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Here’s Andrew McCutchen’s Fourth Career Walk-off Home Run

May 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment

One of our favorite players around the league, The Dread Pirate is finding his way once again.

We were actually watching this game live (illegally – MLB blackout restrictions can’t keep us down) when McCutchen went boom off the last arm in the Brewers bullpen, poor Mike Fiers. Pirates win 4-3 in a thriller. And the Pirates are hanging tough at 22-17. They’re not going to the playoffs or anything. But it would be good for baseball if the Buccos were able to finally crack that .500 egg after all these years.

We’ve got a suspicion this is going to be the year.

Filed Under: Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, walk off wins Tagged With:

Rank Relief: Michael Fiers should stay in the rotation…maybe

May 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment
rank relief 5.14-3

McCutch going clutch in extras….walk off

My friend asks me on Google Talk today where I was valuing Andrew McCucthen.  Now, walk off home runs aren’t a category in any fantasy league I know, but if they were, you’d be happy with Cutch tonight.  This was your basic late inning relief no out walk off home run.  On a 2-2 count, Cutch took Fiers over the right center field wall.

rank relief 5.14-4

No need to even tally this one up.  We can just look in on the post game celebration.  The Pirates are hanging in there so far.  Can they keep it up, or will they suffer a similar late season collapse.

rank relief 5.14-5

Filed Under: Pittsburgh Pirates Tagged With: , ,

Pittsburgh Pirates 2013 Team Preview

March 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment
amccutchen

The Dread Pirate: Pittsburgh’s newest chosen son.

Lets face it, the Pittsburgh Pirates being relevant again would be good for baseball. Other moribund teams have enjoyed short revival runs that energized their fan base and became the league’s big story for that given year. The Pirates haven’t finished a season over .500 since the first President Bush was in office. I still believed in Santa Claus.

Last season that was supposed to all change. The Pirates had that .500 finish in the bag it appeared. And then it all came crashing down–another horrible chapter in the Pirates recently horrible history.

But not all is lost. The Pirates have one of baseball’s top five players at the center of their franchise in Andrew McCutchen. They have the only two Clint’s in baseball donning their threads (Hurdle, Barmes) and that counts for something. Expectations are so low in the Steel City that if the Pirates can just win more games then they lose, it will become a league-wide story.

For a team that failed to get it done last season, they’re dressing a lot of the same guys up in the same part in the play this year.

Major Off-Season Moves:

  • Signed Russell Martin to a 2-year, $17 million dollar contract
  • Signed Francisco Liriano
  • Traded for Vin Mazzaro
  • Traded for Jerry Sands
  • Traded for Travis Snider

Seems like a little bit of shuffling deck furniture on the Titanic doesn’t it? Don’t feel that way, Bucco-faithful. The Pirates have shored up some key areas just a bit. If a few guys can realize their potential and others return to their old form, the Pirates are going to treat you to a fun season.

Here’s a look at the Pirates in-full after the jump. [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2013 Diamond Hoggers Season Previews, Pittsburgh Pirates Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Baseball Show: Only an Insane Man Tries This Hard to Trade Justin Upton

January 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment

This evening on The Baseball Show podcast, I was joined as always by co-hosts Mike Rosembaum (Bleacher Report Prospect Pipline, Golden Sombrero) and M.J. Lloyd (Halo Hangout, Off-Base Percentage).

Topics of discussion included:
-The Hall of Fame voting
-Which teams that have never had a Hall of Famer will next get the opportunity to have one?
-Baseball’s new mandatory HGH testing policy
-Justin Upton’s rejected trade to the Seattle Mariners, and why would the Diamondbacks try this hard to trade him?
-MLB ’13 The Show Cover Campaign Talk
-”Collectors corner”
-Zips Projections for the Angels, Mike Trout, Josh Hamilton

Filed Under: The Baseball Show by Diamond Hoggers Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

MLB 13 The Show Cover Vote Kicks Off

January 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Today over on MLB.com, MLB ’13 the Show launched it’s cover vote with seven of the finest candidates imaginable taking center stage.

