Tri-State at the Plate

The staff of Tri-State of Mind Baseball is incredibly thrilled to be talking to the general manager of the Erie SeaWolves, Greg Coleman! Greg returns to the podcast to fill us in on the 2016 SeaWolves and lets us know about the new long-term lease with Erie Events, working under the new ownership of Fernando Aguirre and how that changes expectations and performance, fan experiences and COWBOY MONKEYS COMING TO JERRY UHT PARK, new food at the stadium, how the SeaWolves are involved in the community, how awesome SeaWolves manager Lance Parrish is on and off the field, and finishes up the episode by telling his story of how he ended up in Erie, Pennsylvania.

On this week's episode, Andy and Bob start off by discussing Stephen Strasburg's new deal before an at-length discussion about swapping no-hitters for Cy Young Awards. Andy then talks about: the Pirates getting swept by the Cubs, David Freese getting a standing ovation from St. Louis fans, the return of Kang, Gregory Polanco's walk rate, and the Pirates' pitchers' slow starts and what this could mean for Jameson Taillon and Tyler Glasnow. Bob then discusses: the Tribe getting swept by the Phillies, Tyler Naquin getting optioned, Terry Francona only carrying three bench players, and Giovanny Urshella being named player of the week. The duo then discuss the Erie SeaWolves and their current and upcoming schedule before congratulating Dean Green as being named the Eastern League player of the week!

This week's podcast is full of prospect talk, but first, Andy, Bob, and Chris conduct the mandatory discussion of Dee Gordon's PED suspension (Andy thankfully resists the urge to share his 'P.E.Dee Gordon' pun). After that, Andy discusses the Pirates' coaching staff extension through 2017 before he and Chris invent the Juan Nicasio Cy Young Thermometer. Then Chris leads the prospect talk featuring: Josh Bell, Tyler Glasnow, Jameson Taillon, Kevin Newman, Cole Tucker and Mitch Keller. Bob finishes up the podcast by highlighting an unheralded Cleveland prospect Willi Castro, a 19-year-old short stop for Cleveland's Lake County Captains affiliate.

On this week's episode, Andy and Bob lead off by discussing Mark McGwire's first day managing due to Padres manager Andy Green losing his mind on a reverse of a reversal of a balk call. Andy then talks about the ups and downs of the early season Pirates, the Pirates amazing on base percentage, the bullpen's struggles, Andrew McCutchen's early season struggles with runners in scoring position, Francisco Cervelli starting at first against lefties, rehabbing Buccos Jung ho Kang and Jared Hughes, and finishes his segment talking about the Pirates throwback uniforms on Sunday home games. Bob then dissects the Indians early season woes, the eventual return of Michael Brantley, Lonnie Chisenhall returning from the DL, and finishes by discussing Carlos Santana leading off. The two then have a SeaWolves shout out, taking a look at where the Wolves currently stand in the Eastern League.

Even with Colorado Rockies' short stop Trevor Story off to an hi-Story-ic start, we refuse to jump on the bandwagon of Trevor Story puns.

Even with Colorado Rockies' short stop Trevor Story off to an hi-Story-ic start, we refuse to jump on the bandwagon of Trevor Story puns.

On this week's episode, Andy and Jason discuss the merits of Major League Baseball changing the rules of tagging runners out; the laces on your mitts are now excluded from the tag. Once their heated debate cools, Andy discusses the end of the Pirates' spring, including, but not limited to: Juan Nicasio nailing down the fifth starter spot and whether to be optimistically optimistic or cautiously optimistic, the Pirates' bullpen construction, and how the Pirates' roster is going to cut down from 30 men to 25 before Sunday. Jason then transitions flawlessly into talking about Trevor Bauer's career and how it's led him to the bullpen. He also talks about Tyler Naquin in center field, Michael Brantley and Lonnie Chisenhall on the disabled list, and he finishes up with discussing Paul Dolan's recent interview in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The gang finishes with a SeaWolves Shoutout, taking a look at when the Tri-State teams are coming to town as well as waxing poetic about Minor League Baseball.