Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez was arrested Tuesday in Pittsburgh on multiple charges, including computer pornography and solicitation of a child.

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, Vazquez was also charged with one count of providing obscene material to minors.

Passan reported that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement launched an investigation into Vazquez in August. It alleges Vazquez has sexually exploited a 15-year-old girl in Lee County, Florida, since she was 13:

Disturbing details from Lee County police on the arrest of Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez, who is facing multiple charges. pic.twitter.com/zkHlrMcgEw

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 17, 2019

Per Passan, Vazquez allegedly sent a video of himself performing a sex act to the minor and texted the minor that he planned to meet her for sex following the 2019 MLB season.

David Kaplan of WTAE reported Vazquez is also facing charges in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, of statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with minor, corruption of minors, and indecent assault of someone less than 16.

Following his arrest, Vazquez was placed on administrative leave by Major League Baseball, according to Passan.

"Today we were made aware of an active law enforcement investigation involving Felipe Vazquez and his subsequent arrest," Pirates president Frank Coonelly said in a team release. "We take this matter, and these charges in particular, extremely seriously. We have informed the Commissioner's Office of the investigation and arrest. The Commissioner's Office will immediately place Felipe Vázquez on Administrative Leave (and, as a result, Restricted List) pursuant to the Joint MLB/MLBPA Policy. We need to be respectful to all involved and the ongoing legal proceeding. As a result, the organization, our staff and players cannot comment any further at this time."

The 28-year-old Vazquez has been one of the most dominant relievers in baseball over the past three years. This season, Vazquez is 5-1 with a 1.65 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 28 saves in 31 opportunities. He has also struck out 90 batters in 60 innings.

Vazquez has been named an All-Star in each of the past two seasons and was a hot trade candidate prior to this year's deadline.

Pittsburgh owns the second-worst record in the National League this season at 65-85, and it is last in the NL Central.

Vazquez is in the midst of his fifth MLB season and his fourth with the Pirates after beginning his career as a member of the Washington Nationals.

Monday's clubhouse altercation between Pittsburgh Pirates relievers Felipe Vazquez and Kyle Crick reportedly started over an issue with music being played. 

According to Nubyjas Wilborn of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Vazquez asked Crick to turn off the music he was playing at his locker. An argument ensued when Crick declined his teammate's request, which ultimately led to things getting physical.

Wilborn reported Vazquez challenged Crick to hit him, though Crick declined to do so. Vazquez—a two-time All-Star—reportedly followed by throwing a pair of punches at an unsuspecting Crick, which subsequently led to retaliation.

Crick underwent extensor tendon repair surgery on his right index finger on Tuesday after being injured in the clubhouse fight. The 26-year-old right-hander is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Meanwhile, Vazquez required six stitches to his nose.

Kyle Crick needed surgery today after altercation with teammate Felipe Vazquez. Pirates statement below. pic.twitter.com/xeaBBHp7tg

— Bob Pompeani (@KDPomp) September 11, 2019

Crick detailed the incident, per MLB.com's Adam Berry and Chris Haft:

"It was one of those clubhouse altercations. A lot of bickering back and forth. Punches were thrown. At some point [you have to] stand up for yourself and start throwing them back. It's one of those deals where it’s unfortunate. There are two losers in this deal; nobody can win a fight with a teammate."

Both Vazquez ($10,000) and Crick ($2,500) were fined by the team for their roles in the scuffle. Crick, though, has filed a grievance.

"We both ended up getting fined. I'm filing a grievance," Crick told Wilborn. "I don't think it was just. I was defending myself. If we were on the street, this would've been assault. I got swung at twice before I swung back."

This is not the first time Vazquez and Crick have had an issue this season. According to The Athletic's Rob Biertempfel, Crick was involved in an argument with bullpen coach Euclides Rojas in July after lodging complaints against Vazquez, an incident that resulted in Rojas being suspended for two games.

It's been that kind of season in Pittsburgh, as the last-place Pirates have been involved in a number of incidents.

Biertempfel noted reliever Keone Kela was suspended for two games in July after having a "heated exchange" with performance coach Hector Morales.

Pittsburgh was also involved in a pair of on-field brawls with the Cincinnati Reds, which stemmed from Pirates pitchers throwing at Reds second baseman Derek Dietrich multiple times. Of note, Kela was suspended 10 games for sparking a July 30 brawl.

