Sunday 5/20 Minor League Roundup
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The Indians ended their five game losing streak on Sunday after two-hitting Buffalo. Rick VandenHurk made the great start, allowing a run on two hits across five innings. Tim Wood and Doug Slaten followed up to combine for four perfect innings the rest of the game. Starling Marte had yet another disappointing game going 0-4. Jordy Mercer and Jose Morales both had two hits a piece, Morales getting two RBIs.
AA Altoona | Altoona 5 Erie 0
The Curve got a fantastic start out of Tim Alderson today, as he threw seven shutout innings of two hit ball. He struck out three and didn't walk any. The Curve were somehow able to get across five runs on just four hits. The only home run was a two run shot by Quincy Latimore. Brock Holt and Matt Curry both also had RBIs.
A West Virginia | Greenville 6 West Virginia 5
The Power just keep finding ways to lose baseball games as the team fell to 13-30 today on the season. Alen Hanson had a 1-5 night with a triple. Both Carlos Mesa and Gregory Polanco had doubles as a part of their 1-5 nights. Matt Benedict, one of the few decent pitchers on the team, got the start. He threw six innings and allowed two runs, one earned. He struck out four.
A Bradenton | Dunedin 4 Bradenton 1
Eliecer Navarro got the nod today as he allowed two runs on four hits and two walks across 4.1 innings. The Marauders offense was unfortunately unable to come up with much. Mel Rojas had a 2-4 night. Andy Vasquez had the only RBI of the game with his solo homer in the sixth inning.
5/20 Kevin Correia Pitch F/X
Comments| Pitch Type | Veloc | H-Break | V-Break | Count | Strike% |
| 4-Seam | 90.6 | -2.85 | 6.91 | 25 | 80.00% |
| Change | 86.9 | -8.23 | 4.91 | 13 | 69.23% |
| Slider | 87.8 | 2.32 | 7.19 | 22 | 86.36% |
| Curve | 78.1 | 4.79 | -5.41 | 6 | 66.67% |
| Cutter | 89.9 | 0.23 | 6.38 | 5 | 60.00% |
| 2-Seam | 90.8 | -6.46 | 7.60 | 18 | 66.67% |
5/19 A.J. Burnett Pitch F/X
Comments| Pitch Type | Veloc | H-Break | V-Break | Count | Strike% |
| 4-Seam | 92.8 | -4.92 | 7.94 | 53 | 62.26% |
| Sinker | 93.0 | -8.95 | 5.79 | 24 | 66.67% |
| Change | 88.4 | -6.93 | 3.26 | 9 | 55.56% |
| K-Curve | 81.6 | 4.71 | -5.37 | 19 | 63.16% |
5/20 Recap | Tigers 4 Pirates 3
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The offense came from Neil Walker and Barajas, who both hit solo home runs. Also, Josh Harrison doubled and scored in the 9th.
Brad Lincoln pitched .2 innings after Watson was lifted and struck out one of the batters. Jared Hughes had another 1-2-3 inning and has a 1.25 ERA on the season. The Pirates didn’t get a hit from Andrew McCutchen, which is never a good thing. Garrett Jones had a double and Barmes added two hits on the day.
The Pirates are coming home for another nine game home stand against the Mets, Cubs, and Reds. Those are crucial games and winnable ones. The Bucs sit 3 games below .500 and it would be great to see them rattle off a 6-3 streak to get to even before hitting the road again.
McLouth, Correia, and Questionable Decisions
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The Pirate are in Detroit wrapping up a three games series today. They managed to ride Andrew McCutchen to a victory last night and with a win today they would have a winning road trip at 4-3 against three pretty tough opponents.
However, Clint Hurdle seems to refuse to throw out his best lineup at the opponents. It's nothing new, but we're getting to the point where you really should start questioning it.
