Is It Time to Panic, Pirates fans?

Yo! Welcome to NS9 Live. Also, welcome to the North Shore Nine Podcast presented by FanDuel. This is NS9 Live. I'm your host, Anthony DiNardo.

With me, we got Jim. We got Ty. Fellas, we got yourselves a 500 podcast coming up. How's it going?

I feel like we've been here all year, right? it's just been this exact same team all year long. But no, I'm doing great. How about you guys?

I'm annoyed, but like you said, it's nothing different than we've seen all year. I think you can throw the book at it that they're going to lose tomorrow and then they're going to win the next day because they won't drop two games below 500, just like they can't go significantly above 500.

Yeah. I'm annoyed, too, for a lot of reasons. Some of them outside of the Pirates realm, but that's another story.

Anyways, I don't even know you're talking about. Yeah, just a rough day today. But anyways.

I'm sorry. I don't know, man. Like, it's just.

Let's talk about this baseball team to cheer you up.

It might actually. But no, like we've been saying this like over and over again.

We sound so bipolar, but that's what this team is.

The team is bipolar. So it's understandable that we are bipolar because one day they put up.

12 runs and Ryan O'Hearn is in record books like, hey, he's the 19th or 17th player.

If you go to listen like that to have 10 RBI in one game ever, like it's more rare than a perfect game.

Ryan O'Hearn three home runs, 10 RBI, four hits. Amazing.

Konnor Griffin's out for a while. It's not that big of a blow.

Look what this offense can do. And then they put up these two back to back games.

There's all these problems. And it's just like one day you're super excited.

The other day you're in the worst mood ever. It's the worst position to be.

That's what this team is. It just stuck.

And then buckle. Mike's calling me. It can't get any worse.

That's great. well, and then also it's not, it's not.

all of our, all of our pets heads are falling off.

We get the news, Konnor Griffin torn tendon in his finger.

And he's going to be out two months. Like, what is this?

And he's got a strained butt cheek.

He has to go on the IL.

Like it's, you've, you're now missing your starting center fielder.

You're starting first baseman, you're starting catcher and you're starting shortstop on top of, on top of all of this. yeah, it's frustrating. It's really frustrating.

It's purgatory.

Like it's straight up purgatory right now.

They are a average baseball team that one day can look really good.

And the next day look like they've never played a sport in their life.

Yeah. I'll say this, like they're entertaining.

Like this has been an entertaining season.

Like you compare this year to every other year that we've done this show, Tyler, we start, we hopped on board this God forsaken podcast in 2020.

Right. And every year since then has just been terrible.

At least this year, I feel like this year has been fun and entertaining, but at the same time, just like, yeah, it's your one game over 500, your one game under, you never go up or down.

It's just a constant state of frustration because like it, like hovering around 500 is fine.

It keeps you in it, but eventually you need to start winning some games if you want to go to the post season and they're still just in this constant 500 spot and you look at the standings

and next thing, it's like, Oh, the Marlins are 51 and 42.

Hold up.

We have to catch those guys.

How are we going to catch those guys?

I have no idea.

We're running out of time.

There's 68 games remaining on the schedule.

I think 68.

Yep.

And we're just sitting at 500.

Meanwhile, they got to catch the Marlins.

They got to catch the Cardinals.

And I think they'll catch the Cardinals, but I don't know.

Are you, are you, how worried are you that they're just running out of time?

Running out of time.

Tyler, I got a little beef with you.

You said they're in purgatory.

According to Webster dictionary.

Purgatory, the first definition, a place or state of punishment, wherein, according to the Roman Catholic doctrine, the souls of those who die in God's grace may make satisfaction for past sins and so become fit for heaven.

Definition two, a place or state of temporary suffering or misery.

This is worse than purgatory.

Temporary?

When is this changing?

Fit for heaven?

When are we going to heaven?

This is hell.

We've been put into hell and will forever be in hell.

Welcome to hell.

Thank you, Jason Kendall.

You've been correct.

What's the, it's been a while since I've read Dante's Inferno, but like, there's like a, there's like a purgatory to hell too.

I think maybe that's where we're at.

That's where we are.

And we are stuck in.

So this is, this is bizarro purgatory.

Like on Seinfeld, it's bizarro purgatory.

You know what?

This is the, this is the bad place.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And we can't atone for our sins.

We are stuck here.

Deep breath.

Yeah.

To answer Jim's question there.

I don't think you can't be worried right now.

They're a 500 team.

It doesn't look like there's any way out.

Purgatory.

But I can't wait to see heaven.

That ain't happening.

What's that?

Anyways, but again, like in a week from now, we'll probably be on here talking about guys.

they also, well, actually in a week from now, we'll be in Cleveland doing this show.

I'll also, how about that?

But like, we've been talking about, Hey guys, you know what?

They swept Milwaukee.

We're in the all-star break.

We're coming out of this.

It's the second half of the season.

Things are looking fantastic.

That's why this team is so frustrating is because there's, they have a little bit of everything.

It's a little bit of everything.

And unfortunately, a lot of that little bit is a lot of bad stuff that happens too.

And over this past week, a lot of bad stuff happened.

again, Konnor Griffin out for two months.

Now, like I said, that's not, it's not like the worst thing in the world.

This offense is good.

It is like, even after today and these two days, like it's good.

Missing Connor's bat really isn't the end of the world.

Even if it means Triolo being in there because Trillo has been in there for quite a bit this year.

There's still the second best OPS in baseball, still third most in baseball runs.

Like it's not the worst offensively enough defense is like a hit, but like, there's so many more things that are a bigger problem.