Chris Archer was taken out of the Pittsburgh Pirates' game against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night with what the team described as right shoulder discomfort.

Archer started the game for the Pirates and pitched one inning—allowing two hits and striking out two—before he was removed. Archer tried throwing warm-up pitches prior to the second inning, but after his pitch sailed way north, he was seen shaking his head. Clay Holmes took his place.

The 30-year-old previously spent time on the injured list this season with right thumb inflammation.

Overall, Archer's 2019 has not gone as he or the Pirates had hoped after the team acquired him from the Tampa Bay Rays in a blockbuster trade last July.

At the time Archer joined Pittsburgh, it was intended for him to cap off a contending rotation. Last season, according to The Athletic's Rob Biertempfel, "Pirates pitchers ... ranked among the upper half of National League teams in ERA, WHIP, batting average against and strikeout-to-walk ratio."

Instead, pitching in Pittsburgh has trended in the opposite direction. Entering Tuesday's start, the two-time All-Star had lost seven consecutive starts. Archer owns a 3-9 record as well as a 5.23 ERA.

What's more, Pittsburgh's rotation had already taken a hit last week with Opening Day starter Jameson Taillon undergoing Tommy John surgery that will keep him out through the 2020 season.

Injuries aside, the Pirates' starting rotation ranks 25th in MLB with a 5.05 ERA. Monday night, starter Trevor Williams allowed six earned runs through two innings pitched in an eventual 13-0 loss to Washington.

In other words, should Archer be forced to miss significant time, it will be one item on a laundry list of problems in Pittsburgh. It will also be familiar territory, as 15 Pirates pitchers have spent time on the IL this season as of Aug. 16, per Biertempfel.

Prior to the result of Tuesday night's game, the Pirates are 51-73 and occupying last place in the National League Central.

More information is emerging about the two-game suspension of Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Keone Kela.

On Monday, the team announced the suspension was for an unspecified violation of his Uniform Player's Contract. Tuesday night, Yahoo Sports' Tim Brown filled in the blanks by disclosing that Kela was disciplined for "an altercation" with Pittsburgh's director of cultural initiatives, Hector Morales.  

No further information has been made available about the altercation.

According to MLB Trade Rumors, "The UPC (see it here) allows clubs to 'suspend the Player without salary for a period not exceeding thirty days' upon a 'violation by the Player of any regulation or other provision of this contract.' Written notice must be given to the player and the MLB Players Association."

Kela is expected to return from his suspension on Wednesday for the Pirates' game against the St. Louis Cardinals. 

This season, the 26-year-old has tossed 11.2 innings and registered a 4.63 ERA. He has not been able to piece together a full season due to a shoulder injury that placed him on the 60-day injured list. 

Kela hasn't pitched since May 4. 

While Pirates manager Clint Hurdle did not directly address Kela's suspension, he did admit that "it will be good to have him back in the bullpen," according to TribLive.com's Jerry Dipaola. 

"Obviously, we can use the help," he added.

The Pirates' have the ninth-highest bullpen ERA in MLB at 4.91 and rank 22nd in the league with 0.6 wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs. 

Kela arrived in Pittsburgh last season through a trade with the Texas Rangers, where he spent the first three full seasons of his major league career. 

Overall, Kela has a 20-11 record paired with a 3.48 ERA, 241 strikeouts, 27 saves and 1.14 WHIP across 196.2 innings pitched.

The Pittsburgh Pirates' Francisco Cervelli isn't ready to stop playing catcher, despite suffering his sixth documented concussion in May. 

Per ESPN.com, Cervelli clarified he "never said that I don't want to catch" and that a previous report that came out "was a misunderstanding."

On July 7, Dejan Kovacevic of DKPittsburghSports.com said Cervelli made the decision to stop catching because of his history with concussions. 

"That's enough," Cervelli told Kovacevic. "This time is different. I can't live like this."

Cervelli also wrote in an Instagram post his "hope is to catch again," but the repeated head injuries "forced me to stop and think about my health beyond my baseball years."

The Pirates used Cervelli as their starting catcher to open this season. He hasn't played since being hit in the head by Joc Pederson's broken bat during a May 25 game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Cervelli had two different stints on the concussion injury list in 2018. Pirates team doctors told reporters in June 2018 his second absence was due to a "cumulative effect" of concussions throughout his career.

