Ubaldo'd

The impossible happened between Tuesday and Wednesday this week, the Pirates won back to back road games. That left a lot of Pirates fan hoping that they could conquer the odds on Thursday and beat one of the league's best pitchers in Ubaldo Jimenez, but those people had their hopes dashed once again.

Jimenez was good as advertised, giving up only 1 run to the Pirates in 7 innings. He surrendered only 4 hits while striking out 6 and walking 3. Jose Tabata and Garrett Jones teamed up to put a run on the board in the first inning, which was a surprise to me, but the offense was silent after that.

I suppose today was as good a day as any for a terrible pitching performance, which is just what the Pirates got out of the incredibly inconsistent Paul Maholm. Paul went 5.1 innings giving up a wowing 11 hits and 8 earned runs. The performance raised his season ERA from 4.13 to 4.52. Steve Jackson, who made his first appearance in his 526th call up to the majors (well... it seems like it anyway), gave up a run and 4 hits in 1.2 innings of work. Javier Lopez put up a zero in the 8th and lowered his season ERA to a pleasant 2.58.

So that's the story from today, but let's take a closer look at the best starter for the 2010 Pittsburgh Pirates, Paul Maholm and the season he has had.

While the majority of the Pirates losses in 2010 have come on the road, Maholm hasn't really contributed to that trend, as he has had more success on the road than he has had at home this year.

On the road this year, Paul Maholm has posted a record of 2-3 with a 3.85 ERA. The weird part is that batters are hitting .320 off of him on the road.

At home this year, Paul Maholm has posted a record of 4-6 (a decision in every start) with a 4.95 ERA and batters are hitting only .267 off him. So what that means is that Maholm is having a lot of bad luck at home and some good luck on the road.

There really isn't much to say about Maholm's year so far, it's just been kind of strange. One day he'll throw a complete game shut out (like he did on July 18th, and then gives up 12 runs in his next two starts. You don't really know what you're gonna get from Paul on any given night.

The one thing that Paul has done this year is take advantage of lackluster lineups. For example, Paul has made 2 starts against the Houston Astros and has held their batters to a .164 average. He has also made 3 starts against the Chicago Cubs, and has won all 3 starts. He has been surprisingly good against the Cincinnati Reds, holding their batters to a .204 average and leading the Pirates to victories in both of his starts. However, he got roughed up by the Phillies, Rangers, Cardinals, Braves, and now Rockies, all teams above the .500 mark.

Paul has been his normal self this year, pitching to contact and altogether average. However, when you're pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates, average can make you look like an ace.

Here's the updated offensive report for the Pirates second half, still looking pretty decent as they are averaging 10 hits a game and hitting at a .286 clip:

BrAAAd Lincoln

After another lackluster performance today against the San Diego Padres, Brad Lincoln was demoted to AAA Indianapolis. Lincoln made 9 starts for the Pirates, posting a 6.57 ERA and losing 4 of his starts. He recorded only 21 strikeouts in his 50.2 innings and batters hit .311 off of him.

While no one expected Lincoln to dominate at first in the majors, I don't think many people expected him to get knocked around this hard and be back in Indy. There's no doubt that he will be back, there are obviously just a lot of things he needs to work on. The Pirates may have rushed him to the bigs, but that doesn't matter now. What matters is Lincoln taking this with a positive attitude and working extra hard to become an effective major league starter.

There's a pretty decent chance that Lincoln will find his way back into the major leagues this year. If he shows fast improvement in AAA he could be back in August or might even be a September call up. I don't know if they want to extend him out that long, they may just want to shut him down when the minor league season ends and have him get some rest so he can be ready to improve more next year.

With the lack of depth the Pirates have pitching wise in their minor league system, Brad Lincoln is a crucial piece of the winning puzzle. He is going to have to turn it around and become a good major league pitcher, which I think he is easily capable of doing. His velocity was rarely at what it can be and his fastball just seemed dead at times. It was a straight fastball that was getting absolutely destroyed by the major league hitters. A few adjustments and he could have a very effective fastball that can help set up that devastating curve of his.

In other news, Brendan Donnelly was DFA'd today. This means the Pirates have 2 pitching spots to fill on their major league roster. My guess is that Daniel McCutchen will come back up to start some games while Wil Ledezma (who has been lights out in Indy all year) will come in to help the bullpen. It's also a possibility that we could see Charlie Morton could come back up, despite his lack of success in Indianapolis.

The worst part of this 2010 Pirates club has been the pitching and that's how it looks like it will continue to be for the rest of the year. We better seriously hope that guys like Rudy Owens, Bryan Morris, and Justin Wilson turn into legitimate major league pitchers or the Pirates aren't going to end this streak any time soon.

