For the past couple of years it has honestly made me chuckle as a decent amount Pirates Fans have questioned Jacob Stallings ability to be an everyday Major League catcher; many times denying every metric in an attempt to discredit Pittsburgh’s backstop, and even claiming at times that he wouldn’t start on any other Major League team.
Currently Stallings is rated as the sixth best catcher in all of baseball, and number ten over the past three years; not just defensively as some might assume, but the tenth best catcher overall in Major League Baseball. As it stands he is slashing .255/.371/.449 with three home runs and a career high doubles; one of which tied the game last night in the seventh, and presently leads all catchers. Oh, and he walked of the game in the bottom of the ninth with a two run jack to give the Pirates an 8-6 victory against the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night
News and Notes
- Adam Frazier just keeps on hitting. On the season Frazier is batting .318 with 13 doubles, three triples and a homer. We all that Frazier is a streaky hitter that has gotten hot for periods of time during his career, however in the past it has usually lasted a week or two at the most, not a full 30 plus games.
- Bryan Reynolds has continued to experience success from both side of the plate, with his success against righties finally starting to catch up with potential his over performance from the right side of the plate, as he is now hitting .263 versus .395. He has also shown extreme patience at the plate by posting a career best 12.9% walk rate.
- For the past few games Pirates Fans have been asking for more offense, and for at least one game they delivered, totaling 15 hits from from nearly everyone in the lineup.
- Tyler Anderson had his worst start in a Pirates uniform and still only gave up 4 runs on 6 hits, two of them being homers, while striking out 7 and walking 2 in 5 innings of work.
- Richard Rodriguez got his second win on the season, and still has an unbelievable .53 ERA to go along with a .41 WHIP.
With last nights win the Pirates have guaranteed at least a split in their four game series with the NL West leading San Francisco Giants, and could take the series with a Sunday Afternoon victory at PNC Park.
For Pittsburgh the up and down Mitch Keller (2-4, 7.81 ERA) toes the rubber against Alex Wood (4-0, 1.80 ERA) for San Francisco is just a few short hours, at 1:05 PM EST.
Inside The Bucs Basement 