DK’s Daily Shot of Pirates: (Insert laugh track!)

DK’s Daily Shot of Pirates: (Insert laugh track!)

[Music] [Applause] Yeah, they’re going to sign Kyle Schwarber. That’s That’s what they’re going to do. Good morning to you. Good Wednesday morning of Dan Kajovich of DK Pittsburgh Sports attempting to do this with a straight face. This is Daily Shot of Pirates presented by the Northshore Tavern. It comes your way bright and early every weekday if you’re into football andor hockey. I also offer daily shots of Steelers and Penguins in the same place that you found this. Jeff Passan of ESPN was handed some stuff by Ben Cherington yesterday and get used to that. Terington’s long since figured out where everybody has seen through him and has called for him to be fired, meaning, you know, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. So, he’s going to look for other ways to get his message out. And his message via Jeff Passan of ESPN is that the Pirates were serious about chasing Josh Naylor before the Mariners paid up 5 years and 92.5 million to keep him. Oh yeah, your buckos were in on that one, baby. But wait, there’s more. Passan also channeled the big story that the Pirates are in on Kyle Schwarber, who’s expected to sign a 5-year, $135 million deal, $27 million annually. That hasn’t happened yet, but that’s the projection from MLB Trade Rumors. He’ll turn 33 on opening day. You betcha. So, as I go to the Google machine to see how effective this technique was, I see in the New York Post, which has nothing to do with anything in this event, surprise team interested in slugger Kyle Schwarber. Philadelphia Inquire. The Pittsburgh Pirates have interest in signing Kyle Schwarber. And I can’t help but notice that on the Google display here, there’s a random comment from Reddit that reads, “Just FYI, I’m interested in Sydney Sweeney and Margot Robbie, too.” Oh, I’ll bet there’s a bunch more of those. Still more. You want more? This is what happens when the GM is mad at the local writers. He tells Passan, and he’s not quoted in this or whatever, okay? just I’m trying to give you some background on how this stuff works and I know how this stuff works and that’s what happened here. But the other gem there is that the Pirates are quote strongly considering end quote giving Connor Griffin an opportunity to win the starting shortstop job out of spring training. And you want to know something? I’m not taking that seriously either. The kids never played above Triple A. And no less an authority than Cherington himself said at season’s end after Griffin was done playing that he didn’t expect that to happen. So what’s the point here? It it’s certainly not to complain. Believe me, I I’m not looking for Bucko Scoops these days. And being all the way blunt, I couldn’t care less who breaks news on that team. I really can’t because see I’ve been doing this for a while and I’ve been around this team through multiple general managers even a couple of owners and I know where these storylines almost always wind up. What this is intended to do, this going and running to the guy from ESPN, isn’t just to tick off the Pittsburgh media people who have called for his firing, but also, and I believe more importantly, it’s to send a message to the market. It’s to send a message to the baseball free agency market that we’re not the Pirates from the past four years. we are going to get a hitter and we are going to pay that hitter or hitters at some stage of this off season. So if we generate some kind of attention some kind of headlines, they might be taken at least remotely seriously rather than having the agent hang up on them for any player, including down the ladder. That’s what this is. That’s all this is. And this is secondary. If in the process Cherington can find a new megaphone for himself where such information isn’t being run through people who know way too much about how bad he is at his job, then there’s another plus for him in that too. And sorry, I’m sure you know when you saw this subject matter today and you’re going to hit play and you’re thinking, “Wow, man. Schwarber Naylor. Yeah, here we go. Let’s go Bucks.” and you hear this instead, I’d like to think that’s why you come here because this is what actually happened versus whatever it is that they want to smoke signal out through somebody who does not cover the team when we come back. J1Q. [Music] If you’re looking for a great dining experience, look no further than Northshore Tavern. Located directly across Federal Street from PNC Park, next door to Mike’s Beer Bar, Northshore Tavern is Pittsburgh’s home for steak on a stone. Enjoy your steak finished on a hot lava stone in front of you, where you ensure each piece is cooked to exactly your liking. or try their rotating selection of entre, hot sandwiches, salads, and burgers, all while enjoying the ambiance dedicated to the great players and history of the Pittsburgh Pirates all around you. Come see why everyone’s talking about Northshore Tavern and Steak on a Stone. It’s Gun Storage Check Week. Help prevent unwanted access to your firearms. No one wants their unsecured gun to be used in an accident, a suicide, or a crime. Use lock boxes, safes, and locks to secure your firearms. Learn more at gunstoch checkck.org. That’s gunstorage check.org. Brought to you by NSSF, the firearm industry trade association. [Music] Today’s J1Q