Sup.
The next 2 days in sports are huge. Tomorrow night, the NBA season tips off with the main event being LeBron James' debut with the Miami Heat against the Boston Celtics. That game is on TNT and starts at 7:30. I know a lot of people in Pittsburgh don't pay attention to the NBA, because of the lack of the team here, but I see no better time to start watching than right now. Everybody knows about LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, and seeing them playing together is something that should interest you regardless. I have always been a mild fan of the NBA, I've played the fantasy game and can hold my own in a conversation (at least in Pittsburgh), but I've never truly gotten into it. That could easily change this season. I'm really excited to see some of these new rosters and new teams play, as well as see all the teams in the NBA shoot to beat the Heat.
After that, the MLB World Series gets rolling with the Giants hosting the Rangers. You can't ask for a much better pitching matchup to start it off, with Tim Lincecum and Cliff Lee sharing the rubber. Lee has been phenomenal on the road all year long, and Lincecum has been electric in the playoffs, and always pitches well at home. The advantage goes to Lee, just cause he has been more consistently dominant. It's definitely hard to pick against the Rangers with Lee on the hill, and I won't be doing it tomorrow. The Rangers have a definite advantage with the bats, and with Lee on the hill they are nearly impossible to beat. The Rangers will take game 1, but will eventually lose the series.
The Giants rotation as a whole is better than what the Rangers have. When you look at the 2-4 guys, it's Sanchez/Cain/Bumgarner vs. Wilson/Lewis/Hunter. While every single one of those guys is capable of dominating any offense in this league, the strength of the Giants is better than the Rangers. The postseason ERAs for 2-4 Giants pitchers are 2.93/0.00/3.55 respectively, and the Rangers are 2.03/1.45/6.14. And yes, that did say 0.00 for Matt Cain (in 13.2 innings). There isn't going to be a bad pitching matchup all series, just how playoff baseball should be. It's gonna come down to hitting. Not in volume, but in the timing of it. Whoever can get the big hits will win this series. The Giants played close baseball all year long, and they have as many timely hits as anybody in the league, as we saw with Juan Uribe's go-ahead home run on Saturday.
If your asking me who I am pulling for in this series, I would quickly answer the Giants. However, if the Rangers do end up winning, I will not be upset. The biggest reason I would be happy if the Rangers win would be about Cliff Lee. Not that I love the guy or anything, as a matter of fact I don't particularly care for him. However, there have been rumors that he is heading to the Yankees next year, which are completely believable considering he's the best pitcher on the market and the Yankees will be looking to spend again this year. If Lee wins a World Series with the Rangers, he has already said that he would be more likely to re-sign with them next year. That certainly makes sense, why would you want to walk away from a team that you just won a World Championship with?
I guess it's a win-win for me. Here's my game-by-game prediction:
Game 1: Rangers
Game 2: Giants
Game 3: Giants
Game 4: Rangers
Game 5: Rangers
Game 6: Giants
Game 7: Giants
Bench McFleury?
Comments
Let me begin this post by (re)stating one thing - I am not now, nor I will I ever be, a big Pittsburgh Penguins fan. In fact, in recent years I have come to dislike them to a pretty good extend. When I really think about it, it's not the team I dislike, they really have not done anything to warrant that, but it's the fans and the sudden rise to popularity that the team has experienced that has grown this dislike in me.
Now regardless of that, I am not incompetent when it comes to hockey. I watch sportscenter, pay attention to what is going on, and even play fantasy hockey. What I want to talk about today is what is going on with the goalie situation for the hometown Penguins.
Before this year, Marc-Andre Fleury was the no-brainer starting goalie. However, 6 games into the season, it is no longer that clear who the starter is.
Fleury has started 3 games this year, and has not done well at all. He has allowed 10 goals on 68 shots in those games. Those are not good numbers. Fleury's backup, and now competition, Brent Johnson has also started 3 games, and has allowed 4 goals on 85 shots. He is 3-0 while Fleury is 0-3. Those numbers right there are the reason that Johnson got the call for tonight's game against the Senators.
It is unclear whether coach Dan Bylsma is simply riding the hot hand or seriously considering making Johnson is starter. My guess would be that he still has Fleury on his mind as the starter, but just does not want to sit a player that has helped the team win all 3 of their games this season.
Here's the deal folks, Brent Johnson is 34 years old. He has been around since 1998 and has a career 124-100 record with a save percentage of .904. Fleury is 25 years old with a career 148-109 record and a .906 save percentage. The age surely favors Fleury, and the numbers do as well (not by much, but they do).
The Penguins have a lot more invested in Fleury than they do in Johnson, and Fleury has proven that he can come up big when it counts the most. He was huge in their playoff run to the Stanley Cup 2 seasons ago, and it's going to take a whole lot more than 3 games to have the team take away his job.
I am totally on board with everything I just said, and I think that the Penguins should start putting Fleury between the pipes every night.
That is mainly because he is on my fantasy team, but I do seriously think it would be best for the team as well in the long run.
Let's Go Bucs.
Meet The McSteelers
Comments
Here at "The 'Mc' Effect", we love a lot of things - but one thing more than the rest - and that is athletes with an "M - c" at the beginning of their last names. Since the Pirates' Mc's are done until next March, we'll have to switch gears and meet the rest of the Pittsburgh Mc's.
Sean McHugh, FB/TE, Pittsburgh Steelers
Sean McHugh isn't the best football player in the league. In fact, he's not even in the top 3 at his position on his own team. He is, however, one of my favorite Steelers, if not only because of his last name.
McHugh attended Penn State University, and played a lot in the backfield, letting 4 times. In his career there, he ran 82 times for 332 yards and 6 touchdowns. Those 6 touchdowns were just 14 shy of what Larry Johnson had in his senior season, so you could say that McHugh's skill level is just inches below Johnson's.
McHugh's skills were recognized and he began his NFL career in 2004 with the Green Bay Packers. He played one game for the Packers, and didn't get a carry or a catch, but he provided some highlight reel worthy blocking.
The next stop on the journey of McHugh was Detroit, where he played for 3 seasons. In that time he caught 20 balls for 277 yards. He failed to reach the endzone, probably just because of his incredible humility. He was probably the Lions best player in those years, with Kevin Jones and Sean Rogers coming in at a close 2nd and 3rd.
After the 3 years in Detroit, the Lions had run out of the material needed to make McHugh jerseys at the rate of demand, so they let him go. He was picked up by the Steelers in 2008 and caught 3 balls in his 3 starts for 24 yards. One of those catches went for an astounding 15 yards, a real season changer for the Steelers who went on to win the Super Bowl that year, undoubtably because of McHugh's efforts.
His career has slowed down a little bit since his Super Bowl royalty days, he has been on and off of free agency, and he really isn't a factor for the Steelers as they stand right now, but he is listed on the Steelers.com roster, which makes him worth a couple billion dollars.
Steve McLendon, DT, Pittsburgh Steelers
On January 3rd, 1986, Steve McLendon was born in Ozark, Alabama. He grew rapidly and by the age of 3 Steve was 6'4'', weighing in at 284 pounds. He didn't fit in too well in kindergarten, but all the pain of a tough childhood was made right when he was picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2009. After a successful career at Troy, McLendon was ready to bring his game to the next level. He worked extremely hard to make the team, but was tragically cut on the last day of camp by the Steelers. Immediately after he was informed of this, the Steelers realized their mistake and offered him a practice squad contract the next day.
Earlier this year, the Steelers, without their star quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, called up McLendon to fill in until Ben's suspension ended. McLendon was ready to start at QB against the Titans, but he came down with a terrible case of scarlet fever right before the game, and was forced to play defensive tackle. In the game he recorded a near record breaking 1 tackle, while almost getting an interception return for a touchdown. He would have had it, but he missed the ball because he was temporarily blinded.
The Steelers came to the realization that a man like McLendon is probably way to violent and skilled to play in the NFL anyway, so he will continue to help other players like Casey Hampton get better at their trade during the week, when it really counts.
The Penguins don't have anybody with a "Mc" at the beginning of their name, because almost all of their players are Russian or Canadian, maybe if the Penguins start recruiting some actual athletes, I'll pay more attention to them.
Your welcome for the enlightenment. Have a great mcMonday.
Sean McHugh, FB/TE, Pittsburgh Steelers
Sean McHugh isn't the best football player in the league. In fact, he's not even in the top 3 at his position on his own team. He is, however, one of my favorite Steelers, if not only because of his last name.
McHugh attended Penn State University, and played a lot in the backfield, letting 4 times. In his career there, he ran 82 times for 332 yards and 6 touchdowns. Those 6 touchdowns were just 14 shy of what Larry Johnson had in his senior season, so you could say that McHugh's skill level is just inches below Johnson's.
McHugh's skills were recognized and he began his NFL career in 2004 with the Green Bay Packers. He played one game for the Packers, and didn't get a carry or a catch, but he provided some highlight reel worthy blocking.
