Spring Training 0-2

This is not the start to the Spring one would hope for. The pitching bright spot that occurred yesterday diminished and the hitting might have actually gotten worse. Alvarez went 0-4. McCutchen was 0-2, but did draw a walk. Andy LaRoche went deep in a 1-3 day, but it was against pitching that probably will not be in the majors. Crosby was able to plate Dwelven Young in the third inning, but other than that there were no bright spots. I guess if one was reaching for something to cling too is that the Pirates have so far shown an ability to score lots of runs for the meger amount of hits they get. Today’s four hit performance plated 2 runs. A good ratio. Ryan Church had the fourth hit for the team.

The pitching has to be seen as a nightmare. Charlie Morton walked three people in two innings, gave up a hit, and a run. Morton got 5 ground ball outs, but that means little when you still give up runs. I do not believe Morton has what it takes to be in the rotation, but the Pirates are going to put him there anyway. A sure fire way to kill the season. I also think that Lincoln will get the call up half way through the season and replace Morton. Lincoln did give up two hits in one inning, but no walks, and no runs. Pirate pitching gave up 10 walks and 5 hits. That is disturbing. In addition to Morton’s poor performance, Chulk gave up a run and some walks, and Burres gave up multiple runs and four walks. Jeff Karstens was the only one to pitch a clean inning, and Anthony Claggett pitched a hitless inning only giving up one walk. Those two were also facing the lower class players.

So another loss and the Pirates are not looking good. Hopefully the bats get into shape pretty soon.