3/31 Recap | Pirates 6 Orioles 6

The Pirates got their second tie in as many days Saturday in the second game of their split squad double-header. The team got 9 more hits to add to their solid offensive spring.

Alex Presley and Garrett Jones both hit home runs today, and the team also got RBI’s from Casey McGehee (who had another two hit day) and Erik Bedard. Rod Barajas also had two hits at the plate today.

Erik Bedard made the start and didn’t fair quite as well as he did last time, giving up four runs in five innings on five hits. He gave up two long balls and struck out a pair while walking two. Joel Hanrahan gave up a run in the sixth inning, and Chris Leroux pitched a scoreless inning while striking out two of the three batters he faced.

3/31 Recap | Twins 15 Pirates 3

In game one of the Pirates Saturday split squad double-header, the team lost 15-3 to the Minnesota Twins.

Kevin Correia made the start and got absolutely rocked, giving up ten earned runs in 2.1 innings. He didn’t walk a batter and gave up 12 hits. Daniel McCutchen also got roughed up giving up three runs in an inning. Juan Cruz pitched a third of an inning but was hit by a come-backer in the arm and was removed from the game as a precaution. The Twins ended up with 20 hits on the day.

On offense, the Pirates collected a respectable 11 hits. Jose Tabata and Michael McKenry had two hit days. McKenry homered as did Matt Hague (his sixth of the spring). Josh Harrison added an RBI as well.

What Hague has been doing with the bat has been just ridiculous and he’s making it extremely hard for the Pirates to send him to AAA. The decision should come tomorrow about who will make the team, and that will be an interesting call.

3/30 Recap | Pirates 3 Rays 3

The Pirates and Rays played to a nine-inning tie at McKechnie Field on Friday afternoon.

The Pirates got a pair of home runs from Casey McGehee and Matt Hague. The home run was Hague’s fifth of the spring as he continues to try and make the big league team. Those two both had two hits a piece, and Jose Tabata, Yamaico Navarro, and Rod Barajas also added knocks.

Tony Watson made the start for the Pirates who chose to go with all bullpen guys. Watson pitched two perfect innings with a pair of strikeouts. Signs point to him making the team out of spring training. Jason Grilli pitched two scoreless inning, Chris Resop put up a zero, and Tim Alderson finished the game with two scoreless innings of his own. The culprit today was Brad Lincoln, who gave up three runs in the 7th inning.

The Pirates play split squad games tomorrow.

Opening Day Reminiscing - 2009

Clipped from: rumbunter.com (share this clip)

2012 Pittsburgh Pirates: Where Should Our Focus Lie?

This post was inspired by all the talks about Pedro Alvarez and his spring training struggles. It seems to me that most people want Alvarez up to start the year with the big league club, but there is also a good amount of people that would rather have him start in AAA.

The reason that the people in the second group think what they do is simple: they want the Pirates to win as many games as possible this year. Those people do not believe that Pedro Alvarez gives the Pirates the best chance to win games this year, at least not at the beginning of the season. That is perfectly understandable. In fact, the way things are looking right now, I would say there's little doubt that having a Casey McGehee or a Yamaico Navarro in the lineup makes the Pirates a better offensive team right now. My question is, should winning as many games as possible in 2012 be the focus of this team?

Neil Huntington and company have been working on rebuilding this team since they took over, and for all intents and purposes they have done a pretty good job thus far. The focus hasn't been the present for a few years now, and people are sick of that being the case. I understand that, fans want to win right now, this year. It doesn't help that our division is much weaker than it has been in the past and the Pirates look to have some semblance of a chance to compete, if everything goes right. So most of the people in Pittsburgh want the Pirates to do everything possible to compete for a playoff spot this year. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, however...

I think the focus should still mainly be on the future. Not the distant future, but the future of having a roster that can legitimately make the playoffs. I don't want to write about a team that needs some crazy stroke of luck to make the playoffs every year (which is probably where we are right now). The Pirates are getting better, but they are not there yet.

Pedro Alvarez is a huge key in the Pirates getting to that level. Andrew McCutchen is just as big of a piece, and guys like Jose Tabata, Neil Walker, James McDonald, and Charlie Morton have large big hands in it as well. However, I'm not even sure that core of players is good enough to really get the Pirates to where they want to be.

The good news is that the Pirates have those players in the minor leagues that can get us to that level. Jameson Taillon and Gerrit Cole are hugely instrumental into getting this roster to look like a World Series contender. Obviously, those guys aren't ready yet. They won't be for at least another year, and probably beyond that.

So in my eyes, the focus should be on the 2013 and 2014 teams, that's when I think the Pirates have their first legitimate chance to make a real run at the division and eventually the World Series. I'm not saying that they can't make the playoffs this year, because I do think they have at least a small chance. However, we should be playing the odds here and doing everything we can to make the 2013 and 2014 teams look as good as possible.

That means playing Alvarez at third base in a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform as often as possible in 2012. It doesn't matter to me if he hits .150 in April, he needs to be there. The Pirates need the guy to get to where they want to be, and the best way to get him there is giving him Major League at-bats. This year isn't a rebuilding year by any means, they be looking to make more significant strides like they did last year. However, the goal of 2012 is not to win as many regular season games as possible in my eyes - it is too set yourself up best for 2013 while not still trying to give yourself the outside chance of competing in 2012.

I hope that all makes sense, and I know it's hard to swallow another post that says be patient with a team that you have been patient with for 19 years now. We're closer than we have ever been to breaking the streak and really competing for something important, it just might take another year or two to really have a legitimate chance at that. The best thing the team can do RIGHT NOW to bring a World Series to Pittsburgh is start the year with Pedro Alvarez in the major leagues.

Episode 9 - Pirates Roundtable Podcast

Episode 9. New topics, same voices: Brian from Raise The Jolly Roger, Jim from Northside Notch, and Cory from Three Rivers Burgh Blog. Here's the rundown:

• Pedro Alvarez
• Erik Bedard and his velocity
• Charlie Morton & James McDonald
• Starting Ptcher Predictions
• Nick Evans and Jake Fox cuts

and more! Check it out! Search Pirates Roundtable Podcast on iTunes to subscribe and download.

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2012 Pirates Preview [Video]

My main dude Drew Brown who has been doing some writing for me recently made this 2012 Pirates Preview video. Opening Day is less than a week away, so you've gotta start getting in the mood. This video should help. Check her out:

3/29 Recap | Twins 11 Pirates 6

James McDonald was just horrible today. You couldn’t have been much worse than J-Mac if you tried. He pitched 3.2 innings and gave up TEN runs on seven hits while walking seven more. Just an awful, awful outing that we hope we never see ever again. Daniel McCutchen pitched 2.1 innings and gave up a solo run on four hits with two walks. Jared Hughes, Matt McSwain (McEffect), and Jose Diaz combined to throw three scoreless innings.

On offense, the Pirates were led by none other than Pedro Alvarez, who had a pair of singles on the day in five at-bats. He also struck out twice. He eliminated the toe tap that he had been experimenting with earlier this spring and it led to good results, so that could be a sign of things changing. Greg Picart, a minor league guy, also had two hits today. It wasn’t a bad day at the plate for the Pirates who collected 12 hits and six runs, and hopefully some of these good hitting days will spill into the regular season, that would be a nice boost for a somewhat beat-up pitching staff.

Nick Evans and Jake Fox were both cut this morning, leaving Yamaico Navarro, Josh Harrison, and Matt Hague all fighting for two bench spots.

Twins vs. Pirates, Spring Training Game 25

Minnesota Twins vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
7:05

Lineup

1. Alex Presley, LF 2. Josh Harrison, SS 3. Jose Tabata, RF 4. Casey McGehee, 1B 5. Neil Walker, 2B 6. Nate McLouth, CF 7. Pedro Alvarez, 3B 8. Michael McKenry, C 9. James McDonald, SP

PitchersJames McDonald

Game Notes

• Nick Evans and Jake Fox have both been assigned to minor league camp, which leaves just Yamaico Navarro, Josh Harrison, and Matt Hague battling for a bench spot. 

Thursday 3/29 | News, Notes, and Links

• We are just one week away from Opening Day.
• We are just one week away from Opening Day.
• That was not a mistake, I just wanted to say it twice.
• The Pirates lost to the Rays 6-4 last night. Andrew McCutchen homered and Charlie Morton gave up five earned runs. Not great.
• Tim Williams has some minor league breakout candidates on his site. check them out.
• The Pirates play the Twins in Bradenton at 1:05 today. James McDonald is making the start.

Can Jeff Karstens Get More Strikeouts in 2012?

Spring training stats are largely meaningless. I think I've said that in about every post for the last two and a half weeks. However, I like to write about the Pittsburgh Pirates, so here's something I've noticed.

In 13 Grapefruit League innings, Jeff Karstens has nine strikeouts. That's 6.2 strikeouts per nine inning. That's a whole strikeout better than last year. Now that is meaningless. A sample of 13 innings literally tells you nothing. Let me tell you this. Karstens made a start against the Blue Jays AAA team yesterday and struck out ten batters in 7.1 innings. It was against a minor league team, yes, he absolutely should dominate a minor league lineup. However, ten strikeouts is still impressive for a guy like Karstens.

I don't think the above statements mean Karstens is going to strike more batters out this year. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if it happens.

The biggest thing that stops Karstens from getting a lot of strikeouts is his approach. He throws strikes to get soft contact and be efficient and last year he was very good at doing that. The success that he had last year should breed more confidence. I think that more confidence in himself and in his pitches should lead to a few more whiffs this year. Last year he didn't know he was a big league starter, he came in early in the year to fill a gap and never gave the job up. He was lucky, that's undoubtably true, but he was also very good for most of the year.

Karstens has a job locked down this year. That has to be a shot in the arm for the guy. He knows he has to perform to keep the job, and he should continue to grow in confidence as he has success. I think that will lead to more strikeouts. He doesn't have electrifying stuff; he is far from being that kind of pitcher. However, he does know how to locate and he has a good slow curveball, which I think he'll have more confidence to  use in strikeout situations this year.

Again, this is kind of just a blind prediction, but I think we're going to see a Jeff Karstens that knows what he has to do to be successful this year, and I think it will lead to some more strikeouts. You heard it here first, maybe.

Pirates vs. Rays, Spring Training Game 24

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Tampa Bay Rays
7:05

Lineup

1. Jose Tabata, RF 2. Josh Harrison, LF 3. Andrew McCutchen, CF 4. Casey McGehee, 3B 5. Neil Walker, 2B 6. Rod Barajas, C 7. Matt Hague, 1B 8. Clint Barmes, SS 9. Charlie Morton, SP

Pitchers

Charlie Morton Evan Meek Chris Leroux Juan Cruz

Game Notes

• Pedro Alvarez is out of the lineup today, although he did take some at-bats at Pirate city in the afternoon. 
• Matt Hague is still getting looks, which is interesting this late in camp. I don't think he has a shot at making the club, but it's definitely worth noting that he's getting playing time this late in camp.
• This would be a good night for Chris Leroux to put up a couple zeroes to bounce back from a bad outing last time out and all-in-all a disappointing spring.

Should Daniel Moskos Make the Team?

At the beginning of spring training it seemed like a pretty safe bet that Tony Watson would be in the Pirates bullpen at the beginning of the season. Last year Watson pitched 41 innings with the Pirates and posted a 3.95 ERA (18 earned runs allowed) with 8.1 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9. He was extremely good in high leverage situations limiting opposing hitters to a .190 batting average in such situations. It seemed that if he could mature a bit more and bring the walks down, he could be an extremely effective left handed reliever. However, he hasn't looked good in camp thus far and we're now just a few days away from when the Pirates have to make their final decisions. The other guy battling for the lefty bullpen spot is Daniel Moskos - a first round pick who is largely unproven and nothing too special to look at.

In eight spring innings, Watson has allowed six earned runs, two home runs, and has just two strikeouts. It should be noted that he has only walked one batter, which you could take as a good sign. Moskos on the other hand has allowed just one earned run in those same eight innings. He has seven strikeouts but has walked five.

You certainly don't want a guy coming in from the bullpen who is going to walk batters. Either of these guys is probably going to be mainly used as a situational pitcher. They'll come in to get one or two batters out, and you can't afford walks when you're doing that. For their minor league careers, Moskos has 3.7 BB/9 while Watson has 2.1. That, plus Watson's 2011 success and upside would give Watson the spot in my mind, but I'm not sure it's that simple right now.

Let's look at the pitch f/x for these two southpaws.

3/27 Recap | Phillies 5 Pirates 4

The Pirates got four runs in the eighth inning but couldn’t use the late rally to earn themselves a win on Tuesday afternoon as they dropped their 15th game of the spring to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Chris Resop made the start for the Pirates who were just trying to focus on getting some of the bullpen guys stretched out. Resop went two innings and gave up a pair of runs on three hits while striking out three. Chris Leroux, Joel Hanrahan, and Jared Hughes all pitched scoreless innings as they put the final touches on their arsenals before the season starts next week. Daniel McCutchen allowed a run in the fourth and Ryota Igarashi allowed another one to score in the sixth.

On offense, the Pirates collected eight hits on a pretty solid string of Phillies pitchers. Casey McGehee had a nice day at the plate with a pair of hits and an RBI. Nick Evans, and Eric Fryer also added RBIs. Pedro Alvarez had three more strikeouts today, although he did get a single to go along with them this time. He continues to struggle at the plate. Josh Harrison had his first hitless start of the spring going 0/4, and Yamaico Navarro went hitless in his two at-bats as well. Those two seem like good bets to make the team out of this point.

Just five Grapefruit League games to play before the Pirates start their regular season on April 5th.

Pirates vs. Phillies, Spring Training Game 23

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Philadelphia Phillies
7:05

Lineup

1. Alex Presley, LF 2. Josh Harrison, SS 3. Jose Tabata, RF 4. Andrew McCutchen, CF 5. Casey McGehee, 1B 6. Yamaico Navarro, 2B 7. Pedro Alvarez, 3B 8. Matt Hague, DH 9. Michael McKenry, C

Pitchers

Chris Resop Chris Leroux Ryota Igarashi Jared Hughes Joel Hanrahan

Game Notes

• Jeff Karstens is pitching in a minor league game today to build arm strength. Hurdle said he wanted to get the bullpen guys some more innings to help them prepare for next Thursday, so they will be handling the load today.
• A.J. Burnett is also throwing a simulated game today as he continues to get his arm ready for the season. 

Erik Bedard's Velocity is Down

The Pirates have a new Opening Day starter and his name is Erik Bedard. He will be the most talented Opening Day starter we have seen since Oliver Perez. He owns a career 3.70 ERA and is a very good pitcher when healthy.

All the signs are pointing towards a solid 2012 season for Bedard. He has recovered from his surgeries and has been focusing in hard on bouncing back this year and becoming relevant once again. I'm not doubting at all that he can do it, however there is something that we haven't really talked about this spring that is a bit alarming.

Last year Bedard's average fastball came in at 90.4 miles per hour. That's a little ways down from the 92.1 he was throwing in 2007 before injuries started hurting his career. Despite the mediocre fastball velocity, Erik was able to post a 3.62 ERA with 8.7 K/9. That's a testament to how good of a pure pitcher he is. It's still early to say anything for sure, but it appears that Bedard has lost even more velocity over the offseason. He has been hitting the gun between 87-90 this spring. There's no data out there but I would guess his average heater is coming in around 88 miles per hour. That's a little bit frightening.

Again, Bedard doesn't need to throw 92-93 to be affective in the big leagues, however you don't se many successful pitchers throwing 88 mile an hour four-seamers. It didn't hurt his case last night, striking out 5 Orioles in 6 innings and getting a ton of weak contact, but I don't see how he can repeat his strikeout numbers from the previous years without a fastball in the 90's.

This could all be just a spring training thing, and we could very well see his velocity get back to 90-91 on Opening Day. I initially suspected that Bradenton's radar gun may just be a bit slow, but I went back and watched his start against the Yankees in their stadium to find the same readings.

I'd be lying if I told you the decreased velocity on Bedard's fastball isn't concerning me a little bit. The ultimate goal for him is to stay healthy, and I'm sure he's been taking it a little easy this spring to make sure he gets to Opening Day ready to go. There's a good chance that this will be non-issue when the season begins, but for now it's something to keep an eye on.

Tuesday 3/27 | News, Notes, and Links

• Erik Bedard looked great last night in a 4-1 loss to the Orioles. Here's the recap.
• Opening Day is just 9 days away and you're running out of time to have your McEffect t-shirt in time for the season's beginning. Order one today.
• Tim Williams talked to my boy Andrew Lambo and has a post up on him over at Pirates Prospects. It's a good read.
• The Pirates play the Phillies at 1:05 today in Clearwater. Chris Resop is going to take the mound to start for the Buccos and he'll be followed by Joel Hanrahan, Ryota Igarashi, Chris Leroux, and Jared Hughes. Jeff Karstens is starting a minor league game.

3/26 Recap | Orioles 4 Pirates 1

Erik Bedard had a fantastic outing on Monday night under the lights of McKechnie Field. The Pirates newly announced Opening Day starter went six plus innings giving up two runs on seven hits while striking out five. That line would have looked a lot better if he had not gone out to pitch the seventh. In his first six innings of work Bedard shutout the Orioles on four hits. He looks great on the hill and ready for an Erik Bedard season. The Pirates got a solid inning from Jason Grilli who came in and cleaned up the mess that Bedard left. Juan Cruz and Tony Watson gave up runs in their innings, although Watson’s run was unearned. All four pitchers that toed the rubber today are expected to be on the Opening Day roster.

The offense had a rare bad day. They fielded a Major League lineup, and probably the same one that they will have out there on April 5th. The team collected just two hits. Neil Walker was the only starter with a hit, and it was only a hit because of some serious help from the wind. It was a solid shot to deep center, but Adam Jones should have made the catch, however it fell in and the official scorer gave Neil a double. Michael McKenry had the Pirates other hit. The team was 2/29 on the day. The biggest disappointment was once again Pedro Alvarez who went 0/3 with a pair of strikeouts and a weak groundout to first. He also made a throwing error in the game.

Not a great game for the Pirates, but it was good to see Bedard in a groove and striking some guys out.

Orioles vs. Pirates, Spring Training Game 22

Baltimore Orioles vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
7:05

Lineup

1. Alex Presley, LF 2. Jose Tabata, RF 3. Andrew McCutchen, CF 4. Neil Walker, 2B 5. Garrett Jones, 1B 6. Rod Barajas, C 7. Pedro Alvarez, 3B 8. Clint Barmes, SS 9. Erik Bedard, SP

Pitchers

Erik Bedard Tony Watson Jason Grilli Juan Cruz Chris ResopDaniel Moskos

Game Notes

• If everyone stays healthy in the next week and two days, this is your 2012 Opening Day Lineup.
• Pedro Alvarez is back in the lineup after missing a few days with knee inflammation. The injury was clearly very minor if existent at all.

Monday 3/26 | News, Notes, and Links

• The Pirates racked up 20 hits (THAT'S A LOT OF HITS!) in a 10-inning defeat of the Houston Astros yesterday. Check out that recap.
• I wrote a post on Rum Bunter about Casey McGehee. It's complete with a really dumb and poorly created photoshop image. Don't miss it.
• In case you missed it, Pirates GM Neil Huntington announced yesterday that Pedro Alvarez will make the big league club regardless of his performance for the rest of camp. As long as his knee is healthy he'll be starting against the Phillies on April 5th.
• If you haven't been listening to the Pirates Roundtable podcast, you're doing it wrong. Subscribe on iTunes. Right now.
• I wrote this post about Rod Barajas and how many home runs he'll hit in 2012 the other day and there's a good probability that you haven't read it yet.
• The Pirates face the Baltimore Orioles at 7:05 tonight. Erik Bedard will make the start.

The Unpredictable Casey McGehee

Clipped from: rumbunter.com (share this clip)

3/25 Recap | Pirates 9 Astros 7

For the second straight day the Pirates and Astros played ten innings of baseball. This time, the result was different. Pittsburgh banged out 20 hits and won the game 9-7 after scoring a pair of runs in the tenth inning.

Yamaico Navarro had another impressive game at the plate with four hits in four at-bats. Nate McLouth had three hits while Rod Barajas, Clint Barmes, and Casey McGehee had two hits a piece. Despite the huge number in the hit column, the Pirates had just two extra base hits (a double from Hague and a triple from Navarro).

On the other side of the ball, Brad Lincoln pitched four innings and gave up three runs on four hits. He allowed two home runs which didn’t help him. His spring ERA sits at 10.50 as Lincoln prepares to start another year in AAA Indianapolis. Evan Meek came in after Lincoln left and pitched two scoreless innings, he has his ERA down to 5.19 which is good to see after a rough start to camp. Chris Leroux gave up three runs in his inning, and Jared Hughes gave up a run before Jose Diaz and Michael Dubee finished the game off with scoreless innings.

The Pirates have been hitting the ball well all spring and we really hope that spills over into the regular season. The Pirates have now just nine more exhibition games to play before the real thing starts on April 5th.

Pedro Alvarez Will Make The Team If Healthy

Neil Huntington announced today that Pedro Alvarez will be the Pirates starting third baseman when the season starts, assuming he is healthy. The timing of the announcement came as a bit of a surprise to some people, myself included. All offseason Huntington said that Alvarez has to earn the job out of spring training. Whether he has done that or not to this point is arguable, but it seems pretty clear to me that he has not earned it with his performance this spring. He is 4/30 with two home runs and 13 strikeouts. There are some good signs mixed in with the bad, but all-in-all you wouldn't think Pedro has done enough to "earn" a big league job right now.

So was Huntington really serious when he said Alvarez had to earn it? Did he really have to earn it, or was it his job from the start? I think it's the latter. Despite adding Casey McGehee this offseason, I really don't think the Pirates are in a spot where they can justify starting Alvarez at AAA, they simply need him in the lineup. If he's not hitting, obviously he's going to hurt the lineup and someone like Josh Harrison might be better served in there, but you have to give Alvarez a chance regardless of what he's done in spring.

Another topic that has arisen is if the Major League level is where Pedro should be while "working" on his swing. He seems to have some adjustments to make to become a serious big league hitter, and a lot of people think those adjustments should be made at AAA while the big leagues are used for performance and not for teaching. In my opinion, the best place for Alvarez to learn to be a big league hitter is in the big leagues. He could very well struggle for awhile at the beginning of the season, but the best way for him to figure out what he needs to do is to learn from his mistakes at the level they want him at in the future. Sending him to AAA isn't going to do much good at this point.

Pedro Alvarez is a monumentally important player for this franchise, and it's not easy watching him struggle so badly. Starting him in the minor leagues may help the team out of the chute, but in the long haul it's not going to help them. If the Pirates are ever going to be relevant, they need Alvarez to be the hitter that he's capable of being. The fastest way to get him to be that is to have him with the major league club. I don't care if he comes up and goes 0/20 with 10 strikeouts, the Pirates have made the right choice here. They have too much invested in Alvarez to not give him all the opportunities in the world to succeed.

3/24 Recap | Astros 5 Pirates 4

The Pirates lost another game on Saturday, this time by the score of 5-4 in ten innings on Saturday afternoon.

The story of the day was James McDonald, who pitched a gem. J-Mac went seven innings giving up just two hits and one runs while striking out three. He bounced back quite nicely from his last start in which he didn’t have control of the fastball, not walking a batter in his seven innings of work. After McDonald exited, Chris Resop pitched a scoreless eighth to keep the Pirates ahead. Ryota Igarashi gave up three runs in the ninth on two walks and a home run. Daniel Moskos cleaned it up for him and got the final two outs of the inning, striking out both batters. Kris Johnson, a minor league signing this offseason, looked just terrible in tenth, walking his first two batters on eight pitches and then getting a double play ball that Josh Rodriguez muffed which scored the fifth run for the Astros.

On offense, the Pirates were once again paced by Josh Harrison, who had two hits in four at-bats. That performance actually lowered his spring batting average to .520. Garrett Jones hit a two run home run in the eighth inning, Neil Walker drove in two on a single in the first, and Jose Tabata had two more hits to keep his hot streak alive. It was another solid offensive day for the Pirates, but they were once again let down by the minor league bullpen guys.

Astros vs. Pirates, Spring Training Game 20

Houston Astros vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
7:05

Lineup

1. Alex Presley, LF 2. Josh Harrison SS 3. Jose Tabata, RF 4. Andrew McCutchen, CF 5. Neil Walker, 2B 6. Garrett Jones, 1B 7. Yamaico Navarro, 3B 8. Michael McKenry, C 9. James McDonald, SP

Pitchers

James McDonald Ryota Igarashi Chris ResopDaniel Moskos

Game Notes

• The game will be televised on ROOT Sports.
• Pedro Alvarez will not be playing this weekend, he's out with knee inflammation.

Saturday 3/24 | News, Notes, and Links

• The Pirates gave up six runs in the 9th inning and lost 7-2 to the Tigers yesterday. You can check out the recap here.
• Pedro Alvarez will sit out the weekend games with knee discomfort/inflammation. Doesn't seem serious but something to be noted.
• Charlie Morton has said that he'll be ready to be in the rotation as soon as the season starts. We'll see what the Pirates choose to do with him, but I think there's a good chance he starts the fifth game of the season for the Pirates in Los Angeles
• We'll see the Houston Astros for the first and only time this spring today at 1:05. James McDonald is on the mound and will be followed by Chris Resop, Ryota Igarashi, and Daniel Moskos.

How Many Home Runs Will Rod Barajas Hit?

The Pirates hit 107 home runs last year. That was good for 27th in the league, worse than everybody except the Twins, Astros, and Padres. Pedro Alvarez didn't have the season anybody was expecting him to, Ryan Doumit played just 77 games, and Garrett Jones went weeks at a time without showing any sign of competence at the plate.

This offseason the team brought in Rod Barajas to replace Doumit. The former Dodgers catcher will provide solid defense and experience behind the dish, but he also has some pop in his bat. He has hit 19, 17, and 16 home runs in his last three seasons, and seems to be a guy the Pirates will pencil into the 6th spot in the lineup a lot this year.

Now the question arises - how much power will Barajas hit for this season?

I took the landing spots of Barajas' 16 bombs last year and mapped them onto PNC Park (with the help of katron.org. Here's what it looks like:



If Barajas played every game in PNC Park last year, he would have had just seven home runs. Nine of his home runs would have been outs or doubles (assuming he makes it to second), and three of them wouldn't have even reached the warning track.

That's a bit alarming. PNC Park is not a great place for right handed power hitters to call home. That 410 left center is a long ways away and it doesn't get much easier until you get pretty close to the foul poll.

Obviously Barajas is only playing half his games in PNC this year. The rest of the division has much friendlier parks for right hand hitters, which should keep his home run number over ten.

The good news is that Barajas posted a .200 ISO last year. His career average is .176, which says good things about how he's aging. He'll be 36 until September, so he's clearly not a young guy anymore. It's good to know that we didn't see the power decrease last year, but this could be the year that he slows down a step or two at the plate just because of the age. Team that with the new ballpark and we could see a disappointing season for Barajas. You know he's not going to hit for average or get on base a lot, he's a career .238 hitter with a .284 on-base percentage. If he does lose his power, he's going to be a real liability at the dish.

The defense and experience he'll bring probably make it a good move regardless, but I'm really holding my breath on Barajas' offense in 2012.

3/23 Recap | Tigers 7 Pirates 2

The Pirates were leading the Tigers 2-1 heading into the 9th inning when Daniel McCutchen took the mound for his second inning trying to close out the game. D-Cutch gave up six runs in the 9th including a grand slam and the Pirates lost another meaningless game.

Charlie Morton made the start and looked fantastic. In four innings he gave up just two hits and struck out a pair while shutting out a Tigers lineup that was without the big bats of Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera. Joel Hanrahan gave up a rare run in his inning of work, and Chris Leroux and Ryota Igarashi posted scoreless frames.

The offense once again came from the bat of Matt Hague who hit his fourth home run of the spring. Jose Tabata added three hits but two run wasn’t enough to win the game.

Not good news for McCutchen who seemed to be on the outside looking in to the bullpen picture before this rough outing. It was nice to Leroux bounce back with a scoreless inning after he got beat up last time out, he’s a safe bet to be in a Pirates uniform come April 5th.

We’re now less than two weeks from Opening Day.

Flashback Friday: 2004 Offseason

The 2004 offseason was certainly a very productive one for the Pirates, but certainly not a good one. Jason Kendall was dealt for Arthur Rhodes and Mark Redman around late November and neither of them played a role for the Pirates that season. Rhodes ended up getting traded two weeks later to Cleveland in return for Matt Lawton, a player who got dealt at the deadline that upcoming July, and Redman who went 5-15 for the Pirates, while having an ERA around five. Kendall was a 30 year old at the time of the trade, and was definitely getting towards the end of his days, but the Pirates still didn't get the better end of this trade. Pretty bad move for the Pirates, but suprisingly, this wasn't even the worst deal the Pirates made that offseason.

With the departure of Jason Kendall, the Pirates needed to find a replacement at the catcher position. Instead of going out and finding a young, talented one, the Pirates decided to acquire Benito Santiago from the Kansas City Royals. Santiago was 40 years old at the time of the trade and was a five time all star, three time silver slugger, three time gold glover, and former National League Rookie of the Year. He received the Rookie of the Year award in 1987. The Pirates picked him up in 2004. Four of his five all star campaigns came from 1989-1992 and his silver slugger days were in 1987, 1988 and 1990. He tripled in his first at bat at PNC Park and ended up getting 22 more at bats on the season, before he got a virus a week into the 2005 regular season, forcing him to go onto the disabled list. A couple weeks later the Pirates tried to send Santiago on a rehab assignment, but he refused. He was released eight days later, after collecting six hits in a Pirates uniform, and not driving in a single run. I have to make sure I throw in there that the Pirates agreed to pay part of his salary as well, which was over a million dollars.

Okay, so we get it. Benito Santiago sucked. But who did the Pirates give up for him? It couldn't have been somebody that good, right? The answer is Leo Nunez.

Incase you are unaware, Leo Nunez is now known as Juan Ovideo, due to a naming controversy this past offseason, but that's irrelevant to this topic.

Nunez, at the time of the trade, was a full time starting pitcher in the Pirates minor league system. He hadn't seen any major league time, but had a ton of potential, and a fantastic arm at a young age of 24. He is now a Miami Marlin, and will not be a closer anymore due to them singing Heath Bell this offseason, but he still would have been a lot better of a player for the Pirates than Benito Santiago was. Nunez, or Oveido, has converted close to 100 saves these past three seasons and was one of the league leaders in saves last season at the all star break. Hanging on to him would have made the Pirates avoid having to use guys such as Salomon Torres and Matt Capps at the closer position these past couple seasons, and if we still had him, the Pirates would be looking at one of the more solid bullpens in the league.

Just like last weeks Flashback Friday, the Pirates screwed up. They can't do anything about going out and trading away a 24 year old, shutdown reliever, in return for a washed up, 40 year old, over the hill catcher who didn't play a single game in the Major Leagues after his six games with the Pirates in 2004. We just have to suck it up and accept the fact the Pirates basically paid over a million dollars to give away one of the top relievers in the game today.

Here's a video I put together for Leo Nunez's last two seasons with the Marlins. Just think if the Pirates could have kept this guy.

Flashback Friday: 2001 MLB Draft

I mentioned in Flashback Friday: 2007 MLB Draft that the Pirates have certainly had their fair share of "bad draft picks." The article was mainly about how the Pirates screwed up taking Daniel Moskos over Matt Wieters, Madison Bumgarner, Jason Heyward and others. If you think that pick was bad for the Pirates you may not want to read this weeks edition then.

The 2001 MLB Draft was worse than the 2007 one for the Pirates after selecting John Van Benschoten with the 8th overall pick. Taking JVB out of Kent State was a great pick and a lot of people liked it. He had just come off a season in which he lead all of division-1 players in homeruns, as a Junior. Almost every Pirate fan was probably fired up that they finally had a power hitter that should be in their lineup in a couple years, but the Pirates decided to announce after the draft that Van Benschoten was going to be a pitcher for them. Yes, incase you think you read that wrong, the Pirates announced after the 2001 MLB Draft that they were taking the NCAA league leader in homeruns, and converting him to a pitcher. As many of you know, John Van Benschoten didn't work out the way they wanted him to. He posted an ERA around seven after being called up in 2004, and was, statistically, the worst pitcher the Pirates have had in over twenty years. He was called up again in 2007, the season he went 0-7 with an ERA over ten and had an ERA even higher than that in the 2008 season. I brought up how the Pirates passed on Wieters, Heyward, and Bumgarner in 2007 but I don't think any of the guys in that years draft will be as good as David Wright, Ryan Howard, Dan Uggla and Dan Haren are, the same guys that the Pirates passed on to take John Van Benschoten in 2002.

Here comes the part where I break down the big name guys that the Pirates turned down.

Ryan Howard, first basemen for the Philadelphia Phillies, is on track to become one of the best power hitters in recent memory, and might see himself in the 500 homerun club one day. He has been a Natonal League MVP (2006), World Series champion (2008), NLCS MVP (2009), Hank Aaron Award winner (2006), homerun leader (twice), RBI leader (three times), Rookie of the Year (2005), all star (2006, 2009, 2010), and the fastest player to ever to reach 100 career homeruns and 200 career homeruns. He also came to PNC Park for the all star game in July of 2006, and put on an absolute show, beating out David Wright in the final round, another guy the Pirates passed on. I think that's enough right there to say that Ryan Howard is arguably the best first basemen in the National League, right now.

Next comes Dan Uggla, who is almost the 100% definition of an "all or nothing hitter". He tends to strikeout a good amount, and bats for a pretty mediocre average, but is also the only second basemen in Major League history to have four consecutive thirty homerun seasons. He scrapped together one of, if not the, oddest hitting streaks in Major league history last year, as he went 33 straight games with a hit, but was batting under .200 during the streak at one point. He is the all time leader for homeruns by a Florida Marlin and is currently the second basemen for the Atlanta Braves. He's been an all star twice and silver slugger once, and is one of the top second basemens in the league heading into the 2012 MLB season.

Dan Haren was taken in the second round by the St. Louis Cardinals. Haren is one of the more underrated pitchers in the league today and has pitched with Oakland, Arizona, and is currently a Los Angeles Angel. He's only had one losing season in his career and is a three time all star. If the Pirates were to have somehow hung on to him through all the trades these past couple years, he would without a doubt be the Pirates ace today, and certainly have posted an ERA under ten.

The final player on the list is New York Mets third basemen, David Wright. This is the kind of guy who could win an MVP if he were to play on a winning team. He made the all star game five straight seasons from 2006 to 2010 and is a career .300 hitter. He's part of the 30-30 club and is the Mets franchise leader in doubles. He won both the silver slugger and gold glove in 2007 and 2008, and is a top five third basemen in the league today.

Incase you're wondering, Flashback Friday isn't going to be a weekly post in which I slam the Pirates for their draft picks, and give you all profiles on players around the MLB. I just figured I'd let all the fans know who the Pirates could have had over guys like John Van Benschoten and Daniel Moskos. Just think about where the Pirates would be sitting at today if they had some of these players, and how this 19 year old drought may have ended almost about five years ago. Moskos still has potential to be a solid pitcher, but John Van Benschoten days as a Pirate are over, and we should all be thankful for that.

Tigers vs. Pirates, Spring Training Game 19

Detroit Tigers vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
7:05

Lineup

1. Jose Tabata, RF 2. Nate McLouth, LF 3. Andrew McCutchen, CF 4. Neil Walker, 2B 5. Casey McGehee, 3B 6. Matt Hague, 1B 7. Rod Barajas, C 8. Clint Barmes, SS 9. Charlie Morton, SP

Pitchers

Charlie Morton Joel Hanrahan Daniel McCutchen Chris Leroux Ryota Igarashi

Game Notes

• The Pirates are playing the Detroit Tigers for the first time this spring. The Tigers have been the best hitting team in the Grapefruit league at are 13-3. 
• Charlie Morton didn't look great his last time out but he stayed positives with his comments after the game. It'll be interesting to see his approach and results today.

Rotation Talk - Bedard is Opening Day Starter

If you haven't heard yet, Erik Bedard was named the Pirates Opening Day Starter today. That's good news for me, because I promised a group of guys at California University of Pennsylvania $5 each if he wasn't starting April 5th. Thanks Pirates for saving me some money.

There's no doubt that Bedard was the only choice here. He's the best pitcher on the staff right now, he has the most experience, and it's always nice to give a new guy an Opening Day look. I know that might not help the recruiting cause, but it certainly can't hurt, right? This will make two years in a row that the Pirates Opening Day starter will be making his debut with the team (Kevin Correia last year).

