Who Actually Knows Ball? Grading Our 2026 Pirates Predictions

yo welcome to the north shore nine podcast presented by fan duel this is ns nine live and i'm your host anthony dinardo with me we got jim we got tai what's up fellas how's it going

first non like baseball podcast in a while Well, non-in-season podcast, I guess.

Yeah, it's still baseball, but...

I was going to say, what are we doing?

But yeah, first NSN Live of the off-season.

I guess we can word it that way.

No, I like my word more.

This is always one of my favorite shows.

Always one of my favorites.

I didn't know it was coming off that quick.

Let's put it this way.

Jim has an obligation to be here, Tyler, but we don't have an obligation to keep him on the show, right?

We can kick him off.

I was thinking today, unfortunately, there's a really good chance there's no baseball next year.

So naturally, I feel like whoever wins this is the cause of no baseball next year.

So however this thing shakes out, it's their fault.

Blame that guy.

However, it shakes.

I don't know how it's going to go.

We'll see.

We'll see how it works.

Yeah.

No, I'm excited for the show.

I'm excited.

This is we look back at our we look back at our predictions that we made at the beginning of the year.

And yeah, we talk about how they turned out, who was right.

And, more often than not, I'm right.

You guys are wrong.

So, yeah, it makes for a super fun show.

Didn't I win last year?

That was the first time you've ever won.

That was the first time anyone except me has ever won was last year.

Yeah.

So, DiNardo is winless.

DiNardo is winless.

That's like fantasy football all over again.

You have one win, and then I have every other win.

Yeah.

Well.

Check that.

Yeah, this is fun.

I love doing this before the season I'll say that I don't tend to love it after the season but it's nice to go back and reflect still because It I think it's fun to get back into your thought process and like this year is

going to be one of those years too because The pirates ultimately ended about where we thought they were going to end at but in a much different way So it'd be fun entertained again go back where the thought process was back then to talk about how the season played out but

should we just dive into this?

Is there anything you want to talk about beforehand?

Let's dive in.

Jim's like, yes, I want to gloat.

Loser.

All right.

So I do have all of the over and unders with the answers.

So I guess it starts off.

So, of course, we just went around the room.

Jim had the first question.

This is the first one, too.

My God.

Jim asked.

Oh, here's the thing, too.

Jim didn't win it.

He asked the question.

Yeah.

So, like, who cares?

Jim asked over and under on Brandon Lowe, twenty four and a half home runs.

So I had to answer.

Tyler had to answer.

We both picked the under.

Fellas, he hit maybe just a smidgen above that.

Yeah, thirty five homer season for Brandon Lowe.

You guys were way off.

So, yeah, that's I think the big thing with Brandon Lowe this year was just the ability to stay healthy the entire season.

he really hadn't been able to do that very much throughout his career.

You look at the seasons where he played more than one hundred and ten games, thirty nine homers, thirty one homers and now thirty five homers.

the years he played less than a hundred and ten, twenty one, twenty one, eight, fourteen, seventeen, six.

So it's that's the mark there, right?

Like if he's if he can give you more than a hundred and ten games, he's going to he's going to clear that number.

If he's going to if he's going to be hurt for an extended period of time, he's not going to get there.

But yeah, he was he was healthy all year this year.

Four point nine F war.

It was his best year of his career.

What a season.

Yeah, it was.

And I think me and DiNardo were on the same page.

We didn't really think that Brandon Lowe would stay healthy enough for that number.

But he had this in the bag by May.

He had eight March and April, and we looked really dumb right off the bat.

He had two in the first game.

Yeah.

But, you see that.

I went in this one.

You say it's in the bag, but again, he could have got injured in June and been out for two months.

He could have had the Oneil Cruz season and no one would have blinked an eye, batted an eye.

No one would have thought of it differently.

Again, that's why we had a buffering for the injuries.

If we knew he was going to play for the entire season, I'd probably have taken the over.

Because if I remember correctly, too, we talked and it's like, that's a really good number.

But maybe twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, there's going to be an injury here and there.

Yeah.

No injury.

He was at twenty by the end of June.

He had a little bit of a lull there.

He did.

Zero points for either of you.

Zero points.

I should get a point for asking a question.

No, Jim.

That's not how it works.

We should get a point because I asked a question.

All right.

So I'm up.

I asked the next question and mine was Oneil Cruz over and under twenty four and a half home runs and twenty four and a half stolen bases.

So both had to be hit.

Fellas.

He was the one that was injured.

If he was healthy, he's crushing this.

But he, of course, was on the sixty-day IL.

He missed quite a few games, didn't reach a hundred.

He had a twenty thirty season.

so like good season all in all.

