Unexpected Production: Doumit, Cedeno On Fire

Two of the least-liked Pittsburgh Pirates players going into this year were Ryan Doumit and Ronny Cedeno. Apparently these two guys got sick of the hate and decided to start hitting the ball this year. We've seen some really encouraging signs from both of them this year, so let's take a closer look.

We'll start with Doumit. It seemed like everybody, including myself, did not want Doumit on the opening day roster. The Pirates tried to shop him around the league all offseason in order to make a trade, but could never get a decent return and had to stick with him for one more year. Doumit's role was looking like basically a platooning catcher who could play a little bit in the outfield and at first base. Chris Snyder was the main catcher and Pirate fans liked him a lot more than they did Doumit.

I don't know if we could still say that today, however, as Doumit is hitting .286/.360/.494 on the season. He has 4 home runs and is tied with Lyle Overbay for 3rd on the team with 14 RBI. He has struck out only 12 times, the fewest of any consistent Pirates player.

In the past 9 games, Doumit is 10 out of 26; hitting .385/.467/.769 and 3 home runs. One of those home runs turned out to be one of the biggest hits of the year for the Pirates; a 3-run home run in the 8th inning that basically won the game against the Astros.

The Pirates are paying Doumit a good amount of money and they have had trouble getting consistent production from him his whole career. The defense has always been bad, but it seems that he's playing better behind the plate this year. He hasn't done anything remarkable, but he hasn't made many of the bonehead plays that we saw last year.

This is probably just another hot streak for Doumit, and I'd be surprised if his numbers at the end of the year were much better than they have been before, but it's good to see him hitting for now.

The other Pirate that has been really good lately is Ronny Cedeno. His averages right now are .244/.304/.333, but he had an absolutely horrific start to the season. In the month of April, Ronny hit .192/.260/.485 and looked just terrible both offensively and defensively (at times). Since then, Cedeno is hitting .320/.414/.440 and looks really good at the plate. He's definitely seeing the ball well, and he's been able to hit it all over the field, including over the fence once in Milwaukee last weekend.

Now hot streaks aren't uncommon for Cedeno, which is why you really have to reserve your enthusiasm in this situation. Last year from July 7 to July 25, Cedeno hit .420/.453/.700, a ridiculous tear. From July 26th til the end of the year, Cedeno hit .256/.290/.384, which isn't horrid but it certainly showed that his hot streak was only a streak.

These two players are both very prone to hot streaks, so I'm not going to say that this year is any different for either of them, but it's definitely worth paying attention to for right now. Doumit's performance is most encouraging for me, because with every hit he gets it seems his trade value rises a little bit, which is nothing but good for the Pirates with Tony Sanchez on his way up through the minors.

The Pirates start a 3-game series with the Detroit Tigers in Pittsburgh tonight, and if Doumit and Cedeno continue hitting, the Pirates should win this series.