Andrew McCutchen has jumped out to an early surprising lead, but our favorite candidate is trying to pull out all the stops.


One of my lucky fans voting #MLB13HARPER will receive 2 tickets and BP passes a meet and greet! #VOTEON
January 7, 2013 11:35 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@Bharper3407
Bryce Harper

Voting has gone the way of the All-Star game, and if you have a twitter account it’s fairly simple. You just have to release a tweet into the cyberworld stating “#MLB13HARPER” to cast a vote for Harper.

It’s already the greatest video game on the planet, let alone baseball game ever made. Producers of The Show have again pulled out all the stops in not only aligning themselves with MLB.com but ensuring that whoever ends up on the cover will assuredly be one of the game’s most rising stars.

And although we wouldn’t mind seeing Cutch, Miggy, Posey, or even Braun on the cover; no one makes more sense from a marketability standpoint than that of Harper.

Even Hardball Talk had a post up about it today, props on the gif of the old school Atari. Baseball really is abuzz about The Show 13.

Filed Under: MLB the Show, Video Games Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Must Read Material: How Andrew McCutchen became a Star

July 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Great read over at Deadspin this afternoon, which properly places Andrew McCutchen as the NL’s best asset at the moment.

That’s what McCutchen means to Pittsburgh. He’s a living rebuke to all the incompetence of the past two decades—talent identified, talent developed, talent retained. His handling has been a smart exercise in Bonds-proofing, from the moment he was drafted, through the gaming of his arbitration clock, to the signing of his extension. The Pirates’ timing was impeccable. His pace through Sunday—.372 average, 38 home runs, 114 RBIs—has been accomplished over a full season by just six other players in history, according to ESPN. Imagine what might have happened had the Pirates and McCutchen not reached an agreement on a long-term deal during the offseason. Hammond, for one, suggested the Bucs might have been in a difficult spot if McCutchen were to continue hitting at anything close to his current pace.

“There’s a good chance that there’s no way Pittsburgh could have signed him,” Hammond said. “He would have gone into another stratosphere with this kind of performance. But there’s no need to speculate on that because that’s not even going to be an option.”

How Andrew McCutchen Became A Star And Redeemed Two Decades Of Pittsburgh Jagoffery. [Deadspin]

Filed Under: Pittsburgh Pirates Tagged With: ,

The Scope Heard ‘Round the World

July 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment

All spring and summer long I never worried about the Reds. Even at low points, they had what many consider to be the best hitter in baseball and a great pitching staff. Nice complimentary pieces in their prime. It’s just time. The Reds would cruise to an NL Central Division championship in 2012 if for no other reason than because everything had fallen so nicely into place this season.

I felt that way into Monday morning when the news broke that Joey Votto was going to have ‘minor’ knee surgery. Then as my mind started to wander about the statement, I realized there is no such thing as a ‘minor’ knee surgery unless it’s a winter month. When you’re the best hitter in baseball and your organization is in the middle of the most important season they’ve been involved in in some 20 years, there’s nothing minor about it.

The Reds are saying it will be three weeks. I would bet you that on the inside where we aren’t allowed, among those that are closest to Votto like his teammates and some within the organization; the truth lies somewhere closer to 4 to 6 weeks. And at this point who really knows when we can expect back a full-strength Joey Votto?

All bets off. All plans on hold. All the wonderful things we promised you all along suddenly go away. The last half of your Cincinnati Reds summer will be a frustrating dog fight that features a lot of one-up, one-down on a night to night basis.

If the Reds are going to win the division, they’ll need to do it with a September push now. By my calculations they’ll get as many as three or four games behind and need to do it via the comeback in the final two weeks. No clinch before Bengals season. I said all along that I actually do buy the Pirates. They’re pesky enough to make this thing interesting until the end. Andrew McCutchen is that good. And losing out on a division title to the Pittsburgh Pirates is the type of thing my sports teams do.

