A Look Ahead - Offense

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When you're a Pirate fan, it's never too early to start looking towards next year.

The Pirates are sitting at 51-98 with 13 games to play. They have won an astounding 3 games in a row after sweeping the Diamondbacks. This season has been lost for a long time now and I've decided to come back to the blog and try and stir some excitement for next season. It's nearly impossible to get people excited about the Pirates this year, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

While it would appear that this year has been all negative this year, it hasn't. The young players are getting experience and actually looking pretty decent. We'll take a look at the offensive guys first, and then get to the pitching later.

The biggest plus for the Pirates since the all-star break has been Jose Tabata. Tabata is hitting .301/.348/.406 with 4 HR, 31 RBI, and 17 SB. All of that is in 355 at bats. He's been extremely consistent all year long and had his average up at .318 on August 28. Since then he's hit only .264, but that's in a small sample of only 21 games. He continues to be an above average defender and should only continue to get better and better. He's shown the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark, and his home runs have not been cheap. Tabata should be one of the Pirates best players next year, he has the ability to hit well over .300, steal 30-40 bases, and hit 10-15 HRs.

Another big positive this year was a guy that nobody expected to be relevant this year, and that is Neil Walker. Walker has had the most recent success, with a hitting streak of 18, which was one of the highest in the entire league this year. Walker is hitting .298/.344/.478 with the biggest positive being his power, he has 12 home runs in 379 at bats, which a is 20+ HR/season number. At the beginning of this year, I don't think anybody would have said that Neil Walker would be hitting 3rd and starting at second base on opening day of the 2011 season, but that's exactly how it's shaping up to be. That's a huge plus for the Pirates.

Probably the most exciting name on this team is that of Pedro Alvarez, and unfortunately he has been kind of disappointing this year. He's had some big moments and some hot streaks, but all-in-all in numbers are not impressive. He's hitting .228/.310/.399, which is ugly across the board. He has 11 home runs but has hit only 1 since August 7th. He has also struck out 107 times in 298 at bats, which is pretty atrocious. He is hitting .237 against righties and .212 against lefties. 9 of his 11 home runs have come off of right handed pitchers. While Alvarez has looked the worst of all the young players on this team, he is probably the one you should be least concerned about. His talent and his power is real. No one expected him to come into the majors and be extremely successful right away, it's going to take a guy like him some extra time to get acclimated and start doing things consistently. Next year I fully expect 25+ homers and an average of at least .250 out of him. 2010 I would probably expect 35 HRs and hopefully near 100 RBI.

One guy that no one has worried about is Andrew McCutchen. Despite that, he has shown reasons that one should worry. He is hitting an ugly .279 this year, not what you want from your lead off hitter. He has stolen 31 bases, which is awfully low in my opinion. He's getting on base at a decent clip (.356) and he has shown more power than I expected (16 HR, .447 SLG), but all-in-all I am kind of disappointed with Cutch this year. There have been a number of plays in centerfield that could have been highlight reel material if he could just hold onto the ball as he hits the ground. I really think if he would have caught a couple more of those balls he would be viewed as a top 5 centerfielder in the major leagues, which could very well be true anyway, but not many people are taking notice since he plays in Pittsburgh. I'm hoping McCutchen bounces back next year and gets hit batting average a lot closer to .300, where it should be.

The Pirates offense is definitely on the rise, and this unit has a good shot at being good enough to compete with next year, it's the pitching that has been really holding everything down. We'll take a closer look at the pitchers this year and their implications for next year tomorrow, trust me, that post will use James McDonald's name a lot.