Today's Pirates Links

What I'm reading around the web

I have a personal policy that I don’t read what other writers publish. It’s easier for me to form an authentic baseline opinion on a topic by diving in on my own, before seeing who else is swimming in the pool.

Today is a day where I’m catching up on my reading. Here’s what has caught my eye on Tuesday afternoon.

• Noah Hiles at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette wrote about the Pirates’ expanded R&D department last month. Yesterday, I discussed the narrative that has been pushed about the Pirates expanding their baseball operations department. The R&D division is at the forefront of those expenses. This article not only details those expansions and their purpose, but it shows that the Pirates are playing catch-up in building a department that some of the best teams in the league already had. Their own R&D department is led by the hiring of Sarah Gelles from the Houston Astros in late 2023. Aside from banging trash cans in center field, there is a lot of value in replicating what the Astros have done so well.

• Paul Skenes is on the mound tonight for the Pirates. If you want a great look at his arsenal, check out this article by Mike Petriello at MLB.com, which breaks down his seven pitches, which could be expanding to eight. The standout for me is the split in velocity. Skenes has three pitches that sit 93+ MPH and four more with velocity at 88 MPH or slower. Each pitch in each range moves a different way. Most pitchers have a velocity split, but one type of movement in each velocity range. Hitters going up against Skenes not only have to guess between fast and slow, but they also have to guess between multiple movement profiles in each zone. The average pitcher is going to split a hitter’s mind in a minimal way compared to the ridiculous assortment of pitches that Skenes is working with.

• The finances of the Pittsburgh Pirates have been a hot topic. Ethan Hullihen understands MLB payroll figures better than anyone in Pittsburgh, and honestly, better than anyone in baseball. On Monday night, he posted on his X account a detail of the Pirates’ payroll, and why he felt the numbers which led to the reported $2.2 million loss in 2024 may not be represented correctly. The write-up goes into the difference between CBT and LRD payroll figures. An understanding of that difference will allow you to understand how a team could pull accounting tricks to show that they’ve spent more money than they actually spent in a given year.

Finally, if you got here today from PiratesProspects.com, I’m currently in the process of cleaning the database and preparing that site for the next stages. Expect that to return in the next week, at which point I’ll finally be providing my own perspective on the Pirates’ finances.

Until the next time I go live…

-Tim Williams