I stayed away from the topic for a few days because it upset my stomach. I really don’t want to talk about it much, and I feel like the one thing that could have jinxed this team happened. I feel irresponsible for running my mouth about running away with the division now. If there was ever a time for Jay Bruce to go all May 2011 on us and save an entire fan base, that time is right now. Jay, please.

Reds fans, prepare yourselves. You’re in for the ride of your life one way or another.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, injuries Tagged With: , ,

Baseball Weekend Preview

July 6, 2012 by Leave a Comment

McCutchen brings his .356 average into the weekend.

If you’re one of those people who likes the heat of the summer, I hope you’re enjoying yourself. Me, I can’t wait until November and December, even January. I hope it’s 20 degrees or less for weeks on end. You won’t hear me complain. This heat wave in the Midwest is Brutal. The Mercury is at 100 as I type this, with a 104 degree day on tap for tomorrow. Sunday we go all the way down to a chilly 93. This sucks.

Stay inside, don’t try to be a hero and enjoy the following top five series of the weekend:

1) San Francisco Giants (45-38) at Pittsburgh Pirates (46-36)
Pittsburgh is a great story. They’re now two full games up on the Reds in the National League Central after staking their claim to being relevant last weekend in St. Louis. And who am I to begrudge the Pirates? They’ve been so bad for so long. They have what I think could be the National League MVP in Andrew McCutchen. James McDonald is absolutely filthy. Other than that, it’s a bunch of guys. It will be interesting to see what half-piece they add around the deadline to try and make a run. Everyone keeps waiting for them to collapse. If they win this series, I think they’re here to stay. This is probably the biggest series played in Pittsburgh in a number of years. Can you name a bigger one? It would be a great weekend for my first trip to PNC Park, but I’m feeling crummy.

2) Baltimore Orioles (44-38) at Anaheim Angels (46-37)
I’m going to put the Angels series here because Mike Trout is must-see TV right now. If you’re sitting around bored this weekend and he’s on, get an MLB.tv account and stop making excuses. Baltimore is “hannnging around” Teddy KGB-style. Matt Wieters, please get hot. My fantasy team needs you.

3) Colorado Rockies (31-51) at Washington Nationals (48-32)
Anyone catch that game last night in Washington? There was high drama, and the pesky Nationals came back and beat Matt Cain to earn the sweep over the Giants. They’ve now won four in a row. With the lowly Rockies coming to town, they have a chance to enter the All-Star break on a roll. They have a lot of character, and they’re fun to watch even beyond our man-crush victim Bryce Harper. And how about the Rockies? When this blog was in it’s seedling stage they were in the World Series. They’re not the first team to fall that far that fast, but they’re the first team with a nucleus containing Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez that did so. Someone needs to do a Rockies case study or something. Jim Tracy is a bad manager but he’s not this bad.

4) Boston Red Sox (42-40) at New York Yankees (49-32)
Another go-round between baseball’s best rivalry. What will be new about this one? They command the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball spot. This series could get the BoSox back in things or could serve to completely bury them. I think the Yankees are extremely legit this year.

5) Tampa Bay Rays (43-40) at Cleveland Indians (43-39)
My best friend Justin has high hopes for his Indians this year. Everyone else had high hopes for the Rays. I am not buying either. Shin-soo Choo and Asdrubal Cabrera are fun to watch at the top of the Indians lineup, and Jason Kipnis is coming along as a guy you spend the next five years building around. The Indians would be a nice story if they can keep this thing going into August, but they’re lacking starting pitching and one more big bat to do true battle with the Chicago White Sox.