Like the bullpen, like Mitch Keller, all these things we're talking about again tonight, every pitcher outside of Braxton Ashcraft, every pitcher outside of Braxton Ashcraft, like there's just, there's a lot of things that are just escalating as problems.

And even when you think like the bullpen is looking better as they were the past week, they remind you who they were.

Yeah.

it's definitely an interesting, you say that it's not that big of a hit and I think, that we can debate this because is Connor's bat like what keeps this thing going?

It's a slightly above league average bat, but I think Connor does a lot of other things that helps this team, right?

Like when Connor gets on first base, he's almost like guaranteed to steal second.

I think he's 20 for 21 stealing second, especially lately too.

He's just been really aggressive and he's been really effective on the bases.

We saw him pretty much single-handedly win one of those Phillies games.

so it's just, he does a lot, he does a lot and he does a lot of stuff that like Jared Triolo just simply can't do.

Like just there's things that Connor does that Jared Triolo can't do.

And so as much, and we're going to, we're going to get to the bullpen here.

It is a major problem and it needs fixed.

And I'm still, it's incredible to me that there still hasn't been like some real outside influx into this bullpen.

I know it's still early, but you telling me that like, there's nothing out there right now.

Like you tell me there are no deals to be made.

Like, I just, I don't know.

I feel like, I feel like we're just waiting.

We're just waiting around for stuff to happen.

And while we're waiting, we're playing 500 ball.

We're staying quote unquote in it, but teams like the Marlins are getting hot.

Teams like the Phillies are, have gotten hot.

Like all these teams have gotten hot and they've passed us now.

And so now you got a lot of work to do these next two months because now not only do you have to get hot, but you need the Marlins or the Phillies, probably one of those two teams

to just like, you need one of them to tank too.

Like this, you no longer are in control over your own destiny here.

Like in order for you to catch the Marlins who are nine games above 500, you're going to need the Marlins to tank.

Like they're going to have to hit a rough stretch here.

So that's, it sucks.

And so now the question is, can you go the rest of this month?

Can you go the next two months with Jared Triolo as you're starting shortstop?

If you really want to be serious about this, can you do that?

Or, this whole time we've been saying you need pitching, you pitching, you pitching, you need bullpen help.

Do we need someone who can play shortstop now because it's two months of Jared Triolo going to put this team in the exact same position it's at now where they're four to five games

out of a wildcard spot, just in perpetuity.

I'm using all the P words tonight.

I know.

Yeah.

Yeah.

There's a lot of things that need answered very quickly.

And like in regard to the bullpen, whether you want to compete or not, I think either way, this bullpen needs overhauled just to make it through the rest of the year.

Like, I don't know that they can survive the rest of the year just as a baseball team with this group.

It's the most pathetic group I've ever seen in my life.

I think there are teams with eight guys in triple A that can get outs better than this group.

Except for this bad situation.

Okay.

You're talking the bullpen, right?

The bullpen.

Okay.

I thought you were talking about the baseball team in general.

I was like, yeah, I've seen what he was.

It is the worst group I've ever seen in my life.

So I think no matter what you have to overhaul that, or at least try some different things.

And I'm with you, Jim.

I don't know why we are now on July 9th and there still hasn't been anything remotely close to a shakeup with that group.

It's been the same issue all year and nothing has changed.

So I guess like to start off this, cause like our first segment here, I do want to talk before we get like, I want to talk about the bullpen, but I do want to talk about what effect this Konnor Griffin injury is going to have.

And like, are we, are you guys, are you adding a shortstop to the, to the deadline wishlist?

Here's what I wanted to get at.

the reason I said what I said earlier is because I think immediately everyone is going berserk because you lose Connor in the lineup.

And now Jared children's in the lineup every day.

And that's like the big thing.

Like this team, you can't have Jared Shirley's lineup every day.

And it's like the point I'm trying to make with Connor being out offensively is this lineup has sustained.

Oh, no, Cruz being out for basically a month.

They sustained with Connor already being out for basically a month, right?

Spencer Horwitz has been out for a bit of time and Marcell Ozuna's played in 59 games.

So like he's playing in less now because you have guys like, Valdez and whoever else is in there like playing, so with all of that being already done, there's still the second best OPS in baseball.

The point I'm trying to make is Connor is an excellent player and him being lost is a hurt to any team.

Don't get me wrong in saying that, but offensively, this is a team that can probably overcome that.

And with that being said, it's also a team that's going to be getting, Oneil Cruz and Spencer Horwitz back in due time.

So I, yes, losing Konnor Griffin hurts, but I don't think it hurts so much in the lineup.

I think it hurts defensively.

Like I said, it's a big thing that pitchers are going to miss him.

And of course, right?

Like on the base pass as well, he's the second base, the second best base on the team right now behind just, Oneil Cruz, slightly above Jake Mangum.

So that's why I say like, I think this is a team that can overcome the loss of Konnor Griffin, which is wild to think about right now.

So am I going out there to get a shortstop?

I'm looking, but this is where I, like to Tyler's point, that is not anywhere near my priority list.

I think this is a team that can sustain, which even Jared Triolo and Nick Gonzales at short and third, that defense is going to be terrible, but it's already been terrible.

Like it's already been terrible.

We've gone through that.

We can see, we see what it is.

It's bad, but this team needs pitching help way more, especially the bullpen.

But honestly, like guys, do you think this team needs a shortstop more or another starter more?

I think this team needs another starter more the way Mitch has been pitching, which also we're going to talk about, but this is summarized the whole Connor thing, right?

The way Mitch has been pitching, Jared pitched excellent, but it's very clear.

They are very determined.

He's not going to pitch more than 77 pitches.

So how deep does he go into games?

Every time he starts, Bubba is up and down.