A Hard Fought Loss

The Pirates lost their 61st game of the season tonight. With that many losses and so few wins, the W's and L's they put up for the rest of the season don't really matter all that much. Which is why I can confidently say that tonight's game was a positive for the Pirates.

There were four positives I took from tonight.

The first is obvious, and that was the performance from Ross Ohlendorf. The boss went 6 innings giving up only 1 earned run on 5 hits while striking out 6 Brewers. Ross has been hit hard often this year, so it was good to see him have a good outing like this one. While he has put together a couple of good starts this year, he has really had troubling stringing a lot of positives together, so we'll have to watch his next start closely to see if he is really turning the corner. Remember, he was one of the better pitchers in the National League in the second half of last year, so maybe he is going to turn out to be the kind of guy who just gets better as the season comes along.

The second thing I was happy with was the way the offense battled. Everyone knew the Pirates were still in the game when it was only 1-0 after 6 innings, but when Evan Meek surrendered the 2-run home run to Rickie Weeks, a lot of the fans started getting up and leaving. This Pirates team really hasn't shown the ability to battle back late in games and score when it counts most. Tonight they got some big hits late in the game, mainly from Neil Walker whose two out, two run double in the 7th answered Week's call. Walker kept his hot bat rolling with a 2/3 showing tonight, raising his season average to .320, a team high (by a lot). Once he gets enough AB's to qualify, you might be seeing his name near the top of some leaderboards.

The third positive was the base running and fundamental play. You can never take much from as small a sample as one game, but it was sure nice to see Jose Tabata keep his eye on Tony Beasley and go first to third on Delwyn Young's single in the 7th. Too often I have seen Pirates looking at the ball instead of their coaches and it constantly costs them bases. Most of the bad base running has been attributed to Lastings Milledge, but he's on my good side right now so we'll leave that alone. Young also showed some good base running scoring from first on Walker's double. He was running hard the whole time and had his eyes where they needed to be so he could scoot on home and make it a 1-run game.

The fourth positive was something pretty insignificant, but probably another one of the most exciting plays of this Pirates 2010 season. And it involved Erik Kratz of all people. In case you missed it, here's what happened:







That's one large man taking a full speed blast from an even larger man, and the good guy held on to the ball and recorded the final out of the top of the 8th, saving a run and getting the crowd on their feet.

If you pick up tomorrow's paper and look at the box score for tonight's Pirate game, you'll just see another loss, but this loss was the kind of loss that you see from the better teams in baseball. They faced a very tough pitcher that they couldn't get score any runs off of, but they were patient enough and hit well enough to get him out of the game early, they kept it close with their pitching and got some big hits late to stay competitive. The Brewers 2 insurance runs came off of the Pirates best arm in Evan Meek, which isn't going to happen very often. This is the kind of game that the Pirates are going to win more often then not if they play the way they played tonight, and that's a definite positive.

The Milledge Effect

Well I have been very inactive on posting lately, and this is as good as time as any to jump back into it.

First of all, I'm not going to focus on the incredible number of runs the Pirates have scored (50) in their 6 games since the all-star break, because you all know the story of that. We all know that Pedro Alvarez is hitting .417 with 4 HR and 9 RBI in these 6 games, and we all know that Neil Walker has 4 doubles and is hitting .518 in those same games, and we are all incredibly excited about it. Here's the offensive summary for the last 6 games, in spreadsheet form:



Now we can sit here and talk about the box scores all night long, which would probably be incredibly fun to do, but I'm going to talk about one thing that I think has had a much bigger impact on the Pirates recent success than anybody really realizes, and that is Lastings Milledge.

Since June 1st, Milledge is hitting .336 with an OBP just shy of .400 and 15 runs batted in. He has raised his batting average from .248 the whole way to .285 in that time. He's been the team's best hitter and has been hitting the ball to all fields. However, those numbers aren't the only positive effect he's had on this team. One picture can help to show my point:



That of course is a snapshot from the moment right after Milledge made a diving catch on the warning track to wrap up the win against the Giants on a Skyblast night in front of a packed house. It was one of the best moments from this 2010 season so far, and seeing it happen gave me chills. That smile says so much.

Trading for Lastings Milledge was a huge risk for the Pirates. The guy was tagged as an untameable bad guy who was as far from a team player as could be. However, in the first few months in the organization, Milledge made great strides and worked extremely hard to start getting people to second guess their automatic opinions on him. He put in extra work on to improve his game and please his coaches. He worked through the minor leagues quickly and peformed well on the field while carrying himself spectacularly off the field. The fans began to excited about him, because we all knew the kind of upside the guy had. The 2009 season came to a stop and Milledge had played pretty well (.291/.333/.395), leaving fans with big expectation from him in the 2010 season.

