The Pirates sent 19-year-old phenom shortstop Konnor Griffin to Triple-A.<\/p>\n
The Penguins continue to keep 21-year-old phenom goaltender Sergei Murashov at their Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton farm team.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t agree with either decision.<\/p>\n
But I understand.<\/p>\n
Griffin has never had an at-bat in Triple-A and has just 83 at the Double-A level. He, obviously, has big-league talent but may not be big-league ready. This path also enables the Pirates to delay ignition of his service clock.<\/p>\n
Sending Griffin to Indianapolis might be best for his development.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s yet another example of the Pirates kicking the can down the road, building for a future that never comes.<\/p>\n
The Pirates figure to have limited overlap with Griffin and Paul Skenes. Skenes gets expensive as of 2027 when he hits arbitration. The clock is ticking on Skenes\u2019 time in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
Despite his youth and inexperience, Griffin is their best bet at shortstop right now.<\/p>\n
Jared Triolo will start instead.<\/p>\n
In three MLB seasons, Triolo\u2019s batting average is .236 with an OPS of .667. He\u2019s a good glove but a non-existent bat. The bottom third of the Pirates\u2019 order will be rotten.<\/p>\n
Griffin would have offered no guarantees. But keeping him would have been an educated risk with potential payoff far greater than Triolo is capable of.<\/p>\n
If Griffin had stumbled, send him to Triple-A. Does it really matter when he gets that experience? A brief failed stint with the Pirates would hardly wreck him.<\/p>\n
The fans who cover the team were predisposed to agree with any decision the Pirates made.<\/p>\n
Griffin\u2019s .171 batting average at spring training was cited when his demotion was rubber-stamped. But everybody ooh\u2019d and aah\u2019d when he hit each of his team-high four home runs.<\/p>\n
Outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia seems a right-handed power bat the Pirates could use off the bench. But he got sent to Triple-A despite hitting .405 with two home runs at spring training.<\/p>\n
How much do exhibition numbers count?<\/p>\n
Make no mistake, Griffin will be in Pittsburgh soon enough.<\/p>\n
But what will the Pirates\u2019 record be when he arrives?<\/p>\n
The Penguins have a similar situation with Murashov, the team\u2019s undoubted goaltender of the future.<\/p>\n
Maybe he should be their goaltender right now.<\/p>\n
The Penguins are fading in the playoff chase, not least because goalies Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs are also fading.<\/p>\n
Especially Skinner. Since Feb. 1, Skinner is 1-2-5 with a goals-against average of 3.55 and a save percentage of .876. Bad stats.<\/p>\n
Skinner is simply allowing too many goals, including many that don\u2019t pass the eye test: Right through him, or in the center of the net. Those don\u2019t get taken off the scoreboard when Skinner makes a good save, or when the home crowd yells \u201cSTUUUU!\u201d<\/p>\n
Silovs has better numbers since Feb. 1, but not great: 6-3 record, 2.83 goals-against average, .891 save percentage.<\/p>\n
Skinner and Silovs are both superior to the thankfully departed Tristan Jarry, who since has soiled the bed at Edmonton. But still better is required.<\/p>\n
Meantime, Murashov is dominating at Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton: 21-8-3 record, 2.20 goals-against average, .919 save percentage. He looks the part, too, often performing spectacularly.<\/p>\n
Sure, the American Hockey League is a lower level. But the pucks and nets are the same size.<\/p>\n
Murashov had a lukewarm five games with the Penguins before the New Year: 2.56 goals-against average, .897 save percentage. But the Penguins were playing bad hockey then. And Murashov\u2019s stats then are nonetheless better than Skinner\u2019s and Silovs\u2019 since Feb. 1.<\/p>\n
Murashov isn\u2019t coming to Pittsburgh. Given that, perhaps coach Dan Muse should ditch his goalie rotation and lean more heavily on Silovs.<\/p>\n
Like with the Pirates and Griffin, the Penguins have a plan for Murashov\u2019s development that won\u2019t be altered.<\/p>\n
But Murashov is the Penguins\u2019 best goalie right now.<\/p>\n
Just like Griffin is the Pirates\u2019 best shortstop right now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pirates sent 19-year-old phenom shortstop Konnor Griffin to Triple-A. The Penguins continue to keep 21-year-old phenom goaltender…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":559826,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-559825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=559825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/559826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=559825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=559825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=559825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}