And again, if he would have played even if he hit maybe just a thirty day, I also have a six days probably hitting this.

But I'll be it.

He was injured.

It counts.

And Tyler, Jim, you both took the over.

I'm counting this as a win.

I should get some points because I asked the question.

Yeah, no points for that.

You don't get points just because you won because of an injury.

Get out of here.

Yeah.

No, but you're right.

Yeah, go ahead, Tyler.

No, in all reality, we should get a point here.

It says, did we no ball or not?

We did.

We were on the right track.

He just only played ninety seven games.

It's not our fault.

He got hurt.

Well, Tyler, we should get it, too, because if we allow it to miss the amount of games he should have missed, then we were getting the under on the home runs.

Yeah.

So, yeah.

Yeah.

So nobody gets points.

All right.

So everybody's so far through two questions.

No one knows anything.

No, I am to know.

I should have been right both times.

And you know what?

If Ben Cherington gets a comeback because guys got hurt, then I get wins because guys got hurt.

Nate's saying raise it.

Nate's getting his hashtags and he wants sandwiches.

So far, the way the show's going, like, why not?

I am a little, obviously that injury was rough, on the team, but yeah, I had, I went on FanDuel.

That was my, that was my, like my, one of my bigger futures bets this year was over twenty one and a half homers.

Oh, that's right.

That really stings for you.

Yeah.

Cause he was right there too.

he would he would have crushed it right like he i think he had fifteen when he got hurt you know and then probably you know even when he came back off the il he was still hitting homers just ran out of time you know what i blame ben Cherington

agreed for keeping him on the il too long this is also stupid because dinardo picked a stupid question it should have just been over under like forty nine and a half stolen bases plus home runs i agree well i did that last year actually

So I made it a little more intriguing this year.

No, this is on you.

Because I did combine them.

I think it was combined.

Maybe it was four.

I think it may have been thirty nine and a half last year.

Or maybe it was forty nine and a half.

So this year I made it more specific.

He had to hit both.

Yeah.

DiNardo and Ben Cherington both take the blame.

Yeah, it's those two.

Those two fault.

Can't help it.

The players.

Couldn't perform.

Anyways.

All right, so next question.

This is Tyler's, of course.

Tyler giving it to Jim and myself.

Tyler's question was, Jake Mangum, total hits.

Tyler gave us a one fifteen and a half total hits.

And also, Tyler, that was a really good number because Jake Mangum had a hundred and twenty hits.

And of course, that was also because, Oneil Cruz got injured and he had all that playing time.

So like once again, Oneil Cruz is hurting you here for his injury.

But We both took the under.

I didn't think he was going to get the plate appearances.

I gave up.

All right.

So far, this isn't looking good, guys.

Every single one is because of an injury or lack of injury.

Like an injury was involved.

These are all injury related.

But yeah, I didn't think Jake Mangum was going to get four hundred and seventy nine plate appearances this year.

And I remember saying that like when this number came up, it was I was like, I don't know if he's going to get the playing time to get that many hits.

I was like, I think he'll be a solid contributor.

Good fourth outfielder.

But one hundred and twenty hits is a lot.

one hundred and fifteen hits is a lot.

And he ended up with one hundred and twenty back to back years with one hundred and twenty hits for Jake.

Yeah.

Should have said one twenty dollar.

That's three, for me, because you both got that wrong and I got the first two right, technically.

All right, we need to pick it up here a little bit.

Well, guess what, guys?

It's not going anywhere.

Do you want to even know?

Take a guess what the next one even is.

Paul Skenes's ERA.

Yeah.

Guess what, fellas?

All right, so back around the horn.

Jim's asking the next question.

Jim asks Paul Skenes's ERA.

two point two four five you both laughed at me he's had under a two era

every single year these two years this is the best pitcher on the planet now is he gonna have under two again probably not but like what two one two you know what tyler i'm taking the

under on that What did I take?

Oh, you took the under.

Okay.

I just wanted to confirm.

So far we are now over eight.

Yes.

We definitely do not know ball.

Definitely don't know ball at this point.

Yeah.

Three, eight, two ERA to end the year.

Obviously not the season.

pirates needed from Paul Skenes yeah that one was that one was rough i didn't think we were going to get another sub to era but i was at least expecting sub three that's

and that needed to happen but yeah that was yeah rough start rush start all of us so far so far not good yeah it's right i just missed this one i can't even i'm three in one

Well, we're going through these two.

You guys ready for the next one?

Yeah.

So last year, there was two players.

Keep that in mind as I set this question up.

There was two players last year.

So my question to you two was five and a half position players over a ninety nine and a half WRC plus.

