The Pirates have not been doing a lot right in the last couple series, however they bounced back with a pretty solid performance today. Despite the lack of offense (which we have grown sickeningly used to), the Pirates were able to earn their 6th victory in 7 games against the Cubs.
The story of the game was Ross Ohlendorf, who went 7 innings giving up only 3 hits while striking out 6. He surrendered 1 earned run which should not have been an earned run as a routine (and rather deep) fly ball was dropped due to lack of communication from Ryan Church and Andrew McCutchen. Ross was on his game today, going right after hitters and getting incredible results. He walked only 2 batters, which is a great sign since that has been his biggest problem so far this year. The 6 strikeouts are also very encouraging because he has been getting hit hard and really not getting a lot of swings and misses. Ross really took a giant leap in the right direction today.
The offense collected only 7 hits, and scratched across only 2 runs. Garrett Jones hit his 6th homer of the year and also scored the 2nd run when Bobby Crosby singled in the 8th inning. Evan Meek and Octavio Dotel put up 2 0's and the Pirates put their losing streak to a hault. The Pirates got 2 more hits from Neil Walker, who has been fantastic. Neil is hitting .321 in his time with the Pirates. He was also robbed of a double by Kosuke Fukudome in the first inning on a ball he ripped to right. We knew what we could expect from Neil defensively, and he has given us that, but what he has done with his bat has been a huge help. The best part is that he isn't just hitting weak singles, he is hitting the ball hard down the lines and into the gaps and racking up the extra base hits. Let's hope he can keep it up and be a table setter for the middle of the order.
The Pirates have 2 more games with the Cubs before a much needed day off before facing the Giants in a weekend 3-game set.
Pirates vs. Reds, Game 48
CommentsPittsburgh Pirates (20-26) vs. Cincinnati Reds (26-20)
7:10 PM, Great American Ballpark
Charlie Morton (1-8, 8.71) vs. Johnny Cueto (4-1, 3.60)
Late Night Doumit
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The Pirates got a real nice win tonight as Paul Maholm went 7 scoreless innings giving up 6 hits and striking out 2. He threw only 89 pitches, and 54 of them went for strikes. Maholm was great tonight, let's hope he can continue that stretch in his next starts.
The Pirates got a cheap run in the 8th when Akinori Iwamura hit a routine fly ball that was lost in the lights (?) by centerfielder Drew Stubbs allowing Aki to coast into third for a "triple". I guess Aki will takes hits any way he can get them. After that Neil Walker made his 2010 debut memorable by driving Aki in on a double that he scorched down the right field line. The Pirates couldn't bring him around however and the game was tied at 1 after a Brandon Phillips blast in the bottom of the 8th.
The real story of this game came in the top of the 9th, when Ryan Doumit hit his 5th home run of the season to put the Pirates up for good.
Doumit's 5 home runs are tied for first on the team, which is kind of disappointing. However, those 4 of those 5 home runs could not have been timed much better. Let's take a look at them.
Home Run #1: April 5th vs. Dodgers, 8th Inning off George Sherrill
This one was the least important of his 5 home runs, but it was probably the longest one. It was also a good way to start off the season, by adding some insurance to guarantee a Pirate opening day victory. The Pirates were already up 8-5 and it was a 3-run shot that capped off one of the more impressive Pirates opening day performances in recent memory.
Home Run #2: April 27th vs. Brewers, 9th Inning off Trevor Hoffman
This home run got the Pirates a much needed win and gave Trevor Hoffman one his 5 blown saves this season. Ronny Cedeno had homered earlier in the inning to tie it up, and Doumit put the game away with a grand slam.
Home Run #3: April 28th vs. Brewers, 9th Inning off Trevor Hoffman
Doumit's 2nd 9th inning home run in a row gave Hoffman his second blown save in a row. Doumit didn't even play in this game, but came up as a pinch hitter and ended up saving the game for the Bucs with this lead off blast. It wasn't a tape-measure shot by any stretch of the imagination, just a low line drive that squeaked inside the foul pole. The Pirates would end up winning the game in 14 innings.
Home Run #4: May 23rd vs. Braves, 10th Inning off Takashi Saito
You all should remember this one. It happened just 2 days ago and was actually Doumit's first walk off dinger in any level of his career. The Pirates played a great game that day behind a strong start from Zach Duke but they're offense wasn't doing much. However, Doumit stepped up in the 10th with 2 outs and electrified the semi-large crowd at PNC Park.
Home Run #5: May 25th vs. Reds, 9th Inning off Nick Masset
Tonight's home run was the difference in the Pirates notching their 20th win of the year. It was a pretty impressive shot; one of those no-doubters off the bat.
The bottom line is that Doumit has been hitting home runs at the right times this year. He has 4 home runs in the 9th inning or later, and each one of those has turned out to win the game for the Pirates. Doumit's team is undefeated when he hits a home run and he is hitting .400 in "late and close games" and .484 in tie games. Doumit is really coming through when the Pirates need him most, and he has helped us win some ball games this year.
The Pirates got a cheap run in the 8th when Akinori Iwamura hit a routine fly ball that was lost in the lights (?) by centerfielder Drew Stubbs allowing Aki to coast into third for a "triple". I guess Aki will takes hits any way he can get them. After that Neil Walker made his 2010 debut memorable by driving Aki in on a double that he scorched down the right field line. The Pirates couldn't bring him around however and the game was tied at 1 after a Brandon Phillips blast in the bottom of the 8th.
The real story of this game came in the top of the 9th, when Ryan Doumit hit his 5th home run of the season to put the Pirates up for good.
Doumit's 5 home runs are tied for first on the team, which is kind of disappointing. However, those 4 of those 5 home runs could not have been timed much better. Let's take a look at them.
Home Run #1: April 5th vs. Dodgers, 8th Inning off George Sherrill
This one was the least important of his 5 home runs, but it was probably the longest one. It was also a good way to start off the season, by adding some insurance to guarantee a Pirate opening day victory. The Pirates were already up 8-5 and it was a 3-run shot that capped off one of the more impressive Pirates opening day performances in recent memory.
Home Run #2: April 27th vs. Brewers, 9th Inning off Trevor Hoffman
This home run got the Pirates a much needed win and gave Trevor Hoffman one his 5 blown saves this season. Ronny Cedeno had homered earlier in the inning to tie it up, and Doumit put the game away with a grand slam.
Home Run #3: April 28th vs. Brewers, 9th Inning off Trevor Hoffman
Doumit's 2nd 9th inning home run in a row gave Hoffman his second blown save in a row. Doumit didn't even play in this game, but came up as a pinch hitter and ended up saving the game for the Bucs with this lead off blast. It wasn't a tape-measure shot by any stretch of the imagination, just a low line drive that squeaked inside the foul pole. The Pirates would end up winning the game in 14 innings.
Home Run #4: May 23rd vs. Braves, 10th Inning off Takashi Saito
You all should remember this one. It happened just 2 days ago and was actually Doumit's first walk off dinger in any level of his career. The Pirates played a great game that day behind a strong start from Zach Duke but they're offense wasn't doing much. However, Doumit stepped up in the 10th with 2 outs and electrified the semi-large crowd at PNC Park.
Home Run #5: May 25th vs. Reds, 9th Inning off Nick Masset
Tonight's home run was the difference in the Pirates notching their 20th win of the year. It was a pretty impressive shot; one of those no-doubters off the bat.
The bottom line is that Doumit has been hitting home runs at the right times this year. He has 4 home runs in the 9th inning or later, and each one of those has turned out to win the game for the Pirates. Doumit's team is undefeated when he hits a home run and he is hitting .400 in "late and close games" and .484 in tie games. Doumit is really coming through when the Pirates need him most, and he has helped us win some ball games this year.
Walker Promoted, Iwamura Angrily Swings and Misses at Gatorade Cooler
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It's finally time to stop seeing Akinori Iwamura start at second base. The red hot Neil Walker has been called up and has joined the team in Cincinnati. I never thought I would be this excited about him again, but his play has warranted some hype.
In 43 games with the AAA Indianapolis Indians this year, Walker hit .321/.392/.560 with 18 doubles, 2 triples, 6 home runs, and 26 RBI. He also stole 10 bases and scored 25 runs. He has been the best overall player on a team that has been very competitive in their league. Walker is excited and feels he is more ready now than ever before to make an impact in the major leagues. This would be one heck of a story if he could find comfort at second base and establish himself there for years to come.
The most positive thing about this call up is probably the fact that Iwamura's .163 average will now be on the bench (or even better, on another team). It was a waste of almost 5 million dollars for the Pirates, but this move had to be made.
While we don't know what Walker is going to do with the bat in the majors, it is almost a sure thing that he will be a significant upgrade defensively over Iwamura, who has looked terrible there all year long. Neil just started playing second this year, but has adapted incredibly fast just as he did at third base. The guy has natural defensive ability and can play almost everywhere. He is a better emergency catcher option than Jeff Clement (who could be the next one on the way out of Pittsburgh once Pearce comes off the DL), and can play third and the corners of the outfield.
He could very well be the starting 2nd baseman in tonight's game against the Reds, and if he is that alone is reason to watch the game.
As they say in Japan, " いくらかのベンチをつかんでください ", grab some bench Aki.
In 43 games with the AAA Indianapolis Indians this year, Walker hit .321/.392/.560 with 18 doubles, 2 triples, 6 home runs, and 26 RBI. He also stole 10 bases and scored 25 runs. He has been the best overall player on a team that has been very competitive in their league. Walker is excited and feels he is more ready now than ever before to make an impact in the major leagues. This would be one heck of a story if he could find comfort at second base and establish himself there for years to come.
The most positive thing about this call up is probably the fact that Iwamura's .163 average will now be on the bench (or even better, on another team). It was a waste of almost 5 million dollars for the Pirates, but this move had to be made.
While we don't know what Walker is going to do with the bat in the majors, it is almost a sure thing that he will be a significant upgrade defensively over Iwamura, who has looked terrible there all year long. Neil just started playing second this year, but has adapted incredibly fast just as he did at third base. The guy has natural defensive ability and can play almost everywhere. He is a better emergency catcher option than Jeff Clement (who could be the next one on the way out of Pittsburgh once Pearce comes off the DL), and can play third and the corners of the outfield.
He could very well be the starting 2nd baseman in tonight's game against the Reds, and if he is that alone is reason to watch the game.
As they say in Japan, " いくらかのベンチをつかんでください ", grab some bench Aki.
Pirates vs. Reds, Game 45
CommentsPittsburgh Pirates (19-25) vs. Cincinnati Reds (25-19)
7:10 PM, PNC Park
Brian Burres (2-1, 4.91) vs. Aaron Harang (2-5, 6.02)
Pirates' Batters vs. Aaron Harang
Ryan Doumit: 6/23, 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 6 K
Ronny Cedeno: 4/17, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 7 K
Andy LaRoche: 1/4, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Ryan Church: 2/3
Lastings Milledge: 0/3, 1 RBI, 1 K
Reds' Batters vs. Zach Duke
Orlando Cabrera: 5/11, 3 2B, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Jonny Gomes: 2/9, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Scott Rolen: 1/1, 1 BB
This is definitely a winnable game for the Pirates. Burres has been up and down this year, but for the most part it's been up and his last start was pretty solid when he went 6 innings and gave up 3 runs to the Brewers. His counterpart, Aaron Harang, has not been very good this year. In his last 4 starts he has gone 24.2 total innings and given up 13 runs, which isn't too bad but definitely beatable. He is striking out between 5 and 6 an outing, so we're gonna see some swings and misses from the Pirates tonight. Hopefully they can get the hits when they need them and get win number 20.
Another quick thing I want to to say is that there is no reason Neil Walker should not be starting at 2nd base tonight. In fact, there is no reason he should not have been starting at second base last Thursday. Numerous other Pirate bloggers have weighed in on this subject and we have all heard the story, but there is truly nothing to gain by playing Akinori Iwamura outside of trying to raise his trade value. The only reason we got him in the first place is because there was no immediate 2nd base prospects in the system that the club thought could take the job in the next couple years, but now there is in Neil Walker, so why are they wasting valuable playing time on Iwamura? They could be using these games to find out what they have in Walker at the major league level, he has very little more to gain in the minor leagues and is performing more than well enough to get the promotion, I don't know why management is hesitating, but hopefully they will pull the trigger in the next few days so we can finally get Iwamura on the bench (or possibly DL).
That is all, LET'S GO BUCS!
The Road Ahead, A Look At The Red-Hot Reds
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After an abbreviated home stand in which the Pirates won 2 out of 5, they hit the road for a pretty tough week of baseball. The Pirates have a 4-game set with the Reds that runs Monday through Thursday and then 3 more games with the Braves over the weekend before returning home to face the Cubs again.
