Pirates New Lineup Plans

News came out today on the Pirates web site that the Pirates are going with a very unconventional lineup at the beginning of the season. The biggest thing that sticks out in the new plan is the pitcher hitting in the 8 hole.

The reason for this move is so more capable batters will be hitting in front of Andrew McCutchen, who will consequently bat 2nd in the lineup. Akinori Iwamura will assume lead off responsibilities. The Pirates see McCutchen as one of their better run producers and want to give him every chance to succeed at doing so. This means that Ronny Cedeno will start the year batting 9th. Although Cedeno has never had a good on base percentage, they are hoping batting 9th will force pitchers to give him more pitches to hit and his numbers will increase. The flip side of that is the 7 hole in the order, which will most likely be taken by Andy LaRoche. Hitting before the pitcher requires a lot of plate patience, which the Pirates see in LaRoche. While it may not bode well for Andy's numbers, I agree that he is the best fit for that spot in the lineup. So here's what the opening day lineup is gonna (probably) look like:

1. Akinori Iwamura, 2B
2. Andrew McCutchen, CF
3. Garrett Jones, LF
4. Ryan Doumit, C
5. Lastings Milledge, LF
6. Jeff Clement, 1B
7. Andy LaRoche, 3B
8. Zach Duke, SP
9. Ronny Cedeno, SS

The Pirates implemented this lineup today and had some very nice results, putting up 15 hits and beating the Astros 13-1.

In other news, the Pirates claimed Hayden Penn off of waivers today. Penn was competing for a spot in the Marlins' rotation, but had rough goings in spring training and was DFA'd. The Pirates picking him up will mean that he will start the year on the 25 man roster and in the bullpen. Penn was a 5th round draft pick by the Baltimore Orioles in 2002 and showed some serious promise in his early years. That success has gone away in the last few years and he has put up some rough numbers, including a 7.77 ERA in 22 innings in the majors last year. The Pirates decided his upside was worth the risk and grabbed him. Consequently they DFA'd Brandon Moss, which has made me very happy. That opens the door for John Raynor to make the opening day club, and kind of adds on to the confusion of the bullpen situation. Jack Taschner was looking like a good chance to be in the bullpen, but now not so much (same with Jean Macchi).

Another interesting possibility is that Jason Jaramillo may start the year in AAA while Erik Kratz takes his spot on the major league roster. This move will be made to get Jaramillo regular playing time so he won't go stale and not be ready to assume the starting job in Pittsburgh if Doumit gets injured or traded. I have been wondering about this all offseason long and I think this is the right move. Jaramillo isn't helping the Pirates at all sitting on the bench in Pittsburgh, and he has the talent to be a starter some day if he can just get some playing time. He is best suited playing everyday in Indianapolis so he will be ready to assume the starting job in the majors if (when) Doumit gets injured (or traded).

More 25-man roster announcements will be coming out in the next couple days, so be on the look out for that.