The guy has a point. Check out these statistics from two seasons ago, 2010:
| Name | Starts | Innings | ERA | K/9 | BB/9 |
| Rudy Owens | 26 | 150 | 2.46 | 7.9 | 1.4 |
| Bryan Morris | 24 | 133.2 | 3.03 | 8.3 | 2.6 |
| Justin Wilson | 26 | 142.2 | 3.09 | 8.5 | 4.5 |
| Jeff Locke | 27 | 144 | 3.56 | 8.7 | 1.6 |
| Name | Starts | Innings | ERA | K/9 | BB/9 |
| Rudy Owens | 21 | 112.1 | 5.05 | 5.7 | 2.6 |
| Bryan Morris | 6 | 78 | 3.35 | 7.4 | 3.8 |
| Justin Wilson | 21 | 124.1 | 4.13 | 6.8 | 4.8 |
| Jeff Locke | 27 | 153.1 | 3.70 | 8.2 | 3.2 |
That's some serious regression. Two years ago we thought all four of these guys would be competing for rotation spots this spring. Now none of them are. Jeff Locke was the only pitcher that had what I would call a good season last year. He pitched very well in AAA and got a September call-up, which he didn't impress too many people with but you can't judge much from his first big league stint. Rudy Owens looked like a sure thing to make the big league rotation someday. Nobody ever thought he was going to be a top of the rotation arm but we were all pretty confident he would be a solid four or five guy. Now we aren't expecting much at all from him after he got knocked around in AAA last year.
Justin Wilson and Bryan Morris have been moved to the bullpen, which isn't something you want to see. Bullpen arms are easy to come by, and you really want your minor league starters to stay starters. Morris and Wilson both have very good stuff, they can both reach the mid and upper 90's with their heat, but they just didn't show anything else last year and struggled a lot in their starting roles. Now we are looking at these guys for bullpen depth in 2012 instead of guys who could possibly help the rotation.
It's frustrating, it really is. The Pirates can never seem to get a break. The future is still bright, but it would be a lot brighter if our 2010 Big Four pitching prospects hadn't fallen off the table.
Obviously these guys are still young and could very well bounce back in 2012, but the regression is still irritating, and all too common for us Pirates fans to see.