Pitching Match-ups to DVR

Friday:
None, unless you want to watch Drew Pomeranz vs. Stephen Strasburg

Saturday:
Zach Greinke vs. Wandy Rodriguez
Ryan Vogelsong vs. James McDonald
Matt Moore vs. Ubaldo Jimenez
Jason Hammel vs. Jered Weaver

Sunday:
James Sheilds vs. Zach McAllister
Tim Lincecum vs. Trevor Bauer

Video of the Week:

We’ve got a real treasure for you this week. Here’s the 1992 All-Star game introductions. This was my first Midsummer Classic. It’s amazing to see how much the game has changed, how much the figures of our childhood have aged, and there are just so many memories in this 11+ minutes walk through time.

Filed Under: Weekend Preview Tagged With:

Game 44, 2011: Pirates 5, Reds 3

May 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment

[Box Score]

[PBC Blog] [Cincinnati.com] [Red Reporter] [Redleg Nation]

Observations:

This was another one of those afternoon games that the Reds play in the daylight, and so often come up short before heading out of town. I can’t blame this one on a Dusty Baker lineup. Johnny Cueto and the Reds just didn’t have the winning ingredients yesterday, and now first place belongs to someone else.

James McDonald is hardly a guy who is going to scare anyone, but he went 6 and 2/3 innings on this day in baseball history and it stood up as good enough to get the win.

The Reds wasted the 11th multi-home run game of Jay Bruce’s career in this one. Joey Votto only had 1 hit, an RBI single late in the game to cut the deficit to 5-2. Don’t look now but Jay Bruce actually has 6 home runs in the month already. It would be really nice to see him somehow hit four more before the calendar turns. I don’t know that he’s ever hit 10 in a month before. You would have to think that if he continues this type of power surge, he’ll get some consideration to be an All-Star for the Reds. That’s really important.

Highlights:

Jay Bruce homers in the 2nd inning to give the Reds a lead (9)

Bruce takes a 98 MPH fastball from Joel Hanrahan the other way for HR #10

Andrew Mccutchen’s RBI double

Ryan Doumit’s home run

Diamond Hoggers Song of the Game:

Potpourri:

-Remember Reds fans, vote 25 times (and make up other fake e-mail accounts to vote more times than that) for all Reds. You know those buttheads in St. Louis are going to be voting all day long for Lance Berkman, Colby Rasmus and Tyler Greene to be on the All-Star team, so do your part.

-Heading to the game in Cleveland tonight. More on this later, but excited to see some interleague baseball.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates Tagged With: , , , , ,

Game 43, 2011: Pirates 5, Reds 0

May 19, 2011 by Leave a Comment

[Box Score]

[Cincinnati.com] [PBC Blog]

About a week ago, I added Charlie Morton on my fantasy baseball team in my 19 team league. He had an ERA in the low 3′s, and four wins. I said what the Hell, I’ll pick him up and when the right spot comes along, I’ll spot start the guy. He’s shown flashes that he can shut a team down for games this season. He’s not a guy to build your staff around, but in the right spot he can give you solid innings and production. In a 19-team league, that’s all you’re looking for some nights.

When the Reds scratched Jay Bruce before the game due to illness, I knew last night was that night.

Another guy I had a feeling about was Pedro Alvarez. I had a feeling that he would do something big at Great American but I didn’t expect a 3-run home run. Sometimes you luck out, and sometimes it all falls into place.

My team lost and the 5-game winning streak is history. Charlie Morton threw a shutout for me, and Pedro Alvarez got only one hit. But sometimes if you have watched baseball long enough you just know the result before it plays out. I knew the Pirates were going to beat the Reds last night. If I were a richer man I would have bet some big time money on it. Just like today–the Reds play at 12:35–and they’ll win before going on the road for three games in Cleveland. I would bet anyone that Cueto is good again and the Reds get a big home run out of someone to win a tight ballgame.

There isn’t much to touch on as far as the Reds offense goes. Andrew Mccutchen made a couple of nice plays in center field and hit a rocket 2-run home run late in the game to really cement the sale for the Pirates. But the Reds got only five hits and the only rally to speak of was back to back hits by Chris Heisey (who was a pinch hitter once again) and Drew Stubbs. Of course, looking at the final score you realize it didn’t result in any runs.