Who's Paul Skenes's this day?

I want a starting pitcher more than I want a shortstop at this point in time.

So that's where I'm at.

Like I look at adding a shortstop as a luxury right now.

If we can do all these other things and add a shortstop, then cool.

But all those things come above that as far as the priority list for me.

I think I agree with DiNardo.

And also I think just to add to that, the other part of it is that I don't really know that there are that many super attractive, affordable targets for that position.

Like you're going to have to give up a haul to get a shortstop.

It's, I guess close to what Konnor Griffin provided.

If you want to like Willie Adamas, you're not going to tie up that money in a guy when you have Konnor Griffin.

Same thing with Trevor Story, like Jeremy Pena's good enough to play every day.

But like really, if you're looking at it, is IKF your best option there?

And I don't want to go down that path again.

I want nothing to do with that path.

So I think that plays into it too, that I don't really love the options, at least just the obvious options that are out there.

Who knows what could be hidden somewhere or what might pop up, but just looking at it plainly, I don't love the choices.

Yeah.

if you look at the, ESPN just ranked like the top 2026 trade candidates earlier this week.

And, Jeremy Pena is on that list.

CJ Abrams is on that list.

So there are a couple of like big name shortstops on there, but you're right.

Like if you're probably not making a big splash for a shortstop right now, because you just signed a shortstop for nine years, $140 million, like you need a shortstop for two months, right?

You don't really need a shortstop for two years.

So like, do you want to trade the capital it would take to get two years of a Jeremy Pena, right?

When you don't really necessarily need two years of a Jeremy Pena.

So that's the position that they're in right now.

if this was like me running the team and I think this is, this is like your only shot, like this may be your only shot.

So it's like, just freaking go for it.

Like just empty the chamber, like whatever it takes.

The other shortstop options aren't enough, right?

Like if you go out there and you get a Willie Castro, like that's not going to do anything for you.

You're better off just with Jerry.

Jerry Trill and Willie Castro.

What's the difference?

Zach McKinstry was another name that I was looking at where it's like, you might like, why, like at that point you're just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

You're just changing one bad player for another bad player, right?

Like these are, these are not good players.

They're not going to give you any impact whatsoever.

I am curious on like, could you do something absolutely bonkers, bat shit crazy?

And like, I don't know, like trade for Gunnar Henderson and then he's your shortstop for the next two weeks.

And then he's your third baseman for the next three years.

Like, is that, is that so bad shit crazy?

Like, would you trade Seth Hernandez and Edward Florentino for Gunnar Henderson right now?

Right.

Like, is that, is that a realistic thing?

I might consider that a hell actually, you know what?

I'd probably do that right now.

Well, let me, let me ask you this.

Cause if you're going with a Gunnar Henderson thing, what about the CJ?

That's even an option.

Well, let's say if you're saying that Gunnar Henderson, like what about the CJ Abrams?

Like I look at CJ Abrams, like the same thing.

So like, do you trade the farm for a stud like that?

And then you could just move them to third base or second base next year.

And the reason I brought that up is because you did mention about CJ earlier, Gunnar would fit the mold.

I would entertain that because again, that's also something that's not like, that's not just a temporary fix because also what I'd rather have CJ Abrams or Nick Gonzales.

And again, like you're going to both offensively Nick Gonzales is having a good year.

Like I give him a lot of credit what he's doing.

He's helped this lineup, but I'm taking CJ Abrams over Nick Gonzales.

And like next year when you lose out on Brandon Lowe, maybe you have Abrams and, like there's a plan also that could be a temporary fix and a long-term permanent fix for things.

So I would entertain that.

Yes.

Yellowbeard asks, does Seth Hernandez have real trade value before he pitches in AAA?

I'm going to go ahead and say, absolutely.

Yes, he does.

Seth Hernandez is probably a top five trade ship that any team possesses currently.

I would say that.

Yeah.

The other thing that I just wonder, I guess I'm wondering out loud here and curious, just your guys' thoughts, is the looming potential lockout going to affect trade prices?

if a, if you're looking at a CJ Abrams, a Gunnar Henderson that have a couple of years left on their deal or on their, I guess control first years of control, do you get them a little bit at a discount there?

I don't know.

It's a good question.

I have no idea.

Now the perk would be probably not because let's say you get out of the, get out of this with a full salary cap system too.

Now you've got those guys that you can exclusively negotiate, Larry Bird rights type contract with that no other.

So like, I think there's perks to even getting these people into your organization right now.

If you can, again, this is me like pie in the sky.

This is what Jim GM Jim Rosati would do.

If I was running this team on out of the park.

Right.

I would see like, what can I get?

How can I get a superstar?

And then I go and fill the rest of the bullpen.

So this is the preview of when there is no baseball next year, what we'll be doing for content.

Right.

It's yeah.

And again, like crazy.

I don't, Gunnar Henderson is probably not available.

The Orioles have him for two more seasons.

Like it's going to take, it's going to take Seth Hernandez plus.

Right.

but I don't know.

Like, let's get weird.

Why not?

we're not going to have baseball next year anyways.

So now that we're done with the weird, let's get back to Ben Cherington's reality.

Back to Ben Cherington's reality.

I don't think it makes sense to acquire, a non stud who can play shortstop.

Like you look at the Willie Castro's, you look at the Zach McKinstry's, like it doesn't do anything for you.

It's those aren't, those aren't giving you any impact whatsoever.

You're better off just rolling the dice with what you got.

Hoping that Nick Gonzales can continue to hit like he is a third base.

Hoping that Triolo at least plays passable shortstop and hopefully maybe hits a little bit.

Like in the last couple of weeks, last 30 days, he hasn't been completely terrible.

