DK’s Daily Shot of Pirates: Rest of the rotation

DK’s Daily Shot of Pirates: Rest of the rotation

[Music] [Applause] It’s not true and I’ll entertain no slander to the contrary that Ben Harington has done nothing well as general manager. He has done one thing quite well even if it’s taken a really really really long time to reach that stage. Good morning to you. Good Tuesday morning. I’m Dan Kvachovich of DK Pittsburgh Sports. This is Daily Shot of Pirates. It comes your way bright and early every weekday. If you’re into football andor hockey, I also offer daily shots of Steelers Penguins in the same place that you found this. If you look at the rotation that’s currently being set up, I guess would be the best way to describe that behind Paul Skins. And presuming that Mitch Keller gets traded, you’re looking at a pretty talented group that’s right around the same age range. Thomas Harrington has shown himself to be a real live prospect. That’s not to say that he’s a finished product or some sure thing, but he’ll be up and he’ll have a real shot. There’s no doubt in my mind. Mike Burroughs has already been up. Burrows has already taken turns impressing and he just logged 19 starts in the 2025 season. 3.94 RA, 1.24 24 whip at times really really effective. Now he’s not a Cherington acquisition but he has spent half a decade plus inside the Cherington system. The same applies to Braxton Ashcraft, another 2018 draft pick. He broke through to the majors this past season. Made eight starts out of 26 appearances. 2.71 erra, 1.25 whip. No reason that he shouldn’t and wouldn’t be in that same mix. Let’s not forget the guys who are either battling or have already battled back from elbow surgery. Johan Oedo, he took the long road for sure. the big man experiencing more than one setback in his return in 2025, but ultimately pitching well enough through August and September that there’s no reason that he shouldn’t be a very real consideration, if not outright favorite, to be part of this rotation. 3.57 erra, 1.21 2-1 whip in his nine starts. Then there’s Jared Jones, who might be one of the biggest swing votes on the entire roster, any position, cuz you know, and I know that if Jared comes back and pitches the way he did when he first broke up into the bigs, the entire team has a different feel. The entire team can take on the field than it did when it was SK and Jones. sometimes back to back presenting an almost unfair challenge to opponents. Oh, Jar’s got work ahead. He knows that. But if there’s anything that I’ve learned about this young man in the time that he was up and pitching and around all the time, that is one seriously competitive spirit. And I’ll say that here not only in the context that he’ll want to, you know, return from the injury and be as healthy as possible, but also that he’s going to want to start. This is a classic case for those who like to throw around generalities about returning from surgeries of someone who you could say, well, he can come back from this, but he he needs to be a reliever. Jones having the 60190 stature is going to be something that gets discussed forever and ever and ever throughout his career because he throws as hard as he does. It’s always seen as a red flag except to him and the way he feels about it does kind of count. He of course wants to remain a starting pitcher and he of course is going to get granted that very opportunity. And I do fully expect he’ll seize upon that. This is a very, very good baseball player. And then the guy I’m saving for last here actually is the biggest swing vote, the biggest variable, and that’s Bubba Chandler. Of course, his progress wasn’t linear in 2025. A ton of people thought he should have come up right out of spring training. Most everyone who listens to this program can attest that I very very very seldom say that management does the right thing. But I supported completely keeping Chandler down to open up. Doubly so once Chandler started to struggle in Indianapolis which took about a month in but it did happen. And then once he came up, it wasn’t all aces, but seven games, four starts, 31 strikeouts in as many innings, a 4.02 erra, and an 0.93 whip, gas being sprayed in all directions. There’s a lot here. I don’t even have Let me see if I can go and count these for you. I have Harrington, Chandler, Burroughs, Ashcraft, Jones, Ovido. Six guys plus Skins plus, you know, Keller if he doesn’t get traded. But you can see where that scenario has set itself up. That’s a lot of starting pitching depth. It’s a lot of younger starting pitching depth. This is what should have been produced by management after let’s say two or 3 years of the big rebuild. And by the way, it also could have come with at least one hitter along the way. But I digress in that this is a very real strength for the Pirates heading into 2026 and of course beyond when we come back. J1 Cube. If you’re looking for a great dining experience, look no further than Northshore Tavern. 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We have a beautiful stadium and city, but we’re left with this shameful disgrace of an organization. You know, Dawn, I I could just say yes to all three of those. It’s a beautiful stadium. It’s a beautiful downtown area. World class actually on both counts. And then there’s this organization And I can very much see the connection not just throughout the Ben Harrington tenure, but really throughout about 40 years of baseball in Pittsburgh where every time somebody comes along and they’re making money and even if they’re kept and there’s a nice ceremony for the extension and you think that’s it, there’s a new dawn of a new age. these players are gonna stay in Pittsburgh. And you see Kabrian Hayes sign a long-term deal, he’s gone. You see Mitch sign his long-term deal, he’s in all likelihood going to be gone. And you can’t take anything at face value. Well, just as was the case with Key, there are circumstances with Mitch. In Keyy’s case, he did not, by any reasonable metric, live up to that contract. He did not become the third baseman that you wanted to see on an everyday basis, someone who could hit at least approximate to what’s expected out of the corner position. He also wasn’t durable. There were internal concerns about that. He wasn’t the happiest guy here. Also internal concerns about that. Mitch very different as I just went over principally yesterday, but a little bit today as well. There are a lot of starting pitchers in this organization. There’s a lot of starting pitchers on the 40. There’s a lot of starting pitchers on what would be the expected 26 on opening day. And you can’t live with that imbalance when you’re hitting. Your offense is so grotesque. You do have to reach a point where you’re moving some of that out and hoping, which is the best you can do with this GM, that they’ll stumble into somebody who can hit to what it is that you’re getting at, Don. There there are parallel tracks for this in my mind. One is that the team is poorly run. The other is that Major League Baseball’s economic system is broken. There are some who choose to view that as an eitheror. Like it’s got to be all about one or all about the other. And it’s not. It’s both. It really is both. The Pirates can be terrible in their decision-making and priorities and everything else. and the sport can be a great big mess. And I would like to think that your fairly expressed sentiment there has much more to do with the latter than the former. Has much more to do with the lack of a salary cap system than it does with Bob Nutting prioritizing profit over winning. with Cherington not having a clue as to how to acquire, develop, or instruct hitting. But hey, here we are in Happy Land where all of those coexist. I appreciate you, Don. I appreciate everybody listening to Daily Shot of Pirates. We’ll be back with another one of these tomorrow. [Music]

Remember what Jared Jones, rest of rotation can do.

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