The Pirates also said that Jeff Karstens will pitch game two, James McDonald will pitch game three, and Correia will start game four on the west coast. The question now becomes when Charlie Morton will make the start. Considering his name wasn't mentioned in the announcement, and Neil Huntington has already expressed the fact that they want to take things extremely slowly with Morton, I'm guessing he skips the first start the rotation cycles back to Bedard on game five. The Pirates have two off days in their first five days of the season, so I'd say it's a good bet that the team will do just that. Knowing that, here's what the first few series look like:

4/5 vs. Phillies - Bedard
4/7 vs. Phillies - Karstens
4/8 vs. Phillies - McDonald
4/10 at Dodgers - Correia
4/11 at Dodgers - Bedard
4/12 at Dodgers - Karstens
4/13 at Giants - McDonald
4/14 at Giants - Correia
4/15 at Giants - Morton
4/17 at Diamondbacks - Bedard
4/18 at Diamondbacks - Karstens
4/19 at Diamondbacks - McDonald
4/20 vs. Cardinals - Correia
4/21 vs. Cardinals - Morton
4/22 vs. Cardinals - Bedard

After that the question is when A.J. Burnett will be ready to make his 2012 debut. I'm expecting that to happen in the last week of April or the first week of May. When he is ready, he will take Correia's spot in the rotation and things will go from there.

All-in-all this is one of the strongest rotations that the Pirates have had in quite some time. They have a legitimate six guy in Correia to compensate for possible injuries, and they have two guys at the top in Bedard and Burnett with real experience and real stuff. After that they have two guys with big upside in McDonald and Morton and a guy in Karstens that will take the ball every five days and will keep you in most games (and he's also capable of throwing complete game, 83 pitch shutouts, assuming we're playing the Astros).

If the lineup can hit the ball around a bit, this rotation could be strong enough to take the Pirates to the .500 mark and possibly even contend for a playoff spot. The extra 13% that the added Wild Card Spot gave to the Pirates postseason chances certainly helps you optimists out there.

3/22 Recap | Rays 8 Pirates 6

The Pirates lost their 11th game of the spring 8-6 to the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday. The story of the day seemed to be poor defense and baserunning. They ran into multiple outs and committed three errors in the field. This was one of those games that you are extremely glad came in March and not during the regular season, because it was quite embarassing at times.

Jeff Karstens made the start and did alright, going 5.2 innings and giving up three earned runs. The bad news was that he gave up 10 hits, walked two, and gave up five runs total (including two home runs). Jason Grilli took the loss giving up three runs in his inning of work. Shairon Martis and Tony Watson had scoreless outings, Daniel Moskos gave up a run in .2 innings, and Doug Slaten pitched an inning giving up a single run.

The good news was that the Pirates had 14 hits on the day. Three of those hits came off the bat of Yamaico Navarro (one of them went over the fence for a home run), who is fighting hard to make the team out of camp. Clint Barmes added two hits, Rod Barajas also had a pair of hits including a bomb of his own. It was a nice day on offense for the Pirates, although Pedro Alvarez looked bad again going 0 for 3 with two strikeouts.

Rays vs. Pirates, Spring Training Game 18

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
1:05

Lineup

1. Alex Presley, LF 2. Clint Barmes, SS 3. Nate McLouth, CF 4. Garrett Jones, 1B 5. Yamaico Navarro, 2B 6. Pedro Alvarez, 3B 7. Nick Evans, RF 8. Rod Barajas, C 9. Jeff Karstens, SP

Pitchers

Jeff Karstens Jason Grilli Tony Watson Daniel Moskos

Game Notes

• Yamaico Navarro is playing his fourth different position of the spring today. He has played shortstop, third base, left field, and now second base.
• Jeff Karstens has been stellar this spring so far. He has given up just one run in eight innings off five hits and has struck out six. We'll see if he can keep that going as he faces a Rays lineup featuring mostly big league hitters.
• Today is a big day for the lefties Tony Watson and Daniel Moskos. One of those two will make the club out of spring. Watson has had the advantage all camp but hasn't pitched well while Moskos hasn't allowed a run yet in six innings. If Moskos stays solid today and Watson struggles again, that competition will get even closer.

Thursday 3/22 | News, Notes, and Links

• The crew and I dropped a podcast last night. You can listen to it or get it from iTunes by clicking here.
• The Pirates beat the Red Sox yesterday 5-4, the recap is here.
• Garrett Jones and Pedro Alvarez both homered in an intrasquad game yesterday.
• A.J. Burnett threw a bullpen yesterday and looks like a good bet to be in the Major League rotation before May rolls around.
• I wrote this article on Neil Walker and remembering what the second base position looked like before he made a splash in the big leagues.
• The Pirates host the Tampa Bay Rays today at 1:05, Jeff Karstens is starting for the Pirates.

Yamaico Navarro Is Cooling Off, Josh Harrison Is Not

Clipped from: rumbunter.com (share this clip)

Episode 8 - Pirates Roundtable Podcast

Episode 8. New topics, same voices: Brian from Raise The Jolly Roger, Jim from Northside Notch, and Cory from Three Rivers Burgh Blog. Here's the rundown:

• Updating our NCAA Brackets
• Last two bench spots update
• Evan Meek and his lack of velocity
• Stat of the Week: FIP
• Hitter predictions and projections

and more! Check it out! Search Pirates Roundtable Podcast on iTunes to subscribe and download.

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3/21 Recap | Pirates 6 Red Sox 5

The Pirates squeaked out a win over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday and added to their total of games with double-digit hits.

Kevin Correia made the start and saw his spring training shut-out streak end at 10.1 after giving up a single run in the second inning. On the day Correia went five innings and gave up four runs on eight hits while striking out one. He gave up an absolute bomb to Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the fourth, but didn’t walk any batters. Another decent outing for Correia who looks like a pretty good option for the fifth spot in the rotation while Burnett is on the shelf.

Joel Hanrahan gave up a hit in his inning of relief while walking one and striking out one, he has been very good this spring. Evan Meek pitched two innings and gave up a run on two hits while striking out one, however he was throwing in the low 90’s once again, although he did touch 94 at least once. Juan Cruz pitched the ninth for the save in a scoreless inning. He walked one and gave up a hit but worked out of the trouble to secure the Pirates seventh win of the spring.

On offense, Matt Hague strengthened his case for a spot on the 25-man roster with two hits including his third home run of the spring to left field. Josh Harrison is also doing his best to make it onto the Major League club; he had two hits of his own today. Nate McLouth hit a home run in the seventh inning. Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker also had RBI’s, both collecting base hits. Jake Fox, Alex Presley, Casey McGehee, Michael McKenry, and Kevin Correia also added hits to give the Pirates a dozen on the day. Solid win for the Bucs.

Life Before Neil Walker Was Relevant

Let's go back to 2009. The Pirates starting infield was Adam LaRoche - Freddy Sanchez - Jack Wilson - Andy LaRoche. Sanchez and Wilson would be traded in the middle of that season, which then left Ronny Cedeno and some combination of Ramon Vazquez, Delwyn Young, and Luis Cruz to handle the second base position. While Cedeno seemed to be a guy that could be competent at the major league level for a few years, the future of the second base position was bleak, to say the least.

Down in AAA, Neil Walker was playing third base and hitting .256/.304/.469, seemingly doing his best to make Pirate fans think they would never get anything out of their 2004 first round draft pick. The Pirate hopeful were relying on guys like Brian Friday and Jim Negrych to develop quickly and help the Pirates at second base. We haven't hard much of those names in recent years, have we?

Then 2010 came. Walker started the year in AAA and was pushed to second base because of the Pirates need there and the fact that Pedro Alvarez was ready to start the year in Indianapolis and take the third base spot. The Pirates had traded Jesse Chavez to get Akinori Iwamura to buy them some time in developing a major league second baseman, and a lot of fans were alright with the move. However, Iwamura would hit .182/.292/.267 through the first two months of the season and things looked bad again. At the same time, Walker had gotten it together and was hitting .321/.392/.560 in his first 43 games in Indy. That was enough for the Pirates to give him a chance to replace Iwamura at a second base.

Walker took advantage of the chance and took the job and hasn't looked back since. He's a career .280/.338/.423 hitter and has turned into an at least average second baseman defensively. This year he is looked at as one of the better young middle infielders in the game and has a bright career ahead of him. It's unfortunate that he couldn't get it going earlier in his career, it took him six years in the minor leagues to finally find a home in the major leagues, but he was drafted out of high school so he had a few extra years to work with.

Can you imagine where we would be had Walker not been moved to second and performed well there? Who knows how long the team would have been forced to put up with Iwamura in 2010, probably much too long. They still don't have much of a back-up second base option; there's certainly no one else in the system that I would be comfortable with as a starter there. Chances are Josh Harrison would have been an everyday guy last year, which might not have been the worst thing in the world, but he would not have been nearly as effective as Walker was.

Team this with the minor league signing of Garrett Jones that I wrote about last night, and you can see that the Pirates actually have had some good fortune in the last few years. Things have really been turning around for the Bucs. They still don't have the winning season to show for it, but that seems to be coming sooner rather than later.

Next time you're disheartened that you love a team that hasn't had a winning season in 19 years, stop yourself and say: It could be worse.

Red Sox vs. Pirates, Spring Training Game 17

Boston Red Sox vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
1:05

Lineup

1. Jose Tabata, RF 2. Josh Harrison, SS 3. Andrew McCutchen, CF 4. Casey McGehee, 1B 5. Neil Walker, 2B 6. Matt Hague, 3B 7. Yamaico Navarro, LF 8. Michael McKenry, C 9. Kevin Correia, SP

Pitchers

Kevin Correia Evan Meek Juan Cruz Joel Hanrahan

Game Notes

• Kevin Correia is looking to keep his scoreless inning streak going as he faces the Red Sox today. Correia has thrown seven shutout innings to start the spring.
• The Red Sox are countering with Jon Lester, one of the best pickers in the game and the front runner for Red Sox Opening Day starter.
• The game will be televised on ROOT Sports, coverage starts at 12:35.

Wednesday 3/21 | News, Notes, and Links

• The Pirates got beaten pretty badly last night by the Yankees. Erik Bedard made the starter, Andrew McCutchen homered, but the team lost 10-3 when all was said and done. Here's the recap.
• I wrote this piece on Garrett Jones late last night, so you probably missed it.
• If you haven't read the post I wrote the other day on Pedro Alvarez yet, you should check it out now.
• The Pirates are taking on the Red Sox in Bradenton at 1:05 today and the game will be televised on ROOT Sports.

Remembering Where Garrett Jones Came From

I have written a lot of positive things about Garrett Jones this offseason. I have made claims that he is much better than people think and can actually be an above average league hitter if used correctly (in a platoon role). The complaints about the Pirates not signing Derrek Lee or Carlos Pena are foolish because the Pirates could very well get similar production out of Jones/McGehee for a fraction of the money. Maybe he doesn't deserve all these positive things, but I have at least one more to write. Sorry, haters.

For this post I just want to remind everybody that the Pirates got Jones as a minor league feee agent. You don't just get major league starters as minor league free agents. For where Jones came from and for what they paid to get him, he has been an absolute stud.
Jones was a Twins farmhand in 2008 but was released after that season. The Pirates scooped him up in 2009 and let him go in Indianapolis where he hit .307/.348/.502 through 72 games. The team was in need of a first baseman/outfielder so they called him up and enjoyed quite a ride, as Jones hit 21 home runs in 82 games. That made a lot of people really excited about the future of the Pirates lineup with Jones hitting the middle of it. Most people were smarter to limit their expectations for a 28 year old who had spent his entire career in the minors not doing all that much, but it was a pleasant surprise.

The fact is that you only very rarely see minor league signings really help your team, and Jones has done just that. Sure, he hasn't been a great hitter. He has been awful for weeks at a time and has been frustrating to watch at times. But there are times when he looks like a monster, swatting home runs with ease. He has hit 58 home runs for this team in the last three seasons, and they got him for nothing. That's a huge positive for the Pirates.

Can you imagine what the team would have been like if they had not signed Jones? Sure, it wouldn't have mattered since we haven't had a winning season, but it would have been much uglier than it has been. Steve Pearce would have seen a lot more time, Matt Diaz could very well have been an everyday starter last year, and chances are they would have signed a few more scrubs to fill in that almost surely would have been just terrible for us.

There's nothing wrong for wanting somebody better than Jones, but I think we as fans lose perspective on him too often. He wasn't a top draft pick that is underperforming, he was a guy that was brought in for organization depth and has gone way past any expectations that the Pirates had when they brought him in, and that's a positive in a team that is surrounded with negativity.

The Garrett Jones loving will slow down once the season starts and I have more things to write about, I promise.