He had a pretty rough couple of months to open up this season, and a great couple of months following the bad ones, but one thing has remained constant: the energy and life he brings to the team. From his fidgity and altogether eccentric batting routine to his bright yellow shoes (with the occasional bright neon laces) to his pre-game handshakes and dugout dances with McCutchen, Lastings Milledge gives this team a certain fun-first mentality. Milledge was hitting as low as .233 in May and still had a big smile on his face everyday taking the field. He would be constantly joking around in the dugout and making the game more fun for his teammates around him.

While none of the things I mentioned in the last paragraph translate directly to baseball wins, the impact that kind of player can have on a team is surely underrated. You can't win baseball games with only one guy, scoring runs is a team thing. When one or two guys are going good, you aren't going to score many runs, but when 5 or 6 guys are hitting, you're going to win some ball games like the Pirates have been winning recently. Milledge is the guy on the team that is going to make these hot streaks last longer and come more frequently, because he is always there to lighten the mood. There is so much young talent on this team, and when some of those guys let go of trying so hard and putting so much pressure on themselves to perform and let their natural talent take over, they are going to have a ton of success. That's a lot easier said than done, but Lastings Milledge seems to have done a lot of good in the clubhouse helping guys not take things too seriously and showing guys how to have fun. Sure, winning a lot of games is going to help the players have more fun, but who says having fun can't help a team win more games?

Whether Milledge is playing well (like he is now) or not, he will always be a positive influence on the team because of his attitude, and I bet nobody ever thought somebody would be saying that about him.

Astros vs. Pirates, Game 90 Liveblog

A Fresh Start... Minus 28 Games.

The Pirates got a much needed 4 days off and are now geared up and ready to finish up their 2010 season. The team is about where everyone expected them to be at this point in the year, and that is in last place, 28 games under .500 and 19 games out of first place.


While there really haven't been many bright spots on this team so far this year, all the young talent on the squad has to translate into some wins eventually. Pedro Alvarez is really starting to hit the ball better and I fully expect him to lead the team in home runs and RBI in the second half of the year. Andrew McCutchen has been good as advertised this year. He was hitting over .300 almost the whole season, but a slow end to the first half of the season has him sitting at .287/.363/.435 with 8 homers and 20 stolen bases. He had a 28 game homerless streak between June 8th and July 8th before pounding one over the wall in Milwaukee last Friday. If him and Alvarez can both get going at the same time the Pirates will have no chance but to score some runs.

The pitching staff has been dismal so far with a team ERA of 5.10, the best ERA from a Pirates starter belongs to Ross Ohlendorf with a 4.22, and that's thanks to quite a bit of luck. It's been very ugly so far, but they could possibly get a lift tonight as Zach Duke makes his return from that "injury" that cost him a couple of weeks. If he comes back and pitches well it could really help the team.

So what am I expecting for the Pirates final 74 games? I don't expect them to keep losing on the pace they have been, but I don't expect them to be a winning team either. I wouldn't be shocked if they got very close or over the .500 mark, but I am in no ways expecting him. I'd say 35 wins is very reasonable.

While the 4 days off from the consistent losing was nice, it's gonna be fun to watch the Buccos play baseball again, especially in PNC Park.

Let's Go Bucs.

The Pirates Are Sweet

The Pirates just took 3 of 4 from the team who has won the National League the past 2 years. Now they get rewarded with 6 games with 2 teams that are well below the .500 mark. The Pirates kick off a 3 game series in Houston tonight as Brad Lincoln takes the hill looking for his 2nd straight win. He went 7 scoreless innings last time out and I wouldn't be surprised if he put up a somewhat similar performance tonight. He seems like a streaky pitcher, so maybe he could be starting his first big hot streak.

After that the Pirates go to Milwaukee for the weekend to play 3 games before the all-star break. It should be a fun week of baseball, this Pirates team is really starting to look like a team that can compete in a bunch of games. I'm not saying we're gonna start winning a ton more than we lose, but I do expect the Pirates to gain some respect from the rest of the league. Let's Go Bucs.

Repeat Previous Entry

Seriously, there's not much else for me to say than what I said last night.

This game was almost the same game as last night, when the Pirates beat the Phillies 3-2. The Pirates collected 5 hits and 2 walks in both games, but this time the pitching was even better.

Ross Ohlendorf pitched 7 scoreless innings, giving up 5 hits and walking 1 (intentionally), while striking out 8, a season high for any Pirates starter. The strikeouts were a really fun thing to see, and also a really rare thing to see from a Pirates starter. When your pitchers pitch to contact, you are going to give up some runs on balls that weren't squared up or hit on fairly good pitches, it doesn't seem too fair but that's how it is. When the pitcher can rack up a bunch of strikeouts, the chances of keeping the opposition off the scoreboard go up dramatically.