He's been a little bit better.

but I know he doesn't seem to come up big and big moments, but that's Jared Triolo.

Like we know who he is at this point.

So yeah, I'm, I am with you all in that, in the reality of the situation.

I don't think there's much he can do to improve that shortstop position.

I think, I think you take most, if not all of your resources and pump it into this pitching staff.

Can I throw out a scenario out there?

I hear your points on, and I'm throwing this out there because I don't know who fits this mold, but I'm sure they would come cheap.

But would you maybe take a flyer on a, like a glove, just a glove shortstop?

I almost hate to say this.

You need a better bat, but like the Alika Williams type, like just a glove, because it's like, you know what?

It's now the eighth inning.

This bullpen is not good.

You're up by one.

Don't want Jared and Nick on the left side or like maybe someone who can actually play the position and really show up defensively that spot for like a lady and got like, would you take, would you go out there and just give up a nothing basically for a glove?

Or it's like, I don't know if that guy exists.

Like I was even looking for something like that.

And like, maybe you could put Ezekiel Tovar in that, in that mix, but like Ezekiel Tovar is owed $40 million over the next four years.

Like that's a, like, but you're not doing that.

So I'm really talking about like Alika, but a guy who actually, I was, I was having issues trying to just find somebody who fits that.

maybe there's someone in AAA stowed away somewhere that I'm just missing, but I'm not seeing a whole lot out there.

I think if you can do that though, that's something to look at for sure.

Being able to move shift Triolo over to third and have an actual shortstop in the game would be pretty nice.

And it's not like there's not some roster spots that you could fill here.

There's a couple of guys on the bench that could be put out the pasture and it'd be okay.

Yeah.

Blake's thrown out like Nick Allen.

So Nick Allen would fit this mold, right?

Like glove first, can't hit at all.

Yeah.

Would you?

No.

Okay.

So again, I thought that out there.

Cause I guess that's where we're at.

Like even a Nick Allen, like the KG loss, of course is a loss, but if you're not even going to get out there to even get a Nick Allen for the position.

I think we're all on board where it's like, this is a luxury at this point in time, right?

Unless you're making a big superstar move that still comes into your future plans.

And we're all on the same page.

That's not happening.

Yeah.

And like Daniel saying, Miguel Vargas, Miguel, the White Sox are in this thing right now.

The White Sox aren't sellers.

Zach Neto, you'd have to give up a ton to get Zach Neto, I think at this point.

So I, yeah, I just, I just don't see where any of these guys fit in.

Is Neto a future third baseman?

Neto is holding the, Neto's fine at shortstop.

He's not, he's not a, he's definitely not like a glove first for shortstop.

No, he's not good over there, but he can, he's certainly capable of playing the position.

Can he play third?

Probably.

Okay.

I ask that because it's like, he's not playing shortstop in two and a half months.

And like the bat's good, but it's not the leads.

That's why like CJ Abrams, I'm fine at third.

Yeah.

I just don't see, I just don't see a fit.

Yeah.

I just don't see one.

Okay.

Too many other places.

It is on Connor.

Yeah.

it just sucks.

It sucks because I think he means a whole lot for this team.

And this also just sucks for his development too.

Like he was really, he's just playing really well.

And you posted the stats on Sunday, like just like what he's been doing since his birthday.

he's been statistically a top five shortstop in major league baseball over the last two months.

So like that just sucks that you're missing that.

And he's only 20 years old and we'll get to see him before the end of the year, but it's definitely going to be tougher now without him.

Hopefully.

Yep.

All right.

Sure does.

Yeah.

So is that all for Connor?

Yeah.

All right.

Let's do this.

Let's go ahead and hear from our good boy, our good friend Cody here and Penn did give us a $2 super.

I did say this stuff is more aligned on it and it's not live.

So I'm more open to play some of these and just glancing at it.

It might not be the worst.

So we'll listen to Cody.

We'll come back and hear Bucko Mike's voicemail.

Yes.

Maybe we'll rid of ourselves of the Denardi curse.

We'll see you guys later.

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Now, again, we here at North Shore nine do not endorse the views or expressions of Bucko Mike.

However, we did get paid two whole dollars and for two whole dollars, we have to play this.

So, I give you guys the Bucko Mike voice now.

Good evening, folks.

Starting off with the bullpen.

Then as Santana, Slamtana got ran into like a mother-effing Amtrak.

Yaz just grand slammed off him again.

Well, it's his ERA now six.

KG Doggy.

KG, the real injury was because he slid his hand into his girlfriend's cooch.

That's why that's how he tore his ligament in his hand.

And Hannah got Joe Block's greenie weenie, I guess, hard from when she got splashed on all that water.

And Jeme and Denardi, the curse will continue because you guys probably won't play this on the air.

So, have a good night.

Peace.

y'all understand why.

Don't play these on the air.

You just made the, like, that's, good God, Bucko Mike.

Are the Pirates going to win the, are the Pirates going to win it now?

Are we going to, are we in purgatory?

Are we going to see heaven now?

What the hell is wrong with that guy?

Everything.

Brett just said you guys lost all your endorsements.

IQ bar, gone.

I'm speechless.

I can't believe you played that.

I can't either.

I thought you said it wasn't that bad.

That was, that was worse than the one that you did.

I'll be on.

I've been skimming.

I've been doing a podcast, guys.

I, oh my God.

I didn't catch all.

Yeah.

Brett's like, why did you play that?

You guys keep telling me to.

This is why I don't play it.

You played that for $2?

Two bucks.

That's all it takes?

Get you to play anything for two bucks, apparently.

Oh.

All right.

Anywho.

