BUCCO STUFF

Here's an excerpt from my latest TribLive.com column:

*If the Pirates shut down Paul Skenes because he's tired and their season is shot, who shouldn't be shut down? Braxton Ashcraft has topped his career high (at any level) for innings pitched by 30, yet is going deeper into games. That's because Ashcraft is pitching well and Skenes isn't. Pitch more. Build up your arm. Go old-school.

*Pirates GM Ben Cherington said the Pirates might "have the best team we've had all year in September." Empty rhetoric from a loser. Reminiscent of Mike Tomlin promising to "unleash hell in December."

*The Pirates will never be good enough. They proved that this season. Failure is in their DNA. If the Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers switched uniforms and cities, the team wearing Pirates unis and based in Pittsburgh would miss the playoffs. This year's roster was good enough to make the post-season, even with the injuries. But too many key players didn't play to the level required.

*A mistake frequently made by Pirates manager Don Kelly is pinch-running for superior bats too early in games, putting bad hitters at the plate late in games when options are exhausted. Kelly doesn't learn from his mistakes. He repeats them.

To read more, click HERE.

The Cherington word-drool is particularly galling. Even if that longshot turns out to be true, what good would it do?

More realistic was a tweet that quoted Pirates president Travis Williams as saying, "We will continue producing the best soft pretzels of any stadium in Major League Baseball. Period. Full stop."

But that may have been a joke. At any rate, I've never had a soft pretzel at PNC Park.