Nate McLouth is playing left field and Kevin Correia is on the mound. McLouth is hitting .154/.228/.192 this year. He has eight total hits on the year, six of them being singles. He is 0 for his last 14 with five strikeouts. He hasn't looked like a professional hitter since 2009, so this isn't just a slump. McLouth can't hit anymore; make no mistake about it. In his time with Atlanta (848 at bats) he hit .229/.335/.364 - which for some reason was good enough for the Pirates to give him $1.5 million for this year. This isn't a guy that you should be expecting to bust out of the slump and start hitting again - he's simply not a major league player anymore. Yet Clint Hurdle keeps giving him chances to play. It doesn't make sense. The team called up Gorkys Hernandez on Friday and he has sat through 18 innings on the bench since his call-up. What did you bring him up for? Hurdle has played McLouth over him twice and even had Hernandez benched against a lefty in favor of Yamaico Navarro who has been awful at the plate and isn't a good defender. This stuff doesn't make sense to me. Let Gorkys have a shot, you already know you aren't going to get anything out of McLouth.
A similar move was made this morning. Jason Grilli was put on the bereavement list due to a death in his family, so the Pirates called up Jeff Locke. Instead of starting Locke against a lefty dominated Tigers lineup, they are putting him in the bullpen and letting Correia, who has been awful his last four starts, go at them. Today would be a game that Locke could start, he last pitched on the 15th which puts this exactly 5 days later, which would be right on track with how he's been throwing this year. Locke has been great in Indy and looks like a big league starter at times, but the Pirates insist on giving Correia the ball today.
The Pirates have lost the last four games that Correia has started. He has gone 22 innings in those games and given up 16 earned runs (17 total). He's allowed four home runs and has just five strikeouts with TWELVE walks. That's a 6.55 ERA and a .307 batting average against. I'm pretty sure that facing Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder aren't going to help him get well.
The good news is that the Tigers are throwing out a bad starter as well in Max Scherzer. While I'd gladly take him over Correia, the starter should be Locke and Hernandez should be in left field. Now those two moves don't make the Pirates THAT MUCH better today. Hernandez isn't a good hitter and Locke could very well get beat up by a big league lineup, but at least give these guys a chance to surprise you. We all know that we're going to get an 0/4 day from McLouth and at least 4 runs allowed from Correia. The Pirates are going to lose this game, and you can give a lot of the thanks to Clint Hurdle for it.
However, Clint Hurdle seems to refuse to throw out his best lineup at the opponents. It's nothing new, but we're getting to the point where you really should start questioning it.
Nate McLouth is playing left field and Kevin Correia is on the mound. McLouth is hitting .154/.228/.192 this year. He has eight total hits on the year, six of them being singles. He is 0 for his last 14 with five strikeouts. He hasn't looked like a professional hitter since 2009, so this isn't just a slump. McLouth can't hit anymore; make no mistake about it. In his time with Atlanta (848 at bats) he hit .229/.335/.364 - which for some reason was good enough for the Pirates to give him $1.5 million for this year. This isn't a guy that you should be expecting to bust out of the slump and start hitting again - he's simply not a major league player anymore. Yet Clint Hurdle keeps giving him chances to play. It doesn't make sense. The team called up Gorkys Hernandez on Friday and he has sat through 18 innings on the bench since his call-up. What did you bring him up for? Hurdle has played McLouth over him twice and even had Hernandez benched against a lefty in favor of Yamaico Navarro who has been awful at the plate and isn't a good defender. This stuff doesn't make sense to me. Let Gorkys have a shot, you already know you aren't going to get anything out of McLouth.
A similar move was made this morning. Jason Grilli was put on the bereavement list due to a death in his family, so the Pirates called up Jeff Locke. Instead of starting Locke against a lefty dominated Tigers lineup, they are putting him in the bullpen and letting Correia, who has been awful his last four starts, go at them. Today would be a game that Locke could start, he last pitched on the 15th which puts this exactly 5 days later, which would be right on track with how he's been throwing this year. Locke has been great in Indy and looks like a big league starter at times, but the Pirates insist on giving Correia the ball today.
The Pirates have lost the last four games that Correia has started. He has gone 22 innings in those games and given up 16 earned runs (17 total). He's allowed four home runs and has just five strikeouts with TWELVE walks. That's a 6.55 ERA and a .307 batting average against. I'm pretty sure that facing Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder aren't going to help him get well.
