DK’s Daily Shot of Pirates: The Holderman context

13 comments

1. It'll be extremely hard for this team to make the postseason giving away a 4-0 lead. Beeks should've been in the game for lefty on lefty.

2. I'm thinking they take 2/3 from San Diego, maybe even sweep them. Went 5-1 last year against them.

3. Look for me whether or not Holderman threw a perfect pitch and it was a better HR is irrelevant. He has been terrible for well over a month now and should have already been told by Shelton he would be used for the time being in lower leverage situations. His era since his struggles began I believe is over 8.00. He has been scored upon in his last bunch of outings including giving up 4 HR's in his past 4 appearances. Sorry but the guy should have never even been brought out in a meaningful close game like this.

4. The only player in a Pirates' uniform that knew how to put down a bunt in recent history went to the Padres and is now banned for life at the MLB level. Why Shelton insists on this beats the heck out of me. Just when we begin to acknowledge the skipper's capacity to rightfully navigate the ship (he did some exceptionally good managing during the last road trip), he throws himself back into a hole. Same goes for Cruz. He had to at least bat one sac fly during those two at bats with a runner on third with just an out. Speaking of Cruz, I don't think De la Cruz should get a start every game. Only outfielder that deserves that is Reynolds.

5. Shelton is a hodgepodge of knuckleheadedness.

6. This weekend shows once again that Da'wreck Shelton can't win no matter how much talent you put around him!!
   We will soon be passed by SF and The Cubs….no playoffs! The fans should only be buying tickets to chant for Da'wreck's removal!!

7. Losing by 1 run in 3 out of 4 games while giving up the lead in the 6th inning or later in all 3 games. It's blatantly obvious what the problem is: the bullpen, specifically Holderman. He has all 3 of those losses to his record

8. This episode COMPLETELY misses the point. Today's "Daily Shot" instead should have addressed (and also been named) "The Shelton Context" and how many games he's personally and directly been responsible for losing this season.

   Derek Shelton has a low baseball IQ, his in-game decision-making is atrocious, and he often doesn't put his players in the best position to succeed in critical moments. His defensiveness and deflection in post-game interviews are also appalling.

   Who's blaming Holderman? Many of us are blaming Shelton for using Holderman in high-leverage situations when he's clearly been struggling. The icing on the cake (a flavor that really pisses me off) is that Shelton keeps blaming Holderman both publicly and defensively for "not executing" and "not finishing."

   Take a good long look in the mirror, Shelton. Fans of contending teams are blaming you for yesterday's loss publicly and intelligently on their own fan sites. They feel sorry for the Pirate players, and the writing on the wall is getting much larger. Every player on this team would play better and more consistently under a different, COMPETENT manager. Everyone.

   I also completely disagree with DK about his assessment of "small ball" in the current MLB environment, and the decreasing ability of players to move runners over in general throughout professional baseball. The Diamondbacks do it. The Brewers do it. And yes, even the Pirates have done it– remember the game when Rowdy hit 3 sac flies to generate RBIs? The difference is, other teams do it intelligently and pick their spots accordingly. That's a level of managerial competence that this Pirates team utterly lacks.

   It's particularly upsetting to watch the ways in which Paul Skenes-pitched games are ultimately being lost.

9. I don’t disagree with the pitch being good but the hit was better. But you can prevent walking guys. And Chapman threw a great pitch, but in 0-2 count you can’t be pitching the ball in the zone

10. Morning DK! Yes, we could use more timely hitting but how many times has Shelton’s awful managing has cost them games?
    That bunt was inexcusable!!!!

11. Oneil Cruz wasn't great yesterday either.

12. Holderman pitch well.. umps killed it tho . Had me yelling at the tv !!!😂……

13. I've been against the robotic umpiring behind the dish but I'll tell yeah the umps have been horrendous, therefore I'm starting to change my mind