Pirates GM Knows You’re Not Happy as He Spends A Lot of Bob Nuttings Money

Jeff Karstens and John Grabow were impressive last night in the Pirates victory over the Atlanta Braves.  Charlie Morton made his debut, but it turned into a cameo.  I think Charlie being on the big league club has improved the Pirates significantly.

Exhibit one:  Ian Snell pitched like he had real blood in his veins again.

Exhibit two:  Jeff Karstens tonight…

Karstens threw 59 pitches after coming in for Charlie Morton in the second inning.  43 were strikes.  Karstens mixed the four seamer on average at 92 miles per hour with a nice changeup in the 87 mile per hour range.   He got that nasty slow curve (below 70mph) for his strike pitch late in the game.  (Here is his pitch chart with the speed in mph on the left side of the table.  It starts with 92 at the top and finishes with 66 at the very bottom)…

Morton threw one inning and left with a tight hamstring.  Morton hit 92 to 94 miles per hour with a tight curve that averaged 81mph.

He teased us just enough didn’t he?

Grabow threw 10 pitches in the seventh.  Eight were strikes.  Grabow threw eight pitches in the eighth.  Six were strikes.  (Here is his pitch chart with the speed in mph on the left side of the table.  It starts with 92 at the top and reduces one mile per hour until it finishes with 82 at the very bottom)…

GM Neal Huntington said on Rocco’s show that he knows the fans aren’t happy.  Stick to baseball Neal.  Who cares what we think.

With all due respect.  Focus.  Please don’t worry about us.  I will be at the game this weekend.  So will many others.  Now, with all due respect, please get back to filling up rosters.  If Mrs. Neal Huntington is reading this blog, call Neal tonight and tell him how hot he is.  Seriously, cheer him up….

If a popularity contest was held in this town anyone affiliated with the Pirates front office wouldn’t even be on the ballot.   So carry on with the massive undertaking of rebuilding a ballclub.  Pittsburgh has one thing in common, we love winners.  (Go Pens by the way.)

And that is as it should be.

Neal stated that 21 of the 30 players drafted had six figure asks.

Neal also mentioned that ”some of these player have asks are higher than we value the player.”

Neal’s favorite quote of mine was, ”We’re going to spend a lot of Bob Nuttings money.  The draft is one of the few places we can compete with the big market teams.”

He mentioned that it is very important to get these players signed and on the field.  That was very important to the organization.  He also said his goal and focus is to sign the top ten picks of the draft.  (Ok)

Neal said, ”There are three senior signs (typically sign for less than 5K) we like a lot and we will also take some tomorrow to fill out rosters…” in State College.  John at Pirates Report does a great job breaking down who these players could be in his column today.

“We are very excited and believe that we have efficiently and effectively executed a large portion of our draft strategy, and in our minds it will result in one of — if not the most — talented and deep draft classes in Pirates history.

“We don’t feel committed to any single player. We’ve given ourselves many alternatives and many opportunities to sign a deep and talented draft class. We, without question, feel like we’ve found some guys who are going to make a very strong impact on this organization at the major league level.”

Here are all of the Pirates Draft Picks  [MLB Pirates Draft Board]

Pirates Report has a bonanza of draft information [Pirates Report]

The fifth player taken from P-O high school since 1996, Matt Adams is ready to sign. The Slippery Rock catcher is going to go far in the bigs.  Why the Bucs wouldn’t take this kid is beyond my imagination.  It will prove to be a mistake.  He can flat out mash.  [Centre Daily]