Fifth Avenue Sports

The Pirate outfield is struggling. Aside from Bryan Reynolds, who cannot stop hitting in what is historically his best time of the year, Pittsburgh is struggling to get any real offense from anyone who plays the outfield. While in some cases (like Michael A. Taylor) offense has been sacrificed in exchange for elevated defensive play,…

On a 90+ degree day in a rubber match at PNC Park, the Pirates hosted the Reds in a series-deciding game between the NL Central rivals. The Pirates had won the opening game on Monday 4-1 before dropping last night’s affair in a much tighter 2-1 score. Pittsburgh called upon Mitch Keller to face off…

Daulton Jeffries is a name we’ve heard a few times in the last few weeks. He has been tabbed as a call-up candidate on a few occasions, being a guy with former major league experience. He also served as the team’s 27th man during their double header a few weeks ago in Detroit. But now…

If only it could be June all the time, because if it was, the Pirates would have an All Star left fielder every single year. Bryan Reynolds is on an absolute tear in the month of June so far this year. The 29-year old has racked up a 14-game hitting streak that poetically started with…

The last time we saw Josh Fleming wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform, things did not go according to plan. And actually, that might actually be the understatement of the year. Fleming last appeared for the Pirates in a May 13th game in Milwaukee against the Brewers. Fleming came on for the seventh inning of a…

After dropping two of three in St. Louis, including a frustrating loss in the rubber match, the Pirates continued their midwest roadtrip with a visit to Coors Field in Colorado. With a similar approach to last Saturday, the team once again patched together a bullpen game in their series opener vs the Rockies. On Saturday…

There were a LOT of transactions that took within the Pirates organization yesterday, particularly in the pitching department. But amidst all those moves, the team added a lot of new arms to the organization. A day after designating Ben Heller (who racked up a 49.50 ERA in 2.0 innings) for assignment, the team DFA’d another…

The journey of Rowdy Tellez has been well chronicled by basically every sports media outlet in this city, as well as here on Fifth Avenue (if you could call this site a sports media outlet). But now this long and winding road has reached an interesting new twist. Rowdy Tellez has actually been good. Like,…

Ben Heller hasn’t been a Pittsburgh Pirate for very long. Just 2.0 innings, to be exact. And yet, it’s hard to think of a Pirates tenure that has been so brief and so disastrous at the same time. Heller originally arrived in the Pirates organization when he signed a minor league deal with the team…

There was some excitement brewing when it was announced that the Pirates were recalling Henry Davis. The 24-year old was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis in early May after starting the season on an abysmal cold streak. The season-opening injury and subsequent rehab assignment of free agent catcher Yasmani Grandal had perhaps bought Davis some extra…

If there was ever a man who needed a day like today, it was Rowdy Tellez. The embattled first baseman was routinely being booed in his home stadium as Pirates fans grew more and more restless with the underperforming Tellez. Mercilessly, vigorously, and angrily an ever growing section of PNC Park booed nearly as soon…

With Martin Perez still on the Injured List from his groin issue in May, and his replacement Quinn Preister recently joining him with a right lat issue, the mound will belong to Carmen Mlodzinski tomorrow as the Pirates put together their first bullpen game of the season. Mlodzinski has pitched 10.2 innings for the Pirates…

After taking the first two games of the series vs Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Pirates went for the sweep with Bailey Falter on the mound opposite Walker Buehler. Falter was riding an almost season long hot streak, pitching to a 2.54 ERA ever since allowing 5 runs and a grand slam…

Just about an hour ago, the Pittsburgh Pirates added reliever Justin Bruihl as a major league free agent. He has been added to the team’s 26-man roster, and a corresponding move will take place soon. Update: per Alex Stumpf, the Pirates have placed starter Quinn Priester on the 15-Day IL (retro to June 3) with…

The Pirates clinched a series win against Los Angeles Wednesday night as they took down the Dodgers 10-6. They improve to 29-32 on the season and now have their first series win in the month of June secured. Though the pitching performance is not something you would typically focus on in a 10-6 game, the…

If you’re a baseball fan, the name Jorge Lopez probably rings a bell. Last week, he was the story in Major League Baseball after he was ejected in a lopsided loss for the New York Mets. After arguing a pitch that was called a ball, Lopez eventually walked off the field, tossing his glove in…

Jared Jones was given no easy task when he took the mound Tuesday night at PNC Park. He was set to start in Pittsburgh’s series opener against the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers, who featured a Murder’s Row of talent at the plate. Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith, and Freedie Freeman represented just some of…

Henry Davis is back in the big leagues. First reported by Jason Mackey and then followed up Alex Stumpf, the Pirates are recalling Henry Davis from the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians. The first overall pick by the Pirates in 2021, Davis made his Pirates debut last season when he was called up in June. His arrival…