Two players last year on the team was league average or better.

Two.

So by seven and five and a half, we finally have a difference here, guys.

Jim took the under.

Oh, no.

Tyler took the over.

Folks, there was nine this year in total.

So, we're on question, what, number five?

And we finally get one person on the board, and it's TyTy.

You know what?

When I end up winning this, whatever I said earlier... No.

If you do win, it's all your fault.

Well, I am four and one right now.

You've got one.

No, outstanding season by the offense.

No other way around it.

They performed, and a lot of people performed.

Outstanding prediction by me.

Yeah, five and a half.

I probably...

I want to get in your head now, Jim.

I missed there.

You're taking the under on that.

Are you sure that I took the under your mindset?

Did you, did you double check this?

Because I don't know about that.

I feel like this is the opposite of how it would have normally gone.

Cause Tyler's the one who's always super negative.

I'm the one who's always positive.

How was I the one who picked under and Tyler picked over?

Cause you're an idiot.

Yeah, that's definitely what happened.

He's the reigning champ.

How dare you question him?

I'm protesting the outcome.

I don't know if that's right.

I don't know.

Well, again, I what do you think was in your mind back then?

Like, if you thought it was going to be the under, who do you think was hitting and who?

Of course, who did hit?

Didn't you think it would?

Yeah, I think I would have picked over.

Oh, you didn't.

He is in you.

You all understand why we hate him so much, right?

Like you guys get it, right?

I know this is on video somewhere, but I do think we need to... Insufferable.

I think we might need to double check that.

No, I think he's right.

I get the point.

All right.

So next question.

This was a dumb one.

Tyler had some really...

Tyler had some really dumb questions.

This was a layup.

So Tyler says, okay, guys, Jared Jones is coming back from an injury.

What's his max velocity going to be?

I'm going to give you an over and under of ninety eight and a half.

That one sucked.

Tyler's over and under was Jared Jones at ninety eight and a half.

Now, do you guys remember when he came back?

Yeah.

About ish when.

end of may beginning of june yeah okay yeah five twenty nine may twenty ninth against josh bell he threw a one oh one point five for a fly out yeah

so i'm pretty sure i said over there yeah we both did i think and if i recall rather quickly wow yeah his average fastball velocity went up

It was ninety seven point four his rookie season in twenty twenty four and it got up to ninety eight point one this year.

Average really wanted to get you guys on the board here.

Well, now we're all tied with one.

Everybody's got six questions in six questions and we've gotten a total.

So I have twelve possible answers where we're three and nine.

Period.

I'll stop, fellas.

Let's keep it going here.

Keep it going.

All right.

Well, Jim asks, Bubba Chandler, top three in rookie of the year voting.

Now, here's a little bit of the caveat.

This isn't a done deal yet.

There is no answer technically.

However, I think we all can agree, and everyone who's listening can agree, he's not going to be in the top three this year.

No.

I think it's a safe bet.

He finished, let's see, in the National League alone seventh in war among rookie pitchers.

He's not finishing top three, especially once you add in Benge and Wetherholt and all those guys.

Yeah, all those guys.

Now, he did have a productive year.

There's things I like about it.

Not the year that I think a lot of people anticipated in the total sum of the season.

But anyways, yes.

So, I said I took the under that he would not.

Tyler took the over that he would.

So, if we're counting, that means we're now four of fourteen.

And I'm in the lead.

I think that's probably the last question you get right, though.

I don't know if you get another one right.

It might be.

But I'm stopping the count right now.

Oh, technical difficulties, fellas.

Yeah.

Just for the record, I have the transcript from our predictions.

Oh, okay.

What did Jim say?

Jim said...

Is it my turn?

I'm going under.

I'm going under.

I think five is about like as good as they can do right now, and that's assuming first base, second base, and all the outfield positions.

No DH?

Yeah, well, there's that.

You went under.

confidently you jumped right in and said under hold on hold on was what was the was the question how many positions finish above one hundred or was

it how many players I feel like it was position groups to be honest with you because if it's position groups you know what yeah I do think it was position

groups Because then we got to redo this a little bit.

I think you're right, too.

The way this is worded, I think you're right.

It might be positions.

Because what that means is...

Jim won and Tyler lost.

No, I don't think that's true.

All right.

Hold on.

Let's see here.

So if we go team stats...

Let's just go pirates.

Catchers was a yes.

Okay.

So we got one ace.

No.

Second base.

Yes.

Shortstop.

No.

Third base.

No.

Ninety nine.

Right field.

One twenty two.

Yes.

Center field.

One seventeen.

Yes.

Left field.

Ninety four.

DH.

I don't feel like that's accurate.

Oh, let's go.

Now Tyler has a transcript.

Was it players?

Was it players or was it position groups?

I think it was players now.

I think it was positions actually.

I think it was position groups.

So take Tyler's point off the board.

I'm appealing that we got to look back at that.

That's going to replay.

That gives me two now.

Two.

Gives Tyler zero.

Zero.

Two, zero is what it is.

Sorry, TyTy.

No, we got to go back.

I think it was positions.

We'll confirm that.

How about this?

Let's cut to a break.

Okay.

As I'm doing that, maybe Tyler can confirm it with the transcript.

Or we'll have Jim also review the transcript because, you know.

Don't want Tyler cheating here.

So let's go ahead and do that.

But, of course, I wanted to bring this up real quick because this is really cool.

You guys keep looking, too.

Reese says he met Mitch Keller yesterday pumping gas at his Sheetz.

That's cool.

All right, Reese.

Which hand?

Which shoulder?

Both shoulders looking good?

He did say that he's looking better now.

He feels good.

Who?

Mitch or Reese said that?

Mitch.

Mitch said that.

The question was, how many positions this year will hold above a ninety nine and a half?

Tyler, you got zero points.

Jim's got two.

So Jim and I are tied.

There we go.

I don't know.

I think we need to look at the research.

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Tyler's got zero points.

Just want to reiterate that.

I don't think that's true, because the weighted runs created plus could change at some point.

Not after the season's over.

Not after the season's over.

No, it could.

And we finished at four, right?

Yeah.

So even if third base is the one where it was ninety-nine.

So even if third base bumps... No, they'll figure it out.

Zero, two and two.

All right, so we did Bubba's rookie of the year, right?

Okay, so next question.

So I asked this one.

So my question to you was Braxton Ashcraft.

Was his ERA going to be over or under Bubba Chandler's?

More or less, who is going to be the better pitcher, right?

Bubba or Braxton?

Because we had that dialogue early on in the year.

And, folks, Braxton Ashcraft had a three point six five ERA.

Outstanding stuff.

And as I think I know Tyler and I said this on a postgame, but it's like his season was so good that three point six five almost makes it sound as like that's doing a disservice for him.

Like he had a better he had a better season like that year shows.

Bubba, on the other hand, had a four point six.

So clearly he was under.

And folks, get Tyler on the board.

You both took the under, so you both nailed it.

Cash it.

To go back to that, Ashcraft's ERA probably seems higher than it should be because he had a couple blowups there.

He went through a stretch in the middle of the year where he blew up a couple times.

Going into the year, I think we were all very high on Braxton Ashcraft.

It doesn't surprise me that we felt that way back then.

Yeah, it just makes me question why the hell I had Bubba in the top three rookie of the year.

But I think I was just trying to be different at that point.

Well, hey, you're on the board.

So I've got three now.

DiNardo's got two.

Tyler's got one.

I should have like five.

You should, but you don't.

Remember what I said before the show?

Just like the Pirates should be in the playoffs, but they're not.

Yeah.

A lot of things should have happened.

But you have won, period, full stop.

Okay, so next question.

Guys, this is sad.

Like, this is sad for multiple reasons.

First off, the question being asked.

Second off, the answer to it.

And thirdly, both being absolutely correct on it.

Tyler asks, Henry Davis's batting average.

And he sets it at point two one nine five.

And you both took the, or should I say we both took the under Jim and I, and the batting average was one seven two, like not even close, not even remotely close.

Hey, an improvement though, for Henry Davis, he went from one sixty seven to one seventy two.

Also, weighted runs created plus for Henry Davis.

It went from thirty to forty to sixty two.

Right.

So you're sensing a pattern, right?

It's like doubling every year.

So that means next year you're going to be looking at thirty to forty to sixty two is not doubling every year.

It went up by ten.

Then it went up by twenty.

Next year it's going to go up by forty.

And so he's going to be a league average hitter next year just based off of patterns.

just how science works to go back to our earlier conversation how did the catcher position have a one oh two weighted runs created plus with henry davis taking up ninety seven of those games because

flores and endy were awesome well i was gonna say it's also because he only had ninety seven of those games

And it's not like he and like this was his best year as a this was his best season since his rookie year.

Like it wasn't it wasn't a forty.

Right.

It was a forty.

It was a sixty two.

So he didn't he didn't bring down the numbers as much as he has been.

He was only thirty eight percent below average this year.

Yeah.

he put them on life support, but he didn't kill them this year.

He and the other guys like it wasn't for the first time in his career.

Like last year was Joey Bart's, which was fine.

But like, yeah, like Endy was productive.

