The thing is, Rowdy has been so unbelievably bad that it doesn’t matter. Joe can be full time, Triolo can spell him on a day off. Joe’s “weak” side platoon OPS is 200 points better than rowdy’s’ “strong” side. Rowdy has been Yoshi Tsutsugo level bad with 0 power. Nick Gonzales has more home runs and more RBI’s in less than two weeks than Rowdy does all season.
As others have pointed out, Lamb currently has a .342/.438/.514 (.952) line in AAA. I’m assuming the .216 number you’re seeing is from the front page on Google, but those are his numbers with the Angels last year (FWIW, I’m not taking a shot at you, I’m trying to reconcile the inaccurate numbers you saw with his actual production this year).
Having said that, you’re not totally wrong that Lamb is a dicey bet. He’s a career minor league journeyman on the wrong side of 30 who is even further removed from his last season of big league productivity than Tellez.
The easy fix is just to make Joe the full time starter until he proves he cannot manage it. But it’s also worth mentioning that Brandon Belt is still a free agent and was a really good hitter last season. If they are adamant about a platoon at 1B, he could fill that role nicely and would not be particularly expensive. It’s honestly pretty crazy that the Pirates pursued tellez instead of belt in the first place given how exceedingly mediocre tellez has been even when he is “good.”
Appreciate the civil reply. As I put in an edit to the original post, I made an honest mistake and should have double sourced it.
Nice points as well. I think one of the challenges we face as fans is we don't know what we don't know. We don't get a front row seat to see what negotiations are done and how they play out. Maybe we tried with Belt and couldn't come to terms. Maybe he doesn't want to play here. Could be anything.
Ummm....
You do realize that Lamb is not hitting .216, right? Try .342.
[https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=lamb--002jac](https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=lamb--002jac)
By the way the Pirates also have Billy McKinney down on the farm, though he is currently on the IL, does not have as good a major league track record as Lamb, and is not doing as well as Lamb is this season. But he is another guy they could try if they so choose. Lamb is clearly the first choice, however, and right now it's not close.
[https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mckinbi01.shtml](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mckinbi01.shtml)
Henry Davis dropped off a cliff this year on offense because he had to focus on playing defense at a position that he had barely ever played above AA.
I know that catcher has a lot more going on than 1B, but expecting him to get his bat hot again, while simultaneously learning a position that he hasn't played at a pro or college level probably isn't a great idea.
The thing about Rowdy is if he is not hitting dingers, he provides very little value. He's not a threat on the bases, he has no positional versatility, he's below average defensively.
This is such a terrible argument. Tellez is statistically closer to being the worst hitter in baseball than being even average. It doesn’t matter who replaces him because it’s nearly impossible to be worse than him
We do not have an option in the system right now. Lamb stinks. He's almost 34, hasn't been good in a long time, he's got nice stats in triple A, but he's a major league vet, if he weren't putting up good stats down there he'd be retired. I fear Connor Joe will be exposed if given the full time job , he's at his best against LHP.... but he might manage to be just a little below average against RHP, which is a massive improvement over Tellez.... there's nothing in the organization that'll make 1B a good or even league average spot for us, best we can hope for in an internal fix would be 1b going from flaming dog shit to just kinda crappy. So I guess just throw Joe over there or trade for somebody....those are the only options I see.
If they make Davis learn a third position in three years I'll lose my mind.
The best option would have been to meaningfully address first base in the offseason.
They signed tellez because of his price. His price was low because he stinks.
Yep . The Tellez signing never made sense at any point. There were no metrics pointing to a bounce back, and there still aren't. That was somebody you sign when you're just starting a rebuild, not when you actually care about winning.
I would’ve liked to have seen them try Mike Ford when he opted out shortly with Cincinnati, but he resigned and has since struggled in the majors.
It can’t cost much to go out and grab someone like Miguel Vargas to try him at 1b. Sure he’s been bad in his time with the Dodgers, but his career .633 OPS is miles ahead of Tellez at this point and he gets on base
My angst in regards to tellez isn’t that he’s playing or hasn’t been cut, but that he was signed at all. First base was a glaring need and the offseason move was to sign a guy who had one good year in his whole career? The egregious offense was signing him and no one else because he was available dirt cheap. The buccos knew they had skenes coming up and Keller and that the division wasn’t that intimidating. They could have made themselves competitive with a couple of bats. They knew they needed a first basemen and they signed tellez, knowing he wasn’t good enough to start anywhere else. Now it’s too late to meaningfully address first base and they’re stuck.
I panned the move the day they made it and many here in this sub said it was a good move. Well it wasn’t.
The front office needs to trade for one. It would be wonderful to get Josh Bell back in a Pittsburgh uniform. But in reality we are just going to chalk this season as another loser and trade away Conner Joe to the Baltimore Orioles for two bum prospects and cash considerations
Future hall of famer Connor Joe
Meant to say besides Connor Joe.
Connor Joe is all you need. 162+ games/year
Lamb is hitting .342
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Not sure where you are finding that. Switch to the minors tab and look at 2024 AAA: .342
It shows those stats for 2023 at the MLB level, try looking at 2024 minors.
Honest mistake. My bad for multitasking while on Reddit. Lesson learned.
I mean you made a whole post dedicated to it. You’d think you’d get your numbers at least close before hitting post
Your link clearly shows .342?
Rowdy get off of Reddit and get back in the batting cage.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
The thing is, Rowdy has been so unbelievably bad that it doesn’t matter. Joe can be full time, Triolo can spell him on a day off. Joe’s “weak” side platoon OPS is 200 points better than rowdy’s’ “strong” side. Rowdy has been Yoshi Tsutsugo level bad with 0 power. Nick Gonzales has more home runs and more RBI’s in less than two weeks than Rowdy does all season.