In keeping tabs on Pittsburgh’s top farm team, the Indianapolis Indians, there has never been a better time to pay some extra attention to the pitching staff down there. The bullpen, in particular. The Pirates have already made several moves involving Indianapolis and the bullpens, including the recall of Carmen Mlodzinski, the constant shuffle of…

It’s the kind of day that, given the way things have been going for the Pirates and Rowdy Tellez, is bittersweet. Tellez, with Pittsburgh facing his old team in the Toronto Blue Jays, had his best game in months (although that might not be saying a whole lot) with 2 singles and a double, 4…

Yesterday, an article written by Noah Wright over at Rum Bunter created a lot of buzz around Pirates Twitter. Wright had suggested that the Pirates look into bringing back Ji Man Choi in an effort to shore up the team’s first base woes. Wright opened with this: The Pittsburgh Pirates could desperately use some first base…

In Pittsburgh’s series opener up north in Toronto, the Pirates and Blue Jays combined for an extra innings showdown that combined solid bullpen action with abysmal offense from both sides, until Toronto finally broke through off a two-run homer to win it. We saw the ghost runner rule work in exactly the opposite of the…

After injuries sustained to both starting pitcher Martin Perez and catcher Joey Bart in the team’s series finale against Atlanta, the Pirates today released updates on both players. Perez is set to go on the 15-day Injured List with a groin injury, while Bart is being placed on the 10-day Injured List with his thumb…

The series finale against the Atlanta Braves was a rough game to watch. An 8-1 loss that saw starting pitcher Martin Perez leave with a groin injury and catcher Joey Bart leave with a thumb issue. There has not been an update on either Perez nor Bart, other than that they are being evaluated. The…

For the first time since 2021, the Pirates won a series against the Atlanta Braves. The clinching win came for Pittsburgh yesterday as the team prevailed 4-1 against the visiting Braves ball club. Regardless of what happens today in the Sunday matinee, the Pirates will still have won the weekend homestand against a very good…

It’s safe to say that the Pirates’s offense has found another gear over the last few weeks. We’ve seen the team hit the double digit mark twice in the last few weeks, and talks about the team’s overall batting slump have mostly evaporated, save for a few particular players. This recent turnaround isn’t without consequence,…

It was as if all of the frustration of the last few games had finally exploded down at PNC Park, as the Pirates showed no mercy to the visiting Atlanta Braves, putting up over a 10-spot on them en route to a win. The win was a much needed bounce back after the Pirates found…

Only the Pirates could turn what should have been a sweep into a series loss. Well, ok, let’s be fair. It isn’t all of the Pirates. Yesterday, Pittsburgh leaped out a 5-0 lead, sparked mostly by a grand slam from Bryan Reynolds in the bottom of the fourth. It was an electric moment at PNC…

In an announcement that almost coincided with the first pitch in Paul Skenes’ third major league start, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced that they had recalled left handed reliever Jose Hernandez. To make the corresponding move, the Pirates have optioned outfielder Jack Suwinski to Triple-A Indianapolis. Despite the comments being filled with some combination of the…

Andrew McCutchen has played a lot of baseball over the course of his career. After today, 2,044 games to be exact. Of those games, 1,771 of been somewhere in the outfield. However, it’s been 354 days exactly since McCutchen last took the outfield in a game. When he came back to the Pirates ahead of…

Well, if you like offense and seeing players hit the ball, this was not the game for you. However, if you love a good pitching duel, or you were worried that you were going to be late to plans you had in the evening, this was absolutely the game for you. Today at Wrigley Field,…

Last Saturday at PNC Park, Paul Skenes made his much anticipated Major League Baseball in front of a frenzied home crowd against the Chicago Cubs. He pitched just 4.0 innings before manager Derek Shelton lifted him. He struck out 7 batters, but allowed a solo home run to Nico Hoerner, and the runners on first…

Last week, I wrote about my experience attending the weirdest baseball game I’ve ever been to. Paul Skenes’ debut, the sixth walked in runs, the two hour weather delay, the Pirates scoring 10 runs, all the bangs and shimmies. You can check that out here if you missed it: But one part of that day…

Per Andrew Destin, left handed pitcher Eric Lauer has been granted his release from the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Lauer signed a minor league deal with the Pirates on March 7th, and was invited to spring training, having to get up to speed rather quick due to his late signing. Lauer was coming off a harsh…

I lied a few days ago when I tweeted that I was done writing about Rowdy Tellez for a little. But he continues to be the biggest talking point amongst the Pirates, and while his counterpart at first base continues to outperform him, the struggles of Tellez continue to hang like an ominous cloud over…

Allow me to take you back to the dark days of Pittsburgh Pirates baseball. Wait I’m sorry, I have to be way more specific, there’s been too many. The year is 2022. After playing the Covid-shortened 2020 season at a 100-loss pace (going 19-41) and losing 101 games in 2021, the 2022 season wasn’t shaping…