Rafael Flores was productive.

they brought that way up.

And then again, you talk about the catcher position.

It's this week everywhere, too.

So.

Yeah.

So another point for me and DiNardo, so we expand our lead against Tyler.

So that puts us at what?

One, three, and four.

One, three, and four.

All right.

We're like doubling every time.

Nick asks worst catcher offense in the league.

And we're not even close.

Not even close.

We're in the top half.

The Pittsburgh Pirates were ninth in offense at the catcher position this year.

Does he mean the position or the player though?

Let's go back to our owner.

even if it's a player, it's Yeah, even if it's player still not even close.

Carlos Narvaez had a thirty three weighted runs created plus drew Romo fifty one.

OK, so he's the third worst out of people with over two hundred not even close.

But numbers wise, he was twice as good as Carlos Narvaez.

He was significantly better than Ke'Bryan Hayes this year.

Yeah, he was like six times better than Ke'Bryan Hayes.

Yeah.

Ke'Bryan Hayes is bad.

He's really bad.

We don't have to talk about that anymore.

No, we don't.

All right.

So we talked, and so that was Tyler's question, Henry Davis, right?

So now Jim asks a question, and Jim, we're going to go back to, remember this mindset about Tyler.

Keep in mind, Tyler, Mr. Negative.

Jim asks, Konnor Griffin's MLB debut.

May first.

May first.

I took the under because I know ball.

Put me on the north of four.

Tyler took the over.

And if I recall, was Tyler even saying like June?

Tyler was saying June.

I was waiting on Super Two.

Okay.

So Tyler's still at one.

Four.

Okay.

All right.

It's a ball game.

Well, for two of us.

For two of us.

Yeah.

It's like it's Endy, Rafael, and there's look at Henry Davis sitting over there.

I don't expect the Pirates to do good things.

So when they do, I'm happy.

He was up here on April third.

So I was happy.

Thank you.

Good job.

Three days into the month of April, he was playing a baseball game for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Sure was.

Thank you.

I'm happy.

I don't expect it.

This is the key to my positive attitude.

Expect the worst.

All right.

Well.

So then it was my turn to ask a question.

And I've actually asked this question, I feel, well, I asked it last year.

So I brought it back again this year because I think all of you missed it last year.

So Dennis Santana, his whip.

Dennis Santana, Mr. Dope.

One of the best leaders in baseball since he's come over to the Pirates.

Dennis Santana's whip.

.

.

.

Now I'll say this, and I remember the dialogue.

It's almost like the Skenes thing to be that low.

Like it could happen, but I'm going to take the over.

You both took the over.

If you recall what you guys said, here's your floor, but you do, but you both took the over.

So Tyler's at two gyms at five all about four.

Oh, and by the way, his whip and member two, these are always all with the pirates.

His whip as a Pittsburgh pirate was one five, one.

Yeah.

point nine as a pirate, he had point nine, two point eight, seven going into this year.

So, it's a reasonable number if you expected him to continue that.

I think the thing was like, no matter how good Dennis Santana could be, it's tough to have a whip under one.

It's really hard.

And so, yeah, I just I just went over one because I was not expecting Dennis Santana have a one point five one whip.

But, one point two would have been just fine.

Dennis, you could just stop there.

But he didn't, unfortunately.

Definitely expected better.

But he almost hit that number with Arizona.

It was a one two.

He was one two.

Yeah.

With Arizona.

I feel like he was there.

And then did he have a blow up outing late in the year?

And I think his last game he blew up.

Yeah, he gave up two runs in the last outing.

But yeah, unfortunately, old Danny just didn't hold up.

Probably cost this team a couple games in a playoff spot.

Doug, so sad.

You wonder how the season would have gone had Dennis Santana just been his normal self.

At the end of the day, a relief pitcher is a reliever.

They pitch one inning every few days.

But...

can't be as bad as he was if he would have just been a dude who had an era in the fours right i think we could have you know at least forgiven that for a little bit but

Yeah, he did not have it at all this year.

It was rough.

And it was like from the beginning too.

Well, the first week was actually good.

He was getting out, but it was like – Well, yeah.

You could see where, man, they're hitting the ball hard.

He's not getting swings and misses.

He just didn't have it this year.

And there was at some point – I'm going just off of memory because I remember tweeting it out, but I think it was forty-two batters in a row he went without a strikeout.

yeah it was bad yep yeah so you guys get a point though so congratulations for not believing in Dennis Santana speaking of believing in relievers

though what's next All right.

No, for real though.

This is going to be a good one because yes, Jim, you're excited about this.

I'm also excited about this.

Tyler, Gregory Soto, ERA.