That was, Bucko Mike, that was your worst voicemail you've ever said.

Yeah.

You need to do better next time.

This about you.

This about.

It wasn't.

You guys don't even know what I've not played.

Speaking about worse, let's talk about this bullpen.

Yeah.

How about new rule?

No more Bucko Mike voicemails on live shows.

Like, you know what?

I get yelled at on this discord every single day.

There's literally a Denardi curse exists because I don't do this.

And I finally do it.

And you guys are like, oh, I guess I understand.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think, I think at this point, people will understand if we no longer play a Bucko Mike voicemail.

I think we give Bucko Mike a one show suspension.

Like that.

He needs.

Yeah.

Definitely suspended.

Bucko Mike.

You're suspended.

He can appeal.

Here's one.

If you play it again.

All right.

How about this bullpen?

It sucks.

No, but for real, we've talked about the bullpen exhaustion.

Like we know it stinks and I, what really sucks is, and you guys know this because I said in the group chat yesterday before the home run was given up, I'm starting to believe in Dennis Santana.

the whiff rates up, the chase rates up, the batting averages down, the slatter's working good.

The guy's actually striking out batters.

The walk rate's a little bit higher than you want, but it's like, you know what?

He's actually been pretty good over the past month.

You take on that Colorado series, like things have been turning around.

And I know he's not in a lot of high leverage situations, but I'm starting to buy in to Dennis Santana.

And what did he do?

He gives up the home run last night.

Then he had this outing today and I'm done.

I'm done with everybody in this bullpen.

And guys, that includes this Carmen Mlodzinski experience, because what are we doing with Carmen ma fricking Ginski?

Do you want to know what they're doing with him?

Apparently they're basically just treating him like a starting pitcher.

So, if you haven't yet check out Alex's article on book roll bucks, he broke down this Carmen Mlodzinski debacle, Carmen Mlodzinski has been extremely effective

since moving to the bullpen.

since Maginski's moved to the bullpen, he's third in innings.

He's pitched by relief pitchers.

His ERA is below two.

However, with all that, you would think, Oh man, he must be really valuable to this team.

Right?

No, he's been one of the best relief pitchers in all of baseball, but he's 48th in that time period in when probability added, right?

So like how much did Carmen Mlodzinski contribute to the pirates winning a baseball game?

so he's essentially just not helping this team at all.

and apparently this is the plan.

The plan here is when Carmen Mlodzinski pitches the next day, he and Bill Murphy get together and they decide how long he's going to rest to, for recovery.

And then he's going to be made quote unquote available over a period of days where, okay, he's now available to pitch again.

And then once he pitches again, goes back to meeting with Bill Murphy.

All right, Maginski, let's decide how much time off you need before your next availability.

This is why we always see him in the dugout wearing a hoodie or a t-shirt because just, he's not even available.

They're treating him like a starter and they're pitching him in the most low leverage situations possible.

The pirates just lost two games to the Braves and the pitcher who pitched in the least leveraged situation in the entire series was Carmen Mlodzinski.

When he entered the game, he said, on Monday, the pirates win probability was 99.9%.

And he pitched two innings and then he wasn't available the rest of the series.

He's pitched now in three games where the pirates win probability was over 94%.

The game he's pitched in another game where the win probability was seven percent.

He's really only contributed positively to two pirates games.

So like he's been lights out in this bullpen.

He's really only helped contribute to wins twice.

And it sounds like this is, this is the plan.

And Ben Cherington said that it's working and he thinks that this is the way they're going to continue to do it.

There's no plan to change it.

He says there is some fluidity, quote unquote, but it just has to do with when Don Kelly decides to use him during his, quote unquote, available days.

And then once he's used, can't use him again.

Is this just the dumbest?

This is the, I've been, I've been watching baseball my entire life.

I haven't heard anything dumber than this.

I don't think in my entire life, this is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

It's the stupidest.

It's worse than that voicemail you just played.

No, it ain't.

Nothing's worse than that voicemail that I just played, except for the other voicemail that I didn't play.

Karim Mlodzinski has thrown 59 total pitches since June 28th.

It's July 9th.

When is he available?

It's not like he's going out there and throwing three or four innings when he's coming out of the bullpen.

Well, he's throwing three or four innings.

He's throwing three innings, but it's not like he's throwing 70 pitches and he needs to be down like a starter.

He's throwing 59 pitches in two games.

Why was he not really available today?

Why?

He threw 24 pitches on month on what?

Tuesday?

Was that the day?

Yeah, Tuesday.

I honestly question if Karim Mlodzinski even wants to win at all, because that's not the guy I want on my team.

Want the baseball.

Want the high leverage spots.

Right now, it just seems like he's concerned with protecting his numbers, and that's it.

I guess in theory, it protects his numbers, because again, when you're put in a game where it's 10-2, and half their starters are out, you'll probably have a good ERA.

So I guess it does protect them there.

But I want to hear your guys' opinion.

This is more of a Ben thing, right?

Like, just hearing his quotes and stuff, like, we're going to determine when he's available again.

I know a lot of people want to give him heat for this, and I'm not absolving Karim from this.

I don't know where this whole thing stems from.

I don't know who all is involved in this and how much it should be weighted to one person or the other.

But everyone who's involved in this, I want to say something that was worse than the Buck of Mike's voicemail.

So I'll refrain.

But this is bullshit.

Like, the reason, when Jared Jones is coming back, who goes to the bullpen?

That was the whole talk, because you knew Jared was coming into the rotation, right?

And you can make the argument, well, Jared should be in the bullpen.

But regardless, you knew he was coming in there.

So, like, what do you do with the starters?

You have a six-man rotation.

Do you put someone in the bullpen?

