If this isn't enough ...
... if 5-0 isn't enough, if the strongest start since 1983 isn't enough, if averaging 7.8 runs isn't enough, if scoring at least six runs in the opening five games for the first time in franchise history isn't enough, if a precisely .400 on-base percentage isn't enough, if a 1.12 WHIP for the pitching staff isn't enough, if turning eight double plays isn't enough ... then I'm afraid all I'll put forth this morning about these 2024 Pirates is the following: There's more to come.
Maybe lots more, but I'll share just these three thoughts for now:
1. Paul Skenes should be up sooner rather than later.
Don't laugh that off. Yeah, there's money to be saved in a few years if he stays in the minors into late May or so through the Super-2 arbitration process, but he's not stupid, I'd presume his agent isn't stupid, and he and everyone else would've noticed that Jared Jones was promoted without any such delay. On merit. And Jones hardly looked lost in Miami, right?
The reason Skenes started out with Class AAA Indianapolis, according to all concerned, has zip to do with facing big-league hitters and everything to do with building up durability. He pitched weekly in college, and he's got to pitch more often with more innings in Pittsburgh. That's it.
But there's also this, and I heard this much on the opening trip: There's also the possibility he can arrive earlier and, with precious little adjustment, pitch less often and less innings than the normal big-league rookie. No one's the worse for wear, and all those outs he'd be recording in the International League can instead occur in this one.
Of this I'm certain: There's not a chance the Pirates would get away with keeping him down there for two months. Not within certified contention.
2. There's money to be spent.
Come on! I asked nicely for these not to be laughed off, didn't I?
I mean it. There is. My information's that Ben Cherington still has unspent money in the payroll budget that's ultimately approved by Bob Nutting. And further, the GM's still free to spend it deep into the summer.
What's more, it's beyond plausible.
The current payroll for the active 26-man roster's at $76,234,000, after which one must add $7,022,500 for the seven players currently on the Injured List, then another $32,474 for the few days Jose Hernandez and JT Brubaker were in the fold. That total: $83,288,974.
That's not enough, as I've been complaining forever. It's $17 million off the Pirates' own peak spending six years ago -- even as revenues have risen -- and it's $30 million off the National League Central Division's current average. Just as it's fair, I'd say to not expect this team to spend with the Dodgers, Mets and Yankees, it's fair to suggest finding a happy medium in a division where four of the five markets — all but Chicago — are roughly the same size.
3. There's trade capital, too.
I wouldn't be in favor of selling off the figurative farm. But the system, to Cherington's credit, has some small excess at a couple of positions, and it's conceivable he could move one or more prospects without full-blown idiocy at the scale of his predecessors' Chris Archer trade. Endy Rodriguez, for instance, might be a prospect without a position if Henry Davis can keep progressing. Sure, Rodriguez can't play for months because of the elbow surgery, but that didn't prevent the Brubaker trade. Same goes for Liover Peguero possibly being blocked out. And maybe even a pitcher could go, although those require excruciating caution.
In other words, however much anyone might like or dislike about what they're seeing in the moment, it's hardly set in stone.
So hey, smile a little, huh?
• Speaking of payroll, it's worth stressing here that Aroldis Chapman's the team's highest-paid player at $10.5 million, or $500,000 more than Bryan Reynolds. I liked Cherington's signing at the time, like it even more now. All baseball teams love to cite a singular strength as part of the collective identity, and it's been easy for me to detect that they're embracing that with the bullpen. As they should: A 0.74 WHIP, 27 strikeouts and six walks is almost as impressive as four different relievers having their four saves ... and none of them being David Bednar yet.
• Chapman's own three-pitch save that sealed the 8-4 victory last night in Washington didn't require any triple-digit heat, but he had plenty in Miami, making it 15 consecutive seasons of touching 101 mph or better in a big-league game. No other pitcher's had such a streak longer than six years. And no, he hasn't had a meaningful arm injury in all that time. One of the most amazing arms in the sport's history.
• Want to know why I don't care to hear about the caliber of the Pirates' two opponents to date? Try this: Luis Arraez, the Marlins' leadoff man and the defending National League batting champ, reached base all five times up last night in Miami against the Angels, but he went 2 for 18 with two walks against the Pirates. That's why. Never forget that, though baseball's a team sport in the truest sense of the term, it's still most accurately analyzed at an individual level.
• I'm learning to really like Luis Ortiz. On and off the mound. Stay tuned. He's got more to come.
• My feeling, to keep reiterating, is that this isn't like the 2023 start. Not fluky. Not gimmicky. But I'm compelled to point out that the .396 batting average on balls in play -- anything that's hit into the field that results in a hit, regardless of defense -- is uncomfortably high. The median's at .300. That's where almost everyone should wind up, good or bad. All these infield singles and outfielders over-diving liners and high choppers that've taken a month to come back down ... that's a big part of this team being ranked third in the majors in offense while having only four home runs. That part, for sure, will find its level before long. Just saying.
• Why's everyone seem to seek out some sort of assurance for how the rest of the season's going to go? This is sports. Nobody enters this theater guaranteed of some happy ending. It's not a Wiggles concert. Buy the ticket, step inside, ride the ride.
• The Wiggles' finest hour was 'Hot Potato,' and it's not a stance I'm willing to debate:
Took the kids, many moons ago, to a Wiggles concert at the Benedum. Sold out. Original lineup, none of these current posers. Toy dinosaurs everywhere. Manic stuff.
And yesterday, I watched my son Marko leave for four months in Japan for further graphic arts studies, fulfilling a longtime dream of his.
But four months.
In Japan.