Tyler gave a three, seven, nine.

And we know Tyler hates.

You gave a three, seven.

This was your question.

No, this is Tyler's question.

This was me.

Okay.

All right.

Okay.

So Tyler gave a three, seven, nine ERA.

Now Tyler, Gregory Soto, three point six three ERA.

Did you hear that, Tyler?

Three point six three ERA.

Gregory Soto.

Best season since twenty twenty two.

.

Means he's been pretty terrible.

Jim did take the under.

So Jim gets a point.

So Jim's at.

Six two four six.

I did take the over.

I did take the over on Soto.

And if I recall, and Tyler has the transcripts, so go to the tape.

If I recall though, I was like, again, like, I don't know.

That's such a good number, but I could see him being close to four, but still being like a productive because like he's been prone to the blow up.

Like I think if we talked about this too, even with signing, it's like the RA is never pretty, but he actually is a very productive reliever.

And I could see this year, like the ERA being close around four, but I still am going to take Gregory Soto.

And that's about what he did.

He actually was even better anticipated.

But we saw the blowups.

A lot of people remember those blowups.

A lot do.

And that's why they don't even think about how good he actually was.

And like Tyler, he actually was pretty good.

But I did take the over.

His second to last outing.

I think Don Kelly was conspiring with Jim because he was going to blow up.

And this would have been an easy over.

But he brought in Luke Weaver with two outs.

And he wasn't charged any runs.

Conspiracy.

So he used Eisert to get him out of the way so he couldn't have Eisert ruin this for you.

That's what it was.

Yeah.

No, I want to go back to this because I feel like Gregory Soto is someone who just gets a lot of unwarranted hate this year.

And he had a really bad June.

Really bad June.

like that first half of the year where no one was doing anything in the bullpen like he was it he was the only person and he was used a ton and

he was super effective march and april a one point eight four era may a two point zero eight era And then again, June didn't pitch a lot, but again, wasn't good.

He had a thirteen and a half era in June like that.

That's when he went through a rough stretch.

But then he rebounded like July one point seven four August one point three two.

He had four months this year where he posted eras below two point zero eight.

And this was a bullpen that was just in shambles from the get go.

And it was him and Yohan, if you remember, at the beginning of the year.

It was like those two were the only people who could get outs somewhat consistently.

And they went to them a ton.

And maybe that's what led to that June being a little down.

He was used a lot those first couple of months.

But overall, it was a really good year for Gregory Soto.

Tyler, I don't know what it is, but he was...

He was good.

He was good.

And you know what?

I am all for bringing Gregory Soto back.

Bring him back.

They need a lefty reliever to go along with Montgomery.

I don't know how much better you're going to do than this guy.

He's a good, solid left-handed reliever, especially if you're asking him to just give you an inning, give you an inning here and there in the seventh, eighth inning.

I think he was used a lot this year.

forty innings in the first half of the year.

Forty innings.

But he was really good early.

Yeah.

I do have to admit that.

He was really good in April and May.

He's just so damn painful for me to watch.

I hate watching this guy pitch.

It's three and O on everybody.

For my own sanity, I don't want to watch him throw anymore in a Pirates uniform.

I will give you that.

But Yohan...

Dub him the nickname of the experience.

And that's why, Yohan, that's gotta be way more frustrating.

Cause okay.

You say three Oh, and Nick, that happens.

But Yohan, like he loads the bases.

I feel like every time he's out there, but he gets them out.

I enjoyed watching him either.

I know, but that's what I'm alluding to.

Like the most, honestly, like the, probably to outside of Mason Montgomery, although, yeah, you could probably, man, Mason Montgomery wasn't that way early on the season.

most consistent relievers probably was gregory soto and Yohan ramirez again they had their bumps but most you know when you look at month by month and stuff like they had more good months than those bad ones and Yohan i think part

of that too but yeah they are the most frustrating relievers but honestly like they got the job done and it never is pretty with soto but again like track record proves itself now that's just the guy that he is

stuff's still there too like it's not as if like it's not like dennis santana that first early on where like the outs the numbers were okay but like Soto is still striking guys out the walk rate's not terrible it's not great but it's not

terrible you know but like he's a good pitcher this over and under apparently turned into a platform for jim pining for Gregory Soto to return but like i'm also good with that like i would not

be opposed to having him come back I just don't know what he's going to cost and what it's going to come down to and stuff.

And, they do have a really good lefty in Mason Montgomery now who is the closer, but he's the closer.

you probably want another lefty in that bullpen.

So I would bring him back.

I would not be opposed to it.

Tyler says no.

For cheaper, I'd bring him back.

I'm not paying him eight million.