As Cervelli continues to work his way back to the diamond, he's been taking reps at third base and in the outfield, so he could see time there if the Pirates don't want to put him behind the plate right away. 

After suffering the sixth official concussion of his MLB career, Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli announced Sunday he will no longer play the position.

"That's enough," he said, according to Dejan Kovacevic of DKPittsburghSports.com. "This time is different. I can't live like this."

The 33-year-old has been out since May 25 with his latest concussion.

Immediately after getting concussed, however, he reportedly told the front office he wanted to remain behind the plate.

"We care about this man. We care about this person and want him to have a great post-playing career," general manager Neal Huntington said in May. "You have to respect the player's wishes. Francisco has been adamant that he wants to continue to catch. I think he would be quite unhappy if we told him he was never going to catch for us again."

It appears Cervelli's mindset has changed, although he confirmed the team didn't order the switch.

Cervelli has been in the majors since 2008 (career .269/.358/.376 hitter), but he has played more than 100 games only three times in his career. This year, he's slashed just .193/.279/.248 with one home run and five RBI in 109 at-bats.

He hasn't spent much time at any other position, with 613 of his 623 career starts in the field at catcher. He's made 10 starts at first base, including four in 2018. He also played eight total innings at second and third base earlier in his career.

Last week, Cervelli was fielding ground balls as part of his rehab, but he wasn't catching, per Adam Berry of MLB.com. However, it's unknown what other position he might play if he is moved this year, as All-Star Josh Bell is locked in at first base.

"I'm ready to do anything," he said. "Wherever I am in the field, I'm still catching the ball, right?"

According to healthcare.utah.edu, "A concussion is a mild form of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that affects how your brain functions. These effects can be short term, lasting only a few hours or a couple of days, or cause long-term problems."

Long-term problems include trouble concentrating, memory problems, irritability and other personality changes, sensitivity to light and noise, sleep disturbances, depression and other psychological problems, and disorders of smell and taste.

In July 2018, the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Chris Archer from the Tampa Bay Rays. It was a bold move for the small-market Bucs and a rare splash for a club accustomed to sitting on the blockbuster trade-season sidelines.

In Archer, the Pirates got a two-time All-Star who finished fifth in American League Cy Young Award voting in 2015. Forget the white flag; they were flying the skull and crossbones at full mast.

Almost one year later, the deal looks like a disaster of historic, flag-plummeting proportions for Pittsburgh.

In 10 starts with the Pirates last season, Archer posted a pedestrian 4.30 ERA, though he did strike out 60 in 52.1 innings. This season, the 30-year-old right-hander has fallen off a cliff.

In 53.2 frames, Archer owns a 5.20 ERA and an even uglier 5.45 FIP. His average fastball velocity has dipped from 95.3 mph in 2018 to a career low of 93.6 mph. On top of that, he missed time in late April and early May with a thumb injury.

In his first start back on May 15, he surrendered six earned runs in 3.2 shaky innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

"Poor," he told reporters when summing up his performance. "Very, very poor."

That succinctly describes his tenure in a Pirates uniform, as well as Pittsburgh's decision to jettison three promising young players in exchange for his services.

First and foremost is 24-year-old outfielder Austin Meadows, who leads the Junior Circuit with a .341 average and is on pace for roughly 30 home runs and 95 RBI for the Rays.

In addition to Meadows, Tampa Bay netted 25-year-old right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who posted a 1.86 ERA with 55 strikeouts in 48.1 innings this season before he succumbed to a forearm injury. (That's a blemish, but he could return after the All-Star break.) 

Add 19-year-old righty Shane Baz, who has a 1.44 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 25 innings at Single-A and rates as the organization's No. 9 prospect per MLB.com, and you've got a highway robbery for the Rays.

To put a finer point on it: Tampa Bay scored a middle-of-the-order bat, an emerging ace entering his prime (albeit with injury concerns) and a high-upside minor league pitcher.

As for the Pirates? Eesh.

Archer isn't a definitive bust. He's displayed top-of-the-rotation potential throughout his career and is controllable via team options for $8.25 million in 2020 and 2021. If he regains a fraction of his former value, those are affordable figures.

However, that's a huge "if."

Archer is no longer a young man by baseball standards. He hasn't posted a sub-4.00 ERA since 2015 and has been objectively bad this season by nearly every metric. 

With Meadows soaring, Glasnow ready to dominate (health pending) and Baz waiting in the wings, this trade might rank among MLB history's most lopsided.