The next stop on the journey of McHugh was Detroit, where he played for 3 seasons. In that time he caught 20 balls for 277 yards. He failed to reach the endzone, probably just because of his incredible humility. He was probably the Lions best player in those years, with Kevin Jones and Sean Rogers coming in at a close 2nd and 3rd.
After the 3 years in Detroit, the Lions had run out of the material needed to make McHugh jerseys at the rate of demand, so they let him go. He was picked up by the Steelers in 2008 and caught 3 balls in his 3 starts for 24 yards. One of those catches went for an astounding 15 yards, a real season changer for the Steelers who went on to win the Super Bowl that year, undoubtably because of McHugh's efforts.
His career has slowed down a little bit since his Super Bowl royalty days, he has been on and off of free agency, and he really isn't a factor for the Steelers as they stand right now, but he is listed on the Steelers.com roster, which makes him worth a couple billion dollars.
Steve McLendon, DT, Pittsburgh Steelers
On January 3rd, 1986, Steve McLendon was born in Ozark, Alabama. He grew rapidly and by the age of 3 Steve was 6'4'', weighing in at 284 pounds. He didn't fit in too well in kindergarten, but all the pain of a tough childhood was made right when he was picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2009. After a successful career at Troy, McLendon was ready to bring his game to the next level. He worked extremely hard to make the team, but was tragically cut on the last day of camp by the Steelers. Immediately after he was informed of this, the Steelers realized their mistake and offered him a practice squad contract the next day.
Earlier this year, the Steelers, without their star quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, called up McLendon to fill in until Ben's suspension ended. McLendon was ready to start at QB against the Titans, but he came down with a terrible case of scarlet fever right before the game, and was forced to play defensive tackle. In the game he recorded a near record breaking 1 tackle, while almost getting an interception return for a touchdown. He would have had it, but he missed the ball because he was temporarily blinded.
The Steelers came to the realization that a man like McLendon is probably way to violent and skilled to play in the NFL anyway, so he will continue to help other players like Casey Hampton get better at their trade during the week, when it really counts.
The Penguins don't have anybody with a "Mc" at the beginning of their name, because almost all of their players are Russian or Canadian, maybe if the Penguins start recruiting some actual athletes, I'll pay more attention to them.
Your welcome for the enlightenment. Have a great mcMonday.
Off-Season Changeup
Comments
The Pirates season is over. It's October and, being that they are the Pirates, they have not been relevant since April. The Phillies, Giants, Yankees, and Rangers are still battling for the right to go to the World Series, and Pittsburgh sports fans are all focused on pigskins and pucks. Now my knowledge of the other 2 major Pittsburgh sports does not come anywhere close to my knowledge of the Pirates and the game of baseball, but I might as well give it a shot. I have this blog and I have a decent amount of readers when I update consistently, so I'm gonna change it up and make this a completely open sports blog. I'll focus a lot of playoff baseball until that is over, and then I'll concentrate mainly on the Steelers and the NFL, with possibly a Penguins post every now and then (I'm not really big on hockey, so don't expect much of me).
All I ask is to keep clicking the Mc Effect, give me reason to invest more of my time and effort into this blog, and by the time baseball season rolls around again it'll be a very successful blog.
Posts are coming, possibly one in the next hour or so, so keep on clicking.
McSee ya soon.
All I ask is to keep clicking the Mc Effect, give me reason to invest more of my time and effort into this blog, and by the time baseball season rolls around again it'll be a very successful blog.
Posts are coming, possibly one in the next hour or so, so keep on clicking.
McSee ya soon.
My 2010 Playoff Predictions
CommentsThe MLB playoffs start Wednesday, and, like every year, I am providing expert knowledge on the game of baseball. I have done this every year since 1994 and have never missed a pick. So here's how it's gonna happen folks:
National League
Cincinnati Reds vs. Philadelphia Phillies
The Reds are the team I'll be pulling for from the National League this year, but unfortunately it's incredibly hard to pick them to beat the Phillies here. The Phillies feature one of the best 1-2-3 starting pitching punches in the history of the major leagues. Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels are all near the top of their games right now.
Roy Halladay is a top 3 pitcher in the game and has been for years. His numbers don't even need to be said. He's nearly unbeatable, but it will be interesting to see how he fairs in the playoffs, as he has never been there before.
Oswalt seemed kind of hittable with the Astros the last few years, but he has found a home in Philadelphia and has been outstanding. In 12 starts with the Phils, he has a 1.74 ERA with a .186 batting average against. And if you take out his first start with the Phillies when he got tagged for 4 runs in 6 innings, his ERA stands at 1.41 with a .176 BAA. He has also struck out close to 8 batters per 9 innings since the trade. He's been in the playoffs two times, in 04 and 05, and has a 3.66 ERA with 4 wins and 0 losses. Pretty good numbers there.
Cole Hamels is another guy that looked pretty average earlier in the year, but has turned it on lately. In his last 7 starts he has an ERA of 1.48 with a .205 batting average against. If you know anything about baseball you know he's been incredible in the playoffs. In 3 trips to the postseason he has a 3.86 ERA with a record of 5-3. He wasn't too great last year, as the Yankees beat him up pretty good in the World Series, but in 2008 he was untouchable and won the World Series MVP award.
As for the Reds, it's all about offense. They're pitching rotation isn't too impressive, but they have statistically the best offense in the National League. They'll send out Bronson Arroyo, Johnny Cueto, and a third pitcher selected from Mike Leake, Homer Bailey, or Travis Wood. My bet's on Travis Wood, who has been fantastic in his rookie season. He has a 3.51 ERA and nearly pitched a no-hitter earlier in the year. None of these pitchers have dominating stuff or incredibly impressive statistics, so the offense is going to have be even better than it has been, especially matching up against the Phillies pitching staff.
Unless Joey Votto, Jonny Gomes, Jay Bruce and company go on a ridiculous tear against Halladay, Oswalt, and Hamels, they don't have much of a chance.
My pick: Phillies in 4
Atlanta Braves vs. San Francisco Giants
Another pretty one-sided matchup in my opinion. Both of these teams clinched their playoff births on the last day of the season with wins, but one team is much stronger than the other when it comes to playoff baseball. In case you're wondering, that team is the Giants.
The Braves got ridiculously hot in the 2nd and 3rd months of the season and built a pretty comfortable lead in their division, but played average baseball down the stretch, lost the division to the Phillies, and almost missed the playoffs entirely. Playoff baseball is all about the pitching, and they just don't really have what it takes. Tim Hudson (17-9, 2.83), Tommy Hanson (10-11, 3.33), and Derek Lowe (16-12, 4.00) will tow the rubber for the Braves, which just isn't enough to matchup with Tim Lincecum (16-10, 3.43), Matt Cain (13-11, 3.14), and whoever the Giants pick for their 3rd option (between Barry Zito (9-14, 4.15), Madison Bumgarner (7-6, 3.00), and Jonathan Sanchez (13-9, 3.07). My vote would be for Sanchez, who I'm sure will get the nod after his performance yesterday. They pulled him after 5 innings of shut out ball against the Padres, which is a pretty clear sign that they're gonna go with him in game 3.
Neither offense is elite. They both have some solid young bats (Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval, Jason Heyward, Brian McCann) and some suprise veterans (Aubrey Huff, Pat Burrell, Juan Uribe, Martin Prado). It's pretty even offensively, with a slight advantage going to the Braves in my eyes, but the pitching is just too much for me to pick against the Giants. The Braves best pitcher has been Tim Hudson this year, and he has looked pretty terrible at times the last couple months. He's very hittable when he doesn't have his control, and that's not what you want from your ace.
Giants in 3
San Francisco Giants vs. Philadelphia Phillies
So it's Giants vs. Phillies in the NLCS, a great series for pitching. The Phillies still have a clear advantage on the mound, and an even more clear advantage offensively. Their bats have been hot lately; everything is clicking at the perfect time for the Phils. No way I can pick against them now or anytime. Phillies in 5
American League
Texas Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Rays
My number 2 team in the league is the Tampa Bay Rays. No doubt they're the team I want to take it all. However, it's gonna be a tough road for the Rays, whose pitching isn't the strongest. They'll send out David Price (19-6, 2.72), Matt Garza (15-10, 3.91), and either James Shields (13-15, 5.18) or Jeff Niemann (12-8, 4.39) for the first 3 games. Niemann's numbers are better but I think they'd be better served with James Shields, who has a 2.88 ERA in 4 starts in the postseason.
The Rangers pitchers are gonna be Cliff Lee (4-6, 3.98 with TEX), CJ Wilson (15-8, 3.35), and Colby Lewis (12-13, 3.72), a pretty solid 3-man rotation. Cliff Lee is one of the best in the game but has had some bad luck with the Rangers this year. The Rangers definitely have an edge in pitching.
