Spring Tranining 0-1

So the first spring training game is in the books, and it is never to early to start to talk about what we see from the Pirates on the field. So far, not a lot to be hopeful from the bats, but the arms are looking great.

Okay, there was a game that does not count versus a community college. That game had much the same look. People like Justin Thomas and Brain Morris threw a shut out inning. Jeff Sues gave up a run, but everyone else looked good. But then again they should in that game. Alvarez went 3 for 4 from the plate, but no one else had more than one hit. And they should have against junior college pitching. It does not matter to me that Kratz and Pierce went deep, they each only got on hit. Tabata only had one hit. Gorky Hernadez did not get any hits. A 6-1 win that really shows very little.

The Yankees provide a much better glimpse at the Pirates of 2010. What we saw was a battling line up that was not ready for prime time. McCutchen got a hit in two at bats, and Kratz had a nice RBI double. Tabata also picked up a hit in two at-bats, but that was it for the good news. Church hit the ball hard and had a hit stolen from him (Church still got an RBI) as did Milledge, but almost does not count. Worse yet Garret Jones and Ryan Doumit left people on base. Those guys need to pick up runners if the Pirates have any hope of winning this year. Three hits and a walk are not good enough to win ball games. It is actually amazing that the Pirates scored three runs.

On the other hand the Pirates look good on the mound. Four shut out, no hit innings is impressive. Malhom and Ohlendorf looked great. Bass and Carrassco showed they can pitch although Bass hit a batter. Jakubauskas gave up a hit, but no runs. Jack Taschner was really impressive striking out two in his inning, but it was against lower quality hitters. I want to see this guy against the big names. Stephen Jackson gave up a big homerun and three runs. And Virgil Vasquez also gave up a three run shot. Vasquez now has an 81.00 ERA because he only retired one hitter. I hope we can cut this guy soon.

Overall some encouraging signs for the pitching staff, but the offense has to be better for the Pirates. One interesting note is that they played Dwelven Young at Secondbase. I wonder if that means he will be the second baseman at Triple A. Apparently they have not completely given up on the idea of Young playing second base. Also the light hitting Aregntis Diaz made a fielding error. Not a good sign for that young man.