Off Day as the Bucs Head to Milwaukee, Newcomer Takes, Notes

The Bucs made a couple of moves to shore up the club. One thing that is apparent is that, despite giving up a boatload of prospects, they weren't not bulking up solely for a 2018 run but aiming at a window of opportunity. They have several pieces in place to compete in the near future and adding to it at the deadline, especially if they retool the infield, both defensively and with the stick, but that's a topic for another day. Here is our take on the newbies:

The big get was Chris Archer, who has struggled as a Bucco. Given his performance over the past couple of campaigns, that's a disappointment but not a huge surprise. The Pirates control him through 2021, and we assume they were aware he needed a third pitch to go with fastball/slider duo, especially as his heater has some run but is fairly flat. In his early campaigns, he threw a two-seam sinker that kept hitters off his ol' number one, but dropped the pitch after the 2014 season. He was an All-Star in 2015, but hasn't had an ERA south of 4.00 since.

Looking to bring back an old friend, the sinker... (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Our guess is the Pirates will try to resurrect his sinker, which was a pretty good pitch back when it was part of his toolkit, and would add some different movement to attack batters with. He already has a change, so that one addition may be the key to getting back the dominant Arch of old. Whether it works or not is TBD. The Pirates are working it back into his repertoire and it hasn't developed as a plus pitch yet, but it has outperformed his four-seamer, and not just this year, but historically. So we're looking for a return to the future for Arch in 2019.

Keone Kela was an easy enough add; he adds depth to the backend and has two more years of control. While relievers fluctuate more than any creature on God's green earth, he's been fairly consistent except for an injury-bitten 2016 campaign. The Pirates can't count on the back five being solid over a long stretch, but now the have enough pieces under control to ride out the inevitable injury/performance issues.

Adeiny Hechavarria was a "huh?" pickup, but don't be surprised if he's auditioning for a place in the Pirates future plans as the explanation for his PT. The Kevins (Newman and Kramer) aren't projected as the Pirates SS of the future; that would be Altoona's Cole Tucker, if he can come around with the lumber (.249 for the Curve). Long-term, they're most likely second base/utility competition for Fraze, depending, of course, on the Pirates moves in the winter and Tucker's progress.

Hechy is getting a look while Jordy's out (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

With Jordy being in his walk year, Hechy is getting a once-over as a possible 2019 insurance policy,  although there should be a couple of available and affordable SS's on the market this winter. Our opinion is that while his glove is good, he's way overpriced at $5.9M; one of the kids or a FA should hold the spot down next season.

Notes:

• The Pirates optioned RHP Michael Feliz (6.05 ERA) back to Indy. They'll announce who's taking his spot tomorrow; we'd expect a bench player as they were a man short and today's rest should reset the pen.
• Tomorrow starts a nine-game, 10-day road trip to Milwaukee, St. Louis and Atlanta.
• Per STATS LLC, the Pirates are the fourth team in the live-ball era to average one run or less per game while allowing two runs or fewer per game during any seven-game stretch. The other three to do so were the 1992 Cardinals, '68 Cubs and '38 Phillies. (s/o to Adam Berry/mlb.com)
• Altoona's 1B Will Craig (.249 BA/20 HR/97 RBI/.775 OPS) and 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes (.281/7/38/.800) have been selected as Eastern League end-of-season All-Stars.
• Bristol OF Jonah Davis (.314/12/34/1.034) has been named to the Appalachian League end-of-season All-Star team.