That adage about how quickly they grow up ... it's so true.
• Sidney Crosby sets a milestone seemingly every other night, even a few where he'll rival or surpass Mario Lemieux or Wayne Gretzky. But the one last night in New York merits more of an appreciative pause than most:
If Sid wants it, Sid makes it happen. pic.twitter.com/deovtQUyOG
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 2, 2024
Yeah, 82 points at age 36, and averaging a point-a-game over 19 consecutive seasons. Just him and No. 99. A testament to his triumphant career when it comes to both quality and quantity, to say nothing of having raised the Stanley Cup three times.
Never, ever take him for granted, my friends. This Kid might grow up someday, too, you know.
• Wonderful all-around effort in the 5-2 victory over the Rangers, by the way. Don't make me finish this thought. Too obvious.
• Unsolicited goaltending plan: Sign Alex Nedeljković. Find a trade taker for Tristan Jarry, even if that means eating some of his cap hit to go with the swallowed pride. Promote Joel Blomqvist. Kinda obvious, I'd say. This team's been dragged down by too many non-competitive types, and the last place that can be afforded is at the most important position.
• Erik Karlsson's had a far, far better season with the Penguins than the credit he seems to receive around here. That's too bad, if only because one would hope that the subtleties of hockey would be so much more ingrained with our general public after 40 years of excellence from the local NHL franchise. Those who live and breathe this beautiful sport see what he does, shift after shift, as well as the degree to which it's been wasted here because of poor roster/line composition. But if it's data anyone needs:
JFRESH HOCKEY
• Eight more games of this. Eight more games of utterly meaningless hockey involving "not just the greatest player of his generation but one of the greatest of all-time," as Mike Sullivan worded it to reporters at the Garden after this one. That contrast can't be normalized.
• I swear, I'd fast-forward past the NFL Draft, fun as that figures to be, just to find out what Arthur Smith's scheming up for the Steelers' offense. It's fascinating to think about, if only because of the juxtaposition between his own smashmouth preferences, the already-in-place smashmouth tendencies of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren ... and how he'll incorporate a dynamic, downfield passing attack into that.
Because he has to. He really does.
Bear in mind, Smith was on the job for the acquisitions of both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, so he'd unquestionably have been part of the process of opting to pursue both. And as such, he'd unquestionably have had at least a sliver of a concept as to how he'd incorporate one or both. And further as such, because both can throw and both will have George Pickens at the far end of those ... yeah.
• Trying this again, based on more information: First-round center but only if the brass believes Oregon's Jackson Powers-Johnson is the bona fide best player at No. 20, second-round wide receiver and third-round ... inside linebacker? Mm-hm. Keep an ear down for that.
• Art Rooney II told reporters within the past week in Orlando, Fla., regarding the anonymous NFLPA survey about each team's working conditions that was critical of the Steelers, "We prefer to get our feedback directly from the players. Not even sure where that comes from. It doesn't get presented to us. It gets presented to the media. As far as I'm concerned, it's more of a media opportunity for the Players Association than a serious effort of constructive criticism. Having said that, we look at improving our facilities every year. We'll continue to do that."
Right. And now let me translate that into what the man would've loved to have piped up: The players get tired of hearing from their family and friends about different ways in which they aren't pampered upon attending games at Acrisure Stadium, whereas other NFL teams will treat them like visiting monarchs. So they use this survey as a way to push back.
When it comes to the stuff that matters, anyone's free to complain or critique all they want. Try to imagine, say, T.J. Watt or Cam Heyward mentioning how much they'd benefit from this or that element added to the weight room. It'd be there by the next time they blinked.
Tell the family and friends it's either the shrimp cocktail or new barbells for the boys.
• I'll insist until I can't that Pittsburgh gets more stoked when the Pirates go off than for either of the other two teams. That's not comparing the caliber of the franchises, and it's not comparing the fan bases. There's just something ... different to it. I've forever had a view that it's because the older generation gets more engaged, more emotional, and that then lights up the youngsters all the more. I could be wrong.
• It could also be that our city's got few institutions comparable to a 143-year-old baseball club born in 1882. The Pittsburgh Symphony, the Carnegie Museum and the first Carnegie Library were all founded in 1895, more than 17 years after the original incarnation of the Pirates. In fact, upon casual research, the only two significant things I could find older than the Pirates -- beyond the obvious Block House in Point State Park, plus various nearby churches and other structures within Downtown -- are the Duquesne Incline, which is five years older than the Pirates, and the Original Oyster House in Market Square, which is 10 years older. Both are still going strong, too, thanks to a great group of humans I've been blessed to know at both places.
• What I'm saying, in essence: We aren't Charlotte or Phoenix or anywhere at all in places like Florida. We're from here. We love this place, not just for what it is but also for what it's been. We carry all of that onward. And there are few things, very obviously, that we've carried on longer than the truly historic Pittsburgh Baseball Club. Coursing through the veins 'n' at.
• File any complaints about the preceding commentary where the sun does shine. I'll take my clouds, I'll take my day-long rain that's forecast for today, and I'll sprinkle them all over our passion for who and what we are. The Pirates are, inextricably, part of that. It's been beautiful to see and hear that emerging anew over the past week.
• Our app/site surpassed 5 million page views in a month for the first time with the March count that's now complete at 5,052,048. DK Pittsburgh Sports has never been read more than it's being read right now. And particularly since we don't really operate in a way that prioritizes page views -- search engine fodder, specialized keywords, outright clickbait -- I'm proud of this. Nice place to be as we approach the 10th anniversary in July.
• Thanks for (really) reading.
• And for listening:
