Karstens is better than Morton

If Charlie Morton comes back and takes Karstens spot in the rotation, I am going to be upset. In a year where the Pirates are showing that on-field managment is insane and unprepared, a few good things have shown themselves. Jeff Karstens is one of those things. Now, he ended up not getting any decision. He pitched 6 great innings. He got through the seventh after a homer. He did all you can ask. The Pirates could not get 6 outs with Karstens. 6.

And it is not the first time Jeff has come up aces. He pitched rather well against Strasborg. Hard to imagine blaming him for that one. He pitched great to get our first win in Miller Park this year, and started a minor winning streak. He had a few other nice outings, and one fairly bad one. This guy deserves that 5th spot. If you are not going to give it to Daniel McCutchen, then there is no way you can justify Morton who has been a disaster for two years as a Pirate, and less we forget was a disaster for a short time as a starter for the Braves. So much so they were willing to trade him. There is no reason to expect anything different from Morton.

Still the Pirates need to be able to find some runs somewhere other than the top 4 guys. Tabata, Walker, McCutchen, and now Jones are all the offense we have. Jones is starting to catch fire. If Walker can keep his bat going (which is starting to fade a bit), maybe the addition of Alvarez can give the Pirates enough offense to claw their way back into a chance for .500. I doubt it, but with 100 games left there is time for a late season charge.