The good news is that the Tigers are throwing out a bad starter as well in Max Scherzer. While I'd gladly take him over Correia, the starter should be Locke and Hernandez should be in left field. Now those two moves don't make the Pirates THAT MUCH better today. Hernandez isn't a good hitter and Locke could very well get beat up by a big league lineup, but at least give these guys a chance to surprise you. We all know that we're going to get an 0/4 day from McLouth and at least 4 runs allowed from Correia. The Pirates are going to lose this game, and you can give a lot of the thanks to Clint Hurdle for it.
Pirates (19-21) vs. Tigers (19-21), Game 41
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Pittsburgh Pirates (19-21) vs. Detroit Tigers (19-21)
May 20, 2012
Kevin Correia (1-4, 4.50) vs. Max Scherzer (2-3, 6.26) (
Game Notes:
Andrew McCutchen is Winning Games by Himself
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The title is obviously a bit facetious, but Andrew McCutchen is nearly as hot as a baseball player can be this month. In the month of May, McCutchen is hitting .420/.500/.900 with seven home runs and 13 RBI. He's the only guy hitting on the team and without his production this month, we're not sure where the Pirates would be record-wise, but it probably wouldn't be pretty.
Let's look at the games the Pirates have won in May and see what McCutchen has done in each of those games, just to get a feel for how many of them could have been lost without his influence. Some of the things I'm going to say here may not be true, because you just don't know what would have happened if McCutchen would have done something different. The whole butterfly effect comes into play, but let's just ignore it for the time being (you'll see what I'm saying, just keep reading).
May 3: Pirates 6 Cardinals 3
McCutchen: 0/2 (was pulled from game due to sickness)
The Pirates won this game without McCutchen plain and simple. Pedro Alvarez had himself a day with a two run homer in the sixth and the team got an RBI from Nate McLouth's, Cutch's replacement.
May 5: Pirates 3 Reds 2
McCutchen: 1/3, BB
The runs came from the bats of Neil Walker and Alex Presley who both homered, McCutchen was not on base for either run, so the Pirates would have been just fine without him in there as well.
May 8: Pirates 5 Nationals 4
McCutchen: 1/2, HR, R, RBI, 2 BB
This is when McCutchen really started to heat up. He hit a solo home run in this game, which was huge in the one-run walk off win. McCutchen led off the 4th inning with that home run, and Garrett Jones would homer with two outs in that inning as well. If McCutchen records an out, Jones doesn't get to bat and the Pirates get two less runs in this game.
May 9: Pirates 4 Nationals 2
McCutchen: 4/4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI
Andrew homered late in this game to give the Pirates an insurance run that they actually wouldn't need, but his RBI single in the 3rd certainly helped the team win. Not only did it drive in a run, but it extended the inning and McCutchen would come around to score on a Casey McGehee weak ground ball. McCutchen had no business scoring but Ian Desmond triple clutched and Cutch went 180 feet on an infield single. That's two runs he created right there. I'm confident in saying that without McCutchen the Pirates don't win that game.
May 8: Pirates 5 Astros 2
McCutchen: 4/4, 1 R, HR, 1 RBI
McCutchen's only direct influence on the scoreboard this night was the solo home run in the 3rd, but he also started a two run 6th inning with an infield single. The Pirates probably still win this game without McCutchen's help.
May 13: Pirates 3 Astros 2
McCutchen: 1/4, 1 RBI, 1 BB
McCutchen kicked off the scoring in this one with an RBI double in the first inning. He was also intentionally walked in the 9th inning which allowed Pedro Alvarez to drive in the tying run on a sacrifice fly. Who knows what would have happened if he wasn't intentionally walked, but in this case the fear of Cutch worked in the Pirates favor. The RBI double was certainly huge in the one run win, but you can't say for sure that they would have lost in extra innings without it. Tough call here.
May 14: Pirates 3 Marlins 2
McCutchen: 1/3, 1 R, 1 RBI
McCutchen had a sacrifice fly in the first to score Tabata and scored the winning run in the 6th inning after singling ahead of Pedro Alvarez who drove him home with a double. Nobody else would register a hit in the inning after the Alvarez double. That's two runs McCutchen created, so I'm going to go ahead and chalk it up to him.
May 17: Pirates 5 Nationals 3
McCutchen: 2/4, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI
Without McCutchen's two solo home runs, this one would have gone into extra innings. McCutchen didn't factor into any of the other runs the Pirates scored, so this one is a toss-up too. They could have won in extras without him.
