7/31 Recap | Pirates 5 Cubs 0

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AJ Burnett pitched one of the best games of his career, and one of the best games by a Pirate pitcher in recent memory with a complete, one hit shutout tonight vs the Cubs. He didn't allow a hit until the bottom of the eighth, when Adrian Cardenas had a two out single, breaking up what could have been AJ Burnett's second career no hitter. It was his tenth career shutout and McEffect owner Jon Anderson even predicted 170 days ago that AJ Burnett would throw a no hitter this season, tweeting "A.J. Burnett throws a no-hitter for the Pirates this year. Somebody favorite this." So close, Mr. Anderson.

The offense on the other hand got off to an extremely quick start, with a first inning grand slam from Neil Walker. It was the second grand slam of the season for the Pirates (Pedro Alvarez on 6/30) and the second of Walker's career. Many of you probably remember the first one, which came at Wrigley field last April on Opening Day. Neil also drove in the fifth run on a sacrifice fly. Andrew McCutchen did his thing going 3-5 and Travis Snider also singled in his first at bat as a Bucco, which was an infield hit to third base. He scored two runs as well in his debut.

A great all around game as AJ Burnett became the first Pirate since Todd Ritchie in 2001 to throw a one hit shutout. Bucs will go for the series win tomorrow afternoon with a 2:20 start.

Deadline Over, Pirates Better

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Now that everything is settled, we can look back and take a fair look at the trade deadline. Here's the rundown:

Pirates lose: Brad Lincoln, Casey McGehee, Gorkys Hernandez, Robbie Grossman, Rudy Owens, Colton Cain, competitive balance pick

Pirates Get: Wandy Rodriguez, Travis Snider, Gaby Sanchez, Kyle Kaminska

It wasn't an overwhelming upgrade (you should never expect such a thing from the Pirates), but it was certainly an upgrade.

In terms of the major leagues right now, we swapped Lincoln for Qualls (bad), McGehee for Sanchez (good), Rodriguez for Correia (good especially with keeping Correia in the pen), and Snider for Hernandez (very good).

That's not too bad. The biggest thing about these moves is that the Pirates potentially got way better next year and beyond. They got an all-star talent in Snider and a very good bounce back candidate in Sanchez, both with legs up on starting positions next year.

This is how small market teams have to operate, they have to do everything they can do improve today while always being mindful of the future. Huntington did that pretty well. It wasn't an overwhelming return, but that might not even have been possible this year. No beef from me whatsoever with the moves.

Pirates Acquire Gaby Sanchez

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The Pirates made another low-risk trade before the deadline by trading Gorkys Hernandez and their competitive balance draft pick to Miami for Gaby Sanchez.

Interesting move. Nothing to be upset about, but nothing to be excited about either. Sanchez had a horrible time in the major leagues this year before getting sent down on July 5th. He hit .202/.250/.306 with three home runs in 55 games. Since then, he's hit .302/.431/.491 with five homers in 34 games with AAA New Orleans. The good news is that he's had success in the majors before, hitting .273/.341/.448 with 19 homers in 2010 and then .266/.352/.427 with those same 19 homers last year. He's 28 years old and was a fourth round pick in 2005 that didn't find serious major league playing time until he was 26, so he's a low upside guy. Sanchez will almost surely be a bench player for the Pirates, which is fine for what they gave up to get him.

What they did give up for him was Gorkys Hernandez and that competitive balance draft pick, which is at the end of the first round. It's hard to miss this package too much. We've seen what Hernandez can do in the field, but the fact is that his bat will never translate into a major league job, especially with the Pirates having Starling Marte and Andrew McCutchen in the outfield. Maybe the Marlins think they can make him competent enough at the plate to make him a valuable major leaguer, and I'm sure they'll enjoy the extra almost-first round pick too.

Again, this is a pretty meh move for me. They didn't lose enough to get you off your happy couch, but they really don't become that much better at all for it. Casey McGehee and Garrett Jones are both much better options. This deal could become very good if Sanchez bounces back from poor start to this year and becomes who he was last year again. With Jones and McGehee both not under contract for next year, Sanchez could be a starter for the Pirates in 2013, as they have him under control through 2015.

Thoughts About the "Win Now" Attitude

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I just wrote this post about the Pirates trade for Travis Snider. For as long as it is, you may be surprised to know that I didn't say all that I needed to say there.

The main beef with the move, and the comments I've been getting all morning are about the "win now" attitude. "I've heard enough about future, I want to win right now". That's what Pirate fans everywhere are saying this morning. Let's talk about this.

Baseball is an unfair game, small market teams are at an extreme disadvantage from the beginning. Because of that, they have to play the game much differently. To teams like the Pirates with smart management (which is what our management has been since taking over), "win now" means something a bit different than what you might think.

To you, "win now" means find a competent core group of players that shows that they can compete for a couple of months, then do whatever you can to make that year's team better without any regard to the future. If that means trading top prospects for players with a year or less of control, you do it. It's all about finding one year to make a push and going for it 100%. That's what it means to you. Now let me tell you what it means to Neal Huntington.

"Win now" means fill up your system with enough talent that it's going to be hard for you to ever be really bad at the major league level. It means constantly having a farm system that can absorb losses at the major league level, because you simply can't afford to pay all of your good players after they've reached a certain stage in their career. It doesn't mean coming into every season with a top 5 team on paper, you'll rarely see small market teams come into a season like that. "Win now" to Neal Huntington means getting your team a chance every year and hoping that things click and luck is on your side to the point where you get into the playoffs, where anything and everything can happen. The Pirates are never going to be a top team in the league on paper, they simply don't have the funds to do so. We need to stop thinking like the Pirates can operate the same way as the Cardinals, Yankees, Red Sox, etc.

If the Pirates would have take the first "win now" philosophy I introduced this year and failed to do anything extremely significant, they would have a future that looks very dim because of their lack of talent in the farm system. This isn't a deep system; it's talented on top and good enough to be competitive, but by no means can they afford to trade guys like Jameson Taillon, Gerrit Cole, Starling Marte, etc. for guys that come for a short period of time and are gone.

The Pirates are never going to have a really good chance to win the World Series or even go deep into the playoffs. That doesn't mean it won't happen, but the odds will never be in our favor regardless. So what would you rather have? A team with a semi-good chance of doing something big one year, and then just hoping to get lucky down the line? Or a team with a decent chance of being relevant every single year and a hope that one of those years everything will go right and something big will happen. If you're looking for a World Series ring, the second option there is the best one to pick.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are a small market teams that have the odds stacked against them every single year. You're best chance at a championship isn't a great one, and if you don't like it, then go be a Yankees fan, nothing is stopping you.

Travis Snider for Brad Lincoln is a Good Move for the Pirates

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Last night the Pirates traded reliever Brad Lincoln to the Toronto Blue Jays for outfielder Travis Snider. I have a ton to stay here, so I hope I can keep it all organized.