The Pirates got a much needed win today in walk off style as Ryan Doumit's 10th inning blast beat the Braves and improved the Pirates record to 18-23 on the season. It was very nice to see the Pirates pitch well and get enough timely hits to get a victory and stop that mini losing streak. The next 7 games are gonna be pretty important for the Pirates, they are 6 games under .500 now and if they don't play well on this road trip they are going to be a lot worse off than that. The Reds and Braves are 2 of the hotter teams in the major leagues right now, so nothing is going to be easy this week, but if the Pirates can keep pitching and getting some well timed hits they could be looking at their 2nd straight winning road trip.
For now we'll take a quick look at the Cincinnati Reds, who have won 6 of their last 9 and 11 of their last 15. In that stretch they have scored 89 runs and given up 49. That's almost 6 runs a game. They have hit 21 home runs in that time, which is almost 1.5 homers per game. The big-name bats in the Reds lineup are Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto, Scott Rolen, and Jay Bruce. Phillips and Bruce have been inconsistent, but really good at times, Votto has been solid all year, and Rolen has been hitting the ball well lately (4 homers and 12 RBI in his last 7 games). Besides the big name guys, they have been getting some real solid performance from guys like Laynce Nix (8 hits, 3 homers, and 7 RBI in last 4 games) and Jonny Gomes (.342 AVG last 10 games).
The hitting has been good, but the pitching has put them over the top. The Reds have given up only 3.27 runs per game in their last 15 games, which works out to a team ERA of 3.05. In that same stretch the pitchers have struck out around 6.5 batters per game and walked only 2.6 per game (and the 7 they gave up in Sunday's loss to the Indians significantly raised that number). While the Reds pitchers are doing a good job in almost every facet of the game, they have been giving up a surprising amount of home runs. There have been 14 home runs hit against them in the last 15 games.
Unfortunately for the Pirates, we don't have too many threats in the home run department. Ryan Doumit hit the ball well today and his 10th inning walk off might be cause for hope of a little power surge, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. Garrett Jones has done well this year with runners in scoring position and he has a good number of RBI's, but he just isn't hitting the ball over the fence like we expected him to. He has 5 home runs this year, 3 of which came in the first 2 games of the season.
Bottom line is, if the Pirates are going to win or split this series, they are going to have to play very well on both sides of the ball. I don't believe the Reds are really as good as they have been lately, but they definitely aren't far from it. They have a lot of young talent that has been clicking well this year, and that teamed with some experienced veterans performing well is a great recipe for success. Here are the probable pitching matchups:
Monday: Brian Burres (2-1, 4.91) vs. Aaron Harang (2-5, 6.02)
Tuesday: Paul Maholm (3-4, 4.50) vs. Mike Leake (4-0, 2.91)
Wednesday: Ross Ohlendorf (0-2, 5.30) vs. Bronson Arroyo (4-2, 4.85)
Thursday: Charlie Morton (1-8, 8.72) vs. Johnny Cueto (4-1, 3.60)
Should be a fun series to watch, lots of young talent and familiar competition should make for some good baseball. Let's Go Bucs!
The Pirates got a much needed win today in walk off style as Ryan Doumit's 10th inning blast beat the Braves and improved the Pirates record to 18-23 on the season. It was very nice to see the Pirates pitch well and get enough timely hits to get a victory and stop that mini losing streak. The next 7 games are gonna be pretty important for the Pirates, they are 6 games under .500 now and if they don't play well on this road trip they are going to be a lot worse off than that. The Reds and Braves are 2 of the hotter teams in the major leagues right now, so nothing is going to be easy this week, but if the Pirates can keep pitching and getting some well timed hits they could be looking at their 2nd straight winning road trip.
For now we'll take a quick look at the Cincinnati Reds, who have won 6 of their last 9 and 11 of their last 15. In that stretch they have scored 89 runs and given up 49. That's almost 6 runs a game. They have hit 21 home runs in that time, which is almost 1.5 homers per game. The big-name bats in the Reds lineup are Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto, Scott Rolen, and Jay Bruce. Phillips and Bruce have been inconsistent, but really good at times, Votto has been solid all year, and Rolen has been hitting the ball well lately (4 homers and 12 RBI in his last 7 games). Besides the big name guys, they have been getting some real solid performance from guys like Laynce Nix (8 hits, 3 homers, and 7 RBI in last 4 games) and Jonny Gomes (.342 AVG last 10 games).
The hitting has been good, but the pitching has put them over the top. The Reds have given up only 3.27 runs per game in their last 15 games, which works out to a team ERA of 3.05. In that same stretch the pitchers have struck out around 6.5 batters per game and walked only 2.6 per game (and the 7 they gave up in Sunday's loss to the Indians significantly raised that number). While the Reds pitchers are doing a good job in almost every facet of the game, they have been giving up a surprising amount of home runs. There have been 14 home runs hit against them in the last 15 games.
Unfortunately for the Pirates, we don't have too many threats in the home run department. Ryan Doumit hit the ball well today and his 10th inning walk off might be cause for hope of a little power surge, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. Garrett Jones has done well this year with runners in scoring position and he has a good number of RBI's, but he just isn't hitting the ball over the fence like we expected him to. He has 5 home runs this year, 3 of which came in the first 2 games of the season.
Bottom line is, if the Pirates are going to win or split this series, they are going to have to play very well on both sides of the ball. I don't believe the Reds are really as good as they have been lately, but they definitely aren't far from it. They have a lot of young talent that has been clicking well this year, and that teamed with some experienced veterans performing well is a great recipe for success. Here are the probable pitching matchups:
Monday: Brian Burres (2-1, 4.91) vs. Aaron Harang (2-5, 6.02)
Tuesday: Paul Maholm (3-4, 4.50) vs. Mike Leake (4-0, 2.91)
Wednesday: Ross Ohlendorf (0-2, 5.30) vs. Bronson Arroyo (4-2, 4.85)
Thursday: Charlie Morton (1-8, 8.72) vs. Johnny Cueto (4-1, 3.60)
Should be a fun series to watch, lots of young talent and familiar competition should make for some good baseball. Let's Go Bucs!
How Good Is Joel Hanrahan?
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The Pirates defeated the Brewers 6-4 tonight to improve their record to 18-22. The story of this game was some pretty solid starting pitching, some clutch hitting, and some more great work from the back end of the bullpen. Joel Hanrahan was especially impressive, striking out the only 2 batters he faced. So far this year the two best pitchers in the bullpen have been Evan Meek and Hanrahan, and they both look like they could be closing for some of the better teams in the league. However, they are second and third behind Octavio Dotel for the Pirates, but that is working out just fine for the Bucs. Let's take a closer look at Joel Hanrahan.
So far this year Hanrahan has an ERA of 4.50, which does not do him justice to how well he has pitched. His FIP was 3.48 before tonight's game, and that has decreased a couple points after his .2 innings tonight. Without his rough outing in the 20-0 shlacking the Pirates took from the Brewers, when Joel gave up 6 runs in 1 inning, his ERA would be an outstanding 1.20, that game really inflated a lot of ERAs for the Pirates pitching staff.
Hanrahan is one of the hardest throwing Pirates, he reaches 97 on the gun at times, and his average fastball has been coming in at 94.9 miles per hour this year. Hanrahan is turning into one of the league's top strikeout relievers, having an incredible K/9 ratio of 13.5 so far this year. His control hasn't been the greatest, as his BB/9 is at 3.38, but the strikeouts more than make up for that.
Having guys like Meek and Hanrahan in the bullpen make it a lot easier on the Pirates starters, because they know if they can get their team the lead through 6 innings, they have a very good chance of winning the ballgame. The Pirates are 10-6 in games that Hanrahan pitches in, and 8-4 in games that Hanrahan pitches after the 7th inning.
The best thing about Hanrahan's 2010 campaign is that Hanrahan has allowed only 1 run while the Pirates are ahead in the game. That run came on April 16th when the Pirates were up 3-0 on the Reds. He gave up a run in the 8th but the Pirates ended up winning that game in bottom of the 9th when Lastings Milledge drove in Andrew McCutchen after Octavio Dotel blew the save.
Hanrahan has been especially great lately. In his last 8.2 innings (since May 4) he has not allowed a run, surrendered only 5 hits, struck out 13, and notched 7 holds.
It's not like he's been facing slackers on offense either. He has gotten big outs on guys like Ryan Braun (K), Prince Fielder (K), Ryan Howard (K), Jimmy Rollins, Derrek Lee (K), Albert Pujols (K), Aramis Ramirez, Joey Votto, Alfonso Soriano, and others.
The Pirates have had one of, if not the best bullpens in protecting leads this year, and much of that can be attributed to Joel Hanrahan.
So how good is Joel Hanrahan? I'd say... real freaking good.
So far this year Hanrahan has an ERA of 4.50, which does not do him justice to how well he has pitched. His FIP was 3.48 before tonight's game, and that has decreased a couple points after his .2 innings tonight. Without his rough outing in the 20-0 shlacking the Pirates took from the Brewers, when Joel gave up 6 runs in 1 inning, his ERA would be an outstanding 1.20, that game really inflated a lot of ERAs for the Pirates pitching staff.
Hanrahan is one of the hardest throwing Pirates, he reaches 97 on the gun at times, and his average fastball has been coming in at 94.9 miles per hour this year. Hanrahan is turning into one of the league's top strikeout relievers, having an incredible K/9 ratio of 13.5 so far this year. His control hasn't been the greatest, as his BB/9 is at 3.38, but the strikeouts more than make up for that.
Having guys like Meek and Hanrahan in the bullpen make it a lot easier on the Pirates starters, because they know if they can get their team the lead through 6 innings, they have a very good chance of winning the ballgame. The Pirates are 10-6 in games that Hanrahan pitches in, and 8-4 in games that Hanrahan pitches after the 7th inning.
The best thing about Hanrahan's 2010 campaign is that Hanrahan has allowed only 1 run while the Pirates are ahead in the game. That run came on April 16th when the Pirates were up 3-0 on the Reds. He gave up a run in the 8th but the Pirates ended up winning that game in bottom of the 9th when Lastings Milledge drove in Andrew McCutchen after Octavio Dotel blew the save.
Hanrahan has been especially great lately. In his last 8.2 innings (since May 4) he has not allowed a run, surrendered only 5 hits, struck out 13, and notched 7 holds.
It's not like he's been facing slackers on offense either. He has gotten big outs on guys like Ryan Braun (K), Prince Fielder (K), Ryan Howard (K), Jimmy Rollins, Derrek Lee (K), Albert Pujols (K), Aramis Ramirez, Joey Votto, Alfonso Soriano, and others.
The Pirates have had one of, if not the best bullpens in protecting leads this year, and much of that can be attributed to Joel Hanrahan.
So how good is Joel Hanrahan? I'd say... real freaking good.
Brewers vs. Pirates, Game 40
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The Pirates are coming off a huge win over Roy Halladay and the Phillies, and the Brewers are coming off 8 straight losses. It looks good right now for the Pirates, but you never know what will happen.
Milwaukee Brewers (15-24) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (17-22)
7:05 PM, PNC Park
Randy Wolf (3-3, 4.66) vs. Brian Burres (2-1, 5.00)
Pirates batters against Randy Wolf:
Lastings Milledge: 3/19, 2 BB
Ryan Doumit: 5/18, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K
Andy LaRoche: 5/17, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
Garrett Jones: 2/11, 1 2B, 2 BB, 3 K
Andrew McCutchen: 3/13, 1 K
Ronny Cedeno: 5/11, 2 2B, 1 BB
Akinori Iwamura: 2/9, 1 2B1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
Steve Pearce: 3/11, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K
Delwyn Young: 2/9, 2 2B, 1 K
Ryan Church: 1/6, 1 RBI, 1 K
Milwaukee Brewers (15-24) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (17-22)
7:05 PM, PNC Park
Randy Wolf (3-3, 4.66) vs. Brian Burres (2-1, 5.00)
Pirates batters against Randy Wolf:
Lastings Milledge: 3/19, 2 BB
Ryan Doumit: 5/18, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K
Andy LaRoche: 5/17, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
Garrett Jones: 2/11, 1 2B, 2 BB, 3 K
Andrew McCutchen: 3/13, 1 K
Ronny Cedeno: 5/11, 2 2B, 1 BB
Akinori Iwamura: 2/9, 1 2B1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
Steve Pearce: 3/11, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K
Delwyn Young: 2/9, 2 2B, 1 K
Ryan Church: 1/6, 1 RBI, 1 K
A Look At The Brewers Recent Losing Streak
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The Pirates are hosting the Brewers for a quick 2-game series starting tonight. So far the Pirates are 2-4 against the Brew Crew this year. You all remember the brutal pounding the Brewers put on the Pirates the last time they came to PNC, beating the Bucs by a combined score of 36-1. However, a much better memory for Pirates fans comes when you think about the second series of the year, when the Pirates won 2 of 3 games in Miller Park.