Just some numbers to back things up.

Left-handed relievers in the majors.

Soto was fourteenth in strikeout rate.

FIP, he was sixteenth.

Every team would love to have Gregory Soto on it.

That's where I'm at.

If you are a Major League Baseball team, Gregory Soto would have made you better this year.

I don't know if they're going to be able to bring them back at seven.

What was it?

Seven.

Did you get, was he seven and a half this year?

Yeah.

I'd be all for, if you can run that back, do it.

I'd even be open to doing like a two year, a million dollar deal.

Like give them a second year.

Yeah.

I guess that's, so that's where I'm like in between you guys.

Again, if they bring them back, I'm not worrying.

I'm not carrying on about anything.

I just wonder that price point with what they got going on, if it just makes sense for them to maybe try to pull another Mason Montgomery out of that.

Sure.

There's not a lot of those, though.

I know.

I know.

But their bullpen is on a lot more solid ground this upcoming year.

so though like last year it made sense to try to get someone who's like a veteran with some closing experience in case dennis santana doesn't which he didn't work out this year i think i think we all feel a lot more comfortable

with mason montgomery being that person but also if not you do have weaver so like you also have that if doesn't work you have a fallback option so that's why i would love soto back but i could definitely see like at

that price point with what they got to do maybe going a cheaper route, which Tyler, you say this time and time again, that's where you make your money as a GM.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think they need to find a little bit of buried treasure there, but we'll have plenty of time to talk about all that.

Yeah.

All right.

So point for me.

So was it two, four and six now?

is Tyler to Tyler's it to like seven, you have four and I have six.

Yeah.

Oh, righty.

So Jim asks the stupidest question I've ever laid eyes on Jim's question is

box team balks because anyone gives a shit about that what's the over and under going to be on the Pirates in balks

this year guys and he sets it at four and a half and if i remember correctly was it at four last year let's see last year the pirates was below

this Last year, the Pirates had two.

Oh, okay.

But again, I do recall it being less.

Yeah, it was less last year.

They had two.

Well, they had seven this year.

And Jim was letting us know every time the Pirates had a balk.

A balk.

I've never seen someone get so excited in a group chat to tell everyone the Pirates had a balk.

I think Mitch Keller had the first one, and it was like the second or third game.

Or maybe it was the home opener.

It was early.

It was the Mets series.

It was the Mets series.

Maybe it wasn't Keller, but there was an early balk.

And it was like, count it.

Okay, maybe it wasn't the Mets series.

It could have been Cincinnati.

But yeah, I do remember it was definitely the first week because there was one right away.

Because, again, I do not forget Jim gloating about that balk and how early it was.

Just like Brandon Lowe's two home runs in the first game when he was getting on everybody.

Again, do you guys not understand when we talk about Jim?

Yeah, Tyler and I both took the under.

We took the under.

You both took the under, yeah.

It ended up being well over at seven.

The Pirates actually were tied for fifth most in the majors in balks this year.

Is Jim Olytics having a whole segment on balks?

Two of those balks were pitching out of the windup with a runner on third.

Ashcraft was two of them.

Yeah.

And Jones, I think, had another one.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, Ashcraft was pissed at both of those.

And so are we, Braxton.

Stop balking.

That's why your ERA is a three, six, five.

Ashcraft and Jones both had two.

Rigged.

It's rigged.

They should both been demoted to AAA.

They both did it on purpose.

You know who didn't balk?

Dennis Santana.

Gregory Soto.

No, he did.

Do you know that?

I think he did.

No, he did.

I haven't seen that.

He had a balk.

Damn it, Dennis.

know who else balked gregory soto there we go so everybody we've named has bought wait so soto and santana balked yeah damn all right all right well next

question no this was fun this is not stupid like box or stupid my question was don kelly ejections set at five and a half because hey guys donnie ball

And you saw what he did last year.

He's getting ejected right and left.

Is he going to be that same guy?

we have ABS involved.

So like, eh, you know what?

Maybe not.

There's not a whole lot to argue with this year.

And if I recall too, I think last year the leader was, I think it was, I forget who, but I think it was at six.

So I said at five and a half and fellas, guess what?

Donnie ball happened six times this year.

Six times.

And you know who said under?

I did.

Because I specifically mentioned that I think there would be less ejections because of the ABS.

Turns out, a lot of the ejections were umpires not giving ABS.

That ended up being a whole new thing that you could argue that I wasn't anticipating.

Yeah.

Yeah, it didn't really cut down on the ejections at all.

If anything, it just added to the fuel.

Yeah.

Because there were a couple where he was ejected because someone wasn't granted an ABS challenge, I think.

