Hello to my fellow seamheads and Twin Takes readers. I am back after a hiatus, in which I was uninspired so I simply didn’t waste the editors’ time. Today, I am talking about the Pittsburgh Pirate's season, and most importantly, the fact that I was right in my season-preview column. In said article, I predicted the Pirates would win at least 70 games, and boy was I correct. I won’t pretend that I’m right all the time, but to quote Charles Barkley, “I may be mistaken, but I am never wrong.” Anyway, let’s just jump right into it.
The Pirates surprised many people right out of the gate by starting with a record of 20-8. I was shocked, I thought my prediction of 70 wins was underselling them. But as the Pirates do, they began to suck afterward, having one of the worst records in the MLB in the following two months. Did I panic? No. Was I apathetic like I was in the previous three seasons? Absolutely. But part of me kept hanging on thinking that they would find a way to just be slightly bad and not regular bad.
The trade deadline could not have gone worse for me as a fan. We sold off Carlos Santana, one of our main veterans and best fielders for a prospect who was unproven. Our veteran pitcher Rich “Dick Mountain” Hill was sold as well. This left me disheartened and questioning the management and front office once more. Most importantly, I was in dire jeopardy of being mistaken about my prediction.
Fortunately, the big man upstairs had a plan for the Buccos. After a 0-5 start following the trade deadline, the Pirates finished the season above .500 and showed promise for the future. Their final win-loss total for the season ended at 76-86. Am I happy with this after a 20-8 start? Not quite. However, I could either focus on the negative or I could look to the future with excitement– I choose the latter.
The Pirates relied on rookies and veteran leadership during their post-trade deadline run. They were one of the youngest teams in the league winning more games than they lost. The long-term contracts of Bryan Reynolds and KeBryan Hayes look like bargains, as they were our leaders in hitting down the stretch. Jack Suwinski finally showed some consistency with contact in the final months. Rookies Liover Peguero, Endy Rodriguez, Henry Davis and Jared Triolo all showed promise with their hitting. Along with this, we saw the emergence of Carmen Mlodzinski as one of our best relievers and yeah, he’s a rookie too.
The bullpen struggles during some stretches of the season, but David Bednar, Colin Holderman, Ryan Borucki and Dauri “Big Bank” Moreta all seem like they can be long-term bullpen pieces for the future. To cap off the bright spots, we have Mitch Keller, who, besides a few rough outings sprinkled here and there, looked like our ace. The future is looking bright indeed.
Now, I will finish by addressing Mr. “Bottom Line” Bob Nutting and Ben “GM who is bad at his job” Cherrington as I know they read Twin Takes religiously.
Dear Bob and Ben,
Hey you guys, something is brewing here. We could legitimately be good in 2024. So go out there, spend $100 million in payroll (which would still be on the lower end for the MLB) and bring in some depth for these rookies and hopefully some starting pitchers too. Plus, I was right about my season prediction so you should know by now that I know the ball.
Signed,
Weston Nern
Stay tuned for more Twin Takes whenever Paul or I decide to run our mouths, and as always boo to the Yankees.
Weston Nern is a junior studying finance and business analytics at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk more about it? Let Weston know by emailing him at wn196719@ohio.edu.