It's a brand new slate tonight though, as the Pirates have been playing pretty solid baseball, and the Brewers have been playing terribly. Normally it's the Pirates heading into a series like this on a long losing streak, but this time the Brewers are at that end of the line. Milwaukee has lost 8 games in a row and are playing their worst baseball of the year.
The Brewers streak started in Atlanta, when they were swept away by the struggling Braves. The Brewers lost by a combined score of 28-7. 2 of 3 Brewers starters were tagged with losses that series (Manny Parra and Dave Bush), but Yovani Gallardo looked pretty good in his start going 6 innings and giving up 2 runs. The biggest problem with the Brewers pitching that series was the walks. They surrendered 19 free passes in those 27 innings. The offense wasn't terrible, collecting 23 hits, but they couldn't really get the big hits they needed to compete.
Next, the Brewers got swept in a 3-game series by the Philadelphia Phillies. This one wasn't as bad as the Braves sweep, as they lost by the combined score of 23-13. The Brewers starters struggled against the Phillies big time offense, and they lost all 3 of the decisions. In the first game, Randy Wolf (who starts tonight) gave up 6 runs in 5 innings. Next, Chris Narveson (tomorrow's starter) gave up 4 runs in 5.1 innings, while striking out 9. In the third game, Dave Bush got his 2nd straight loss in this streak by giving up only 3 runs on 6 innings. However, Cole Hamels was better that night and beat him. The walks were better for the Brewers pitchers, they only walked 10 in the 3 games, which still isn't good but a lot better than the previous series. The offense collected a pretty impressive 27 hits in the series. It's obvious that the offense isn't really the problem.
The last 2 games the Brewers have lost to the Reds by a combined score of 11-7. The bullpen was the big problem in this series, as they gave up 9 of those 11 runs. Trevor Hoffman was the biggest story in yesterdays game, as he blew his 5th save of the year and gave up 4 runs without recording an out. The offense collected 19 more hits in those two games. Clearly, the offense has been just fine for the most part, they are getting all kinds of hits but just haven't put a big enough number on the board to keep up with the awful pitching they have been getting.
So all-in-all the Brewers have been outscored 62 to 27 in the last 8 games. The Pirates problem this year has been the inability to hit the baseball, which plays right into the Brewers game right now. They have been hitting well but pitching poorly. The Brewers starters could get some confidence back by getting a lot of Pirates out even when they aren't throwing the best pitches in this quick 2 game set. The offense is going to keep hitting the ball regardless of who is on the mound, so the Pirates just need to bring their bats the next two games. With Brian Burres pitching tonight, that is especially crucial. The good news is that Ryan Braun is cold right now, he is only 2 for his last 22 (.182). He is the one who normally does the most damage to the Pirates, so it would be a boost if we could keep him off the bases this series.
It gets started tonight at 7:05 with Brian Burres taking on Randy Wolf. The Buccos need to win 1 of these games to stay ahead of the Brewers in the standings, and I would be surprised if we didn't do at least just that. The Pirates should really be aiming for a quick sweep of the Brew Crew, and it shouldn't be too challenging if they play how they have been playing lately.
It would also help if they keep Akinori Iwamura out of the lineup the next two days...
Let's Go Bucs.
It's a brand new slate tonight though, as the Pirates have been playing pretty solid baseball, and the Brewers have been playing terribly. Normally it's the Pirates heading into a series like this on a long losing streak, but this time the Brewers are at that end of the line. Milwaukee has lost 8 games in a row and are playing their worst baseball of the year.
The Brewers streak started in Atlanta, when they were swept away by the struggling Braves. The Brewers lost by a combined score of 28-7. 2 of 3 Brewers starters were tagged with losses that series (Manny Parra and Dave Bush), but Yovani Gallardo looked pretty good in his start going 6 innings and giving up 2 runs. The biggest problem with the Brewers pitching that series was the walks. They surrendered 19 free passes in those 27 innings. The offense wasn't terrible, collecting 23 hits, but they couldn't really get the big hits they needed to compete.
Next, the Brewers got swept in a 3-game series by the Philadelphia Phillies. This one wasn't as bad as the Braves sweep, as they lost by the combined score of 23-13. The Brewers starters struggled against the Phillies big time offense, and they lost all 3 of the decisions. In the first game, Randy Wolf (who starts tonight) gave up 6 runs in 5 innings. Next, Chris Narveson (tomorrow's starter) gave up 4 runs in 5.1 innings, while striking out 9. In the third game, Dave Bush got his 2nd straight loss in this streak by giving up only 3 runs on 6 innings. However, Cole Hamels was better that night and beat him. The walks were better for the Brewers pitchers, they only walked 10 in the 3 games, which still isn't good but a lot better than the previous series. The offense collected a pretty impressive 27 hits in the series. It's obvious that the offense isn't really the problem.
The last 2 games the Brewers have lost to the Reds by a combined score of 11-7. The bullpen was the big problem in this series, as they gave up 9 of those 11 runs. Trevor Hoffman was the biggest story in yesterdays game, as he blew his 5th save of the year and gave up 4 runs without recording an out. The offense collected 19 more hits in those two games. Clearly, the offense has been just fine for the most part, they are getting all kinds of hits but just haven't put a big enough number on the board to keep up with the awful pitching they have been getting.
So all-in-all the Brewers have been outscored 62 to 27 in the last 8 games. The Pirates problem this year has been the inability to hit the baseball, which plays right into the Brewers game right now. They have been hitting well but pitching poorly. The Brewers starters could get some confidence back by getting a lot of Pirates out even when they aren't throwing the best pitches in this quick 2 game set. The offense is going to keep hitting the ball regardless of who is on the mound, so the Pirates just need to bring their bats the next two games. With Brian Burres pitching tonight, that is especially crucial. The good news is that Ryan Braun is cold right now, he is only 2 for his last 22 (.182). He is the one who normally does the most damage to the Pirates, so it would be a boost if we could keep him off the bases this series.
It gets started tonight at 7:05 with Brian Burres taking on Randy Wolf. The Buccos need to win 1 of these games to stay ahead of the Brewers in the standings, and I would be surprised if we didn't do at least just that. The Pirates should really be aiming for a quick sweep of the Brew Crew, and it shouldn't be too challenging if they play how they have been playing lately.
It would also help if they keep Akinori Iwamura out of the lineup the next two days...
Let's Go Bucs.
Pirates vs. League's Best Pitchers
Comments
After a big time 12-2 loss yesterday, the Pirates are set to face Roy Halladay and the Phillies again tonight. Zach Duke takes the mound for the Pirates tonight, and I'm sure he knows that he has to have a great outing to have any chance of winning this one. The Pirates offense has been miserable this year, and Roy Halladay has been spectacular. Those things would normally add up to a loss for the Buccos, but they have shown the ability to play extremely well in games against big time pitchers. Let's take a look at some big time games last year when the Pirates faced the league's best pitchers.
June 2, 2009 against Johan Santana
2009 wasn't the best year for the 2-time Cy Young Award winner, but the 3.13 ERA and the 7.9 K/9 were still pretty impressive. Johan had 9 losses last year, and one of them came in this game against the Pirates. Santana pitched 6 innings and gave up 7 hits and 3 earned run to the buccos. Jason Jaramillo hit a home run in the 5th inning of that game, and Nate McLouth and Adam LaRoche added RBIs of their own in the 6th inning to put the Pirates on top for good. The Pirates were very good at making contact that day, as only 3 batters (LaRoche, LaRoche, and Duke) struck out. They were also pretty patient at the plate, making Johan throw 85 pitches in those 6 innings. That game was played early in the year and only 3 of the Pirates that played in that game are currently on the roster (Andy LaRoche, Jason Jaramillo, Zach Duke). Duke had a very good outing going 7 strong giving up 1 run on 8 hits. He did not strike out 1 batter but he only walked 1. He earned the victory that day, probably one of the more satisfying ones of his career.
June 28, 2009 against Zack Greinke
Zach Greinke was one of the biggest surprises of the 2009 season, winning his first Cy Young award while posting an outstanding 2.16 ERA and striking out 9.5 batters per 9 innings. On June 28 of that year, the Pirates gave him a good run for his money, but Greinke's Royals came out on top 3-2. Greinke went 6.1 innings that day, giving up 2 earned runs on 7 hits and striking out 3. 5 of those hits were picked up by someone named LaRoche, 3 for Adam and 2 for Andy. The other 2 hits came from Nyjer Morgan and Jack Wilson. The Pirates showed decent plate patience, seeing 80 pitches (50 strikes) from Greinke, who is one of the best control pitchers in the game. However, the Pirates didn't draw 1 walk. Andrew McCutchen was in the lineup that night and went 0-4. Charlie Morton made the start for the Pirates that day and went 5 innings. He surrendered 3 earned runs on 7 hits to the Royals, struck out 3 and walked none. The Pirates did lose the game by a run, but made a pretty valiant effort. The Royals bullpen shut them out for 2.2 innings after Greinke left the game and didn't allow a hit.
July 17, 2009 against Tim Lincecum
This one was probably one of the most memorable games of the Pirates 2009 season. Lincecum came into Pittsburgh and brought in a lot of fans just to see him. He is probably the most exciting pitchers in the league to watch and was coming off of a fantastic Cy Young season where he posted 2.62 ERA and 10.5 K/9. Garrett Jones gave Lincecum quite a rude welcoming into PNC Park when he hit a home run over the left field wall in the first inning to put the Pirates up 1-0. From there Lincecum was great and finished with the line of 7 innings, 5 hits, 1 earned, 10 strikeouts and 1 walk. Paul Maholm matched him pitch-for-pitch that game, one-upping him with 8 innings and allowing 1 unearned run on 4 hits while striking out 7 and walking none. That game would go to 14 innings and end with Garrett Jones' 2nd homer of the game. That late-night walk-off blast was one of the Pirates top highlights of the year and was a very exciting game for all who watched it.
July 27, 2009 against Tim Lincecum
Just 10 days after that game, Lincecum took the hill again against the Pirates. This time was a different story, Lincecum pitched a complete game giving up 2 earned runs on 4 hits while striking out 15 more Pirates. The Pirates RBIs came from Garrett Jones and Ryan Doumit that night, but it wasn't enough to get the win and the Pirates fell 4-2. Paul Maholm put together another pretty solid outing that night, going 6 innings giving up 8 hits and allowing 4 runs. He struck out 3 and walked 1. While that outing is respectable, it's not what you need to defeat one of the game's best pitchers.
The common denominator in those 3 games was the Pirates inability to score off of the relievers the other team sent out. The game against Greinke could have easily been won had they just settled down and get some runners on base and got a couple big hits against the Royals less than spectacular bullpen. It would seem that once a stud like that is out of the game, the hitters would have a new intensity to go out and be productive, but it didn't happen in any of those games.
That all leads us to tonight, when the Pirates face Roy Halladay. "Doc" is 6-1 this year with a 1.59 ERA, averaging 7.5 K/9. In his illustrious career, Halladay has an unheard of 52 complete games, he has 3 already this year. He has thrown over 100 pitches every game since Opening Day, and has averaged 114 pitches in his 3 complete games. Those games weren't against the best offenses (he faced the Astros, Braves, and Mets) but still impressive nonetheless. Halladay will probably not face another offense as bad as the one he will face tonight all year long. Seriously folks, the Phillies bullpen probably doesn't even have to show up tonight. However, stranger things have happened, the Pirates pitching has been very good in games against big pitchers, although it will be more of a challenge tonight against the big time offense the Phillies have, but that's why they play the games.
Roy Halladay has faced the Pirates 2 times his career, once in 2003 and once in 2008. The game in 2008 was a great one, as the Pirates beat the Blue Jays 1-0 in 12 innings. Halladay went 7 shutout innings giving up 6 hits and striking out 7, but Zach Duke (coincidentally) matched him by going 7 innings of his own, giving up 6 hits and striking out 4. The Pirates struggled against the bullpen again, but found a way to scratch out the winning run in the 12th when Doug Mientkiewicz doubled and scored on an error by shortstop John McDonald.