Like, is it Bubba?

Is it Karim?

The reason it's Karim is because Karim has succeeded there.

This bullpen has been trash, to say, lately as well, right?

To keep this as PG as we can.

Karim can be a real asset.

And you find Karim killing, just killing in the dugout with a t-shirt.

Karim, why does he have priorities that other guys in the bullpen don't have?

Why does he get excluded from them?

Why does he get this in there?

Why do we have to have beat writers and Colin tweeting out pictures of Karim walking into the bullpen?

Like, it's a big deal after a rain delay in the sixth inning.

Why is he above the bullpen?

And why does he have these scheduled bullpen appearances that don't help this organization or this team?

Like, if you're going to be a team guy, if you're going to help this team out, the team needed help when Jared Jones had a perfect game going and got pulled in the sixth, which you can argue that, but fine.

Like, whatever.

It's a tied ball game.

That's a game that you can go out there and try to win.

Not when it's 10-2 and you're already pummeling the Braves.

Everyone who's involved in this is a bitch.

That's better than the voicemail on the board I wanted to use.

Because this is just a bitch move.

You're either helping the team and you're in that bullpen just like your other guys behind you, right?

You all have each other's back.

You're a bullpen pitcher.

You go in that bullpen.

You're just as one of them as they are one of you.

You're not above them.

They're not beneath you.

Performance-wise, I agree they are.

They earned that right.

Be better.

But they're not beneath you.

If you're a team guy, be a team guy.

And everyone who's sitting here with, like, they're worried about how they're going to handle Carmen or whatever, and we're going to give them these special treatments and we're going to put in these situations, do you guys want to win also?

Carmen is here and he is a weapon.

Why are you not using him?

And Carmen, you're a damn weapon.

Go out there and be a weapon.

Be a dog.

Go out there and help this team win.

This team needs you.

This team needs you.

They didn't need you on Monday when they were up 10-2.

They did not need you.

Hunter Strickland could do that.

Tyler Callihan can do that.

You know when they needed you?

When Jared Jones got pulled out of a perfect game in the sixth inning, it was tied 0-0.

Did the offense still fail?

Yes.

But could you have given them a chance?

Absolutely.

This offense is never out.

This offense never allows this team to be out of a baseball game.

So go in there.

Do your job to then let the offense pick you up and go out there and win a game.

Because it's a team sport and come together as a damn team.

This is bullshit.

Everyone involved in this, in doing this, is a bitch.

And it's a loser-ass mentality.

Sorry.

That felt good.

It's definitely frustrating.

it does.

It shows the dysfunction of this organization.

The fact that this is being allowed.

And even if on some planet it's not Karim Mlodzinski scheduling out his starts and they're not letting him do whatever he wants, which it certainly appears that way, even if this is the Pirates' idea of what's best for the organization, that's also stupid.

So either way, this shakes out and the reason behind it's dumb.

It's just dumb.

We feel like the role he's in now is really valuable, Cherington said.

If we can figure out the pitching staff in a way that allows him to stay in that role, we see a lot of value in that.

No, it's mind-boggling to me.

Like, it's pretty simple, right?

Like, you play your best players in the biggest moments, and they just aren't doing it.

They're playing their best players in the smallest moments, and they're playing their players that have proven time and time and time and time again that they suck in the biggest moments.

I don't understand his bullpen usage.

I don't understand just continuing to let this Carmen Mlodzinski situation go down this route.

I don't understand it.

Again, I was trying to even think of something to compare this to, and I can't.

Like, this is the dumbest usage of a pitcher I can recall ever.

I can't remember a pitcher being used this dumb.

And I've been following this team my entire life, and I've seen this team do some pretty dumb things.

I can't remember something this dumb.

Guys, the last six games, six games that Carmen has pitched out of the bullpen, I'm going

to give you the scores of the games.

Two to 11 loss.

Two to 11 loss.

Yeah, let's throw Carmen in.

One to two loss.

Okay, that's when you put in Carmen.

11 to one win.

Yeah, sure.

He's doing great in this role.

11 to one.

Nine to four win.

Perfect.

Mop-up duties.

Six to one win.

Sure.

Yeah.

Let's just get to the innings to get the next game.

We already got this locked up.

And 12 to four.

So again, two to 11.

One to two.

Eleven to one.

Nine to four.

Six to one.

Twelve to four.

Jim, can you also, once again, explain to people what win probability added means?

Yeah.

In my probability means.

Yeah.

Win probability is like, what impact did you have to the team winning the game?

So when he comes into the game with a 99.2% win expectancy, how much does he really add to that win probability?

If he finishes the game, he adds 0.8%.

Cool.

Thank you, Carmen, for allowing them to win in a 10 to two ballgame.

You're fantastic at this role.

On Monday, actually, it was Monday, the win probability when he came in was 99.96.

He had a win probability of 0.04%.

Cool.

It was really sweet from Sanders today.

Without Carmen, who knows if they would have won.

Yeah, and guess who pitched the next two days?

Dennis Santana, Dennis Santana.

Guess who gave up homers each of the next two days?

Dennis Santana.

You know when it would have been a really good time to pitch Dennis Santana?

It's when you were up 10 to two.

Oh.

Oh.

Bitches.

So, yeah, I'm getting rid of Carmen.

Yeah, it's absurd.

It's absurd, and I don't understand what they're doing.

And I can't understand why they are just allowing this to happen, and they just can't.

This is what they're going to do.

This is what they're going to do.

Now, do you want to hear my resolution to this?

We will.

So, yes.

You know who sucks right now?

Mitch Keller.

We only have about six more minutes of the show.

Mitch Keller.

