The Pittsburgh Pirate Fan Destination

Trade for McGee and 25 man roster

2011-12-13T08:50:00.000-08:00

The Pirates have traded for 3B Casey McGee from the Brewers for Jose Veras. I think that this is a great trade because McGee has power and can hit .280. Last year his thumb injury hurt his stats. It gives us real insurance against another Pedro failure. It gives us an option to platoon Jones at 1B. I like this a lot because I think Veras was over used last year and is due for a flame out this year. If not then it is a pretty fair deal for both teams. We have replacements for Veras since Meek is back, and we need the power hitting. The Brewers just signed Amaris Rameriz, so they don't need McGee.

This means your opening day roster will probably look like this.

OF - Tabata
OF - Presley
OF - McCuthen
3B - Alvarez
SS - Barmes
2B - Walker
1B - Jones (platoon)
C - Barajas
UI - Nunez
UI - Navarro
1B, 3B - McGee
C - McKenry
OF - McClouth

SP - Erik Bedard
SP - Kevin Correia
SP - Jeff Karstens
SP - James McDonald
SP - Brad Lincoln
SP - Charlie Morton (starts out on DL for about a month)
RP - Daniel McCutchen
RP - Tony Watson
RP - Evan Meek
RP - Joel Hanrahan
RP - Jason Grilli
RP - Chris Resop
RP - OPEN SPOT (my guess Moskos)
The last one is an open spot because it is unclear who they are going to put here, and they may even still sign a lefty for the bullpen. Chris Leroux could go here, but they have shown signs of putting him back as a starter, which means he would need to start out in the minors to stretch his arm. Hurdle has spoken of his desire to have 2 lefties in the pen which means that Daniel Moskos should have the inside track, but Justin Wilson is an option as well. Wilson might benefit from coming out of the pen for a while at the AAA level since he was a starter last year until the September call up. Bryan Morris has an outside shot at this spot as well since he was made full time bullpen last year.

That is a pretty good team with a AAA infield of Harrison, D'Arnaud, Mercer, and Hague. I like it. Gorkys is ready in the outfield and hopefully Lambo will have a bounce back year. Jeff Locke, and Rudy Owens are potentials for the rotation before the year is out.

Winter Meetings 2011

2011-12-10T16:29:00.000-08:00

The Winter Meetings were great this year for the Pirates. The Pirates were really the only team that got better. Maybe you could say the Cubs got better with the signing of DeJesus to play RF. But that is pretty minor for what happened with the Pirates and what the Cubs needed.

First off the Cards were ruined. Pujols went to the Angels. So, that is a large chunk of offense gone and makes a declining Matt Holiday even more vulnerable. The Brewers were taken to the cleaners by K-Rod who accepted their arbitration offer. This will cripple them financially. They did not resign Prince Fielder, nor did they sign one of their other bullpen guys. The Reds basically stood pat. And the Astros did little because they are still under several bad contracts. They have some trade interest for some pitching, but they have not pulled the trigger yet, which should make them worse for this year, and then they will be gone. The Cubs signed DeJesus, but they also traded Tyler Colvin and LeMahieu for Ian Stewart. Stewart will replace Aramis Ramieriz at 3rd, but this is not a great upgrade. They were active, but did they get much better, probably not.

Second, the Pirates signed Eric Bedard. Bedard is a health risk, but is immediately the best pitcher on the team. He is the first legitimate top of the rotation guy in years for the Pirates. Now, he can get hurt pretty easy, and it would be silly to expect a full year, but if he could only miss a start or two by the trade deadline, he could bring back prospects plural. And if the Pirates are in the thick of things, it would be nice to have him healthy headed into the playoffs. This is clearly the best move of any of the NL Central teams. The Pirates are now ready to make a run at the top spot.

Third, the Pirates did make a Rule 5 selection. Gustavo Nunez is the pick. He is not such a great hitter, but could develop as he is only 23. He can play 2B, 3B, and SS and has played all 3 outfield spots. I don't get it unless the Pirates are hoping to be able to keep him later after dumping him from the roster. This takes Harrison's spot on the 25 man, which I don't see unless they want to get him a few weeks of hitting and starting at AAA while he plays SS and d'Arnaud plays 3B (and Mercer 2B). This would get some consistent practice at the new defensive positions for those guys, but he is not going to make it all year. The Pirates did lose Bret Lorin in the Rule 5, but that was inevitable, and ought to be a sign of a healthy minor league system.

Fourth, the Pirates pulled off a trade that was for today, not for tomorrow. The traded Brooks Pounders (along with Diego Noris who was at his limit of being in the DR) for Yamiaco Navarro. Navarro has a .260 type bat with a strike out problem, but real power potential. He is our back 3B and a power threat off the bench. I am okay with this move only because Navarro is major league ready now. I am higher on Pounders than most. I think he can be a legit 3rd starter because of his ground ball rate and the improvement in his fast ball. But looking at our system, Pounders is not as a good prospect as Cole, Taillon, Cain, Von Rosenburg, McPherson and Kingham and Heredia are younger, but better. Might as well as trade him for a guy who can contribute right now.

You have got to like what the Pirates did, and what the rest of the NL Central did not do. Now some Free Agents are still out there, so it is not over by a long shot, but I am excited already for the Pirates.

CBA not that bad

2011-12-02T22:46:00.000-08:00

I have been a way for a while. I apologize for that. But it seems like a time to give some thoughts about the Pirates and the CBA. Overall I don't think it is that bad for the Pirates.

Now the new CBA has a slotting system with a minor tweak here or there. That is no doubt bad for the Pirates. They will be given a set amount for the first 10 rounds. If you don't sign a guy you lose his money no matter what. If you sign a guy under the slotted amount, you can carry that over to sign other guys over the slot. If you go over by a certain percent you are taxed 100% on it. If you go over too much then you lose a 1st round pick next year. If you go over a lot you lose 1st round pick the next two years. This is bad, bad, bad for the Pirates. Not good, but not bad for teams always picking at the back of the draft, and out right great news for College Seniors who will see themselves get drafted higher now.

However, some okay things are in there. There were some changes to the Type B free agency and comp picks that won't hurt. Also there is a draft lottery that would give small market and losing teams an extra pick or so. This is good news for small market clubs like the Pirates. More picks means quicker filling up of a depleted minor league system.

The best news in the CBA is the International signing system. Now all International players will be in one common pool. That means less money spent on scouting in Latin America. No more advantage for teams like the Rangers who were far sighted enough to really pour money into Latin America. There is also a set amount that you can spend on players out of this pool, and it is a higher amount for bad teams like the Pirates. Also, if you want you can trade money in the International pool to other teams. This means if a big name prospect has made it clear he is not going to sign with the Pirates. The Pirates can give the money to an AL team for a A ball player or something in order to make sure the prospect signs with an AL team rather than an NL competitor. Instead of just losing out on signing a guy, we can get an A ball player for it. Not bad.

In the end the advantages picked up in the International market I think out weigh the hard slotting system of the CBA. The Pirates ought to benefit. Especially if you think that one day the Pirates will not be picking in the top 10. If we get competitive the International Market becomes vastly more important than the Draft.

The other thing that this can do is encourage the Pirates to sign free agents. I don't think the GM's will like the new system, but I think owners do. Now owners can know how much they are going to spend on international signings and the draft because it is basically slotted for them. This part of their budget is now fixed. No more needing to hold back 10 million because you need to sign the number 1 over all pick. You now know exactly what he is worth. That can save you a couple of million that you can plug back into the current major league product via free agency.

I also think holding down the signing bonuses of guys who have not played pro-ball will help keep prices low in the free agent market at the major league level. Having huge bonuses and MLB contracts for guys in the draft will eventually make mediocre guys in the bigs want to get more money.

So overall this deal is not bad, maybe even slightly helpful. If you think that the Pirates are going to be bottom of the barrel for a while and will have a decade worth of top draft picks then it looks like a bad deal. However, as soon as the Pirates turn competitive, this will look much better or at least not hurt so much in the draft. Even then we could get an extra pick in the draft lottery for our small market.

This CBA puts the focus now a lot more on good scouts rather than big bucks. We will see how that works out of the Pirates.

Minor League Review: West Virginia

2011-09-20T10:35:00.000-07:00

The Power are the team that actually had me the most depressed as they were stacked coming in. But then you kind of realize they were decimated by promotions and it tempers one's angst.

Pitchers:
Jameson Taillon - He had high expectations, and he did not exceed them. But he probably met them. A 97:22 K:BB rate is amazing and was the second best on the team. His hits allowed were a little high, but the insistence on throwing fast balls is mostly responsible for that. Maybe one would like to have seen a few more innings, but pitch counts kept him removed often. His last start was dominate, and he is ready for the next jump.

Zack Von Rosenburg - Zack had a horrible start to the season getting beat around. His fastball was up. He gave up 19 HRs, but only 23 walks (part of a 114:23 K:BB ratio). He needs to work on getting his pitches down. He showed improvement in the last part of his season, so there is good hope here. One still needs to hope for an increase in velocity as well.

Colton Cain: Cain was great. Everything you wanted him to be. He maxed out some innings and got sent to the pen, which gave him a few bad outings toward the end of the year, but Cain was dominate. 81:33 ratio is good and shows that Cain has the speed and the ability to strike guys out.

Brooks Pounders: He was the big surprise. He added speed on the fastball and looked great. 72:14 ratio is very good. He did it mostly out of the pen, but there is room to squeeze him back into the starting picture next year. It was an exciting year for his development.

Tyler Waldron: He started here and was okay. Nothing great. But he got promoted. He looks more like a bullpen guy, and one who needs more strikeouts.

Brandon Crumpton: He was demoted to the bullpen after a horrible start. He was great there, got back into the rotation, rattled off several amazing wins in a row striking out people, and got promoted. Great year for Crumpton.

Zack Dodson: 46:15 in 66 innings is not bad. He was injured and had a long come back, but was doing well before the injury and did well after. He has pitched his way into nice looking prospect status.

Victor Black: He made it through a season without getting injured and that might have been the most important thing. He needs to work on his control giving up too many walks, but he did get a late season promotion to Bradenton. Probably a bullpen guy with nice heat. One thing worth mentioning is he did not give up a homer at West Virginia. Only one at Bradenton. Keeping the ball in the park is good.

Hitters:
Matt Curry - He will be discussed elsewhere. Needless to say, he was great in WV with an OPS north of 1.

Dan Grovatt - He had a very consistent year. He was constantly between .280 and .300. He drew lots of walks, hit for some surprising power with 8 HRs and a good double total. Plus he has the arm to stick in a corner outfield spot.

Drew Maggi - He was freezer cold for the first month or so of the season, which tells you how good he was to the end as he earned the promotion for the last few games. His defense is supposedly good enough to stick at short, but was still a bit error prone. Some of that I think was his bad plate performance affecting his defense. Did show some double/triple potential as well. Good speed.

Justin Howard - The concern was his power, which he showed hints of during this season with doubles and the long ball, but now his average needs to improve. Still, this year has to be a success for Howard.

Kwami Elmsely-Pai - This guy was blazing at the beginning of the year despite not getting a lot of playing time. He did cool down, but was still good enough to go up a level next year. His defense also seemed strong. Considering we picked him up for nothing, it was a great season.

Mel Rojas Jr. - Obviously a bit disappointing, but he too started very cold. He needs to work on plate discipline as his strike out total was too high. However, he has speed. And one can expect his plate discipline to improve as he is still pretty young. Not a great season, but not a failure either.

There were some real disappointments such as Eric Avilia. Wow. The kid had shown power and decent hitting, but was just awful. Did end strong enough to almost get to .215, but not quite. He also had over 20 errors. That is just plain bad. But the real prospects at this level did okay to good with a few greats scattered in there.

Minor League Review: State College

2011-09-16T09:25:00.000-07:00

Ross Ohlendorf just pitched his first homer, and got a win. Good news for the Pirates. I still think you let him go during the off season, but hey, it is still nice.

State College was not very good this year, and a lot of that was the result of getting only 4 seniors in the draft. But, I am still higher on what was at State College than most. Let's take a look.

Pitchers:
It is true that there were not a lot of break out seasons here except Nick Kingham, but they were not disastrous either.

Nick Kingham:
He had a 1.10 WHIP and a 47:15 K:BB ratio. He threw in the low 90's and looked great after a shaky first start. He could very well be a top 10 prospect.

Stetson Allie:
Disappointing in some ways because of his hype, but we all knew he had command problems. He walked 29 and struck out 28. The command problems were there. Still, the dominance was also there. His fastball sits at 95, and when he is on, he is going to blow away the competition. He has plenty of time to get control of his walk total. So, I think he had a better season than most do. The walks were to be expected. He also seemed to be improving a bit until they moved him to the pen so as not to overload his innings. The adjustment to coming in from the pen was rough. July was 15 strikeouts to 10 walks with 5 starts. No starts in August resulted in 12 walks and only 6 strikeouts. That hurt his numbers a bit, so it is not as bad as it might look.

Ryan Hafner:
I am a little higher on Hafner than others as well. His fastball is still high 80's, and that will never get it done even out of the pen. Still he pulled off a 1.19 WHIP and a 31:20 K:BB. That is too many walks, but an impressive number of strikeouts considering he was not overpowering anyone. Remember he came from high school, so I think power can come with age. It might have been that some of his walks were nibbling at corners. I still think he adds power, and then he can be real good.

As for what we got in the draft, I do like Josh Poythress as a future reliever. A 29:10 K:BB is not a bad start. I am not ready to give up on Matt Benedict either. A 39:15 K:BB is enough to keep me watching and hoping, but he gave up far too many hits.

Hitters:
Alex Dickerson:
He came late to the league, but was as advertised. .313 AVG, .886 OPS with 3 HRs. He has to learn 1B, so his defense is below average, but his bat looks great.

Samuel Gonzalez:
He thrived at this level. He hit over .300 and only struck out 15 times, which is a big thing. Add in 14 walks, and I like his plate presence. Needs more power, and needs to play better defense, but it was a good year for him.

Wes Freeman:
Now I am not as high on Freeman as others. He was repeating this league, so he should have dominated it. Still, he hit 6 homers and hit .303. His defense is good enough for the corner outfield. You have to call this a success.

Now I would not worry about a lot of the others that some are pointing to as disappointing. Dan Gamache hit .231, but he was recovering from a hand injury and only had 20 games to get adjusted. I am also not too worried about Taylor Lewis nor Derek Trent. Trent is not a big time prospect anyway, but it was a major jump in competition for those guys and they had to learn the wooden bat at the same time. They played in lower college conferences as opposed to Dickerson and Gamache. Both showed good plate discipline with Lewis leading the team in walks with 34 and Trent was 4th with 20. Both played good Defense. Lewis also had 7 triples. No kidding. Lewis had 35 hits and 7 of them were triples. 20% of his hits were three baggers. He added on double, and he stole 16 bases (being caught 4 times). His speed should keep him on the prospect radar. Kirk Singer was another draftee who got better as the year went on, so he should not be thrown under the bus.

There were a few huge disappointments. Exicardio Caynoes was awful and thought to be a nice prospect. Junior Sosa should have done better as well. And the Pirates has seen enough of Justin Benscko, as they have him listed as released now. So the team had some disappointments.

My thoughts overall is that this team was weak from the beginning, did not have real good performances from the early signers in the draft, which matched up with disastrous performances from Caynoes and Sosa. They got better, but it was too late to make the team look good. But they showed enough to not be depressed.

Sub .500 again

2011-09-16T09:21:00.000-07:00

The Pirates lost the other day and ensured another losing season. A real tough break as it was all the result of one bad stretch in August. Some of it was increased competition, but most of it just came down to injuries and pitching fatigue. More than the blown call in Atlanta I blame the series against the Cubs. Getting swept by them completely deflated me as a fan and probably the team as well. Having Presley out hurt and Derrick Lee out hurt along with Tabata were huge factors. The pen got tired as some of them really failed to produce (Biemel), and Meek's season long injury ended up catching up to the Pirates as they had to over use Veras.

Still in the end, the Pirates are having a better season than last year. It is an improvement, and I think a nice strong finish could really help the team for next year. A lot depends on Alvarez being a major league caliber hitter, but time will tell on that one.

Reviewing the Minors: GCL Pirates

2011-09-07T19:53:00.000-07:00

McCutchen clocked two today and Hughes made his debut, and the Pirates got the win, which went to Tony Watson for his one out in the top of the 8th.

The minors are done for the year and it is time to look at what we have before we come to the list of top prospects for the year. We will start at the bottom and work up.

The GCL Pirates, a Rookie League team, was actually very good and very interesting this year. They lost a one game playoff, but it is the individual success that was even more exciting than the team success.

Pitchers:
Luis Heredia - of course it starts with him. He did pretty well considering his young age. He had some control issues. He struck out 23 and walked 19 in 30.1 innings. He threw a lot of fastballs, so he had some long at bats because he was not allowed to throw the curve to get people out. This led to a lot of pitch totals being high and him coming out of the game. Nothing to worry about here, you expect a 16 year old to have some command issues. He throws mid-90's, so he has what it takes.

Orlando Castro - Wow. This guy looks like a major league bullpen guy for sure. He started here threw a 22:2 K:BB ration in 25 innings, and was on his way to the next level.

Logan Penvy - He looked okay. He is still a bit of a project and a long shot, but a 23:13 ratio is no reason to write him off. It is not great, but not bad either.

Dovydas Neverauskas - He too is still a big project, but occasionally looked good coming out of the pen. Not enough strike outs, but still has a projectable frame that might fix that problem as he goes forward.

Diomedes Mateo - He actually led the team in strike outs with 33 and only 16 walks. He got a late season look at State College, which is where he ought to end up next year.

Batters:
Rodarrick Jones - Clearly the big excitement on the team. He was drafted in the high rounds, tore up GCL and got promoted. Showed some signs of power.

Jonathan Schwind - He played well both offensively and defensively. His age says he ought to, but he played at a small college, so it is good to see him dominate. He tied for the team lead in doubles (14), and had on OPS over 1.000. He should go to full season ball next year.

Jose Osuna - The .331 average and the other with 14 doubles. He got a late season call up to SC. He looked like a bat with some promise in the OF.

Willy Garcia - He led the team with 5 dingers. The hint of power is enough to be exciting.

Yonathan Barrios - Decent defense at SS and an .815 of OPS.

Alen Hansen - He swipped 24 bags and hit 13 doubles. Not consistent hitting, but the skills are there. Throw in 7 triples and you begin to get an idea about the speed.

There were some disappointments here including Jared Lakind, Joey Schoenfeld Junior Sosa, and Jorge Bishop.

Candon Myles played just a few games and it is not enough to say much.

The number of good hitting prospects was exciting. Osuna, Hansen, and Jones are very exciting players. Most of these guys have plate discipline issue left to solve, but you expect that here. Not as much pitching, but enough to think it was not a bust. Castro in particular. A nice showing by a team that was mostly from the Latin American market.

Is Derrick Lee Willie Stargell

2011-09-05T20:21:00.000-07:00

Probably not, but Lee is hitting homers at an amazing pace. Remember he has only played about 7 games as a Pirate and has 4 homers. His price tag for next year is pretty big, but I would not be opposed to paying it. Offering him arbitration might be a good thing. If we get stuck paying him, we get a power bat at first which has been a problem. If he does not take it, then we get a Type B repayment, which is a draft pick after the second round and before the third round. I can take it.

Still, over all the Pirates have been playing better again. It was nice to see them beat up on the Cubs since the Cubs were there during our darkest hours this year. We owed them. Today versus the Astros was nice too. McDonald went 7.1 innings, which is a full inning longer than any of his other outings this year. Hanrahan got another save, and the Pirates only gave up one run, which should have been on an error. Tabata spun around like a top, jumped for no reason and still had it hit the side of his glove.

Another thing is don't look now, but Ryan Doumit is hitting .291. Are you kidding me? Two doubles today with a single thrown in to boot, and he looks great right now. I favor re-signing Doumit over re-signing Snyder. I really would rather them get someone new completely, but Doumit looks like a better player than Synder right now. More durable as well.

Soon there will be more call-ups as the Indians did not make the AAA playoffs so I expect Alvarez back up and a few others as well. The only one I am really looking forward to seeing is Evan Meek. I would like to see his speed and his performance after such a long rehab.

Another bullpen melt down

2011-08-29T20:11:00.000-07:00

Wandy Rodriguiz always pitches pretty good against us. He did so again tonight. He had a rough 3rd inning, but even that was not all that bad. Harrison got a hit. McCutchen hit a fly ball to right that in most ball parks is a pre-warning track out, but in Houston was a two-run homer. Walker got on and Doumit hit a double to score Walker, but even that was played poorly by their left fielder. I thought it was catchable, but even if it wasn't he played the ball off the wall so bad that it gave at least an extra base to Doumit and Walker. After that inning Wandy was solid.

Ross Ohlendorf went 5 pretty good innings. He allowed two runs and struck out six. Nice work. Then everyone gave up a run. Veras came in and the game was already tied, and Veras allowed Carlos Lee to hit a three run homer. Look, I am not trying to be one of those Veras-stinks guys, but his arm is dead now. He had a great season, and I would not complain too much if they brought him back next year. But this year I think the work load is showing.

Brandon Wood went 0 for 4 with 4 K's. d'Arnaud might have joined him if he had not been lifted. He was 0 for 3 with 3 K's. Put those two guys in front of the pitcher and that is three easy outs in a row.

The Pirates did add one in the ninth when Jones walked and Cedano tripled, but what good is losing by three.

It is starting to look like the losing streak is still alive. I hope to see some guys get some playing time in September call ups. The real good news is that Jameson Taillon dominated the other night striking out 9 with no walks and no runs.

It was over in the top of the 1st

2011-08-28T14:22:00.001-07:00

It really was over in the top of the 1st. What was really frustrating is that you could tell. The Pirates got on quick. Tabata and Presely both were on with McCutchen up. Now McCutchen got an RBI base hit and the Pirates now had runners at the corners with no one out. These are not just any runners, but speedsters. A good fly out scores Presley. Heck, a double play scores Presley. But with Walker, Jones and Harrison up, the Pirates did not get a second run across much less a third or fourth. And you could tell right then and there that this game was over.
Karstens then held up his part of the loss by giving up three runs. He would give up five by the fourth. He was not himself. Either he is not really right or was worried he was not right from his shoulder cramp last outing. He got beat around. Chris Resop would give up two more in his whole one out performance. The Pirates did push across four runs, but it was over by the time they scored their second run.

Not that this whole game was bad. Chris Leroux was amazing for 2 and a third. Multiple strikeouts and he faced the best in the line up. Daniel McCutchen also was okay. He got the Pirates out of the jam made by Resop. Both guys are probably in next year's bullpen. McCutchen has shown it all year, and Leroux is making his case. Right now I have to say it is a case I am impressed with.

Josh Harrison had two hits, but did not get the big hit when he needed it. Presley had a hit and a walk. These young guys played okay. Really when the Pirates put up four runs that should be enough, but today it was not. Many of the at bats were just going through the motions so that the game does not last all day.

Anyway, we are just a couple of days away from expanding the rosters. I expect that at least by the end of the AAA season that we will see quite a few people back. I would imagine that Moskos would be back. I imagine that Ciriaco probably comes back too. I don't see a reason not to bring back Alvarez. I do believe that there is no reason to leave Gorkys down when the season is over. Meek is almost certainly ready to be back, and will probably try to get a few innings in. However, that will mean a 40 man roster move. The question is do you drop Aaron Thomson. Right now I think not. He is probably going to have to come back as well since Karstens might be hurt. I think that means either Fryer or Jarmillo gets the ax off the roster. Whoever stays will probably come up. I think those are the only 6 coming up. No addition of Hague, and no Morris.

Here's hoping for a brawl

2011-08-26T09:05:00.001-07:00

The one thing the Pirates are missing is some swagger and anger. They did just take 2 of 4 from the Brewers, but they dropped the first to the Cards. Watson did the best thing I have seen all year . . . he threw behind Berkman. It was right after a homer and Tabata had already been beaned. It was really the first time all game where a retaliation pitch made sense. They were losing and now it was out of hand. Time to get even. The Pirates had let a lot of that go all year. No response for beanings and brush backs of McCutchen. No response to the breaking of Lee's hand. It is time to get angry about being treated this way.

Over all the Pirates got their young guys back, and it provides some hope. I am pretty excited about this part of the year. Presely and d'Arnaud ought to get a good look along with Harriston. Lincoln is now in the starting rotation. That is good. Ohlendorf is back and should get some work. That could be bad, but necessary. The Pirates are ready for a push to .500. We will see what comes of it.

I would be more confident if tonight we rumbled.

Playing Long Ball can be fun

2011-08-16T21:40:00.000-07:00

The PIrates won today by playing long ball. A rare sight. Karstens pitched okay, but not great. Albert got him once, and a RBI double in the 6th put Karstens out of the game. The game was tied at that point. 3-3. So 3 runs in 5.1 is not bad nor good. Less than what Karstens has been doing, but it kept us in the game. The Pirates saw Hanrahan give up a go-ahead run in the 9th on a sac fly. Weird. However the Pirates tied the game on a Neil Walker long ball. This was the first time the Pirates had scored since the Andrew McCutchen long ball. Resop pitched the 11th inning cleanly and saw G.I. Jones hit a walk off homer. Unbelievable. Jones crushed the ball that one-hopped into the river.

The Pirates have not won very many of these close games, and it is nice to get one. Walk off wins are always good. Tabata is back, and that is nice to see. The Pirates can right this ship and get back over .500 now. It is far too late to get back in the race, but we ought to be able to end the streak. The Brewers won again tonight, so no ground gained. If we could have just won once in Wisconsin, this upcoming four game set would have been much more interesting, but it is not the Pirates year.

The Pirates go for the sweep tomorrow night. We have not had too many of those this year either, so it is an important step in the development of this club to get a sweep or two before the year is over.

Cole and Bell in a big day

2011-08-16T07:57:00.000-07:00

The PIrates won by the way. Doumit's towering blast lifted the Pirates past the Cards. But nobody cares today because the Pirates have the best farm system in the majors . . . or at least are now in the argument. Mostly because of the draft signings, but let us not over look the great AAA debut of Jeff Locke. He was good through 5. Good to see.

Gerrit Cole signed a MINOR league deal, which is unbelievable. It is at least 8 and apparently has incentives of another 9 mil if he makes the pros by 2013. Cole is probably going to be the 2 overall prospect in the Pirate system, and is clearly a future number 1. You have to love a rotation of Cole and Taillon.

Josh Bell adds some much needed hitting to the Pirates organization. They were very weak in position prospects with power, and Bell has that. Power, average, athleticism. The short stop of the future is Josh Bell.

The PIrates also inked Clay Holmes yesterday. Holmes is a great pitching prospect who throws 91-93. He has work to be done, but is young and I expect he will start in State College next year. It is probably that Holmes might could make the Top 50 prospects.

Overall the Pirates did great. They added pitching over on top of pitching, and a couple of good bats with Bell and Dickerson. Cadnon Myles is a guy who looks like he could be a major leaguer as well. Great speed, no real power, but athleticism to spare. Also 37th round pick Rodderick Jones is hitting well in GCL. He looks like he might turn out to be a real prospect. Taylor Lewis is apparently Andrew McCutchen like in his speed and has shown so with his love of the triple. So, there are some guys who can really play in this draft. I like it.

Great day for the Pirates. Great one.

I admit it

2011-08-16T07:56:00.001-07:00

I admit that I have not been blogging because of getting swept by the Brewers. It was depressing. Nothing like getting your draft picks in to cure that!

Season on the Line

2011-08-12T15:14:00.001-07:00

This series with the Brewers cannot be understated. The season comes down to this. We need a sweep. A sweep would put us only 7 games out, a series victory 9 games, and a series loss would be the end.

The Pirates did stop their ugly ways with a series win against San Fransico. We avoided their best pitchers, but we still got the win. McCutchen appears to be out of his slump, and we are hitting a little better now. The bad news is that we pitched our three best pitchers, and now we are going in with Correia, who has been outright awful, Malholm, who is okay, and then Morton (I think). The first two guys have to show up big.

As for everything else, the Pirates are making great progress in signing prospects. I have heard 60% and no chance of signing Bell, but the Pirates have signed almost all of the top 10 picks, and getting them into games at the GCL. It appears they are offering good money to a couple of other guys, and I have great hope for the Pirates.

The VSL played in its 6th straight championship, but this time they lost. Still a good sign for the Pirates as the VSL is loaded with some real good looking prospects.

A brief reply to Charlie at SBNation

2011-08-09T14:40:00.001-07:00

It is always dangerous to disagree with Charlie as his command of the facts and stats is always impressive. His posts are great. But this time, I have to disagree with his view of our farm system.

Charlie's argument is that the farm system is a disappointment this year. Our top prospects are not excelling and exceeding expectations. He gives some good examples by going through his top 10 prospects.
He is okay with Taillon, disappointed in Sanchez, okay with Heredia and Allie, fine with Marte, very disappointed in Owens and Morris, and just okay with Cain while disappointed in Von Rosenburg.

I felt this needs a bit of a rebuttal. I will use my list of top prospects.

We can agree that Taillon is doing fine. There was really no way he could have exceeded expectations.

I had Rudy Owens next, and we can agree that he has really struggled. But I think there is reason to hope he is coming out of it, but still, he has had a bad year.

Allie was third on my list and we all knew walks were going to be a problem with him. He has shown that impressive ability in many of his games. He is young enough that this is real good year considering he is facing college juniors and seniors.

Marte is my next prospect and he has had a great year. Continuing to hit well despite the injury last year and the new AA pitching. His defense also sparkles along with his throwing arm. This guy looks great.

Sanchez has dropped off. His power is gone and his consistent hitting gone. The most troubling thing is his defense is also not so good anymore. I mentioned how I still think he is overrated, and apparently I overrated him too.

Locke started slow, but has been coming out of it. He has not had a major blow up year like Owens, and if he continues on his current path his overall year will not look that bad. A bad start held him back, but he is back on track.

D'Arnaud made it to the big leagues and while not a world beater up there, he had a great AAA year. He was hitting about .290 when he was called up. In the bigs he added third base to his position total. No reason to say he had a bad year especially remembering his low average last year. This was an improvement.

Cain has had a great year. I would say he is exceeding expectations. He is not doing so well out of the pen, but he is a starter who is getting tired.

Von Rosenburg has had a bad year giving up a lot of hits and homers. However, it is not a giant concern as his walk total is low, his strike out total still very impressive, and he has not yet added the speed that everyone thinks his body will add. Not a break out year, but not a bad year.

Now, I had Andrew Lambo at 10, and he has had the worst year of any prospect in our system. Just awful. But to make up for it, Jordy Mercer had a near break out year in AA, and has found his power is sticking around in AAA. He was a little slow to start there, but is getting into his groove now.

One could also argue for great years from Grossmann, McPhearson, and a break out year for Nick Kingham and Ryan Hafner. They have all been terrific.

I also think that Charlie fails to count those who made it to the pros. The farm system started off the year including Alex Presley, Josh Harrison, and Chase D'Arnaud not to mention Eric Fryer. All of these guys made the big leagues and did at least okay if not out right amazing like Presley. Also Daniel McCutchen was in AAA at the beginning of the year and he has pitched great in the pros. Daniel Moskos did alright, and is doing fine at AAA. This is great since some were worried last year he showed himself to be a bust. Not so.

Also it is true State College is struggling, but I think they are beginning to hit as Alex Dickerson is showing himself to be a good hitter and many of the others are adjusting to wooden bats. Dan Gamache is recovering from a hand injury, but is tearing up Rookie ball as he ought. Those are the two big contributors from this year's draft. The others are signing, but are high schoolers.

The farm system is not in bad shape and I think may actually be better than it has in years past.

Finally, a win

2011-08-09T14:34:00.001-07:00

The Pirates got another great start from Charlie Morton and this time they scored. Just to make sure Charlie went one inning longer and gave up 0 runs rather than 1.

Garrett Jones had a great game with 4 hits. Walker and Ludwig, our RBI guys, each had at least one RBI. Alvarez had one too, but it came on a bases loaded walk.

Even better news is that State College hit well. Everyone on their team got at least one hit as they scored 14. Alex Dickerson hit a 3 run homer in the 9th to cap his 3 hit 4 RBI day. Ryan Hafner pitched great, and got the win. In Rookie League ball Luis Heredia got his first win pitching 3 good innings.

The Pirates did gain a half game, and the Reds lost so they leap them. The Pirates need to keep it going if they have any prayer of catching up on the Brewers.

Ten in a row . . . ugh

2011-08-08T07:38:00.000-07:00

This losing streak is just gut wrenching. We went from losing games to the Phillies, including one where we had a two run lead in the 8th, to losing to the Cubs, but mostly in close game fashion. We blew a two run lead in the 8th in that one too, and lost a one nothing game. Then the Padres came into town and our first game with them we open up a two run lead, give it up only to grab the lead back in the next inning four to three, only to give it up so that Doumit could hit a solo blast to go back up five to four. Only to give it up with a grand slam. We never recovered from that. We gave up double digits the next night too, and then tonight we were never close, but managed to keep them to seven runs. We lost seven to three thanks to a late inning three run shot by Brandon Wood.

The two good things on this losing streak have been Pedro Alvarez is raising his average and Brandon Wood is hitting long balls. Usually pointless long balls, but he still hits them. Wood ought to be the starting Short Stop. Cedano was benched yesterday for his lousy play. Not the first time this year. That is the real problem with Cedano. He gives up. He has shown this year he can play some defense, but he has occasional mental lapses. He will break the wrong way on a ground ball every now and then. But, worse than that. He quits. Whether it is not hustling down the line on a weak ground ball, having horrible at-bats because the game is out of reach, or double pumping on throws the first base allowing runs to score it is usually because Cedano has given up. You can see it. He just turns it off and goes on cruise control. There is no urgency to throw the ball because the game is over. Why bother getting an out and stopping another run. Why bother trying to turn that double play? It is awful. Wood has some power and the Pirates are desperate for power. And most importantly Wood does not give up. I hope by September never to see Ronny on the field again.

Time to worry about .500 again

2011-08-03T13:56:00.000-07:00

I like what the Pirates did at the trade deadline. Derrick Lee and Ryan Ludwig are both upgrades. The problem is two fold. One is that the injuries are just catching up to the Pirates. Catcher, Third base, and corner outfield spots have been ruined by injuries creating four holes in the line up. When Presley went down after Tabata went down, it was too much. McCutchen and Walker both hit little funks at that time and that was it. Add in one screw job by the umps and the Pirates are back at .500.

The other big thing is that they had other holes that were not showing up. I am not talking about every one saying the pitchers will come back to earth. I do think Morton and Karstens are going to be fine the rest of the way. So will Malholm, although I would not have minded trading him. However, I think Correia was gassed about the All-Star break. No, I am talking about Ronny Cedano the walking hole in the line up. His defense had been better, and his offense had been around .250, which meant he was not the biggest problem on the team. Still, we need an upgrade at short. Cedano is injury prone. He often quits in the middle of games and will not hustle. He also still is a bad hitter and a bad defender. His inability to turn a clean double play probably cost the PIrates the game Malholm pitched against the Cubs.

One can hope that with Doumit coming back tonight and Alvarez hitting better than when he got hurt, we can expect to see a turn around in the outcomes soon. Morton has a big game tonight. He was beat down like old Morton last time out. However, that was against the Phils. This is the Cubs. He has to keep the Pirates in the game, who are scoring runs on the Cubs. They just need the defense and pitching to not put them in an early hole. The Brewers beat down the Cardinals, and the Reds are only a game behind us, so this is a must win tonight.

Trade deadline deal

2011-07-30T21:41:00.000-07:00

A lot happened in the week, I was gone. The Pirates split a 4 game set with Atlanta and lost game 1 (and now game 2) with the Phils. We did get cheated by the Umps that cost us a game. We really need to end this on an up note with a big win tomorrow.

To that end, Derrick Lee is now a Pittsburgh Pirate. We traded away Aaron Baker to get him. That is a great deal. Baker was probably below Matt Hague coming into the season. Hague has had a great year and Baker only so-so. He has power, and was hot a couple of times, but still strikes out a lot. Matt Curry clearly jumped him in Curry's first full season. Not just on the prospect list, but actually jumped over the High A league where he was to play AA ball. Curry has done well there too, so that pushes Baker to 3rd on the prospect list. The Pirates 3rd round choice of Alex Dickerson, who is learning first base in State College, drops Baker to 4th on the prospect list. One assumes Dickerson will improve on the defense. This means the Pirates traded away the 4th best first basemen for an upgrade right now at the major league level. I will take it.

Add in the fact that everyone thinks Alvarez will end up at first, and the fact that Justin Howard hits for nice average behind Baker, and really this is a great deal because the Pirates are not giving up anything.

As for the debate about whether Derrick Lee at this point in his career is better than Overbay, I think he is. Overbay has not hit well, and is lacking power. Even if Lee only hits for the same average, he has a bigger power threat than Overbay. The defense is probably the same, as Overbay has not been as good as year's past. Plus, just the morale boast of the Pirates front office trading to get pieces is important. That should be a shot in the arm for the whole team.

A win, but not a good series

2011-07-24T14:11:00.000-07:00

The Pirates suffered a set back in this series with the Cards. Yes, we won one at the end in dramatic fashion to gain that game back and if the Brewers lose (currently they are tied with the Giants), the Pirates will be tied for first. Yet, the Pirates offense looked real bad in every game except the first one. The pitching suffered. Even Morton, who had a nice game today was shaky at times. He got out of serious trouble in the 5th giving up only one run. That trouble was his fault with lead off walk and a wild pitch that Fryer may have been confused on. He seemed to be thinking it was outside rather than inside.

The only real positive is Chase d'Arnaud. He hit the ball well this series. He has had some rockets that have just been caught coming into this series, but a 2 for 4 night last night and a 1 for 4 night tonight with the walk off sac-fly. His one hit today was a double that just missed being a two run homer. He needs to heat up if the PIrates are going to continue with him as their third baseman.

Eric Fryer had an interesting night. He was 2 for 4 and scored a run. He was a little shaky catching, I thought. The Wild PItch seemed like a communication problem. He dropped a few out of his glove that concern me. Overall, I think that this is an area of highest need for the Buccos.

I will not be posting for a few days, but will be back for a week in review next weekend.

Still winning, but getting worried

2011-07-19T21:41:00.001-07:00

The Pirates won on a great night of pitching, and the Cards lost, although the Brewers are going to win.

The Pirates came out swinging and they put up a base hit, a double, and an RBI ground out. That would be half of the hits they got all night and the only run. Harrison had the single, Walker the double, extending his hit streak. Later Lyle Overbay would get a two out base hit. And even later Alex Presley would get a lead off base hit before getting thrown out stealing. In Presley's defense that may have been a hit and run, which I would have approved of in that situation. Harrison usually puts the ball in play, the count favored the hitter, and Presley is speedy. Harrison swung ugly, and Presley just got tagged before the bag. Later the Pirates would lose pinch runner Xavier Paul by a mile.

McDonald was on fire for five innings. He struck out seven and was not very high in the pitch count. In the 80's I think when the 7th started. He lead off with a walk, and then got an out on a bunt. The next one was a bang-band play at first giving the runner an infield hit. McDonald got a visit from the pitching coach. A walk anyway, and they pulled him. This was the only real chance the Reds had all day. Biemel got pinch hitter Jay Bruce to strike out, and then Resop got Stubbs to ground out to end the threat.

Hanrahan made it interesting giving up two base hits with two outs. Jay Bruce came up again, but grounded weakly to first. You have to love the Pirates making the rest of the Central play catch up to them. A win tomorrow would really put a hurt on the Reds chances.

First place all alone

2011-07-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

Tony Watson is great!!! He really stepped up tonight. He pitched 2.2 innings in relief of Morton, who struggled but did not allow any runs. This was real important heading into these stretch of series. We need a rested bullpen, and coming off an extra inning affair having Watson eat innings was good. He did fail to get out of the eighth but it was because of a questionable catcher's interference call. Although judging by the reaction of McKenry after the final out of the inning was recorded, it may have been. That help was Daniel McCutchen who needed just a few pitches to get the pop out. Hanrahan, who blew a save last night, nailed this one down with ease.

There was not much in the hitting department. d'Arnaud broke out of his slump with a hit, an aggressive base running play allowed him to score on a McCutchen ground out. He went first to third on a Walker base hit. He took a knee to the head and left later with a stiff neck. Walker continued his now 12 game hitting streak. McCutchen continued his mini-slump, but did get that RBI ground out. He is closer to his 100 run and 100 RBI season. That has not happened since Jason Bay was still a Pirate.

Morton got the win, but was very wild. How he avoided giving up runs is beyond me. He plunked two guys. He made it through 5, but was close to 100 pitches by that point. Watson did the rest.

The Pirates go for the series win tomorrow. The Brewers lost out in Arizona in what promises to be a tough series for them, so this is the time for the Pirates to grab a division lead, put the Reds out of it, and go into the Cards series on a roll. The Pirates are now 6-1 against the Reds this year.

Strike outs, but a win

2011-07-17T19:36:00.000-07:00

The Pirates blew a couple of leads, and Hanrahan actually blew his first save (although it was a run that went to Veras), but the Pirates still win. One thing that the PIrates still need to improve upon is strike outs. They struck out 11 times. It is far too much.

However, winning a game where McCutchen goes hitless in five at-bats is a plus. Although in fairness he reached on an error that lead to a run. Presley came up with a couple of big hits. Fryer got a hit. Correia helped his own cause with a two run double.

The Cards lost so the Pirates are a half game behind the Brew-crew with the Cards coming up. I think that d'Arnaud's time is over. Pearce is on fire in AAA, and even Alvarez is hitting some. He hit a homer tonight as well. Harrison has been on the bench two straight games. I think d'Arnaud goes down for Cedano in the next couple of days. Wood will be the back up short stop. I think Wood is getting a look because Pearce will require a decision between Harrison and Wood. Wood has shown some hitting in these last two games, so I think you have to keep him.

Trade rumors are flying. I have not loved any of them so far, but we will see what they do. I will not bother reporting on rumors, just analyze it when it happens. It does appear that they will make one.

Blown call leads to blown game

2011-07-16T21:45:00.000-07:00

The Pirates lost. Thanks to one of the worst calls I have ever seen.

Malholm started off rocky, and the Pirates left 7 guys on base in the first four innings. However, they were hitting the ball hard. d'Arnaud had rocket with the bases loaded, but it was right at someone. Overbay had a rocket to the deepest part of the park and it was caught at the wall. Finally, those hits started to fall in the right places, namely over the fence. Walker homered as part of his four hit night. He had a great leaping catch as well. Overbay did clear the wall later and Wood tied it with a third homer. Walker then had a basehit to give the Pirates the lead.
Enter Jose Veras. Veras was not sharp. He had a runner on third with one out. Bouncer to d'Arnaud and he comes home. The quick tag applied clearly got the runner before he slid across the plate. The ump disagreed and called him safe. The ump was in position, and had the best angle. Somehow despite an enraged Hurdle, the call stood. Just a horrible call. This led to an error to put runners on first and third, a base hit to score a go-ahead run and then another run scored, but I was so mad I don't remember how. Now we are a game back of Saint Louis.

The good news was from the farm system. Jordy Mercer had an insane night that included a homer, but he left after getting plunked. They put Pearce at SHORT. No kidding. Pearce by the way was 2 for 4.

Altoona saw multiple hits from Tony Sanchez and Starling Marte (both 2 for 5) including a Sanchez homer. Matt Curry also had two hits (2 for 3). He is on the upswing again.

Bradenton had a bad night. Robbie Grossman had a hit. In fact almost everybody got one, but they lost.

Mel Rojas got a hit then left the game. Dan Grovatt was 2 for 4. Justin Howard was 2 for 4. Drew Maggi had a hit. Brooks Pounders was great, Victor Black had a solid inning and got the win. The bad was Tyler Waldron. He got beat around pretty good.

State College stinks, but Lashmet had a hit and Alex Dickerson had a double in his debut game.

Neverauskas pitched his first game and he was good. 2 innings 1 walk 1 strike out and 2 hits. No runs. I will take it.
The bad was Jason Jarmillo again. He failed to record a hit. I think he will not be on the 40 man after the season. The emergence of McKenry means Jarmillo is gone.

Top of the Heap

2011-07-15T20:28:00.000-07:00

The Pirates are now in a three way tie for first place. However, it was only a so-so game offensively. McCutchen, Presley, Harrison, and Walker all got one hit and d'Arnaud got two. That was it. They just managed to get them in bunches. Walker got a key hit in the first to take a 1-0 lead. McCutchen got a nice triple in the 3rd to plate Presley and d'Arnaud for a 3-0 lead. Then it went ugly. Except for Karstens that is. He sailed. His only real trouble was in the ninth when he had first and third with one out. He got a grounder right up the middle, but d'Arnaud was positioned perfectly. He got it, flipped it backhand style to Walker, who tagged second and sent it on to first for the inning ending double play. Then just to kill any hopes the Astros had the Bucs played small ball. Jones got on because of a walk, and Hurdle went to the pinch runner: Xavier Paul. It worked as the Pirates got home the insurance run. Karstens gave the bullpen the night off and the Pirates win 4-0.

Interesting night in the minors as well. Taillon got hit around, but only walked one and struck out 5 in 5 innings. Two bad outings in a row, but he is going further than he ever has before and putting some innings on his arm is important right now. He is not walking batters, and still getting strike outs at the same time. Getting hit is not something I am worried about at this level.

Luis Heredia only lasted 1.1 innings. He gave up a couple of runs, and walked 3 so that he hit his pitch limit. However, every out he got was a strike out. All four. He has impressive stuff.

State College actually won. It took Nick Kingham dominating, which is always good to see. Chris Lashmet had multiple hits and an RBI. He is actually the only one hitting consistently.

Robbie Grossman hit a homer and a triple in a four RBI day. Steven Pearce had a homer in his rehab start where Brad Lincoln had a quality start. Yhonathon Barrios was 4-8. Seriously. Logan Penvy had five scoreless. Matt Curry had a multi-hit day as well.

All good signs.

Welcome back baseball. It has been a long two days.

Rudy Owens - close to ready?

2011-07-15T08:12:00.001-07:00

The Pirates did some interesting things the other day. Joe Biemel is back and Moskos was sent down. Pearce hit a homer at AAA, but overall the most interesting things for me was Rudy Owens.

Owens has had a tough year with higher walks and lower strikeouts. This has lead to a lot of hits, and a lot of runs. He still gets ground balls, but is just getting hit a lot. However, a corner may have been turned. His last outing saw him get 8 strikeouts, his best result of the year. So, I was anxiously waiting this game. He did not disappoint. He struck out 7, and walked only 1. He also only gave up 5 hits, a lower number than last game.

The month of June has already seen Rudy's highest strike out total of any month. He probably has at least one more start left too. It would be nice to see Rudy put in a few good starts so that perhaps he could get the call up in September. We need Rudy to break camp with us next year as one way or another we will probably be without Maholm.

What is left for a good draft?

2011-07-14T22:41:00.000-07:00

First, let me note the International Signings. The Pirates did sign a big name for over a million bucks in Harold Rameriz, a 16 year old outfielder. They also handed out some big bonuses to Caesar Lopez and Elvis Escobar, a Right handed pitcher and outfielder respectively. Other than that it is pretty quite. Juan Mendoza is a hard thrower but 25. I don't think I have seen him on any team yet. Danny Arribas is playing in the Dominican, but he is having a bad year so far. He plays both catcher and third. The other one that interests me is Carlos Mesa, a 20 year old from Cuba. I hope to see him in GCL next year.

The Pirates have now signed 17 guys. They just inked Alex Dickerson the third round pick, who can hopefully add some hitting to State College. They also have fourth round pick Corey Brewer lined up to go to GCL Pirates. Jason Creasy was signed the other day as well, 8th round high school pitcher. Dan Gamache is hurt, but signed and 10th round pick Taylor Lewis is already playing at State College and is struggling, but has a surprising triple total. The other signees are all expected signs who are long shots at the majors with the exception of Josh Poytress, a hard throwing 18th round pick from Fresno State. He could have bullpen potential. And I can always hold out hope for Derek Trent at catcher.

So what would it take to make this draft a real success? We can expect the Pirates will get a deal done with Cole, so let us go ahead and call it 18 people signed. Let us paint two scenarios. One with Josh Bell, and one without.

With Bell I think the Pirates have a good draft, but probably ought to sign one or two more people. 21 is a good number if Bell is one of them. I heard that 5th round pick Tyler Glasnow would be an easy sign. He needs to sign. That way the PIrates have signed all of the first 6 rounds, and then they could add one more prep guy, and it really would not matter who. In my opinion if they can do that, then the Pirates are in great shape with this draft.

Without Bell is a bit more interesting. It does not immediately mean they had a bad draft. They still need to sign Glasnow, but two other names pop up as important. Clay Holmes and Kody Watts. The Pirates would have to sign one of these two guys to make up for the loss of Bell. Both are top 150 prospects. Signing them both would make a good draft for sure. I would like to see the number signed go up as well. 24 would be one to shoot for. Candon Myles is someone I would like to see the Pirates sign if they lose Bell. He has a ton of speed and potential. Frankly, I hope the Pirates get him no matter what, but losing the bat of Bell would make Myles more important. One of the Aaron Brown and Jordan Dunatov group would be important as well. And of course the Pirates could make a run at one of their top 10 pick Jake Burnette. That leaves one more that could be anyone.

So, in my opinion the Pirates are close to having a really good draft. I think they will get both Cole and Bell. MLB has announced high school signings. This means now we can expect to see some of the signings to start flowing in. Keep an eye on those important names, action on the draft front will now start to get fast and furious.

Prospect Update

2011-07-13T12:58:00.000-07:00

It is midseason, time to see how my Top 50 Prospects are doing.

I'll just put the updates in bold, so we can see my thoughts from last year.

1. Jameson Tallion. Taillon has plus pitches already. Not potential, but already. High 90’s, great curve. Slider. Knows a change up, but that is probably the pitch that will get the most work. Staff Ace, almost sure fire all star. Just needs to avoid arm problems. West Virginia will be worth seeing play baseball next year. Maybe a hotter ticket than the Pirates.
Nothing but good news here. He is having a good showing in his first full season. Some tiredness, but that is to be expected.
2. Rudy Owens – why Rudy Owens so high? Well,7.5 K/9 and more importantly 1.4 BB/9. That is the best of all pitching prospects in the system. Also 47% ground ball rate is good. And he did it all at AA. No lower competition in these numbers.
Oh my. What has happened. Owens has been lit up. Walks surprisingly up, strike outs down. He did strike out 8 in his last outing, so maybe that is a good sign, but he will be dropping.
3. Stetson Allie. The only question with this guy is if he can be a starter. I see no reason why not. He can reach 100 mph, and I think his control on those pitches will come. His other stuff is already good, and that makes him a potential staff ace.
His control is not good, but that is improvable. That is why he started a level below Taillon. Still he has the ability to strike out the side. Looks good.
4. Sterling Marte. Marte was poised for a promotion before the injury to his hand. He suffered a rehab set back to lose more time, but still came back with the same level of good hitting (.333 AVG and .877 OPS), and good fielding. I think Marte has answered any questions about being able to compete at the higher levels. Still could develop some power, and thus looks to be a future starting outfielder for the Pirates. Can play any position in the outfield.
Has not missed a beat. Probably will be getting a call up to AAA soon.
5. Tony Sanchez. A real shame that he got hit in the face and missed so much time. He gets beaned a lot. His defense is good. His bat continues to be better than had hoped for (.314 AVG and .870 OPS). He hits more line drives than I thought. About a 25% clip. I am starting to be a believer in Sanchez. However, he is not a world changing prospect. I think he is over rated by those who put him in the top two or three.
Started off well in AA, but has regressed. No power right now, but he was not really a power hitter when we drafted him. Some questions about his defense have arisen and that is bad. Disappointing year so far, but on the good side, no ill affects from his injuries.
6. Jeff Locke. 8.5 K/9 and a 1.5 BB/9 along with 43% ground ball rate is great. Throw in the promotion in the middle of the year to AA without missing a beat, and I am a believer. I think Locke is a key move by Hunington in the unofficial project 2012. By 2012 the Pirates will have a new pitching staff, and Locke will be a part of it.
Just an awful year for Jeff. He has not taken a step forward and is not looking to get a promotion soon. He has been very hittable.
7. Chase D’Arnaud. A rough year for his average, but he got better as the year went on. Part of the reason he has dropped a little. Still, he hits lots of doubles (32), which is a good thing. Power potential. Probably will have to play second at the big leagues. He is only 23.
He has played okay in the majors. Was hitting very well in AAA. He was asked to play 3B in the majors and did so-so. His time at short has shown that he is probably not a major league short stop. Still, his speed is scary and his hitting looks like it will be decent in the majors.
8. Colton Cain – why Cain this high? He is 19 and has an 8.35 k/9 and a 1.06 WHIP. That is really good. Sure he walked three guys for every 9 innings, but that is something that should improve with age. I am ready for him to get a shot at a full season. Seems early injury troubles did not slow him down.
Expect Colton to move up the list. He has been great. He has admitted to some tiredness, but so far he is a top prospect and projects well.
9. Zack Von Rosenburg. He does not have the K’s Cain has, but much better control. Only a 1.94 BB/9 and a 44% ground ball rate to boot. He might start next year at A+, especially since one has to think Allie and Taillon are going to start at West Virginia (A). If he stays at WV can you imagine the starting rotation (Taillon, Allie, ZVR, and Cain). Wow.
He has gotten hammered and is giving up as many homers as walks. So he is clearly leaving the ball up. However, the walks are low and he is still getting decent strike out numbers. The leaving the ball up is fixable.
10. Andrew Lambo. What a steal the Pirates got here. An outfielder who is still very young and hitting great. Signs of power at the AA level. Might even be higher, but a history of substance abuse has me worried. The next suspension would break his career. Hope the Pirates can find a place for this guy in their line up.
He had to be demoted after not being able to handle AAA pitching. Bad sign, bad news.
11. Jordy Mercer. I am not sure why everyone over looks Jordy. Better defense than Chase, and higher average this year as well (.279). High double count, and history of good RBI production. About a 20% line drive rate. Add to that the fact that he can play 3B, 2B, and SS, and you have a highly valued prospect.
Mercer has lowered his strike out rate, re-discovered power, and still is a good defender. He had a little bit of a slow start to AAA, but is showing power there too.
12. Luis Heredia. The hype is there, but I cannot put him above some of the guys that are producing at AA level. I hope he lives up to it, but before this 16 year old throws a professional pitch, I cannot put him in the top 10. But over 90 MPH as a 16 year old is great news for the Pirates. Expect to see him GCL next year.
Okay, he can pitch. He will be in the top 10 now that he has thrown his first professional pitches. The kid has velocity and is doing better than you would think at the GCL as a 16 year old.
13. Bryan Morris. Okay Morris had a good year, but I am not sold. He has more bad ones than good ones and he should have dominated A+ at his age considering it was not his first time in it. Most people have him in the top 10. I hope that his new mechanics have made him that much better, but he has a history of attitude problems as well. He needs more than one good year to jump up to the top 10. If he does it next year at AAA, then the Pirates have just won the Jason Bay trade.
Morris did not keep up his resurgence. He is now a bullpen guy, but doing okay from the pen. He could be a part of the pen next year, maybe even in September call ups if they elevate him to AAA soon.
14. Nick Kingham. Okay, here is where I put him. Projects as at least a 3rd starter. Maybe higher. His first taste of pitching at Rookie league looked good. Strikeouts, no runs, multiple innings. He should be in the top 15 of the Pirates Prospects.
A little inconsistent, but you can see the promise. He had one dominating start and a few other okay and one rocky. Still, Kingham looks good.
15. Brock Holt. Holt was on fire before his injury. Plus, this was all done at the A+ level. I did not expect him to jump to that level this year, but he showed he was up for he challenge. .354 AVG and .848 OPS in just about 200 ABs. I like Holt. Hope he comes back from the knee okay.
The knee is okay. AA has not slowed Holt down. He is hitting at a near .300 clip. He too might see AAA by the end of the year.
16. Daniel Moskos. I know that this might be high for him, but I think his stats were pretty good. He killed at AA, but struggled a little in AAA. Still 8.8 K/9 is good, and real good for a closer. Sure his walks were too high, but part of that was his struggle at AAA. He has the stuff to be a closer. Remember that this is his first year in the pen in the minors. Not a bad first year.
Moskos has made the majors, but will probably return to AAA when Biemel is healthy. He was great in AAA and not bad in the big leagues. He will start off on the roster next year and will be called back up in September for sure.
17. Mel Rojas Jr. Next year will be the year to see how good this kid can be. He has swoons right now, but it is the longest year of his career when you add in the full college season, so some of that should be expected. I want to see this guy over a full professional season. He has all the tools. Only 19.
Rojas started very slowly and still has swoons. But some power potential and great speed.
18. Victor Black – this guy is still good. He had 4.2 innings this year, but still struck out 8 guys. He was hurt in training camp, got hurt again quick. Some of his bad stats are surely related to that injury. He misses an important year, but don’t forget this guy. At worst a very hard throwing closer.
Black is pitching out of the pen to help protect his arm. Probably will be a pen guy in the future. He is doing excellent out of the pen. I hope to see him promoted to High A soon. His age demands it.
19. Nathan Adcock. 7 K/9 and 49% ground ball rate. Looks good to me. He did this at A+, which makes me ranking him higher than some similar pitchers in the system like Miller, Lorin, and Irwin. Can he do it again next year at a higher level? I sure hope so.
Doing well . . . FOR THE ROYALS!!!
20. Josh Harrison – again he had a real disappointing year last year. I want to see him do it again before I really get excited about him. He was weak after the trade last year, but this year is a different story. I expect him in AAA next year. If he could play short stop rather than just 3B and 2B, it would raise his value.
The man is tearing up the majors with a .280 AVG. However, his defense is not starting material and he cannot take a walk to save his life. Good utility back up for years to come.
21. John Bowker. Some power at the AAA level. I like him. But not a lot because he has not been able to show the same stuff at the majors. I think it says good things about the Pirate farm system that he is outside of the top 20. He is out of options, so he has to be a back up at the majors this year. I think his power would follow him to the majors if he got the time, but there in lies the real problem.
He has potential, but has never really been given a long period of time to show it. He hits better than Overbay and can play 1B, but he will not get a shot. Doing well in AAA, but his time with the club is gone. Prospect status ought to be gone too. He has had lots of ABs in the majors now. Was DFAed and no one claimed him. That says it all.
22. Michael Dubee – good year and at AAA. It will be interesting to see if he makes the 40 man roster. He was formerly a highly regarded guy. He may have earned that back this year.
Bullpen arm is all he can ever be. Not keeping pace with last year.
23. Quintin Miller. Some injuries slowed him this year. 5.5 K/9 is low, but he gives up a very small number of homers, and a 50% ground ball rate makes me think he has the potential to be a reliable back end starter.
Miller needed to gain ground this year and more treaded water. Could be a prospect we throw in a trade package.
24. Eric Avila. I like this kid. .277 Avg is good, but look at his power potential. He had 7 HRs and 14 doubles in rookie ball. Had good power numbers last year in Dominican too. Still young so this ought to increase.
He has completely folded. He will drop off the prospect list for sure.
25. Brett Lorin. An injury plagued year makes it hard to place him. Nothing above A ball, so that hurts his ranking too. 8 K/9 is solid. He could be good.
I would have liked to see more progress, but this last half season will be important for him.
26. Tyler Waldron. Not sure if he is going to be able to stay a starter, but has convinced me to give him a shot. So his low end is hard throwing bullpen guy. I’ll take it.
Waldron has had mixed results. He has had an injury, but seems to be back and okay. Nothing to worry you here yet, but nothing to make you think he is not a bullpen prospect either.
27. Justin Wilson. Almost 8 K/9, but also near 4 BB/9. 50% ground ball rate makes up for it a little. 22 and in AA. He has to control his walks. But if he can get that under control, he can pitch at the big league level.
He has made the leap to AAA and is doing better there than Owens. Who would have thought?
28. Robbie Grossman – yes this is a big fall in my rankings for Robbie. He did move up in competition, but he continues to swoon in the middle of the season. He was awful in May and June, but has hit .275 in July and August. His inability to hit on the road is a problem. Lots of walks, but tons of strikeouts. That did decrease some this year. Still young, but he is getting passed by with the other great prospects coming into the Pirate system.
Grossmann is lowering his strikeout total. Gaining credibility as a leadoff hitter, but will probably never be a centerfield and has no real power. An Alex Presley type maybe.
29. Matt Curry. He hit well in State College. He could use more power since he is playing first base, but right now is the best first base prospect in the system.
The best season for a prospect so far. He dominated A ball and jumped all the way to AA. He has not dominated there, but is coming out of a little mini-slump. Power is still there, so he looks good.
30. Jared Lakind. I know, I know. This one is mostly hype. But he has potential on the mound or at the plate. That makes him worthy of this list.
Maybe the worst start ever for a prospect in Rookie League, but he has since hit multiple homers and is raising his average. I think he will be fine by year's end.
31. Brooks Pounders – this guy has a 6.34 K/9 and a 2.5 BB/9 at the age of 19. Still he gives up one homer per 9 innings. That lowers him.
A pretty good year mostly from the pen for Pounders. One wonders if the transition is permanent. He is raising his stock.
32. Nathan Baker. A decent strike out rate at 6.4 K/9. A 2.2 BB/9 is okay, but it was in A and A+ competition, so he is not going to be as high as say Justin Wilson who is the same age. 44% ground ball rate is not bad.
He is doing okay. Could be another prospect traded at the deadline.
33. Trent Stevenson. I have to say I am little disappointed in Stevenson. He was drafted last year with the rest of the young guns, but Stevenson is older than they are. I was hoping he would show that age at these low levels with strong performances. So might be graded low because of my disappointment.
Still disappointing me.
34. Philip Irwin. Age keeps him down. 23 ought to be good in A ball. Still a 8.3 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 is nice. 48% groundball looks real good. He should move up in the system. Next year in High A ought to be very telling. UPDATE: Promoted to a A+ at the end of the season. Too late to factor into ranking.
Irwin dominated A+ this year, but should have as a 24 year old. He is getting his feet wet in AA which is big. Age wise he ought to be there or above. How he does the rest of the year is vital for his future.
35. Zack Dodson. 6.5 K/9 is not so bad for this 20 year old in A-. I had higher hopes. His walks are also too high. But he does not give up the long ball and is a 92-93 MPH guy. I still think he has potential to be a back end starter.
Just coming back from an injury. He will probably be moving up this list.
36. Drew Maggi. This might be a little low for Drew. He has not had a lot of big league at bats. His defense ought to be up to snuff, but I am more worried than the Pirates about his offense. Still, if he finds a decent bat, this guy could be a starting short stop for the Pirates. His ranking should show I am skeptical of starting abilities for him.
Another amazingly poor start. But he has been on fire lately. The kid can play Defense and hit A ball pitching. I am ready to see him rise a level.
37. Alex Presley. This guy had a great year. But he will be left off the 40 man roster again and it is hard to argue against it. Log jam at his position, and without real power (12 HRs), he does not have a great case despite the excellent year.
Okay, I underrated him. I thought he was a one year wonder. I was wrong. He will be off the list because I do not think goes back to AAA. Wow.
38. Evan Chambers. A bit of a disappointing year for Evan. Good power projection with 20 doubles and 13 HRs, but a .240 AVG is a killer especially with the high outfield talent in the Pirate system. It is not too late for him to come on and rise in these rankings.
He has had a melt down at A+. Not good.
39. Justin Howard. No power numbers hurt this kid. First base is a power position. Still cannot ignore his .341 AVG. It will be easier to place Howard after he sees some tough competition. Rookie league was clearly to low for him, but other guys stand above him. Maybe next year at WV would make the difference.
Can hit, but lacks power. A powerless first baseman is not going to rise too high in this ranking.
40. Jarek Cunningham. I am not as high on this guy as some. Great power numbers with 32 doubles and 12 HRs, but his average is far too low. Only musters a .763 OPS. Not sure he can stay as a shortstop defensively either.
Starting to come around a little, but still needs to finish well to keep prospect status going forward.
41. Donald Veal. Yes, I dropped him because of his injury mostly. Plus 4 BB/9 is way to high for a guy in AAA with a taste of the majors previously. A bad sign for his future in my opinion.
Is recovering from surgery and still in his rehab stint. He might could help the Pirates pen, but I don't think he has long term value anymore.
42. Michael Crotta. A great year for Michael. I don’t think his stats support him being a starter. Not enough velocity. But, this guy might be a plug in the bullpen. A long relief guy capable of making an emergency spot start.
He was a plug in the pen. I expect he will be called back up in September.
43. Tony Watson. He missed some time last year because of an injury. This is a good comback year. His age is going to hurt him. I still could see him making the bullpen one day. 8.6 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9. That could do the trick in the pen.
I wish he were better at the major league level against lefties, but he is still decent. He won't return to AAA.
44. Diego Moreno. A strike out machine. 15 k/9 with only 1.5 BB/9 and a .70 WHIP. Look out bullpen this guy is a shoe in. Why not higher? Well, AA proved a bit much for him. I need to see success at that level for this 24 year old guy.
Time will tell on him. Time will tell. I have a bad feeling he will not make it to the pros.
45. Adalbeto Santos. Nice year, but where is he going to play defensively? He is small and already displaced in the infield and taking some outfield starts. If his bat stays good, he could be a good prospect, but he has yet to face pitching that includes a lot more than fastball location.
Just does not have a position. He still hits okay, but is not going to find a spot to play. Probably will fall off of this list.
46. Tim Alderson. He is 21 so I won’t throw him under the bus yet. But this kid’s psyche looks ruined. Biggest disappointment in the minor league system.
He is thriving in the pen. He has his curve back and gets results, but is in AA still. He is only 22 so it might be early to erase him from the list, but he is nothing to be excited for. Clearly not worth Freddy Sanchez.
47. Calvin Anderson. I thought he would be higher, but he collapsed in July. Never recovered.
Collapse continues. Won't make the next list.
48. Matt Hague. Not enough power for first base. 25 and at AA. Still hit enough to make this list.
Hague is still hitting. If he had some power he would be in the majors. Still might make the team as a lot of people are clamoring for it. Probably moves up the list.
49. Junior Sosa. A 20 year old who hit above .300 most of the year (.296 on August 28). Not showing power potential, but was 20 out of 26 in stolen base attempts. Some one to keep your eye on as he progresses through the system. Should gain a better eye with more experience.
Did not make the State College club. Not good.
50. Zachary Foster. I still like this kid. He is 23 in A ball, but he struck out 41 in 57 innings. Still 20 walks is a bit bad. And you cannot rank bullpen guys all that high. 5 saves and 2 holds. Finished 20 games.
His age makes him no longer a prospect. With new draft picks clearly he will fall off this board.

Here are the other people I listed.
Some people who are not on this list, but still could find their way on are Aaron Pribonic (strike out rate way too low), Brandon Crompton (This kid came in a pitched really well in his limited pro time but want to see more of him before I get too excited), Quincy Latimore (nice power, but his average is uninspiring), Gorkys Hernandez (this kid is running out of time), Kyle McPherson (great year, but is it for real?), Erik Fryer (good stats at catcher but 25 and in A+ lowers that some), Exicardo Cayonez (high potential, needs plate discipline), Jared Hughes (walk rate is too high. Strike out rate is okay at 6 K/9, but homer rate is a bit elevated. For a guy with 55% ground ball rate it is worrisome so many left the yard), Vincent Payne (drafted this year and had decent beginning), Jeremy Farrel (.868 OPS), Aaron Baker (18 HRs), and Kevin Decker (okay probably not, but he is a Southern Conference man, and I will give him homer attention!).
McPherson is on the 40 man and I didn't have him in the top 50. I still don't understand that move, but he is living up to it so far. Promoted to AA and doing okay. Baker is hitting for power still, but was skipped by Curry. Crompton will make the next list as he has been lights out after a slow start. Cayonez is justifying my leaving him off the 50 Prospects list. Demoted back to State College.

Double your pleasure

2011-07-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

It was double day, I suppose. Not just at bat. Walker had a couple of doubles. Jones had a big two run double. Presley had one. But Malholm also induced one double play in each of the first four innings, and one that they failed to turn. After the fourth Malholm really got into a groove and got more strike outs to end the day with 8 in the 8th. Resop and Veras finished it off.

It is the All Star break and the Pirates are 4 game over .500 and 1 out of first although two teams are tied for first. The Brewers have a run differential of -1, so they might be coming back a little in the second half. Let's hope.

The Cubs are the real mystery to me. That team is loaded with hitting. Ramirez and Soriano are actually hitting this year. Byrd is hitting, Castro is hitting and their All Star. They got a couple of new guys that are hitting near .300. Fukadome is not awful. Why is this team so bad?

I guess it is the pitching. Ramon Ortiz is a joke and pitched like one today. But still they have Zambrano and Dempster, so they should not be this awful. I really believe they should have hired Sandburg. The real bad thing for the Cubs fans is that this team is going to get worse before it gets better. Don't expect Byrd and Castro to be the beginning of something for the Cubs. They are still hamstrung by Soriano, and they have not yet begun to tear down this mess.

Tomorrow we will look at the draft again and some Latin American signings!

The Cubs went crazy . . . literally

2011-07-09T22:37:00.000-07:00

The first inning really told the whole story. The Pirates started off with a double by Presley and a base hit by d'Arnaud. Presley was sent home and was just thrown out. I don't have that big a problem. That is a team that wants to push it on the basepaths, and that is a team that was sure it would get more chances. Well, it looked worse when Walker got a hit in the next at bat. McCutchen then popped out and Overbay whiffed.
The bottom of the inning had Correia shaky with a walk and a double to put people on 2nd and 3rd. But he battled back with a grounder to third so no one could advance and a strike out made it look like the Pirates would escape. Instead, Marlin Byrd hit a grounder just out of Harrison's diving reach, but d'Arnaud did dive and get it. That stopped two runs from scoring, but there was no way to get Byrd, so one run did score. Then Correia uncorked a wild one to make sure that second run got home.

Correia was not bad, just not really hitting his spots. He gave up one more run in the second, and one more in the third. With two outs in the fourth he gave up one more on a grounder to Harrison at third and the runner beat the throw getting the run home. He was so close to getting out of jam after jam, but never really did. He walked more than normal and just seemed unable to get people out. Everything was a struggle.

Daniel McCutchen was very good in relief. Lerux made an appearance as he pitches for his spot on the 40. He is the latest in a string of try outs. Moskos pitched a nice 8th, but put the first two on in the ninth. Tony Watson came on and could not prevent the sac fly, but no further damage done. I like Moskos, and I still think he is a part of the future bullpen, but if Biemel is ready, I vote Moskos goes back down. He has to be able to get lefties out more consistently, at least.

McKenry had multiple hits and Presley had a double and a triple. But overall the Pirates just fizzled. Three runs was more than they really deserved because they just did not get the big hit. Even after a lead off triple by Presley they scored on an RBI groundout.

The real entertainment was the meltdown that is the Cubs. Quade the manager pinch hit for Dempster in the 6th. He was furious and went crazy. Yelling match, throwing stuff. Oh yeah. It was a bit of a strange decision. Dempster was doing okay, and had not yet thrown 90 pitches. He was on pace for a quality start. Dempster is probably their ace and the bullpen is no good and blew a game last night with their closer. So, hard to blame Dempster for being angry. I thought the Cubs should have hired Sandburg, and Quade is driving this team in the ground. Armaris threw his bat in the 9th. Who knows why. He swung and missed so it was not a bad call or anything. This team is awful. I cannot believe we lost to them.

McKenry's first a game winner

2011-07-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been awhile. I had company.

Tonight's game was brilliant. The Pirates battled back and then won it in the bottom of the 8th on McKenry's first career homer with a three run blast. His blast will obscure an amazing all around offensive night, especially from Josh Harrison, and cover up the poor outing from the pen.

The Pirates battled all night long. Every starter got a hit except Garret Jones, and he was taken out in a double switch in the 6th, so he did not get as many chances. Xavier Paul who replaced him did get a hit, so the position did get a hit. The Pirates were down 0-1 in the first inning, but came back to take a 2-1 lead in the 3rd. They fell behind again in the 6th 2-3, but in the bottom of the inning tied it up. The top of the 8th they dropped behind again 3-4, but the Pirates pulled a nice rally out to win 7-4 after Hanrahan closed down another.

Unbelievable night. McKenry should be happy. He took a hanging slider and did what major league hitters ought to do, punish it. However, let us not forget that the game was already tied up thanks to Josh Harrison. Harrison, who went 3 for 4, singled in the tying run with 2 outs. Presley had a 2 for 3 night and McCutchen went deep. Really a pretty good night over all.

Except for the bullpen. Jose Veras was bad. He did not seem to have his normal velocity, and just got beat. Resop allowed his inherited runners to score in the 6th, and came back out to get two outs in the 7th, but had to be removed because he got into another jam. Tony Watson got the only guy he was asked to get, as did Daniel McCutchen. Hanrahan was filthy of course, but Veras and Resop need to produce down the stretch if the Pirates are going to win this division.

At one point tonight it looked like the NL Central lead was up for grabs. The Pirates were tied, the Cards were tied, and the Brewers were tied. Then it looked as if the Pirates would be in first as the Brewers were losing by 2, the Cards by 4. But the Brewers found a way to come back and beat the stupid Reds. Still, the Cards lost and the Pirates are a force going into the All-Star break.

Unwritten rules

2011-06-30T22:33:00.000-07:00

The Pirates won. They hit fairly well tonight. Everyone who started got a hit except McHenry the catcher. At least I think that is his name, they change so often. Presley got a triple as did Overbay (actually a double with a one base error). Both scored. The Pirates were able to get this big win with Walker getting the night off. Harrison did well in his absence and the decision to play Wood as the DH payed off nicely as Wood hit a big two run blast.

Karsten did give up two solo home runs. Both in the same inning separated by one out. Still, he made seven innings and pitched a normal game for him. He is becoming a reliable starter. He does not have the stuff Ohlendorf has, but he gets results by simply not throwing balls. The difference between Karstens last year and this year boils down to two things. One is a better defense behind him. Karstens makes the hitters beat him, and the defense then sees action. Last year we stunk at defense. This year we are better. Two is that Karstens has been a starter and his arm is stretched out a little more. Karstens had been in the bullpen the entire season two years ago. When he was called upon to be the starter he had a real wall on pitches and innings. You could bet in the 5th he weakened and by the 6th he was done. Good ole JR never saw it and always left him in long enough to hang him with a loss. This year he does not have that limit or that limit is higher. Whether it is because his arm is stretched out or because he focused on getting more endurance in the offseason is hard to know. Perhaps a combo of both. Still it has made all the difference in the world.

The big news is the punch to Matt Diaz on a double play break up slide given by Escobar. Apparently there was a gentlemen's disagreement about a slide Diaz took on Tuesday. Escobar thought it was spikes up, Diaz thought it okay. The unwritten rule about breaking up double plays is hard slides are allowed in the play is close. If the throw is away the slide is not a take out, if not then breaking it up is accepted. Spikes are different story. Spikes are frowned upon more these days than they used to be. Mostly now spiking is reserved for someone who is blocking the bag. A few years ago Rays short stop Jason Bartlett dropped his leg to cover second because the slide was always head first from some runner, whose name I can't remember. Spikes are a way to ensure that sort of thing does not occur. This is not a problem on a double play because they are not blocking a bag. So if Diaz went in spikes up, then he probably deserved some retribution.
The accepted retribution is a low throw above his head. Baserunners are supposed to slide into second and not block the throw. A middle infielder can get even by dropping his arm angle and buzzing the runners head. Escobar felt he should do this to get even. Well, Escobar then violates the rule because he kept dropping the arm. Diaz clearly goes lower to avoid the buzz, and Escobar never throws the ball. Instead he drops so low that he whacks Diaz in the stomach with the ball. Note in the photo Diaz gets a kick in of his own on the play. Probably not an accident despite his claim. Hard tags with the ball are used, but usually they are in the glove. Escobar appears to have gone for the buzz throw and decided instead to whack. Probably a bit of a mistake on his part. It also of course broke up the double play.

It is a little bit of a shame that this is it for the Blue Jays. Escobar's next at bat would have been interesting.

I hate the Blue Jays

2011-06-30T15:09:00.000-07:00

I always have. Joe Carter's shot still makes me sick.

The Pirates played good enough to win but did not. Malholm worked out of a lot of jams, but gave up two runs and that was enough to lose. The Pirate made some base running mistakes, but really just did not get the big hit. The hitting was more the problem than the base running. Bautista threw out Walker at home one a chopper in the infield. It was worth the try. Diaz got caught in a run down while Overbay scored. This one was bad as it ran us out of a rally. Cedano hit a bloop base hit. Overbay was waved home from second and looked like he was going to score. It appears as if Diaz stops completely at second and then starts up again. So either he missed a sign, or wanted to get in a run down to score Overbay, although Overbay appeared to score without trouble. Diaz needs to make the decision faster. Still he kept the rundown going long enough to get Cedano to second with only one out. No hits behind it. That was the real problem. One more base hit and Cedano scores. The third one was Jones slipping while trying to steal. That is technically bad baserunning because slipping is not recommended. He tried to get back to first and got thrown out. That stuff happens sometime.

The problem is that we are now counting a lot on newbies and bench players. Diaz and Jones are both playing because Tabata is out. Presley is new. d'Arnaud is new. Our catchers are new. That is too many new guys and 4th outfielders having to play consistent good baseball.

The Pirates don't need to go get help at the trading deadline. They just need to get healthy. The addition of Doumit alone would really help this line up. Tabata as well. Alvarez would also jump start something in all probability. Meek might help make Veras available as a trading piece if we want one, but overall the Pirates just need guys to stay healthy.

I like today's line up. Wood DH, d'Arnaud and Harrison and Presley all playing. You might as well do it to see what they can do. Wood played in the AL so maybe he can have some experience hitting on some of these guys.

By the way the GCL Pirates won today and Jared Lakind got his first hit. Joey Schoenfeld also got a hit. Overall there are some good players in the GCL, but I wish these two guys would step it up a little.

Call up and Pirate wins

2011-06-28T21:16:00.000-07:00

It is good to beat the Blue Jays and Jose Bautista. He stunk when he was a Pirate. Now he hits 54 homers for the Blue Jays. Well tonight showed one reason why. The Sky Dome is a launching pad. Alex Presley got a homer as did Bautista and Encarnacion and McCutchen. Not exactly power guys. I know no one else is saying it but Bautista's numbers are too strange to not be suspicious. He ought to be drug tested often and for the good stuff.

But that ugly subject is better forgotten since the Pirates won. d'Arnaud had been doing well since his call up. Josh Harrison is coming back since Tabata got hurt. And Presley went 2 for 5 with 3 RBIs. Even if the Pirates do not find a trading partner they are getting a real good shot in the arm from their farm system. It has been a long time since that was true. McCutchen and Walker both got RBIs tonight showing that the big guns still work and even Matt Diaz went crazy tonight with 3 hits including an RBI triple that scored Overbay. So really everyone was in on this win.

Speaking of the farm system. The Pirates got a great performance from Colton Cain, and a base hit from Pedro Alvarez in a rehab start. Kyle McPhearson was also very good tonight with lots of strikeouts. Jordy Mercer made his first start in AAA and he went 1 for 4, but had 2 strikeouts.

The next guy that needs to get promoted is Starling Marte. He is killing AA right now. He went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles tonight.

What is wrong in State College?

2011-06-22T21:18:00.001-07:00

First things first, the Pirates beat Baltimore to win the series and return to .500. They are just 3 games out going into a day off and a scary series versus the Boston Red Sox.

Today the topic is the State College Spikes, the Pirates A- minor league team. They were shut out the second night in a row and held to 3 hits. They have just one win to their credit and are an absolute disaster on offense. Nick Kingham did a lot to remove worries about his abilities by going 5 giving up 1 run and striking out 8. A nice recap can be found at Pirate Prospects.

A quick look at the stats shows that of those people with 10 ABs only two appear able to hit. Derek Trent is hitting .286 and Samuel Gonzalez is hitting .500 with an OPS over 1. Other than that the next best hitter is Carlos Mesa at .222. There are 6 players below .200 and 3 below .100 with the requisite number of ABs. Only 1 HR has been hit so far. This is not a good start.

The question is why such a slow start to the offense? Is this just what happens when you only draft 4 seniors, 2 of whom are pitchers, and one of whom just played his first game tonight where he went 1 for 4. Derek Trent is the other, and he was one of the hitters with an acceptable average.
But this cannot be the whole answer as a few college juniors are struggling like Brian Sharp and 10th round pick Taylor Lewis. Plus, some of these guys were fairly well regarded prospects coming in such as Exicardo Cayones, who is hitting below .100 right now. Cayones is easily the biggest prospect on this team and he is currently 1 for 11 with 5 strikeouts. That is not good.

I know that this is early in the season, and that many more prospects will be showing up such as hopefully Alex Dickerson (3rd round pick), or maybe Dan Gamache (6th round), who should help the offense quite a bit. But, has been 6 games, and this is not a promising start. This team is not going to win when only 3 players are hitting (Justin Bencsko is one AB short, but will be at least a .300 hitter when he gets that 10th AB). Cayones and Lewis are the two who need to start hitting and hitting now. Wes Freeman ought to be hitting as well. He is 21 and has had enough minor league experience that he ought to be hitting. He is hitting .214 and has that lone homer, but that is not good enough for a guy who has this much experience in the minors.

No matter how you look at it, this is not a good start. While it is too early to panic. The Pirates are going to need a wave of bats, and some of these guys are going to have to figure out how to do it.

They will be okay

2011-06-21T22:23:00.000-07:00

The Pirates just stopped a tail spin and are no longer above .500. I have not been able to keep up because of vacation, visits, and the College World Series. Yes, I got to go to a couple of games. Good stuff, but no Pirate Prospects there to watch.

Since my absence Luis Heredia and Stetson Allie both made their pro debuts. Both went only 2.1 innings and both got beat around a bit. However, there is no need to panic. Both actually had some encouraging signs.

Allie was first, and he did strike a few guys out. His first two innings were really okay. He even had a 1-2-3 inning in the second. It was the third that was the problem. He was unable to work around the trouble he was in, got a little wild and got the hook. Still not too bad for a guy who should be a freshman in college against college seniors. Even Taillon was shaky in first game.

Luis Heredia who is still 16 was next. He did not strike anyone out, which was disappointing. But, he too did not give up any runs until the third inning. However, in his 7 outs, 6 were ground ball outs. That is a good sign. He is going to get a lot of chances against these much older guys. Expect good things from Luis.

The one to worry about is Nick Kingham. He was not encouraging at all in his big State College opener. Again, one game is nothing, but I was hoping for more. A low 90's lefty with the possibility of gaining some velocity is always exciting. It just did not materialize in his first outing.

On a more positive note, the PIrates are signing a lot of people. They even inked a High School pitcher already. 4th round pick Colton Brewer has signed, and hopefully will start appearing in some GCL games this year. 3 of the top 10 picks are already on board. All 4 of the seniors are on board and a couple of others. I am impressed at the speed the Pirates are attacking this draft. Of course the big fish will not land until the 15th of August, but still it is a good sign to see them get some high picks in already.

Above .500? You bet!

2011-06-15T22:07:00.000-07:00

The Astros were a real pain to us last year, so it is good to see us taking care of business against them this year. We put up 7 runs and won 7-3 despite a so-so outing from Morton. He got the win, but he thrown 100 pitches by the 5th inning. Yet, there were some real positives to take from this game.

1. Walker got back on track. He plated McCutchen with a two out triple, and then Diaz with a two-out single. Nice to see him get a multi-hit game again.

2. Tabata getting better. Tabata's bat is coming around. In addition, he threw out a guy at home. He was called safe, but they nailed him. It was a nice throw, nice tag, and that guy was out.

3. Daniel McCutchen had a good outing. Daniel McCutchen came in and did a nice job. He has had a few rough outings in a row, but he got the hold, and looked pretty good doing it. I think he is going to be the long guy of the future for this team.

The Pirates minor leagues continue to look impressive as well. Brandon Crumpton must be lobbying for a call up to High A because he dominated tonight for WV. Matt Curry had a good game continuing to impress in AA, as did Jordy Mercer. I think Mercer might get a call up to AAA and DArnaud get the move to the bigs if Harrison ends up on the DL.

Spikes

2011-06-14T09:46:00.001-07:00

Okay, the MLB site was completely wrong. How can they be that wrong. I don't know, but I won't make that mistake again.

The current Spikes roster is up. Expect a few more as I think two seniors have yet to sign. Taylor Lewis has since signed and will be here. Dan Gamanche has singed, but is not listed here. I expect he will go straight to West Virginia because Eric Avilia is horrible there. A spot is clearly open for him in WV.

The people to watch are of course Allie, but also Kingham, and Hafner in the rotation. I will also be watching Matthew Benedict, 30th round this year, because he is from the Southern Conference.

At the plate, we need to watch first and foremost Exicardo Cayones. Taylor Lewis ought to also be interesting to see. Michaelangel Trinidad is also one to keep an eye upon, and Brian Sharp is a 24th round guy. I will be watching Derek Trent because I grew up watching ETSU baseball. They used to be SoCon. I will watch him out of loyalty.

Som real good guys on this list. I like it. Looking forward to seeing the Spikes start up.

Malholm wins, Big time series

2011-06-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

Malholm won for the Pirates. Walker got more RBI's and Wood hit a long ball. Tim Wood was good, and Hanrahan nailed it down again. He probably will be the All Star representative. In the end, this was a disappointing split for the Pirates. They are better than the Mets and have to take care of them. Still, we had a weak group with no real catcher and Harrison getting hurt as well. McCutchen sat this game out for a day of rest, although he pinch hit, got a hit and helped the Pirates hold on to win.

Michael McHenry is our new catcher. He looked okay. It is unclear who we have given up for this guy, but I will take what I can get at this point. Let us hope he can add something.

These next two series are very important for the Pirates. The Cardinals have been slumping. Despite a bad series the Pirates are only 5 games out. The Astros are horrible. We have to beat them. The Indians are above .500, but are slumping and we can take advantage of that. If we can get a good 4 out of 6 or even better 5 out of 6, we will be above .500 and making a series run at the post season.

I like it. Give me more.

Signings

2011-06-13T06:24:00.000-07:00

It turns out the Pirates lost Sunday. I was sick so I saw none of it. We didn't score and despite the seven runs, I heard Correia pitched pretty well.

The Pirates are getting a new catcher according to reports. AAA catcher from the Red Sox who appears to have played AAA last year for the Rockies. He is probably a little better than what we have now and can push Dusty Brown back to a back up. The Pirates need to try something because they are really offensively weak right now. Harrison was out today because of tightness, so that leaves only three decent hitters in the line up: Tabata, McCutchen, and Walker. Walker has been slumping a bit lately, so that narrows the list even more. Overbay has a hint of power, but only hits .230. Cedano, Wood, Brown, and Diaz are a joke. And even if Jones is playing for Diaz he only becomes a sort of power threat like Overbay. Paul is actually the best hitter of the three right now. Let us hope that this catcher can do some hitting.

That report also mentions the first signing of the draft. Dan Gamache is on board and will start the season with the Spikes. Now they have a third baseman. The Pirates had a very high opinion of this guy, so I am interested in what he will do.

Short Season A and Rookie League Ball talk - UPDATE

2011-06-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

It should be about a week before the short season teams start. Right now the whole rosters have not been put out, but it looks like the GCL Pirates in Rookie League are going to be very exciting.

They currently have listed as on their team Stetson Allie and Luis Heredia. If that were not enough Nick Kingham and Ryan Hafner are on this squad. I will be watching these guys a lot. Bryan Trepagnier and Kevin Kleis are familiar names also on staff. Another interesting name, not so much because he is a prospect, is Sheng-Cin Hong from Taiwan.

I am not so sure about the non pitchers on this roster. I am not sure that they are all right because they include some people you would expect to be at a higher level this year like Junior Sosa and Joey Schoenfeld. Still you probably should expect to see Jared Lakind playing first base, so that hitters will be not be all unknowns.

The State College Spikes have a much more trustworthy looking semi-roster up. They have Zack Dodson on their staff. He is probably just waiting for someone to depart West Virginia because he was not bad there, but he is the odd man out in that crowded rotation. Logan Pevny and James Archibald join Dodson on that staff along with lesser known names like Mitchel Fienemann for Australia who will be a starter, and Joely Rodriguez who had a fairly successful stint in the Rookie League last year. He will probably start. They only have four position players on the roster right now two catchers: Miguel Mendez and Matthew Skirving, making it seem more probable that Schoenfeld will be in the GCL. And short stop Walter Gourley, a 2009 draftee, and Jodaneli Carvajal who seems to be making a leap from the DSL and playing second. You can expect a few quick signings to probably bolster this team including: Brian Sharp, SS, 21st round; Derek Trent, C, 31st round; and I think that the Pirates will also get Taylor Lewis, OF, fairly fast despite him being a junior. There are some others that I am unsure whether they are juniors or seniors right off hand, and I am too lazy to look it up. But eventually this team will include Daniel Gamache, 3B, and Alex Dickerson, OF/1B, and then they will be something to watch in the hitting department.

A lot of good stuff to watch here. Hoping we get a few signings soon. I am breaking out into cold sweats waiting for this stuff.

UPDATE:
According to Jennifer Langosh the Pirates have assigned Stetson Allie to State College, not to GCL Rookie league. This is more in line with where expectations would have had him. Now the only thing to figure out is why they have him on the Roster for the GCL Pirates at MLB.com. Either way this is good news for the Pirate organization. I was a little worried that his control issues were not going well for him to start in Rookie League.

Also the Pirates drafted 4 total seniors, who should all sign fairly quickly and be at State College. I remembered two, who the other two are escapes me right now.

Losing streak over

2011-06-11T18:51:00.000-07:00

McDonald got a quality start, which just goes to show you that the Quality Start stat is not so revealing. He was shaky. But it is a very encouraging sign that the Pirates could win a game where their pitching was so shaky. Last year their defense would never have been able to pull together this win. Remember that this game was played with Harrison at short, Wood at third and fifth string catcher Wyatt Torregas behind the plate. Not a one of that group was on the 40 man roster to start the season. All necessitated by injuries. Tim Wood, who pitched a nice inning of relief, fits that category as well. This was a really good win because Charlie Morton had his first "Old Morton" outing when he gave up a ton of runs in the fourth. Let's hope that the starting pitching can turn it around again because they have been carrying this team, and with Snyder out, they will have to continue to do so.

On the bright side, Harrison is hitting well. Tabata seems to be finding his stroke again. And while Walker is tailing off, he still gets involved in the offense. His walk turned into a run today. McCutchen is also now consistently good.

A series win is possible tomorrow, so let's go Bucs!

Pirates dominate, but have to edge out a 12th inning win

2011-06-08T20:17:00.000-07:00

The Pirates beat around the D-Backs, but ended up in extra innings clawing for their life. They did get the win thanks to the big guns stepping up as they should. But, they get to .500.

The great news is that the big three bats all played big. McCutchen had multiple hits including the walk-off homer, plus a sac fly for the first RBI of the game. He scored the second run and the third as well. Tabata had a four hit night, scored the first run of the game. Walker had the worst night of the three, but got the clutch base hit in the bottom of the 10th when the Pirates were down 2-1, and things looked bad. So he pulled out an important RBI.

Maholm was also solid. I say solid and not great because he walked 3 guys, but only gave up one hit. Pitch count seemed a little high after 6 when he left with a 1-0 lead. Resop did a good inning. Veras gave up the tying run, but Tony Watson bailed Veras out of the 8th inning. Watson looked good inherited 2 runners and they did not move as he struck out both batters. Moskos was not so good tonight. His slider seemed off. He gave up the run in the 10th after Hanrahan worked a clean 9th. Moskos did get of the inning with only one run, which looked real bad for a minute. Daniel McCutchen pitched the 11th and the 12th and looked bad doing it. He was in trouble both innings. He had to get out of a 1st and 3rd one out jam, and did it. He had people on base the next inning as well. I think Clint was going to stick with him because the bullpen was getting thin.

Bad things did happen. The Pirates racked up 15 hits in 12 innings and only walked away with 3 runs. That is not good. Lots of guys left on base. Chris Snyder got hurt, or at least left the game. That means Dusty Brown is the starter and Matt Diaz the back up catcher. If it is serious then Eric Fryer is probably going to make the majors.

On a side note, the Pirates promoted Kyle McPhearson to AA. Matt Curry was promoted a few weeks ago. This is the beginning of moving up some guys that need to move up. Starling Marte maybe first on that list. Also Sanchez might need to be promoted to AAA soon. Will Taillon get moved up to High A to take McPhearson's starting spot? Someone from West Virginia ought to go up, it is too crowded down there. Crumpton? Waldron? Both would be good candidates. And don't look now, but Robbie Grossman is not fading in June. He is up to .276 and most impressively he went 1 for 2 today with 3 walks. 3 WALKS. If you are familiar with Grossman it is unheard of for him to walk 3 times in one game. No strikeouts is an accomplishment for him, but 3 walks? Wow.

As for day 3 of the draft, it is mostly people who will not sign or are organizational depth. Just so you know who you will see in State College soon, here are the seniors drafted.
31. Derek Trent - C - lefty that can play outfield as well. Only real person to watch taken today.
33. Christ Lashmet - 3B - from Northwestern

Those are the guys that are shoe-ins because they are seniors. There are several prep players, I can't imagine many of them signing. There are one or two other guys that were from a junior college or long shot signs from college. You will see a few of them like maybe Jonathan Schwind the 41st round pick. He is a junior from Marist, and he might go to the Pirates. We will see.

Draft 2nd Day

2011-06-07T22:17:00.000-07:00

A lot of great picks today. Tomorrow's draft will be a lot less exciting, but I am going to break down today's group into three categories. Signings to watch, players to watch, and the organizational depth. I will put what round they were drafted in before their name.

The Signings to Watch are guys that could have high expectations and might be hard to sign. The more of this group we sign the better the over all draft.
1. Garrit Cole. - I put him here simply because he is important must sign. He will, but it won't be until the last minute.
2. Josh Bell - He is going to be amazingly hard to sign. If he does this is a great draft.
7. Jake Burrnette - hard throwing right handed high school arm
8. Jason Creasey - hard throwing right handed high school arm
9. Clay Holmes - hard throwing right handed high school arm. Top 200 prospect.
12. Candon Miles - center fielder with real speed. I hope this one signs.
13. Brandon Platte - hard throwing right handed high school arm. Probably getting to the range where the Pirates don't try if they have to spend a lot on the higher picks.
13. Jordan Dunatov - high school center fielder. Probably goes to college because he will go higher the next time he is in the draft.
15. Kody Watts - hard throwing right handed high school arm. Top 200 Prospect. Throws a splitter. Pirates will probably try to throw cash at Kody. Signing him would be a great sign.
16. Eric Skoglund - hard throwing LEFT handed high school arm
17. Aaron Brown - can throw 90 MPH, but also plays outfield. Probably won't sign. Going to Pepperdine.
19. Taylor Nunez - projectable high school arm. Not as hard throwing but could be.
26. Nicolas Flair - short stop from high school. Probably won't sign, but if he does it could be interesting to see him in the middle infield.
28 - Brandon Zajac - hard throwing LEFT handed high school arm. There is just not enough money to go around.

Players to Watch are guys who are probably going to sign and will be fun to watch in the short season ball. These guys might have a future in the pros.
3. Alex Dickerson - this guy has really bad defense and will never be ranked better than he is now. He will be above slot, but will sign. Good bat, so he should put up some numbers at State College.
4. Colten Brewer - hard throwing right handed high school arm. Get used to that phrase. Should sign.
5. Taylor Glasnow - hard throwing right handed high school arm. The kid is enormous and not filled out. Has no real secondary stuff, but wow. I like this pick. Some are saying he will sign for slot.
10. Taylor Lewis - good hitting outfielder from University of Maine. All time triples leader.
11. Jo-El Bennett-Lowe - outfielder who can hit from high school. I put him in this category because a commitment to Troy State is what he has. I think he wants to play pro-ball. Pirates will probably try to sign him.
6. Daniel Gamache - an out of no where pick from Auburn. 3B. He hit .299 and has a decent .414 OBP. The Pirates saw something, so he is worth watching.

Orgainzational Depth are the guys that probably sign on, but are not really worth following as they have little to get excited over.
18. Josh Poytress - drafted out of high school two rounds higher than now. Left handed pitching depth.
21. Alex Fuselier - outfielder. Senior, so he is signing.
22. Michael Jefferson - left handed pitcher.
24. Brian Sharp - 23 years old. SS. Can go back, but I doubt it. He will be in State College.
25. Josh Martin - hard throwing right hander from college. Could go back. Bullpen guy.
29. Kirk Singer - SS. Good defense.
30. Matthew Benedict - college senior. Right handed pitcher. Although as a SoCon Player, I will be watching Benedict.

Guys I don't think will come at all:
20. Trea Turner - short stop. Someone has to play there. But I doubt that the Pirates try hard with him.
23: Jordan Cooper - He can go back, but the Pirates drafted him higher out of high school. I think he goes back.
27. Ryan Hornbeck - I think he will not be pursued, and I think he could increase his stock after some SEC ball. Catcher.

There was a game today?

2011-06-07T22:08:00.000-07:00

In all the excitement about the draft don't miss an important series against the D-Backs, who are the hottest team in baseball. And the Pirates had a great come from behind win tonight. The Pirates managed three runs off of the D-Back starter Haren, but it was only on three hits, and really McCutchen was out at home on a sac fly. Really bad call by the ump. Then after Correia ended up giving up four runs and the Pirates trailed 3 to 4. Meek is having problems again. Velocity down for the second straight outing. He did try to go two innings and in the second one ran into a mess of trouble including giving up a solo home run. Resop bailed him out of more. Before Meek was another great inning by Moskos. Then the first D-Back reliever was just awful. He threw lots of strikes (except for a semi-intential walk to McCutchen), and all his pitches were up. That is a dangerous combo. The Pirates hit him hard. First a Garrett Jones (pinch hitting) got a double. Then Tabata doubled home Jones. Single by Harrison to tie the game. Harrison's hit was a two strike pitch after a failed bunt attempt. Paul got another single, then the walk to McCutchen to load the bases, and a quick 3-0 count to Overbay. Overbay was taking all the way and it was a strike. Then the 3-1 was down for what he had been throwing all night, but it was not low enough and Overbay laced a double to the center field wall clearing the bases. That was it for that guy, and then Hanrahan nailed it down.

The Pirates called up Tony Watson and Designated for Assignment Jose Ascino. Good move. It is time to see what Watson can do. i am a firm believer in the 2 lefty bullpen, and Ascino has no real future with the team. He is one of the guys that had to be moved off of the 40 man anyway to make room for the flood of guys coming this off season. Might as well move him now and see what Tony can do.

The Pirates play is important between now and August 15th. Some of these draft picks have never seen the Pirates have a winning season. They need to be convinced that the Pirates are almost there and are a real winner now.

First Five Round and the dramatic 6th round

2011-06-07T11:56:00.001-07:00

The Pirates have a very aggressive draft so far. In addition to Garrit Cole the Pirates have drafted the following.

1. Cole
2. Bell - High School switch hitter demeaning 6 mil with Boras as an advisor and Texas as a destination
3. Alex Dickerson - Junior from Indiana great bat horrible defense.
4. Colten Brewer - hard throwing High Schooler
5. Tyler Glasnow - hard throwing High Schooler with no other developed pitches.

and the 6th round guy where it had been Grossman and Von Rosenburg they take Daniel Gamache, who is a third baseman from Auburn. 7th round is Jake Burnett, a High Schooler pitcher from Georgia.

So, the Pirates have potential to have a real great draft with 3 top 50 talents (first three round guys) and two in the top 20. Amazing. But Bell is going to be a very difficult sign, and Dickerson will cost a little money, but probably signs if the Pirates have the money. Glasnow looks like a singable guy, but a project. So we are looking at a good group of guys, but not necessarily a very cheap draft.

If Bell goes to Texas as the guys on MLB.com think he will, then the Pirates have a problem. It is an aggressive move, but one that can be very rewarding.

Garrett Cole it is!

2011-06-07T06:35:00.000-07:00

The Pirates picked Garrett Cole as the first overall pick in the 2011 draft. Cole is a college pitcher for UCLA who was actually a 28th pick of the first round for the Yankees coming out of high school. He is having a down year at UCLA, but his ERA is still just over 3. Low walk total shows he has good command. High strikeouts. In fact his fast ball is 91-98 consistently at 95-96. He has a plus change up, and a plus slider that both go about 88-90. Maybe some room to slow down that change a bit more. The guy is a potential ace, and should start at least in High A next year. Many have said that it he could show up in the majors after a year of minor league ball.

The other guy many wanted Anthony Rendon shocked the world by falling all the way to the Nationals at 6. Cost that kid a lot of money. Oddly enough the Mariners went with a pitcher, and Danny Hultzen in fact. Hultzen is good and close to the majors as well, but is not a real ace. A great 3 and a strong 2, but not an ace.

I would have been happy with Rendon or Cole. The others worried me a bit, but overall all top 6 guys are going to be good.

Now the fun begins. Seeing who the Pirates can steal in the next couple of rounds. has a list of Top 50 rated guys left. This pick is a protected pick meaning that they get the 62nd overall pick next year if they fail to sign this year's 62nd overall pick. So expect the Pirates to go for Josh Bell or Daniel Norris. Bell a power hitting switching hitting outfielder who is asking for 6.25 Mil. Norris is the third best left handed pitcher in the draft, and is asking for around 3 Mil.

I favor picking Norris, as I think he would be an easier sign. 6.25 million is insane. Taillon got that. Even if that is a starting point. That is going to end up being first round money. I would rather try spreading it around to a few more high schoolers later in the draft to get quantity over quality. Plus, Norris will still be a great pick.

I love beating the Phillies

2011-06-04T21:37:00.000-07:00

Clearly the Phillies are the best team in the NL, but right now they are the second best team in PA. The Pirates have won their series after surviving Cole Hammels, and beating the 5th starter, who is Kendrick for this week at any rate. Morton settled down after giving up a first inning run, and the Pirates offense responded immediately with McCutchen knocking in Tabata on an infield hit, who led off with a double, and was moved to third by a bunt by Paul. Overbay then banged one off of the Clemente wall to grab a lead.

All in all Morton did well. He limited early damage and kept the Phillies in the park. Good job by Charlie. I am officially impressed and a believer in his turn-around. Hanrahan made it far too interesting in the 9th loading the bases, and giving up a run on a Palanco single. I am ready to see Palanco leave town. He has hurt the Pirates on offense as well as defense. But Joel did get the next guy to end the game.

McCutchen, Overbay, and Wood had great games. Multiple hits for Overbay and McCutchen, although Overbay's triple was really a single with a 2 base error, but that is modern score keeping for you. Wood homered, which is a real good thing to see as Alvarez is not ready yet. In fact, he is still not doing anything other than hitting and running to first. I don't think we are going to see much of Alvarez this year.

The Pirates go for the sweep and a return to .500 Sunday. However, they also return to the Phillies Rotation of Death. We will see how it goes.

Lose when you ought to win, Win when you ought to lose

2011-06-03T21:47:00.001-07:00

The Pirates had a strange couple of days. The Pirates showed a lot of punch against the Mets and in the final game trying to win 3 of 4 from the Mets. They put 3 quick runs in the 1st. 3 more in the third, and added another in the 4th for good measure to go into the bottom of the 4th with a 7-0 lead and Paul Malholm pitching. Paul had trouble getting the third out sometimes. He gave up a 2-out 3 run shot to Beltran in the 4th, but recovered to put up a blank 5th. Then with 2 outs in the 6th the wheels came off. The inning ended with a tie at 7. The bullpen failed, especially Jose Veras as he gave up two more runs. Neil Walker did manage to plate another run so that they only lost by a run. Unbelievable.

Today the Pirates opened a big homestand against the Phillies. Cole Hamels was brillant. He gave up 1 hit in 8 innings. However, he had one hiccup in the 6th to give away a run. Hammels walked Cedano, gave up a sac bunt to Karstens. Then uncorked a wild pitch that moved up Cedano. Tabata started his fun with a sac fly to tie the game. No hits, but one run in the inning. This one went into extra innings until Tabata plated Xavier Paul with a single. Tabata had missed a chance to plate the winning run in the 10th as he was just thrown out at first while Ciraco crossed the plate. He redeemed himself in the 12th. Game over. Pirates win.

Karstens was great and went 7 innings and into 90 pitches I believe. This game was super exciting as both teams had great pitching and great defense. Nice win.

I do think it is time to call up Brad Lincoln as he had a nice outing again, but maybe we ought to make him a pinch hitter. Lincoln is hitting .333 at Indy and was 2 for 2 tonight with a double and a triple. Nice stuff.

Around the World, the Pirates get better

2011-06-01T14:03:00.001-07:00

I just thought I would take a quick moment to talk about one of the ways the Pirates have gotten better as an organization. And if the new collective bargaining makes it tough to sign over the slot, this is the most important ways the Pirates are better: International Signings.

I write this now because Danny Arribas is about to start playing in the DSL. Arribas plays catcher, third base, and outfield. He was a signee from the Netherlands.

The Pirates will also be returning Dovydas Neverauskas in the Rookie League this year. He is from Lithuania and throws 93-94. Plus he is only 17 and he is 6'3". Thus, a very projectable pitcher. Worth a shot.

The Pirates have in the recent past signed guys from India, China, and a pitcher from Japan who briefly played in the majors.

This is all in addition to the improvement in the traditional gold mine of Central America. Luis Heredia is the best position. The Pirates missed out on, but were in the running with Miguel Sano. However they won the Heredia sweepstakes. He will be in the GCL this year.

The Pirates have had some guys show up like Diego Moreno and Eric Avila (although he is struggling now), who have shown signs of producing. This is important for long term success as good team don't draft first overall.

Matt Curry and Minor League notes

2011-05-31T22:27:00.001-07:00

The Pirates had a great come back win to stop their mini-slide. Good to see. However with the draft upcoming, I have to admit that I am enjoying the minor leagues a little more right now. Although major league debuts from Dusty Brown and Josh Harrison resulted in hits for both. Harrison in fact had the game tying RBI.

Matt Curry is the big news. He made the jump from A ball where he was hitting .370 or so to AA. Big move, but in two games he is hitting .250 with a hit and a run in each game so far. Howard will now get some field time. I think this was a good move by the Pirates, and I think it means Matt Curry is going to go to the Arizona Fall League. You have to get exceptions if they are not in AA. Now Curry qualifies and they can beg exceptions on other players like Victor Black.

That is right Victor Black is back in West Virginia and pitched two nice one inning outings. Joining Victor in the WV bullpen is Vincent Payne a late round pick last year. He did briefly make an appearance at State College, but spent most of the time in Rookie League.

Drew Maggi has returned to the land of prospects. He had one of the worse Aprils I have ever seen. But in May he is hitting .252, and he is walking more as well. He is hitting .270 in his last 10.

Eric Fryer has moved up to Indy while Dusty Brown is in the majors thanks to an untimely injury to Ryan Doumit. He got a hit in his first game, but was hitless today. It is worth keeping an eye on him.

The VSL and DSL have started. Last year signee Dilsen Herrea has hit safely in every game now (I believe that is correct). He looks very good with the stick. He hit his 5th double today.

Last year's draft keeps looking better and better. Taillon is amazing. Mel Rojas started slow, but is hitting now. Brandon Crumpton is on fire. Literally blazing through hitters. Tyler Waldron is also showing he has decent stuff. Curry is already in AA. Maggi is coming around. Justin Howard has been near .300 all year. And best of all is Daniel Grovatt. He is hitting .300 as well and drawing a lot of walks. We have not even seen Allie, Lakind, or Penvy yet this year. And even the guys who are really just minor league depth like Kevin Decker are pitching well.

Malholm Complete Game Shut out

2011-05-28T16:18:00.001-07:00

Paul Malholm had one of the most dominate games I have ever seen. He went the entire game throwing only 91 pitches. Over 75% of his pitches were for strikes. He gave up only 3 hits. One of them was with 2 strikes and 2 outs in the ninth. It was a great game. In addition to Malholm, every Pirate starter got a hit. Wood came into the game for Pearce and Wood failed to get a hit. Pearce already had one. Pearce had stiffness in his leg apparently. It was also a homerun derby that allowed the 10 run out burst. Ronny Cedano hit a three run shot. Overbay whacked one. McCutchen got one for two runs. And Snyder hit another.

Before Pearce got hurt, I was going to make the argument that it is time to get him in the game regularly. Pearce got his RBI hit today against a right handed pitcher. He can hit the lefites and he is showing he can hit the righties as well. Now, I am not trying to say Pearce ought to take the place of Alvarez, but I am saying that we ought to trade Overbay while we can and let Pearce have first base by himself. He is hitting in the .290's. Overbay is hitting in the .230's. Maybe we would be giving up a little power, but maybe Pearce would go up in power if he hit everyday. Even if he does not, we are not giving up too much power. Just a little defense. But I am willing to do that for a prospect.

The Pirates had a big offensive night in AA as well. Holt, Sanchez, and Marte look great down there as does Farrell. Mercer is coming on, and they all had hits to save Aaron Thomson from a bad outing. Tim Alderson has a sub-1 ERA out of the pen and this two nights in a row that he has had a scoreless inning. He may have a future coming out of the pen.

Beating up the Cubs, and other great news

2011-05-27T17:59:00.001-07:00

The Pirates won the afternoon game with the Cubs thanks to 7.1 innings from Correia. The Cubs did not score until Biemel walked a guy and gave up a homer to Soriano in the 9th. Hanrahan came in and struck out the side to put down any hopes for the Cubs. Pearce had decent game, but was hitless. He did commit and early error at third, but made some good plays, and out ran a force out attempt to get a run for the Pirates. His sac fly also got the second run home. Tabata is back and is hitting. Walker got an RBI and the Pirates were decent over all at the plate.

The better news is Victor Black is back and pitching out of the pen at West Virginia and had a perfect inning to start off last night. Philip Irwin was filthy again with 10 strikeouts of the 18 outs he recorded. Overall it was his worst outing to date. He might need to move up a class, just like Matt Curry who is out of control in West Virginia.

Good news for us, but bad over all is the injury to Buster Posey. The Giants will likely lose their all star catcher for the year. However, the Giants are very much in contention for the NL West title and still have the pitching to take them places. They will need a real replacement for Posey and the Pirates happen to have a catcher who is available in Ryan Doumit. One has to believe that Doumit's decent play has raised his stock, and that perhaps this injury has helped raise the chances of a Doumit trade taking place.

Either way, the Pirates are very competitive for .500. It is realistic. We are now 6 games out, so NL title is starting to look a little less likely. But, we are usually further out than this. The Pirates have a real chance at .500 and I think it is time to get excited about breaking the losing streak. It might actually work out for us to have a winning season, but still be far enough out to deal some guys like Doumit, Malholm, and Biemel without looking like a sell off when we might ought to be buying. Best of both worlds.

We score, but lose in 11

2011-05-25T14:34:00.001-07:00

An interesting game but a bad outcome. Jose Tabata appears to be finding his stroke again. Steven Pearce hit a homer and had a blooper that landed for an RBI in the third. The Pirates could do no more than that. McDonald pitched well allowing 2 in 6 innings striking out 6, but Jeff Karstens gave up a 2 run shot in the top of 11th (Karsten's second inning) and the Pirates went quietly in that 11th inning.

Pitching Karstens was an interesting choice. The bullpen still has Ascino who could have given them an inning and Meek as well. They also could have gone longer with Dan McCutchen earlier in the game. With a day off Karstens will obviously miss his start and that is okay. I don't have a big problem with it, but Karstens often gives up the long ball. But you might could have used another pitcher before going for Karstens and the long haul.

I think part of this recent struggle to score is a result of no Pedro Alvarez. Even with Pedro hitting so poorly, he was still a bat that could park it over the fence. You had to respect his power. Despite Pearce's blast today, Wood and Pearce do not have such a threat. Nor does Diaz who is a big step down from Jones this year. the last few games have been lefties, and Jones has been sitting it out.

The Pirates are needing a bat. At some point you have to start thinking of bringing up someone who can help. Since the AAA club does not have a bat like that then the Pirates are going to have to make a move for someone who can give them some offense soon. In my mind this means that Hanrahan is probably going to be traded this year. I fully expect Malholm, Veras, Biemel, Doumit, Hanrahan, and perhaps Overbay to be traded this year. Only Hanrahan has the trade value to really get a major league ready bat (maybe Biemel).

Sorry for the absence

2011-05-20T11:17:00.000-07:00

I have been gone for a while because of work, but I have kept up with the Pirates even through the very disappointing Brewers trouble. Thankfully, the Pirates are looking up a little thanks to a two game sweep of the Reds. The Pirates are a fourth by half a game behind the Brewers. Interleague Plays starts this weekend, and it could be bad for us.

However there are some really good signs for the Pirates. McCutchen is hitting okay. Morton and McDonald are pitching very good. It looks as if they are going to be able to stay decent all year. But the really is good signs are in the minors.

Brad Lincoln is pitching very well. There is not a place for him in the majors right now, but he is looking like a starter. If we should trade some pieces, Lincoln is ready. Also at the Triple A level and doing good is Chase D'Arnaud. His bat was asleep early in the year, but he is almost up to .300. Not quite the power you want, but he is looking better. Behind him in AA is Jordy Mercer. Mercer is having a nice May after an awful April. You still want him to hit for better average, but his homers are good and his walks are actually leading the team. Sterling Marte is ready for a promotion and Sanchez ought to get one before the year is over as well. Brock Holt is slowing, but still doing very well. He may be ready soon too. In high A, Robbie Grossman is looking like a prospect again, as is Jarek Cunningham (although Evan Chambers is not looking like one anymore). The Power are loaded with talent in pitching to go along with Matt Curry, who needs a callup now and Justin Howard as well as Kawami Pai. Tallion lost the other day, but is striking people out and not walking them. He looks good. Colton Cain looks the best, but Waldron is okay and while Von Rosenburg might have higher expectations, he is not behind where he ought to be as his strikeouts are ridiculously high despite poor win totals. Brooks Pounders has the best WHIP, so good pitchers litter this Power line up.

Even better is let us remember the Pirates have two more big time prospects yet to make a start in Allie and the 16 year old phenom from Mexico. Oh yeah, Victor Black has not shown up yet either. And the draft is coming up where the Pirates are bound to get at least one big new prospect and probably two or three that will excite us.

Looking forward to seeing the Tigers and Leyland again.

Sustainability

2011-05-09T22:44:00.000-07:00

The Pirates beat the Dodgers today thanks to a decent start from Jeff Karstens, and nice bullpen work from Crotta, Biemel, Veras, and Hanrahan. Also, Neil Walker and Lyle Overbay showed off a little back to back double action to plate two runs and give the Pirates a nice victory to get over the .500 mark. The best thing about being over .500 is that the Pirates look like they can sustain this for the long haul. Take a look.

The Pirates started this season with a pretty rough group of games. They played the Rockies 7 times! The Rockies are either in first in the west or close to it all season so far. The Giants, who are also near the top or on it out west have also played the Pirates. The Pirates played the Reds and the Cards the top two teams in the Central early. They played the Marlins who are not the Phillies, but competing for second in the East. It was not until recently that the Pirates started to play the games against teams that are not top of the division competition. The Pirates just came out and played weak teams for the first time basically starting with the Padres. They won that series. Then they got the Astros for the first time and they won that series. Now they take game 1 from the Dodgers, who are not very good this year. The Pirates have shown that they are capable of beating the other teams that are middling or bottom feeders with the lone exception of the Brewers who took two from us early this year.

I guess what I am saying is that these wins are not flukes. They are just better than teams like the Astros and the Padres. They have shown an ability to beat teams in the NL Central, but so far have not been so dominate that they sweep series. It is time to say that this is what the Pirates are: contenders in the Central, but still a step below elite teams overall in the NL. Yes, some people are playing above what you think they can do all year like Snyder, Doumit, and even Karstens and Morton. But, some are playing below what they ought like Alvarez, McCutchen, Tabata, and Meek.

What will be real entertaining is if the Pirates are in contention for the NL Central title near the trading deadline. What do you do then? Biemel was signed to be trade bait. Do you trade him despite being in contention? It is a question that I think the Pirates will be dealing with as the Reds and Cards are not going to hide and the Pirates are able to keep this up.

Who would have thought catcher would be strength?

2011-05-08T23:44:00.000-07:00

The Pirates got back to the .500 mark and stay in contention a little longer. They did so by winning their series with the Astros 2 games to 1 despite dropping game 1. Karstens did not pitch poorly, but it was not great either. He labored, and the Pirates ended up couching up a game. Morton then did amazing in game 2 getting ground ball after ground ball. Game 3 was another masterful performance by McDonald. He was consistently around 91 MPH, but his curve was killing people at about 77-78 MPH. McDonald hit 93 when he needed it and had a career high in strikeouts. Sadly, that did not give him the win as his 2-0 lead evaporated when Resop did not get anyone out and a bunt scored a run from second. Really that was Walker's fault as Wood fielded the bunt cleanly, but had to double pump while Walker got to the bag. This made the runner at first safe and Walker's throw home was late. Daniel McCutchen gave up his first run of the year in the next inning, but Ryan Doumit hit a three run homer to give the Pirates a one run lead. Hanrahan made that lead stick.

The bullpen could be an area of concern as Resop has had a couple of sub-par outings. Crotta has had a couple of bad outings in a row, although in game 1 Crotta got stuck with two runs because the only two hitters he faced got infield singles to Ronny Cedano. Both were weakly hit, and at least the second one could have been turned into an out at second had Cedano come up with it. Tough play, but a decent short stop makes one of those two plays.

Something to be excited about is the catcher position. Snyder has the highest average on the team, and is hitting great. Doumit is only hitting about .250, but is hitting for some power. He had a grand slam the other day, and his clutch 3 run homer tonight shows what Doumit can bring to a team. His trade value is probably going up.

Up next is the Dodgers. The Pirates are on a good streak. Let us see what the top of our rotation can do for us.

Also Jameson Taillon allowed 1 run in 5 innings with 5 strike outs and no walks. He has had three outings now and has looked very good.

Minor Leaguers you should be paying more attention

2011-05-06T15:53:00.000-07:00

The big name prospect guys often eat up all the press and get all the notification. Let me just drop a few names that ought to be getting a little more attention.

Dan Grovatt. Dan is hitting .274, but has a nice .440 OBP. He obviously has command of the strike zone and his defense seems solid. This is his first full season of professional ball, and he is doing rather well.

Robbie Grossman. Grossman was highly touted, but is repeating High A because he has had strike out problems. Although the strike out totals have gone down every year, and he is on pace to go down again this year. In fact he has drawn 23 walks to lead the Marauders in that category. He is hitting in the .260's, but has an OBP of .404. He has a couple of homers as a lead off guy.

Brooks Pounders The first thing that jumps off about Pounders is his 18 strike outs to 1 walk in 12 innings. He has an ERA under 3, and a WHIP of 0.92. This guy is not getting the notice of some of the other draft picks of the last few years, but he is not about to go away anytime soon.

Jordy Mercer. Yes, Jordy Mercer. He has a .398 SLUG despite only hitting .215. However, this number is on the rise. He appears to be coming out of his early season slump, so don't give up watching him. He was left to repeat AA to lower his strike out rate and increase power. He has struck out 12 times in 96 ABs, so that is not too bad. His power . . . well almost half of his hits have been for extra bases including 4 homers.

Mel Rojas. Oddly enough Rojas has not gotten the press I thought he would. Starling Marte is the next big thing in the outfield, but Rojas was the 3rd round pick this past year. Taillon and Allie deserve their attention, but Rojas should get some too. He started slow, but is up to .289 in his BA. He needs to work on plate discipline as his strike out rate is too high and walks are almost non-existent. Still, Rojas is young (he only had one year of college), and this looks like a good pick for the Pirates.

Philip Irwin. Irwin has pitched 11 innings over 3 games and has an impressive 0.82 ERA. His strike outs are kind of low, but he has only given up 6 hits. You have to like that. In the end, Irwin is looking very good and has historically been pretty good with the strikeouts.

Those are just a few of the guys we ought to be taking a nice look at as the season goes on.

A great day for the organization

2011-05-02T22:32:00.000-07:00

James McDonald has righted the ship. The Pirates are now on a winning streak. McDonald tonight looked more like the pitcher people were hoping for at the end of last year. 5 strike outs was his best performance so far this year. He did not give up any runs until the 6th, which he escaped with only 2 thanks to a well placed strikeout. So give that man a quality start. Synder continues to play well and got his first homer of the year and Garrett Jones put one over the wall as well. The Pirates are getting off to fast starts. They are not always adding to their first inning performances, but it is putting our pitchers at ease when they hang runs on the other team from the get go.

Better news yet is the big game from Jameson Taillon. He went four innings striking out 6 while not walking anyone and only giving up 2 hits. Justin Howard had two hits as did Mel Rojas Jr. as the Power won the opening game of their twin bill. The second game was also a win thanks to Brandon Crumpton's nice pitching along with two innings from Trent Stevenson. Each allowed only one run. This was just enough to make sure the Power won as Mel Rojas Jr., went 3 for 3 with a run scored and an RBI. Dan Grovatt scored twice on what was officially an 0 for 1 day. That man is a living base on balls. The Power are loaded with great talent this year as Curry, Howard, Rojas, and Grovatt all look great. Even Emlsey-Pai is hitting .386.

Altoona broke out the rally caps and won the game. Jordy Mercer now has a couple of games with good swings raising his average back to .200. That happened on a 3 for 4 night with 2 doubles. Jeremy Farrel was 2 for 2 and Sanchez was 3 for 5. The pitching was not so good, but a 10-9 come from behind win is good enough. The win was accomplished with a one out walk drawn by Mercer. You bet, a walk. Shelby Ford singled and then Tony Sanchez singled scoring Mercer to tie the game and Kris Watts doubled scoring Ford to end the game.

Bradenton did not really fit this great day for prospects mold, but Jarek Cunningham continued his hot hitting with a double and two hits. Kyle McPhearson struggled and the Maurders were easily bested.

Overall, the prospects played great at most of the levels including the big leagues. Let us not overlook that we gained a game and now sit only two out of first and half a game out of second.

An encouraging series

2011-05-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

The Pirates returned the favor to the Rockies by taking 2 of 3 in Colorado. Correia pitched great in game 1. The Pirates lost all hitting in game 2 and then Morton pitched good enough but the Pirates offense exploded for two four run innings without any long balls.

Several wonderful things from the Pirate perspective happened. Alvarez and McCutchen both hit. Alvarez was 2 for 4 in the finale. McCutchen was 2 for 6 in the last game with an RBI and a run. McCutchen had a homer in Game 1 and a leadoff homer in Game 2 for that games only run. These are good signs that their bats might be warming up.

Daniel Moskos made his debut and it was successfull. No hits, no walks, no runs. Can't complain about that. Hanrahan continues to look dominate. Veras and Biemel are doing what they were signed to do and Resop looks like he will be able to hold down the 8th inning until Meek gets better.

The Pirates now head out to San Diego trailing the Cards by 3 games, but are only 1 game out of second place. It is the back half of the rotation, so we will see how they hold up on the road. How will McDonald follow up his best game so far this year? Getting game 1 is an important thing for the Pirates.

Meek to DL

2011-04-30T09:22:00.000-07:00

The Pirates win thanks to great pitching from Kevin Correia. McCutchen hit a dinger and Alvarez got a hit. Snyder remains hot. A good start to the road trip.

Evan Meek is on the DL. Arm tiredness. Resop will handle the 8th as he did last night. I am betting Ascino gets the call up. He had a scoreless outing the other day.

Keep your eye on Robbie Grossman. He is hitting .300 with 11 RBIs as a leadoff guy.

Errors, Errors, and even some more errors

2011-04-29T10:09:00.000-07:00

The Pirates had an excellent chance to sweep the defending champion Giants. They blew the first game in extra innings thanks to errors. The won the second game, and then blew the third game thanks to more errors.

The first game was a well pitched game by Charlie Morton. Joel Hanrahan blew the game when he himself committed an error on a throw to first. That led to a runner on third with one out and a ground ball to a drawn in infield. Walker looked at the runner at third, who was not going and then soft tossed to first. The runner went and Ovebay could not get the runner at home.

McDonald pitched his first good game of the season and it led to a Pirate win. He needs to pitch like this more often. He was not the dominate strike out guy that I think PIrate fans expected, but he got the job done.

The third game was a return to errors as Jeff Karstens went 6 2/3 innings of 1 ER baseball. However, that 1 ER run was surrounded by a catching error at first base and an awful throw to catch Sandobal stealing. It went into center. Sandobal should have been thrown out and I am pretty positive he was running in order to attempt the steal of home by the other base runner, but Doumit made it all moot when he one hopped Walker and it went into centerfield. Karstens himself would commit another error in the 7th to give the Giants a 5th run. 4 were unearned. Unbelievable.

Walker is the only player who is playing well right now, with Tabata playing pretty good. McCutchen and Alvarez have officially reached panic time. They need to turn it around soon. I guess our new third baseman / short stop got some hits, and so maybe that is a good thing.

One word needs to be said about Daniel McCutchen as well. He still has a perfect 0.00 ERA. I know he has given up an inherited runner or two, but I think that he is very good out of the pen. He could be next year's Jeff Karstens. I hope he gets more chances.

It does not get any easier for the Pirates, who are now struggling to stay afloat in the division. We could sure use a few series against the Diamondback and the Mets.

Not great, but I will take it

2011-04-25T21:56:00.000-07:00

The Pirates won their first series at home this year by taking two of three from the Nats. Karstens got a win by going 6 strong innings giving up only 2 runs. He left people on base in the third, but a nice outing by the bullpen put an end to that with no runs scoring. The Pirate offense was unbelievable in that game. Correia was not as good, and he struggled through his innings and a three run blast after an RBI ground out was more than enough runs to end the day for the Pirates in Game 2. Game 3 was shaky at the start with Malholm looking weak, but he got stronger as the game went, and much better after the short rain delay. Both teams choose to leave their pitcher in. The Nats pitcher had just given up a Walker base hit that allowed Tabata to score on an error on the throw (I thought it should have been on the catch). Walker was now at third with two out. The delay was for the Pirate benefit as they pilled three more runs on in that inning and hung on to win 4 to 2. A good day for Brandon Wood starting at third as he hit the ball hard several times and got a hit. Walker had a multi hit game, which was nice to see. Hanrahan had a little trouble as he brought the winning run to the plate, but got him to strike out.

Meek pitched in both wins. He was not good in either one, although he did not give up any runs. In the first game he was throwing okay. Fastball sitting about 95 and a majority of them going in the strike zone although his slider had no idea where it was going. It managed a ground out and a strike out off of this, but then he lost the last bit of his command. He walked the next guy on four straight fastballs of 95 that were no where close. The next batter got a first pitch fastball strike, but Meek clearly backed off. It clocked at 91 MPH. He went back to his hard fast ball at 95 and again, no where close. He went back down to the 91 and it was a strike again. A slider that skipped to the back stop and then a 93 MPH fastball got a strikeout somehow. Not encouraging. Meek was not much better tonight as he did not get any strike outs. He threw 8 pitches 5 for strikes and 3 for balls and was not making people miss. Not normal Evan Meek stuff.

I did think that this was a big series. We need to beat teams like the Nats, especially at home. If we want to be even a .500 team, a series win was a must. There are signs Alvarez is coming out of his slump, and McCutchen too. This was another game that the Pirates did not hit well, and the line up was lacking its big bats. We still won, and that is a great thing. We can keep hope alive for a little longer.

A moment of reflection

2011-04-23T08:48:00.001-07:00

So far this year has not gotten off to a great start. While our starting pitching has been better than hoped for, the hitting has been less than good. Strikeouts abound and McCutchen has yet to really get going and Alvarez has yet to play decent for more than his last game. Add to that Ohlendorf's early injury, and Snyder taking a while to get off the DL and the expected poor short stop play, and Pirate fans ought to be happy.

An 8-11 is not good and points toward another losing season, but we are really only 2.5 games out. Coming up on the end of April, and we are still in contention. Add to that we have a 7-5 record versus the division with all but two of those games coming on the road. The problem is we have played the West Division leading Rockies and the second place East Division Marlins. And we have yet to play the Astros, who have an even worse record than we do.

In other words, I think the Pirates have a real shot at contending this year. The Brewers are not as good as advertised. Admittedly they have not had Zack Grienke yet, but the Royals traded him for a reason, and it was not just mal-content. His best days are over and I think that trade will be a really bad one for the Brewers. The Cards and Reds are beatable. The Cubs are average, and the Astros ought to be canon fodder. When we start to play some of the other divisions losers, like the Mets and Dodgers, we ought to improve our overall standing.

This series starting tonight is a big one. The Nationals are 9-9 and basically in the same boat we are. Medicore, although they are in a tougher division and have even less of a playoff hope than we do. We need to win this series. It is the first series that I think has profound implications for how the rest of our season will go.

Got swept, no game, sign Wood

2011-04-22T14:46:00.000-07:00

The Pirates showed some offense last night with a big night from long dormant Pedro Alvarez including a deep blast. Josh Rodriguiez also got his first Pirate hit, and then added an RBI by taking a pitch off his backside, and then was let go. Nice way to spend the evening for him. McDonald is showing why the Dodgers got rid of him. 8 runs in 3 innings is not good.

Tonight's game is off and will be made up on Monday, which might be bad since Alvarez had just come off his best night of the season.

The big news is that Rodriguiz is gone. Pedro Ciriaco is called up to replace him. Not a bad move, but then the Pirates claimed Brandon Wood. Wood played 81 games last year and was awful for the angels, but once was the 3rd overall prospect in the majors in 06. BucsDugout guys had a good reason to think all that power he showed was a joke. I tend to agree. But, I also am not going to complain about this move. Cedano is not the answer, clearly. Rodriguiz looked shaky. The Pirates just need a plug until next year, maybe only until September when they might could call up D'Arnaud. At worst until mid next year when they could bring D'Arnaud up safely. The guys you have are not working, try something new. It is not like Wood's .146 average is much worse than Cedano's .179 average.

Who will go down has been the big question. Most people seem to be assuming that it will be Ciriaco, but I believe it will be Steven Pearce. Pearce has an option left and Wood can play third, so that covers the back up 3rd problem. They just called up Ciriaco. Look for him to stay, and Cedano to lose lots of time at short. Ciriaco can play third to if need be.

Worth watching to see what happens.

Another ugly one

2011-04-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

Just when I was starting to think Morton was going to be better, he has another break down in an inning. Tabata played soccer with a grounder that didn't help, but Morton admitted after the game he never recovered from a walk and that the inning steamrolled him. Let's hope he can shake that off in the next outing. His mental toughness has always been the problem. It bit the Pirates today. Andrew McCutchen left the team for personal reasons, which is not good. And the Pirates lack of a bench is exposed. I wish Bowker would get a shot to start, but he did not come up with a hit when he pinch hit either. The only good thing to come out of this game is that Meek had a decent 9th. No walks, one hit, no runs. I'll take it.

The minors looked a little better than their big league brethren. Altoona won. Holt had a hit and a run. Mercer had a hit to raise his average to .179. His hit was a homer, his third on the year. Mercer was sent down to lower strikeouts and regain power. It is starting to look as if his power stroke may have returned. Let's hope his average gets caught up. Jeff Locke pitched 6 great innings, but left with men on base in the 7th. Those guys scored costing Locke a win.

Indy won with only six hits. D'Arnaud and Presley each had one, but the big hit was from Marte who left the park. Justin Wilson stole the show with 6 shut out innings, 4 K's. Moskos struggled, but Time Wood got a 4 out save. Apparently throwing in upper 90's. Good sign.

Bradenton put up 5 runs, but still lost because the pitchers were awful. They all gave up at least one run. Moreno and Lorin both looked bad. Calvin Anderson had multiple hits as did Rubenstein and Benji Gonzalez. A forgettable day for this group.

West Virginia lost as Rojas continues to get hits. Matt Curry had multiple hits as well including three RBIs. Kevin Mort went 3 for 4. He is not a prospect, but at this low A level, he can compete and help his team have a chance to win. Dan Grovatt had another 2 walk night. Unbelievable. This guy has an eye. Eric Avilia had two errors tonight and still is not hitting with an average dipping under .200 right now. It is actually a little hard to evaluate Zack Dodson's performance. He gave up 6 hits and 5 earned runs in 4 innings, but he struck out 7 guys. Kevin Decker went 3 innings, but the one unearned run he gave up made him swallow the loss. Jason Townsend still has a goose egg ERA giving up a hit and gaining a strike out in the last inning.

Not a good day

2011-04-19T20:59:00.001-07:00

The Pirates got beat around and managed only a couple of hits. Ugly from start to finish. Really not much more one can say than that.

The Minors saw two losses and two rain outs. Bradenton got blanked and lost 1-0. A good game for Quentin Miller who took the loss because of a first inning RBI ground out. But last year's West Virginia team is now up a level and still unable to hit. Anderson is a huge disappointment, Cunningham and Chambers are not much better. Aaron Baker is okay, but one man does not an offense make.

West Virginia put up 7 but still lost 7-11 as Crumpton got shelled again. A five run inning was not enough to keep Brandon going. He returned all the runs and then one more to make sure he took the loss. Fuesser was pretty good as was Foster in relief. Grovat continues to impress me both with big hits and walks. Kawami-Pai also continued his great hitting in limited playing time. A 3 for 4 day puts his average above .450. Is it time to start talking about this guy as a prospect? At least more playing time I hope. He also held on to an outfield throw and got the guy out at home. Not something to sneeze at.

Tomorrow is Charlie Morton. I am now optimistic enough to predict a good game from Charlie. I think his sinker will hold out a few more starts. What I want to see is what happens when Charlie pitches against a team for the second and third time. I think then he will get pounded. Probably not as bad as he did last year, but enough that he will have real trouble winning games. But this is time number 1 for the Marlins so there is hope.

An Ace!!!

2011-04-19T08:18:00.000-07:00

That is what you want. I understand Kevin Correia is not a number 1, but currently he is our number 1. And this is what you want from a number 1 pitcher. He is 3-1 overall, and his loss was fairly well pitched. But he came out with the series on the line and dominated. He had seen Morton pitch a great game, and he matched it. No one should out pitch the ace.

It was a great game at the plate as well. Everyone got a hit except the pitcher. In fact, everyone got two hits except McCutchen. But McCutchen's was a laser two run double over the head of the left fielder.

The Pirates minor league system looked pretty good today too. Indy won, which is kind of rare these days. Lambo looked good at the plate. Altoona was beat with only two positives coming out of that game. Mercer hit a homer and Tim Alderson had two fine innings. He may be a viable bullpen guy in the not too distant future. Bradenton won big. West Virginia had some good news with Rojas continuing to hit. Dan Grovatt continues to walk at an alarming rate. Twice this game.

The Pirates are heading to Florida for the Marlins. I am looking forward to see how they do. Alvarez is the big concern right now if you are a Pirate fan.

Series win over the Reds

2011-04-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

These are the games that good teams win. Games where they are outplayed, on the road, against division rivals. Good teams find ways to win these type games. Great teams find ways not to have these type of games very often, but right now I will settle for the hope of being a good team.

The Pirates were out hit 15 to 9. The Pirates blew a lead and committed two costly errors. Yet, the Pirates ended up on top 7 to 6. That is really the extent of the good news except Andrew McCutchen had a hit every time to the plate including a lead off homer. It was a nice game for him, the first real nice game for him all year. The rest was shaky.

Karstens got the start and did what you should expect from him now. Give up a run or two as he goes into the fifth. He collapsed in that fifth inning, but unlike JR last year, Hurdle gave him the quick pull. The Pirates battled back thanks to homers by Garrett Jones and then again thanks to John Bowker's pinch hit double. Hurdle gave Meek a quick yank as well after getting one out and then giving up a hit and a walk. Hanrahan came in and got a double play. Hanrahan then got a couple of outs in the ninth before he exploded throwing a wild pitch and walking a guy after giving up a base hit. The bases were loaded, but the Pirate closer got the big out and thus another save.

The Minor Leagues dropped a couple of 13 inning affairs and won the rest.
The Indianapolis team put up four in the top of the 9th to tie the game after giving up 4 in the bottom of the eighth. Moskos was unable to strand guys on base in the 8th, and allowed another run after an error. Brian Burres had pitched pretty well before that. The Presley got on via and walk Hague tripled, Lambo singled, Harrison singled, Dusty Brown doubled scoring two and was pinch run for by Wimberly with no outs. A sac bunt pushed Wimberly to third. But Jarmillo and Hernandez could not bring him home. Tony Watson gave up a two out homer in the 13th to lose the game.

Bradenton also lost in 13 after leading 4-0 after three. McPhearson went 7 allowing 2 runs. A good night for the youngster. Robbie Grossman had a multi-hit night. Calvin Anderson went deep. Moreno allowed the tying run to score as the bullpen blew it. Jhonathon Ramos pitched well again in relief, but when he was pulled in the 12th the bullpen was done. They gave up the game ending run in the 13th.

West Virginia continues to be a hot bed of greatness as Colton Cain still has yet to give up a run. He pitched great. 6 innings, 5 strikeouts, 1 walk. Kevin Decker pitched a nice 2 innings, and then it was closed out by Beckman. The hit parade included about everyone except Howard oddly enough. Curry was great. Rojas Jr., is back on track with a three hit day. Grovatt had a hit and a couple of walks as he shows good plate discipline. Even Kevin Mort had a multi-hit game. Big 7-0 win.

Altoona put the boots Richmond as Aaron Pribonic overcame a first inning run to get the win and pitch rather well. Brock Holt looks like the second baseman of the future. He had two hits as did Sanchez. Both look good. Dubee fanned two in his inning of work.

Charlie Morton . . . a winner?!?

2011-04-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

I am not yet ready to start liking Charlie Morton, but after today's complete game against the 1st place Reds, I am ready to stop being pessimistic about everyone of his starts. I have seen enough to say now that Charlie Morton is a transformed pitcher. His strike outs are low (and I hope they go up some), but he is consistently getting ground balls. Except for one mistake pitch in 9th that was blasted out of the ball park, Morton was great. 5 hits. 2 walks. 1 error. That is all the Reds could muster.

The Pirates got out early thanks to a long ball by Jones. Snyder followed in the next inning with an RBI single. Welcome back Snyder. Walker hit a 2 run homer in the following inning and the Pirates would get another later. The offense looked good except for McCutchen who went 0 for 5 with 4 strikeouts. No kidding. Tabata tore the ball up and even Alvarez got a hit.

The lead allowed Morton to pound the strike zone. The 8th inning was a picture of the whole night. Morton had to face the top of the order. He struck out Stubbs on three straight pitches (one of only 2 Ks on the night). The next Red took only two pitches to get him to ground out. Then Joey Votto saw three pitches before he grounded out. 8 pitches, 3 outs. No balls the whole inning. In fact, Morton threw about 110 pitches and less than 30 balls. Pretty good.

The Minor League guys got swept. Some okay news in there though. Brad Lincoln pitched okay. He had one trouble spot where he gave up a homer, struck the next guy out, and then gave up three doubles in a row before getting out of the inning. 3 runs in five innings. No matter what it appears the old Brad Lincoln is back. His inability to get strikeouts appears to be gone. Whatever they messed up last year seems to be fixed again. Indy lost 0-3.

Zack Dodson had a similar night. He had one bad inning. Gave up 4 runs in 4 innings, but all his runs were together and an error added to that problem. He was unable to pitch around it. Brooks Pounders came in for the fifth inning and gave up a quick run, but had an easy 6th and 7th showing ground ball and strike out ability. Pounders just might be a good bullpen option in the future. The other good news coming out of West Virginia was a multi-hit night for Mel Rojas Jr. He had done nothing all year, but showed up tonight. Swiped a bag as well.

No real good news in Bradenton, and Altoona saw a few scattered hits from Mercer and Sanchez. Nothing to get real excited about as both teams lost.