It'll require more time before we know if it compares with the deal that sent Frank Robinson from the Cincinnati Reds to the Baltimore Orioles in 1965. Or the trade that shipped a young Jeff Bagwell from the Boston Red Sox to the Houston Astros in 1990. Or the infamous sale of Babe Ruth from the Sox to the New York Yankees. Or any number of other "doh"-inducing swaps.

As they languish in fourth place at 30-35 in the stacked National League Central, the Pirates would undoubtedly agree to a take-back with Tampa Bay, even as they cross their fingers for an Archer renaissance.

They're 27th in payroll, per Spotrac. Cost-controlled players such as Meadows, Glasnow and Baz matter. In fact, they matter a lot.

Archer needed to be worth it. So far, he hasn't been—to put it mildly.

"I've been doing it for such a long time, even in the minors," Archer told reporters after he lasted seven innings in a 9-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on May 31. "It hasn't all been glitz and glamor. There's an ebb and flow to a season, to a career."

Unfortunately for the Pirates and their 2018 deadline acquisition, "ebb" is the operative word.

   

All statistics current as of Tuesday and courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs.

If Josh Bell isn't already your new favorite slugger, perhaps he ought to be.

Everyone likes their home runs on the long side, after all, and nobody has been hitting 'em longer than the Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman in 2019. Bell has ding-donged his 12 homers at an average of 427 feet, which comfortably leads all hitters who've hit at least 10.

This isn't a case of a sample size being skewed by a few outrageous results. Only two of Bell's dingers failed to travel over 400 feet. Seven have gone at least 420 feet, and two have shot way over that into the 470-foot range.

Just last week, Bell cranked a 472-foot blast into the Allegheny River in a tilt against the Texas Rangers at PNC Park:

Literal cannonball in the river. #RingIt pic.twitter.com/n6mr7x7Dqt

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) May 8, 2019

Most recently, the 26-year-old switch-hitter tallied 906 total feet of home runs at Chase Field against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday. And he's good for more than just hitting the ball over the fence, as his dozen clouts come with a .333 batting average and .404 on-base percentage.

"We've never seen him roll like this," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said, per MLB.com's Adam Berry. "I don't know if I've seen anybody roll like this in a Pittsburgh uniform for a while."

What is certain is that Bell's blasts have been the lifeblood of the Pirates lineup. Although the team is hanging in a tough National League Central race with a 21-19 record, its offense has been an anchor to the tune of a .681 OPS and 3.7 runs per game. Without Bell, it would be worse. 

The rest of us can only ooh and aah, and perhaps ask, "Wait, Josh Bell is doing this?"

To be fair, what Bell is now is pretty much what he was always supposed to be. He was considered to have plus hit and power tools when the Pirates took him in the second round in 2011, and those projections largely stuck with him as he made his way through the minor leagues.

Yet Bell didn't have an easy time actually showing his power as he was making his way to The Show. He hit only 44 home runs across five minor league seasons, with a peak of 14 for Triple-A Indianapolis in 2016.

Bell finally seemed to turn a corner in his first full major league season in 2017. He played in 159 games and racked up 26 long balls to go with an .800 OPS. From there, it was all too reasonable to expect that he would improve to 30 or more homers in 2018.

Instead, he regressed to hit only 12 while producing an equally disappointing .768 OPS. He was no Chris Davis, but he did fall on the lesser side of the offensive spectrum among first basemen.

The Pirates went into the winter still believing in Bell. However, they didn't mind expressing their desire for him to be better.

"Josh has the ability to be a good hitter. He has the ability to be a power hitter. We're going to continue to continue to push him to be a good hitter with power," general manager Neal Huntington said last December, according to Berry.

Bell's work didn't need to start in the weight room. He's listed at 6'4", 240 pounds, and in 2018, his fly balls and line drives traveled at an average of 94.2 mph. That was the same as Andrew McCutchen, and 0.1 miles per hour below Francisco Lindor, Edwin Encarnacion and Rhys Hoskins.

Rather, Bell's power issues stemmed more from his passivity and how he tended to hit the ball. His swing rate against pitches in the strike zone was barely above average. His 48.5 ground-ball percentage was one of the highest among first basemen.

Bell therefore needed a different approach, perhaps one brought on with the help of a mechanical shift.

