Another Sweep
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The Pirate are enduring another terrible stretch of losing. They are 2-18 in their last 20 games, and 2-9 since Pedro Alvarez joined the team. So much for that new beginning I was so excited about.
The Pirates got swept by the Oakland Athletics over the weekend, one of the worser teams in the American League. They made some average or less than average Oakland pitchers look like aces. They scored 6 runs over the 3 games and got 2-hit and shutout on Saturday by Trevor Cahill.
That wraps up another terrible season of interleague play for the Pirates, this year they went 2-13 against American League teams.
Hopefully the Pirates can get something going before the all-star break, although it won't be easy as they play 3 games against the Cubs in Chicago, 4 at home against the Phillies, then play 6 on the road against the Astros and Brewers. It will sure be nice to have those 4 days off for the all-star break.
Here's your updated PWP, the batting average, RPG, and HPG dropped significantly after the last 2 games.
The Pirates got swept by the Oakland Athletics over the weekend, one of the worser teams in the American League. They made some average or less than average Oakland pitchers look like aces. They scored 6 runs over the 3 games and got 2-hit and shutout on Saturday by Trevor Cahill.
That wraps up another terrible season of interleague play for the Pirates, this year they went 2-13 against American League teams.
Hopefully the Pirates can get something going before the all-star break, although it won't be easy as they play 3 games against the Cubs in Chicago, 4 at home against the Phillies, then play 6 on the road against the Astros and Brewers. It will sure be nice to have those 4 days off for the all-star break.
Here's your updated PWP, the batting average, RPG, and HPG dropped significantly after the last 2 games.
Pirates vs. Athletics, Game 73 Liveblog
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The Pirates stink, but after a couple of tough series with two of baseball's hottest teams, the Pirates will get a chance to show what they can do against a fellow bad baseball team. The Oakland Athletics haven't been terrible this year, but they are not playing well of late so it should be a competitive game all the way... well, we'll see what happens...
Can't Buy One
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Pirates lost again tonight, same old story, decent offense, terrible pitching. It's tough when you're playing one of the league's best teams in the Texas Rangers, so I expect the pitching to have more success once we get out of interleague play and start playing some teams who don't have very good hitters, but the pitching will probably end the year in the bottom 5 of the league in most major pitching categories.
However, with the offensive producing like it has lately, I expect the Pirates to play well after the break. I can honestly say I won't be surprised to see them have more wins than losses in the 2nd half of this year. It would that eventually the pitching would have to get at least a little bit better, which could be enough to start winning more often.
Here's the next update for the Pirates With Pedro, Offensive Improvement Report:
However, with the offensive producing like it has lately, I expect the Pirates to play well after the break. I can honestly say I won't be surprised to see them have more wins than losses in the 2nd half of this year. It would that eventually the pitching would have to get at least a little bit better, which could be enough to start winning more often.
Here's the next update for the Pirates With Pedro, Offensive Improvement Report:
10 Hits and a Loss
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The Pirates saw the ball pretty well Tuesday night in Texas, but couldn't bring enough runs home to win their 3rd straight game. They scratched only 3 runs out despite their 10 hits. Only 3 of those hits went for extra bases, and they were all doubles.
More bad news is that Jose Tabata went 0/5 tonight and his season average is down to .200, he is now 2 for his last 18. Hopefully this is just a small cold streak and we won't see this very often from Tabata, but there is a chance that this is a result from him being rushed to the big leagues. There were a lot of questions at the time of the call up on whether Tabata was ready or not. He was hitting well in AAA and stealing bases at an incredible rate, so it appeared that he was ready for the call, but his major league statistics might say otherwise. He looked good in his first couple games, but since then he has done next to nothing. 5 of Tabata's 9 hits came in his first 4 games. The good(ish) news is that Tabata has only struck out 6 times this year, so as long as he is putting the bat on the ball and has the speed he has he should find success somehow.
The main reason for the loss tonight is some more bad starting pitching. Ross Ohlendorf went only 4.2 innings and gave up 4 earned runs on 5 hits. He walked 2 and struck out only 1, while surrendering 2 home runs. Ross has not been good this year, and that's an understatement. I don't know what's going on with him, it's starting to seem like last year was a bit of a fluke and Ross just doesn't have the ability to be an above average big league starter. Hopefully I'm wrong and he can turn it around, but he really hasn't shown many positives this year.
As for the rest of the rotation, Zach Duke could be heading to the DL and will almost certainly not make his next scheduled start. This could be good news; if an injury helps explain his terrible performance of late, there could be optimism for him improving once he sits a week or two out, and his trade value could rise pretty quickly if he gets his better stuff back and has success in his next starts.
The Pedro Alvarez update is that he got his 2nd big league hit today and scored a run. He grounded out to first a couple of times, which could be a sign of him pressing to pull the ball and drive it, something that is common to see in young players that are slumping. Let's hope the coaching staff can recognize if that is true and help him chance his approach at the plate so he can let his natural ability do the work and start hitting more consistently. Here's your PWP update, the team average is now up to .246 since Pedro's debut, but they are now scoring only 3.83 RPG.
More bad news is that Jose Tabata went 0/5 tonight and his season average is down to .200, he is now 2 for his last 18. Hopefully this is just a small cold streak and we won't see this very often from Tabata, but there is a chance that this is a result from him being rushed to the big leagues. There were a lot of questions at the time of the call up on whether Tabata was ready or not. He was hitting well in AAA and stealing bases at an incredible rate, so it appeared that he was ready for the call, but his major league statistics might say otherwise. He looked good in his first couple games, but since then he has done next to nothing. 5 of Tabata's 9 hits came in his first 4 games. The good(ish) news is that Tabata has only struck out 6 times this year, so as long as he is putting the bat on the ball and has the speed he has he should find success somehow.
The main reason for the loss tonight is some more bad starting pitching. Ross Ohlendorf went only 4.2 innings and gave up 4 earned runs on 5 hits. He walked 2 and struck out only 1, while surrendering 2 home runs. Ross has not been good this year, and that's an understatement. I don't know what's going on with him, it's starting to seem like last year was a bit of a fluke and Ross just doesn't have the ability to be an above average big league starter. Hopefully I'm wrong and he can turn it around, but he really hasn't shown many positives this year.
As for the rest of the rotation, Zach Duke could be heading to the DL and will almost certainly not make his next scheduled start. This could be good news; if an injury helps explain his terrible performance of late, there could be optimism for him improving once he sits a week or two out, and his trade value could rise pretty quickly if he gets his better stuff back and has success in his next starts.
The Pedro Alvarez update is that he got his 2nd big league hit today and scored a run. He grounded out to first a couple of times, which could be a sign of him pressing to pull the ball and drive it, something that is common to see in young players that are slumping. Let's hope the coaching staff can recognize if that is true and help him chance his approach at the plate so he can let his natural ability do the work and start hitting more consistently. Here's your PWP update, the team average is now up to .246 since Pedro's debut, but they are now scoring only 3.83 RPG.
Winning Streak
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The Pirates played a good baseball game today and bested the Cleveland Indians for the 2nd consecutive night, this time by the score of 5-3. The offense came from a lot of different places. Garrett Jones and Bobby Crosby were the only Pirates to record more than 1 hit, while Lastings Milledge and Pedro Alvarez were the only Pirates to not record one. Alvarez did have a key sacrifice fly in the 8th inning that put the Pirates up for good.
Brad Lincoln started today's game and was pretty mediocre, despite getting his first career quality start. Lincoln got hit hard and often, giving up 8 hits in his 6 innings. The hits were pretty scattered and a couple of key defensive plays helped his day look better in the stat sheet than it actually was. Like I said, there were numerous balls hit very hard off Lincoln, including 3 from Indians new phenom catcher Carlos Santana. Lincoln struck out only 2 batters but walked only 1. His fastball is straight as an arrow and doesn't get much harder than 93 mph, it's gonna be hard to be effective with that pitch if it doesn't start moving more or traveling a little bit faster. The velocity isn't something that it easy (or sometimes possible at all) to increase, so maybe Kerrigan could work with Brad on getting a little more movement on the fastball, even though most of that is just natural so it might be tough. If Lincoln is going to succeed in the big leagues he is going to have to locate that pitch extremely well and be able to execute his changeup when he needs to. The curveball is good he just really needs to learn when to use it and how to set it up. All-in-all, there were some encouraging signs from Lincoln and I'm looking forward to hit next start (which should be next Saturday against the Oakland Athletics).
The offensive production has jumped by nearly a half of a run since Wednesday, when Pedro Alvarez made his debut, and even though he hasn't directly had an impact on that run production, his presence seems to be helping the team score. Having Neil Walker and Garrett Jones hit like they have been hitting helps too. Once Pedro gets going, look out, the Pirates are going to be a ton of fun to watch. So here goes the fourth PIRATES WITH PEDRO OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT REPORT:
Brad Lincoln started today's game and was pretty mediocre, despite getting his first career quality start. Lincoln got hit hard and often, giving up 8 hits in his 6 innings. The hits were pretty scattered and a couple of key defensive plays helped his day look better in the stat sheet than it actually was. Like I said, there were numerous balls hit very hard off Lincoln, including 3 from Indians new phenom catcher Carlos Santana. Lincoln struck out only 2 batters but walked only 1. His fastball is straight as an arrow and doesn't get much harder than 93 mph, it's gonna be hard to be effective with that pitch if it doesn't start moving more or traveling a little bit faster. The velocity isn't something that it easy (or sometimes possible at all) to increase, so maybe Kerrigan could work with Brad on getting a little more movement on the fastball, even though most of that is just natural so it might be tough. If Lincoln is going to succeed in the big leagues he is going to have to locate that pitch extremely well and be able to execute his changeup when he needs to. The curveball is good he just really needs to learn when to use it and how to set it up. All-in-all, there were some encouraging signs from Lincoln and I'm looking forward to hit next start (which should be next Saturday against the Oakland Athletics).
The offensive production has jumped by nearly a half of a run since Wednesday, when Pedro Alvarez made his debut, and even though he hasn't directly had an impact on that run production, his presence seems to be helping the team score. Having Neil Walker and Garrett Jones hit like they have been hitting helps too. Once Pedro gets going, look out, the Pirates are going to be a ton of fun to watch. So here goes the fourth PIRATES WITH PEDRO OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT REPORT:
Pirates With Pedro, Update #2
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The Pirates losing streak has now reached 12. The Pirates haven't been doing anything well, but the offense is at least scoring a couple runs every game, enough to stay competitive.
Tonight was a tough one to swallow because of how well Paul Maholm pitched. He cruised through the first 6 innings not allowing a run before getting into a lot of trouble in the 7th. He couldn't finish that inning and ended up getting tagged with 4 earned runs. The bullpen was solid after that and the Indians finished with that many runs.
The offense battled back immediately in the bottom of the 7th when Neil Walker singled, Andrew McCutchen walked, Garrett Jones singled and Ryan Church brought them all in on a double to the gap. That left Church on second with nobody out, but the Pirates failed to score him and they didn't threaten again.
Pedro Alvarez added to his frustrating start to his career by going 0/4 with another strikeout.
So that all guides us to our second edition of the PIRATES WITH PEDRO OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT REPORT:
Tonight was a tough one to swallow because of how well Paul Maholm pitched. He cruised through the first 6 innings not allowing a run before getting into a lot of trouble in the 7th. He couldn't finish that inning and ended up getting tagged with 4 earned runs. The bullpen was solid after that and the Indians finished with that many runs.
The offense battled back immediately in the bottom of the 7th when Neil Walker singled, Andrew McCutchen walked, Garrett Jones singled and Ryan Church brought them all in on a double to the gap. That left Church on second with nobody out, but the Pirates failed to score him and they didn't threaten again.
Pedro Alvarez added to his frustrating start to his career by going 0/4 with another strikeout.
So that all guides us to our second edition of the PIRATES WITH PEDRO OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT REPORT:
Pirates With Pedro, Update #1
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Well the debut of Pedro Alvarez didn't go as well as anyone hoped, except maybe White Sox fans.
Alvarez went 0/2 with a walk and a run scored. His first at bat ended in a strike out after Pedro got the count full. He swung hard and missed on an inside fastball, and it appeared to me that he pulled his head a little bit, I'm sure the nerves didn't help there. His third at bat ended in a fly out that was hit pretty well. He did a nice job going to left field on a 2-strike pitch and almost beat Juan Pierre on it, but he made a nice catch. Good to see Pedro able to go to the opposite field, especially off the lefty.
The big thing tonight was just Pedro getting acclimated. You can never really take anything from a debut, because things are moving 10 times faster to the player than usual. There is too much going in their heads to really focus on the game. Sometimes, that has good results, as we have seen with almost every other big prospect that has come up this year, but tonight with Pedro he couldn't get much done. He only recorded 2 outs, and one was hit very well, so all-in-all it wasn't a bad night for Pedro, at least offensively.
The defense was terrible tonight, the Pirates committed 6 errors and looked more like a little league team than a major league team. Really embarrassing stuff out there, hopefully they can clean that up soon. Pedro didn't look good at third, he recorded one out on a routine double play, and committed one error when he couldn't handle Ryan Doumit's throw trying to catch a runner stealing. There were a couple well hit balls near Pedro that he couldn't make plays on. One was hit to his right that he didn't get near, a ball that a good big league shortstop probably could have ranged and laid out to get, and another one was chopped down the line and Pedro couldn't quite get to it. The range isn't really there, he is a big framed third baseman that doesn't move as well as the better defenders in the league. Some work with Carlos Garcia and company can only do him some good, I would expect him to get better and better over there every day.
The story with Pedro is all about the offense, so that's what I want to take a specific focus on for the rest of the season. All-in-all I think the offense is going to be above average for the rest of the year, they shouldn't have near the trouble they have had scoring runs with all the new bats in the lineup. There is way too much raw talent in that lineup for it not to put up some runs and be competitive in games. You can't say the same for the pitching and defense, however.
As of today, the Pirates are scoring 3.3 runs per game, which is the worst in the National League. The only other team under 4.0 RPG is the Astros, so they are quite a ways behind the rest of the league. The Pirates are hitting .237 (including pitchers), which is also the worst in the National League. As I said, I expect the offense to greatly improve starting today, so we're gonna start tracking it to see if I'm right.
I started this spreadsheet and I will be filling it out and posting it on here every couple days. So here it is, the first installment of the PIRATES WITH PEDRO OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT REPORT, click it to view it in Microsoft Excel:
Alvarez went 0/2 with a walk and a run scored. His first at bat ended in a strike out after Pedro got the count full. He swung hard and missed on an inside fastball, and it appeared to me that he pulled his head a little bit, I'm sure the nerves didn't help there. His third at bat ended in a fly out that was hit pretty well. He did a nice job going to left field on a 2-strike pitch and almost beat Juan Pierre on it, but he made a nice catch. Good to see Pedro able to go to the opposite field, especially off the lefty.
The big thing tonight was just Pedro getting acclimated. You can never really take anything from a debut, because things are moving 10 times faster to the player than usual. There is too much going in their heads to really focus on the game. Sometimes, that has good results, as we have seen with almost every other big prospect that has come up this year, but tonight with Pedro he couldn't get much done. He only recorded 2 outs, and one was hit very well, so all-in-all it wasn't a bad night for Pedro, at least offensively.
The defense was terrible tonight, the Pirates committed 6 errors and looked more like a little league team than a major league team. Really embarrassing stuff out there, hopefully they can clean that up soon. Pedro didn't look good at third, he recorded one out on a routine double play, and committed one error when he couldn't handle Ryan Doumit's throw trying to catch a runner stealing. There were a couple well hit balls near Pedro that he couldn't make plays on. One was hit to his right that he didn't get near, a ball that a good big league shortstop probably could have ranged and laid out to get, and another one was chopped down the line and Pedro couldn't quite get to it. The range isn't really there, he is a big framed third baseman that doesn't move as well as the better defenders in the league. Some work with Carlos Garcia and company can only do him some good, I would expect him to get better and better over there every day.
The story with Pedro is all about the offense, so that's what I want to take a specific focus on for the rest of the season. All-in-all I think the offense is going to be above average for the rest of the year, they shouldn't have near the trouble they have had scoring runs with all the new bats in the lineup. There is way too much raw talent in that lineup for it not to put up some runs and be competitive in games. You can't say the same for the pitching and defense, however.
As of today, the Pirates are scoring 3.3 runs per game, which is the worst in the National League. The only other team under 4.0 RPG is the Astros, so they are quite a ways behind the rest of the league. The Pirates are hitting .237 (including pitchers), which is also the worst in the National League. As I said, I expect the offense to greatly improve starting today, so we're gonna start tracking it to see if I'm right.
I started this spreadsheet and I will be filling it out and posting it on here every couple days. So here it is, the first installment of the PIRATES WITH PEDRO OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT REPORT, click it to view it in Microsoft Excel:
Pedro Fever
CommentsAs far as I'm concerned, a new season starts tomorrow. Ignore everything else that has happened this year, and start paying attention tomorrow. Pedro Alvarez is making his big league debut tomorrow night. Pedro could be the best player to put on a Pirate uniform since Barry Bonds. I'll be starting a new spreadsheet tomorrow that is going to track the change in the Pirates offense after the promotion, so that will be interesting to see.
The bad news is that Pedro has been struggling the last couple days at AAA. He is 0 for his last 14 and has struck out quite a bit. This might be due to some nerves and speculation about his call up that is taking some focus away, so I'm not real worried, but don't be surprised if he doesn't do much his first couple games. But also don't be surprised if he whacks one into the Allegheny tomorrow. It's gonna be a fun thing to see regardless. Let's Go Bucs.
Doumit On The Way Out?
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Ryan Doumit cost the Pirates a win last night with more terrible defense. While it wasn't the first time the Pirates suffered a loss because of Doumit's defense, this one was of a different variety. Doumit was penciled in the lineup at first base, for reasons no one really understood. He cost the Pirates 2 runs in the 7th inning by not catching a fairly easy ball thrown at him by Evan Meek. The throw got past him and skipped quite a ways away, scoring runners from second and third to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead. The Pirates would go on to lose the game 4-3.
The reason why is what confusing that Doumit was at first was because it just seems to make too much sense to have him at DH. The Pirates don't have many chances to use the DH being in the National League, and Doumit is the obvious choice to play there when needed. He has one of the better bats on the team, and he is probably the worst defensive player on the team. If the Pirates were playing solely to win the game, there is no way that Doumit would be at first base in that situation. Therefore, there has to be another reason for the lineup choice, right?
The Pirates have recently made comments saying that they won't be sellers at this years trade deadline, but that doesn't mean they won't still shop a player or two. They have been trying to gage interest for Doumit since last year, and they actually had some talks with some AL teams over the offseason. The return never got near what they wanted, so no deal was ever seriously talked about. However, recent events have got me convinced that maybe there are some more serious interests in Doumit, and management might be looking to pull the trigger and get rid of him at the deadline.
The reason they played him at first base the last two nights, in my opinion, is to make a statement to the rest of the league. That move shows three things. One, that the Ryan Doumit is not only a catcher, he can find his way into the lineup while playing first base. Two, Ryan Doumit is healthy and able to stay on the field for an entire season. And three, the Pirates have confidence in Doumit and believe he has a game-changing bat that needs to be in the lineup regardless of where he has to play.
Now, if Doumit is traded, it will almost surely be to an American League team without an established designated hitter. Doumit has optimal value when in the DH position; he is probably one of the worst defensive catchers in the big leagues. The reason that he has stayed as a valued commodity in the league is because his offense. There aren't many catchers in the league with 15+ home run power who can hit for good average. Two seasons ago Doumit his .318 in 116 games (he missed some time with injuries) and hit 15 bombs in that time. If he would have stretched that production into an entire year, he would have been a top 5 offensive catcher. Any offense a team can get from a catcher has a ton of value, and Doumit would give a team that.
However, if Doumit is playing DH, his bat doesn't look as good. Hitting .290 with 15-20 home runs is incredible from the catching position, but not nearly as valuable from the DH. Those numbers would have a little more value with Doumit because he has the ability to play catcher, and now first base (both with extreme mediocrity, but still). I can definitely see Doumit having some value for a handful of American League teams, so it is not hard for me to believe that some teams would want to add him to their teams at the trade deadline this year.
While losing Doumit would be a pretty big hit for the Pirates in the near future, I won't complain about a trade if they get a good return for him. The Pirates have Tony Sanchez playing great baseball in Bradenton, and he will be in AA sooner rather than later. His big league ETA is around this time next year if he keeps up his current production. There's a good chance that he could be held down until the beginning of the 2012 season. However, if the Pirates are competitive next year (which they could be), Sanchez might be called up earlier to help out. Jason Jaramillo and Erik Kratz would have to bridge the gap between Doumit and Sanchez, and that might be ugly offensively. Jaramillo is a pretty solid defensive catcher, but he really can't hit.
I'm not sold that the Pirates are going to trade Doumit, but there is no doubt in my mind that they will still be seriously listening to offers. I don't think they will pull the trigger on anything that isn't a major win for the Pirates, so there is probably a better chance than not that Doumit will finish the 2010 season in a Pirates uniform. If they do trade him though, I think we will all be pleased with the return. Let's hope I'm not wrong.
The reason why is what confusing that Doumit was at first was because it just seems to make too much sense to have him at DH. The Pirates don't have many chances to use the DH being in the National League, and Doumit is the obvious choice to play there when needed. He has one of the better bats on the team, and he is probably the worst defensive player on the team. If the Pirates were playing solely to win the game, there is no way that Doumit would be at first base in that situation. Therefore, there has to be another reason for the lineup choice, right?
The Pirates have recently made comments saying that they won't be sellers at this years trade deadline, but that doesn't mean they won't still shop a player or two. They have been trying to gage interest for Doumit since last year, and they actually had some talks with some AL teams over the offseason. The return never got near what they wanted, so no deal was ever seriously talked about. However, recent events have got me convinced that maybe there are some more serious interests in Doumit, and management might be looking to pull the trigger and get rid of him at the deadline.
The reason they played him at first base the last two nights, in my opinion, is to make a statement to the rest of the league. That move shows three things. One, that the Ryan Doumit is not only a catcher, he can find his way into the lineup while playing first base. Two, Ryan Doumit is healthy and able to stay on the field for an entire season. And three, the Pirates have confidence in Doumit and believe he has a game-changing bat that needs to be in the lineup regardless of where he has to play.
Now, if Doumit is traded, it will almost surely be to an American League team without an established designated hitter. Doumit has optimal value when in the DH position; he is probably one of the worst defensive catchers in the big leagues. The reason that he has stayed as a valued commodity in the league is because his offense. There aren't many catchers in the league with 15+ home run power who can hit for good average. Two seasons ago Doumit his .318 in 116 games (he missed some time with injuries) and hit 15 bombs in that time. If he would have stretched that production into an entire year, he would have been a top 5 offensive catcher. Any offense a team can get from a catcher has a ton of value, and Doumit would give a team that.
However, if Doumit is playing DH, his bat doesn't look as good. Hitting .290 with 15-20 home runs is incredible from the catching position, but not nearly as valuable from the DH. Those numbers would have a little more value with Doumit because he has the ability to play catcher, and now first base (both with extreme mediocrity, but still). I can definitely see Doumit having some value for a handful of American League teams, so it is not hard for me to believe that some teams would want to add him to their teams at the trade deadline this year.
While losing Doumit would be a pretty big hit for the Pirates in the near future, I won't complain about a trade if they get a good return for him. The Pirates have Tony Sanchez playing great baseball in Bradenton, and he will be in AA sooner rather than later. His big league ETA is around this time next year if he keeps up his current production. There's a good chance that he could be held down until the beginning of the 2012 season. However, if the Pirates are competitive next year (which they could be), Sanchez might be called up earlier to help out. Jason Jaramillo and Erik Kratz would have to bridge the gap between Doumit and Sanchez, and that might be ugly offensively. Jaramillo is a pretty solid defensive catcher, but he really can't hit.
I'm not sold that the Pirates are going to trade Doumit, but there is no doubt in my mind that they will still be seriously listening to offers. I don't think they will pull the trigger on anything that isn't a major win for the Pirates, so there is probably a better chance than not that Doumit will finish the 2010 season in a Pirates uniform. If they do trade him though, I think we will all be pleased with the return. Let's hope I'm not wrong.
Vote For Pedro
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It's almost time. The Pedro Alvarez era is nearing. The expectation is for Pedro to be called up Monday and debut Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox. Freddy Garcia will be on the mound on Tuesday, a pretty good name to have on the mound when you're looking for a good debut for a future superstar. In addition to Alvarez, Brad Lincoln will be making his 2nd big league start and his first start at home. It should be a great game to watch and I expect there to be a lot of people in the ballpark that night, myself included.
With all the recent call-ups, our lineup has been changing a lot. Once Alvarez comes up and Steve Pearce comes off the DL, some more moves will be made to set up the lineup for how it should look for awhile. Here's what I'm thinking it's going to look like for the rest of the season:
1. Jose Tabata, LF
2. Neil Walker, 2B
3. Andrew McCutchen, CF
4. Garrett Jones, RF
5. Pedro Alvarez, 3B
6. Ryan Doumit, C
7. Steve Pearce, 1B
8. Ronny Cedeno, SS
9. Pitcher
That's a pretty good looking lineup there, especially when you compare it to what we've had in the past, especially earlier this year. The Pirates 4 worst players this year have been Akinori Iwamura, Jeff Clement, Lastings Milledge, and Andy LaRoche. After these moves are made, none of those 4 will be in the starting lineup, and hopefully only Milledge and LaRoche will still be on the big league club (that's hoping the Pirates DFA Iwamura to make room for Pedro).
It would seem to me that whenever a team gets rid of their 4 worst players and replaces them with high-upside young players, they have a pretty good chance to be a pretty good offense.
It's gonna be an exciting time watching the Pirates for the rest of the year, hopefully the pitching can be better than it has been lately. Paul Maholm has been the only starter that hasn't looked terrible in the last month or so. You can't win without good pitching, and of right now, the Pirates don't have that.
Despite that, it will be a pleasant change watching the offense score some runs.
With all the recent call-ups, our lineup has been changing a lot. Once Alvarez comes up and Steve Pearce comes off the DL, some more moves will be made to set up the lineup for how it should look for awhile. Here's what I'm thinking it's going to look like for the rest of the season:
1. Jose Tabata, LF
2. Neil Walker, 2B
3. Andrew McCutchen, CF
4. Garrett Jones, RF
5. Pedro Alvarez, 3B
6. Ryan Doumit, C
7. Steve Pearce, 1B
8. Ronny Cedeno, SS
9. Pitcher
That's a pretty good looking lineup there, especially when you compare it to what we've had in the past, especially earlier this year. The Pirates 4 worst players this year have been Akinori Iwamura, Jeff Clement, Lastings Milledge, and Andy LaRoche. After these moves are made, none of those 4 will be in the starting lineup, and hopefully only Milledge and LaRoche will still be on the big league club (that's hoping the Pirates DFA Iwamura to make room for Pedro).
It would seem to me that whenever a team gets rid of their 4 worst players and replaces them with high-upside young players, they have a pretty good chance to be a pretty good offense.
It's gonna be an exciting time watching the Pirates for the rest of the year, hopefully the pitching can be better than it has been lately. Paul Maholm has been the only starter that hasn't looked terrible in the last month or so. You can't win without good pitching, and of right now, the Pirates don't have that.
Despite that, it will be a pleasant change watching the offense score some runs.
Negrych Promoted, Pirates Kick Off Interleague Play
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Pirates prospect Jim Negrych has been promoted to AAA Indianapolis. It would seem like this promotion came just to fill a void left when Neil Walker and Jose Tabata were called up the big leagues, because Negrych's numbers sure aren't deserving of a promotion.
In 49 games for the Curve, Negrych is hitting .267 with a .367 OBP and only 1 HR. He has been pretty good with runners on base, with 22 RBI already (he had 30 all of last year). 11 of 36 hits have been for extra bases, but only 1 of them was a home run. He has struck out 28 times; he is well on his way to shatter his career high in that category.
You can't say he was promoted because he has been playing great defense either, because 26 of his starts have been at DH. He has started in left field once and at second base 8 times. My guess is that this move is just to even out the number of plays at each level. He has been in AA since the beginning 2008, so maybe a change of scenery will do him some good.
In other news, the Pirates kick off interleague play tonight and the lineup they are sending out against Justin Verlander is lacking at best. I'm not understanding this one at all, you'd think Russell would try to bolster the lineup as much as possible with an ace like Verlander on the hill, especially when the Pirates on are on a 5-game losing streak.
The Bucs are falling fast, they are now 14 games under .500 and 12 games behind the Reds for first place in the division (not that games behind the leader has meant anything to Pirate fans for 17 years). Some more wins should be coming with Pedro Alvarez, who has a very good chance at getting called up for the next Pirates homestand. Once he gets there, I believe the Pirates have a pretty competitive lineup and could definitely compete in the division if the pitching is good at all, but it might be a little too late by then. Oh well, at least it'll be fun to watch for the rest of the summer... hopefully.
Let's Go Bucs.
In 49 games for the Curve, Negrych is hitting .267 with a .367 OBP and only 1 HR. He has been pretty good with runners on base, with 22 RBI already (he had 30 all of last year). 11 of 36 hits have been for extra bases, but only 1 of them was a home run. He has struck out 28 times; he is well on his way to shatter his career high in that category.
You can't say he was promoted because he has been playing great defense either, because 26 of his starts have been at DH. He has started in left field once and at second base 8 times. My guess is that this move is just to even out the number of plays at each level. He has been in AA since the beginning 2008, so maybe a change of scenery will do him some good.
In other news, the Pirates kick off interleague play tonight and the lineup they are sending out against Justin Verlander is lacking at best. I'm not understanding this one at all, you'd think Russell would try to bolster the lineup as much as possible with an ace like Verlander on the hill, especially when the Pirates on are on a 5-game losing streak.
The Bucs are falling fast, they are now 14 games under .500 and 12 games behind the Reds for first place in the division (not that games behind the leader has meant anything to Pirate fans for 17 years). Some more wins should be coming with Pedro Alvarez, who has a very good chance at getting called up for the next Pirates homestand. Once he gets there, I believe the Pirates have a pretty competitive lineup and could definitely compete in the division if the pitching is good at all, but it might be a little too late by then. Oh well, at least it'll be fun to watch for the rest of the summer... hopefully.
Let's Go Bucs.
The Duke of Stank
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Going into this year, Zach Duke appeared to be the best pitcher on the Pirates roster. Upon a quick glance of his numbers in 2010 right now, you can tell that he certainly is not. The numbers show that he has been pretty bad this year. But when you look at those numbers more closely… it gets worse.
Duke's season ERA stands at 5.30 after his 7th loss of the season last night against the Washington Nationals. He gave up only 3 earned runs, but lasted only 5 innings and surrendered 8 hits. The hits have been coming in bunches against Duke this year, and his season WHIP stands at 1.73 (not good).
Duke has allowed 9 or more hits in 6 of his 13 starts. He has allowed a total of 103 hits this season, which is around 1.3 hits per inning. He's been pretty with the walks this year, which has helped his WHIP not inflate too much. But just think about that, Duke is allowing well over 1 hit per inning, and his average against is over .330; how can you expect to be successful when you are getting hit that much?
Despite all that, Duke hasn't been giving up as many earned runs as you would think. He had one start (May 7th vs. St. Louis) when he gave up 9 hits but didn't allow a single earned run (he did allow 3 unearned runs, but he certainly deserved to be tagged with a couple earned).
Another worrisome point is that he is allowing a lot of home runs. He has 12 allowed in 13 starts. That equates to 1.45 HR/9, compared to .92 and .97, the numbers in that category he put up in his last 2 years with the Pirates.
I'm not done yet, still got more bad news. Duke's line drive percentage is up to 21%, compared to 19% last year. His velocity is down across the board, and that doesn't really make sense judges on his age.
It's not like we didn't see this coming, I made a post before the season detailing why Duke was headed for a bad season.
Zach Duke has never had anything close to ace-calibur stuff, but he has gotten away with good knowledge of his job and a lot of good luck. However, the luck is going away this year and hitters are seeing the ball out of his hand better than ever. He is getting pounded most times he takes the mound, and is losing trade value fast. That last part is probably the worst news out of all of this for Pirate fans. It really doesn't seem like a good idea to give this guy a new contract, so we were all hoping to get good value for him at the trade deadline, however it doesn't seem like that is going to happen now. We will have to further depend on the young arms we have all throughout the system to help this team win in future years, because it sure doesn't look like Zach Duke is gonna help much.
Duke's season ERA stands at 5.30 after his 7th loss of the season last night against the Washington Nationals. He gave up only 3 earned runs, but lasted only 5 innings and surrendered 8 hits. The hits have been coming in bunches against Duke this year, and his season WHIP stands at 1.73 (not good).
Duke has allowed 9 or more hits in 6 of his 13 starts. He has allowed a total of 103 hits this season, which is around 1.3 hits per inning. He's been pretty with the walks this year, which has helped his WHIP not inflate too much. But just think about that, Duke is allowing well over 1 hit per inning, and his average against is over .330; how can you expect to be successful when you are getting hit that much?
Despite all that, Duke hasn't been giving up as many earned runs as you would think. He had one start (May 7th vs. St. Louis) when he gave up 9 hits but didn't allow a single earned run (he did allow 3 unearned runs, but he certainly deserved to be tagged with a couple earned).
Another worrisome point is that he is allowing a lot of home runs. He has 12 allowed in 13 starts. That equates to 1.45 HR/9, compared to .92 and .97, the numbers in that category he put up in his last 2 years with the Pirates.
I'm not done yet, still got more bad news. Duke's line drive percentage is up to 21%, compared to 19% last year. His velocity is down across the board, and that doesn't really make sense judges on his age.
It's not like we didn't see this coming, I made a post before the season detailing why Duke was headed for a bad season.
Zach Duke has never had anything close to ace-calibur stuff, but he has gotten away with good knowledge of his job and a lot of good luck. However, the luck is going away this year and hitters are seeing the ball out of his hand better than ever. He is getting pounded most times he takes the mound, and is losing trade value fast. That last part is probably the worst news out of all of this for Pirate fans. It really doesn't seem like a good idea to give this guy a new contract, so we were all hoping to get good value for him at the trade deadline, however it doesn't seem like that is going to happen now. We will have to further depend on the young arms we have all throughout the system to help this team win in future years, because it sure doesn't look like Zach Duke is gonna help much.
Double Debuts
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I've got some good news and some bad news, and then some more bad news.
Let's start with the bad news. Brad Lincoln did not pitch well last night. He gave up 5 earned runs on 7 hits while walking 2 and striking out 3. The defense wasn't good, that probably should have been more like 3 or 4 earned runs on 5 hits, but either way, Lincoln got hit pretty hard. He wasn't fooling anybody, Adam Dunn gave him a rude welcome to the bigs with a 2-run bomb, and I mean bomb, in the first inning. Lincoln kept the Pirates in the game, more so with his bat than with his arm. Lincoln had 2 hits in his 3 at bats, and drove in a run on his 2nd hit.
We saw Lincoln's stuff for the first time (in the majors) last night, and it is in no way overpowering. He has a decent fastball, between 93 and 95 mph, but it's straight as an arrow and a pitch that is going to get hit hard if hitters know it is coming. The curveball is good as advertised, that is definitely his best pitch, but it loses a lot of it's value if not set up well by his other pitches. Lincoln's worst pitch is his changeup, and he threw that pretty well a couple times. He threw an 83 mile per hour changeup in the middle of the game that tailed away from a left handed hitter and got a pretty ugly swing. If he can throw the changeup like that more often, it can definitely help him succeed. The bottomline is that Brad Lincoln is going to have to be a good pitcher, and not just a good thrower, to succeed in the majors. His stuff isn't going to blow anyone away and he can't succeed with just the stuff, he has to be a good pitcher. He has good enough control and a good enough sense for the game to do it, so there is still something to be excited about in Lincoln.
Now, the good news. Jose Tabata was pretty impressive in his debut last night. He collected 2 hits in his 4 at bats, drew a walk and stole a base. Neither hit made it out of the infield, although the first one was hit very sharply. It was hit so sharply that it ate up shortstop Cristian Guzman and was a no-brain hit call for the scorer. The second hit was a dribbler 5ish feet away from the catcher that was more than enough for Tabata's speed to reach first without a throw. He wasn't tested in the outfield, but he made the easy plays look easy, which is good to see. He is definitely a defensive upgrade from Lastings Milledge, whom I really hope finds the bench once Steve Pearce comes off the DL.
The other bit of bad news is that Tabata limped off the field in the 8th inning after flying out. Everyone knew it was a hamstring injury as he hobbled off, which could have turned out very bad, but it turned out be just a cramp. He could play tonight, but there's a good chance they will sit him down for a game or two just for precaution. If he doesn't play tonight, all the excitement from last night's game is gone, and I'm probably not watching the game.
No, I'm kidding, I'm still watching. Let's Go Bucs!
Let's start with the bad news. Brad Lincoln did not pitch well last night. He gave up 5 earned runs on 7 hits while walking 2 and striking out 3. The defense wasn't good, that probably should have been more like 3 or 4 earned runs on 5 hits, but either way, Lincoln got hit pretty hard. He wasn't fooling anybody, Adam Dunn gave him a rude welcome to the bigs with a 2-run bomb, and I mean bomb, in the first inning. Lincoln kept the Pirates in the game, more so with his bat than with his arm. Lincoln had 2 hits in his 3 at bats, and drove in a run on his 2nd hit.
We saw Lincoln's stuff for the first time (in the majors) last night, and it is in no way overpowering. He has a decent fastball, between 93 and 95 mph, but it's straight as an arrow and a pitch that is going to get hit hard if hitters know it is coming. The curveball is good as advertised, that is definitely his best pitch, but it loses a lot of it's value if not set up well by his other pitches. Lincoln's worst pitch is his changeup, and he threw that pretty well a couple times. He threw an 83 mile per hour changeup in the middle of the game that tailed away from a left handed hitter and got a pretty ugly swing. If he can throw the changeup like that more often, it can definitely help him succeed. The bottomline is that Brad Lincoln is going to have to be a good pitcher, and not just a good thrower, to succeed in the majors. His stuff isn't going to blow anyone away and he can't succeed with just the stuff, he has to be a good pitcher. He has good enough control and a good enough sense for the game to do it, so there is still something to be excited about in Lincoln.
Now, the good news. Jose Tabata was pretty impressive in his debut last night. He collected 2 hits in his 4 at bats, drew a walk and stole a base. Neither hit made it out of the infield, although the first one was hit very sharply. It was hit so sharply that it ate up shortstop Cristian Guzman and was a no-brain hit call for the scorer. The second hit was a dribbler 5ish feet away from the catcher that was more than enough for Tabata's speed to reach first without a throw. He wasn't tested in the outfield, but he made the easy plays look easy, which is good to see. He is definitely a defensive upgrade from Lastings Milledge, whom I really hope finds the bench once Steve Pearce comes off the DL.
The other bit of bad news is that Tabata limped off the field in the 8th inning after flying out. Everyone knew it was a hamstring injury as he hobbled off, which could have turned out very bad, but it turned out be just a cramp. He could play tonight, but there's a good chance they will sit him down for a game or two just for precaution. If he doesn't play tonight, all the excitement from last night's game is gone, and I'm probably not watching the game.
No, I'm kidding, I'm still watching. Let's Go Bucs!
Two New Uniforms Needed
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Go into the Pirates clubhouse lockerroom, change the "Taschner" to a "Lincoln" and the "Clement" to a "Tabata". Finally, some guys who don't suck.
I'm not sure which is better, Tabata joining the team, or Clement leaving it.
Jose Tabata has been fantastic in AAA this year, hitting .308 with a .373 OBP with an amazing 25 steals in 53 games. Those numbers were deserving of a call up weeks ago, but the extra games in the minors could only have helped him. Now it's time for Tabata to take his place in left field for the Pirates, a spot where we hope he will occupy for years to come. My guess is that Tabata will hit leadoff for the Pirates, which will move McCutchen to the 3-spot and make for a pretty solid top of the order. We will no longer have to see Lastings Milledge or Andy LaRoche in the 3-hole striking out with runners on base.
The other roster spot belongs to Brad Lincoln, who will make the start against the Nationals tonight. Lincoln was 6-2 in Indy with a 3.16 ERA and a beautiful WHIP of 1.00, there are only 2 pitchers in the National League with ERA's less than 1 (Ubaldo Jimenez and Adam Wainwright). Lincoln is not a sure thing to have success in the majors this year, as he really only has one plus pitch (the curveball). His fastball is in the mid 90's, so he won't be blowing any batters away, but hopefully the threat of the curve and his knowledge of how to pitch and get batters out will give him a slip and propel him to some really good numbers.
So what should we expect for tonight? Well the Nationals don't have the best offense in the league, they are scoring 4.2 runs per game, which is respectable but still below average. After all the hype from last night, I wouldn't be surprised to see them a little flat tonight. Lincoln should be able to go out there and get into the 6th or 7th inning with pretty good success. He isn't gonna strike out 14, but I'd be surprised if he gave up more than 3 earned. As for Tabata, I don't see how his hot bat won't translate into the bigs. He isn't a power guy, he's a short swinging singles hitter with great speed, he shouldn't have any problems getting on base in the majors. I'll give him a 1/3 night with a walk, a steal, and a run scored.
For those of you ready to go out and order jerseys, Tabata wore #31 in AAA, and Lincoln wore #15.
Let's Go Bucs!
I'm not sure which is better, Tabata joining the team, or Clement leaving it.
Jose Tabata has been fantastic in AAA this year, hitting .308 with a .373 OBP with an amazing 25 steals in 53 games. Those numbers were deserving of a call up weeks ago, but the extra games in the minors could only have helped him. Now it's time for Tabata to take his place in left field for the Pirates, a spot where we hope he will occupy for years to come. My guess is that Tabata will hit leadoff for the Pirates, which will move McCutchen to the 3-spot and make for a pretty solid top of the order. We will no longer have to see Lastings Milledge or Andy LaRoche in the 3-hole striking out with runners on base.
The other roster spot belongs to Brad Lincoln, who will make the start against the Nationals tonight. Lincoln was 6-2 in Indy with a 3.16 ERA and a beautiful WHIP of 1.00, there are only 2 pitchers in the National League with ERA's less than 1 (Ubaldo Jimenez and Adam Wainwright). Lincoln is not a sure thing to have success in the majors this year, as he really only has one plus pitch (the curveball). His fastball is in the mid 90's, so he won't be blowing any batters away, but hopefully the threat of the curve and his knowledge of how to pitch and get batters out will give him a slip and propel him to some really good numbers.
So what should we expect for tonight? Well the Nationals don't have the best offense in the league, they are scoring 4.2 runs per game, which is respectable but still below average. After all the hype from last night, I wouldn't be surprised to see them a little flat tonight. Lincoln should be able to go out there and get into the 6th or 7th inning with pretty good success. He isn't gonna strike out 14, but I'd be surprised if he gave up more than 3 earned. As for Tabata, I don't see how his hot bat won't translate into the bigs. He isn't a power guy, he's a short swinging singles hitter with great speed, he shouldn't have any problems getting on base in the majors. I'll give him a 1/3 night with a walk, a steal, and a run scored.
For those of you ready to go out and order jerseys, Tabata wore #31 in AAA, and Lincoln wore #15.
Let's Go Bucs!
Pirates vs. Strasburg, Game 58
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It's time for the Strasburg era to begin, and it starts with the Pittsburgh Pirates. This is probably the most media attention the Pirates have gotten in well over 10 years, even though none of it is really focused on our team. Maybe if the Pirates have a good showing out there tonight we will gain some respect and get some of our names said on ESPN. Regardless of that, it should be a fun game to watch. Here's the lineup JR is sending out to face Strasburg:
1. Andrew McCutchen, CF
2. Neil Walker, 2B
3. Lastings Milledge, LF
4. Garrett Jones, 1B
5. Delwyn Young, RF
6. Andy LaRoche, 3B
7. Ronny Cedeno, SS
8. Jason Jaramillo, C
9. Jeff Karstens
Ryan Doumit is out with concussion-like symptoms and Bobby Crosby is still in Pittsburgh with the flu. Should be interesting. Let's Go Bucs.
1. Andrew McCutchen, CF
2. Neil Walker, 2B
3. Lastings Milledge, LF
4. Garrett Jones, 1B
5. Delwyn Young, RF
6. Andy LaRoche, 3B
7. Ronny Cedeno, SS
8. Jason Jaramillo, C
9. Jeff Karstens
Ryan Doumit is out with concussion-like symptoms and Bobby Crosby is still in Pittsburgh with the flu. Should be interesting. Let's Go Bucs.
Strasburg, Strasburg, Strasburg
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The day has finally come. One of the most anticipated pitching prospect in the history of the game will be making his debut tonight against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
And boy, Steven Strasburg couldn't ask for a better offense to make his debut against. The Pirates are 9-19 on the road and have scored only 92 runs in those 28 games. That means they are scoring just over 3 runs per game on the road.
The Pirates have scored more runs in the 1st inning this year than any other inning; the problem is they do very little after that. Tonight will be the biggest first inning they play all year long, as every baseball fan across the country will be paying attention to it. I wouldn't be surprised at all for Strasburg to be wild or ineffective early, just because he will most likely be a nervous wreck. If we're gonna score on him, it'll probably be early in the game before he gets comfortable and settles down. He will be on a pitch count and will not throw more than 100 pitches, he will most likely throw around 80-85. If Jeff Karstens pitches well tonight, the Pirates have a decent chance at winning the game.
The thing to look for tonight is the strikeout. Strasburg is one of the best strikeout pitchers that baseball has seen in a long time, and the Pirates lineup is extremely susceptible to the whiff. I'd expect the lineup to be similar to what Russell sent out Sunday against Lincecum, which was this:
1. McCutchen
2. Walker
3. Doumit
4. Jones
5. Milledge
6. Clement
7. LaRoche
8. Cedeno
9. Pitcher
There's no one in there that Strasburg will have a real tough time striking out if he's throwing how he can throw, so he could put up a good number of punch outs. My prediction is at 7. Ronny Cedeno leads the team in strikeouts at 44, followed closely by Garrett Jones at 42. Andrew McCutchen has also be fanning a lot, he has struck out 37 times. Don't be surprised if any of those 3 strike out 2 or 3 times tonight. I also wouldn't be surprised if Garrett Jones gives Strasburg his first career home run allowed, either.
I'll be back later with more on the big game tonight.
And boy, Steven Strasburg couldn't ask for a better offense to make his debut against. The Pirates are 9-19 on the road and have scored only 92 runs in those 28 games. That means they are scoring just over 3 runs per game on the road.
The Pirates have scored more runs in the 1st inning this year than any other inning; the problem is they do very little after that. Tonight will be the biggest first inning they play all year long, as every baseball fan across the country will be paying attention to it. I wouldn't be surprised at all for Strasburg to be wild or ineffective early, just because he will most likely be a nervous wreck. If we're gonna score on him, it'll probably be early in the game before he gets comfortable and settles down. He will be on a pitch count and will not throw more than 100 pitches, he will most likely throw around 80-85. If Jeff Karstens pitches well tonight, the Pirates have a decent chance at winning the game.
The thing to look for tonight is the strikeout. Strasburg is one of the best strikeout pitchers that baseball has seen in a long time, and the Pirates lineup is extremely susceptible to the whiff. I'd expect the lineup to be similar to what Russell sent out Sunday against Lincecum, which was this:
1. McCutchen
2. Walker
3. Doumit
4. Jones
5. Milledge
6. Clement
7. LaRoche
8. Cedeno
9. Pitcher
There's no one in there that Strasburg will have a real tough time striking out if he's throwing how he can throw, so he could put up a good number of punch outs. My prediction is at 7. Ronny Cedeno leads the team in strikeouts at 44, followed closely by Garrett Jones at 42. Andrew McCutchen has also be fanning a lot, he has struck out 37 times. Don't be surprised if any of those 3 strike out 2 or 3 times tonight. I also wouldn't be surprised if Garrett Jones gives Strasburg his first career home run allowed, either.
I'll be back later with more on the big game tonight.
Stupid
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The Pirates lost another game they should won tonight. You probably know the story, and if you don't, you don't wanna know it anyway. Ugly loss, bottom of the order is probably the worst in the league.
On the plus side, Matt Capps blew another save today.
On the plus side, Matt Capps blew another save today.
Taillon vs. Machado
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The Major League Baseball Draft is this Monday, and the Pirates have the 2nd overall pick. Three names have been mentioned about who the Pirates will take after Bryce Harper is selected; those names are Jameson Taillon, a highschool right handed pitcher from Texas, Manny Machado, a highschool shortstop from Florida, and Drew Pomeranz, a right handed pitcher from Ole Miss.
Now that we are only 2 days away from the draft, the Pirates seem to have narrowed it down to just Taillon and Machado. There is no doubt that Pomeranz wouldn't be the right pick due to his recent performance. I'm going to take a quick look at both of these guys, and then tell you who I think the Pirates should select.
First, Jameson Taillon.
Taillon is a 6'6'' fireballer. His fastball has reached 99 mph, and can reaches 93-95 all game long. He is only 18 years old, so he has a lot more maturing to do mentally and physically. Scouts say he has the best fastball in the draft, the best breaking ball in the draft, the best secondary pitch, and they say he is the closest to the majors. That's impressive stuff. He has drawn comparisons to Josh Beckett. While all of the above is exciting knowing that the Pirates could land him, it's only going to make it cost more to sign him. Tim at Buccofans.com compared Taillon's possible demands to that of Tyler Matzek ($3.9 million) and Jacob Turner ($4.7 million) from last year's draft. The Pirates gave Pedro Alvarez $6 million to sign with them two years ago, but he was a lot safer bet having been to college and being a position player. Anything can happen with high school pitchers, and a lot of them never make it to the majors. The high risk does come with a high reward though, Taillon has more upside than any player in the draft, aside from Bryce Harper.
Next, Manny Machado.
Machado is a 17 year old shortstop who has drawn physical comparisons to Alex Rodriguez. While he is nowhere near as big of a prospect as Rodriguez, he still has a good shot at being one of the better shortstops in the majors at some point. His is projected to be a plus defender that hits for good average and average power. There are questions with his range and size not being suitable for a shortstop, so a move to third base could be an order, however the power bat might never develop to make that a good choice for a major league team. Machado is a Scott Boras client, and is expected to demand between $5 and $6 million.
Personally, I want to see the Pirates draft Jameson Taillon. The main reason for that is the upside. The Pirates really don't have anybody in the system that could turn out be a definite ace, much less one of the best pitchers in the game. Taillon would give us just that. He would immediately have the best arm in the system, and seems that he could be on the fast track to the majors. It's a big risk, yes, but you don't have a chance to get this kind of arm very often. I wouldn't be too upset with the Pirates taking Machado either, but I just think Taillon is a lot more rare of a player than Machado. Both of them are going to cost a lot of money to sign, so you might as well invest your risk money in a higher reward.
Now that we are only 2 days away from the draft, the Pirates seem to have narrowed it down to just Taillon and Machado. There is no doubt that Pomeranz wouldn't be the right pick due to his recent performance. I'm going to take a quick look at both of these guys, and then tell you who I think the Pirates should select.
First, Jameson Taillon.
Taillon is a 6'6'' fireballer. His fastball has reached 99 mph, and can reaches 93-95 all game long. He is only 18 years old, so he has a lot more maturing to do mentally and physically. Scouts say he has the best fastball in the draft, the best breaking ball in the draft, the best secondary pitch, and they say he is the closest to the majors. That's impressive stuff. He has drawn comparisons to Josh Beckett. While all of the above is exciting knowing that the Pirates could land him, it's only going to make it cost more to sign him. Tim at Buccofans.com compared Taillon's possible demands to that of Tyler Matzek ($3.9 million) and Jacob Turner ($4.7 million) from last year's draft. The Pirates gave Pedro Alvarez $6 million to sign with them two years ago, but he was a lot safer bet having been to college and being a position player. Anything can happen with high school pitchers, and a lot of them never make it to the majors. The high risk does come with a high reward though, Taillon has more upside than any player in the draft, aside from Bryce Harper.
Next, Manny Machado.
Machado is a 17 year old shortstop who has drawn physical comparisons to Alex Rodriguez. While he is nowhere near as big of a prospect as Rodriguez, he still has a good shot at being one of the better shortstops in the majors at some point. His is projected to be a plus defender that hits for good average and average power. There are questions with his range and size not being suitable for a shortstop, so a move to third base could be an order, however the power bat might never develop to make that a good choice for a major league team. Machado is a Scott Boras client, and is expected to demand between $5 and $6 million.
Personally, I want to see the Pirates draft Jameson Taillon. The main reason for that is the upside. The Pirates really don't have anybody in the system that could turn out be a definite ace, much less one of the best pitchers in the game. Taillon would give us just that. He would immediately have the best arm in the system, and seems that he could be on the fast track to the majors. It's a big risk, yes, but you don't have a chance to get this kind of arm very often. I wouldn't be too upset with the Pirates taking Machado either, but I just think Taillon is a lot more rare of a player than Machado. Both of them are going to cost a lot of money to sign, so you might as well invest your risk money in a higher reward.
Bud's Blunder
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This blog has been dedicated to everything dealing with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and I rarely talk about anything else. However, today I want to make a short post giving my view on the recent Armando Galarraga perfect game.
As I'm sure all of you know, Armando Galarraga, a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, was robbed of a perfect game on a blown call from umpire Jim Joyce. There have been talks that Bud Selig would reverse the call and send Galarraga's name to the Hall of Fame and etch him in baseball history forever. However, we found out yesterday that he was going to do no such thing.
In my opinion, that is inacceptable.
First of all, there was absolutely no doubt about the perfect game. The blown call was on the last out of the game, so if the call was made correct, the game is over right there and there is nothing else to question.
Second, there is no question that it was indeed an out. Instant replays showed that the runner was out by half a step, and no one can argue that.
Knowing those two things, I see absolutely no harm in reversing the call. The only negative outcome it would have would be taking a hit away from Jason Donald, Indians shortstop. While I can't say for sure, I don't think Donald would put up any argument if they took the hit away from him. I also don't believe the Cleveland Indians or anyone else would have any reason to complain about the change.
Baseball's most exciting plays happen in milliseconds, every pitch and swing of the bat happens at amazing speeds. The play at first was bang bang, and you really cannot put all the blame on the umpire. As Galarraga has said, nobody is perfect. When you put the pressure of making all these calls that happen in such little increments of time on one person, you are bound to have mistakes made. How can baseball let one of the most hallowed and impressive achievements in the game be negated by a common human error. While this starts a separate argument about if baseball should institute instant replay, I think it makes the case for Galarraga's perfecto as well.
While overturning the call now and giving Galarraga his perfect game would not justify the mistake, I think it needs to be done. Galarraga will not have the memory of the excitement and celebration with his teammates that the other 20 pitchers have, but at least he will not be robbed of the chance to be remembered forever and have his name in the Hall of Fame. There is no reason that a mistake that could have been made by anybody should rob this man of probably his greatest achievement in his lifetime.
He did get a free shiny 2010 red Corvette from Chevrolet for his efforts, so it's not all bad for Armando.
As I'm sure all of you know, Armando Galarraga, a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, was robbed of a perfect game on a blown call from umpire Jim Joyce. There have been talks that Bud Selig would reverse the call and send Galarraga's name to the Hall of Fame and etch him in baseball history forever. However, we found out yesterday that he was going to do no such thing.
In my opinion, that is inacceptable.
First of all, there was absolutely no doubt about the perfect game. The blown call was on the last out of the game, so if the call was made correct, the game is over right there and there is nothing else to question.
Second, there is no question that it was indeed an out. Instant replays showed that the runner was out by half a step, and no one can argue that.
Knowing those two things, I see absolutely no harm in reversing the call. The only negative outcome it would have would be taking a hit away from Jason Donald, Indians shortstop. While I can't say for sure, I don't think Donald would put up any argument if they took the hit away from him. I also don't believe the Cleveland Indians or anyone else would have any reason to complain about the change.
Baseball's most exciting plays happen in milliseconds, every pitch and swing of the bat happens at amazing speeds. The play at first was bang bang, and you really cannot put all the blame on the umpire. As Galarraga has said, nobody is perfect. When you put the pressure of making all these calls that happen in such little increments of time on one person, you are bound to have mistakes made. How can baseball let one of the most hallowed and impressive achievements in the game be negated by a common human error. While this starts a separate argument about if baseball should institute instant replay, I think it makes the case for Galarraga's perfecto as well.
While overturning the call now and giving Galarraga his perfect game would not justify the mistake, I think it needs to be done. Galarraga will not have the memory of the excitement and celebration with his teammates that the other 20 pitchers have, but at least he will not be robbed of the chance to be remembered forever and have his name in the Hall of Fame. There is no reason that a mistake that could have been made by anybody should rob this man of probably his greatest achievement in his lifetime.
He did get a free shiny 2010 red Corvette from Chevrolet for his efforts, so it's not all bad for Armando.
Facing Aces
Comments
The Pirates are on a 2 game winning streak and are 9 games under .500 heading into a weekend series with the San Francisco Giants. After that the Pirates go to Washington and then to Detroit. Looking at the pitching matchups, you can tell it's going to be a fun week of baseball to watch.
First, the Pirates face Jonathan Sanchez on Friday night. While Sanchez isn't really known as an ace around the league, he is putting up ace-like numbers this year. Sanchez is 3-4 with a 2.90 ERA and is striking out 9.1 batters per 9 innings, that ranks him 7th among National League starters in that category. The Pirates will send out Zach Duke to take on Sanchez and the Giants.
On Sunday the Pirates face Tim Lincecum. Last year's NL Cy Young had a great start to the year but has had a rough time of it lately. He has given up 14 runs in his last 3 starts, and that's over a span of 15.1 innings. His strikeouts are down in those starts as well, as he has only struck out 6, 5, and 3 batters respectively. Before those 3 starts his season ERA was at 1.76, but it has now inflated to 3.14. His K/9 rate is still an impressive 10.4, and with the Pirates offense it will be a tough job getting runners on base.
After a makeup game with the Cubs on Monday, the Pirates travel to Washington to face the Nationals. Stephen Strasburg, one of the most anticipated prospects in Major League history, will be making his first major league start. Strasburg is as filthy as anybody in the league. He can reach triple digits on the radar gun, and his cutter is nearly unhittable when it's on. We don't know who will be making the start for the Pirates Tuesday, but we're gonna have to bring our bats if we want any chance to win. The cameras are probably going to be on Strasburg sitting in the dugout more often than anything happening on the field when the Pirates on defense anyway.
After all the Strasburg hype is over, the Pirates head to Detroit to face Justin Verlander, another one of the league's top strikeout pitchers. Verlander has a 3.75 ERA with 8.4 K/9. He has 5 wins in 11 starts but has only lost 4 games. He is one of the hardest throwing starters in the league and he can also reach triple digits.
After Verlander is done, the Pirates will face the recently famous Armando Galarraga, who was robbed of a perfect game last night by umpire Jim Joyce. I hadn't heard Galarraga's name at all before this year, and he surely wouldn't be mentioned in this post if I had written it yesterday, but surprisingly he has been putting up very good numbers. He has posted a 2.57 ERA, although he has only made 3 starts. He has walked only 4 batters in those 3 starts, and that was huge in the gem he pitched last night. Galarraga threw under 90 pitches in his complete game, one-hit* shutout of the Cleveland Indians.
It's gonna be a rough 10 game stretch for the Bucs. I don't know what the record for team strikeouts in 10 games is, but the Pirates have a pretty good chance at breaking that one. Sanchez, Lincecum, Strasburg, and Verlander will all be near the top of the league in strikeouts at the end of the year, and the Pirates have the challenge of facing them all in the near future.
So my word of advice to fellow Pirate fans, don't worry about the wins coming in the next 10 days, just enjoy watching some of the game's greatest throw the ball against some of the league's worst. Should be fun.
Let's Go Bucs.
