Another Brutal Loss, Evaluating Drew Hutchison’s Pirates Debut

Drew Hutchison’s Pirates debut saw the right hander be awarded a 4-0 lead after three innings, only to see things unravel in the fourth inning, allowing 5 hits and 4 runs in a disastrous inning as the Reds would go on to score seven unanswered runs, tagging Trevor Williams for three more in the fifth. What the Pirates continue to do is find ways to lose in falling two games under .500 with a record of 69-71. Down 7-4, the Pirates would get two runs in the sixth to cut the Reds lead to 7-6. Then in the ninth Juan Nicasio allows a costly solo home run to give the Reds a two run cushion going into the bottom of

Signs of sustainability from Ivan Nova to make him an off-season priority?

Have the Pirates fixed Nova Long-Term? The Pittsburgh Pirates have aced their experiment of fixing Ivan Nova. Ivan Nova threw a complete game, leading the Pirates to a 4-1 win over the Reds on Thursday night. A complete turnaround from his struggles with the Yankees, Nova is now 5-0 with a 2.53 ERA and 0.93 WHIP in seven starts with the Pirates. Nova’s performance Thursday night saw him allow no walks for the fifth time in seven starts. “It’s just more of what we’ve been seeing from him,” manager Clint Hurdle who earned his 500th career win said of Nova. It was a really nice mix of pitches and pitching. No walks again. It’s the manual there of how you

TIOPS Inside Buzz: Core players frustrated with over-coaching ways of Clint Hurdle?

TIOPS Inside Buzz It was just a couple weeks ago where the Pirates looked like they had the best of both worlds. They moved out lots of salary at the trade deadline, yet were putting themselves in prime position to earn a fourth straight playoff berth. Now the wheels have completely fallen off with what can only be described as a ball club imploding. The crowd that hated the Melancon trade and Liriano salary dump is loving this collapse. Even some in the media who have a personal vendetta against Pirates GM Neal Huntington seem to be loving the Pirates implosion. Neal Huntington has long been thought of as the king of building a bullpen on the cheap. The last three weeks,

The Pirates Resurgence; Vick/Steelers; Vesey camp expands list

INSIDE BUZZ Wildcard Chase *1. LA Dodgers 65-52 (+3.5) *2. St Louis Cardinals 62-56 * Miami Marlins 62-56 Pittsburgh Pirates 60-56 New York Mets 59-59 Six weeks to go in the baseball season and the narrative has changed in a big way over the last week for the Pirates. A bridge season? No so much. The National League has so much mediocrity, there’s no excuse for the Pirates not to grab one of the final wildcard spots. The Pirates recent turnaround, 7-3 in their last 10 games, has also been a good run for management that had a bad PR week in the immediate fallout of the Pirates cost cutting trades. All three trade acquisitions at the Major League level,

Inside Buzz: The August Trade Market to Involve Andrew McCutchen?

TIOPS INSIDE BUZZ — The Andrew McCutchen situation is starting to reach the stage where you wonder how this story will end. Bet on a messy divorce this winter. Prior to this season, the expectation with McCutchen has always been he’d play the 2016 and 2017 seasons out as a Pirate and then be traded following the 2017 season due to the Pirates unwilling to meet his demands and he’d go on with his merry self and land a $200 million contract once he’s a free agent. How things have turned is just stunning. The Face of the franchise is now a drag to the ball club. From his hitting ability, to suspect defense in centerfield, to his terrible body

Inside Buzz: Pirates Trade Deadline Fallout; Monday’s Steelers Camp Notes

Inside Pittsburgh Sports

TIOPS Inside Buzz Pirates GM Neal Huntington knew he was going to be taking some heat this evening following the trade of Francisco Liriano, along with Harold Ramirez and Reese McGuire. “We fully recognize we’ve given up two quality prospects,” Huntington said during a conference call with the media. “We feel like we dealt from a position of organizational depth.” What was clear from Huntington’s comments tonight is that without him actually saying it — is the involvement of McGuire and Ramirez opened the door for the Pirates to dump Liriano’s salary on the Blue Jays — “Our goal in trading Ramirez and McGuire was to acquire Drew Hutchison,” Huntington said of the acquisition. Huntington, as expected, also said ownership gave

Pirates include Liriano, two top-10 prospects as part of package for Hutchison

Pirates move highest paid player on team in Liriano (Updated: 6:20 p.m.) Francisco Liriano rumors have been circulating for about two weeks now and the struggling lefty has been traded to the Toronto Blue Jays as the Pirates and Blue Jays just beat the deadline with official paper work being sent to the league at 3:59 p.m. The deal sends Liriano and prospects Harold Ramirez, Reese McGuire to Toronto in-exchange for pitcher Drew Hutchison (1-0, 4.97 ERA). Hutchison, 25, has made just three starts in the Majors this season but went 13-5 for the Blue Jays in 2015 with a 5.57 ERA. In his career, Hutchison is 30-21 with a 4.92 ERA. He has a K/BB ratio of 374/128 in

Pirates land Yankees starter Ivan Nova minutes before deadline

Pirates Post-Trade Deadline Recap Minutes before the deadline, the Pittsburgh Pirates completed a deal with the New York Yankees to acquire right hander Ivan Nova for two players to be named later. Nova, 29, has been on the Pirates radar for weeks as the team has sought to upgrade the rotation. How much if any did the Pirates upgrade the rotation is up for debate. Was the Nova trade just a trade for the sake of making a trade? From the Pirates end, they will be banking on that Nova has a J.A. Happ type run in him over the next two months. Nova is 7-6 with a 4.90 ERA. He has a 75/25 K/BB ratio and 1.36 WHIP in

Trade Analysis: The Pirates return for Mark Melancon better than it looks on paper?

Pirates make right decision in moving Melancon There was so much smoke surrounding a Mark Melancon trade in the past 24 hours that it was inevitable the Pirates were going to trade Melancon than lose him for nothing this off-season as the team had no plans to make a qualifying offer. The Pirates this afternoon struck a deal with the Washington Nationals that sends Melancon and cash to the Nationals with the Pirates receiving reliever Felipe Rivero and pitching prospect Taylor Hearn. From the Pirates end they are going to sell this that they have arms to replace Melancon in Tony Watson and Neftali Feliz and it was important to get something in return for Melancon with him set to

Interest sky high in Melancon

With just over 48 hours to go before the trade deadline, Pirates GM Neal Huntington is showing a strong willingness to trade closer Mark Melancon who is expected to sign elsewhere this off-season as a free agent. The Pirates are serious enough about moving Melancon that they have given four specific teams involved in talks for Melancon a list of prospects [hide]and a major league roster player they would want in a package to trade Melancon. The Washington Nationals have shown significant interest in Melancon since missing out on Chapman. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported Friday the Indians and Giants are also among multiple teams pursuing Melancon. The Pirates and Mets have also been linked to each other in