Video

Paines is the wrong guy ....and so is former hitting coach Da'wreck Shelton!!

This team can make a wild card spot, but it means Shelton has to be perfect in executing pitching changes, and that is going to be near impossible. Holderman needs an IL stint. Proper placement of pitches, as DK said the other day, still means he isn't attacking the hitters weaknesses.

Reynold's mentioned, "feed off the fans". I live in Western NY (4 hours away from Pittsburgh) and a huge fan of the 3 sports teams as well as the incredible city. My son and I have done a father/son trip to PNC park once or twice a year for the last 10 years. I do not get to see many games on tv so I am normally listening to the games in my studio. I want to applaud the crowd. I don't remember the last time I hear the crowd cheering on the black and gold in PNC park. I feel everyone is heading in the right direction, slowly but moving forward. The crowd is cheering louder because they see the potential. The players are, like Reynold's said, feeding off of that. Let's keep it up Pittsburgh! Give our team the support they need.

J1Q-What is your feeling on Don Kelly being a manager either here or somewhere else?

the hitting coach is awful. That's pretty much all there is to say.

The most crazy thing is. Pitchers can usually pitch around him, doesn't have much help around him. Like you said and I'm pretty sure we all said what. Why bunt and give a free pass to walk B. Rey for O'Neil. Craziness

Great Podcast!!!

Morning DK!! Great show as always! Loved your insight on Reynolds. I think back to your piece on Pittsburgh as being just a great place and it is. I know players want to be paid but it sounds like the place does make a difference and can to some degree overshadow money just a little. Thoughts? Sounds like Reynolds may feel that way.

Bryan is called to greatness. He doesn't need any hype to get him motivated.

The best 11 minutes 29 seconds of sports talk on youtube

Bryan and Joey Bart are our offense rn

Reynolds is easily the Pirates MVP this season.

Yeah, but you’re gonna need a $100 million payroll to just bring the team back because Reynolds Hayes IKF Keller are going to make 42 million with guaranteed contracts Del la Cruz Bart Joe Bednar are going 15-20 let’s say 18 in arbitration salaries you’re gonna need about $20 million for the pre-arbitration guys so you’re only gonna have 20 million after that to spend on free agents that’s not gonna go too far

How many leads has the pen blown & resulted in a lost? How does that compare vs other teams?

I've watched most of the Pirates games this year and with few exceptions the ball/strike calling has been terrible. I've also watched minor league games with the automated strike zone and it takes only a few seconds to challenge the call. It works and yet MLB is going to test it during spring training and possibly implement it in 2026. IT WORKS so why wait? Implement it now or get the strike zone off the TV screen so the viewers can't tell that the umps are calling pitches 6-12 inches outside strikes and looking like complete incompetents or maybe trying to throw the games for one team. The technology is there so it's ridiculous not to use it! I hope the World Series is decided by an obviously bad strike call and embarrasses MLB. Don't worry the Pirates won't be in the World Series not with Shelton managing

These comments are insane.. buncha casuals, he’s gonna be fine

Totally agree...so ironic that perhaps Holderman's best pitch of the past week is the one that did him in.

Full written column from PNC Park, as well: www.dkpittsburghsports.com/2024/08/04/pirates-diamondbacks-paul-skenes-finale-mlb-dk - Dejan

Which is to say that given both teams were playing their best, the Diamondbacks are just a better team.

Holderman has been incredibly lucky this year, and his numbers are currently regressing to their mean. An ERA of 3.07 does not equate with a WHIP of 1.341, a walk rate of 4.4/9 inn and a HR rate of 1.3/9 inn. Hence his FIP is 4.39. His numbers will continue to get worse and he should not be used in high-leverage situations as often.

“Play for the tie and then get (closer David) Bednar in the game and see where we could go there,” Shelton said. You have Kiner-Falefa up (who was having a solid day) with two runners on, you are falling behind in the wild card, and then you decide to execute a sacrifice bunt. If the Pirates are to stay in the hunt, they need to be aggressive. That decision may not have lost the game, but it certainly put them another step closer to the eventual loss. Playing for a tie is playing to lose.

If you want to lose a baseball game just call Shelton

So this guy is saying the manager doesn't control anything. Got it

I’d rather Skenes throw with his left arm than rely on this bullpen anymore.

Bottom line the bullpen stinks.. couldnt hold in the 6th when Skenes left the game then Holderman blow up inning then giving up another in the 9th. The ump was giving the Pirates some calls as well Skenes got a couple on the outside and Holderman got at least one high in the zone. Also Shelton is a terrible game manager, he is not the guy to take this team to the next level.

Not sure why DK can be so critical of Cherington and yet continually gives a pass to Shelton.