It’s time for Jay Bruce to return to the lineup and get truly hot. We’ve all been waiting long enough. It’s pretty much a ‘speak now or forever hold your peace’ moment for Bruce. He’s sitting on 8 home runs. The rest of the league leaders in the category are getting theirs right now. We really want to see Bruce in double digits by the end of the weekend. Keep the pace, and we would bet the Reds win 3 of the next 4.

We’ll see what happens. But another night in which the Reds belonged to their keeper Charlie Morton. He of Roy Halladay mechanics.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, Fantasy Baseball, Pittsburgh Pirates Tagged With: , , , ,

Pirates looking to lock up Andrew Mccutchen for the long-haul

May 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Andrew Mccutchen is definitely the type of young player that you head to the altar with if you’re the Pittsburgh Pirates. There was a day when we thought that Nate Mclouth was that guy, but he tricked us like a nasty temptress.

Cutch is that guy. And that’s fine by him.

“I’m willing to be here for my whole career,” McCutchen said Sunday at Coors Field. “I really love it in Pittsburgh. I love playing there. I love the city. I love how things are starting to turn around for us. That’s one of the things I feel that they know, and they have the same feeling I do. We’re very open to working something out, but we just want to make sure it’s something we want. That’s basically what we’re looking at right now.”

The most likely type of extension would be one that carries McCutchen through next season, plus his three arbitration years. He still would be eligible for free agency in 2016, based on his current status.

That’s not going to be the rest of his career, but it’s definitely a long-term contract in terms of the Pittsburgh Pirates usual course of business. Because like, getting them to cough up more than the minimum amount on a player nowadays or commit past arbitration with any type of good faith is asking a lot out of them. All signs are pointing to something getting done with this young beaut’ of a center fielder. And that’s good for baseball.

Filed Under: Pittsburgh Pirates Tagged With:

Game 15, 2011: Pirates 7, Reds 6

April 18, 2011 by 1 Comment

[Box Score]

[Cincinnati.com]

Observations:
In the worst way I wanted the Reds to come away with this game and I wanted to be able to say that these are the same old Pirates that we’re talking about. But once again as they so often seem to do, the Reds will send me to work on a Monday following a Sunday loss thinking about what might have been.

These are not the same old Pirates. It’s a long series and we’ve all had a good look at the likes of Jose Tabata, Neil Walker, Ronny Cedeno, Garrett Jones, Joel Hanrahan, Pedro Alvarez and the new and improved tandem of Jeff Karstens and Charlie Morton.

Today, the guy that went off was Mccutchen. It’s pretty much his team now even though he’s only 23. It’s funny because today was a microcosm of Mccutchen vs. Bruce. Both guys firing back and forth with blows in a heavyweight title fight. Both guys who figure to face off for the next decade or so and be tops at their craft in the NL Central.

It doesn’t help that Edinson Volquez put the Reds in yet another hole this afternoon. They trailed 4-0 after the first inning, and Volquez’s first inning ERA is now 29.25.

For all the qualities of imperfection the Reds will have to deal with to be one of the best teams in the National League this year, one that they have that so many don’t is that they grind, and they fight and they claw back into ballgames time and again.

When they were in the 4-0 hole, I was sure that the Pirates would need more than that to hang a loss on them today and I was right. Miguel Cairo–a super sub for Brandon Phillips that got on base four times today–homered to get them on the board. It wasn’t a cheapie either.

With two outs a few innings later Jay Bruce singled and Paul Janish followed his single with his own that would make it 4-2. A few innings later Scott Rolen’s RBI double would tie it. Then the Reds took the lead on a Bruce single to make it 5-4.

Garrett Jones homered off Volquez who had settled down and we were tied again. A few hitters later the Pirates would have their lead back at 6-5. Again, there were too many frames left and I knew the Reds would be back.