First of all, I can somewhat understand why a lot of people are upset about the trade, but let me address those people first. If you are one of those people that hates this move by the Pirates, I'm guessing that you wanted the team to trade Lincoln to Philadelphia for a guy like Shane Victorino, or some other similar move. A move like that would have made the Pirates better in 2012, no doubt, but as soon as next year, this team would be significantly worse because of it. You can say that for many of the other rumored deals, including Shin-Soo Choo. Personally, I was happy with the Pirates for not going that route.

Now I think the most important thing to understand here is that the Pirates can't forget about the future like a lot of people want them to. This franchise isn't in position to where they can mortgage so much of what they've been working to build up for a two month help. Even if the Pirates would make a push and make the playoffs with Victorino, giving up Lincoln for him wouldn't help past 2012. The risk of missing the playoffs anyway and losing Lincoln for nothing is simply too big to take. You can say the same with Starling Marte in the Choo deal. You give up a bunch of years in control for a year and two months of Choo, and if you don't make the playoffs with Choo, you've lost a possible future star for nothing. Maybe the Yankees can afford to take these risks, but the Pirates simply can't. Maybe some of you are fooled into thinking that our minor league system is deep enough to handle a big blow like that, but it's not. Outside of Marte, we have very little in terms of hitting prospects.

I'll point to the Tampa Bay Rays again. They have never once in the last five years made a move at the deadline where they give up a serious prospect for major league help. They understand that they need all the prospects they can get so they can afford to let their veterans walk when they are too expensive to justify paying. That's how the Pirates need to approach things; don't sell the farm for short-term major league help, because the future is just as important as the present. The Pirates can't go out and make a big time free agent signing every offseason to fill voids, so they have to keep their minor league players in house.

Now to the actual trade part. Lincoln is a very good reliever that was helping the Pirates win right now. The fact is that bullpen pieces aren't hard to replace. Sure, the late inning relief gets worse with this trade, but they have a guy (unproven as he is) in AAA in Bryan Morris that is having a great season that could very well come up and be as good as Lincoln right now. Lincoln's presence will be missed, but I'm all about trading him to try to fix a bigger hole.

Now we get to Travis Snider, who I am extremely excited about. He was formerly the number six prospect in all of baseball, but he's had a slow start to his career. He debuted when he was 20 years old, and hit .301/.338/.466 in 24 games at the end of the 2008. In 2009 he started on Opening Day with the club and homered in that game, but had a rough rest of the year hitting .241/.328/.419 before being demoted. In 2010 he tried it again and hit .255/.304/.463 in 82 games. 2011 was the same story, as he hit even worse at .225/.269/.348 in 49 games. That made Blue Jays people very nervous about him and that's no doubt the reason they traded him last night. He added a good amount of value back with his 2012 AAA season in which he hit .335/.423/.598 with 13 home runs in 56 games. He was called up recently and in 10 games is 9/36 (.250) with three home runs. If he hadn't had such a good season to this point, no team would have given the Blue Jays much for him. The Pirates saw a buy low candidate that could turn into a star someday so they didn't hesitate to go get him.

Some scouts have said that Snider looks to have turned a corner in his development this year and should start to become the major leaguer everyone thought he would be someday. He's just 24 years old so that's not past any age where you'd worry about his development. For what you've seen this year from him you should be ecstatic. There's a very good chance that Snider will turn into a legitimate slugger in the near future. It's not out of the question to think he'll help the Pirates significantly on offense this year either.

This move is probably more about the future than anything, and that's what has some people upset. I get that, you want to see the team win right now. You want to see them finally make the playoffs and not just settle for 82 wins. That's fine, but you're letting the past influence your views too much. The Pirates aren't a franchise that can afford to risk the future for the present, they have to set themselves up with a team that can compete for a World Series without having to make a big time addition at the trade deadline and lose prospects. If Snider turns into the player he can be, and the Pirates hold on to him until 2016 (which they will), we'll have exactly that. We won't need to upgrade offensively because we'll have two absolute sluggers in Snider and Pedro Alvarez to go along with an MVP candidate in Andrew McCutchen, a budding star in Marte, and some nice role players in Neil Walker and possibly Jose Tabata amongst some other names. Obviously those are all best case scenarios, but that's just how the Pirates have to play it right now.

I won't flip out on you if you're mad about the deal, because there's a good chance that this move will make the Pirates worse right now, but for a long haul minded guy like me, it's a great move for the Bucs.

For more: read this - "Thoughts About the 'Win Now' Attitude"

Monday 7/30 Minor League Roundup

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AAA Indianapolis | Indianapolis 6 Buffalo 2
Jeff Clement's 3-RBI double in the bottom of the seventh inning broke open the Indians' 2-1 lead to seal the club's victory over Buffalo. Clement's double was his 32nd on the season. Yamaico Navarro followed Clement's double with a double of his own in the seventh to finish off Indianapolis' scoring. Navarro also homered in the fourth inning that placed the Indians ahead 2-1. Navarro's blast was his sixth in AAA, and his average is now up to .282 and his OPS to .865. Despite missing some time due to suspension, Navarro tore the cover off the ball in July, OPSing .984 for the month with one day to go. Matt Hague had a superb day of his own, as he singled three times in four at bats to raise his average on the season to .307. Hague hasn't hit for much power at Indianapolis like he did in Spring Training, but he appears to be gearing up for another trial with the big league squad in September. Jose Tabata reached base all four times up, stroking two singles and walking twice, while Chase d'Arnaud stole his 30th base and went 1-for-4. Starter Rick VandenHurk notched his 10th victory for Indianapolis, finishing six strong innings and giving up seven hits, one run, one walk and seven strikeouts. Daniel McCutchen and Doug Slaten (AAA ERA down to 0.26) each pitched shutout innings and Jose Diaz allowed a run in the ninth but finished off the win.

AA Altoona
The Curve had an off day tonight as they get ready to start a six game road trip beginning against the Trenton Thunder on Tuesday night. The 54-53 Curve will have Gerrit Cole take the rubber with a 2-4 record and 4.85 ERA. Cole is coming off his worst start as a member of the Curve on July 25th in which he allowed five earned runs on six hits in five innings of work.

A West Virginia | West Virginia 14 Hagerstown 2
After coming off a fantastic start on July 25th, Zack Dodson continued his recent hot streak on the mound as he allowed only one run on four hits in six innings of work. In his last 11 innings on the hill, Dodson has only allowed one earned run and six hits. But it seemed as if Dodson's incredible performance on the bump tonight was overshadowed by the offense going on a rampage for 14 runs on 16 hits. Alen Hanson did go 0-for-5 tonight and is now 6 for his past 37 at bats and is in quite a slump in the month of July. But the stars on the night during the "Power Surge" were Gregory Polanco, Jose Osuna, and Francisco Diaz who all had three hits apiece. Polanco finished the night 3-for-4 with an RBI and now leads the team with a .326 average. Jose Osuna mashed his 14th dinger of the season as he went 3-for-5 with three RBI and is now 8 for his last 16 at bats and hitting .340 in July. Francisco Diaz also had himself a great night at the plate going 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI. He is now hitting .423 in July and is 7 for his last 14 at-bats. Willy Garcia added his 12th home run of the season in addition to his 2nd triple of the year. Dan Gamache also added two hits on the night for the Power.

A Bradenton | Bradenton 0 Lakeland 1
Jameson Taillon bounced back from an uneven start his last time out to record his best game in over a month by going seven innings and not allowing a run. Unfortunately Taillon couldn't register the win because the Marauder offense was nowhere to be found, and Lakeland scored in the bottom of the 10th inning to eke out the triumph. Taillon's outing was one to build off of though, as he only allowed two hits over his seven shutout frames. He walked three batters and struck out four. The effort lowered Taillon's high-A ERA to 4.09 on the season. The Marauders leaned on Kenn Kasparek the rest of the way and although he pitched two shutout innings to force the game to extra innings, the levee broke in the tenth and he was saddled with the defeat. Offensively, the Marauders mustered only five hits, two of which came from Carlos Mesa. Gift Ngoepe smacked the team's only extra-base hit, as he tripled with two outs in the sixth inning but he was stranded. The triple was Ngoepe's fifth of 2012 and he's now hitting .261. Alex Dickerson singled and stole a base, but he was also caught trying to steal third later in the inning.

A State College | State College 1 Lowell 2
While Luis Heredia's control was a little spotty tonight, walking two of the 19 total batters he faced, it was still another quality start for the 17 year old Mexican phenom. He finished the night with a no-decision, allowing one earned run on three hits and striking out three in four and a third innings. He now sits with a 1.88 ERA on the season in 38 and a third innings pitched in his first professional season. Orlando Castro threw a scoreless inning and two-thirds of relief for the Spikes. But the tie was broken in the bottom of the 7th as Spikes reliever Dalton Friend was the victim of allowing a go-ahead single that eventually decided the ballgame. As for the lowly offense, Derek Trent went 2-for-3 at the plate while Samuel Gonzalez and Alex Fuselier added the other two hits for the Spikes. Barrett Barnes went 0-for-2 and was caught stealing twice. D.J. Crumlich continued his struggles at the plate going 0-for-3 tonight, now 0 for his last 13 at-bats and 4 for his last 30 at-bats.

7/30 Erik Bedard Pitch F/X

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4.1 IP, 7 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
Pitch TypeVelocH-BreakV-BreakCountStrike%
4-Seam 90.0 3.86 8.32 23 60.87%
Change 79.6 2.00 7.82 1 100.00%
Curve 76.7 -6.68 -7.44 33 66.67%
Cutter 89.5 1.13 7.80 4 50.00%
2-Seam 90.8 8.81 5.44 26 57.69%

7/30 Recap | Cubs 14 Pirates 4

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Erik Bedard had his worst start of the season for the Pirates pitching 4.1 innings and allowing nine runs. He allowed home runs to Anthony Rizzo and Darwin Barney and it was not a good sight to see Bedard not pitching well. Chris Resop allowed four runs in under an inning of work and Tony Watson allowed the other run. Jared Hughes pitched the eighth and did not allow any runs.

Starling Marte had three hits and a RBI. Michael McKenry had two RBIs and Clint Barmes had the other. Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, and Garrett Jones all had singles and scored runs.

The Pirates will try to not lose their second straight against the Cubs season tomorrow night.

Pirates (58-43) vs. Cubs (42-58), Game 102

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Pirates (58-43) vs. Cubs (42-58)

July 30, 2012




Game Notes:

Apprehension for the Pirates Stretch Run

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For the last 19 years, the world has found more ways than you can count to write and dash negative things about the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 2012, it hasn't been so easy. I hate to be the one to do this, but the last couple series have made me feel a bit uneasy about where this season is headed.

The fact is that the Pirates are doing what they have needed to do since the all-star break; winning baseball games. They are 10-6 since the midsummer classic, which is pretty good regardless of how bad their schedule has been. Should they have lost two of three to the Cubs at home? No, probably not. But that stuff happens during the course of a 162-game season.

What's worrying me is how they've looked against the worst teams in baseball. They needed a lot of help to beat the Astros, getting two very fortunately timed wild pitches helping them get a pair of wins.

You'll take wins however you can get them, but barely being able to win a series against the AAAstros doesn't bode well for the future.

Probably the scariest thing is the decline in offense. It hasn't been a huge drop off but they definitely aren't clicking the way they were right before the break. Obviously this team wasn't going to score 5-6 runs a game for very long, and if you didn't see this coming you might want to check your sanity. Andrew McCutchen has stopped being one of the best players to ever hold a bat, another thing you should have seen coming, and no one else has really stepped up in a big enough way to make up for it. Starling Marte provided some offense in his debut, but since then he has just two hits. This offense is no longer one of the best in the league, and pending a trade (that I don't think they're going to make), they're going to have to start pitching better to compensate.

The good news is that they added Wandy Rodriguez, which makes the staff better. The bad news is that James McDonald has looked terrible recently. He walked seven in his start yesterday and doesn't seem to be anything close to the Cy Young contender he was in the first half. He could certainly bounce back, I honestly expect him to, but it remains a red flag.

The rotation is deep with Kevin Correia still around, but he's grumpy and asking for a trade, so you can't have too much faith in him. Jeff Locke has been very good all season in AAA, and he might have to make a few starts up in the big leagues if this bad news continues to come through.

Things could be different on Wednesday if the Pirates add an outfielder, but for now things are looking a bit bleak. Even if they don't make a move, there's a good chance the Pirates will go into Wrigley and pound the Cubs three times then go win a series in Cincinnati and I'll probably be feeling pretty good about this team. Things can change in a hurry, but as we sit right now I'm apprehensive to say the least.

I always say life is too short to worry about tomorrow. That's an excellent philosophy to have this year with the Pirates. No matter what happens the rest of the season, it's going to be fun to watch meaningful baseball in August. Enjoy it, just don't go out and put any big bets on the Pirates winning the World Series.

Don't Be Mad at Kevin Correia

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Kevin Correia has asked for a trade. Rob Biertempfel reported it in quote form, which means that Kevin didn't exactly do this behind closed doors. A lot of people are upset about a mediocre at best pitcher coming out with these negative comments and kind of making a scene during a magical season that everything has been extremely positive. Well, I don't have much of a problem with it.

Sure, Correia probably could have done this differently. I don't know if he had a private conversation with Huntington about it, but it probably wasn't the best idea to say it to the media like he did.

However, the fact is that Correia isn't wrong in asking for a trade. He is a major league starting pitcher, that is his job title. He was forced out of a job in Pittsburgh and is definitely good enough at his job to go play for another team and start there. The kicker here is that he's a free agent at the end of the year. Correia will not be with the Pirates next year, so what's the use of him sitting in the bullpen for two months? That will only cost him money. He rightfully wants to go somewhere where he can perform his job so other teams know what he is capable of doing, then he can get a contract to do his job next year somewhere else. Sure, he's in a pennant race right now with his current team, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't worry about his personal future first. If the Pirates do make the playoffs, he certainly isn't going to play any kind of significant role in playoff games, he might not even make the roster.

Correia is right to want out of Pittsburgh. The best thing for his future is if he goes somewhere and makes starts. He might not have went about this the exact correct way, but you can't be mad at his intentions.

This is the one and only time I'll stick up for Kevin Correia.

7/29 James McDonald Pitch F/X

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5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 7 BB, 5 K
Pitch TypeVelocH-BreakV-BreakCountStrike%
4-Seam 91.5 -2.41 11.53 60 56.67%
Change 82.8 -8.49 7.06 1 0.00%
Slider 79.00 4.13 1.01 18 55.56%
Curve 75.6 10.11 -7.73 18 55.56%
2-Seam 91.33 -6.64 9.21 9 55.56%
You can view all the season's pitch f/x posts by clicking here

7/29 Recap | Astros 9 Pirates 5

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The Pirates failed to complete their second four game sweep of the season of the Astros with a 9-5 loss. James McDonald had another poor start allowing five runs through five innings and Kevin Correia did not help out of the bullpen either. KC allowed four runs through two innings of relief and it was said after the game that Correia has requested a trade. Jared Hughes pitched a scoreless inning.

Garrett Jones had a massive two run home run which was about the only highlight of the day for the Bucs. Neil Walker had two RBIs and Alex Presley had the other one for the Pirates. Andrew McCutchen had his first day off since the all star break and it was a big hit to the Pirates losing him for the day.

They will head to Chicago for a 3-game series which starts tomorrow night at 8:05 PM, with Erik Bedard on the hill.

Pirates (58-42) vs. Astros (34-67), Game 101

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Pirates (58-42) vs. Astros (34-68)

July 29, 2012

James McDonald (10-4, 3.15) vs. Lucas Harrell (7-7, 4.07)



Game Notes:

Pirates Aren't the Only Ones Improving

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The Pirates are looking up at the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Central. Since July 6, the Reds have a league best record of 16-2. They have won nine straight games and have an easy schedule to boot. Fortunately, the Pirates have been able to take advantage of their own weak schedule and are 12-6 in that same time period, and are 10-5 since the all-star break.

Cincinnati has been playing their best baseball of the year without their best player, Joey Votto, which is scary. They also haven't made any moves yet to improve their team, but that doesn't mean moves aren't coming. The Pirates added Wandy Rodriguez and called up Starling Marte, and they are still struggling to compete with Cincinnati.

We're closing in on being two days away from the deadline, and both of these teams are trying to make a move. The Pirates have recently been linked to Shin-Shoo Choo, and the Reds have shown interest in Shane Victorino. Neither of those players would be easy to get, and the Pirates very might have to give up Starling Marte in order to get Choo, so it'll be interesting to see if these deals are made and what is given up in exchange.

It wouldn't seem like the Reds really need help to win this division. They lost their best player to injury and are 8-2 without him. They have series with the Padres, Brewers, Cubs (twice), Mets, and Phillies coming up, so the schedule isn't going to be much of a problem if they continue playing how they are now.

The good news is that teams don't usually go two months at a time winning 90% of their games. They'll lose some games eventually, but it's looking more like the Pirates will need 92-95 wins to take this division, which isn't what we expected from the start. If you're asking me if the Pirates are 92 win team, I'm probably not saying yes.

Your Bucs very well might have to make another trade in order to stay really competitive in this, and that's going to hurt the future. That's the price competitors have to pay though, and it'll be interesting to see where the Pirates go here. The good news is that the Pirates don't have to win the division to make the playoffs, they use have to have one of the two best records for non division winners.

Whatever happens, it'll be fun two months of baseball.

7/28 Recap | Pirates 4 Astros 3

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The Pirates once again took advantage of a very weak Astros team with a 4-3 victory on Saturday night. The offense was quiet but the pitching and clutch hitting from Rod Barajas was enough to get the win.

Barajas had a two out RBI single in the 8th to put the Pirates on top for good. Alex Presley and Neil Walker hit solo home runs in the first and fourth innings respectively to give the Pirates leads early on. They got a run in the sixth on another wild pitch from Houston pitcher Armando Galaragga.

Wandy Rodriguez made his first Pirate debut and got a quality start, pitching six innings and allowing three runs. He struck out five but struggled a bit with control, walking five of his former teammates.

Not the best looking win, but it was a win nonetheless. The Pirates finish out their series with the Astros tomorrow before heading to Wrigley Field to face the Cubs.

7/28 Wandy Rodriguez Pitch F/X

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6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 5 K
Pitch TypeVelocH-BreakV-BreakCountStrike%
4-Seam 90.2 6.77 10.88 8 12.50%
Change 84.5 11.09 9.42 2 0.00%
Curve 76.4 -2.69 -8.27 36 58.33%
2-Seam 89.5 11.44 8.51 55 61.82%

7/27 Jeff Karstens Pitch F/X

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5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
Pitch TypeVelocH-BreakV-BreakCountStrike%
4-Seam 89.6 -4.06 9.56 19 52.63%
Sinker 88.8 -7.83 6.47 22 68.18%
Change 80.6 -7.83 6.47 9 77.78%
Slider 78.4 8.02 -0.69 17 58.82%
Curve 71.1 12.70 -5.94 21 66.67%

7/27 Recap | Pirates 6 Astros 5

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Late inning drama went down in Houston tonight as the Bucs edged out a hard fought victory over the Houston Astros. Five pitchers were used for the Bucs, and Tony Watson got his fifth win (5-1) and Joel Hanrahan converted his league leading 31st save. Jeff Karstens had a poor start pitching only five innings, while allowing four runs (two home runs) and striking out seven. Chris Resop had a scoreless inning and Jared Hughes was bailed out by the offense, as he let the Astros lead run come in late in the game.

After being down 3-0 in the early innings, Alex Presley and Michael McKenry each helped out with home runs and Josh Harrison had a clutch sacrifice fly which tied the game at four at the time. The Pirates trailed 5-4 in the ninth inning but after Michael McKenry, Drew Sutton, and Casey McGehee managed to reach base with one out, Starling Marte had a huge sacrifice fly scoring Jordy Mercer (who pinch ran for McKenry). A few pitches later Chris Snyder let a wild pitch get away from him which scored Drew Sutton, and ended up being the winning run.

It was definitely a great game to watch with the late inning magic. The Pirates continue to hang around with the Cincinnati Reds but still remain two games back in the division.

Pirates (56-42) vs. Astros (34-66), Game 99

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Pirates (56-42) vs. Astros (34-66)

July 27, 2012

Jeff Karstens (3-2, 3.52) vs. Jordan Lyles (2-7, 5.50)



Game Notes:

Friday 7/27 | News, Notes, and Links

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  • In case somehow you didn't hear, Starling Marte hit a home run on the first pitch he saw at the big league level last night. It was a moment that Pirates fans will remember for a long, long time, and it's a good memory too, unlike what happened LAST July 26th. I posted Greg Brown's call of the homer last night, although it certainly wasn't a Brownie classic.
  • Without Marte in Indianapolis, the minor league roundups may not be as interesting, but you could read it anyway if you want, I guess.
  • A.J. Burnett wasn't messing around with the last place Astros last night. He completely scrapped the two-seamer and threw just three changeups. It was 67 four seamers sand 33 curves, according to his Brooks pitch f/x.
  • Here's a post with a couple #MartePartay photoshops that came up last night.
  • The Pirates are back at it in Houston tonight at 8:05 with Jeff Karstns on the hill. News came out yesterday that Kevin Correia would move to the bullpen and Wandy Rodriguez would start Saturday. Evan Meek and Gorkys Hernandez were sent back to AAA.

Thursday 7/26 Minor League Roundup

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AAA Indianapolis | Indianapolis 5 Pawtucket 1
Starling Marte isn't here anymore, so these updates become less interesting. Chase d'Arnaud may now be the most interesting player on the Indians. He went 2/4 tonight with a triple and is hitting .232 this year, so maybe he's not too interesting. Jose Tabata went 0/2 in the three hole. Matt Hague had two hits and Jeff Clement doubled twice. Chris Leroux made the start and pitched five scoreless innings, giving up three hits and striking out three. He's a contender to find some bullpen work down the stretch.

AA Altoona | Postponed


A West Virginia | Greensboro 9 West Virginia 6
Dan Gamache stayed hot with two hits and an RBI, Jose Osuna knocked in two runs but the Power couldn't keep up with the Grasshopper bats. Robby Rowland gave up three runs inf I've innings, walking two and not striking out a single batter. Rinku Singh pitched two innings and gave up a run, raising his ERA to 2.62 on the year. One of those Kilcrease non-related guys pitched too, but who cares.

A Bradenton | Daytona 9 Bradenton 7
Alex Dickerson answered my call in yesterday's roundup and went 4/5 with two homers to raise his average to .293 and register ten bombs on the year. He had four of the seven Marauders RBI's. The other two came from Gift Ngoepe and Evan Chambers, who both walked in runs, and Kirk Singer added an RBI of his own without getting a hit. The pitching was bad as Casey Sadler gave up ten hits and six earned runs (seven total) while walking three and striking out three. Not a great start. Quinton Miller pitched two innings and gave up two more runs before Doug Salinas could finally put a 0 up on the board for the Marauders, however it was too late and they lost a high scoring affair.

A State College | SUSPENDED
The game was suspended in the seventh with the scored tied at 4. I've got no stats, but I'm sure you guys will all make it through the day just fine without knowing what happened (Luis Heredia did not pitch).

Greg Brown Calls Starling Marte's First Pitch Homer

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Got a bunch of requests to hear Greg Brown's call of Starling Marte's first pitch homer last night. Here it is:

7/26 A.J. Burnett Pitch F/X

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7.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
Pitch TypeVelocH-BreakV-BreakCountStrike%
4-Seam 91.8 -4.30 6.03 67 68.66%
Change 87.5 -4.34 1.37 3 0.00%
K-Curve 81.4 8.42 -5.81 33 63.64%
You can view all the season's pitch f/x posts by clicking here

7/26 Recap | Pirates 5 Astros 3

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There might be just one thing that needs to be said here, and that is that Starling Marte hit a home run on the first pitch of the game, and the first pitch of his career. It was a historical moment that Pittsburgh will remember for a long time.

After the first pitch of the game there was a baseball game to be played. A.J. Burnett made it look like Marte’s homer would be all the Pirates would need, but that didn’t turn out to be true. Burnett pitched 7.1 innings and gave up four hits and two earned runs while walking one and striking out five. He gave up two home runs in the eighth inning that got him the hook. Brad Lincoln finished up the eighth and Joel Hanrahan pitched another shaky inning but got his 30th save of the year.

Garrett Jones and Clint Barmes hit home runs to get the Pirates to five runs, which was more than enough for the win tonight. The Astros are very, very bad and the Pirates have a good chance to push their record forward with three more games in Houston.

Starling Marte Knows How to Partay

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Starling Marte couldn't wait even one pitch to make a name for himself in the big leagues. He took the very first pitch of the game tonight and drove it out of the park for his first career hit, home run, run scored, and run batted in. It was a meatball of a pitch, and the Pirates newest outfielder didn't miss it.

I am glad to say that #MartePartay has been trending ever since Starling hit the bomb, and I have a feeling that hashtag might stick around for awhile. Twitter is pretty awesome.

Wherever Marte goes from here, he had quite a debut. The Pirates certainly got a lot better by promoting him, but don't be surprised if he struggles a bit eventually. Unfortunately, he's not going to get to face Dallas Kuechel every night. It will be very interesting and exciting to see what he does with the rest of his season and career.

^made by @evanduncan

Pirates (55-42) vs. Astros (34-65), Game 98 #MartePartay

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Pirates (55-42) vs. Astros (34-65)

July 26, 2012

A.J. Burnett (11-3, 3.59) vs. Dallas Kuechel (1-2, 4.03)



Game Notes:

Wednesday 7/25 Roundup

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AAA Indianapolis | Pawtucket 4 Indianapolis 2
Starling Marte had an RBI double in what Pittsburgh hopes was the last minor league game of his career. Matt Hague added the other RBI as the Indians got just seven hits and two runs in the loss. Rick VandenHurk gave up four runs (three earned) in six innings while striking out eight and walking two. Not a bad loss for the Indians, but these outcomes should start becoming more frequent with the loss of Owens yesterday to the trade and the loss of Marte tonight with the promotion.

AA Altoona | Reading 6 Altoona 1
Brock Holt had two hits and Adalberto Santos had one, and that was all the Curve would get off Reading starter Jonathan Pettibone. Gerrit Cole made the start for Altoona and didn't do great. He pitched five innings, gave up six hits and five runs (just three earned) while walking two but striking out a healthy five. His AA ERA is at 4.85, which is discouraging to some but not really a worry for me. Kris Harvey pitched two innings and gave up a run before Jhonathan Ramos pitched a scoreless inning.

A West Virginia | West Virginia 4 Greensboro 2
Dan Gamache was the story with two hits and a home run, while Jose Osuna added a solo shot of his own in the Power win. Zack Dodson had a nice outing, pitching five scoreless innings giving up just two hits. He was a bit wild with four walks but struck out three and kept the runs off the board. Ryan Hafner pitched a scoreless inning and the Kilcrease brothers (not sure if they're brothers) combined to pitch three innings and give up two runs to preserve the win.

A Bradenton | St. Lucie 6 Bradenton 5
Five hits for the Marauders weren't enough to get it done. Kirk Singer drove in two runs and had the only extra base hit of the day. Jameson Taillon had an iffy outing, going six innings and striking out six but giving up four earned runs on eight hits. He gave up another home run which has been a problem for him this year. Zach Foster got the loss with 2.2 innings and two runs allowed (one earned). Alex Dickerson was 0/3 as his hot June seems like a bit of a memory.

A State College | State College 2 Batavia 0
Clay Holmes continued his ridiculous good season with five more scoreless innings. He has an ERA of 0.80 after striking out four and walking two while giving up just three hits. Dalton Friend pitched three scoreless innings and Emmanuel De Leon got his second save with a scoreless ninth. Tyler Gaffney had three hits and the only RBI of the day. Jacob Stallings added two hits.

... it's come to my attention that those Kilcrease's aren't related at all. I'll take "what are the #@%!%#ing chance of that" for 500, Alex.

Small Market Teams and the Trade Deadline

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I've wrote about this before and have been tweeting about it a lot recently. Everyone is fired up that the trade deadline is approaching and the Pirates are buyers. They've already made one move, getting Wandy Rodriguez without losing too much in terms of prospects, and now the fans are craving for more - they want a big time corner outfield bat to put this team over the top. The names mentioned are Chase Headley, Shane Victorino, and Hunter Pence, among others.

The question now becomes, is it really worth the Pirates while to go out and trade for one of these big names? Assuming that it's going to take losing a lot in terms of prospects to get one of them (which it almost certainly will), there's a real argument here. Any surface riding fan can say that the team has a real playoff chance this year and should do whatever they can to heighten that chance, but it's not that simple with small market teams. Prospects and the preservation of money and resources mean everything to such teams, and history stresses how careful teams in such predicaments have to be.

The Milwaukee Brewers went for it in 2011. They traded for Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum, giving up a lot of prospects and salary preservation in a World Series chase. They won the division, which was exactly what they were looking to do. The playoffs are largely a crapshoot however, so you can't say that the experiment was a failure just because they lost in the first round of the playoffs. The fact is that they're feeling the negative effects of those moves right now. They didn't have the money to re-sign Prince Fielder (which may have been the case even if they hadn't gotten Greinke and Marcum), and their team is struggling big time this year which has caused them to be sellers this year and the future looks bleak. They have Braun, but not much else to back him up. Their big time prospects are gone and they aren't looking like a perennial contender by any stretch of the imagination.

The Tampa Bay Rays are a perfect example. They have been competitive every single year since 2008 because of their refusal to trade their top prospects. Sure, they have lost some of their star players, but they have remained competitive. Why? Because of their ability to draft and develop players teamed with a commitment to their prospects. No matter who leaves, they have someone there ready to fill in, and it has been a huge success. They're still one of the smallest market teams in baseball, but they are in contention to win the toughest division in baseball every single year, and that's a phenomenal accomplishment.

So which team do you want the Pirates to be like? Sure, they don't have as strong a farm system (in terms of depth) as the Rays, but I'd still rather take that route. If you give up your top prospects for a one to two year year established player, and you don't end up doing much with them on your team, you could very well set your franchise back for a handful of years (if not more). We'll see where the Brewers end up, but if you're asking me who will have more wins between those two teams in the next five years, I'll take the Rays to the bank every single time.

It would be nice to add another player and make the big league team stronger and more suited for a playoff push, but it might not be the best thing for the future. It comes down to asking yourself what you would rather have - a team that makes the playoffs one year, or a team that is in the hunt for the division crown every single year. I'm taking the latter. No matter what happens at the deadline, it has been a magical season to this point and there is something positive to take from that no matter what happens the final two months. Just don't be too upset if the Pirates don't make another trade, because that could very well mean more wins down the road.

Trade Thoughts: July 25th

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I wrote one of these two nights ago and mentioned Wandy Rodriguez, then the Pirates traded for him the next day. Let's try to go two for two shall we?
  • There hasn't been much in terms of new rumors today, but an interesting one from the other day was Shane Victorino. The Pirates apparently offered Jared Hughes and a prospect or two for him, but the Phillies said Brad Lincoln or no deal, and talks ended temporarily at that point. Now there are some other teams in on him and it doesn't look like the Pirates have much of a chance. I certainly wouldn't jump at the opportunity to lose Lincoln for two months of Victorino, but the Pirates are in a spot where they kind of have to consider everything. The recent call-up of Starling Marte relieves some of the need for a corner outfielder, but it still doesn't obviously make this team better. Chances are Victorino out performs Marte the rest of the season, I just don't think the Pirates are willing to give up Lincoln for a rental, and you can't blame them for that.
  • Hunter Pence is becoming a more prominent name now that the Phillies gave Cole Hamels a ton of money. That makes him enticing in the light that the Pirates might not have to lose big time prospects to get him; the Phils might just want some salary relief - which the Pirates should be willing to give. It would still take a fair amount in terms of players, but I think it's possible for the Pirates to get it done without giving up Marte/Cole/Taillon/Heredia. Alen Hanson might be the name that has to go, and I might be okay with that if the Pirates could hold onto Pence for another year, although he's eligible for arbitration at the end of the year so it wouldn't be cheap.
  • The name Billy Butler has come up, but I don't see that being a real possibility. The Pirates really haven't been rumored with him (although they weren't really rumored with Wandy either), and it would seem that the Royals would want a decent return for him.
  • If I had to make a bet, I would probably bet on the Pirates not making another trade. It just seems like the Pirates would have to give up too much to get any of the guys that fit their needs. Hopefully I'm wrong and Neal Huntington and company can pull something off, but things aren't looking great right now.
  • Jayson Stark said that the Pirates are sending signals that they are willing to trade Jeff Karstens or Kevin Correia. That's interesting and all, but irrelevant in my eyes. They aren't trading Karstens unless it's in a package for one of the corner outfielders mentioned above, which I don't see happening. Despite his good numbers the last year and a half, I can't see Karstens having much value; he's as or more valuable to the Pirates than to anybody else, and trading him would put Correia right back in the rotation which I'm sure they don't really want to do. As for KC, a trade would be great. They really have no need for him anymore, but he has no value either. Sure, he could improve somebody's back end of the rotation, but nobody cares enough about the back end of the rotation to give up anything significant for an upgrade to it. Chances of either of those two being traded are slim to none. But that's just me typing.

How Good Does Michael McKenry Have To Be?

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Michael McKenry had a slow offensive start to the season, hitting .184 through his first 15 games. Since then (May 15), he has hit .282/.344/.628 in 90 plate appearances.

It took me awhile to even start considering that McKenry might deserve some serious playing time. The guy hit .265/.357/.453 in his lengthy minor league career, so you can't blame me or not thinking he would ever be successful with the bat in the major leagues. However, his performance this year can't be overlooked.

Rod Barajas was brought in for his defense and veteran presence, but he's hitting just .209/.281/.369 this year and has been especially bad since May ended, hitting .198/.295/.333 in those 111 at-bats. If you're picking a team for next year, you'd probably still take Barajas over McKenry, but the battle has to be pretty close by now doesn't it? It's not like Mike can't get the job done behind the plate, his defense is probably the the only reason he's still here.

The Fort has put up good offensive numbers at a position where it's very hard to do such a thing, especially when you aren't even an everyday player. Sure, he'll have his bad at-bats but you can't say that he hasn't helped this team greatly on offense when he's been in the lineup. He has a small big league sample size, I'm not saying make him the everyday starter, but I am saying that you might have to start considering it.

7/25 Kevin Correia Pitch F/X

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6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Pitch TypeVelocH-BreakV-BreakCountStrike%
4-Seam 90.0 -2.50 8.20 15 60%
Change 85.8 -6.294.321450.00%
Slider 87.3 3.034.691145.45%
Curve 76.59.03-5.34 887.50%
Cutter 88.4 0.15 7.121100.00%
2-Seam 90.1 -6.04 6.68 1573.33%
You can view all the season's pitch f/x posts by clicking here

7/25 Recap | Pirates 3 Cubs 2

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The Pirates managed to win the series finale with the Cubs, but it was in unconvincing fashion. Somehow, Kevin Correia was once again the stopper, pitching six innings and giving up just two runs on three hits. He struck out four, walked two, and has been pretty good lately. It was probably his last start as a Pirate with Wandy Rodriguez now a member of the team, and it was a good way to go out if that ends up being true.

Neil Walker hit a solo home run to tie the game in the bottom of the first after Anthony Rizzo did the same in the top of the inning. The Pirates got their second run on a Michael McKenry solo shot in the fifth and added the go-ahead run on a Garrett Jones single in the sixth. Jared Hughes pitched a scoreless seventh, Jason Grilli a scoreless eighth, and Joel Hanrahan did his thing for his 29th save of the year.

The Pirates head to Houston for a four game set with the worst team in baseball. The Astros had won just two games in July before today.

Cubs (40-56) vs. Pirates (54-42), Game 97

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Chicago Cubs (40-56) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (54-42)

July 25, 2012

Ryan Dempster vs. Kevin Correia

Game Notes:

Tuesday 7/24 Minor League Roundup

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AAA Indianapolis | Indianapolis 3 Pawtucket 1
Starling Marte had two hits including a double, Matt Hague had three singles, and Jeff Clement added two singles of his own to get the Indians a low scoring win over the Red Sox AAA club. Justin Wilson went five shutout innings, walking three and striking out a handful. Daniel McCutchen pitched three innings and gave up the only run of the game and Doug Slaten finished up the game with a scoreless inning to get his season ERA to 0.28 on the season. It's really, really hard to have an ERA that low, even in a video game. Indians keep winning, too bad we can't trade those wins in for something that matters.

AA Altoona | Altoona 6 Reading 2
Robbie Grossman went 2/3 with a run scored in his last game in the Pirates organization (he was traded for Wandy Rodriguez after the game) and Ramon Cabrera added two hits of his own. Quincy Latimore tripled and drove in a run and Adalberto Santos had a two RBI pinch hit. Kris Johnson had a short outing going 3.2 innings but allowing just two hits and one run. Mike Colla pitched 2.1 innings, giving up one run and getting the win while Jeff Inman pitched the final three innings and getting the save, not allowing a single run.

A West Virginia | West Virginia 9 Greensboro 6
Alen Hanson would give us all a big time scare by being pulled out of the game before rumors of the Wandy Rodriguez trade surfaced, but it turned out he just didn't run out a ground ball. He was 0/1, but his team still managed a win. Jose Osuna had three hits including a home run, and Dan Gamache had two hits sand two RBI. Ashley Ponce had three RBI from the 9 spot in the order. Nick Kingham pitched six scoreless innings and struck out five. Joan Montero had a rough go of it giving up all six of the Power's runs in 1.2 innings.

A Bradenton | St. Lucie 7 Bradenton 5
Gift Ngoepe, Elevys Gonzalez, and Benji Gonzalez all had two hits. Gonzalez homered but it wasn't enough for a win as the Marauders fell 7-5. Matt Benedict got the loss as he gave up five runs in four innings on six hits.

A State College | State College 4 Batavia 3
Luis Heredia kept his stellar season rolling with five strong innings. He gave up one run on two hits and didn't walk a batter while fanning a pair. The run he gave up was on a solo home run. He has a 1.85 ERA on the year and looks mature beyond his years. He got enough run support to get his second win of the year, much of which came from Tyler Gaffney and Jared Lakind. Lakind had two RBI and Gaffney doubled twice. Jacob Stallings had two hits and drove in a couple as well. Barrett Barnes didn't score but drove in a run of his own with a two single day.

PNC Park Will Help Wandy Rodriguez

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There's no need for a lot of words in this post. I took Wandy Rodriguez's home runs allowed in Minutemaid Park for the last two years and mapped where the landed onto PNC Park's field layout. Here's the results:

2012:
2011:

I could eight of 17 home runs that quite obviously wouldn't have been home runs in PNC Park, and a few more that are questionable (the height of the right field wall could have held a few of those, not sure on the trajectories).

I rest my case.

Whaddya Know, Good Teams Lose Too!

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The 2011 Philadelphia Phillies won 102 games. In September, they lost eight straight games. Four of those games were to the Washington Nationals, who finished with a record of 80-81, and two more of those games were to the New York Mets, who finished with a record of 77-85. You could say that neither of those teams were very good, and the Phillies were the best team in the league. The New York Yankees won 97 games and lost a big series to the Oakland Athletics late in the season. The A's finished with 74 wins. The Colorado Rockies, who went 73-89 last year, took two of three from the 96 win Milwaukee Brewers in mid July. I could keep going with this, but I won't.

To say that playoff teams don't lose series to bad teams is false. It's so false that no one should ever have to prove that it's false, it should be common knowledge. Baseball is a random game; any team can beat any other team on any given day. The Astros were the worst team in the league last year and still won 35% of their games. That means they averaged more than one win for every three games they played. Is it out of the question to think that a team like that could win two of three from a really good team? No. In fact, you shouldn't be surprised at all when it happens.

The Pirates have their fans on pins and needles these days, and losing the first two games of a series to the Cubs in PNC Park certainly makes those pins and needles feel a little bit sharper. Most of you are smart enough not to freak out about this, but I felt the need to write it anyway. I've done it a few times this year, and I've screamed about it on the radio more than a few times.

Two really hot pitchers came into PNC Park and silenced the Pirates bats. Is that so hard to believe? Is that such a scary scenario that people would be seriously concerned about it?

Jeff Samardzija had posted a 2.37 ERA in his three starts against the Marlins, Mets, and Braves (three pretty respectable offenses) coming into his start last night. He struck out 24 batters in those 19 innings. Sure, he pitched a little better than anyone expected him too going eight shutout innings, but you really shouldn't have been shocked. He was feeling very confident on the mound and has some pretty good stuff to deal with. Baseball is a pitcher's game, a hot pitcher will beat a hot batter more often than not.

Paul Maholm has literally been the best pitcher in the game since June 29th. In his previous four starts (plus one inning in relief) before his gem against the Pirates on Tuesday, he posted a 0.89 ERA in 30.1 innings. He did it against the Astros, Braves, Diamondbacks, and Marlins. Again, not exactly horrid offenses.

Two games means very little. You always hate to lose home series, especially against teams you're decidedly better against, but you aren't going to win them all. I don't know the exact probability of a winning an individual baseball game, but I'm guessing it never goes any higher than 55%-60%. What are the chances of hitting on a 40%-45% chance two in a row? Not favorable, but not so bad you wouldn't consider betting on it.

Just relax. The Pirates are 12 games over .500 and just got better with the addition of Wandy Rodriguez, these two games mean very little. Even if the Cubs complete the sweep tomorrow, there are still seven favorable matchups ahead against the Astros (who are getting worse every day) and then the Cubs again before they have a big series with the Reds.

If the Pirates fall to four or five games out of the wild card race, I might start to worry a bit, but for now I'm going to suck all of the goodness out of being a playoff level team that I can. You should do the same.

Pirates Trade for Wandy Rodriguez

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For all zero of you out there who get your Pirates news solely from me, the Pirates have traded for Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez. The prospects they gave up are Rudy Owens (AAA starting pitcher), Robbie Grossman (AA outfielder), and Colton Cain (A-Bradenton starting pitcher).

First let's look at Rodriguez. He's 33 years old and has posted a 3.79 ERA in 21 starts this year. He's got 6.1 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in this 2012 campaign. For his career, he has a 4.04 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9. His best season was 2009 when he posted a 3.02 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9. Obviously he's a bit past his prime, but he's still been a very solid big league pitcher the last few seasons.

The best part about it is that the guy is left-handed, which plays perfectly into PNC Park. He strengthens an already solid rotation, probably knocking Kevin Correia back to the bullpen or off the team entirely. Chances are they'll throw him in the bullpen until they get a better idea of what they have with the new and improved second half Erik Bedard.

The best part about this deal could be that the Pirates can keep Rodriguez through the 2014 season. He'll be 36 by then, but he'll probably still be a serviceable starter. The Astros are giving the Pirates $12.2 million to help with salary relief, which is huge. The Bucs pay Wandy $17.7 through 2014, which isn't bad at all if he produces like you'd expect him to.

There were rumors about the Pirates losing Alen Hanson in the deal, but thankfully those were untrue. The loss of Owens, Grossman, and Cain certainly hurts the farm system, but it's not very crippling. With Jameson Taillon, Gerrit Cole, and Luis Heredia, you can afford to lose a bit of pitching depth. The biggest loss in the deal was Grossman, who is hitting .262/.374/.403 this year but looks much better lately. The guy hit .294/.418/.451 last year and looks like he already has a big league sense in terms of plate patience. I don't know if he has the tools to be an all-star caliber guy, but he certainly has the maturity already, and sometimes that's the hardest part to get. We'll see where time takes Grossman, but don't be surprised if you see him helping the Astros in the big leagues before next year ends.

There's a good chance that Owens will be brought straight to the big leagues and inserted into the Astros rotation, possibly making his big league debut against the Pirates this weekend; wouldn't that be something?

If you care for my opinion, I'm all about this trade. Pitching depth is key for contenders, and Rodriguez is a great add. I love that he's left-handed and I think he's going to post some nice numbers in PNC Park. He will make his Pirates debut against the Astros on either Saturday or Sunday, and that'll be something fun to watch.

More later? Or on every other Pirates related website on earth.

7/24 James McDonald Pitch F/X

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6 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
Pitch TypeVelocH-BreakV-BreakCountStrike%
4-Seam 92.5 -4.01 10.86 27 66.67%
Slider 80.7 -7.23 8.40 1 0.00%
Curve 76.5 6.20 -7.84 31 67.74%
2-Seam 92.2 -7.06 8.98 18 66.67%
You can view all the season's pitch f/x posts by clicking here

7/24 Recap | Cubs 5 Pirates 1

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The Pirates lost their second straight game to the Cubs by a score of 5 to 1 tonight. James McDonald had a tough start allowing five runs and was docked with the loss. Jared Hughes, Evan Meek, and Brad Lincoln all threw scoreless outings.

The offense had another rough night. Garrett Jones had a solo home run to tie the game at one, but that was all the Pirates would get. Neil Walker, Casey McGehee, Pedro Alvarez, and Clint Barmes had the other hits for the Pirates.

The Pirates will try to avoid being swept by the Cubs with a afternoon game tomorrow.

Monday 7/23 Minor League Roundup

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AAA Indianapolis | Indianapolis 2 Toledo 1
Brandon Boggs drove in the winning run in the top of the 14th inning on a double. Starling Marte was 2/6 with three strikeouts, and Jose Tabata, Anderson Hernandez, and Boggs all had two hits a piece to join him. Jeff Locke had a weird start, pitching five innings and walking seven while striking out nine. All of that action and he gave up just one run on four hits. Chris Leroux was dominant in four scoreless innings of work, he struck out five. Duke Welker and Tim Wood added two inning outings while holding the Mudhens off the board.

AA Altoona | Altoona 7 Reading 1
Adalberto Santos and Ramon Cabrera had three hits a piece and paced the Curve on the way to a 7-1 win over Reading. Santos homered twice and drove in three runs, Cabrera homered once and matched that RBI count. They were the offense tonight. Matt Curry also added a solo home run. Kyle McPherson made another nice start, striking out eight in five innings and allowing just one run on three hits. He's been getting a ton of swings and misses recently and looks to be back on pace where he left off last year. Logan Kensing and Victor Black pitched scoreless innings to sure up the victory.

A West Virginia | West Virginia 5 Greensboro 1
Gregory Polanco hit a three run homer, his 13th of the year and the Power got a convincing win over Greensboro. Alen Hanson had a hit and an RBI, and Taylor Lewis added a pair of singles. Zack Von Rosenberg pitched 6.1 innings and allowed just two hits and one run. He walked three and struck out five.

A Bradenton | Bradenton 10 St. Lucie 2
The Marauders got a big win of their own on Monday, scoring 10 runs on the St. Lucie Mets. Tyler Waldron was the pitcher and he got through six innings allowing six hits and two runs. Kenn Kasparek got a good luck save by pitching the final three innings of the game and holding the Mets off the scoreboard entirely. Mel Rojas and Alex Dickerson combined for five hits and two RBI, and Justin Howard drove in four. The Marauders scored their ten runs without the benefit of a home run.

A State College | State College 9 Batavia 8
The Spikes were able to score one more run than the Batavia MUCKDOGS in a slugfest. Jacob Stallings went 4/4 with a double and a triple and Tyler Gaffney had three hits including a triple of his own. Joely Rodriguez started and had a rough go of it, giving up five runs and 10 hits in 4.2 innings. Pat Ludwig and Kyle Haynes pitched 4.1 innings giving up three runs. I literally haven't heard of any of the above names.