First, the Pirates face Jonathan Sanchez on Friday night. While Sanchez isn't really known as an ace around the league, he is putting up ace-like numbers this year. Sanchez is 3-4 with a 2.90 ERA and is striking out 9.1 batters per 9 innings, that ranks him 7th among National League starters in that category. The Pirates will send out Zach Duke to take on Sanchez and the Giants.
On Sunday the Pirates face Tim Lincecum. Last year's NL Cy Young had a great start to the year but has had a rough time of it lately. He has given up 14 runs in his last 3 starts, and that's over a span of 15.1 innings. His strikeouts are down in those starts as well, as he has only struck out 6, 5, and 3 batters respectively. Before those 3 starts his season ERA was at 1.76, but it has now inflated to 3.14. His K/9 rate is still an impressive 10.4, and with the Pirates offense it will be a tough job getting runners on base.
After a makeup game with the Cubs on Monday, the Pirates travel to Washington to face the Nationals. Stephen Strasburg, one of the most anticipated prospects in Major League history, will be making his first major league start. Strasburg is as filthy as anybody in the league. He can reach triple digits on the radar gun, and his cutter is nearly unhittable when it's on. We don't know who will be making the start for the Pirates Tuesday, but we're gonna have to bring our bats if we want any chance to win. The cameras are probably going to be on Strasburg sitting in the dugout more often than anything happening on the field when the Pirates on defense anyway.
After all the Strasburg hype is over, the Pirates head to Detroit to face Justin Verlander, another one of the league's top strikeout pitchers. Verlander has a 3.75 ERA with 8.4 K/9. He has 5 wins in 11 starts but has only lost 4 games. He is one of the hardest throwing starters in the league and he can also reach triple digits.
After Verlander is done, the Pirates will face the recently famous Armando Galarraga, who was robbed of a perfect game last night by umpire Jim Joyce. I hadn't heard Galarraga's name at all before this year, and he surely wouldn't be mentioned in this post if I had written it yesterday, but surprisingly he has been putting up very good numbers. He has posted a 2.57 ERA, although he has only made 3 starts. He has walked only 4 batters in those 3 starts, and that was huge in the gem he pitched last night. Galarraga threw under 90 pitches in his complete game, one-hit* shutout of the Cleveland Indians.
It's gonna be a rough 10 game stretch for the Bucs. I don't know what the record for team strikeouts in 10 games is, but the Pirates have a pretty good chance at breaking that one. Sanchez, Lincecum, Strasburg, and Verlander will all be near the top of the league in strikeouts at the end of the year, and the Pirates have the challenge of facing them all in the near future.
So my word of advice to fellow Pirate fans, don't worry about the wins coming in the next 10 days, just enjoy watching some of the game's greatest throw the ball against some of the league's worst. Should be fun.
Let's Go Bucs.
Facing Aces
Comments
The Pirates are on a 2 game winning streak and are 9 games under .500 heading into a weekend series with the San Francisco Giants. After that the Pirates go to Washington and then to Detroit. Looking at the pitching matchups, you can tell it's going to be a fun week of baseball to watch.
First, the Pirates face Jonathan Sanchez on Friday night. While Sanchez isn't really known as an ace around the league, he is putting up ace-like numbers this year. Sanchez is 3-4 with a 2.90 ERA and is striking out 9.1 batters per 9 innings, that ranks him 7th among National League starters in that category. The Pirates will send out Zach Duke to take on Sanchez and the Giants.
On Sunday the Pirates face Tim Lincecum. Last year's NL Cy Young had a great start to the year but has had a rough time of it lately. He has given up 14 runs in his last 3 starts, and that's over a span of 15.1 innings. His strikeouts are down in those starts as well, as he has only struck out 6, 5, and 3 batters respectively. Before those 3 starts his season ERA was at 1.76, but it has now inflated to 3.14. His K/9 rate is still an impressive 10.4, and with the Pirates offense it will be a tough job getting runners on base.
After a makeup game with the Cubs on Monday, the Pirates travel to Washington to face the Nationals. Stephen Strasburg, one of the most anticipated prospects in Major League history, will be making his first major league start. Strasburg is as filthy as anybody in the league. He can reach triple digits on the radar gun, and his cutter is nearly unhittable when it's on. We don't know who will be making the start for the Pirates Tuesday, but we're gonna have to bring our bats if we want any chance to win. The cameras are probably going to be on Strasburg sitting in the dugout more often than anything happening on the field when the Pirates on defense anyway.
After all the Strasburg hype is over, the Pirates head to Detroit to face Justin Verlander, another one of the league's top strikeout pitchers. Verlander has a 3.75 ERA with 8.4 K/9. He has 5 wins in 11 starts but has only lost 4 games. He is one of the hardest throwing starters in the league and he can also reach triple digits.
After Verlander is done, the Pirates will face the recently famous Armando Galarraga, who was robbed of a perfect game last night by umpire Jim Joyce. I hadn't heard Galarraga's name at all before this year, and he surely wouldn't be mentioned in this post if I had written it yesterday, but surprisingly he has been putting up very good numbers. He has posted a 2.57 ERA, although he has only made 3 starts. He has walked only 4 batters in those 3 starts, and that was huge in the gem he pitched last night. Galarraga threw under 90 pitches in his complete game, one-hit* shutout of the Cleveland Indians.
It's gonna be a rough 10 game stretch for the Bucs. I don't know what the record for team strikeouts in 10 games is, but the Pirates have a pretty good chance at breaking that one. Sanchez, Lincecum, Strasburg, and Verlander will all be near the top of the league in strikeouts at the end of the year, and the Pirates have the challenge of facing them all in the near future.
So my word of advice to fellow Pirate fans, don't worry about the wins coming in the next 10 days, just enjoy watching some of the game's greatest throw the ball against some of the league's worst. Should be fun.
Let's Go Bucs.
First, the Pirates face Jonathan Sanchez on Friday night. While Sanchez isn't really known as an ace around the league, he is putting up ace-like numbers this year. Sanchez is 3-4 with a 2.90 ERA and is striking out 9.1 batters per 9 innings, that ranks him 7th among National League starters in that category. The Pirates will send out Zach Duke to take on Sanchez and the Giants.
On Sunday the Pirates face Tim Lincecum. Last year's NL Cy Young had a great start to the year but has had a rough time of it lately. He has given up 14 runs in his last 3 starts, and that's over a span of 15.1 innings. His strikeouts are down in those starts as well, as he has only struck out 6, 5, and 3 batters respectively. Before those 3 starts his season ERA was at 1.76, but it has now inflated to 3.14. His K/9 rate is still an impressive 10.4, and with the Pirates offense it will be a tough job getting runners on base.
After a makeup game with the Cubs on Monday, the Pirates travel to Washington to face the Nationals. Stephen Strasburg, one of the most anticipated prospects in Major League history, will be making his first major league start. Strasburg is as filthy as anybody in the league. He can reach triple digits on the radar gun, and his cutter is nearly unhittable when it's on. We don't know who will be making the start for the Pirates Tuesday, but we're gonna have to bring our bats if we want any chance to win. The cameras are probably going to be on Strasburg sitting in the dugout more often than anything happening on the field when the Pirates on defense anyway.
After all the Strasburg hype is over, the Pirates head to Detroit to face Justin Verlander, another one of the league's top strikeout pitchers. Verlander has a 3.75 ERA with 8.4 K/9. He has 5 wins in 11 starts but has only lost 4 games. He is one of the hardest throwing starters in the league and he can also reach triple digits.
After Verlander is done, the Pirates will face the recently famous Armando Galarraga, who was robbed of a perfect game last night by umpire Jim Joyce. I hadn't heard Galarraga's name at all before this year, and he surely wouldn't be mentioned in this post if I had written it yesterday, but surprisingly he has been putting up very good numbers. He has posted a 2.57 ERA, although he has only made 3 starts. He has walked only 4 batters in those 3 starts, and that was huge in the gem he pitched last night. Galarraga threw under 90 pitches in his complete game, one-hit* shutout of the Cleveland Indians.
It's gonna be a rough 10 game stretch for the Bucs. I don't know what the record for team strikeouts in 10 games is, but the Pirates have a pretty good chance at breaking that one. Sanchez, Lincecum, Strasburg, and Verlander will all be near the top of the league in strikeouts at the end of the year, and the Pirates have the challenge of facing them all in the near future.
So my word of advice to fellow Pirate fans, don't worry about the wins coming in the next 10 days, just enjoy watching some of the game's greatest throw the ball against some of the league's worst. Should be fun.
Let's Go Bucs.
Cubs vs. Pirates, Game 53
1 commentsChicago Cubs (24-28) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (21-31)
7:05 PM, PNC Park
Ted Lilly (1-4, 3.63) vs. Jeff Karstens (1-1, 4.78)
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