Mitch Keller sucks right now, and I'm sorry to say it.

I love Mitch Keller.

I've defended him so many times on this show.

One of my favorite pirates of the last, decade.

But he sucks right now.

If you are going to pitch Carmen Mlodzinski in this role, and this is how you're going to use him.

Put Mlodzinski back in the rotation and use Mitch Keller like this.

Like, that's where I'm at.

Like, Carmen Mlodzinski is more effective than Mitch Keller right now.

You've obviously done this to make it so that he's continuing.

Like, he can go back into a starter's role if needed.

The way that I'm handling this going forward, because it's so stupid.

Like, it's so dumb to use your best reliever like this.

Swap him.

Like, put Mitch Keller in this dumb, idiotic, stupid, I'm going to pitch when it doesn't matter role every four to five days.

And see if he can get right.

Maybe that's how you get Mitch right, is putting him in 11-2 ballgames in the eighth inning.

Right?

So, that's my resolution to all this.

Mitch Keller has been so bad.

It has resorted to me giving Carmen Mlodzinski his rotation spot back.

Counterpoint.

No.

Carmen Mlodzinski can go pound salt.

I'll trade for another starting pitcher.

And Carmen Mlodzinski can pout his way out to the bullpen every fifth day.

No, I'll actually make him go out there every day.

But I'd be looking to trade Carmen Mlodzinski personally.

Because I don't want this guy anywhere near my clubhouse right now.

If this is the way it's going to go.

Where he's going to pout until he gets his way.

He can piss off.

And to be honest, unfortunately, I'm probably trying my darndest to get rid of Mitch Keller in that contract.

I don't think anyone's jumping over each other to take it.

But if you're able to move to Ke'Bryan Hayes, you never know what could happen here.

And it's only been, a couple months of a bad stretch in Mitch Keller's career here.

Someone might bite and think they can have him bounce back.

And he might bounce back.

But either way, I'm not giving Carmen Mlodzinski what he wants.

And what he wants is to go back in the rotation.

Don't give a shit.

Go to Colorado.

This is where, like I said, before the show starts.

I don't know how to talk about Mitch Keller at this point.

Because I got through some numbers out there about the cutter.

And everyone knows about the cutter.

And the cutter's been bad.

Like, he basically eliminated last year.

And we talked about last year.

And it was pleasant.

Now it's back this year.

And he sucks.

But the thing is, we know the cutter sucks.

And it does suck.

And it's been sucking.

And you know it sucks.

But, like, everything sucks with Mitch Keller's pitch arsenal.

Like, that's just the thing.

Like, you'd always just go back to the cutter.

Like, the cutter stings.

But, like, the two-seamer stunk today, too.

Everyone was hitting on it.

It had, what, five hard hits on the day?

Like, nothing with Mitch Keller right now is good.

You don't look and say, well, like with Paul Skenes.

A lot of people are pointing at, like, the mechanics.

You know what?

If he tightens up the mechanics, you got to work on the mechanics.

Let's get Paul Skenes back to Paul Skenes.

I'm not looking at Mitch Keller in the sense of, well, Mitch, you just got to throw out the cutter.

Or, Mitch, you just got to do this.

I'm looking at Mitch Keller almost the same way we've been looking at Dennis Santana and just saying, is it gone?

It might not be.

Like, maybe he comes back next year and it's like, you know what?

I did whatever.

I didn't hear these things change.

And I'm back to being Mitch Keller.

You know what I've been.

But, like, at this point in time, I don't.

I, the idiot, right?

I'm not a pitching coach.

But, like, I don't see a fix in Mitch Keller.

I don't know if swapping him and Carmen is the role, is the play.

What I just do know, though, is, like, this team doesn't have a guy in their organization that just, you can say, like, all right, well, Mitch doesn't have it.

Let's give him the fan of my L or let's put him in the bullpen or whatever and, like, let's just call up this guy for right now.

There's no one.

Those guys that you wanted to call up couldn't hack it in the bullpen.

So, how do you expect them to hack it as a starter?

I just, again, like, that's why, going back to the way this started, a starting pitcher is up there way more in the list of priorities than a shortstop for me.

This team needs a starter.

That was the thing we thought they needed at the beginning of the season.

but it was more to, like, how they didn't get through until Jared comes back, with some uncertainty.

Well, Jared's back now, and it's, like, they need a starter because these guys aren't really all that good.

And Mitch is failing this team miserably this year.

Like, let's be real.

I know a lot of talk is on Paul Skenes.

I know talks elsewhere in the bullpen, but Mitch Keller is maybe one of the biggest disappointments on this team because at least we all know he was pedestrian.

And he's basically an average pitcher, but he's going to give you innings.

He's not doing any of those.

He went, what, four today?

Three?

He went three today.

Three.

So, like, he's not pitching well, and he's not giving you innings.

So, where's Mitch's value at this point in time?

He doesn't have a lot.

he's among qualified starters in Major League Baseball.

He's the third worst ERA after today, 5.14.

Now, his FIP is quite a bit better, but even that, he's the ninth worst in baseball.

Like, he just hasn't been good.

And I know that, like, the worst thing, like, I know nobody wants to, quote-unquote, reward Carmen Mlodzinski right now, but I want to win baseball games, and I want to do what's best for this team in terms of, like, winning baseball games.

And you're not going to convince me that Carmen Mlodzinski isn't a better starting pitcher right now than Mitch Keller.

Like, I'm throwing my best five, and right now Carmen is one of my best five, and that's what I'm going with.

And if you want to go with this stupid role that they've decided with Carmen, like, that's what you, like, see if Mitch can figure it out doing that.

And then maybe Mitch comes back, right?