Which brings us to the difference between his mechanics from the left side—i.e., his primary side—of the plate in September 2018:

To those of his first six weeks of 2019:

Bell's stance has gone from extremely open to decidedly closed, and he's more upright throughout. In theory, less drastic pre-pitch movement would allow for better focus on the pitches coming his way. The upright stance, meanwhile, would hypothetically allow for a more of an uppercut swing.

In actuality, pretty much. Hence how Bell's aforementioned issues with passivity and ground balls are no more:

Bell is now a slugger who's in attack mode and not wasting his swings. Even beyond the extra air-balls, he's also benefiting from an improvement in his fly-ball/line-drive exit velocity to a career-best 97.9 mph.

"For the most part, I'm living on the barrel and staying off the ground," Bell said in April, per Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic. "That's where hard contact is. It seems like in every [at-bat], I've had an opportunity to put the barrel on the ball and do damage. I feel like I'm in a good place."

No argument here. Bell is indeed in a good place. And as long as he stays in it, he should earn the first All-Star selection of his career in July.

Also, a spot in the Home Run Derby. In fact, that part is quickly becoming non-negotiable.

                         

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.

It appears Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Nick Burdi reportedly has avoided the worst possible fate after a scary-looking injury Monday night. 

According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, Burdi suffered a "strained biceps tendon and flexor mass" injury after falling over in pain in the eighth inning during a 12-4 loss against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but avoided any major structural damage:

The plan is for Pirates reliever Nick Burdi to seek a second opinion, per source. The injury was so painful and the feeling so acute, Burdi wants to ensure that rehab is indeed the preferred course of action and he can avoid another procedure on his surgically repaired right arm.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 23, 2019

You can see the pitch where he suffered the injury below:

#Pirates No. 24 prospect Nick Burdi, who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2017, exited tonight's game clutching his right elbow/bicep after releasing a 96.7 FB.

Here's @adamdberry with the details: https://t.co/ZkdahYq6gH pic.twitter.com/kSxJS8PUGu

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 23, 2019

"That was heart-wrenching," reliever Kyle Crick said of Burdi's injury, per Adam Berry of MLB.com. "To know what he went through the previous year to get back here, and having success in the big leagues and something like that happens, it’s tough."

"It takes the breath right out of you," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle added. "You love to compete, you love to watch young men play, then that's the hard part of it when something like that happens."

Burdi, 26, underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2017 and appeared in just two games in September of last season. In 2019, he's gone 2-1 in 11 appearances with a 9.35 ERA, 1.62 WHIP and 17 strikeouts in 8.2 innings.

He had started the season on a strong note before giving up five runs on Monday night, ballooning his ERA, and then suffering the biceps strain. 

Regardless of the results of the second opinion, Burdi is still probably facing a significant stay on the injured list. But the fact that it appears he suffered no breaks or tears is the best possible outcome given how serious the injury looked when he fell to the mound in pain on Monday night.

Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Starling Marte left Friday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park after suffering an apparent injury to his upper body. 

Per KDKA CBS 2 in Pittsburgh, Marte was carted off the field after colliding with shortstop Erik Gonzalez in the eighth inning.       

Marte and Gonzalez were attempting to catch a pop up when they ran into each other. 

Pirates shortstop Erik Gonzalez and center fielder Starling Marte collide going for a ball hit by Giants left fielder Yangervis Solarte in the eighth inning. Both players exited the game on the play. pic.twitter.com/Dh6CZl538V

— Matt Freed (@MattFreedPhoto) April 20, 2019

The 30-year-old dealt with a back injury in 2016 and played 129 games. He was suspended 80 games in 2017 for violating Major League Baseball's policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

He bounced back in 2018 and played 145 games with a career-high 20 home runs and 72 RBI. He also slashed .277/.327/.460 with 33 stolen bases, marking the fifth time in his career he reached the 30 stolen-base mark.

Coming into Friday's game, Marte was hitting .215/.261/.400 with seven extra-base hits and three stolen bases this season.

Marte uses his speed on the basepaths and to patrol the outfield as one of the better defensive presences in baseball. He was responsible for 80 defensive runs saved in the outfield in his career entering the 2019 campaign, per FanGraphs.

Look for the Pirates to turn toward JB Shuck in the outfield while Marte is sidelined. He is versatile enough to play any of the three outfield positions and gives Pittsburgh some lineup options even without its starter.