In our daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates
.500 Again
The Pittsburgh Pirates completed the sweep of the Oakland Athletics yesterday, and the win put the team at .500 for the first time since June 16th.
Now at 41-41, the team can use the sweep as a springboard to the rest of their march towards a playoff spot.
With the top third of the National League a jumbled mess of good teams, the Pirates will now have to make some serious hay against the St. Louis Cardinals as they travel to the town with the arch for a four game set. For Pittsburgh to have any serious claim to October baseball, they will need to start beating the teams in front of them.
Liriano Is Uncooperative
Veteran reporter John Perrotto reported in Today’s Knuckleball how Francisco Liriano has been uncooperative in working with Ray Searage and the rest of the Pittsburgh Pirates coaches in getting back to his 2013-2015 form.
Please do yourself a favor and read the entire piece, but note this relevant section:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”#000000″ class=”” size=””]The normally mild-mannered Searage became so frustrated during one of the bullpen sessions that he got into Liriano’s face then stormed back to the clubhouse. It was reminiscent of the days when Liriano pitched for the Minnesota Twins from 2005-12 and continually frustrated manager Ron Gardenhire.[/perfectpullquote]Having observed Searage over the years, I can only imagine the level of frustration that would lead to a blowup in that manner.
Yesterday’s start was a small step towards the light for Liriano, as he kept the walks down, yet still did not get past five innings. With only three strikeouts on the day, Liriano’s best weapon is still not working, and his starts going forward are going to be a tightrope act more often than not.
The left-hander will need to be open to anything the Pittsburgh Pirates may want to try with his delivery, mechanics or pitch selection to regain his swing-and-miss stuff.
Yesterday’s Player Of The Game
After each game – win or lose – we put out a Twitter Poll to find out who you feel should take home ‘Player of the Game’ honors. Here now is yesterday’s results, for each game.
Who is your #Pirates Player Of The Game after today's win?
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) July 3, 2016
Keep an eye out for our POTG polls after each game on our twitter feed after each game, win or lose.
Baseball Talk on the Web
- Every week, MLB Trade Rumors highlights the best independent baseball talk on the web. Pirates Breakdown is honored to be featured, and we suggest that you check it out for some great content.
- Nick Swisher has announced that he will sit out the rest of 2016….but he’s not retiring. Ok then.
- FanGraphs reviews the implications of the Red Sox being banned from the International Signing Period for one year.
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