Three observations from the Pirates' 9-7 win over the Red Sox here today at LECOM Park:
• Joey Bart's rough spring continued with an 0-for-2 effort that included his ninth strikeout in 18 at-bats. He has just one hit and it came back on Feb. 23 against the Yankees. Bart's not known for his defense. His value to this team stems around his ability to hit. At least it did back in 2024. None of the other catchers are really hitting either, so Bart has an opportunity to stand out in that regard. So far, he's not capitalizing on it.
• Billy Cook drove in two runs with a second-inning double, his second straight game with a two-bagger, and homered in the fourth. Really the first two games where he's shown life at the plate. With the amount of depth the Pirates now have in the outfield, Cook seems to be the fifth or sixth outfielder in the mix, making him Class AAA Indianapolis depth at this point. He's 27 years old and is a rather passable defensive outfielder (aside from the error he committed today) with a strong arm. But he still only has a minimal amount of big-league experience. It could be a big year for him to produce in the minors, both offensively and defensively, and translate that to the majors if he gets the opportunity in 2026.
• Carmen Mlodzinski's splitter looked pretty good again today. He threw it 13 times and generated three whiffs for strikeouts. On all three of those, Mlodzinski located the pitch on the outer edge to left-handed hitters. Perfect execution. He actually said he was kicking himself for not throwing it more, especially when he allowed hits with the four-seam fastball. Wouldn't surprise me if we continue to see an uptick in his splitter usage.
THE ASYLUM
Three observations: Bart's rough spring
Three observations from the Pirates' 9-7 win over the Red Sox here today at LECOM Park:
• Joey Bart's rough spring continued with an 0-for-2 effort that included his ninth strikeout in 18 at-bats. He has just one hit and it came back on Feb. 23 against the Yankees. Bart's not known for his defense. His value to this team stems around his ability to hit. At least it did back in 2024. None of the other catchers are really hitting either, so Bart has an opportunity to stand out in that regard. So far, he's not capitalizing on it.
• Billy Cook drove in two runs with a second-inning double, his second straight game with a two-bagger, and homered in the fourth. Really the first two games where he's shown life at the plate. With the amount of depth the Pirates now have in the outfield, Cook seems to be the fifth or sixth outfielder in the mix, making him Class AAA Indianapolis depth at this point. He's 27 years old and is a rather passable defensive outfielder (aside from the error he committed today) with a strong arm. But he still only has a minimal amount of big-league experience. It could be a big year for him to produce in the minors, both offensively and defensively, and translate that to the majors if he gets the opportunity in 2026.
• Carmen Mlodzinski's splitter looked pretty good again today. He threw it 13 times and generated three whiffs for strikeouts. On all three of those, Mlodzinski located the pitch on the outer edge to left-handed hitters. Perfect execution. He actually said he was kicking himself for not throwing it more, especially when he allowed hits with the four-seam fastball. Wouldn't surprise me if we continue to see an uptick in his splitter usage.
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