So that's the good news, the bad news is that the Pirates offense was really inexistent tonight. They were very lucky to get the 2 runs they got. They were both thanks to 2 infield singles and a throwing error on a tapper hit by Andy LaRoche that scored 2 after Jamie Moyer threw the ball into right field.

You can't put the blame on the Pirates batters, since Moyer was on the hill. He knows how to pitch, probably better than anybody in the game today, and that is extremely beneficial when facing a lineup as young as this Pirates lineup. Moyer has a huge advantage over guys like Jose Tabata and Pedro Alvarez before they even step into the box, just because of the extra 22 years of experience he has.

Hopefully the Pirates can keep this hot streak of pitching going, and maybe start up a hot streak of offense. Pretty soon I'm gonna have to start a spreadsheet tracking the starters performances starting this past week.

The Pirates will look for a series win tomorrow night when Paul Maholm faces Kyle Kendrick on a fireworks night at PNC Park.

Turning The Corner

The Pirates have put the ugly month of June behind them and are starting to play some good baseball. The Bucs are 3-1 in their last 4 games and the wins have all come because of solid pitching outings. I was expecting to see the Pirates put up some big numbers on the scoreboard and win games that way, but they have done the opposite and have begun winning close, low scoring games again. Paul Maholm, Ross Ohlendorf, Brad Lincoln, and now Daniel McCutchen have all had very solid outings in those games, with Ohlendorf being the only one not to earn a W.

One thing we have seen with the Pirates over the last couple years is that when they get good a good start from one guy, it can often rub off on the next guy, and then the next guy, and so on. It seems that the rotation can feed off one another and really step their game up when the other guys in the rotation are going good.

This is a very good thing to see, because I still fully believe that this offense is going to start scoring a lot more runs sooner or later, hopefully sooner. The loss of Neil Walker's hot bat might be holding us back a little bit, but he should be back soon and hopefully he'll continue what he's been doing at the plate all year long (since his callup). It appears that Pedro Alvarez is figuring some things out and should start driving the ball very often. He hit a monster shot tonight that if hit 10 feet in either direction would have been his first home run of his career. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's gonna be a lot of fun to watch these Pirates for the rest of the year.

Here's the latest offensive report since Pedro's debut:

Turning The Corner

The Pirates have put the ugly month of June behind them and are starting to play some good baseball. The Bucs are 3-1 in their last 4 games and the wins have all come because of solid pitching outings. I was expecting to see the Pirates put up some big numbers on the scoreboard and win games that way, but they have done the opposite and have begun winning close, low scoring games again. Paul Maholm, Ross Ohlendorf, Brad Lincoln, and now Daniel McCutchen have all had very solid outings in those games, with Ohlendorf being the only one not to earn a W.

One thing we have seen with the Pirates over the last couple years is that when they get good a good start from one guy, it can often rub off on the next guy, and then the next guy, and so on. It seems that the rotation can feed off one another and really step their game up when the other guys in the rotation are going good.

This is a very good thing to see, because I still fully believe that this offense is going to start scoring a lot more runs sooner or later, hopefully sooner. The loss of Neil Walker's hot bat might be holding us back a little bit, but he should be back soon and hopefully he'll continue what he's been doing at the plate all year long (since his callup). It appears that Pedro Alvarez is figuring some things out and should start driving the ball very often. He hit a monster shot tonight that if hit 10 feet in either direction would have been his first home run of his career. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's gonna be a lot of fun to watch these Pirates for the rest of the year.

Here's the latest offensive report since Pedro's debut:

Turning The Corner

The Pirates have put the ugly month of June behind them and are starting to play some good baseball. The Bucs are 3-1 in their last 4 games and the wins have all come because of solid pitching outings. I was expecting to see the Pirates put up some big numbers on the scoreboard and win games that way, but they have done the opposite and have begun winning close, low scoring games again. Paul Maholm, Ross Ohlendorf, Brad Lincoln, and now Daniel McCutchen have all had very solid outings in those games, with Ohlendorf being the only one not to earn a W.

One thing we have seen with the Pirates over the last couple years is that when they get good a good start from one guy, it can often rub off on the next guy, and then the next guy, and so on. It seems that the rotation can feed off one another and really step their game up when the other guys in the rotation are going good.

This is a very good thing to see, because I still fully believe that this offense is going to start scoring a lot more runs sooner or later, hopefully sooner. The loss of Neil Walker's hot bat might be holding us back a little bit, but he should be back soon and hopefully he'll continue what he's been doing at the plate all year long (since his callup). It appears that Pedro Alvarez is figuring some things out and should start driving the ball very often. He hit a monster shot tonight that if hit 10 feet in either direction would have been his first home run of his career. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's gonna be a lot of fun to watch these Pirates for the rest of the year.

Here's the latest offensive report since Pedro's debut: