Off The Bat is a weekly Pirates column from insider Jason Mackey, powered by North Shore Tavern, Pittsburgh’s home for steak on a stone.
ST. LOUIS — Ryan Borucki stood around a table in the visitors’ clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday afternoon as the Pirates looked to sweep the Kansas City Royals, flipping through papers and examining his options. Scouting reports? Not so much, though the left-hander reliever did later notch a key strikeout.
Borucki was working with travel manager Ryan Denlinger to order food for the Pirates’ fantasy football draft the next day in St. Louis, an annual tradition that keys plenty of trash talking and produces a welcome respite from the dog days of the baseball season.
A Mundelein, Ill., native and diehard Chicago Bears fan, baseball might be the only thing Borucki takes more seriously than fantasy football. He’ll be in four leagues this fall and does several other survivor and spread pools with his buddies back home, which is why he was appointed commissioner of the Pirates’ league.
“It’s my favorite time of year,” Borucki said. “I love the Bears to death and rooting for other guys, appreciating their craft.”
Fantasy football can be serious business for Borucki, who had been working his way through a 240-page draft guide and listening to several podcasts prior to the draft, analyzing various strategies and looking for ways to exploit value in later rounds.
He also has a sour taste in his mouth from last year, when he finished last in the Mariners’ league.
“I’m trying to redeem myself,” Borucki said.
This time of year, the topic of fantasy football can be a fun conversation for baseball players who are looking for a bit of a mental break.
Borucki is running a 10-team league. Some such as David Bednar and Duane Underwood Jr.’s are joint operations. Other general managers — Colin Selby is one example — operate independently.
Teams must have a name, although they aren’t exactly for public consumption.
“Have to have a name,” Borucki said. “That’s the whole point of it, right?”
There are several rule changes this year, implemented by the first-year commissioner, who loves to see more points being scored and is adamant about running a point-perp-reception (PPR) league.
Borucki chose to add another flex option to weekly rosters while also doing away with the idea of having a kicker.
“Kickers are wastes,” Borucki said. “I don’t ever want to lose because my kicker missed a field goal.”
As much as the Pirates were looking forward to the draft, the process of determining the order was shrouded in controversy.
Asked about Borucki’s abilities so far as a commissioner, Selby fired a shot at his fellow reliever.
“Have you talked to Borucki about how he rigged the draft?” Selby said.
Borucki used something called 100 Yard Rush, which is a random order visualizer used to determine such things. It’s basically a football field with players running the length of it Tecmo Bowl-style, which the Pirates had play out on the video board at PNC Park one recent afternoon.
Borucki wound up with the first pick, and nobody seemed terribly happy about it.
“The commissioner getting the first pick,” Colin Holderman said. “Seems a little suspect.”
“Yeah, kinda fishy,” David Bednar added.
Borucki would not reveal his intentions about who he planned to take, but Bednar joked — at least I think he was kidding — about what he planned to do with the third overall pick.
“I’m hoping the Steelers defense will still be around,” the Pirates closer said.
This will be Bednar’s second season working alongside Underwood. Growing up in Marietta, Ga., Underwood is a big Falcons fan, and Bednar joked that their team might include plenty of Atlanta and Pittsburgh players.
“It’s not a great combo,” Bednar said. “But when Sundays in the offseason roll around, it makes it fun.”
Holderman, meanwhile, plans to leave most of the hard work to major league physical therapist Seth Steinhauer, someone the Pirates primary setup man joked was “hired” to be his GM.
“I’m not the best fantasy football GM, so I hired one,” Holderman said. “I plan on being a very hands-off owner.”
Last year, Holderman tried fantasy football for the first time ever, and it did not go well. His draft strategy, if you want to call it that, flopped. He also became that guy who got lazy about setting his lineup and monitoring the waiver wire for potential pickups.
“I just like watching football, so I thought I would be involved,” Holderman said. “It did not go as planned.”
Selby, who spent time living in South Bend, Ind., as a kid, is a bit more serious. He won the Altoona league last year and is looking forward to competing with major leaguers for the first time.