comes from Paul who says, “DK Henry Davis worked very hard apparently to turn himself into an all-star quality defensive catcher. Can the same amount of work and dedication improve his hitting?” Well, yeah, except that he’s already doing that. Henry has a work ethic that’s borderline beyond belief and it’s not where it’s applied all to one side or even mostly to one side. He’s just one of those guys who wants to excel at everything, believes that he can excel at everything, and very, very, very much understands that the way he has hit to this stage of his career is nowhere near good enough. Not allstar or anything, that just being capable, just being functional. And this past season, and I think this is worth a reminder, this isn’t piling on. I really, really, really like this kid, as I’ve shared with you before, he appeared in 87 games at 252 at bats, batted 167, the 234 on base percentage, 278 slug, 512 ops. He had a 278 slug with seven home runs in basically half a season, which tells you what exactly. Out of his 42 hits, 14 were for extra bases or seven doubles and seven homers. Struck out 76 times, walked 18 times. There is a lot of daylight between Henry and competence. You can’t absorb these types of numbers from your sparingly used backup catcher, let alone someone you’d love to see be front and center with the battery on a regular basis. Number one overall pick. Number one overall pick. Not only that, but he was an older number one overall pick where there’d be more information, more maturity that had already taken place. you’d have a clearer idea of not only who he is at that time, but who he’s going to be, at least as much as that’s reasonable to know. Henry just turned 26 a couple months ago. That’s not prospect age. We’re going to think of him that way because, you know, number one overall pick, he’s going to be portrayed and should be that way for better or worse for the remainder of his career. It’s a blessing when it happens. It can be a curse along the road. There are areas when you dig into his deeper data where you can say, “All right, there’s there’s something here. There’s something there. We can cherrypick this part.” For example, batting average on balls in play. You’ve heard me bring that one up a few times. That’s essentially it’s a luck meter. How often do you put the ball into play somewhere on the diamond that it becomes a hit? just finds grass. The median for this, the accepted median for this is 300, meaning every player should have that as a median. If you’re way above 300, you’re getting super lucky. If you’re way below it, you’re super unlucky. Henry was super below it. Super super below it. He was at 203 in 2025. But there are other areas that are a little bit more controllable. I mentioned his low walk rate, 18 walks all season. He also had his lowest ever pitches seen per plate appearance, 3.77. For some context, the year before he was at 4.27. The year before that as a rookie, 4.0. So, it’s not like he made some progress toward minimizing his strike zone, getting the pitch that he wants to hit, and going at it at all. When I look at Henry and the way he is at the plate, I’m going to tell you who I think of, and don’t bite my head off for this, okay? Because I have to explain it after I say the name. It’s going to go back a little bit for some of you, but Steve Pierce. Remember Piery? All right. About 20 years ago, Piery was that classic bad ball hitter. The only thing Piery could do was hit your bad pitch a very long way. And depending on who you are philosophically when it comes to hitting, that’s a pretty nice thing to have. That’s a that’s something that you want to take to the plate. You want to be that guy who if you screw up, I’m going to put it into the seats because you want to know something? you’re going to see your fair share of mistake pitches, no matter who you are. And if you can do the requisite damage to those mistake pitches, you can make a career out of that. Piery sure did after a lot of questions about him and doubts early on despite a ton of power in the minors. When I think of those times that Henry has really gotten a hold of one, not necessarily just his home runs, it could be a, you know, well struck single somewhere, I think of Henry identifying a bad pitch, just a dead red meatball and swinging right on out of his shoes. I don’t know that you’re going to get something else from him. I don’t think you’re going to turn him into some super patient guy. I don’t think you’re going to turn him into some sort of specialist. you’re going to be able to turn him into somebody who can go the other way or any of that other stuff. He’s he’s going to be pierce or bust offensively for me. And I’m going to apologize here for those of you who aren’t old enough or haven’t been following this team long enough to get that. Well, all that means is exactly what I’m saying. That’s who Pierce was. Pierce would just be he’d see one lousy pitch in a series, but he’d put it over the fence for a three-run homer and everyone says Pierce is awesome. That’s that’s who I’m talking about here. I appreciate the question. I appreciate everybody listening to Daily Shot of Pirates. We’ll be back with another one of these tomorrow accompanied by special guest Steve Pierce or not. I don’t know. See you then. [Music]

(Insert laugh track!)

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