The offenses in this series are 2 of the best in the league. The Rangers ranked first in offense for the American League this year, but have looked beatable of late. Josh Hamilton was probably the best hitter in the league this year, winning the batting title with an average of .359 this year, but he has missed a lot of time with a pretty serious injury lately which he has recovered from, but it will probably have some nagging effects which could throw his timing off and result in a bad postseason showing. Without him at 100%, they will have to depend on guys like Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andrus, Michael Young, and Nelson Cruz to get it done. They're lineup is very impressive up and down, but there are some definite question marks there. Andrus, Borbon, and Cruz are all young and unexperienced in the playoffs, and Hamilton could be affected by that injury.
Because of the experience factor and the fanhood factor, I'm going with Tampa. Rays in 5
Minnesota Twins vs. New York Yankees
The hated Yankees are once again in the playoffs. They did not win the division this year as the Rays squeaked it out by a game this year. However the Yankees have another very solid team, more offensively centered like always, and should be a force in this years' postseason. They draw the Minnesota Twins, who have been extremely impressive all year long but aren't really built for a playoff run in my opinion.
The pitching for the Twins is iffy, featuring Francisco Liriano (14-10, 3.620, Carl Pavano (17-11, 3.75), and Scott Baker (12-9, 4.49). The offense doesn't impress me too much either, Justin Morneau will not be playing for the twins, which leaves out a huge power threat for the Twinkies. Joe Mauer will have to carry the load after having another solid season with a .327 batting average, but didn't show much power, hitting only 9 home runs. The Twins are gonna have to hope the Yankees choke and hand this one to them, which probably isn't going to happen.
The Yankees have two solid postseason starters in CC Sabathia (21-7, 3.18) and Andy Pettitte (11-3, 3.28), but don't have too much after that. Phil Hughes (18-8, 4.19) got off to a ridiculous start to the season but has been hittable since, and Javier Vazquez and AJ Burnett have been pretty terrible all year long. My guess would be that the Yankees give Vazquez a chance to start. Wouldn't surprise me if they pitched Sabathia on extremely short rest at some point this postseason too, he's a horse and they aren't gonna be scared to use him if they need a win. They shouldn't really need a win in this first series though, they're gonna cruise to victory.
The Yankees offense is too good to lose to the Twins, Robinson Cano is a serious MVP candidate, and then they have guys like Jeter, Rodriguez, and Teixeira, which just makes it unfair. Yankees in 3.
New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays
That makes it another AL East ALCS. While I would love to pick the Rays here, I just don't think I can do it. Their pitching isn't the best, and David Price has pitched a lot of innings this year and could begin to wear down. It'll be close, but I think Sabathia gets 3 wins in the ALCS and leads the hated Yankees to another WS berth. Yankees in 7.
New York Yankees vs. Philadelphia Phillies
That makes a 2nd consecutive Phillies vs. Yankees world series, which I probably wouldn't even watch most of. Hate both the teams. Really hoping I'm wrong about this prediction.
However my prediction does end on a positive note, with the Yankees losing the world series. The Phillies will cruise through the entire playoffs and finish it with a 5 game win over the Yanks.
Philadelphia Phillies, World Series Champions, in 5 games over the New York Yankees.
A Look Ahead - Offense
Comments
When you're a Pirate fan, it's never too early to start looking towards next year.
The Pirates are sitting at 51-98 with 13 games to play. They have won an astounding 3 games in a row after sweeping the Diamondbacks. This season has been lost for a long time now and I've decided to come back to the blog and try and stir some excitement for next season. It's nearly impossible to get people excited about the Pirates this year, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.
While it would appear that this year has been all negative this year, it hasn't. The young players are getting experience and actually looking pretty decent. We'll take a look at the offensive guys first, and then get to the pitching later.
The biggest plus for the Pirates since the all-star break has been Jose Tabata. Tabata is hitting .301/.348/.406 with 4 HR, 31 RBI, and 17 SB. All of that is in 355 at bats. He's been extremely consistent all year long and had his average up at .318 on August 28. Since then he's hit only .264, but that's in a small sample of only 21 games. He continues to be an above average defender and should only continue to get better and better. He's shown the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark, and his home runs have not been cheap. Tabata should be one of the Pirates best players next year, he has the ability to hit well over .300, steal 30-40 bases, and hit 10-15 HRs.
Another big positive this year was a guy that nobody expected to be relevant this year, and that is Neil Walker. Walker has had the most recent success, with a hitting streak of 18, which was one of the highest in the entire league this year. Walker is hitting .298/.344/.478 with the biggest positive being his power, he has 12 home runs in 379 at bats, which a is 20+ HR/season number. At the beginning of this year, I don't think anybody would have said that Neil Walker would be hitting 3rd and starting at second base on opening day of the 2011 season, but that's exactly how it's shaping up to be. That's a huge plus for the Pirates.
Probably the most exciting name on this team is that of Pedro Alvarez, and unfortunately he has been kind of disappointing this year. He's had some big moments and some hot streaks, but all-in-all in numbers are not impressive. He's hitting .228/.310/.399, which is ugly across the board. He has 11 home runs but has hit only 1 since August 7th. He has also struck out 107 times in 298 at bats, which is pretty atrocious. He is hitting .237 against righties and .212 against lefties. 9 of his 11 home runs have come off of right handed pitchers. While Alvarez has looked the worst of all the young players on this team, he is probably the one you should be least concerned about. His talent and his power is real. No one expected him to come into the majors and be extremely successful right away, it's going to take a guy like him some extra time to get acclimated and start doing things consistently. Next year I fully expect 25+ homers and an average of at least .250 out of him. 2010 I would probably expect 35 HRs and hopefully near 100 RBI.
One guy that no one has worried about is Andrew McCutchen. Despite that, he has shown reasons that one should worry. He is hitting an ugly .279 this year, not what you want from your lead off hitter. He has stolen 31 bases, which is awfully low in my opinion. He's getting on base at a decent clip (.356) and he has shown more power than I expected (16 HR, .447 SLG), but all-in-all I am kind of disappointed with Cutch this year. There have been a number of plays in centerfield that could have been highlight reel material if he could just hold onto the ball as he hits the ground. I really think if he would have caught a couple more of those balls he would be viewed as a top 5 centerfielder in the major leagues, which could very well be true anyway, but not many people are taking notice since he plays in Pittsburgh. I'm hoping McCutchen bounces back next year and gets hit batting average a lot closer to .300, where it should be.
The Pirates offense is definitely on the rise, and this unit has a good shot at being good enough to compete with next year, it's the pitching that has been really holding everything down. We'll take a closer look at the pitchers this year and their implications for next year tomorrow, trust me, that post will use James McDonald's name a lot.
The Pirates are sitting at 51-98 with 13 games to play. They have won an astounding 3 games in a row after sweeping the Diamondbacks. This season has been lost for a long time now and I've decided to come back to the blog and try and stir some excitement for next season. It's nearly impossible to get people excited about the Pirates this year, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.
While it would appear that this year has been all negative this year, it hasn't. The young players are getting experience and actually looking pretty decent. We'll take a look at the offensive guys first, and then get to the pitching later.
The biggest plus for the Pirates since the all-star break has been Jose Tabata. Tabata is hitting .301/.348/.406 with 4 HR, 31 RBI, and 17 SB. All of that is in 355 at bats. He's been extremely consistent all year long and had his average up at .318 on August 28. Since then he's hit only .264, but that's in a small sample of only 21 games. He continues to be an above average defender and should only continue to get better and better. He's shown the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark, and his home runs have not been cheap. Tabata should be one of the Pirates best players next year, he has the ability to hit well over .300, steal 30-40 bases, and hit 10-15 HRs.
Another big positive this year was a guy that nobody expected to be relevant this year, and that is Neil Walker. Walker has had the most recent success, with a hitting streak of 18, which was one of the highest in the entire league this year. Walker is hitting .298/.344/.478 with the biggest positive being his power, he has 12 home runs in 379 at bats, which a is 20+ HR/season number. At the beginning of this year, I don't think anybody would have said that Neil Walker would be hitting 3rd and starting at second base on opening day of the 2011 season, but that's exactly how it's shaping up to be. That's a huge plus for the Pirates.
Probably the most exciting name on this team is that of Pedro Alvarez, and unfortunately he has been kind of disappointing this year. He's had some big moments and some hot streaks, but all-in-all in numbers are not impressive. He's hitting .228/.310/.399, which is ugly across the board. He has 11 home runs but has hit only 1 since August 7th. He has also struck out 107 times in 298 at bats, which is pretty atrocious. He is hitting .237 against righties and .212 against lefties. 9 of his 11 home runs have come off of right handed pitchers. While Alvarez has looked the worst of all the young players on this team, he is probably the one you should be least concerned about. His talent and his power is real. No one expected him to come into the majors and be extremely successful right away, it's going to take a guy like him some extra time to get acclimated and start doing things consistently. Next year I fully expect 25+ homers and an average of at least .250 out of him. 2010 I would probably expect 35 HRs and hopefully near 100 RBI.