May 19: Pirates 4 Tigers 3
McCutchen: 2/4, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI
This is an absolute no doubter. McCutchen drove in all four Pirates runs while the rest of the team picked up just seven hits, all singles. Without McCutchen the Pirates lose this one. Just from that you can see the hug influence that McCutchen has had on the Pirates record this month, which stands at 9-9. I don't know exactly where the team would be without their center fielder, but I'm sure they wouldn't be anywhere near the .500 mark that they have been flirting with recently.
Let's look at the games the Pirates have won in May and see what McCutchen has done in each of those games, just to get a feel for how many of them could have been lost without his influence. Some of the things I'm going to say here may not be true, because you just don't know what would have happened if McCutchen would have done something different. The whole butterfly effect comes into play, but let's just ignore it for the time being (you'll see what I'm saying, just keep reading).
May 3: Pirates 6 Cardinals 3
McCutchen: 0/2 (was pulled from game due to sickness)
The Pirates won this game without McCutchen plain and simple. Pedro Alvarez had himself a day with a two run homer in the sixth and the team got an RBI from Nate McLouth's, Cutch's replacement.
May 5: Pirates 3 Reds 2
McCutchen: 1/3, BB
The runs came from the bats of Neil Walker and Alex Presley who both homered, McCutchen was not on base for either run, so the Pirates would have been just fine without him in there as well.
May 8: Pirates 5 Nationals 4
McCutchen: 1/2, HR, R, RBI, 2 BB
This is when McCutchen really started to heat up. He hit a solo home run in this game, which was huge in the one-run walk off win. McCutchen led off the 4th inning with that home run, and Garrett Jones would homer with two outs in that inning as well. If McCutchen records an out, Jones doesn't get to bat and the Pirates get two less runs in this game.
May 9: Pirates 4 Nationals 2
McCutchen: 4/4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI
Andrew homered late in this game to give the Pirates an insurance run that they actually wouldn't need, but his RBI single in the 3rd certainly helped the team win. Not only did it drive in a run, but it extended the inning and McCutchen would come around to score on a Casey McGehee weak ground ball. McCutchen had no business scoring but Ian Desmond triple clutched and Cutch went 180 feet on an infield single. That's two runs he created right there. I'm confident in saying that without McCutchen the Pirates don't win that game.
May 8: Pirates 5 Astros 2
McCutchen: 4/4, 1 R, HR, 1 RBI
McCutchen's only direct influence on the scoreboard this night was the solo home run in the 3rd, but he also started a two run 6th inning with an infield single. The Pirates probably still win this game without McCutchen's help.
May 13: Pirates 3 Astros 2
McCutchen: 1/4, 1 RBI, 1 BB
McCutchen kicked off the scoring in this one with an RBI double in the first inning. He was also intentionally walked in the 9th inning which allowed Pedro Alvarez to drive in the tying run on a sacrifice fly. Who knows what would have happened if he wasn't intentionally walked, but in this case the fear of Cutch worked in the Pirates favor. The RBI double was certainly huge in the one run win, but you can't say for sure that they would have lost in extra innings without it. Tough call here.
May 14: Pirates 3 Marlins 2
McCutchen: 1/3, 1 R, 1 RBI
McCutchen had a sacrifice fly in the first to score Tabata and scored the winning run in the 6th inning after singling ahead of Pedro Alvarez who drove him home with a double. Nobody else would register a hit in the inning after the Alvarez double. That's two runs McCutchen created, so I'm going to go ahead and chalk it up to him.
May 17: Pirates 5 Nationals 3
McCutchen: 2/4, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI
Without McCutchen's two solo home runs, this one would have gone into extra innings. McCutchen didn't factor into any of the other runs the Pirates scored, so this one is a toss-up too. They could have won in extras without him.
May 19: Pirates 4 Tigers 3
McCutchen: 2/4, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI
This is an absolute no doubter. McCutchen drove in all four Pirates runs while the rest of the team picked up just seven hits, all singles. Without McCutchen the Pirates lose this one. Just from that you can see the hug influence that McCutchen has had on the Pirates record this month, which stands at 9-9. I don't know exactly where the team would be without their center fielder, but I'm sure they wouldn't be anywhere near the .500 mark that they have been flirting with recently.