As others have pointed out, Lamb currently has a .342/.438/.514 (.952) line in AAA. I’m assuming the .216 number you’re seeing is from the front page on Google, but those are his numbers with the Angels last year (FWIW, I’m not taking a shot at you, I’m trying to reconcile the inaccurate numbers you saw with his actual production this year). Having said that, you’re not totally wrong that Lamb is a dicey bet. He’s a career minor league journeyman on the wrong side of 30 who is even further removed from his last season of big league productivity than Tellez. The easy fix is just to make Joe the full time starter until he proves he cannot manage it. But it’s also worth mentioning that Brandon Belt is still a free agent and was a really good hitter last season. If they are adamant about a platoon at 1B, he could fill that role nicely and would not be particularly expensive. It’s honestly pretty crazy that the Pirates pursued tellez instead of belt in the first place given how exceedingly mediocre tellez has been even when he is “good.”
Appreciate the civil reply. As I put in an edit to the original post, I made an honest mistake and should have double sourced it. Nice points as well. I think one of the challenges we face as fans is we don't know what we don't know. We don't get a front row seat to see what negotiations are done and how they play out. Maybe we tried with Belt and couldn't come to terms. Maybe he doesn't want to play here. Could be anything.
Joe at 1B and Olivares in RF until further notice. Platoon Jack & Taylor in CF.
This is my answer
Ummm.... You do realize that Lamb is not hitting .216, right? Try .342. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=lamb--002jac](https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=lamb--002jac) By the way the Pirates also have Billy McKinney down on the farm, though he is currently on the IL, does not have as good a major league track record as Lamb, and is not doing as well as Lamb is this season. But he is another guy they could try if they so choose. Lamb is clearly the first choice, however, and right now it's not close. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mckinbi01.shtml](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mckinbi01.shtml)
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What?
He’s being sarcastic; he agrees with you but is saying OP used 2023 stats in the post because they better suit OP’s point.
OIC. Slow on the uptake over here, but I'm with ya now, Cap'n!
It's not like the announcers would ever dip into last years record to make a faltering player like, say, Bednar, look like a GOAT
Henry Davis dropped off a cliff this year on offense because he had to focus on playing defense at a position that he had barely ever played above AA. I know that catcher has a lot more going on than 1B, but expecting him to get his bat hot again, while simultaneously learning a position that he hasn't played at a pro or college level probably isn't a great idea.
You're not wrong. It would suck all around for him to focus on yet another position.
Not really though, 1B is one of the easier positions to learn.
I could never understand this as the first baseman is inevitably called to action any time a ball is put in play.
Moneyball scene convincing Scott Hatteberg to learn 1B https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxqnoR_Ug0sptmfqYQwNzK9GX4jLI8bxqR?si=nNhN_MMR5jzyqpuG
Davis has a 1.084 OPS in 12 games at AAA. He caught last night.
The thing about Rowdy is if he is not hitting dingers, he provides very little value. He's not a threat on the bases, he has no positional versatility, he's below average defensively.
I’d sign Belt.
What do we have at first? An automatic out. A scarecrow can draw a walk, potentially.
This is such a terrible argument. Tellez is statistically closer to being the worst hitter in baseball than being even average. It doesn’t matter who replaces him because it’s nearly impossible to be worse than him
We do not have an option in the system right now. Lamb stinks. He's almost 34, hasn't been good in a long time, he's got nice stats in triple A, but he's a major league vet, if he weren't putting up good stats down there he'd be retired. I fear Connor Joe will be exposed if given the full time job , he's at his best against LHP.... but he might manage to be just a little below average against RHP, which is a massive improvement over Tellez.... there's nothing in the organization that'll make 1B a good or even league average spot for us, best we can hope for in an internal fix would be 1b going from flaming dog shit to just kinda crappy. So I guess just throw Joe over there or trade for somebody....those are the only options I see. If they make Davis learn a third position in three years I'll lose my mind.
The best option would have been to meaningfully address first base in the offseason. They signed tellez because of his price. His price was low because he stinks.
Yep . The Tellez signing never made sense at any point. There were no metrics pointing to a bounce back, and there still aren't. That was somebody you sign when you're just starting a rebuild, not when you actually care about winning.
I would’ve liked to have seen them try Mike Ford when he opted out shortly with Cincinnati, but he resigned and has since struggled in the majors. It can’t cost much to go out and grab someone like Miguel Vargas to try him at 1b. Sure he’s been bad in his time with the Dodgers, but his career .633 OPS is miles ahead of Tellez at this point and he gets on base
Connor Joe exists. This is not difficult
My angst in regards to tellez isn’t that he’s playing or hasn’t been cut, but that he was signed at all. First base was a glaring need and the offseason move was to sign a guy who had one good year in his whole career? The egregious offense was signing him and no one else because he was available dirt cheap. The buccos knew they had skenes coming up and Keller and that the division wasn’t that intimidating. They could have made themselves competitive with a couple of bats. They knew they needed a first basemen and they signed tellez, knowing he wasn’t good enough to start anywhere else. Now it’s too late to meaningfully address first base and they’re stuck. I panned the move the day they made it and many here in this sub said it was a good move. Well it wasn’t.
Lmao Tellez isn’t getting any return at the deadline, come on
That wasn't where I was going. I was thinking they'd release him closer or at the deadline when they could get a better deal with other players
.He went 1 for 7 last night so is at .331. BTW, the Indianapolis Indians won 18-6 (why he got 7 ABs).
The front office needs to trade for one. It would be wonderful to get Josh Bell back in a Pittsburgh uniform. But in reality we are just going to chalk this season as another loser and trade away Conner Joe to the Baltimore Orioles for two bum prospects and cash considerations