Pirates Pitching Problem

Coming into this 2011 Pittsburgh Pirates campaign, it was no secret that the Pirates biggest issue was pitching. What the Pirates have done this spring has done absolutely nothing to prove that belief false. Yesterday's 9-5 loss was the 8th time in the Pirates 28 spring training games that they gave up more than 7 runs. The Pirates gave up a lot of runs early on in spring, and I expected it to get better once the big league guys started getting more innings. That hasn't been true, it has actually gotten worse. Over the last three games the Pirates have given up 30 runs, and that is with major leaguers like Evan Meek, Brian Burres, Chris Resop, Ross Ohlendorf, Garrett Olson, Charlie Morton, Joel Hanrahan, and Jose Veras pitching. It has been a very ugly spring training in terms of pitching.

Now the fact that the Pirates are giving up a lot of runs and losing games really does not mean much of anything in relation to the regular season. We've heard comments from Ohlendorf and some other guys about not being worried about the bad results because they're just trying to work out some stuff before they really start attacking hitters and taking advantage of hitters weaknesses. That's fair. However, it is certainly not a good thing to see your pitching staff get lit up game after game, especially after the already low expectations heading into the season.

Let's put it this way, if the Philadelphia Phillies pitching staff was getting hit around this spring, I don't think anybody would worry. Those guys are established big leaguers that everybody knows will be extremely effective when the regular season rolls around. That's not true at all from the Pirates. We really do not have one proven solid big league starter, so it's very discouraging to not see anybody really stepping up and getting guys out at a good rate. Now, Morton had been great until his last start yesterday, but he really has not done anything at the major league level to warrant us being too optimistic about him this year.

Over these 28 spring training games, the Pirates are giving up 5.75 runs per game, that's a half a run more than they gave up last season when they finished last in the National League in that category. A lot of those runs have come off of guys we won't be seeing pitch in the regular season, so let's take a look at the numbers for the guys we are going to be seeing in the majors this year:

Paul Maholm: 20 IP, 26 H, 10 ER, 5 HR, 4.50 ERA
Kevin Correia: 18.1 IP, 27 H, 13 ER, 2 HR, 6.38 ERA
Ross Ohlendorf: 14.1 IP, 27 H, 16 ER, 4 HR, 10.05 ERA
James McDonald: 6.2 IP, 10 H, 3 ER, 0 HR, 4.05 ERA
Charlie Morton: 19 IP, 14 H, 7 ER, 1 HR, 3.32 ERA

Joel Hanrahan: 7.2 IP, 11 H, 8 ER, 3 HR, 9.39 ERA
Evan Meek: 6.1 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 0 HR, 4.26 ERA
Chris Resop: 11.1 IP, 12 H, 4 ER, 1 HR, 3.18 ERA
Jose Veras: 11 IP, 10 H, 2 ER, 0 HR, 1.64 ERA
Jeff Karstens: 7 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 1 HR, 2.57 ERA
Brian Burres: 14 IP, 15 H, 6 ER, 1 HR, 3.86 ERA
Garrett Olson: 2.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 HR, 15.43 ERA
Joe Beimel: 2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 HR, 18.00 ERA

That's a pretty ugly list. It would be really nice to say that things can only go up from here, but judging from last season, I do not feel confident in saying that. The Pirates have a bunch of pitch to contact guys that get hit hard when they're location isn't good, and with a bad defense behind them, that leads to some ugly statistics and a lot of losses.

Here's hoping the Pirates pitchers get good... somehow.