MLB Bullets Sinks The Pirates

Good morning.

• In case you haven’t heard, Pirates outfielder Starling Marte has been suspended for 80 games after testing positive for nandrolone, a banned PED.
• Jerry Crasnick thinks this development is a crushing blow to the Pirates’ season.
• Travis Sawchik runs the numbers and concludes that this most likely ends the Pirates shot at the postseason.
• Michael Klopman looks at some post-Marte options for the Bucs.
• Mike Axisa states that top Pirates prospect Austin Meadows isn’t ready to take over for Marte.
• Ken Rosenthal thinks that Marte will pay for this in diminished reputation for far longer than 80 days and the Pirates could end up starting to rebuild now.
• Buster Olney thinks that the Pirates will never get the value out of their long-term extension with Marte. Which is silly, actually. If the Pirates were allowed to void the six-year, $31 million contract with Marte that still has four years to run, what are the odds they would? Zero. There is zero chance they would void that contract.
• Jeff Passan clearly had this article ready to go for an occasion like this, because it is too well-thought-out and too-well-argued for him to have thrown it together quickly. But that’s why you should read it. Passan says it is time we start having an adult conversation about PEDs based on realities and not hysteria. He tries to start it, but he wouldn’t claim that he’s anywhere close to finishing it.
• Sticking with the Pirates briefly, Josh Harrison got hit by a pitch in four straight plate appearances and Jeff Sullivan breaks down every one of them. As far as we know, that’s never happened before, but our data on this kind of thing only goes back to 1974.
• I know you are probably all sick of seeing Eric Thames (and I so want to pronounce that “Temms”), but unfortunately, David Schoenfield believes that Thames’ hot start to the season is something real.
• Jeff Sullivan notes some scary numbers in Thames hot start. Well, scary if you pitch for a team other than the Brewers.
• The Marlins lost a combined no-hitter last night with one out in the ninth. They still won the game though.
• Matt Snyder looks at the decision that manager Don Mattingly made to pull starter Wei-Yin Chen after 100 pitches in that game.
• Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo won his first major league game in almost three years.
• Although as Evan Davis notes, the belief in the value of pitcher wins is quickly dying out.
• Nate Silver proposes a new stat for relievers to replace the save called “The Goose Egg.” He claims the name both honors and trolls Goose Gossage. Still, it’s probably a better idea than the save.
• Sam Miller has an interesting article on how our relationship with statistics has changed over time with what does it mean to be a .300 hitter today?
• In a related piece, David Schoenfield looks at trends in statistics over baseball’s history.
• Michael Baumann thinks that Reds rookie starting pitcher Amir Garrett will never be great, but he will be good enough.
• Zach Kram has some good news for people around here if he’s actually correct: Kram believes that the Cardinals are on the verge of a collapse.
• Ken Rosenthal believes that the Orioles need to improve their farm system unless they want to undergo a collapse in a few seasons.
• Michael Klopman believes that the Orioles need to make room in their lineup for rookie Trey Mancini.
• Ben Lindbergh is impressed with Chris Sale’s early returns for the Red Sox and think the numbers are a good sign for Sale.
• Tommy Stokke argues that the Nationals bullpen looks to be their Achilles heel.
• Phillies pitcher Clay Buchholz will undergo arm surgery and will miss three-to-five months at least, and maybe the whole season.
• Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien had wrist surgery yesterday.
• Jerry Crasnick profiles how “country boy” Jay Bruce came to love New York City and how that comfort is translating into a great start to the year.
• DJ Gallo thinks that while it’s fine that commissioner Rob Manfred is working to change the game for the better, he needs to do it without bad-mouthing the current product on the field.
• Certain people have suggested that baseball games that are still tied after 12 innings should go in the books as a tie, but Ken Rosenthal wants nothing to do with ties in baseball. Except for the ones he wears for charity on Saturday broadcasts, one would guess.
• Susan Slusser calls our attention to Athletics equipment manager Steve Vucinich, who has been with the team for 50 years now.
• Yasiel Puig talks about the passion that Latin players play the game with and how he wants to be more disciplined on- and off-the-field. He credits Adrian Gonzalez for making him a better person, too.
• Another Cuban ballplayer, Luis Tiant, says he does not want to be inducted into Cooperstown after he dies.
• And finally, the Astros mascot Orbit managed to slap a “I (heart) the Astros” sign on the back of Mike Trout.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.