there? If it gets to the point that it's untenable, I think your move is probably put Carmen Majinsky back in the rotation and maybe switch roles with Keller and Majinski. I don't love that. Truth be told, I want to see Keller figure it out. I also think that he can. I don't think Mitch is that far off. Um, and here's a weird parallel. I actually think he and Skeens share something similar and that they have pitches that have got them to this point that they've kind of got away from. And we've seen Paul Skeens over his past two starts throw way more fastballs, like 50% and 60%. I don't want to see Keller throw his force seamer that much. I'd rather see him throw his sinker and pitch off of that, but I want to see them sort of pare down Keller's repertoire and have him focus a little bit more on sinkers, on ground balls, on hitting his spots. That's been the problem with Keller. And it's the it was the problem with Mitch in 21-22, where he could get to two strikes and then he'd miss. And it would either be a walk or it'd be a ball right over the middle of the plate. He needs to be more exact with his command. Maybe it's a mechanical thing, but I'd like to see them adjust the pitch mix a little bit there. Okay, let's go. Uh, besides bullpen, where else do you want the free front office to target? That's winning season 24 at winning season 24 asks that one. Uh nowhere, actually. I don't want them to target anywhere. Um, Ben Charrington actually mentioned outfield depth as an area that they're trying to strengthen. Uh, doesn't do anything for me. If you were going to go anything else, I might say starting pitching, but I'd honestly rather just have them get a bullpen arm, and then if you end up with like a surplus reliever, I'd probably go with Carmen Majinski or Wilbur Dotel and use them as starting depth. But I I am totally fine leaving every position player intact. I don't have I don't have a need to go through that stuff. So all right. Bill Alvarez at one big six fan asks, being basically halfway through the season, have the pirates found a good way to use the challenge rule, other than letting Ozuna use them. Yes, he he has scaled that back a little bit, and I think the pirates have gotten better at that. Um, they have worked on that quite a bit. We see them out with the traject machine, that's something that replicates major league pitching. Uh, and they spend a lot of time on it. And I I think their strategy just needed to be curtailed a little bit. And the way they explained it to guys early in games, they want them to go. I don't know if that's the best method. And they still do it sometimes, but they've gotten a little bit more choosy with their challenges, and I'm glad they did. You know, if you're sixth inning on, I'm fine for letting it rip. In innings one through five, you better be darn sure. And most of the time, I don't want the pitcher challenging. If I'm a pitcher, I basically think everything's a strike. I'm gonna leave that to the batter, I'm gonna leave that to the catcher. And they've sort of gotten away from that. It's not perfect, some guys have still challenged, but I think what the Pirates have done a pretty good job of is getting away from some of the emotional challenges. We see challenges that can be situational, maybe they're late in games, maybe it's truly something that flips account. Basically, not like the first pitch of an at bat in the second inning. Don't challenge that unless it's egregious, and they have gotten bat, they have gotten better at that. Sko at SCO0024 asks, what are the plans this year and beyond for Jacob Gonzalez when Griffin comes back from the I. I got to the second part of that. Let's talk a little bit about Jacob Gonzalez and how the pirates see him. Um, he could be a shortstop. He also has some versatility. Um, could play a little third base, could play a little second base. He can play first, but I don't know if I see that in his future, just because they seem pretty set at that position. You've got Horowitz, you've got O'Hearn, um, even Valdez can play over there if necessary, maybe Endy if necessary. Where I'm curious, and this is an unfortunate omission, but this is where my brain went when they picked up Gonzalez. I kind of think about is he a Brandon Lau replacement? And I hope you don't need a Brandon Lau replacement. I hope they just keep Brandon Lau. That's the easiest thing. But uh when Connor Griffin comes back, he's gonna play. And maybe you ease him back in there. You don't want to stress the finger right away, um, although they could be in a pennant race, and so that might be a moot point. But with Jacob Gonzalez, I think it's left-handed bat. Um, you know, he's gonna hit right-handed pitching. Is he gonna get an opportunity? Maybe he plays a little bit more, probably not second with Lau here, but maybe he plays at third a little bit if you're not gonna use Gonzalez. Maybe he subs. You know, I see him right now as kind of a platoon with Jared Triolo at shortstop, but beyond that, that's kind of the first thing that went through my head is is he a Brandon Lau replacement? All right, let's look at um Nick Pirates Diehard asks, it's a wonderful problem to have, but when Cruz and Horwitz comes back, assuming health elsewhere, who do you think the two guys, two odd guys out on the offense would be? Billy Cook feels safe, but it's tough between Gonzalez. Callahan and now Azuna showing life. Um, yeah, I mean Billy Cook's an easy one. I would look for him to go down. Um I they're not gonna send Nick Gonzalez down. I guess you could send Tyler Callahan down. He at least has options, probably depends on where he's at. Skill sets a little redundant with Jacob Gonzalez. Um, up until uh the Connor Griffin injury, I thought it would be Marcel Ozuna. Um, I still question whether they have the at bats to give Ozuna. And if you don't feel like you have the at bats to give them with him being a veteran guy, maybe they move on from him. Uh, I also think you kind of cross that bridge when you come to it. We don't need to have that answer right now. Um, we're still gonna see those guys a little bit into July, not immediately after the all-star break, but um it'll be interesting. Yeah, like I've talked about a lot on this podcast. It's a it's a difficult balance finding playing time and comprising the roster and doing all that stuff. All right. I'm out of time for this week. So much for thanks so much for listening. Appreciate the wonderful questions. Uh, make sure you listen to this thing every day. Really, really appreciate it. Um, as I've been warning you, we we've gone Monday through Friday with this, so no podcast Friday night in Cleveland, but enjoy the Guardian series, and I will talk to you soon here on the Pirates Insider podcast.