If the Pirates are going to win tonight and clinch their first winning road trip since 2007, Zach Duke is going to have to be nearly perfect. I wouldn't expect to be seeing any Pirates cross the plate while Halladay is on the mound, but it's possible that they could scratch out 1 or 2, which will have to be enough for Duke. It's very unlikely, but it should be fun to watch nonetheless.
Let's Go Bucs!
June 2, 2009 against Johan Santana
2009 wasn't the best year for the 2-time Cy Young Award winner, but the 3.13 ERA and the 7.9 K/9 were still pretty impressive. Johan had 9 losses last year, and one of them came in this game against the Pirates. Santana pitched 6 innings and gave up 7 hits and 3 earned run to the buccos. Jason Jaramillo hit a home run in the 5th inning of that game, and Nate McLouth and Adam LaRoche added RBIs of their own in the 6th inning to put the Pirates on top for good. The Pirates were very good at making contact that day, as only 3 batters (LaRoche, LaRoche, and Duke) struck out. They were also pretty patient at the plate, making Johan throw 85 pitches in those 6 innings. That game was played early in the year and only 3 of the Pirates that played in that game are currently on the roster (Andy LaRoche, Jason Jaramillo, Zach Duke). Duke had a very good outing going 7 strong giving up 1 run on 8 hits. He did not strike out 1 batter but he only walked 1. He earned the victory that day, probably one of the more satisfying ones of his career.
June 28, 2009 against Zack Greinke
Zach Greinke was one of the biggest surprises of the 2009 season, winning his first Cy Young award while posting an outstanding 2.16 ERA and striking out 9.5 batters per 9 innings. On June 28 of that year, the Pirates gave him a good run for his money, but Greinke's Royals came out on top 3-2. Greinke went 6.1 innings that day, giving up 2 earned runs on 7 hits and striking out 3. 5 of those hits were picked up by someone named LaRoche, 3 for Adam and 2 for Andy. The other 2 hits came from Nyjer Morgan and Jack Wilson. The Pirates showed decent plate patience, seeing 80 pitches (50 strikes) from Greinke, who is one of the best control pitchers in the game. However, the Pirates didn't draw 1 walk. Andrew McCutchen was in the lineup that night and went 0-4. Charlie Morton made the start for the Pirates that day and went 5 innings. He surrendered 3 earned runs on 7 hits to the Royals, struck out 3 and walked none. The Pirates did lose the game by a run, but made a pretty valiant effort. The Royals bullpen shut them out for 2.2 innings after Greinke left the game and didn't allow a hit.
July 17, 2009 against Tim Lincecum
This one was probably one of the most memorable games of the Pirates 2009 season. Lincecum came into Pittsburgh and brought in a lot of fans just to see him. He is probably the most exciting pitchers in the league to watch and was coming off of a fantastic Cy Young season where he posted 2.62 ERA and 10.5 K/9. Garrett Jones gave Lincecum quite a rude welcoming into PNC Park when he hit a home run over the left field wall in the first inning to put the Pirates up 1-0. From there Lincecum was great and finished with the line of 7 innings, 5 hits, 1 earned, 10 strikeouts and 1 walk. Paul Maholm matched him pitch-for-pitch that game, one-upping him with 8 innings and allowing 1 unearned run on 4 hits while striking out 7 and walking none. That game would go to 14 innings and end with Garrett Jones' 2nd homer of the game. That late-night walk-off blast was one of the Pirates top highlights of the year and was a very exciting game for all who watched it.
July 27, 2009 against Tim Lincecum
Just 10 days after that game, Lincecum took the hill again against the Pirates. This time was a different story, Lincecum pitched a complete game giving up 2 earned runs on 4 hits while striking out 15 more Pirates. The Pirates RBIs came from Garrett Jones and Ryan Doumit that night, but it wasn't enough to get the win and the Pirates fell 4-2. Paul Maholm put together another pretty solid outing that night, going 6 innings giving up 8 hits and allowing 4 runs. He struck out 3 and walked 1. While that outing is respectable, it's not what you need to defeat one of the game's best pitchers.
The common denominator in those 3 games was the Pirates inability to score off of the relievers the other team sent out. The game against Greinke could have easily been won had they just settled down and get some runners on base and got a couple big hits against the Royals less than spectacular bullpen. It would seem that once a stud like that is out of the game, the hitters would have a new intensity to go out and be productive, but it didn't happen in any of those games.
That all leads us to tonight, when the Pirates face Roy Halladay. "Doc" is 6-1 this year with a 1.59 ERA, averaging 7.5 K/9. In his illustrious career, Halladay has an unheard of 52 complete games, he has 3 already this year. He has thrown over 100 pitches every game since Opening Day, and has averaged 114 pitches in his 3 complete games. Those games weren't against the best offenses (he faced the Astros, Braves, and Mets) but still impressive nonetheless. Halladay will probably not face another offense as bad as the one he will face tonight all year long. Seriously folks, the Phillies bullpen probably doesn't even have to show up tonight. However, stranger things have happened, the Pirates pitching has been very good in games against big pitchers, although it will be more of a challenge tonight against the big time offense the Phillies have, but that's why they play the games.
Roy Halladay has faced the Pirates 2 times his career, once in 2003 and once in 2008. The game in 2008 was a great one, as the Pirates beat the Blue Jays 1-0 in 12 innings. Halladay went 7 shutout innings giving up 6 hits and striking out 7, but Zach Duke (coincidentally) matched him by going 7 innings of his own, giving up 6 hits and striking out 4. The Pirates struggled against the bullpen again, but found a way to scratch out the winning run in the 12th when Doug Mientkiewicz doubled and scored on an error by shortstop John McDonald.
If the Pirates are going to win tonight and clinch their first winning road trip since 2007, Zach Duke is going to have to be nearly perfect. I wouldn't expect to be seeing any Pirates cross the plate while Halladay is on the mound, but it's possible that they could scratch out 1 or 2, which will have to be enough for Duke. It's very unlikely, but it should be fun to watch nonetheless.
Let's Go Bucs!
Pirates vs. Cubs, Game 36
CommentsPittsburgh Pirates (15-20) vs. Chicago Cubs (15-21)
1:05 PM, Wrigley Field
Paul Maholm (2-3, 4.61) vs. Ryan Dempster (2-3, 3.44)
Lumber = Found
Comments
After scoring a total of 1 run in the Reds series, the Pirates showed some life today in their first game against the Cubs. They banged out 16 hits and scored 10 runs.
Half of our runs were scored by Andrew McCutchen, who had a career day. He went 5 for 5 at the plate while scoring (an unheard of) 5 runs, driving in 2, hitting his 5th home run of the year, and stealing 2 bases. McCutchen wasn't the only Pirate who had a big day, Garrett Jones had 5 hits of his own while homering and driving in 5. McCutchen raised his average from .310 to .336 and Jones brought his average from .235 to .264, amazing what a 5-hit day can do for you.
On the negative side, while everyone else on the team was looking good at the plate, Akinori Iwamura continued to struggle. It would seem impossible that anybody could go 0 for 6 in this kind of game, but that is exactly what he did. He struck out twice and lowered his average to .161 on the season, I think it's time to move him down in the batting order. It amazes me that a 3 hitter such as McCutchen could collect 5 hits in a game and only drive in 2 runs, one of which being himself on the home run. That itself shows that the guys in front of him aren't doing their job. Andy LaRoche has been okay in the 2-hole, his average is at .282 which is alright, but Iwamura has done nothing at all to show that he deserves to be a lead off hitter for this team.
On the pitching side of the game, Brian Burres looked more like Brian Burres today, giving up 6 runs (5 earned) in 4 innings. The Cubs got 7 hits off of him, drawing 2 walks and striking out only twice. The bullpen, however, was outstanding once again. DJ Carrasco, Evan Meek, Joel Hanrahan, and Octavio Dotel combined to throw up 5 0's, giving up only 3 hits and striking out 8. They are perfect this year protecting leads.
It's a new ballgame tomorrow as the Pirates send Paul Maholm to the hill at 1:05 pm. Let's Go Bucs!
Half of our runs were scored by Andrew McCutchen, who had a career day. He went 5 for 5 at the plate while scoring (an unheard of) 5 runs, driving in 2, hitting his 5th home run of the year, and stealing 2 bases. McCutchen wasn't the only Pirate who had a big day, Garrett Jones had 5 hits of his own while homering and driving in 5. McCutchen raised his average from .310 to .336 and Jones brought his average from .235 to .264, amazing what a 5-hit day can do for you.
On the negative side, while everyone else on the team was looking good at the plate, Akinori Iwamura continued to struggle. It would seem impossible that anybody could go 0 for 6 in this kind of game, but that is exactly what he did. He struck out twice and lowered his average to .161 on the season, I think it's time to move him down in the batting order. It amazes me that a 3 hitter such as McCutchen could collect 5 hits in a game and only drive in 2 runs, one of which being himself on the home run. That itself shows that the guys in front of him aren't doing their job. Andy LaRoche has been okay in the 2-hole, his average is at .282 which is alright, but Iwamura has done nothing at all to show that he deserves to be a lead off hitter for this team.
On the pitching side of the game, Brian Burres looked more like Brian Burres today, giving up 6 runs (5 earned) in 4 innings. The Cubs got 7 hits off of him, drawing 2 walks and striking out only twice. The bullpen, however, was outstanding once again. DJ Carrasco, Evan Meek, Joel Hanrahan, and Octavio Dotel combined to throw up 5 0's, giving up only 3 hits and striking out 8. They are perfect this year protecting leads.
It's a new ballgame tomorrow as the Pirates send Paul Maholm to the hill at 1:05 pm. Let's Go Bucs!
Pirates vs. Cubs, Game 35
Comments
Interesting pitching matchup today, Brian Burres has been fantastic in his last 2 starts but is still on the hot seat with Brad Lincoln and other pitchers looking for their chance. Tom Gorzelanny is making his second career start against the Pirates, so it should be very interesting to see.
Pittsburgh Pirates (14-20) vs. Chicago Cubs (15-20)
2:20 PM, Dodgers Stadium
Brian Burres (2-1, 3.91) vs. Tom Gorzelanny (1-4, 2.83)
Pittsburgh Pirates (14-20) vs. Chicago Cubs (15-20)
2:20 PM, Dodgers Stadium
Brian Burres (2-1, 3.91) vs. Tom Gorzelanny (1-4, 2.83)
Woodless Pittsburgh
Comments
The Pirates have forgotten how to hit the ball. Actually, they never really figured it out in the first place.
The Pirates have been having offensive woes all season long, but they have just recently hit an all-time low. The last two nights the Pirates have been shut out by 2 average-at-best pitchers.
First, Johnny Cueto threw a complete game, 1 hit, shut out while throwing only 103 pitches. Now today Homer Bailey threw a complete game, 4 hit, shut out while throwing a ridiculously (and I mean ridiculously) low 90 pitches.
First of all, I suppose Homer Bailey deserves some credit. I don't care who you are facing, a complete game shut out is nothing to take lightly, the guy threw 73 strikes out of 90 pitches today, you normally don't see anything close to that percentage, he pitched great and congratulations to him on his first win of the season.
Okay, now that the nice crap is done with...
The Pirates should be embarrassed with themselves. Sure, Bailey was throwing good, but he threw 73 strikes! 73 strikes, and only 4 of them resulted in hits? You're a major league baseball team, you should be able to get SOMETHING going offensively when a pitcher throws you that many pitches in the strikezone, especially when the pitcher's stuff is miles (well, maybe a couple thousand feet) short of dominating.
This isn't a new thing either, while the Pirates had only been shut out 3 times prior to these last two games, they are scoring only 3.45 runs per game. Management really was never expecting this team to compete this year, but at some point something has to be done.
Today is May 12th, and we are now under 3 weeks away from June 1st. That's significant because June begins the time where minor league players can start making their major league debuts and save enough time on their major league clock to have their contracts and financial situations optimal for the organization. It would hurt the team financially to bring up guys like Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata, and Brad Lincoln now, but it will hurt them a lot less on June 1st.
Therefore, unless something drastic happens to the offense in these next 3 weeks, I think the Pirates have very little choice but to shake up the roster in June. Alvarez appears almost ready for the bigs, he has been crushing the ball in AAA this month. Tabata has also been extremely successful down there and he seems fine tuned enough to come up and hit at the top of the order for the Pirates. The power that some people think he could have hasn't developed yet, and it might develop faster in the minor leagues, but I see no reason why the Pirates shouldn't bring him up this year and let it try and develop in the bigs. There's a fairly good chance that it will never come anyway, so what's the point of playing him in the minors when he's ready to help the big league team? Lincoln is the most obvious choice to be called up in June. The rotation is in need of another starter (assuming Brian Burres isn't the real deal, which FYI - he's not!) and Lincoln has been in the minors long enough and now is the perfect time for him to make his debut.