Jim could not predict that the umpires would be giant man-children.

Yeah, I should have.

I should have predicted that, huh?

Probably.

That's on me.

You didn't.

So you did take the under and Tyler took the over.

Sure did.

Tyler.

Sure did.

And I feel like he got ejected really early this year too.

Like there's a stretch.

He's getting tossed constantly.

There was like a week where he was tossed two or three times.

Yeah.

Yeah, that was great.

So three, four and six.

Yeah.

All right.

And guys, this is our last question.

Tyler asked it.

So unfortunately, neither of us can come back.

Jim does technically win this.

And actually, I don't even know the exact answer on this.

I think this one was an under.

I was going to ask if you can give me his email address, I can find it.

I don't remember what it was off the top of my head.

But Tyler asks, and of course, Tyler's the one asking this.

Tyler asks, does Ty's dad win two and a half sandwiches this year?

So all he had to do, he had to win twice.

He had to win twice.

I think it was two and a half wins.

No, sandwiches.

Not two and a half sandwiches.

I do have this listed as sandwiches.

Okay.

All right.

Okay.

So Vince, he had to win twice.

Okay.

Because I think he never won, right?

That was the thing.

Like Jim's dad won like twelve times last year.

No, my dad won.

all the time.

Ty's dad won like four times.

Oh, that's right.

Oh yeah.

No, Jim, that's right.

Your dad's the one that's never won until this year.

Yeah, that's right.

My dad was trying to get tips from Tyler's dad at tailgate.

Now it makes sense.

So because Tyler's dad was winning all the time, we had a two and a half.

So yeah, I guess I don't want to get an email address out there.

No, it was under.

You got shut out.

You got shut out.

Well, okay.

Well, I'll tell you what.

Jim and myself took the under.

If I recall, I think it was because of the law of averages type of thing.

Rigged.

Starving a family here.

Thanks, guys.

to be honest, now the season's over, I did rig it so I would win this.

And so did Jim when he was on.

So at least when Jim and I were on, we were absolutely rigging it that he couldn't win.

Just for our self-benefit.

So what's the final score?

Two, five, seven.

Who has seven?

Who ended up winning?

Oh, he took himself off.

All right, so we get a solo for the winner.

Yeah, this is, I think, the fifth year that we've done this.

And Tyler's won once.

And I've won now, I think, four of the five.

And we may have been doing this even longer than that, which means I've won five of six or six of seven, however far back we want to go.

But all I know is that I know way more ball than the two people who just ran away from the screen because they're so shamed of how bad they

did at this.

So it's a shame.

It is a shame.

But, at least one of us, at least one of us, knows what we're talking about on this show.

I hate him so much.

He left?

No, I kicked him.

Oh, okay.

I'm not going back on with him.

I don't want to be on this show.

Yeah, congrats, Jim.

You were the biggest loser because we all proved that we don't know ball.

So you're just the smartest of the idiots.

I feel like whoever got closest to the win total, though, should be worth like ten points.

Oh, do we want to bring that up, too?

Because that is how we end the show.

We do talk about the win totals.

Yes, we use that as a tiebreaker.

We do make sure that, hey, the tiebreaker is a win total.

There is no ties to break.

There aren't, but it would be nice to talk about this.

No, it's like we're only fifty-five minutes in.

Yeah, we can talk about it.

Yeah.

So the Pirates won eighty-two games this year.

They did.

Went eighty-two and eighty.

So the closest...

is tyler at eighty three one game off one game off so i think what that does is you should you get deducted one point right because you're a game off so you're at you're at one now unfortunately

so tyler's at one point i'd be at two thank you very much i got don kelly right too right but you're one off on the win total so your two goes to one and then i was at eighty four wins

so i unfortunately deducted two points so i go from five to three but jim mr gung ho jim mr just gotta believe

in henry davis he said eighty seven wins and he was off by five so that means jim actually goes from seven points to two it's not how it works i

think it is so technically i guess i guess i'm your champion so like so thank you fellas thank you everyone i appreciate it

what i'm gonna give a speech i'll let my work speak for itself he doesn't shut up does he No, he doesn't.

And it's actually sad.

It's quite sad that he's doing this mental gymnastics to try to give himself his first ever win.

The two on the screen right now, these are the two people who have ever won this competition.

Yeah, we have banners.

We've got flags fly forever.

Yeah.

DiNardo has no flags.

No, he's got that UCF banner.

Yeah, DiNardo's claiming the national championship.

Yeah, that's what that is.

Unbelievable.

I felt like I had a flag here somewhere.

I was going to wave it.

I don't have a flag anywhere.

That was fun, though.

It was fun.