One guy that no one has worried about is Andrew McCutchen. Despite that, he has shown reasons that one should worry. He is hitting an ugly .279 this year, not what you want from your lead off hitter. He has stolen 31 bases, which is awfully low in my opinion. He's getting on base at a decent clip (.356) and he has shown more power than I expected (16 HR, .447 SLG), but all-in-all I am kind of disappointed with Cutch this year. There have been a number of plays in centerfield that could have been highlight reel material if he could just hold onto the ball as he hits the ground. I really think if he would have caught a couple more of those balls he would be viewed as a top 5 centerfielder in the major leagues, which could very well be true anyway, but not many people are taking notice since he plays in Pittsburgh. I'm hoping McCutchen bounces back next year and gets hit batting average a lot closer to .300, where it should be.
The Pirates offense is definitely on the rise, and this unit has a good shot at being good enough to compete with next year, it's the pitching that has been really holding everything down. We'll take a closer look at the pitchers this year and their implications for next year tomorrow, trust me, that post will use James McDonald's name a lot.
The Doumit-Clement-Moss-Bowker Problem
2 comments
There has been a lot of questions about Ryan Doumit's future with the Pirates since the Pirates brought in Chris Snyder at the trade deadline. Doumit has made some rehab starts and will be rejoining the Pirates soon. It seems that management has a decision to make about what they will do with Doumit for the rest of this 2010 season.
The bottomline on Doumit is that he's a one-way player. He is an above average bat when he plays catcher, but probably a below average bat when he plays first base or right field. And anywhere you put him, the defense stinks. In years past his defensive struggles have been overlooked because of the excitement he brings at the plate when he's going good. However, in 2010 his defense seemed to hit an all-time low and now there isn't a Pirate fan out there that wants to seem him behind the plate starting next season.
So now that Chris Snyder is the starting catcher, the question remains to if and where Doumit will play. The Pirates have been working him in right field during his rehab and he previously played a couple games at first base earlier this year. It's no secret that the Pirates have an interest in trading him, and they think that giving him playing time will up his trade value. While it's important to show the rest of the league that he is healthy and capable of playing everyday, I don't believe that making him the everyday right fielder will give him any significant trade value. The rest of the league knows what Ryan can do, and seeing him do it for 2 more months isn't going to change anything.
So what do I want? Honestly I'd like to see Brandon Moss and John Bowker get some starts out there while Lastings Milledge still takes most of the action. There really aren't too many games left, so there isn't enough time to get a fair evaluation of both Moss and Bowker, but I think they have definitely both done enough in the minors to earn a chance in the bigs.
In 54 minor league games this season, John Bowker has hit .319/.393/.604 with 14 home runs, 15 doubles, and 38 RBI. He is 5/10 so far with Indianapolis. His major league stats aren't impressive this year (.207/.256/.354), but it's a small sample size of only 82 at bats.
Brandon Moss has hit .267/.332/.483 in AAA so far this year, but that was after an absolutely dreadful first couple of months. Moss has been Indy's best hitter since the call ups of Jose Tabata and Pedro Alvarez, and he attributes it to a chance in his batting stance, which is encouraging news. He has hit 19 bombs and driven in 77 in his 106 games played. Moss has always been a guy with a lot of potential and was pretty much written off after his awful 2009 season. However, looking at what he's done after changing up his batting stance, I think he needs some more big league at bats before he's written off for good.
The other guy that still has a lot of potential is Jeff Clement. Clement hit .305/.335/.555 after being demoted to AAA a couple months ago, and has since been recalled and has shown some pop, hitting 2 home runs in 7 at bats since July 31st. While there really isn't much room for him to play, I'd like to see him start a couple of games.
There has also been some talk of the Pirates starting to give Andrew McCutchen and Jose Tabata some significant time off for the rest of this year, just to avoid overplaying them. I don't really believe that that's a smart thing to do. These guys are extremely young and extremely athletic and they aren't the kind of guys who are going to get fatigued and have it effect their long term play. While taking them out of games would decrease the chances of an injury, I think it's best to let them get their regular at bats for the rest of the year. They still have room to improve, especially Tabata.
So what does all this say in the end? It says that the Pirates have a lot of players that deserve playing time, but not a lot of playing time to give them. I still say that Lastings Milledge is the best option to start in right field next year, so he should get a majority of the starts, but I really want to see Jeff Clement and John Bowker get some at bats. The Clement situation would require Garrett Jones to move to right field, obviously. As I said, I would also like to see Brandon Moss get starts too, but I would probably pick Clement and Bowker over him.
The 2010 season is over for the Pirates, they are doomed to finish in last place again this year, so right now the Pirates need to start evaluating talent that they haven't fully evaluated yet, and Ryan Doumit has been fully evaluated. I don't want to see Ryan Doumit starting too often, I want to see guys like Clement, Bowker, and Moss, who we don't fully know what we have in yet.
The bottomline on Doumit is that he's a one-way player. He is an above average bat when he plays catcher, but probably a below average bat when he plays first base or right field. And anywhere you put him, the defense stinks. In years past his defensive struggles have been overlooked because of the excitement he brings at the plate when he's going good. However, in 2010 his defense seemed to hit an all-time low and now there isn't a Pirate fan out there that wants to seem him behind the plate starting next season.
So now that Chris Snyder is the starting catcher, the question remains to if and where Doumit will play. The Pirates have been working him in right field during his rehab and he previously played a couple games at first base earlier this year. It's no secret that the Pirates have an interest in trading him, and they think that giving him playing time will up his trade value. While it's important to show the rest of the league that he is healthy and capable of playing everyday, I don't believe that making him the everyday right fielder will give him any significant trade value. The rest of the league knows what Ryan can do, and seeing him do it for 2 more months isn't going to change anything.
So what do I want? Honestly I'd like to see Brandon Moss and John Bowker get some starts out there while Lastings Milledge still takes most of the action. There really aren't too many games left, so there isn't enough time to get a fair evaluation of both Moss and Bowker, but I think they have definitely both done enough in the minors to earn a chance in the bigs.
In 54 minor league games this season, John Bowker has hit .319/.393/.604 with 14 home runs, 15 doubles, and 38 RBI. He is 5/10 so far with Indianapolis. His major league stats aren't impressive this year (.207/.256/.354), but it's a small sample size of only 82 at bats.
Brandon Moss has hit .267/.332/.483 in AAA so far this year, but that was after an absolutely dreadful first couple of months. Moss has been Indy's best hitter since the call ups of Jose Tabata and Pedro Alvarez, and he attributes it to a chance in his batting stance, which is encouraging news. He has hit 19 bombs and driven in 77 in his 106 games played. Moss has always been a guy with a lot of potential and was pretty much written off after his awful 2009 season. However, looking at what he's done after changing up his batting stance, I think he needs some more big league at bats before he's written off for good.
The other guy that still has a lot of potential is Jeff Clement. Clement hit .305/.335/.555 after being demoted to AAA a couple months ago, and has since been recalled and has shown some pop, hitting 2 home runs in 7 at bats since July 31st. While there really isn't much room for him to play, I'd like to see him start a couple of games.
There has also been some talk of the Pirates starting to give Andrew McCutchen and Jose Tabata some significant time off for the rest of this year, just to avoid overplaying them. I don't really believe that that's a smart thing to do. These guys are extremely young and extremely athletic and they aren't the kind of guys who are going to get fatigued and have it effect their long term play. While taking them out of games would decrease the chances of an injury, I think it's best to let them get their regular at bats for the rest of the year. They still have room to improve, especially Tabata.
So what does all this say in the end? It says that the Pirates have a lot of players that deserve playing time, but not a lot of playing time to give them. I still say that Lastings Milledge is the best option to start in right field next year, so he should get a majority of the starts, but I really want to see Jeff Clement and John Bowker get some at bats. The Clement situation would require Garrett Jones to move to right field, obviously. As I said, I would also like to see Brandon Moss get starts too, but I would probably pick Clement and Bowker over him.
The 2010 season is over for the Pirates, they are doomed to finish in last place again this year, so right now the Pirates need to start evaluating talent that they haven't fully evaluated yet, and Ryan Doumit has been fully evaluated. I don't want to see Ryan Doumit starting too often, I want to see guys like Clement, Bowker, and Moss, who we don't fully know what we have in yet.
McWin
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I know a lot of you don't realize it, but my blog is a pretty big deal. Thanks to me making the "Mc" effect known to the public, Neil Huntington went out and got this James McDonald guy who was absolutely dominant tonight in his first Pirate start.
The newest member of the "Mc" crew struck out 8 batters in 6 innings while giving up only 4 hits and not allowing a single run. He earned his first win of the year and gave Pirate fans a lot to cheer about. McDonald struck out the first 4 batters he faced, and 5 in the first 2 innings. He looked like the real deal tonight, pounding the strike zone with fastballs that reached the mid 90's and a curveball that had batters off balance all night long. The bullpen came in and put up 3 innings while giving up only 1 run and got the Pirates a well deserved victory.
Game 2 is tomorrow night and it's Andrew McCutchen bobblehead night, so get yourself a McBobble head and watch Zach McDuke try and replicate some of James McDonald's success and beat the Rockies for the 2nd straight night.
The newest member of the "Mc" crew struck out 8 batters in 6 innings while giving up only 4 hits and not allowing a single run. He earned his first win of the year and gave Pirate fans a lot to cheer about. McDonald struck out the first 4 batters he faced, and 5 in the first 2 innings. He looked like the real deal tonight, pounding the strike zone with fastballs that reached the mid 90's and a curveball that had batters off balance all night long. The bullpen came in and put up 3 innings while giving up only 1 run and got the Pirates a well deserved victory.
Game 2 is tomorrow night and it's Andrew McCutchen bobblehead night, so get yourself a McBobble head and watch Zach McDuke try and replicate some of James McDonald's success and beat the Rockies for the 2nd straight night.
The New "Mc" In Town
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Seventeen months ago I started writing this Pittsburgh Pirates blog. After the first few months of having a very uninteresting blog name, I changed the name of my website to "The 'Mc' Effect". I did this because my two favorite Pirates players, Nate McLouth and Andrew McCutchen both had two things in common - they played centerfield and their last names both began with the letters "Mc". The name came about before Nate McLouth was traded to Atlanta, and consequently before Andrew McCutchen made his big league debut.
Was I upset when the Pirates traded Nate McLouth out of nowhere? Certainly. Was the call-up of Andrew McCutchen worth every bit of it? Absolutely. The younger "Mc" replaced the elder "Mc" and has been a better player by leaps and bounds since the trade and will continue to be for the rest of their careers.
That's the past, this is the present:
The Pirates, who always have the welfare of my blog in mind, traded Octavio Dotel for a couple of prospects, one whose name is James McDonald. McDonald is making his first start as a Pittsburgh Pirate tomorrow, so I figured that I would welcome him in correctly to the Pittsburgh Pirates "Mc" family (a very small, awkward family it is...).
James McDonald came over from Los Angeles, where he has been playing since 2008. McDonald is 25 years old. He was drafted in the 11th round of the 2002 draft at the age of 17. He was rated baseball's 59th best prospect in 2009, and got as high as #2 on the Dodgers prospect list last season. It took McDonald over 5 years to finally reach the major leagues, where he has compiled a 4.11 ERA in 76.2 innings. He has made 5 starts in his major league career and the rest has come out of the bullpen. His career strike out rate is 7.4 K's/9 and his walks are at 4.7 BB/9.
Our newest family member is 6'5'' and is the son of former NFL receiver James McDonald, who played for the Rams and Lions in the mid 80's. He throws a fastball in the lower 90's velocity wise, a fairly nasty curveball, and a changeup that is effective only when used at the right time. His stuff isn't spectacular, but he can definitely get some swings and misses with the curve, and his size seems to add weight onto his heater.
McDonald has some success in the majors in 2009, his first full season as a big leaguer. He made 4 starts and appeared in 41 other games, posting an ERA of 4.00 with a WHIP of 1.492.
As a new "Mc" rolls in, a different "Mc" rolls out... at least into the bullpen. Daniel McCutchen is headed to the bullpen as McDonald takes his spot in the rotation. McCutchen has really not turned out to be anything like what the Pirates thought he could be when they acquired him in the Xavier Nady/Damaso Marte trade. That trade has worked out majorly for the Pirates with guys like Jose Tabata and Ross Ohlendorf, so no hard feelings towards McCutchen from me.
As of right now, 12% of the Pirates players on the active roster are apart of the "Mc" family. I've e-mailed all the players requesting legal name alterations so we can get that number up some. The Pirates offense needs to get going against the Rockies this weekend get our home record back around .500, and I expect Pedro McAlvarez and Garrett McJones to step up their game a little bit and help McDonald get a win in his Pirates debut. Let's Go Bucs.
Was I upset when the Pirates traded Nate McLouth out of nowhere? Certainly. Was the call-up of Andrew McCutchen worth every bit of it? Absolutely. The younger "Mc" replaced the elder "Mc" and has been a better player by leaps and bounds since the trade and will continue to be for the rest of their careers.
That's the past, this is the present:
The Pirates, who always have the welfare of my blog in mind, traded Octavio Dotel for a couple of prospects, one whose name is James McDonald. McDonald is making his first start as a Pittsburgh Pirate tomorrow, so I figured that I would welcome him in correctly to the Pittsburgh Pirates "Mc" family (a very small, awkward family it is...).
James McDonald came over from Los Angeles, where he has been playing since 2008. McDonald is 25 years old. He was drafted in the 11th round of the 2002 draft at the age of 17. He was rated baseball's 59th best prospect in 2009, and got as high as #2 on the Dodgers prospect list last season. It took McDonald over 5 years to finally reach the major leagues, where he has compiled a 4.11 ERA in 76.2 innings. He has made 5 starts in his major league career and the rest has come out of the bullpen. His career strike out rate is 7.4 K's/9 and his walks are at 4.7 BB/9.
Our newest family member is 6'5'' and is the son of former NFL receiver James McDonald, who played for the Rams and Lions in the mid 80's. He throws a fastball in the lower 90's velocity wise, a fairly nasty curveball, and a changeup that is effective only when used at the right time. His stuff isn't spectacular, but he can definitely get some swings and misses with the curve, and his size seems to add weight onto his heater.
McDonald has some success in the majors in 2009, his first full season as a big leaguer. He made 4 starts and appeared in 41 other games, posting an ERA of 4.00 with a WHIP of 1.492.
As a new "Mc" rolls in, a different "Mc" rolls out... at least into the bullpen. Daniel McCutchen is headed to the bullpen as McDonald takes his spot in the rotation. McCutchen has really not turned out to be anything like what the Pirates thought he could be when they acquired him in the Xavier Nady/Damaso Marte trade. That trade has worked out majorly for the Pirates with guys like Jose Tabata and Ross Ohlendorf, so no hard feelings towards McCutchen from me.
As of right now, 12% of the Pirates players on the active roster are apart of the "Mc" family. I've e-mailed all the players requesting legal name alterations so we can get that number up some. The Pirates offense needs to get going against the Rockies this weekend get our home record back around .500, and I expect Pedro McAlvarez and Garrett McJones to step up their game a little bit and help McDonald get a win in his Pirates debut. Let's Go Bucs.
Chan Ho Park?
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The Pirates lost another baseball game today and in turn lost another series to the Cincinnati Reds. Andrew McCutchen, Jeff Clement and Pedro Alvarez both homered in the game to put up all 3 of the Pirates runs. We know for sure that McCutchen and Alvarez will be a big part of the Pirates future, but because of events earlier in the year it was doubtful that Clement would factor in. However, after some swing-tweaking in AAA he was back to mashing the ball and earned another call up. Since that call up he has 2 home runs and a single in 5 at bats. Might be luck, but it could be the start of a comeback for Jeff Clement. He could definitely still be a major part of the 2011 Pirates and help us down the road.
In other news, the Pirates DFA'd Steven Jackson and claimed Chan Ho Park off of waivers, which is pretty laughable.
My guess is that the claiming of Park was just a short term remedy for the amazingly young, mediocre, and inexperienced Pirates bullpen that we now have after the trades of Lopez, Dotel, and Carrasco. Park is 37 years old and isn't much to write home about. So far this season Park has an ERA of 5.60 in 35.1 innings with 7.4 K/9.
So that means that Park will be the Pirates oldest player, by about 75 years. Can you think of any 2 players that are more different than Andrew McCutchen and Chan Ho Park? I can't, should be nothing short of interesting to watch Park work in a Pirates uniform.
Tomorrow will be interesting as James McDonald, the newest "Mc" in town, makes his Pirates debut against the Colorado Rockies.
In other news, the Pirates DFA'd Steven Jackson and claimed Chan Ho Park off of waivers, which is pretty laughable.
My guess is that the claiming of Park was just a short term remedy for the amazingly young, mediocre, and inexperienced Pirates bullpen that we now have after the trades of Lopez, Dotel, and Carrasco. Park is 37 years old and isn't much to write home about. So far this season Park has an ERA of 5.60 in 35.1 innings with 7.4 K/9.
So that means that Park will be the Pirates oldest player, by about 75 years. Can you think of any 2 players that are more different than Andrew McCutchen and Chan Ho Park? I can't, should be nothing short of interesting to watch Park work in a Pirates uniform.
Tomorrow will be interesting as James McDonald, the newest "Mc" in town, makes his Pirates debut against the Colorado Rockies.
The Aftermath
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The 2010 trade deadline wasn't nearly as hyped up for the Pirates as the 2009 deadline, but when all was said and done the Pirates seemed to do a pretty nice job again this year.
By this time we all know the trades that were made and we probably all have our own opinions on them. The bottom line this year was that we got something for (basically) nothing. Of all the guys we traded this year (Church, Carrasco, Crosby, Dotel, Lopez), there really wasn't much of a chance for anyone of them to help the Pirates past this season. Sure, there was a chance we could have held on to a couple of those guys for next year, but the only guys that were really even helping the team this year were the bullpen guys, and Huntington showed us last year that they are extremely easy to replace.
The best trade Huntington pulled off was the Dotel trade, where he got a potential middle of the rotation starter in James Macdonald. Macdonald will join the club next week and should get some starts. It'll be fun to watch him pitch.
Macdonald throws his fastball 70% of the time, and it stays at a velocity around the 90-92 range. He can occasionally get in the 93-94 range but he will typically stay in the much lower 90's. He throws a low 70's curveball and a mid 70's changeup. He doesn't have too much else besides those 3 pitches, but when his location is on he can be very effective. He was the Dodgers #2 prospect in 2009, which shows that his stuff is certainly good enough to be a solid starter. In AAA last year Macdonald had a strikeout rate of 11.9 per 9 innings, that is outstanding. If Macdonald can turn into a solid starter for the Pirates, it would be huge boost with the offense performing how they can.
Macdonald wasn't the only guy we got for Dotel either, the Pirates also acquired Andrew Lambo, a very young speedy outfielder that could turn into a decent bench option or even a good sparkplug starter in the future. Lambo isn't a guy that you're going to be checking on every night in the minor leagues, but he was a good throw in for a deal that would have been very positive without him.
The deal that is going to effect the Pirates right now the most was the Crosby/Carrasco/Church for Chris Snyder deal. The biggest thing this deal does is takes away the misery of watching Ryan Doumit catch every night. Snyder is nothing special with the bat, but he is a solid defensive catcher, and definitely an upgrade over Jason Jaramillo and Erik Kratz. This also opens the door for Ryan Doumit to play more first base and right field, which could help the offense. I expect Doumit to spell Lastings Milledge in right field against right handed pitchers, which could be advantageous.
Who knows where Chris Snyder fits into the future of the Pirates, but with the setbacks Tony Sanchez has faced it's nice to have another big league catcher on the roster. I expect Doumit and Snyder to split time the whole way through 2011 and then the team to cut ties with one of them in order to get Sanchez up in the bigs sometime in 2012 (assuming he gets rid of the injury bugs and keeps progressing how he was before).
While this means good things for the future of the Pirates, it means the opposite for the rest of this year. The bullpen has been the best part of the Pirates (and really the only good part), and now it will be one of the worst looking pens in the National League. Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan will anchor the 8th and 9th innings, and the rest will be up to guys like Wil Ledezma, Steven Jackson, Justin Thomas, and other mediocre pitching options. Should be an ugly last 2 months for the Pirates pitching staff as a whole, but next year I expect it to start turning a corner (slowly) as the offense did this year.
So there you have it, another successful trade deadline in my book. Let's Go Bucs.
By this time we all know the trades that were made and we probably all have our own opinions on them. The bottom line this year was that we got something for (basically) nothing. Of all the guys we traded this year (Church, Carrasco, Crosby, Dotel, Lopez), there really wasn't much of a chance for anyone of them to help the Pirates past this season. Sure, there was a chance we could have held on to a couple of those guys for next year, but the only guys that were really even helping the team this year were the bullpen guys, and Huntington showed us last year that they are extremely easy to replace.
The best trade Huntington pulled off was the Dotel trade, where he got a potential middle of the rotation starter in James Macdonald. Macdonald will join the club next week and should get some starts. It'll be fun to watch him pitch.
Macdonald throws his fastball 70% of the time, and it stays at a velocity around the 90-92 range. He can occasionally get in the 93-94 range but he will typically stay in the much lower 90's. He throws a low 70's curveball and a mid 70's changeup. He doesn't have too much else besides those 3 pitches, but when his location is on he can be very effective. He was the Dodgers #2 prospect in 2009, which shows that his stuff is certainly good enough to be a solid starter. In AAA last year Macdonald had a strikeout rate of 11.9 per 9 innings, that is outstanding. If Macdonald can turn into a solid starter for the Pirates, it would be huge boost with the offense performing how they can.
Macdonald wasn't the only guy we got for Dotel either, the Pirates also acquired Andrew Lambo, a very young speedy outfielder that could turn into a decent bench option or even a good sparkplug starter in the future. Lambo isn't a guy that you're going to be checking on every night in the minor leagues, but he was a good throw in for a deal that would have been very positive without him.
The deal that is going to effect the Pirates right now the most was the Crosby/Carrasco/Church for Chris Snyder deal. The biggest thing this deal does is takes away the misery of watching Ryan Doumit catch every night. Snyder is nothing special with the bat, but he is a solid defensive catcher, and definitely an upgrade over Jason Jaramillo and Erik Kratz. This also opens the door for Ryan Doumit to play more first base and right field, which could help the offense. I expect Doumit to spell Lastings Milledge in right field against right handed pitchers, which could be advantageous.
Who knows where Chris Snyder fits into the future of the Pirates, but with the setbacks Tony Sanchez has faced it's nice to have another big league catcher on the roster. I expect Doumit and Snyder to split time the whole way through 2011 and then the team to cut ties with one of them in order to get Sanchez up in the bigs sometime in 2012 (assuming he gets rid of the injury bugs and keeps progressing how he was before).
While this means good things for the future of the Pirates, it means the opposite for the rest of this year. The bullpen has been the best part of the Pirates (and really the only good part), and now it will be one of the worst looking pens in the National League. Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan will anchor the 8th and 9th innings, and the rest will be up to guys like Wil Ledezma, Steven Jackson, Justin Thomas, and other mediocre pitching options. Should be an ugly last 2 months for the Pirates pitching staff as a whole, but next year I expect it to start turning a corner (slowly) as the offense did this year.
So there you have it, another successful trade deadline in my book. Let's Go Bucs.
Ubaldo'd
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The impossible happened between Tuesday and Wednesday this week, the Pirates won back to back road games. That left a lot of Pirates fan hoping that they could conquer the odds on Thursday and beat one of the league's best pitchers in Ubaldo Jimenez, but those people had their hopes dashed once again.
Jimenez was good as advertised, giving up only 1 run to the Pirates in 7 innings. He surrendered only 4 hits while striking out 6 and walking 3. Jose Tabata and Garrett Jones teamed up to put a run on the board in the first inning, which was a surprise to me, but the offense was silent after that.
I suppose today was as good a day as any for a terrible pitching performance, which is just what the Pirates got out of the incredibly inconsistent Paul Maholm. Paul went 5.1 innings giving up a wowing 11 hits and 8 earned runs. The performance raised his season ERA from 4.13 to 4.52. Steve Jackson, who made his first appearance in his 526th call up to the majors (well... it seems like it anyway), gave up a run and 4 hits in 1.2 innings of work. Javier Lopez put up a zero in the 8th and lowered his season ERA to a pleasant 2.58.
So that's the story from today, but let's take a closer look at the best starter for the 2010 Pittsburgh Pirates, Paul Maholm and the season he has had.
While the majority of the Pirates losses in 2010 have come on the road, Maholm hasn't really contributed to that trend, as he has had more success on the road than he has had at home this year.
On the road this year, Paul Maholm has posted a record of 2-3 with a 3.85 ERA. The weird part is that batters are hitting .320 off of him on the road.
At home this year, Paul Maholm has posted a record of 4-6 (a decision in every start) with a 4.95 ERA and batters are hitting only .267 off him. So what that means is that Maholm is having a lot of bad luck at home and some good luck on the road.
There really isn't much to say about Maholm's year so far, it's just been kind of strange. One day he'll throw a complete game shut out (like he did on July 18th, and then gives up 12 runs in his next two starts. You don't really know what you're gonna get from Paul on any given night.
The one thing that Paul has done this year is take advantage of lackluster lineups. For example, Paul has made 2 starts against the Houston Astros and has held their batters to a .164 average. He has also made 3 starts against the Chicago Cubs, and has won all 3 starts. He has been surprisingly good against the Cincinnati Reds, holding their batters to a .204 average and leading the Pirates to victories in both of his starts. However, he got roughed up by the Phillies, Rangers, Cardinals, Braves, and now Rockies, all teams above the .500 mark.
Paul has been his normal self this year, pitching to contact and altogether average. However, when you're pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates, average can make you look like an ace.
Here's the updated offensive report for the Pirates second half, still looking pretty decent as they are averaging 10 hits a game and hitting at a .286 clip:
Jimenez was good as advertised, giving up only 1 run to the Pirates in 7 innings. He surrendered only 4 hits while striking out 6 and walking 3. Jose Tabata and Garrett Jones teamed up to put a run on the board in the first inning, which was a surprise to me, but the offense was silent after that.
I suppose today was as good a day as any for a terrible pitching performance, which is just what the Pirates got out of the incredibly inconsistent Paul Maholm. Paul went 5.1 innings giving up a wowing 11 hits and 8 earned runs. The performance raised his season ERA from 4.13 to 4.52. Steve Jackson, who made his first appearance in his 526th call up to the majors (well... it seems like it anyway), gave up a run and 4 hits in 1.2 innings of work. Javier Lopez put up a zero in the 8th and lowered his season ERA to a pleasant 2.58.
So that's the story from today, but let's take a closer look at the best starter for the 2010 Pittsburgh Pirates, Paul Maholm and the season he has had.
While the majority of the Pirates losses in 2010 have come on the road, Maholm hasn't really contributed to that trend, as he has had more success on the road than he has had at home this year.
On the road this year, Paul Maholm has posted a record of 2-3 with a 3.85 ERA. The weird part is that batters are hitting .320 off of him on the road.
At home this year, Paul Maholm has posted a record of 4-6 (a decision in every start) with a 4.95 ERA and batters are hitting only .267 off him. So what that means is that Maholm is having a lot of bad luck at home and some good luck on the road.
There really isn't much to say about Maholm's year so far, it's just been kind of strange. One day he'll throw a complete game shut out (like he did on July 18th, and then gives up 12 runs in his next two starts. You don't really know what you're gonna get from Paul on any given night.
The one thing that Paul has done this year is take advantage of lackluster lineups. For example, Paul has made 2 starts against the Houston Astros and has held their batters to a .164 average. He has also made 3 starts against the Chicago Cubs, and has won all 3 starts. He has been surprisingly good against the Cincinnati Reds, holding their batters to a .204 average and leading the Pirates to victories in both of his starts. However, he got roughed up by the Phillies, Rangers, Cardinals, Braves, and now Rockies, all teams above the .500 mark.
Paul has been his normal self this year, pitching to contact and altogether average. However, when you're pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates, average can make you look like an ace.
Here's the updated offensive report for the Pirates second half, still looking pretty decent as they are averaging 10 hits a game and hitting at a .286 clip:
BrAAAd Lincoln
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After another lackluster performance today against the San Diego Padres, Brad Lincoln was demoted to AAA Indianapolis. Lincoln made 9 starts for the Pirates, posting a 6.57 ERA and losing 4 of his starts. He recorded only 21 strikeouts in his 50.2 innings and batters hit .311 off of him.
While no one expected Lincoln to dominate at first in the majors, I don't think many people expected him to get knocked around this hard and be back in Indy. There's no doubt that he will be back, there are obviously just a lot of things he needs to work on. The Pirates may have rushed him to the bigs, but that doesn't matter now. What matters is Lincoln taking this with a positive attitude and working extra hard to become an effective major league starter.
There's a pretty decent chance that Lincoln will find his way back into the major leagues this year. If he shows fast improvement in AAA he could be back in August or might even be a September call up. I don't know if they want to extend him out that long, they may just want to shut him down when the minor league season ends and have him get some rest so he can be ready to improve more next year.
With the lack of depth the Pirates have pitching wise in their minor league system, Brad Lincoln is a crucial piece of the winning puzzle. He is going to have to turn it around and become a good major league pitcher, which I think he is easily capable of doing. His velocity was rarely at what it can be and his fastball just seemed dead at times. It was a straight fastball that was getting absolutely destroyed by the major league hitters. A few adjustments and he could have a very effective fastball that can help set up that devastating curve of his.
In other news, Brendan Donnelly was DFA'd today. This means the Pirates have 2 pitching spots to fill on their major league roster. My guess is that Daniel McCutchen will come back up to start some games while Wil Ledezma (who has been lights out in Indy all year) will come in to help the bullpen. It's also a possibility that we could see Charlie Morton could come back up, despite his lack of success in Indianapolis.
The worst part of this 2010 Pirates club has been the pitching and that's how it looks like it will continue to be for the rest of the year. We better seriously hope that guys like Rudy Owens, Bryan Morris, and Justin Wilson turn into legitimate major league pitchers or the Pirates aren't going to end this streak any time soon.
While no one expected Lincoln to dominate at first in the majors, I don't think many people expected him to get knocked around this hard and be back in Indy. There's no doubt that he will be back, there are obviously just a lot of things he needs to work on. The Pirates may have rushed him to the bigs, but that doesn't matter now. What matters is Lincoln taking this with a positive attitude and working extra hard to become an effective major league starter.
There's a pretty decent chance that Lincoln will find his way back into the major leagues this year. If he shows fast improvement in AAA he could be back in August or might even be a September call up. I don't know if they want to extend him out that long, they may just want to shut him down when the minor league season ends and have him get some rest so he can be ready to improve more next year.
With the lack of depth the Pirates have pitching wise in their minor league system, Brad Lincoln is a crucial piece of the winning puzzle. He is going to have to turn it around and become a good major league pitcher, which I think he is easily capable of doing. His velocity was rarely at what it can be and his fastball just seemed dead at times. It was a straight fastball that was getting absolutely destroyed by the major league hitters. A few adjustments and he could have a very effective fastball that can help set up that devastating curve of his.
In other news, Brendan Donnelly was DFA'd today. This means the Pirates have 2 pitching spots to fill on their major league roster. My guess is that Daniel McCutchen will come back up to start some games while Wil Ledezma (who has been lights out in Indy all year) will come in to help the bullpen. It's also a possibility that we could see Charlie Morton could come back up, despite his lack of success in Indianapolis.
The worst part of this 2010 Pirates club has been the pitching and that's how it looks like it will continue to be for the rest of the year. We better seriously hope that guys like Rudy Owens, Bryan Morris, and Justin Wilson turn into legitimate major league pitchers or the Pirates aren't going to end this streak any time soon.
A Hard Fought Loss
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The Pirates lost their 61st game of the season tonight. With that many losses and so few wins, the W's and L's they put up for the rest of the season don't really matter all that much. Which is why I can confidently say that tonight's game was a positive for the Pirates.
There were four positives I took from tonight.
The first is obvious, and that was the performance from Ross Ohlendorf. The boss went 6 innings giving up only 1 earned run on 5 hits while striking out 6 Brewers. Ross has been hit hard often this year, so it was good to see him have a good outing like this one. While he has put together a couple of good starts this year, he has really had troubling stringing a lot of positives together, so we'll have to watch his next start closely to see if he is really turning the corner. Remember, he was one of the better pitchers in the National League in the second half of last year, so maybe he is going to turn out to be the kind of guy who just gets better as the season comes along.
The second thing I was happy with was the way the offense battled. Everyone knew the Pirates were still in the game when it was only 1-0 after 6 innings, but when Evan Meek surrendered the 2-run home run to Rickie Weeks, a lot of the fans started getting up and leaving. This Pirates team really hasn't shown the ability to battle back late in games and score when it counts most. Tonight they got some big hits late in the game, mainly from Neil Walker whose two out, two run double in the 7th answered Week's call. Walker kept his hot bat rolling with a 2/3 showing tonight, raising his season average to .320, a team high (by a lot). Once he gets enough AB's to qualify, you might be seeing his name near the top of some leaderboards.
The third positive was the base running and fundamental play. You can never take much from as small a sample as one game, but it was sure nice to see Jose Tabata keep his eye on Tony Beasley and go first to third on Delwyn Young's single in the 7th. Too often I have seen Pirates looking at the ball instead of their coaches and it constantly costs them bases. Most of the bad base running has been attributed to Lastings Milledge, but he's on my good side right now so we'll leave that alone. Young also showed some good base running scoring from first on Walker's double. He was running hard the whole time and had his eyes where they needed to be so he could scoot on home and make it a 1-run game.
The fourth positive was something pretty insignificant, but probably another one of the most exciting plays of this Pirates 2010 season. And it involved Erik Kratz of all people. In case you missed it, here's what happened:
That's one large man taking a full speed blast from an even larger man, and the good guy held on to the ball and recorded the final out of the top of the 8th, saving a run and getting the crowd on their feet.
If you pick up tomorrow's paper and look at the box score for tonight's Pirate game, you'll just see another loss, but this loss was the kind of loss that you see from the better teams in baseball. They faced a very tough pitcher that they couldn't get score any runs off of, but they were patient enough and hit well enough to get him out of the game early, they kept it close with their pitching and got some big hits late to stay competitive. The Brewers 2 insurance runs came off of the Pirates best arm in Evan Meek, which isn't going to happen very often. This is the kind of game that the Pirates are going to win more often then not if they play the way they played tonight, and that's a definite positive.
There were four positives I took from tonight.