Here are those 3 guys numbers in AAA so far this season:
Alvarez: 125 AB, 19 R, 5 2B, 8 HR, 32 RBI, .256 AVG, .343 OBP, .504 SLG
Tabata: 132 AB, 25 R, 12 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 17 SB, .326 AVG, .388 OBP, .605 SLG
Lincoln: 7 GS, 4-1, 3.83 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 29 K, 11 BB, 6.24 K/9
You got a phenomenal power bat in Alvarez, a high average speedster in Tabata, and a very solid pitching option in Lincoln, all right there ready to make their debuts. There is no doubt that these 3 guys can come up in June and make an instant impact on the major league team.
Now that the Penguins have been eliminated, a lot of Pittsburgh sports fans are looking ahead to Steelers training camp. However, there is still a lot to be excited about watching this 2010 Pirates team play, and it starts with Alvarez, Tabata, and Lincoln.
The Pirates have been having offensive woes all season long, but they have just recently hit an all-time low. The last two nights the Pirates have been shut out by 2 average-at-best pitchers.
First, Johnny Cueto threw a complete game, 1 hit, shut out while throwing only 103 pitches. Now today Homer Bailey threw a complete game, 4 hit, shut out while throwing a ridiculously (and I mean ridiculously) low 90 pitches.
First of all, I suppose Homer Bailey deserves some credit. I don't care who you are facing, a complete game shut out is nothing to take lightly, the guy threw 73 strikes out of 90 pitches today, you normally don't see anything close to that percentage, he pitched great and congratulations to him on his first win of the season.
Okay, now that the nice crap is done with...
The Pirates should be embarrassed with themselves. Sure, Bailey was throwing good, but he threw 73 strikes! 73 strikes, and only 4 of them resulted in hits? You're a major league baseball team, you should be able to get SOMETHING going offensively when a pitcher throws you that many pitches in the strikezone, especially when the pitcher's stuff is miles (well, maybe a couple thousand feet) short of dominating.
This isn't a new thing either, while the Pirates had only been shut out 3 times prior to these last two games, they are scoring only 3.45 runs per game. Management really was never expecting this team to compete this year, but at some point something has to be done.
Today is May 12th, and we are now under 3 weeks away from June 1st. That's significant because June begins the time where minor league players can start making their major league debuts and save enough time on their major league clock to have their contracts and financial situations optimal for the organization. It would hurt the team financially to bring up guys like Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata, and Brad Lincoln now, but it will hurt them a lot less on June 1st.
Therefore, unless something drastic happens to the offense in these next 3 weeks, I think the Pirates have very little choice but to shake up the roster in June. Alvarez appears almost ready for the bigs, he has been crushing the ball in AAA this month. Tabata has also been extremely successful down there and he seems fine tuned enough to come up and hit at the top of the order for the Pirates. The power that some people think he could have hasn't developed yet, and it might develop faster in the minor leagues, but I see no reason why the Pirates shouldn't bring him up this year and let it try and develop in the bigs. There's a fairly good chance that it will never come anyway, so what's the point of playing him in the minors when he's ready to help the big league team? Lincoln is the most obvious choice to be called up in June. The rotation is in need of another starter (assuming Brian Burres isn't the real deal, which FYI - he's not!) and Lincoln has been in the minors long enough and now is the perfect time for him to make his debut.
Here are those 3 guys numbers in AAA so far this season:
Alvarez: 125 AB, 19 R, 5 2B, 8 HR, 32 RBI, .256 AVG, .343 OBP, .504 SLG
Tabata: 132 AB, 25 R, 12 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 17 SB, .326 AVG, .388 OBP, .605 SLG
Lincoln: 7 GS, 4-1, 3.83 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 29 K, 11 BB, 6.24 K/9
You got a phenomenal power bat in Alvarez, a high average speedster in Tabata, and a very solid pitching option in Lincoln, all right there ready to make their debuts. There is no doubt that these 3 guys can come up in June and make an instant impact on the major league team.
Now that the Penguins have been eliminated, a lot of Pittsburgh sports fans are looking ahead to Steelers training camp. However, there is still a lot to be excited about watching this 2010 Pirates team play, and it starts with Alvarez, Tabata, and Lincoln.
Reds vs. Pirates, Game 34
CommentsCincinnati Reds (18-15) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (14-19)
1:35 PM, PNC Park
Homer Bailey (0-2, 7.24) vs. Zach Duke (2-3, 5.13)
Pirates' Batters vs. Homer Bailey
Andrew McCutchen: 4/9, 2 2B, 5 BB, 2 K
Lastings Milledge: 2/12, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K
Garrett Jones: 2/10, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K
Ronny Cedeno: 1/9
Ryan Doumit: 3/8, 2 2B, 1 RBI
Delwyn Young: 2/8, 1 RBI, 2 K
Andy LaRoche: 0/3, 3 K
Bobby Crosby: 0/1, 1 BB
Reds' Batters vs. Zach Duke
Brandon Phillips: 6/29, 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 0 BB, 2 K
Scott Rolen: 7/16, 2 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
Drew Stubbs: 4/14, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 4 BB, 1 K
Joey Votto: 10/16, 5 2B, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 0 K
Jonny Gomes: 3/15, 3 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K
Paul Janish: 0/13, 2 BB
Ryan Hanigan: 3/8, 1 BB, 0 K
Orlando Cabrera: 2/6, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K
Homer Bailey is 4-0 lifetime with a 2.13 ERA against the Pirates.
Cuet-O'd
Comments
The Pirates suffered another lopsided defeat tonight as their 9-0 loss to the Reds dropped their record to 14-19 on the young season.
The story of the day was Johnny Cueto, who threw a 1-hitter on an astounding 103 pitches. The Pirates couldn't get anything going all night, Ronny Cedeno was the only Pirate to reach base, and he did it twice by way of the single and the hit by pitch. That's pretty much all there is to say about the offense.
There is a little bit more to say about Charlie Morton, who pitched pretty well tonight. He got into some early trouble in the first when the first two batters of the game singled. However, neither of the singles were well hit, and they both came on pretty good pitches. Chris Heisey, who made his ML debut tonight, led off the game with a jam shot roller to third that Andy LaRoche couldn't make a play on, so it went for a lead off single. The next batter, Brandon Phillips, hit a routine ground ball to second that found it's way through the infield because Akinori Iwamura was running to cover second when Heisey took off on the hit and run. If the hit and run were not on, it would have been a routine double play and the Pirates would have been out of the inning after Joey Votto was retired the next at bat. However, the inning continued and the Reds had runners on first and third with nobody out. Votto hit a sacrifice fly, and Scott Rolen hit a double on a pretty good pitch from Morton to score 2 runs.
Morton's 2nd inning took him awhile, but he got out of it unscathed, and after that he shut the Reds down until the 6th, when he gave up one more run which also came on a couple good pieces of hitting on pretty solid pitches. At the end of Morton's night, he had pitched 6 innings and given up 3 earned runs on 7 hits. He walked 2 and struck out 4 while throwing 109 pitches, 68 of them for strikes. Morton looked really good in the middle innings, but some bad luck got him the loss. There was really no avoiding the loss tonight since the Pirates could not even reach 2nd base on Cueto.
The bullpen did not pitch very well, Jeff Karstens gave up 4 runs in 1.2 innings, and DJ Carrasco and Jack Taschner also gave up a run of their own. Brian Burres got some work in in the 9th, he is still scheduled to make the start Friday.
There isn't much to take from this game, just a terrible offense getting dominated by a very strong pitching performance. Hopefully the Pirates can salvage a winning homestand by defeating the Reds tomorrow at 12:35. I will be at the game, so check for my tweets! Let's Go Bucs!
The story of the day was Johnny Cueto, who threw a 1-hitter on an astounding 103 pitches. The Pirates couldn't get anything going all night, Ronny Cedeno was the only Pirate to reach base, and he did it twice by way of the single and the hit by pitch. That's pretty much all there is to say about the offense.
There is a little bit more to say about Charlie Morton, who pitched pretty well tonight. He got into some early trouble in the first when the first two batters of the game singled. However, neither of the singles were well hit, and they both came on pretty good pitches. Chris Heisey, who made his ML debut tonight, led off the game with a jam shot roller to third that Andy LaRoche couldn't make a play on, so it went for a lead off single. The next batter, Brandon Phillips, hit a routine ground ball to second that found it's way through the infield because Akinori Iwamura was running to cover second when Heisey took off on the hit and run. If the hit and run were not on, it would have been a routine double play and the Pirates would have been out of the inning after Joey Votto was retired the next at bat. However, the inning continued and the Reds had runners on first and third with nobody out. Votto hit a sacrifice fly, and Scott Rolen hit a double on a pretty good pitch from Morton to score 2 runs.
Morton's 2nd inning took him awhile, but he got out of it unscathed, and after that he shut the Reds down until the 6th, when he gave up one more run which also came on a couple good pieces of hitting on pretty solid pitches. At the end of Morton's night, he had pitched 6 innings and given up 3 earned runs on 7 hits. He walked 2 and struck out 4 while throwing 109 pitches, 68 of them for strikes. Morton looked really good in the middle innings, but some bad luck got him the loss. There was really no avoiding the loss tonight since the Pirates could not even reach 2nd base on Cueto.
The bullpen did not pitch very well, Jeff Karstens gave up 4 runs in 1.2 innings, and DJ Carrasco and Jack Taschner also gave up a run of their own. Brian Burres got some work in in the 9th, he is still scheduled to make the start Friday.
There isn't much to take from this game, just a terrible offense getting dominated by a very strong pitching performance. Hopefully the Pirates can salvage a winning homestand by defeating the Reds tomorrow at 12:35. I will be at the game, so check for my tweets! Let's Go Bucs!
Reds vs. Pirates, Game 33
4 commentsCincinnati Reds (17-15) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (14-18)
7:05 PM, PNC Park
Johnny Cueto (1-1, 5.18) vs. Charlie Morton (1-5, 10.30)
Pirates' Batters vs. Johnny Cueto
Ryan Doumit: 4/11, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 3 K
Andy LaRoche: 4/11, 1 2B, 2 RBI
Andrew McCutchen: 5/11, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Garrett Jones: 5/10, 2 2B, 1 BB, 2 K
Lastings Milledge: 3/10, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB
Delwyn Young: 3/10, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 K
Ronny Cedeno: 3/6, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K
Reds' Batters vs. Charlie Morton
Wladimir Balentien: 2/5, 1 BB, 1 K
Jonny Gomes: 2/6, 1 RBI, 1 K
Ryan Hanigan: 0/4, 2 BB
Paul Janish: 1/4, 1 BB
Brandon Phillips: 3/5, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Scott Rolen: 1/5, 1 BB
Drew Stubbs: 0/6
Drew Sutton: 1/4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB,
Joey Votto: 1/6, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 2 K
The Return Of Ross
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Ross Ohlendorf made his first start since the Pirates second game of the season on April 7th. He has been suffering from back-related issues, but he appears to be near 100% and ready to be fully back in the rotation. Last night Ross gave the Pirates 4 solid innings, but did not have his best stuff and was very inefficient.
Ohlendorf gave up only 1 earned run on 3 hits while striking out 3 yesterday. However, he walked 4 and threw 84 pitches in those 4 innings. 47 of his pitches were strikes, which is just over 50% and not what you want to see from one of your best starters.
The good news yesterday was that Ross looked hard to hit. Although we did not get a very long look at him since he only pitched those 4 innings, the Reds could only muster 3 hits and that is a good thing to see. The one run he allowed was on two consecutive hits in the 4th, but other than those couple batters no one was hitting him hard at all. The other note of good news was that Ross showed the ability to get batters out in big situations. He left 6 runners on base in his 4 innings, including leaving the bases loaded in the 4th when he got Orlando Cabrera to ground out to shortstop.
The bad news yesterday was that Ross clearly didn't have his best stuff. His fastball was consistently between 90 and 92 mph. While his career average fastball speed is just under 92 miles per hour, more recently he has shown the ability to get it up or 94 or 95. It was his first start back after missing over a month, so I'm sure the stuff will improve.
All-in-all it was a very positive comeback for Ross, and I'm expecting him to have a very solid 2010 season.
Unfortunately the Pirates lost the game 2-1, as the offense couldn't get anything going off of Bronson Arroyo, Arthur Rhodes, and Francisco Cordero. Ronny Cedeno was responsible for the Pirates only run with his solo home run in the 8th. That really could have been enough to send the game to extra innings if not for another Andy LaRoche error that allowed Joey Votto to reach first on a groundball in the 8th, he would score on the next at bat when Scott Rolen doubled. LaRoche's defense had been very solid all year, but the past couple games his play has been very mediocre.