Jay Bruce’s confidence looks like it’s surging right now. After he lined the single to right field to give the Reds a lead, we just had the feeling that he would have a day. When he came back to the plate with the Reds trailing by one and Jose Veras gave him a high fastball, he launched it into the seats in right centerfield and the Reds had tied it once again.

Logan Ondrusek got out of trouble with a nice play on a squeeze by the Pirates to keep it tied. But as I said to myself, I’ve seen this game so many times. Too often I’ve seen my team battle and get a heroic play like that only to lose it on a single with two outs. That’s exactly what happened. Mccutchen strikes again. The Reds got bested by a good player today.

It is a testament to their character that they weren’t done yet. The Redlegs loaded the bases up in the bottom of the 9th off Joel Hanrahan, and he went 2-0 to Drew Stubbs before Stubbs flied out to the man of the hour in center to end it.

We’re 15 games in and it seems like there’s been a million big moments already. The Reds play all week long instead of having tomorrow off, so that made this one just a little easier to take. Beyond that, when this lineup really goes off it’s all over. No one will be able to play with the Reds on some nights because they’re all going to hit and it’s going to be scary the type of runs they score on a good day. The starters need to start going more than six innings and they need the same good clean bill of health that they were blessed with mostly last year.

Top Plays:

Miguel Cairo’s bomb gets the Reds on the board

Bruce singles the Reds to an early 5-4 lead. All the way back.

Jay Bruce ties it at six with a bomb to center (2)

The heartbreaking but predictable beginning of the end

The Cardiac Reds fall just short

Classic Oldie Song That Should be Played on Loud Speakers at a Ballpark near you:




“Woman, hold me in your arms. Rock it baby.”

Hang with these Reds. They’ll get ‘em tomorrow. They’re that kind of team.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, Heartbreak, Pittsburgh Pirates Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Game 13, 2011: Pirates 6, Reds 1

April 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

[Box Score]

[Red Reporter] [PBC Blog]

Observations:

Bronson Arroyo just didn’t have his best stuff on this Friday evening, Jackie Robinson Day. Charlie Morton looked like a different pitcher than the guy that the Reds roughed up on Jay Bruce Day 2010. Morton was the whole damn show as we like to say, and he almost had a shutout in front of 21,312 at Great American Ballpark.

The Reds didn’t have much offense to speak of tonight. Drew Stubbs had a couple of hits and a couple of steals. Miguel Cairo singled back up the box. Scott Rolen blooped one in. And the Reds grounded out pretty much the rest of the night or flew out harmlessly. It was fun to watch the outfielders battle the wind. I remember playing those conditions as an outfielder and it was awful. These guys make it look easy.

Jose Tabata is one Hell of a ballplayer for the Buccos. Andrew Mccutchen got himself a golden sombrero courtesy of Bronson Arroyo (Cutch is 0 for 12 against him lifetime).

In the 9th, we saw light at the end of the tunnel. Jay Bruce broke up the shutout with a 2-out bomb to centerfield off Morton, and while there was no victory, tomorrow will bring better things.

Top Plays:

Bruce homers to center (1) with 2-out in the 9th

Reds turn an ugly double play

Neil Walker bombs Bunny Arroyo

Potpourri:

Quiet Friday night at home watching this one. I had the flu all week. Flu’s that hang on forever are absolutely awful, and I’m good for about one a year.

The weather and game result didn’t do much to make me feel better either. Glad the week has came to an end and I can head to Cincinnati to watch the ballgame. I love Saturday afternoon home ballgames, and there aren’t many on the Reds schedule typically.

On another note, I had a really HUGE night on the fantasy baseball front. Momentum!

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Pittsburgh Pirates 2011 Season Preview

March 7, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Leading up to the start of the 2011 Regular Season, Diamond Hoggers will preview each of MLB’s 30 teams . Today’s preview features the Pittsburgh Pirates. Stay tuned as Diamond Hoggers previews every team division by division until the start of the regular season. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pittsburgh Pirates Tagged With: , , , ,