Like, I'm not saying cast away Mitch.

Like, see if you can fix him.

But right now, Mitch Keller isn't one of your best five starting pitchers.

Like, you can't look at this pitching staff and say that.

I don't think you can.

And you're in a wild card hunt right now, whether you believe it or not, this team is in a wild card hunt.

Like, they are in this thing.

And you can't continue to just throw away one out of every five games with Mitch Keller because they're running out of time.

And right now, they're five games out of a playoff spot.

They've got to win some games.

And Mitch Keller is not putting them in the best position to do that.

I don't think you can argue that Mlodzinski's probably a better starting pitcher than Mitch Keller right now.

But that's really not saying anything because Mitch Keller has been that bad.

At the same time, if Carmen Mlodzinski weren't being...

DiNardo, what's he being?

A bitch.

You could go get another starting pitcher.

Let Carmen Mlodzinski thrive in the role in the bullpen because we're talking about a guy that had a 430 ERA as a starter.

It's not like he set the world on fire.

They had to use an opener for him.

He didn't go deep in games.

He's not a good starter.

He's just better than Mitch Keller.

I'd rather just go get a real starter here.

And then maybe Carmen Mlodzinski not be a...

Bitch.

And you can use a man like a real reliever.

Loser.

You're all a bunch of losers.

Correct.

Now, I'm with Tyler.

I'm with Tyler.

Well, I'll say this.

I'm with both of you.

as of today, you don't have that starter that you traded for.

So, given the options at your hand, like, I would much rather this point...

Because of the way that you're using Carmen.

Like, yeah.

Let Mitch pitch in the 10-2 ballgame.

And have Carmen start today.

Because, like, I know what you're saying, Tyler.

I don't disagree.

He had to have an opener.

It was a low-4 ERA.

Still a 4-plus ERA.

Like, it's not like he was out there just shoving.

But...

Does this team win today?

With Carmen starting?

you can disagree.

Because, obviously, Dennis Santana gave up those.

But, like, does Dennis Santana pitch?

Because maybe Carmen goes 5 and not Mitch going 3.

like, there's different scenarios.

It's all...

What if...

You know?

But...

Do they win any of the past games that Mitch Keller pitched?

You know?

Like, he does give them a better chance when he starts than Mitch does.

Like, I'd rather have a guy who has a 4...

What'd you say it was?

Was it a 4-3 as a starter?

Mlodzinski?

Also, make sure you're not doing starters.

There's the games that he had to open or that he pitched in...

Yeah, I think it was, like, a 3.8 ERA.

Hold on.

I can find what it was before he just...

Well, find it when you do.

But I want to say, Mitch Keller's past 10 starts, he had a 6.75 ERA.

So, Jim, did you find it yet?

Hold on.

Okay.

I don't know if you said it.

Again, like, the point I'm making, the past 10 starts, he had a 6.75 ERA.

If you're giving this team, the opponent, 6 and 3-4 runs in 5 innings, because that's how many Mitch goes these days, this offense has a lot of work to do.

If you're giving them...

Do you have it now?

Yeah.

In his 11 games before going to the bullpen, Carmen had a 3.76 ERA.

That's half the runs.

So, again, like, that's where I'm at.

He gives them a better chance.

I know he's not letting the world on fire, but when Carmen Bajinci starts, this team won more than they lost.

When Mitch Keller starts, this team is losing more than they win.

Good God.

He was that much better with an opener.

Like, half a run different.

Yeah, he was.

With an opener, he was really good.

Yeah.

But, again, he's not a starter.

He's a reliever.

But, like, lengthwise, too.

Like, you look at his last...

You look at Mlodzinski's last five appearances before going to the bullpen.

Five innings, six innings, five and two-thirds.

Carmen Bajinci never pitched less than three and two-thirds innings.

That was his worst.

Carmen Bajinci never had a start like today.

Mitch Keller's last ten games, 50.2 innings.

Again, he's essentially averaging five innings.

That's what Carmen was doing.

Carmen was 55 innings in 11 games.

It was exactly five per game.

Mitch Keller never whined like a bitch.

Correct.

Mitch Keller is the person.

Love the dude.

That's also what makes this tough.

Like, Mitch is just such a good dude.

That's why, like, I want to see him get right.

Like, I'm not saying DFA Mitch Keller.

But right now, he's not one of your best five.

And you know what?

If that means going out and getting a starting pitcher, sure.

Go ahead.

Do that.

I'm cool with that.

I'm very cool with that.

You want to go out there and get Foster Griffin right now?

Do it.

Dude, they need to be Thanos.

They need to start collecting them all.

But, yeah.

right now, he's not one of your best five.

So, I would not continue to put him out there.

I would swap these two until you get a starter.

Maybe, PGH 2, 4, 6, 9.

you try an opener.

But it's not even like that's...

I don't think the issue is necessarily...

Like, going deep, facing people a third time.

It's just he's getting shelled.

It doesn't matter what inning it is.

It's the first, second.

He's just getting shelled.

Yeah.

Whereas, Carmen in opener makes sense.

Because, like, he struggles that third time through.

Mitch is just struggling from the get-go.

He is.

And I don't know if there's a fix for it.

I don't.

Like, he just looks depleted.

At least, there's...

It doesn't look like there's a fix this year.

Could he have a good offseason, add some velo back?

I could see that.

This year, I don't know if there's a fix to it.

Yeah.

Like, it's not, like, a simple fix.

Again, like, if he's...

I don't know.

If by September he's pitching, like, excellent, like, sure.

But there's layers to this.

It's not where before is, like, just stop throwing the cutter.

like, there's not just a, just do this.

Everything looks bad.

Where it stems from, I don't know.