P.S. Joe Biemel is back and they sent down Garret Olsen to make room. Glad to see Biemel, but surprised by sending down Olsen. He had pitched well and I thought they might send down Daniel McCutchen, or perhaps even Crotta. McCutchen was going to be in the rotation in Indy and Biemel would have allowed him to get back to that. When Ohlendorf returns they could have sent Olsen down then. I guess Clint thinks he can do just fine with only one lefty in the pen.

The Brewers stink

2011-04-14T20:09:00.000-07:00

The Pirates just dropped two in a row to the Brew Crew at home. Not good. Oddly enough the pitchers were pretty good except one inning a piece. Not so odd the Pirates bats were dead.

Correia had a good run going until he was unable to get an out on a bunt. He was apparently supposed to go to third. One out later, three run homer.

Tonight, Malholm had trouble in the first. Diaz misplayed a catchable (but tough) sinking liner and it led to runs. Two in fact, and that was more than enough. The Pirates did not cross the plate until the bottom of the ninth. By then a Neil Walker throwing error had let more Brewer runs cross the plate. Malholm ended up with a quality start going 7 strong innings. Chris Synder played his first game and came up empty. Pearce started at third for the first time and gave one a ride, but it was caught on the run at the track.

The Pirate minor leagues went 2 and 2 on the night.
D'Arnaud did get a base hit and Lambo hit a double to finally show signs of life. Wilson was pretty good, but collapsed in the 6th giving up multiple homers. Indy lost.
West Virginia surprisingly lost too. This team has been amazing. Cain and Von Rosenburg have looked great as did Waldron and Dodson on the mound. And the first base problem looks like the solution is in West Virginia with Matt Curry and Justin Howard both knocking the ball around. Tonight, Dan Grovatt had a big day with a triple and a double. He is having a good season so far. I am liking that pick more and more. Sadly Rojas, Avilia, and Maggia have yet to show up at bat.
Bradenton had another great offensive night to make up for Miller's so-so night. Welker and Moreno struggled in the pen making a blow out look close. Jhonathon Ramos did have a clean 8th. Robbie Grossmann went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored. Aaron Baker went 2 for 3 with a walk and a homer. Good night for the High A squad.
Altoona had a great night with Aaron Thomson throwing scoreless innings. Marte got a hit as did Sanchez. But perhaps even better news is Jordy Mercer hit a homer. Mercer needs to show some improvement in his strike out rate, walk rate, and show his power is not gone after having a dip in that last year. The big blast is a good sign. Dubee and Krol pitched well in relief. A shut out victory is always reason to celebrate.

5-5 and Frustration builds

2011-04-11T12:29:00.001-07:00

The Pirates lost and are off today. Frustration is already building. This also apparently happened at the game.

Another loss in another Morton start

2011-04-09T22:40:00.000-07:00

Charlie Morton is not my favorite pitcher. He did well last time and actually did okay again. He was hit with another early run, which has always been his problem, but he kept it together again. Two games in a row. He got lots of ground balls, so it looks as if his new sinker is really working. But he is not striking guys out like he used to do. That first run was on an RBI ground out (a double play if I remember correctly). It would have been a real nice place to fan someone. He walks way too many hitters. He already has 10 walks on the year in two starts. Morton is living on the edge. I guess he could still go either way this season. If he found some way to avoid the walks and start getting a few more swings and misses, then he could have a nice season. Or he could have a game or two where his sinker does not sink and get lit up for major runs.

Jose Veras had his first bad outing. He gave up the three run inning and absorbed the loss. Daniel McCutchen is up and will be in the pen. I like this. He had success in the pen last year, and it is his only real option in the majors. I think he will do fine. Jose Tabata continues to amaze. Nine game hitting streak now, that is a hit in every game. Also he has a two game homer streak. That is a nice bonus.

On another positive note, I think we have seen enough of Hurdle as manager now to get excited. He used the pen nicely tonight after using everyone in the pen last night except Meek. He did not break his personal rule about not using a reliever on three straight nights, and he did not have to go back to anyone who pitched multiple innings last night. He went and got Kevin Correia to throw his side session during the game. Correia logged a nice shut out inning. It was a nice piece of managing. He has also shown a good use of the bunt, the steal, and even the platoon. He is making sure his players play, and his team is competitive. I like it. The Pirates are above .500 and only 1.5 games out of first. Hurdle is doing good things, and if we can get Alvarez to hit, the Pirates could be the surprise team this year.

As for the minors, West Virginia rained out again. This time a double dip is washed out. I am ready for the Power, so this is not good for me. Sterling Marte had a great night and Jordy Mercer was okay as well. Alex Presley in AAA continues to argue for a place on the big league roster or as a trade option. Justin Wilson had an impressive start to his season, but Indy lost anyway.

That is how you do it!

2011-04-08T21:22:00.000-07:00

The Pirates are continuing to impress. They came home with a 4-2 record after only winning 17 games on the road all last year. They did disappointingly drop the home opener, but avoided losing their first series of the year to the Rockies after a Jose Tabata double that scored Josh Rodriguiz in the bottom of the 14th inning. The first extra inning game of the year and the Pirates came up big. There are a lot of good signs to start this season and winning the first extra inning game is one of them.

The Pirates battled back with a run in the 6th to tie the game at three and the bullpens shut everything else down until the 14th. The Rockies had a real chance to win. They had the bases loaded with two outs and they pulled out their ace in the hole pinch hitting Todd Helton. However Helton grounded out and the Pirates lived to play on. The Pirates then went quietly for the first two outs. Rodriguiz walked and then Tabata took a 3-1 pitch into the right field gap. Pirates win! Pirates win!

The bad news is that Ohlendorf looked bad and then left in the 3rd with shoulder pain. Karstens did great in relief. Then Crotta, Veras, and Hanrahan added an inning each of scoreless activity. Resop then went three big innings and Olsen went 2 including inducing that ground ball from Helton. All three Rockies runs belonged to Ohlendorf.

The minor leagues provided some more good news for the Pirates. Chris Synder hit a two run home run in his first at-bat at Bradenton. He added a single, a double, and a walk before being pinch hit for because Bradenton was killing their opponent. They won 13-0. McSwain got the win and the Maurders look good with a line up that can put up runs.

Other future Pirates had less good days. No hits for Sanchez, Mercer had one hit and a walk, and Holt had a double as Jeff Locke lost, but pitched okay. One bad inning cost him the game as Altoona lost 2-1. West Virginia was rained out in its anticipated game. And who knows what people were thinking in Indianapolis. Andrew Lambo did not start nor did Josh Harrison. Both made pinch appearances in the ninth when Indy failed to convert a real opportunity to win the game or at least tie it. The intentionally walked Lambo. D'Arnaud did get an RBI triple and Alex Presley looked good. Sean Gallagher took the loss as he pitched awful. Why did they not start Owens? I know that Lincoln is hurt, but still, Gallagher?

Overall a pretty good day.

3-1 is not a bad start

2011-04-04T22:06:00.001-07:00

The Pirates won an ugly game in Chicago to close out that series. Pedro Alvarez came through in the clutch with a stinging single to win the game . . . well by stinging I mean a little hit that was not going to make it to the infield dirt. If Carlos Marmol does not fall of the mound to the first base side, he probably makes that play and gets an out at first or at home. But instead the shortstop tries to flip it to first. Even if it was on target, Alvarez was probably safe. What happened was that it was way off and up the line. Carlos Pena did a nice diving stop to keep it in the infield, but he ended up on all fours, so Neil Walker went from second to home for the winning run following Jones who easily scored from third. The Pirates showed a lot of scrap in that game. They gave up a 2-0 lead and the 3-2 lead and were trailing 4-3 in the 8th when Tabata lifted a sac fly that should have been deep enough to score anyone from third. But, Jason Jarmillo was running and he was nailed by a good throw. Right in the kisser in fact. The Pirates still managed the rally in the bottom of the ninth not just to tie, but to win. Crotta and Karstens both pitched great with Karstens getting the win and Hanrahan the save.

Today's game was even more satisfying. Morton gave up a second inning run, but held it together. That was probably the most encouraging thing. He did not blow up when he gave up an early run. He went six strong innings and the Pirates rewarded him with a 4 run sixth to grab a lead. Meek struggled and gave up two runs and did not get anyone out, although in fairness, it looked a little like they were pitching around Pujols. I'd rather walk him than have him homer. Hanrahan got a four out save and Crotta got two outs. Veras pitched an inning as well.

Now I doubt that this outing means Morton is good to go finally. Just like it is too early to throw in the towel on Meek. He won't be this bad all season and Morton won't be that good. Still, it is encouraging for Morton to look good. It is very encouraging to see Crotta look good in two straight games. Veras has pitched well, which means he maybe a nice trade piece before the year is over.

Overall what I like the most is the Pirates really playing to win. These games have all been on the road. Hurdle has coached to win. Whether it is sending Jarmillo on a sac fly attempt which did not work out or sending Walker from second on an infield hit which did work out or even lifting Meek after just three batters something we never saw with JR last year. Hurdle is not playing games. He is out to win not build for the future. I like that attitude.

Not so Good

2011-04-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

The Pirates blew a 3-0 lead in the 8th to go down in flames 5-3 to the Cubs. This was a great opportunity to get everyone rolling the right direction, open up a two game lead on a division opponent, and start out great on the road, which has been a real sore spot the last couple of years. Instead, the Pirates should just feel sick.

Evan Meek did not have a great day, but three of those runs were Overbay's fault. His error cost the Pirates the game. Meek did miss a lot of Spring Training, so I am going to give him a pass. However, JR did overuse him last year and this might be the beginning of a bad season for the kid.

I am still worried about the middle of the order. They missed a chance to hang a big number on the board in the third. Tabata got an infield single. Walker doubled him home, and then McCutchen walked. So the middle of the order comes up with no outs and a runner in scoring position. Overbay whiffed. Alvarez grounded into a double play. Not what you want from your RBI guys. They were drawing a blank yesterday as well. Alvarez did get the run home in the first, so maybe I am over reacting. It is something to keep your eyes on. Walker as the RBI guy is not going to bring a championship to Pittsburgh.

An interesting manager decision in the 5th. Tabata bunting with no outs and Malholm on first. It worked as a sacrifice, but Malholm stayed on second. Lots of second guessing on this one, but I don't have a problem with it. Tabata has speed, and if he could have caught the defense unaware, he could have turned it into another infield hit. Plus, McCutchen and Walker are usually great with a runner in scoring position. They failed today, but it is still a defensible call.

Jones did hit a bomb. Malholm pitched great. Sometimes you lose.

5 Opening Day wins in a row

2011-04-01T17:39:00.000-07:00

The Pirates beat the Cubs 6-3 to start 2011 off right. This was thanks to Neil Walker's Grand Slam and a later 2 run shot by McCutchen. Correia was good enough allowing 3 runs (2 earned) in 6+ innings of work. He got better as the game went on and was very good after getting a lead. Meek and Hanrahan were excellent and Olsen and Veras got out of the 7th allowing only one run which was credited to Correia.

The Pirates need to work on some things. You know the Pirates are not going to be able to bomb their way to a win every night. Alvarez and Overbay each wasted a chance with runners in scoring position. Your 4 and 5 guys cannot be that bad with runners in position to score. Alvarez also started off the season with a shaky defensive game with an error that lead to a first inning run.

But there were good things. I mean other than McCutchen's multiple hit game, Hanrahan getting a save, and Walker pounding a grand slam. Ryan Doumit threw out a base runner. No kidding. He actually nailed him. Doumit also caught a throw from the outfield to home, but it was too late for the out. Alvarez stole a base. That is right the first steal of the season belongs to Pedro. Hurdle is going to run. I like it. Correia also laid down a perfect bunt, which is a good sign that fundamentals are going to be better this year. Ryan Dempster for the Cubs missed one showing that the bunt is not as automatic as it used to be.

You cannot read too much into an Opening Day, but the Cubs did not look very good, and the Pirates did. The Astros blew a multi run lead in the 9th to the Phillies, and thus the NL Central is looking like a place that the Pirates might actually compete in.

Opening Day - Season Predictions

2011-04-01T11:10:00.000-07:00

Predictions are always tough. How to separate my routing interest from the facts. I am not always very good at it. But another thing that makes it difficult is that the Pirates of post July are going to look a lot different from the Opening Day roster. So, here is my stab at the Pirates.

Overall record: 81-81.
Yep, I think the Pirates are going to break even. My main reason for thinking such a good season are the impending trades and promotions. The end of the season Pirates are going to be very different and featuring at least Rudy Owens, which will upgrade the bad pitching staff. I also expect at least two big trades that might bring more major league talent. But it is not just the Pirates that will look different. I think the Brewers will sale off most of their team, but most especially Prince Fielder. This will ruin their season. I think the distraction of Albert Pujols will hurt the Cards and those things will gain the Pirates a few wins.

Names traded: Doumit, Malholm, Hanrahan, Diaz, and Biemel
I do think the Pirates will listen to offers for everyone, and will get big returns from Malholm and Hanrahan. Doumit will be a net loss trade, but it will free the Pirates a roster spot. Diaz and Biemel will be for minor league hopes, but that is good enough for me. I don't think the Pirates are going to be able to jettison Cedano.

NL Central Champ: Reds
They won last year and return all the major parts. No reason to doubt a repeat.

World Series Champs: Twins
This team has won the AL Central without their best player two years in a row. If Morneo can actual play in the playoffs this team will win a lot more than they have. Plus, they upgraded second base in the off season. I think they take down the Phils in the WS.

Those are the season predictions. Now it is time to sit back and enjoy the show.

Update on the Spring Training

2011-03-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

The Pirates parted ways with Garret Atkins. That is the beginning of getting a bench set.

The Pirates also have indicated Scott Olsen will start out on the DL which gives Morton the 5th spot. He has come close to earning it, but he will be a disaster. Since it is mental fortitude that is his problem, it will be hard to see how he does except in real games.

We have seen enough now to learn that the Pirates would be battling Baltimore for last in the American League East. They are 1-1 with the Astros.

We also can plainly see that Doumit should spend all of his time focusing on corner outfield and First base because he is awful behind the plate. Two pass balls so far this spring. Still not good at throwing runners out.

You would like to see more from Tabata and Walker, but they will probably be fine.

Lyle Overbay has been even better than hoped for. Let it stick around, please.

What direction will the Pirates go

2011-03-12T09:43:00.000-08:00

I think the Pirates will be showing us a lot when they set their final roster. Let us just run through some options. In all of these scenarios we are going to assume that Doumit is not able to be traded as their appears not to be a market for him.

So, we have on the bench for sure Doumit and Diaz as the platoon with Jones. That leaves us three bench spots. Here are the realistic candidates for those spots. This leaves at least a hole in the middle infield, and gives the Pirates 4 outfielders.

Jason Jarmillo - a young catcher who is out of options, and will be lost if he does not make the team. Okay defensively, but has never shown any real offensive potential. No power at all.

John Bowker - a 1B and corner outfielder who is also out of options. He has some power potential, but is not all that good a contact hitter. He has too many strikeouts and not good enough OBP.

Josh Rodriguiz - middle infielder who was acquired in the Rule 5 Draft, so we will lose him if we do not put him on the team all year. Some potential, but is not going to be an all-star or a game changer. But could be a serviceable guy.

Josh Fields - a guy with limited experience but can play either corner and a little of the corner outfield spots.

Pedro Ciriaco - a lanky middle infielder who is out of options. Young and very fast, but he has yet to show he can consistently hit the ball. His projections for this year based on his AAA stats show a .260 hitter. Good defense, but offense is lacking. They are starting to try him in the outfield.

Corey Wimberly - a super utility guy who is on a minor league contract and thus can probably stick around the system. Has some experience, but is not going to hit. Very fast and could bring some stolen bases.

Andy Marte - a young, but getting a second chance corner infielder who is on a minor league contract and thus will not be lost. However, he is showing some potential and hitting very well.

Steven Pearce - a Pirate bred corner infield prospect who can play corner outfield as well. Hints of power, and was beginning to show he can hit at the major league level last year before his injury. Does have an option left, so does not have to make the team to stay.

So the Pirates can go a couple of different ways. Do they try to maximize this year by filling needs? Do they try to keep as many of these people as possible? Do they go with experience and power two big needs for this ball club? Let us look at some examples.

If they are trying to go with keeping as much young talent as they can keep Rodriguiz, Jarmillo, and Bowker or Ciriaco.

If they want to maximize pinch hitting then they will probably keep Bowker, Pearce, and Wimberly. Jarmillo is not ruled out here as it would greatly free up Doumit.

If they are looking for power on the bench then the choice is Bowker, Pearce or Marte and Ciriaco.

If they want to keep those who performed well in Spring then the choice looks to be Jarmillo, Marte, and Ciriaco.

What we are seeing is that with the departure of Atkins and the trying of Ciriaco in the outfield that the Pirates are starting to tend toward the young talent. Fields appears on the outside. Wimberly appears on the outs. Pearce appears headed for the minors. So the decision now seems to be between Ciriaco and Rodriguiz and what to do about Bowker and Jarmillo. That is four guys with three spots. I assume that means they are going to lose one of these guys. The question is which one? When they make the decision it will say something about what the Upper Management thinks is going to happen this year.

Spring Training Notes

2011-03-11T08:59:00.000-08:00

Things continue along and the Pirates are 6-8 at this point. Not all that good. But, some good news came out of this latest disaster. Meek and Hanrahan blew a 4-1 lead. Not good. But the good thing is the Malholm pitched well. Cory Wimberly got his first hit of the spring. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here. Matt Diaz is on a roll and McCutchen is hitting better now as well. These are overall good things.

Defense continues to be a worry. 4 errors in the latest game.

Andy Marte is making a real case to get on this team. He is even getting pinch hits now. The Pirates pitchers are now hitting. I like the approach Hurdle is taking. Aggressive on the base paths, and getting everyone ready now.

Lincoln is looking better than Morton, although both had so-so outings. Lincoln recovered in his to only use 6 pitches in the second inning. Morton is always getting into trouble. It is going to stink watching him blow games this year.

Karstens pitched okay. Errors hurt him.

We will see where the Pirates go, but right now, I am feeling only okay about the team.

More Spring Training Thoughts

2011-03-06T14:53:00.001-08:00

Today the Pirates lost to the Blue Jays. The only real bright spot was Pedro Alvarez who went 2 for 3. McDonald struggled. Resop struggled. Daniel McCutchen did not allow any runs, but struggled nonetheless. Hanrahan was good and that is about all of the good news we can give.

There were some things of note. Pedro Ciraco played second base again. His numbers continue to impress, and we are seeing less and less of Josh Rodriguiz. Steven Pearce got in the game in Right Field. Which was very interesting considering Andy Marte played First Base showing how he can do both corners. Marte drew a walk, so he continues to hit .375.

The PIrates continue to struggle with runners in scoring position. Going 1 for 6 today, which is really good for them. They did have a 0 for 11 earlier this week.

The Pirates pitching had been the story of Spring Training before these last two games. Hopefully Ross Ohlendorf can get them back on track.

The Pirates did cut four guys from camp. The only notable name among them is Sanchez. He was cut probably because he needs consistent reps, and the major league camp is no place for him to get it. The Pirates still have Brown in camp and an actual competition involving Jarmillo in his attempt to make the team. That is after Doumit and Snyder, who both are going to need to get into regular season shape. It just would not be fair to Sanchez or Jarmillo for the future franchise catcher to stick around. Jarmillo is currently hitting decent, and that has to continue for him to make the team.

Spring Training Races

2011-03-04T12:49:00.000-08:00

If Charlie Morton won round 1 of the Lincoln/Morton battle for the 5th spot, Lincoln won round 2. Morton went out and gave up two hit and a run in the first inning. But on the positive side he rebounded from that and threw two more perfect innings. Usually Morton gives up runs in bunches. Limiting it to one run is a positive sign. After all the big question for him is his mental toughness, not his stuff. Lincoln pitches three perfect frames recording another strike out and facing the minimum. Although it bears noting again. Morton has this spot locked up.

Scott Oleson has come out against being the bullpen. He also noted that the Pirates had not talked to him about the bullpen, which means I think he will start the season in AAA as a starter. He has that ability with options left. This also frees up a spot to keep Ascino. Thus the pen will probably be: Hanrahan, Meek, Resop, Biemel, Veras, Ascino, and Karstens. Biemel did get good news on the MRI. So, only one lefty in the pen.

Cory Wimberly continues to get a lot of playing time. He played at second today after spending the last few games in the outfield, but he has failed to get a hit yet. It is starting to look bad for his chances. This means that guys who can play both corners are moving up. Josh Fields, Garrett Atkins, and Steven Pearce (who is working out at third) look like real possibilities. Fields is hitting awful. Pearce is too new to 3B to get a chance. Thus, it looks like Atkins might get the final spot. Although Andy Marte is hitting .375 with a couple of doubles including today's hits that were off Joe Blanton not some AAA guy. So don't rule out a straight up 3B guy just yet since the Pirates do have Jones as well as even Doumit to be 1B. John Bowker is not hitting, nor getting any time at first. I think his chances are going away as well.

Sanchez got a hit today, a double. Good to see him get some time. D'Arnaud is getting a lot of AB's. I don't think it says more than just how incredibly short the Pirates are on middle infield help.

Two more wins and a loss

2011-03-01T20:52:00.000-08:00

The Pirates split their split squad games. Malholm was shaky, but no real worries. We got to see Josh Rodriguiz, who was robbed of a drive to the wall. He did help make a DP. Overbay and Atkins both hit well in their separate games. Rudy Owens had another subpar outing. The single most interesting thing other than seeing Mel Rojas Jr. get into a game was the obvious fact that Steven Pearce has no chance of making this team. Instead of letting Overbay play 1B in one game and Pearce in the other, they sent Pearce to the same game with Overbay, which limited Pearce to one AB. In the other game Atkins and Fields played and each got significant ABs. Not a good sign for Pearce. Karstens did throw a nice two innings.

Today's game was a win with great pitching. McDonald got 5 ground ball outs and looked good. Resop pitched well as did Aaron Thomson for two innings. McCutchen recovered from his last bad outing by getting two good innings in. Getting McCutchen the starter level work was interesting. Maybe he will be in the rotation at Indy. I kind of figured they were going to put him in the pen. And most importantly, Moskos got a save. Again probably against AAA guys, but he is looking good so far. Another nice point is Hurdle is still running. Even Chris Snyder tried to steal. Everyone got caught today, but hey, I like the approach. This is where we practice the stealing.

Bad news. The Pirates have shut down Joe Biemel with elbow problems. Some are saying it could lead to Tommy John surgery. Hopefully not, but an MRI is scheduled. This would make the bullpen situation rather interesting. Add in the fact that Scott Oleson is complaining about the idea of a bullpen job. He does have options, so perhaps they are not considering putting him in the pen. That would open up a spot for Tony Watson and even now Moskos as with no Biemel and no Oleson the Pirates are fresh out of left handed pen guys. I guess Thomson could fit into a lefty in the pen role, but still no late inning guy.

Spring Training First Official Weekend

2011-02-27T22:17:00.000-08:00

The Pirates split two games with the Rays this weekend. One really cannot learn much from these games and really one needs to start looking at bodies of work rather than one outing, so this is really kind of hard judge anything at this point.

A lot is being made of Morton's outing as opposed to Brad Lincoln's since those guys are both after the 5th spot. Morton got Longoria out while Lincoln gave up a homer. However, Lincoln did appear to be aggressive and got a strike out while Morton did not. Morton also gave up a walk, and was bailed out by two double plays. Now that could be a good sign of getting ground balls, but what we really need to see from Morton is how he gets out of jams and recovers from something not going his way. Lincoln did seem to have trouble blowing the fast ball past people, but again it is early in spring training. I also think they have already made the decision to keep Morton on, and I do think that he will be a disaster.