The Pirates will look to bounce back tonight as they send Charlie Morton to the hill to face Johnny Cueto and the Reds for the 2nd game of the 3 game set.
Ohlendorf gave up only 1 earned run on 3 hits while striking out 3 yesterday. However, he walked 4 and threw 84 pitches in those 4 innings. 47 of his pitches were strikes, which is just over 50% and not what you want to see from one of your best starters.
The good news yesterday was that Ross looked hard to hit. Although we did not get a very long look at him since he only pitched those 4 innings, the Reds could only muster 3 hits and that is a good thing to see. The one run he allowed was on two consecutive hits in the 4th, but other than those couple batters no one was hitting him hard at all. The other note of good news was that Ross showed the ability to get batters out in big situations. He left 6 runners on base in his 4 innings, including leaving the bases loaded in the 4th when he got Orlando Cabrera to ground out to shortstop.
The bad news yesterday was that Ross clearly didn't have his best stuff. His fastball was consistently between 90 and 92 mph. While his career average fastball speed is just under 92 miles per hour, more recently he has shown the ability to get it up or 94 or 95. It was his first start back after missing over a month, so I'm sure the stuff will improve.
All-in-all it was a very positive comeback for Ross, and I'm expecting him to have a very solid 2010 season.
Unfortunately the Pirates lost the game 2-1, as the offense couldn't get anything going off of Bronson Arroyo, Arthur Rhodes, and Francisco Cordero. Ronny Cedeno was responsible for the Pirates only run with his solo home run in the 8th. That really could have been enough to send the game to extra innings if not for another Andy LaRoche error that allowed Joey Votto to reach first on a groundball in the 8th, he would score on the next at bat when Scott Rolen doubled. LaRoche's defense had been very solid all year, but the past couple games his play has been very mediocre.
The Pirates will look to bounce back tonight as they send Charlie Morton to the hill to face Johnny Cueto and the Reds for the 2nd game of the 3 game set.
Aki Trouble
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One of the Pirates biggest moves of the 2009-2010 offseason was trading Jesse Chavez to the Rays for Akinori Iwamura. The trade left some big question marks in our bullpen which management did a nice job filling, however, Iwamura's performance so far this year has made that trade look like a really bad one.
Here are the stats: Iwamura has played in 27 games and has 119 plate appearances this year. He is hitting a dismal .194, has scored only 13 runs, and driven in only 8. Iwamura has started 27 games for the Pirates, and he has hit leadoff in 24 of those games. The two things that teams want from their leadoff men are the ability to get on base and the ability to score runs. The two really go hand-in-hand. Iwamura had a good start to the season in both of those categories. In the Pirates first 10 games, Iwamura scored 7 runs and had on base percentage of .370; since then he has scored 6 runs and has an on base percentage of .247 (in 17 games). He is also striking out almost once ever 4 at bats in that stretch. After a pretty good start to the season, Iwamura has not been doing his job at all.
There are rumors that his lack of performance has something to do with his surgically repaired knee. The research suggests that that could have something to do with it, he hit only .250 with an OBP of .310 last year after he missed 2 months because of the injury. Before that, Aki put up very respectable numbers in batting average (.281 career before 2010) and on base percentage (.354 career before 2010). There is really no telling whether his lack of performance after the surgery is directly connected to the knee not being 100%, so the Pirates kind of have to believe him when he says that it has nothing to do with it.
The Pirates don't really have a shot at contending this year, so getting every win we can isn't really the number one priority, and I don't want to say that Iwamura being in the lineup is costing us wins, but it sure isn't helping. The Pirates are 10-17 in games that Aki starts, which makes them 4-0 in games that he doesn't. That's an awful small sample size, but interesting nonetheless.
Iwamura is the Pirates highest paid player this year, he will make $4.85MM in 2010. He is on a short term contact and will in all likelihood not be with the Pirates next season. Those two things put pressure on the Pirates to play him. If Aki sits on the bench the Pirates paid the 4.85 million dollars to him for seemingly nothing, and consequently his trade value festers. Granted, if Iwamura starts for the Pirates and keeps performing like he is now, he will have no trade value at all, but giving him a chance to bounce back at least gives us some hope of getting something for him, as opposed to sitting him and not letting him play his value back up.
Another issue entirely is presented when we consider that Pedro Alvarez is going to be called up this year, pushing Andy LaRoche out of his spot at 3rd base. LaRoche has hit well enough so far to earn a spot in the lineup when Pedro arrives, and the obvious answer is to put him at 2nd. If Iwamura doesn't turn it around soon the Pirates will have no other choice but to bench him for LaRoche. That is more of a reason to continue letting Iwamura start and get his at bats. It's still early in the year, and Iwamura has time to right the ship - but if he wants to stay in the lineup through the rest of the year he better do it quickly.
There are definitely times that I wish the Pirates would bench Iwamura, and the team is probably better off right now with him out of the lineup. However, the Pirates are a long-term focused team, and playing Iwamura now is the best decision for the long term. Let's just hope that Iwamura can turn it around and start producing at the top of the order again.
Here are the stats: Iwamura has played in 27 games and has 119 plate appearances this year. He is hitting a dismal .194, has scored only 13 runs, and driven in only 8. Iwamura has started 27 games for the Pirates, and he has hit leadoff in 24 of those games. The two things that teams want from their leadoff men are the ability to get on base and the ability to score runs. The two really go hand-in-hand. Iwamura had a good start to the season in both of those categories. In the Pirates first 10 games, Iwamura scored 7 runs and had on base percentage of .370; since then he has scored 6 runs and has an on base percentage of .247 (in 17 games). He is also striking out almost once ever 4 at bats in that stretch. After a pretty good start to the season, Iwamura has not been doing his job at all.
There are rumors that his lack of performance has something to do with his surgically repaired knee. The research suggests that that could have something to do with it, he hit only .250 with an OBP of .310 last year after he missed 2 months because of the injury. Before that, Aki put up very respectable numbers in batting average (.281 career before 2010) and on base percentage (.354 career before 2010). There is really no telling whether his lack of performance after the surgery is directly connected to the knee not being 100%, so the Pirates kind of have to believe him when he says that it has nothing to do with it.
The Pirates don't really have a shot at contending this year, so getting every win we can isn't really the number one priority, and I don't want to say that Iwamura being in the lineup is costing us wins, but it sure isn't helping. The Pirates are 10-17 in games that Aki starts, which makes them 4-0 in games that he doesn't. That's an awful small sample size, but interesting nonetheless.
Iwamura is the Pirates highest paid player this year, he will make $4.85MM in 2010. He is on a short term contact and will in all likelihood not be with the Pirates next season. Those two things put pressure on the Pirates to play him. If Aki sits on the bench the Pirates paid the 4.85 million dollars to him for seemingly nothing, and consequently his trade value festers. Granted, if Iwamura starts for the Pirates and keeps performing like he is now, he will have no trade value at all, but giving him a chance to bounce back at least gives us some hope of getting something for him, as opposed to sitting him and not letting him play his value back up.
Another issue entirely is presented when we consider that Pedro Alvarez is going to be called up this year, pushing Andy LaRoche out of his spot at 3rd base. LaRoche has hit well enough so far to earn a spot in the lineup when Pedro arrives, and the obvious answer is to put him at 2nd. If Iwamura doesn't turn it around soon the Pirates will have no other choice but to bench him for LaRoche. That is more of a reason to continue letting Iwamura start and get his at bats. It's still early in the year, and Iwamura has time to right the ship - but if he wants to stay in the lineup through the rest of the year he better do it quickly.
There are definitely times that I wish the Pirates would bench Iwamura, and the team is probably better off right now with him out of the lineup. However, the Pirates are a long-term focused team, and playing Iwamura now is the best decision for the long term. Let's just hope that Iwamura can turn it around and start producing at the top of the order again.
Mother's Day Letdown
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For Mother's Day this year I treated my mother to a Pirates game, and it proved to be a pretty mediocre present.
The Pirates have had some incredible pitching in this homestand, but they couldn't muster up any of it today as the Cardinals scored 11 runs on just as many hits. The Pirates didn't help with their gloves, committing 2 more errors and a couple other sloppy plays that will go unnoticed in the box score.
Paul Maholm really didn't have much going for him today. He made it through 2 frames unscathed, and looked like he was going to get out of the 3rd inning with minimal damage of only 1 run after getting a huge strikeout of Pujols, but he walked the next batter and ended up surrendering 3 more runs that inning. After that he got tagged for 2 more runs before exiting the game after just 3.1 innings. Brian Bass then came on and gave up 5 more runs in his 2.1 innings of work, and the game was pretty much over right there. The bullpen shut the Cardinals out in the last 3 innings, but the offense could not get anything going most of the game.
The Pirates runs came on a Garrett Jones 2-run single in the 4th and a string of singles in the 9th. Even though they were meaningless runs, it was nice to see some of the guys in the lower half of the order getting hits in that last frame. Jeff Clement and Ronny Cedeno both helped raise their dismal averages by getting hits, they are now up to .177 and .238 respectively.
Today's loss means the Pirates dropped the series to the Cardinals and fall to 14-17. This is the kind of game that everyone expected in all 3 games of this series, but the Pirates played some good baseball in the first two games. The series of stupid mistakes led to the Pirates losing the first game of the series, a game they should have won easily, but they bounced back nicely and shut out the Cardinals Saturday night before getting dominated today. All-in-all taking 1 of 3 from the Cardinals isn't the worst thing in the world, they are a great ball club and there is definitely some positives to take out of the series. While we really should have had 2 of 3, I'm not complaining to much about only getting 1.
Tomorrow the Pirates host the Cincinnati Reds for the 2nd time this year in PNC Park, they swept them away the first time and will look to do the same Monday through Wednesday. Probable starters are as follows:
Bronson Arroyo (1-2, 6.14) vs. Ross Ohlendorf (0-0, 3.60)
Johnny Cueto (1-1, 5.18) vs. Charlie Morton (1-5, 10.30)
Homer Bailey (0-2, 7.24) vs. Zach Duke (2-3, 5.13)
Check back here during the games to participate in our liveblogs. Let's Go Bucs!
The Pirates have had some incredible pitching in this homestand, but they couldn't muster up any of it today as the Cardinals scored 11 runs on just as many hits. The Pirates didn't help with their gloves, committing 2 more errors and a couple other sloppy plays that will go unnoticed in the box score.
Paul Maholm really didn't have much going for him today. He made it through 2 frames unscathed, and looked like he was going to get out of the 3rd inning with minimal damage of only 1 run after getting a huge strikeout of Pujols, but he walked the next batter and ended up surrendering 3 more runs that inning. After that he got tagged for 2 more runs before exiting the game after just 3.1 innings. Brian Bass then came on and gave up 5 more runs in his 2.1 innings of work, and the game was pretty much over right there. The bullpen shut the Cardinals out in the last 3 innings, but the offense could not get anything going most of the game.
The Pirates runs came on a Garrett Jones 2-run single in the 4th and a string of singles in the 9th. Even though they were meaningless runs, it was nice to see some of the guys in the lower half of the order getting hits in that last frame. Jeff Clement and Ronny Cedeno both helped raise their dismal averages by getting hits, they are now up to .177 and .238 respectively.
Today's loss means the Pirates dropped the series to the Cardinals and fall to 14-17. This is the kind of game that everyone expected in all 3 games of this series, but the Pirates played some good baseball in the first two games. The series of stupid mistakes led to the Pirates losing the first game of the series, a game they should have won easily, but they bounced back nicely and shut out the Cardinals Saturday night before getting dominated today. All-in-all taking 1 of 3 from the Cardinals isn't the worst thing in the world, they are a great ball club and there is definitely some positives to take out of the series. While we really should have had 2 of 3, I'm not complaining to much about only getting 1.
Tomorrow the Pirates host the Cincinnati Reds for the 2nd time this year in PNC Park, they swept them away the first time and will look to do the same Monday through Wednesday. Probable starters are as follows:
Bronson Arroyo (1-2, 6.14) vs. Ross Ohlendorf (0-0, 3.60)
Johnny Cueto (1-1, 5.18) vs. Charlie Morton (1-5, 10.30)
Homer Bailey (0-2, 7.24) vs. Zach Duke (2-3, 5.13)
Check back here during the games to participate in our liveblogs. Let's Go Bucs!