Instead of this episode being about how we judge pitching, it could have been about judging how Shelton uses his pitching. Gotta be the 10th game we’ve lost because of bullpen mismanagement

Holderman has been struggling. The last three losses are on him. Maybe sit him for a bit

i believe that is the nail in the coffin....they needed to sweep the Dbacks to have a shot at playoffs...dont see them beating SD or LA coming up, especially ending with MILW and the Yankees...not happening

They're losing games that they need to win just to reach the wild card level. Where is the leadership on this team? It's certainly not coming from Shelton! The sooner he's gone the better!

Yes another fine effort by Skenes was wasted but the beauty of baseball is it's all about you bounce back and how you finish the season

Is it too early to give up and get excited about football again? Honest question

Isn’t it so convenient how the referees miss strikeout calls to put 2 men on base and then oh no home run all these stupid decisions all lead to one inevitable conclusion pirates lose… good job Shelton

I've been against the robotic umpiring behind the dish but I'll tell yeah the umps have been horrendous, therefore I'm starting to change my mind

Holderman pitch well.. umps killed it tho . Had me yelling at the tv !!!😂......

Oneil Cruz wasn't great yesterday either.

Morning DK! Yes, we could use more timely hitting but how many times has Shelton’s awful managing has cost them games? That bunt was inexcusable!!!!

I don’t disagree with the pitch being good but the hit was better. But you can prevent walking guys. And Chapman threw a great pitch, but in 0-2 count you can’t be pitching the ball in the zone

Nic Cage for the Holderman biopic…….Paul Dano (with a sweet ‘stache) would play Skenes. 🎥

This episode COMPLETELY misses the point. Today's "Daily Shot" instead should have addressed (and also been named) "The Shelton Context" and how many games he's directly been responsible for losing this season. Derek Shelton has a low baseball IQ, his in-game decision-making is atrocious, and he often doesn't put his players in the best position to succeed in critical moments. His defensiveness and deflection in post-game interviews are also appalling. Who's blaming Holderman? Many of us are blaming Shelton for using Holderman in high-leverage situations when he's clearly been struggling. The icing on the cake (a flavor that really pisses me off) is that Shelton keeps blaming Holderman publicly and in a very defensive manner for "not executing" and "not finishing." Take a good long look in the mirror, Shelton. Fans of contending teams are blaming you for yesterday's loss publicly and intelligently on their own fan sites. They feel sorry for the Pirate players, and the writing on the wall is getting much larger. Every player on this team would play better and more consistently under a different, COMPETENT manager. Everyone. I also completely disagree with DK about his assessment of "small ball" in the current MLB environment, and the decreasing ability of players to move runners over in general throughout professional baseball. The Diamondbacks do it. The Brewers do it. The Guardians do it. The Royals do it. And yes, even the Pirates have done it-- remember the game when Rowdy hit 3 sac flies to generate RBIs? The difference is, other teams do it intelligently and pick their spots accordingly. That's a level of managerial competence that this Pirates team utterly lacks. It's particularly upsetting to watch the ways in which Paul Skenes-pitched games are ultimately being lost. That aspect isn't going unnoticed, and the attention will grow on a national scale.

Losing by 1 run in 3 out of 4 games while giving up the lead in the 6th inning or later in all 3 games. It's blatantly obvious what the problem is: the bullpen, specifically Holderman. He has all 3 of those losses to his record

This weekend shows once again that Da'wreck Shelton can't win no matter how much talent you put around him!! We will soon be passed by SF and The Cubs....no playoffs! The fans should only be buying tickets to chant for Da'wreck's removal!!

@susyque8424 • 14 min ago (edited) Yinzislive also runs Yinzsportsnation which discusses the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is bullying and threatening The54thElite(Jose Gonzales) a 24 year old man who is a protective class ... please help us #StopTheBullying @Yinz is live

Stop tipping your cap turn your hat around and start getting outs. Skenes has to be tired of yinz blowing games for him

Shelton is a hodgepodge of knuckleheadedness.

The only player in a Pirates' uniform that knew how to put down a bunt in recent history went to the Padres and is now banned for life at the MLB level. Why Shelton insists on this beats the heck out of me. Just when we begin to acknowledge the skipper's capacity to rightfully navigate the ship (he did some exceptionally good managing during the last road trip), he throws himself back into a hole. Same goes for Cruz. He had to at least bat one sac fly during those two at bats with a runner on third with just an out. Speaking of Cruz, I don't think De la Cruz should get a start every game. Only outfielder that deserves that is Reynolds.

Look for me whether or not Holderman threw a perfect pitch and it was a better HR is irrelevant. He has been terrible for well over a month now and should have already been told by Shelton he would be used for the time being in lower leverage situations. His era since his struggles began I believe is over 8.00. He has been scored upon in his last bunch of outings including giving up 4 HR's in his past 4 appearances. Sorry but the guy should have never even been brought out in a meaningful close game like this.

I'm thinking they take 2/3 from San Diego, maybe even sweep them. Went 5-1 last year against them.

It'll be extremely hard for this team to make the postseason giving away a 4-0 lead. Beeks should've been in the game for lefty on lefty.

He needs sent down to work his problems out. Going to cost Pirates a chance at the playoffs