One thing that I see that will be good is an aggressive approach on the basepaths. McCutchen got a steal today, and Wimberly had one against the Manatees. The team is running. They never did enough of that before. The Pirates are loaded with speed. They ought to run.

Wimberly is looking like a very patient hitter. He draws a lot of walks, or at least has so far. They have also played him both in the infield and in center field. I like the versatility. They have also played Josh Rodriguiz at both second and short.

Another thing that I was excited to see was Daniel Moskos. He pitched against AAA quality guys, but he got them out. He did struggle a bit there last year. Outing number one looked pretty good for Moskos.

Tomorrow is a Split Squad with two games. I always enjoy those the most because you see more guys. Looking forward to it.

Manatee Game 2011

2011-02-25T15:34:00.000-08:00

The Pirates won 21-1. That is a relief. This game is interesting because usually the Pirates play people who are on the outside looking in. There will be no Andrew McCutchen in this game. It featured Steven Pearce, who hit two doubles, Garret Atkins, who hit a multi-run homer, and Brian Friday, who hit a homer. Corey Wimberly played as well. Wimberly played at second base. John Bowker played in this game as well, which despite his decent performance, is a bad sign for him.

Aaron Thomson pitched an 11 pitch perfect first inning if you believe in omens. Michael Crotta logged a perfect inning as well. I believe we will see him in the pen this year. Not out of Spring Training, but before all is said and done.

Others who played included Gorkys Hernandez who had three RBIs. D'Arnaud played, which was interesting. Maybe he will not be sent back to AA as everyone else seemed to be destined for AAA. He walked his first time up. I can't find more in-depth stats as this game is not "official". I did manage to find the recently hyped Tyler Yates. He gave up the Pirates only run.

An interesting note is that Pedro Ciraco did not play in this game. Perhaps a good sign for his future.

The Pirates have been racking up injuries so far in camp. It is becoming clear that Hart will not be ready for the start of the season. Ascino had some elbow tightness. Not a good sign. Scott Oleson also has taken a week off of throwing making it more and more likely that Charlie Morton will be allowed to sink the Pirates season just like he did last year.

Looking forward to real games get going.

Camp is Open 2011

2011-02-15T21:54:00.000-08:00

Pitchers and Catchers have arrived. So have many of the other players. Spring Training this year will be all about watching the young guys. Very few positions open on the major league team, so not many story lines. I will go ahead and outline the ones I will be watching.

1. Corey Wimberly. Will he make the team?
2. How many catchers? I am on record as saying the Pirates will take 3 catchers to Opening Day.
3. Jose Ascino. How will he look after his injuries?

I think those are the three big stories. Here are a few that are going to be covered, but I think are non-stories.

1. Fifth Starter. This is already decided from on high. Charlie Morton will be losing ball games in blow out fashion every fifth day for half the season again. He is out of options, and Lincoln is not. The Pirates want Karstens in the pen, and Olsen is a lefty needed in the pen.
2. Bullpen. I also think that this is mostly moot now with the signing of Joe Biemel. That rounds it out. They will pick the closer before the first spring game, which should show us all we need to know for the pen. It will look like this: Hanrahan, Meek, Resop, Biemel, Olsen, Karstens, Ascino.
3. Rule 5. Will our pick make the team? Of course he will. All the Rule 5 picks have broken camp with the team, and so will this year's edition.

Still, Camp is always a fun time of year. Looking forward to it.

Our Organizational Strength

2011-02-06T13:11:00.001-08:00

Buccofans has the best post I have yet seen on exactly how the organization has improved since 2007 when the leadership changed. It is a chart of the minor league free agents signed.

I would just add one thought to the list he has provided. Remember that Tyler Yates and Brian Burres were signed as minor league free agents, but both were signed from the Pirates themselves. They chose to remain in the PIrate system. So those guys are not really additions, but keepers from the last year.

Good stuff that makes me hopeful for the future.

West Virginia Power Roster Predictions

2011-02-04T11:36:00.000-08:00

This is the team everyone in the nation will be watching because it will be loaded with future Pirate superstars.

C - Kawika Emsley-Pai
1B -Matt Curry
2B -Kelson Brown
3B -Eric Avila
SS - Drew Maggia
LF -Adelberto Santos
CF -Mel Rojas Jr.
RF - Daniel Grovatt

One quick note. I do think that we will see a lot of Justin Howard as back up 1B. He will probably not go to State College as he has already played against college players. I think the Pirates were real disappointed with the catchers in the low A range, so I believe Emsley-Pai will get every opportunity to shine as the starter.

SP - Jameson Taillon
SP - Zack Von Rosenburg
SP - Colton Cain
SP - Zachary Dodson
SP - Zachary Fuesser
SP/RP - Brooks Pounders
RP - Victor Black
RP - Brent Klinger
RP - Jason Townsend

Of course this is where the excitement is for the Power. Taillon will be the big name here, but Von Rosenburg and Cain are going to be future PIrate starters too. Dodson looked good last year and then the fifth spot is the question. Do they bring Stetson Allie up or use one of the other previous draft picks. Fuesser had a better year than Trent Stevenson so I put him in the rotation. Steveson will probably start back at State College, and I think the Pirates have shown before they like to start similar guys at different levels. Think of how they separated D'Arnaud and Mercer (and appear on the verge of doing it again this year). Allie then will probably start at State College. I think the fact that Pounders usually came in to take the 3rd or 4th inning means he does that again this year from West Virginia. He is not moved to the pen, but this is way to get guys some psuedo-starts when you have so many prospects. Victor Black has been told he will be in the pen this year, and Klinger and Townsend have already been in the pen, so they seem like potential guys to watch out of the pen, although Black could start up in High A.

All in all this is the team to watch. How will Drew Maggia and Mel Rojas do, not to mention Grovatt. What about Eric Avila? And is Emlsey-Pai an actual prospect? This is good stuff. I will be watching.

Bradenton Mauraders 2011

2011-01-24T21:17:00.000-08:00

Here is the prediction for the High A Pirate team.

C -Ramon Cabrera
1B - Aaron Baker
2B - Jarek Cunningham
3B -Elevys Gonzales
SS - Benji Gonzales
LF - Austin McClune
CF -David Rubinstein
RF -Evan Chambers

This is not exactly an impressive starting line up. It was not exactly impressive at WV either. They catch up to McClune, but this line up is really hoping for someone to get a break through year in a hitter friendly park. Evan Chambers is who they will be looking to have that year. Baker should be solid, and Cunningham is highly thought of, but his stats have yet to really show the promise.

SP - Brett Lorin
SP - Philip Irwin
SP - Tim Alderson
SP - Kyle McPherson
SP - Quinton Miller
SP/RP -Hunter Strickland
SP/RP - Tyler Waldron
RP - Jonathan Rhamos
RP -Zachary Foster

The pitching staff should be interesting. You can count on Irwin and Miller with a safe bet that Lorin and McPherson will start here, but be looking to move up. Alderson will be here, but what will his season look like is a big question for the Pirates. Strickland and Waldron are listed as both because they will get some starts and come in early on others as a way to keep them in the rotation. I do believe that Waldron will end up here because he may be a bullpen guy in the future, and thus, his slow development as a starter is not as important. Also West Virginia is crowded and Waldron is actually the old guy in the mix, and about the only one with college experience thus, I think he will make it here just because they sort of have to put him here.

The bullpen will also have some prospects like Rhamos. I do keep plugging Foster because he gets saves, but he is not a hard thrower. I do think again he will be here because it is a crowded team in West Virginia.

It is also possible that Victor Black starts here. He has stated in an interview that he will be in the pen this year, so he could do that here in Bradenton or back in West Viriginia. I have chosen to leave him in WV, but it could go either way.

2011 Altoona Curve

2011-01-19T07:07:00.001-08:00

This is just a guess, but there is should be a lot here to watch as members from last year's Altoona title team merge with members of the Bradenton team that went to the championship.

C - Sanchez
1B - Anderson
2B - D'Arnaud
SS - Holt
3B - Farrel
LF - Latimore
CF - Marte
RF - Grossmann/Herendez

I do believe that Chase D'Arnaud will start here in AA again. I also think that Robbie Grossman will move up, but Gorkys will not. It is possible that Grossman will stay behind, but we will see. The other question is about Calvin Anderson at 1B. He could DH, but Fryer will do that too. Hague might move up, but first is crowded there, so I think he stays.

SP - Locke
SP - Wilson
SP - Pribonic
SP - Hughes
SP - Leach
RP - Ericksen
RP - Aguero
RP - Moreno
RP - Krol

As you can see this team will have plenty of bats to watch in addition to D'Arnaud. Holt will be here, and Farrel will be one of the prospects to watch. Marte and Sanchez are must sees, and whether or not Grossman will get better and live up to his potential is another story line.

The pitching staff looks great. Pribonic was great in Fall Ball, and Locke and Wilson are good enough for AAA. There are some bullpen guys with a future here as well. Aguero and Moreno are well known, but Krol had 36 saves last year and a low WHIP. He is one to watch as well. Nathan Adcock would have been here, but the Royals took him in the Rule 5.

2011 Indianapolis Indians

2011-01-14T08:15:00.000-08:00

This is the first year in recent memory where every level of the Pirates minor league system is going to be interesting. The Indianapolis Indians will be a great place this year with the pitching being particularly exciting to watch. Many will be making the jump late in the year.

These are my projections, but I find the Indy infield particularly hard to judge.

C - Hector Giminez
1B - Garret Atkins (Steven Pearce will take over, but I am not convinced that he will be ready for the opening, and he may have to start lower to get his swing back depending on if he can play in any Spring Training games)
2B - Josh Harrison
3B - Andy Marte
SS - Jordy Mercer
LF - Josh Fields
CF - Andrew Lambo
RF -Alex Presley
DH - Jeff Clement

I think that will be the starting line-up, but I believe that Brian Friday will be a starter on most days of the week, but I think they will switch him up. Infield somedays (second and third) and outfield somedays (SP -corner spots), and even the DH from time to time. I expect this line up to be pretty fluid. Fields and Atkins will play some at 3B as well. Especially the 3B spot will be interesting. If Marte does not play well he will get replaced. Especially after Pearce comes back. That will move Atkins to a regular rotation for the 3B spot. The best thing that can happen for a lot of these guys is the dumping of Doumit at the big league level opening a spot for one of them (probably either Presley, Pearce, or Atkins), and then Clement can move out of the DH spot and everything will be much more settled.

I do not have Ciraco on this line up as I believe he will be lost after not making the Big League team. Also you will note no Jim Negrych. I do not think he will open up at AAA. If so, he will be buried on the bench. His last few years have been a real disappointment. He is not a prospect, and thus will be behind all of those on this list. I also do not think that they will open up with Chase D'Arnaud in AAA. He will make it before the season is over, but his bad year and the off season signing signal another stint at AA.

Pitching:
SP - Brad Lincoln
SP - Rudy Owens
SP - Daniel McCutchen
SP - Aaron Thomson
SP - Brian Morris
RP - Brian Burres
RP - Daniel Moskos
RP - Justin Thomas
RP - Sean Gallagher
RP - Michael Crotta
RP - Kevin Hart (he could start on DL or lower to work his way to AAA)

You will notice that Jeff Locke is not here. I think he will start in AA. AAA is too crowded and Locke was not there very long. He will start there, but end up here in AAA. I think Burres will be a bullpen guy because the Pirates are short on left handed arms in the bigs, and Burres thus they need him to be in the pen. I think that McCutchen will get one last shot at being a starter. More value that way. If they decide to switch him to the pen they can always do that later. Crotta does not have much of a shot at being a big league starter, but the pen is a real possibility. Thus, that transition starts this year. The other guys I added because the saw time last year and very well could again this year.

I think the Indians are going to have a real chance at being good this year. More importantly they have a real chance to develop some great prospects in the field (like Mercer and Lambo) and on the mound (almost everyone). They are a team to watch for Pirate fans.

Your 2011 Pittsburgh Pirates

2011-01-13T11:31:00.001-08:00

You cannot look at the minors without first deciding who you think will be on the Big League Team. Most of this is set. Although I think the bench will be a surprise.

Starters:
C - Chris Synder
1B - Lyle Overbay
2B - Neil Walker
3B - Pedro Alvarez
SS - Ronny Cedano
LF - Jose Tabata
CF - Andrew McCutchen
RF - Jones/Diaz

Bench:
OF - Diaz/Jones
C/UT - Ryan Doumit
UI - Josh Rodriguiz
UT - Corey Wimberly
C - Jason Jarmillo

A word or two needs to be said here for why these bench players were picked. The Pirates have as much as said that they are looking not to lose people. They have also said that Ryan Doumit will be more than just a back up catcher. Meaning he will either play some corner outfield as a fifth outfielder or some back up first base or both. That will mean sometimes Doumit will be on the field with Snyder leaving no back up catcher on the bench if they only go with two. It also means that Doumit will play back up catcher and his defense is awful. So, I think that Jarmillo, who will be lost if he does not make the team, will be a third catcher. Freeing Doumit up to play outfield some. This bumps John Bowker off the team. The Pirates did not take Josh Rodriguiz in the Rule 5 to cut him in Spring Training. So, he will break camp with the team. This creates a little of a problem as they will probably want to hide him a little. So now the fifth outfielder is a defensive liability and the back up Utility Infielder will be a question mark and not a pinch hitter. So, that means the last spot needs to be someone who can do it all. Corey Wimberly can. He plays third and second as well as short, and has played all three positions in the outfield. This makes him the perfect guy for the last spot. This means that the Pirates will also lose Ciraco.

Pitching:
SP - Paul Malholm
SP - Kevin Correia
SP - Ross Ohelendorf
SP - James McDonald
SP - Charlie Morton
RP - Jeff Karstens
RP - Scott Olsen
RP - Jose Ascino
RP - Chris Resop
RP - Tony Watson
RP - Evan Meek
RP - Joel Hanrahan

I think most of this is pretty straight forward. I think Morton will get the fifth slot because the Pirates appear to be in love with him and they will lose him if they cut him. Olsen will be in the pen because they have need of lefties there. Karstens they have already said they prefer him to be in the pen. Ascino will be lost if they do not keep him, and he is pitching well in the Winter Leagues. Watson is the guess. I think they will need another lefty in the pen, and Watson is probably as good as he is going to get right now. He is probably ready for this role. Also I think Kevin Hart will start out the season on the DL, giving Watson a spot in the pen.

This is what I think will happen, and it sets the stage for our trip through the minor leagues. We will start in AAA and work our way backwards.

Pirate Offseason Success - UPDATED

2011-01-13T06:43:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot of discussion about whether or not the Pirates did their team any good in the offseason. I think the answer is yes, but only a little. I mostly agree with the WHYGAVS gives. Going into the offseason the biggest need in my opinion was pitching, which was addressed, and short stop, which was not.

Matt Diaz is being undersold. This is what happens when you only look at stats. Milledge was horrible to have around young impressionable guys. He loafed, paid no attention running the bases, and cost the team games in the field on more than one occasion. Diaz is a stable veteran who can help mold your young talent with good attitude. Sure the stats are not an improvement, and he is older with less "upside", but Milledge is not wanted by other teams because those non-stat things matter.

I do think the pitching staff has been upgraded. Zack Duke is gone. Kevin Corria is going to be better. While I am not a fan of Scott Oleson, at least it gives the Pirates a 5th starter option that is not Charlie Morton. That makes it an upgrade.

And while I also would have rather seen Pearce and Bowker at first, Lyle Overbay is not awful. Just count it as a signing to appease fans who wanted offseason action. Maybe he will hit better in the NL Central. Maybe he will give the Pirates the extra power their team really needed. At least it is a signing with a little bit of hope in it.

Plus, the Pirates needed to be viewed also for what they tried to do. Pittsburgh is not yet a destination for people who want to win in free agency. They made real offers to Jorge De La Rosa and they made attempts at some other big name free agents as well as some recovering former greats like Brandon Webb. These guys passed on Pittsburgh, but not because the offers were no good. They were legitimate attempts to really improve the team.

As for short stop, I think the Pirates tried there as well. They just did not get the trade done for JJ Hardy, but that should be viewed as a win as well because the Pirates showed they were going to keep their top flight prospects. The Twins were not going to take anything less. The Pirates go into 2011 with all their prospects in the system. You have to like that.

With that said, we should start looking at 2011 as Spring Training is just around the corner.

UPDATE:
I forgot the most important off season pick up. Clint Hurdle as manager. I know that a lot of people do not think that managers add wins and losses, but sometimes they do. I think that this is one of those times. It is more that John Russell added losses. He was a very bad manager. His decisions were awful. I mean I have heard of player revolts before, but Russell had a manager revolt. One so bad that two coaches got fired during the season when the manager was going to get canned at the end of the season anyway. That means that other coaches thought he was that bad. Clint Hurdle will not have that problem and return the team to an average level of coaching.
I think it also shows that the Pirates are expanding the budget. No longer are they getting the guy with no real experience and hoping he turns out good like Russell or McClendon. Now, they are paying for a proven guy. They got the manager they wanted despite the fact that the manager was also being pursued by the New York Mets. It is a good sign and it makes for a good offseason.

Mini-Camp

2011-01-11T21:58:00.001-08:00

So Mini-Camp is open for business in Pirate City. Most of the team is there. Pedro Alvarez is getting married (or so the rumor goes), but the other major contributors are all there. Let the competition for the 5th starter spot begin.

Since Mini-Camp is under way, I will start previews of each minor league team leading up to the opening of camp. A lot will be speculation, but why not. This year will have something to watch at every level. Some real exciting stuff going on in the Pirate franchise. Sit back and enjoy the snow because baseball will soon be here.

Congrats to Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven

2011-01-05T12:54:00.000-08:00

Bert Blyleven, former Pirate great, was finally elected to the Hall of Fame. He will be going in with Roberto Alomar, and the veterans committee picked a Toronto Blue Jay GM.

Bert will go in wearing a Twins cap, and he currently announces for the Twins. He is actually a very good announcer. I loved listening to him when I was in that viewing area. Still, I will remember him fondly for his 1979 championship with the Pirates. A complete game in the LCS and a win out of the pen in the World Series. Bert is deserving and making him wait 14 years is stupid.

The 6th most strikeouts, 14 most innings pitched and 9th in shut outs. He was crazy good, but you hear way more about pitchers like Tom Glavine as sure fire Hall of Famers despite Tom being no where near as good as Bert. Bert was a terrific pitcher in every way possible. He is the poster boy of media bias. Pitching mostly in Minnesota and Pittsburgh made him overlooked every year and even after his career was over.

Well done, Mr. Blyleven. Well done.

Aaron Thomson and Garrett Atkins, new Pirates

2010-12-23T14:03:00.000-08:00

The Pirates continue to amaze by claiming Aaron Thompson off of waivers. He is a pitcher that was drafted by the Marlins, traded to the Nationals, and now arrives with the Pirates. He will probably be in the AAA bullpen or perhaps the rotation of AA. To make room for him the Pirates designated for assignment Ledezma. Ledezma is the only lefty in the bullpen right now, so this is a bit of a shock. Plus it means that Chris Ledoux is still on the 40 man. Amazing. Ledezman had just re-signed earlier this year, so hopefully the Pirates will be able to keep him around.

They also made a minor trade, as in trading some minor leaguers. They get Corey Wimberly from the A's, a 27 year old utility infielder who has also played a little outfield for 23 year old Ryan Kelly. Kelly has pitched at the Low A level with a decent fastball, but with all the pitching talent coming through the system has no hope in the Pirate organization. Wimberly hit .284 at AAA with a nice 56 stolen bases. Clearly Wimberly is a possible major league back up if the Pirates decide against Ciraco. I fail to see how he fits in at a now crowded AAA infield unless the Pirates are planning on leaving at least one of their future stars (D'Arnaud or Mercer) in AA.

Garrett Atkins also signed a minor league deal with the Pirates. Atkins, a third baseman, hit well in the Rockies good year of 06 and again in 07, but has been miserable since. However he has real major league experience that the other candidates for back up third base do not have.

Now, it appears the Pirates are really planning on having some competition in camp to see who the back up in the infield are going to be. The Pirates might be leaning toward carrying a natural third base back up rather than using Neil Walker as the back up third base and going with an extra middle infielder to fill in at second. There are lots of choices for the Pirates to make this Spring, and that can only be a good thing.

Martinez removed from 40 man

2010-12-22T11:16:00.000-08:00

I am not sure why this took so long. The Pirates had a 41 man roster for two days.

Joe Martinez came in a trade last year, so it is a little surprising that he was the one dropped. I think he could still stay with the Pirates by clearing waivers. But more importantly it says two things.

One, the Pirates must be having trouble trading Ryan Doumit. That is bad news. His presence on the roster ruins everything. It would probably push Bowker off the team, and probably also keep Pearce in AAA. It might also cost the team Jarmillo, but the Pirates seem bent on keeping Doumit away from the catcher position, so maybe Jarmillo would be safe. Doumit has to go.

Two, the Pirates must think highly of Chris Leroux. Leroux is a bullpen guy, who I think was claimed off of waivers. Most including me thought he was the one to drop. Yet, he remains. After the purge before the Winter Meeting and now after several free agent signings, Leroux remains. I find that development rather intriguing.

Brewers lose their minds and some minor league signings

2010-12-20T22:11:00.000-08:00

The Brewers today made the big headline news in trading for Zack Greinke. They Brewers also got Bettencourt, a short stop, from the Royals. The Royals made out like bandits in this deal. They got 4 guys in return.

The Brewers gave up Alcides Escobar, who is better than Bettncourt, and is the best player in this deal. They also gave up Lorenzo Cain, a center fielder who played after September call ups and hit .500 for a 2 week stretch. He is going to be an above average center fielder. In addition to these two top prospects, they got Jake Odorizzi, who projects to be a number 3 possibly a number 2 guy. And they also got for good measure Jeremy Jeffress, who pitches 95-98 without much trouble, but has already got two strikes against him for smoking weed. Jeffress may not make it as a starting pitcher, but with that kind of speed and arm he could easily be an 8th inning guy or with some work a closer. He can outright overpower you. The key is whether or not he can stay clean. His next strike is a life time ban.

In other words the Brewers mortgaged their future on this year. Add in the fact that they traded for Shaun Marcum earlier this off season, which cost them a top second base prospect, and you have the definition of insanity. There is nothing in the cupboard for the Brewers, and while they have a great pitching staff, they do not have enough to win this year. Not only do their top 3 pitchers need to stay healthy, but they are going to be trading away Prince Fielder this year. With all that has happened they would be crazy not to trade him to the Yankees (since they seem to have fallen behind the Red Sox this offseason). The Yankees will be able to sign him this next off season for no return for the Brewers. Trade him they must. The same goes for Ricky Weeks, although they might could re-sign him. But without Fielder I doubt the Brewers have what it takes to attract him back.

I live in the Kansas City region, and the dirty secret discussed in Kansas City all last season is that many believer Zack Grienke emotionally broken. His best pitching days may indeed be behind him. The Royals number 1 ranked farm system just got a lot better and their major league team did too.

In other news the Pirates have re-signed Donald Veal (great news), Tyler Yates (good news - I like him as emergency bullpen help), and signed for the first time Josh Fields (so-so news). Fields is a back up utility infielder with 3B as his normal spot. He has seen major league action and is fairly young. He is just adding that level of competition for back up spots that the Pirates have been preaching.