Cardinals vs. Pirates, Game 31
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A fantastic performance from the Pirates led a to a 2-0 win last night. They will try to keep the great starting pitching going as Paul Maholm takes the hill. Let's Go Bucs!
St. Louis Cardinals (19-12) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (14-16)
1:35 PM, PNC Park
Adam Wainwright (4-1, 1.96) vs. Paul Maholm (2-2, 4.06)
St. Louis Cardinals (19-12) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (14-16)
1:35 PM, PNC Park
Adam Wainwright (4-1, 1.96) vs. Paul Maholm (2-2, 4.06)
Burres vs. Karstens
Comments
Heading into spring training the Pirates had a position battle going for the number 5 spot in the rotation between Daniel McCutchen and Kevin Hart. McCutchen eventually won that battle but did not fair well with the Pirates and is now established in the AAA roster. The Pirates have a new battle for the number 5 spot, one that nobody saw coming.
The Pirates were scuffling to find starting pitching after Ross Ohlendorf went down and McCutchen did not pitch well. They filled the first gap with Burres, who looked just awful in his first start and left us fans hoping we would never see him pitch in a Pirates uniform again. However, he pitched well enough to earn another start in his 2nd and 3rd outings, which set him up with the opportunity to do what he has done in his last start - and that is not allow a run in 12.1 straight innings.
The next opportunity was given to Jeff Karstens, who had the seemingly impossible task of beating the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park during the Pirates current 7 game losing streak. Somehow Karstens was up for the challenge and went 6.2 innings giving up only 2 earned runs and earning the victory at a time where the Pirates needed it the most. His next outing was not great, giving up 6 runs in 5 innings, but he bounced back and was brilliant in his start tonight, going 6 shutout innings against the first place St. Louis Cardinals.
The Pirates now have 2 tough decisions to make - who will stay in the rotation, and what to do with the pitcher who doesn't stay in the rotation. Let's take a closer look at these two guys:
Career Stats:
Burres: 287.0 IP, 15-21, 5.93 ERA, .296 BAA, 4.3 BB/9, 5.7 K/9
Karstens: 234.1 IP, 10-18, 5.07 ERA, .282 BAA, 3.3 BB/9, 4.1 K/9
2010 Stats:
Burres: 22 IP, 2-1, 4.09 ERA, 5.7 BB/9, 5.3 K/9
Karstens: 17.2 IP, 1-1, 4.08 ERA, 3.6 BB/9, 5.7 K/9
Pitch Selection:
Burres: 58.4% FB, 14.3% SL, 14.1% CB, 13.3% CH, 1.6% unknown
Karstens: 60.8% FB, 13.6% CB, 13.1% SL, 12.5% CH, 2.2% unknown
Average Pitch Velocity:
Burres: 88.0 FB, 81.9 SL, 74.5 CB, 78.8 CH
Karstens: 89.3 FB, 79.7 SL, 74.1 CB, 80.9 CH
Pitch Type Values:
Burres: -2.6 FB, 2.2 SL, -0.3 CB, -1.6 CH
Karstens: -3.5 FB, 1.4 SL, -0.4 CB, -1.8 CH
Looking at all of that, it's pretty evident that these guys are neck and neck in almost every phase of the pitching game. Age isn't much of a factor, Burres is 29 and Karstens is 27, but neither of these guys have too much higher of a ceiling that they could reach at this point in their careers. It's obvious that Karstens is a better control pitcher, and Burres is a better strikeout pitcher. Opponents hit Burres 14 points better than they hit Karstens, and the walks that come with Burres cause the on base percentage to be an even bigger gap than the average. Both of them are mediocre stuff-wise, Karstens has shown just a tad bit better velocity on his fastball so far this year, but the difference of 1 mph doesn't make much difference.
While it's tough to pick between the two, I personally would take Karstens over Burres. The main reason for that would be the control. Any major league pitcher can be successful if they have good control, regardless of the stuff they have. Neither of these guys has great stuff, so I would rather have the guy who is better at locating the ball on the hill for my team. Karstens might be more of a pitch to contact guy, but he has shown the ability to locate the ball well enough to be successful.
John Russell has already said that Brian Burres will get at least one more start, but if it were up to me, unless he is spectacular once again, I would send him to the bullpen after that. Karstens is younger and a better locator than Burres, which is good enough to get my vote for the 5th spot in the rotation, at least for a month or so until Brad Lincoln gets called up.
The Pirates were scuffling to find starting pitching after Ross Ohlendorf went down and McCutchen did not pitch well. They filled the first gap with Burres, who looked just awful in his first start and left us fans hoping we would never see him pitch in a Pirates uniform again. However, he pitched well enough to earn another start in his 2nd and 3rd outings, which set him up with the opportunity to do what he has done in his last start - and that is not allow a run in 12.1 straight innings.
The next opportunity was given to Jeff Karstens, who had the seemingly impossible task of beating the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park during the Pirates current 7 game losing streak. Somehow Karstens was up for the challenge and went 6.2 innings giving up only 2 earned runs and earning the victory at a time where the Pirates needed it the most. His next outing was not great, giving up 6 runs in 5 innings, but he bounced back and was brilliant in his start tonight, going 6 shutout innings against the first place St. Louis Cardinals.
The Pirates now have 2 tough decisions to make - who will stay in the rotation, and what to do with the pitcher who doesn't stay in the rotation. Let's take a closer look at these two guys:
Career Stats:
Burres: 287.0 IP, 15-21, 5.93 ERA, .296 BAA, 4.3 BB/9, 5.7 K/9
Karstens: 234.1 IP, 10-18, 5.07 ERA, .282 BAA, 3.3 BB/9, 4.1 K/9
2010 Stats:
Burres: 22 IP, 2-1, 4.09 ERA, 5.7 BB/9, 5.3 K/9
Karstens: 17.2 IP, 1-1, 4.08 ERA, 3.6 BB/9, 5.7 K/9
Pitch Selection:
Burres: 58.4% FB, 14.3% SL, 14.1% CB, 13.3% CH, 1.6% unknown
Karstens: 60.8% FB, 13.6% CB, 13.1% SL, 12.5% CH, 2.2% unknown
Average Pitch Velocity:
Burres: 88.0 FB, 81.9 SL, 74.5 CB, 78.8 CH
Karstens: 89.3 FB, 79.7 SL, 74.1 CB, 80.9 CH
Pitch Type Values:
Burres: -2.6 FB, 2.2 SL, -0.3 CB, -1.6 CH
Karstens: -3.5 FB, 1.4 SL, -0.4 CB, -1.8 CH
Looking at all of that, it's pretty evident that these guys are neck and neck in almost every phase of the pitching game. Age isn't much of a factor, Burres is 29 and Karstens is 27, but neither of these guys have too much higher of a ceiling that they could reach at this point in their careers. It's obvious that Karstens is a better control pitcher, and Burres is a better strikeout pitcher. Opponents hit Burres 14 points better than they hit Karstens, and the walks that come with Burres cause the on base percentage to be an even bigger gap than the average. Both of them are mediocre stuff-wise, Karstens has shown just a tad bit better velocity on his fastball so far this year, but the difference of 1 mph doesn't make much difference.
While it's tough to pick between the two, I personally would take Karstens over Burres. The main reason for that would be the control. Any major league pitcher can be successful if they have good control, regardless of the stuff they have. Neither of these guys has great stuff, so I would rather have the guy who is better at locating the ball on the hill for my team. Karstens might be more of a pitch to contact guy, but he has shown the ability to locate the ball well enough to be successful.
John Russell has already said that Brian Burres will get at least one more start, but if it were up to me, unless he is spectacular once again, I would send him to the bullpen after that. Karstens is younger and a better locator than Burres, which is good enough to get my vote for the 5th spot in the rotation, at least for a month or so until Brad Lincoln gets called up.
Cardinals vs. Pirates, Game 30
Comments
After a really tough loss last night the Pirates are looking to bounce back against the first place Cardinals.
St. Louis Cardinals (19-11) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (13-16)
7:05 PM, PNC Park
Jaime Garcia (3-1, 1.13) vs. Jeff Karstens (0-1, 6.17)
St. Louis Cardinals (19-11) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (13-16)
7:05 PM, PNC Park
Jaime Garcia (3-1, 1.13) vs. Jeff Karstens (0-1, 6.17)
Unearned Loss
Comments
The Pirates couldn't have asked for a much better start from Zach Duke tonight, as he went 6.1 innings without allowing a single earned run in his duel with Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter. However, the defense didn't follow his lead and committed 2 errors that lead to 3 runs.
The first error came in the first inning when Ronny Cedeno couldn't handle a chopper hit over the middle by Matt Holliday which lead to the extension of an inning where Yadier Molina would eventually hit a 2-run single. The second error came in the 6th when Andy LaRoche made a beautiful diving stop but then threw the ball away in an attempt to get an out at first, which lead to the Cardinals 3rd run of the game. Both of those errors hurt, but they weren't enough to put us away. The Pirates would have to make a couple more mistakes in order to lose this one.
In the bottom of the 8th the Pirates were down 1 and had runners on first and third with nobody out. Everyone was feeling pretty confident that the Pirates would at least tie the ball game if not take the lead. However, Andy LaRoche got hung up between third and home on a grounder back to the pitcher and did nothing to help himself by running back to the base and standing on it while Andrew McCutchen was there, resulting in them both being called out. Talk about a rally killer, it went from first and third with no out to a man on second with two out. The Pirates would manage to tie the game in that inning thanks to a couple hit batters and a wild pitch, but the mistake cost us the opportunity to take the lead.
The fourth big mistake of the ball game was in the top of the 9th. Joe Mather pinch ran for Matt Holliday, who had 4 hits on the night, and with 2 outs he took off to steal second. The Pirate sniffed it out perfectly and executed a pitch out. Ryan Doumit's throw was right on the money and the ball beat the runner there by 3-5 feet. However, Akinori Iwamura went to apply the tag to the runners right hand, which he swiftly took away while sliding his left in safely. It was a genius play by Mather, but there is really no excuse for Iwamura letting that happen. All it would have taken was a swipe tag or a more aggressive tag to record the final out of the inning and go to the bottom of the 9th still tied. Instead, the Cardinals had second life and again, Yadier Molina made us pay by recording his 4th hit of the ball game and bringing in Mather to score the winning run.
The Pirates could not get much going in the 9th and they dropped to 13-16.
This game was probably the toughest loss of the year. This was one of the few games this year that we absolutely should have won and didn't. It hurts even worse because we had the opportunity to win a game when a guy like Chris Carpenter started and pitched brilliantly. It's not very often you get a chance to come out of these kinds of games with a win, and it really takes a lot out of you to come so close and lose it because you make a couple bonehead mistakes. A ton of credit goes to Zach Duke, he pitched a gem. He struck out 7 batters in those 6.1 innings, which is a ton for him. He really had it all working tonight, and it's a shame that the Pirates couldn't win one for him.
Tomorrow's game pits Jeff Karstens against Jaime Garcia. This will be Karstens last start (barring another injury or lack of performance) as Ross Ohlendorf is slated to return to the rotation Monday. Brian Burres has earned at least one more start as he hasn't allowed a run in his last 2 outings. If Karstens pitches well tomorrow it could be interesting to see the battle between those two guys though. 7:05 first pitch. Let's Go Bucs.
The first error came in the first inning when Ronny Cedeno couldn't handle a chopper hit over the middle by Matt Holliday which lead to the extension of an inning where Yadier Molina would eventually hit a 2-run single. The second error came in the 6th when Andy LaRoche made a beautiful diving stop but then threw the ball away in an attempt to get an out at first, which lead to the Cardinals 3rd run of the game. Both of those errors hurt, but they weren't enough to put us away. The Pirates would have to make a couple more mistakes in order to lose this one.
In the bottom of the 8th the Pirates were down 1 and had runners on first and third with nobody out. Everyone was feeling pretty confident that the Pirates would at least tie the ball game if not take the lead. However, Andy LaRoche got hung up between third and home on a grounder back to the pitcher and did nothing to help himself by running back to the base and standing on it while Andrew McCutchen was there, resulting in them both being called out. Talk about a rally killer, it went from first and third with no out to a man on second with two out. The Pirates would manage to tie the game in that inning thanks to a couple hit batters and a wild pitch, but the mistake cost us the opportunity to take the lead.
