Notes - A Final Middlin' Week & Some Season-Ending Stuff...

It’s all over…

The Bucs were off on Monday before the Division champ Brew Crew came to town. Milwaukee took a no-sweat 7-2 dub in the opener. In the middle match, Luis Ortiz went seven strong innings, Liover Peguero doubled in two runs with two outs and the Pirates ended up on top by a 2-1 tally. The series went to Milwaukee, who claimed the rubber match, 5-2.

The season came to close in the Big Apple v the NY Yankees. The Bronx Bombers did the Pirates right: the Roberto Clemente 3,000 Exhibition, celebrating Roberto’s 3,000 hits through photo and history displays, ran outside of Yankee Stadium during the series. The good vibe continued as two Bryan Reynold swats and strong outings by Jared Jones & Co. led the Bucs to a 4-2 win. The Pirates then turned the tables on the Bombers with five dingers (Yaz Grandal, Nicky G, Jared Triolo, Nick Yorke and Billy Cook) en route to a 9-4 dub. No sweep, tho – the bullpen had its final late meltdown of the year in a season-ending 6-4 loss.

Jared Jones – image via SportsNet Pgh.

The Bucs finished 2024 with the same record as in 2023, 76-86.

Injuries/Moves:

• The Pirates recalled INF Liover Peguero & OF Joshua Palacios from Indy and DFA’ed 1B Rowdy Tellez & CF Michael A. Taylor. Rowdy was four PAs shy of triggering a $200K contract bonus; seems on-brand for the Buccos. 
• RHP Mike Burrows was added to the Pirates Taxi Squad for the final series against the Yankees. He joined the active roster after Jones’ start; Jared was optioned in a paper move to open a spot up on the active roster for Mike, who then worked in what was for all intents and purposes a bullpen game to earn his first MLB victory in his first MLB outing.
• The Bucs will send Termarr Johnson, 2B (Pirates #3/MLB #78); Mike Burrows, RHP (#16); Khristian Curtis, RHP (#27); Derek Diamond, RHP; Kervin Pichardo, INF; Geovanny Planchart, C; Sammy Siani, OF and Eddy Yean, RHP, to their Scottsdale Arizona Fall League club.

Stuff: 

• Paul Skene’s rookie line: 23 starts/11-3/1.96/133 IP/94 hits/170 K. 
• Aroldis Chapman notched whiff #95 of the campaign on Wednesday, the most ever by a Pirates left-handed reliever. Chapman eclipsed Rod Scurry’s 94 fans in 1982.
• Every which way… The 2024 season is the first in club history that the Pirates have had a lefthanded hitter (Oneil Cruz), a right-handed hitter (Andrew McCutchen) and a switch hitter (Bryan Reynolds) with 20-plus homers in the same year.
• The 2024 Pirates became the first club in franchise history to strike out over 1,500 times, finishing the year by fanning 1,506 times.

• The local Baseball Writers’ Association of American announced their 2024 Pirates award winners. OF Bryan Reynolds won the Roberto Clemente Award (team MVP) for the third time in four years, RHP Paul Skenes took the Steve Blass Award (team Cy Young) and DH Andrew McCutchen was given the Chuck Tanner Award (player most cooperative with the media); Cutch also won the honor in 2023. 
• For those keeping count, the Pirates attendance this year was 1,720,361, an increase of 5.5% from last year’s 1,630,624. The Bucs were 39-42 at PNC Park. 
• .RHP Bubba Chandler was the only Pirates pup to earn a spot on the 24-man Baseball America Minor League All-Star Team that covers all levels. He was also BA’s Pirates Minor League Player Of The Year.
• Pirates Fest will be 1/18/2025 at the DLL Convention Center.