He’s also one of six Bears fans in the Pirates clubhouse or in Triple-A. Borucki, bullpen coach Justin Meccage, Quinn Priester, Jack Suwinski and Holderman are the others. Selby usually does three leagues per year and takes the competition fairly seriously.
“Football is my favorite sport to watch,” he said.
Borucki got way into fantasy football around eighth grade, enjoying its nuance and the strategy involved. One of his biggest fantasy football buddies in the Pirates clubhouse was Austin Hedges, who was traded to the Texas Rangers.
Hedges plays in several high-money leagues and was obsessed in the same way that he scouts opposing hitters.
“He was really into it,” Borucki said. “Me and him would talk about it all the time. I’ll definitely be texting him during draft day to kind of validate my picks. You have to have that validation so that you’re not reaching on a guy and making a good pick.”
THREE UP
• Hasn’t received the attention it deserves, but Colin Holderman has returned to his previously dominant form. The Pirates setup man has a 0.96 ERA in his past 19 appearances dating back to July 16, third-lowest among National League relievers. Has walked seven and struck out 24 in 18 2/3 innings. Stuff is electric. Remains a key back-end piece for the Pirates.
• I really believe the Pirates may have found something larger with former Dodger Andre Jackson. Slider (.118 batting average against) has been nearly unhittable, while the changeup (31.7% whiff) is probably his best pitch. Has plenty of velocity. Knows what he’s doing on the mound. Background of a starter. Has really been an outstanding find.
• It’s been encouraging to see Endy Rodriguez assert himself more recently. Not just lobbying for Johan Oviedo to stay in Monday’s game, although that was fun. More the day-to-day energy he brings, the welcoming personality that makes him impossible not to like. Has physical development ahead, sure. But really impressed with his motor and ability to relate to everyone.
THREE DOWN
• I’ve liked Alika Williams’ defense, but it’s been tough to see how little offense the Pirates are getting from shortstop, something that was supposed to be a position of strength with Oneil Cruz. They’re 21st in batting average by shortstops (.231) and 23rd in OPS (.655). The good news is that Cruz will be back. The bad news is that it has definitely hurt the Pirates in 2023.
• Still don't know what to make of the first base situation. Alfonso Rivas has been better of late, but he's still hitting .132 over his past 17. Feels like not much more than a stop gap. Now, here comes Miguel Andujar, who was hitting .338 with a .940 OPS in 103 Triple-A games. Plenty of questions remain.
• Good for Robert Stephenson, bad for the Pirates. His swinging strike rate since the trade has been the best in MLB by a wide margin. Also leads all relievers in whiffs, second in percentage of strikeouts ... you get the idea. All by starting to throw a cutter or hard slider. It’s why you don’t need to spend if your smart ... but troubling that the Pirates couldn’t find the fix.
ON DECK
• STILL SMOOTH: Carlos Santana deserves a warm ovation on Monday. Has a .231 average and .723 OPS in 27 games with the Brewers compared to .235 and .732 in 94 for Pittsburgh. Ranks second among first basemen in FanGraphs’ defensive runs saved (7) and could win a Gold Glove.
• WILD BILL: C William Contreras’ batting average (.325) since July 2 ranks sixth in the National League. His OPS (.900) is 13th. Contreras also carried a 11-game hitting streak into Saturday's games, during which he was batting .381 with a 1.133 OPS.
• MIGHTIER PEN: Ridiculous offense, stellar starting pitching ... yeah, like the Braves needed another weapon. Yet their bullpen finished August with the second-lowest ERA (2.48) in MLB, trailing only the Dodgers.
• CHUCKIN’ IT: Another old friend has been really good of late. RHP Charlie Morton has allowed just one earned run over his past four starts, walking 11 and striking out 33 in 24 innings.
NUMEROLOGY
4: The Braves have four players with 30-plus homers: Matt Olson, 43; Austin Riley, 32; Marcell Ozuna, 32; and Ronald Acuna Jr., 31. Only 13 across MLB have reached that milestone. Pirates have had one (Josh Bell, 37, 2019) 30-plus-homer season the past 10 years.
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: September 1, 2023, 12:43 p.m.
Updated: September 1, 2023, 2:09 p.m.