The fourth big mistake of the ball game was in the top of the 9th. Joe Mather pinch ran for Matt Holliday, who had 4 hits on the night, and with 2 outs he took off to steal second. The Pirate sniffed it out perfectly and executed a pitch out. Ryan Doumit's throw was right on the money and the ball beat the runner there by 3-5 feet. However, Akinori Iwamura went to apply the tag to the runners right hand, which he swiftly took away while sliding his left in safely. It was a genius play by Mather, but there is really no excuse for Iwamura letting that happen. All it would have taken was a swipe tag or a more aggressive tag to record the final out of the inning and go to the bottom of the 9th still tied. Instead, the Cardinals had second life and again, Yadier Molina made us pay by recording his 4th hit of the ball game and bringing in Mather to score the winning run.
The Pirates could not get much going in the 9th and they dropped to 13-16.
This game was probably the toughest loss of the year. This was one of the few games this year that we absolutely should have won and didn't. It hurts even worse because we had the opportunity to win a game when a guy like Chris Carpenter started and pitched brilliantly. It's not very often you get a chance to come out of these kinds of games with a win, and it really takes a lot out of you to come so close and lose it because you make a couple bonehead mistakes. A ton of credit goes to Zach Duke, he pitched a gem. He struck out 7 batters in those 6.1 innings, which is a ton for him. He really had it all working tonight, and it's a shame that the Pirates couldn't win one for him.
Tomorrow's game pits Jeff Karstens against Jaime Garcia. This will be Karstens last start (barring another injury or lack of performance) as Ross Ohlendorf is slated to return to the rotation Monday. Brian Burres has earned at least one more start as he hasn't allowed a run in his last 2 outings. If Karstens pitches well tomorrow it could be interesting to see the battle between those two guys though. 7:05 first pitch. Let's Go Bucs.
Cardinals vs. Pirates, Game 29
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The Pirates are only 2 games away from .500 after their sweep of the Cubs. However, they face their best opponent of the year as the St. Louis Cardinals come to town. The challenge starts right away as the Cardinals send Chris Carpenter to the hill. Carpenter has been spectacular so far this year and is unbeaten. The Cardinals are 5-1 in games that Carpenter starts, so it won't be easy for the Pirates to make that 5-2. There seems to be no better time for us to try it though, we have been hitting the ball well and pitching very well, so bring on the Cards. Let's Go Bucs!
St. Louis Cardinals (18-11) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (13-15)
7:05 PM, PNC Park
Chris Carpenter (4-0, 2.84) vs. Zach Duke (2-3, 6.09)
St. Louis Cardinals (18-11) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (13-15)
7:05 PM, PNC Park
Chris Carpenter (4-0, 2.84) vs. Zach Duke (2-3, 6.09)
Cubs vs. Pirates, Game 28
CommentsChicago Cubs (13-15) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (12-15)
7:05 PM, PNC Park
Brian Burres (1-1, 6.00) vs. Randy Wells (3-0, 3.45)
Andy's Army
Comments
The Pirates played another very solid baseball game tonight and earned another victory over the Chicago Cubs. Tonight the final score was 4-2, with the big story being Charlie Morton getting his first 2010 victory and taking his record to 1-5.
Morton pitched very well tonight, he threw a lot of first pitch strikes and did not waste time when he was ahead. He stayed with his fastball in a lot of situations and it turned out nicely for him. He went 6+ innings giving up just 2 earned runs on 5 hits while striking out 3. That's a breath of fresh air right there. If Morton can get it going the Pirates will be a exponentially better team.
The offense tonight came from a couple different sources, which was also extremely nice to see. Bobby Crosby, Andrew McCutchen, Garrett Jones, and Ronny Cedeno all had 2 hits on the night. Ryan Church also chimed in with his 2nd home run in as many games. Andy LaRoche also added a hit to give the Pirates a grand total of 10, which leads me to the title of this post.
These two guys were on the FSN Pittsburgh broadcast of the game tonight in the bottom of the 5th inning. They call themselves Andy's Army, and I happen to be pretty close friends with both of them. There are a couple other potential members of the club that could not make the game tonight, possible myself included, but they are looking for more.
If you want to be a member of Andy's Army you can go to their website at http://www.wix.com/AndyArmy. To be a member all you have to do is join the facebook page to coordinate what games they will be attending and buy a t-shirt for $15 dollars. It's a fun group and you're sure to get your face on TV.
Tomorrow the Pirates play for the sweep of the Cubs as they send Brian Burres to the hill to face an undefeated pitcher in Randy Wells. First pitch - 7:05.
Morton pitched very well tonight, he threw a lot of first pitch strikes and did not waste time when he was ahead. He stayed with his fastball in a lot of situations and it turned out nicely for him. He went 6+ innings giving up just 2 earned runs on 5 hits while striking out 3. That's a breath of fresh air right there. If Morton can get it going the Pirates will be a exponentially better team.
The offense tonight came from a couple different sources, which was also extremely nice to see. Bobby Crosby, Andrew McCutchen, Garrett Jones, and Ronny Cedeno all had 2 hits on the night. Ryan Church also chimed in with his 2nd home run in as many games. Andy LaRoche also added a hit to give the Pirates a grand total of 10, which leads me to the title of this post.
These two guys were on the FSN Pittsburgh broadcast of the game tonight in the bottom of the 5th inning. They call themselves Andy's Army, and I happen to be pretty close friends with both of them. There are a couple other potential members of the club that could not make the game tonight, possible myself included, but they are looking for more.
If you want to be a member of Andy's Army you can go to their website at http://www.wix.com/AndyArmy. To be a member all you have to do is join the facebook page to coordinate what games they will be attending and buy a t-shirt for $15 dollars. It's a fun group and you're sure to get your face on TV.
Tomorrow the Pirates play for the sweep of the Cubs as they send Brian Burres to the hill to face an undefeated pitcher in Randy Wells. First pitch - 7:05.
Cubs vs. Pirates, Game 27
CommentsChicago Cubs (13-14) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (11-15)
7:05 PM, PNC Park
Ted Lilly (1-1, 4.91) vs. Charlie Morton (0-5, 12.57)
Cubs vs. Pirates, Game 26
Comments
It's good to be home again. The Pirates will try to break their 3 game slide tonight and draw closer to the .500 mark.
Chicago Cubs (13-13) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (10-15)
7:05 PM, PNC Park
Ryan Dempster (2-1, 2.78) vs. Paul Maholm (1-2, 4.83)
Chicago Cubs (13-13) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (10-15)
7:05 PM, PNC Park
Ryan Dempster (2-1, 2.78) vs. Paul Maholm (1-2, 4.83)
What's Wrong With The Offense?
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After a tough final 3 games in Los Angeles the Pirates get a well needed day off. Lastings Milledge and Andrew McCutchen have both had a couple on field minor injuries that they will be trying to recover from today. The McCutchen injury was extra scary as he fell to the ground after stepping on Hiroki Kuroda's foot on a play at first late in yesterday's game, but he proved to be okay as he got up, jogged around and played the rest of the game.
Regardless of these injuries, they cannot be blamed for the lack of offensive production that Pirates have been getting this year. The Pirates have been scoring 3.4 runs per game, which is second to last in the National League. They are also giving up 7.0 runs per game, but that is largely attributed to the awful stretch of beatings we took during our 7 game losing streak. The pitching has been pretty respectable since then, and will probably only get better when Ross Ohlendorf comes back next week. What I want to talk about today is the offense.
When it comes down to it, offense in baseball is a series of individual actions. For a baseball team to score enough runs to win, they need multiple players stringing together successful actions. The Pirates have no had that. Here's the team batting averages for the most frequent starters:
Doumit: .308
Clement: .171
Iwamura: .213
Cedeno: .203
LaRoche: .323
Milledge: .233
McCutchen: .288
Jones: .221
There are 3 players on that list with respectable averages. LaRoche has only 65 plate appearances, which is much less than every other starter, so his solid impact has been limited. Doumit has just recently started hitting, and McCutchen has been pretty solid all year. Even if all three of those guys had been hitting all year long, this offense still would not be much better than it is right now.
The team batting average is .234, which is last in the NL and 3rd to last in the entire league. The Pirates are 21st in the league in walks drawn, so they are showing more plate patience than you would assume seeing the low average. The Pirates are also 17th in the league (9th in NL) in home runs, which is a lot higher than anyone would have expected them to be at the beginning of the year. The problem is not easy to find on the surface.
The most obvious explanation is that the Pirates have a whole bunch of unproven and sadly below average hitters. The only bats the Pirates have on the team that could make a name for themselves in a better team's lineups are guys like McCutchen, Doumit (only because he's a catcher), and Jones (assuming he is just slumping right now and not really as bad as he looks). The rest of the lineup is full of bats with potential that have not yet made an impact in the majors. Bottom line, until (and if ever) guys like Andy LaRoche, Lastings Milledge, and Jeff Clement mature and start being productive in the majors, this offense is not going to be effective enough to compete for anything except last place.
The good news is that there is potential in the majors and a lot of potential in the minors. Those three guys I mentioned all have the potential to hit the ball successfully in the majors, and there are guys with huge potential in AAA like Pedro Alvarez and Jose Tabata that are expecting to make their major league debuts this year.
One thing the Pirates can do for right now is go to the plate with a better approach. There are definitely issues with guys like Jones, Clement, and Milledge where they would no doubt be more successful if they had a better approach. Clement and Jones really seem to be rolling over on the ball too much. They have not been going to the opposite field, probably because they are trying to pull everything. This might be from pressure to hit the ball out of the ballpark, which they were both supposed to do this year. The problem with Milledge is just that he has been getting behind in counts far too often. He needs to stop swinging at bad pitches early in the at bat and not be afraid to swing at good pitches early.
If the Pirates can start taking better approaches and playing smarter right now, they can be respectable enough to compete until younger guys mature and become more successful big league players.
Regardless of these injuries, they cannot be blamed for the lack of offensive production that Pirates have been getting this year. The Pirates have been scoring 3.4 runs per game, which is second to last in the National League. They are also giving up 7.0 runs per game, but that is largely attributed to the awful stretch of beatings we took during our 7 game losing streak. The pitching has been pretty respectable since then, and will probably only get better when Ross Ohlendorf comes back next week. What I want to talk about today is the offense.
When it comes down to it, offense in baseball is a series of individual actions. For a baseball team to score enough runs to win, they need multiple players stringing together successful actions. The Pirates have no had that. Here's the team batting averages for the most frequent starters:
Doumit: .308
Clement: .171
Iwamura: .213
Cedeno: .203
LaRoche: .323
Milledge: .233
McCutchen: .288
Jones: .221
There are 3 players on that list with respectable averages. LaRoche has only 65 plate appearances, which is much less than every other starter, so his solid impact has been limited. Doumit has just recently started hitting, and McCutchen has been pretty solid all year. Even if all three of those guys had been hitting all year long, this offense still would not be much better than it is right now.
The team batting average is .234, which is last in the NL and 3rd to last in the entire league. The Pirates are 21st in the league in walks drawn, so they are showing more plate patience than you would assume seeing the low average. The Pirates are also 17th in the league (9th in NL) in home runs, which is a lot higher than anyone would have expected them to be at the beginning of the year. The problem is not easy to find on the surface.
The most obvious explanation is that the Pirates have a whole bunch of unproven and sadly below average hitters. The only bats the Pirates have on the team that could make a name for themselves in a better team's lineups are guys like McCutchen, Doumit (only because he's a catcher), and Jones (assuming he is just slumping right now and not really as bad as he looks). The rest of the lineup is full of bats with potential that have not yet made an impact in the majors. Bottom line, until (and if ever) guys like Andy LaRoche, Lastings Milledge, and Jeff Clement mature and start being productive in the majors, this offense is not going to be effective enough to compete for anything except last place.
The good news is that there is potential in the majors and a lot of potential in the minors. Those three guys I mentioned all have the potential to hit the ball successfully in the majors, and there are guys with huge potential in AAA like Pedro Alvarez and Jose Tabata that are expecting to make their major league debuts this year.
One thing the Pirates can do for right now is go to the plate with a better approach. There are definitely issues with guys like Jones, Clement, and Milledge where they would no doubt be more successful if they had a better approach. Clement and Jones really seem to be rolling over on the ball too much. They have not been going to the opposite field, probably because they are trying to pull everything. This might be from pressure to hit the ball out of the ballpark, which they were both supposed to do this year. The problem with Milledge is just that he has been getting behind in counts far too often. He needs to stop swinging at bad pitches early in the at bat and not be afraid to swing at good pitches early.
If the Pirates can start taking better approaches and playing smarter right now, they can be respectable enough to compete until younger guys mature and become more successful big league players.
Pirates vs. Dodgers, Game 25
CommentsPittsburgh Pirates (10-14) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (10-14)
4:10 PM, Dodgers Stadium
Jeff Karstens (0-0, 2.70) vs. Hiroki Kuroda (2-1, 2.36)
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