Pirates (18-21) vs. Tigers (19-20), Game 40
CommentsPittsburgh Pirates (18-21) vs. Detroit Tigers (19-20)
May 18, 2012
A.J. Burnett (1-2, 5.12) vs. Drew Smyly (1-0, 2.31)
Game Notes:
5/18 Charlie Morton Pitch F/X
Comments| Pitch Type | Veloc | H-Break | V-Break | Count | Strike% |
| 4-Seam | 87.9 | -3.33 | 5.61 | 1 | 100.00% |
| Change | 83.5 | -5.70 | 1.82 | 15 | 53.33% |
| Slider | 78.3 | 0.53 | -2.08 | 1 | 100.00% |
| Curve | 77.8 | 6.15 | -5.79 | 28 | 60.71% |
| Cutter | 86.3 | -1.08 | 4.84 | 3 | 66.67% |
| 2-Seam | 90. | -9.53 | 3.79 | 44 | 72.73% |
5/18 Recap | Tigers 6 Pirates 0
CommentsCharlie Morton started for the Pirates on the pitching side of the ball. He pitched six innings, allowed four runs on nine hits and suffered the loss, dropping his record to 2-4. Chris Resop allowed the other two runs and Brad Lincoln threw a scoreless inning out of the bullpen.
The worst possible thing to happen to your team almost happened tonight and everyone should be happy for Josh Harrison for breaking up the no hitter, who continues to swing a hot bat. Game two is at 4:05 tomorrow in Detroit.
Pirates (18-20) vs. Tigers (18-20), Game 39
CommentsPittsburgh Pirates (18-20) vs. Detroit Tigers (18-20)
May 18, 2012
Charlie Morton vs. Justin Verlander
Game Notes:
5/17 James McDonald Pitch F/X
Comments| Pitch Type | Veloc | H-Break | V-Break | Count | Strike% |
| 4-Seam | 93.0 | -3.24 | 11.48 | 42 | 73.81% |
| Change | 84.4 | -7.50 | 9.65 | 1 | 100.00% |
| Slider | 80.0 | 1.96 | 0.01 | 25 | 72.00% |
| Curve | 76.5 | 6.08 | -9.10 | 12 | 50.00% |
| 2-Seam | 93.0 | -7.44 | 9.83 | 6 | 66.67% |
Thursday 5/17 Minor League Roundup
CommentsStarling Marte went 0-4 tonight as his average continues to slowly drop, now down to .252. Alex Presley also was hitless with three Ks in his first game back with the tribe. Jeff Clement had the best bat of the night, going 2-4 with two doubles. Jose Morales and Gorkys Hernandez also joined the hit club. Jo Jo Reyes had yet another phenomenal start, going seven innings and only allowing one run on seven hits. His ERA now rests at 2.09
AA Altoona | Altoona 4 Bowie 2
The Curve won yet another match against Bowie tonight as Phil Irwin got the start. Irwin allowed two runs on eight hits across his 6.1 innings of work. Elevys Gonzalez had a nice night at the plate, collecting two hits and two RBIs on a double and a home run. Miles Durham also had a double and a solo homer as a part of his two hit night. Robbie Grossman was 0-4.
A West Virginia | Greenville 8 West Virginia 3
After getting pounded by Lexington yesterday, The Power didn't have much of a response today. Alen Hanson had a 1-3 night with a triple and two RBIs. Jordan Carvajal, Dan Gamache, and Francisco Diaz all also had extra base hits. Orlando Castro started the game and did not get very far at all, allowing four runs in 1.2 innings. Zachary Fuesser than came in in relief and gave up the other four runs, two earned, in 5.2 innings.
A Bradenton | Dunedin 2 Bradenton 1
Gerrit Cole took the mound for the Marauders today and continued his success, getting another six inning start and only allowing one run. He gave up five hits, struck out four, and didn't walk any batters. Offensively, no RBIs were awarded to anyone in the lineup as Bradenton drew 12 BBs but were unable to plate more than a single run. Justin Howard and Benji Gonzalez both had two hits.
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