The first is obvious, and that was the performance from Ross Ohlendorf. The boss went 6 innings giving up only 1 earned run on 5 hits while striking out 6 Brewers. Ross has been hit hard often this year, so it was good to see him have a good outing like this one. While he has put together a couple of good starts this year, he has really had troubling stringing a lot of positives together, so we'll have to watch his next start closely to see if he is really turning the corner. Remember, he was one of the better pitchers in the National League in the second half of last year, so maybe he is going to turn out to be the kind of guy who just gets better as the season comes along.
The second thing I was happy with was the way the offense battled. Everyone knew the Pirates were still in the game when it was only 1-0 after 6 innings, but when Evan Meek surrendered the 2-run home run to Rickie Weeks, a lot of the fans started getting up and leaving. This Pirates team really hasn't shown the ability to battle back late in games and score when it counts most. Tonight they got some big hits late in the game, mainly from Neil Walker whose two out, two run double in the 7th answered Week's call. Walker kept his hot bat rolling with a 2/3 showing tonight, raising his season average to .320, a team high (by a lot). Once he gets enough AB's to qualify, you might be seeing his name near the top of some leaderboards.
The third positive was the base running and fundamental play. You can never take much from as small a sample as one game, but it was sure nice to see Jose Tabata keep his eye on Tony Beasley and go first to third on Delwyn Young's single in the 7th. Too often I have seen Pirates looking at the ball instead of their coaches and it constantly costs them bases. Most of the bad base running has been attributed to Lastings Milledge, but he's on my good side right now so we'll leave that alone. Young also showed some good base running scoring from first on Walker's double. He was running hard the whole time and had his eyes where they needed to be so he could scoot on home and make it a 1-run game.
The fourth positive was something pretty insignificant, but probably another one of the most exciting plays of this Pirates 2010 season. And it involved Erik Kratz of all people. In case you missed it, here's what happened:
That's one large man taking a full speed blast from an even larger man, and the good guy held on to the ball and recorded the final out of the top of the 8th, saving a run and getting the crowd on their feet.
If you pick up tomorrow's paper and look at the box score for tonight's Pirate game, you'll just see another loss, but this loss was the kind of loss that you see from the better teams in baseball. They faced a very tough pitcher that they couldn't get score any runs off of, but they were patient enough and hit well enough to get him out of the game early, they kept it close with their pitching and got some big hits late to stay competitive. The Brewers 2 insurance runs came off of the Pirates best arm in Evan Meek, which isn't going to happen very often. This is the kind of game that the Pirates are going to win more often then not if they play the way they played tonight, and that's a definite positive.
The Milledge Effect
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Well I have been very inactive on posting lately, and this is as good as time as any to jump back into it.
First of all, I'm not going to focus on the incredible number of runs the Pirates have scored (50) in their 6 games since the all-star break, because you all know the story of that. We all know that Pedro Alvarez is hitting .417 with 4 HR and 9 RBI in these 6 games, and we all know that Neil Walker has 4 doubles and is hitting .518 in those same games, and we are all incredibly excited about it. Here's the offensive summary for the last 6 games, in spreadsheet form:
Now we can sit here and talk about the box scores all night long, which would probably be incredibly fun to do, but I'm going to talk about one thing that I think has had a much bigger impact on the Pirates recent success than anybody really realizes, and that is Lastings Milledge.
Since June 1st, Milledge is hitting .336 with an OBP just shy of .400 and 15 runs batted in. He has raised his batting average from .248 the whole way to .285 in that time. He's been the team's best hitter and has been hitting the ball to all fields. However, those numbers aren't the only positive effect he's had on this team. One picture can help to show my point:
That of course is a snapshot from the moment right after Milledge made a diving catch on the warning track to wrap up the win against the Giants on a Skyblast night in front of a packed house. It was one of the best moments from this 2010 season so far, and seeing it happen gave me chills. That smile says so much.
Trading for Lastings Milledge was a huge risk for the Pirates. The guy was tagged as an untameable bad guy who was as far from a team player as could be. However, in the first few months in the organization, Milledge made great strides and worked extremely hard to start getting people to second guess their automatic opinions on him. He put in extra work on to improve his game and please his coaches. He worked through the minor leagues quickly and peformed well on the field while carrying himself spectacularly off the field. The fans began to excited about him, because we all knew the kind of upside the guy had. The 2009 season came to a stop and Milledge had played pretty well (.291/.333/.395), leaving fans with big expectation from him in the 2010 season.
He had a pretty rough couple of months to open up this season, and a great couple of months following the bad ones, but one thing has remained constant: the energy and life he brings to the team. From his fidgity and altogether eccentric batting routine to his bright yellow shoes (with the occasional bright neon laces) to his pre-game handshakes and dugout dances with McCutchen, Lastings Milledge gives this team a certain fun-first mentality. Milledge was hitting as low as .233 in May and still had a big smile on his face everyday taking the field. He would be constantly joking around in the dugout and making the game more fun for his teammates around him.
While none of the things I mentioned in the last paragraph translate directly to baseball wins, the impact that kind of player can have on a team is surely underrated. You can't win baseball games with only one guy, scoring runs is a team thing. When one or two guys are going good, you aren't going to score many runs, but when 5 or 6 guys are hitting, you're going to win some ball games like the Pirates have been winning recently. Milledge is the guy on the team that is going to make these hot streaks last longer and come more frequently, because he is always there to lighten the mood. There is so much young talent on this team, and when some of those guys let go of trying so hard and putting so much pressure on themselves to perform and let their natural talent take over, they are going to have a ton of success. That's a lot easier said than done, but Lastings Milledge seems to have done a lot of good in the clubhouse helping guys not take things too seriously and showing guys how to have fun. Sure, winning a lot of games is going to help the players have more fun, but who says having fun can't help a team win more games?
Whether Milledge is playing well (like he is now) or not, he will always be a positive influence on the team because of his attitude, and I bet nobody ever thought somebody would be saying that about him.
First of all, I'm not going to focus on the incredible number of runs the Pirates have scored (50) in their 6 games since the all-star break, because you all know the story of that. We all know that Pedro Alvarez is hitting .417 with 4 HR and 9 RBI in these 6 games, and we all know that Neil Walker has 4 doubles and is hitting .518 in those same games, and we are all incredibly excited about it. Here's the offensive summary for the last 6 games, in spreadsheet form:
Now we can sit here and talk about the box scores all night long, which would probably be incredibly fun to do, but I'm going to talk about one thing that I think has had a much bigger impact on the Pirates recent success than anybody really realizes, and that is Lastings Milledge.
Since June 1st, Milledge is hitting .336 with an OBP just shy of .400 and 15 runs batted in. He has raised his batting average from .248 the whole way to .285 in that time. He's been the team's best hitter and has been hitting the ball to all fields. However, those numbers aren't the only positive effect he's had on this team. One picture can help to show my point:
That of course is a snapshot from the moment right after Milledge made a diving catch on the warning track to wrap up the win against the Giants on a Skyblast night in front of a packed house. It was one of the best moments from this 2010 season so far, and seeing it happen gave me chills. That smile says so much.
Trading for Lastings Milledge was a huge risk for the Pirates. The guy was tagged as an untameable bad guy who was as far from a team player as could be. However, in the first few months in the organization, Milledge made great strides and worked extremely hard to start getting people to second guess their automatic opinions on him. He put in extra work on to improve his game and please his coaches. He worked through the minor leagues quickly and peformed well on the field while carrying himself spectacularly off the field. The fans began to excited about him, because we all knew the kind of upside the guy had. The 2009 season came to a stop and Milledge had played pretty well (.291/.333/.395), leaving fans with big expectation from him in the 2010 season.
He had a pretty rough couple of months to open up this season, and a great couple of months following the bad ones, but one thing has remained constant: the energy and life he brings to the team. From his fidgity and altogether eccentric batting routine to his bright yellow shoes (with the occasional bright neon laces) to his pre-game handshakes and dugout dances with McCutchen, Lastings Milledge gives this team a certain fun-first mentality. Milledge was hitting as low as .233 in May and still had a big smile on his face everyday taking the field. He would be constantly joking around in the dugout and making the game more fun for his teammates around him.
While none of the things I mentioned in the last paragraph translate directly to baseball wins, the impact that kind of player can have on a team is surely underrated. You can't win baseball games with only one guy, scoring runs is a team thing. When one or two guys are going good, you aren't going to score many runs, but when 5 or 6 guys are hitting, you're going to win some ball games like the Pirates have been winning recently. Milledge is the guy on the team that is going to make these hot streaks last longer and come more frequently, because he is always there to lighten the mood. There is so much young talent on this team, and when some of those guys let go of trying so hard and putting so much pressure on themselves to perform and let their natural talent take over, they are going to have a ton of success. That's a lot easier said than done, but Lastings Milledge seems to have done a lot of good in the clubhouse helping guys not take things too seriously and showing guys how to have fun. Sure, winning a lot of games is going to help the players have more fun, but who says having fun can't help a team win more games?
Whether Milledge is playing well (like he is now) or not, he will always be a positive influence on the team because of his attitude, and I bet nobody ever thought somebody would be saying that about him.
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