Upon hearing that the Brewers are seeking to retroactively give CC Sabathia a no hitter after he bobbled a ground ball by Andy LaRoche that was ruled an error, I couldn't help but wonder, "Are you kidding me?"

Not only does LaRoche's hit stand out in an otherwise dominant performance by Sabathia, where he struck out the Pirates 11 times and nearly had as many hits as the Pirates himself, but it stands out because of how simply it could have been an out.

The official scorekeeper stated that an above average defensive play would have been needed to get LaRoche out at first base. It became an above average play as soon as CC went to barehand it. If he had simply reached down with his glove, and then thrown the ball to first, there is no doubt in my mind that LaRoche would have been out. However, CC doomed himself by reaching down, and losing his grip. If he had reached with the glove and bobbled it, it would have been an error, as it was attempted to be fielded, but failed. The barehand instantly implies difficulty, and thats what made it a hit.

Continue reading "It may be just one, but it counts"

The Pirates welcomed an unusually high number of minor leaguers to the big leagues today as they called up 10 players from Indianapolis today for the start of their series against the Reds. Notable about the callups is the fact that they now have 18 position players as well as 17 pitchers, opting to go with a 6-man rotation the rest of the season.

The 17 pitchers are what interest me the most. Russ Ohlendorf, picked up in the Xavier Nady trade to the Yankees, will make his first start of the season tomorrow, pushing back Zach Duke a day. Going to a 6-man rotation also will help the team limit the innings of ace Paul Maholm, who is pushing for 200 for the first time in his career. 

Back to the 17 pitchers. Another notable thing about this group is the lack of John Van Benschoten, who, after being placed in a relief role upon his demotion, struggled to an E.R.A. of over 5.50, though much of that damage was done within his first three outings out of the pen. 

Continue reading "Armed and ready"

With the Pirates continuously contemplating the trading of Jack Wilson, Pirates fans must be looking forward to the battle that will take the place at the shortstop positon. However, if last night is any indication, this may not be much of a battle at all.

Luis Cruz made his major league debut last night against Cincinnatti and that may be the biggest statement of all. Cruz got his first major league hit in his first at bat, a single to left, but other than that, his performance was modest at best. He missed a coverage at 2nd on a ground ball and had a hot shot slide right under his glove, but the fact that he got the first start of September and not Brian Bixler is what makes me curious.

Bixler has been touted as the shortstop of the future for a couple years now. However, his performance earlier this season in a 2 month call-up due to the Jack Wilson injury did little to help Bixler secure that claim. He struggled to a .178 average and committing numerous errors at both shortstop and second base. However, upon returning to AAA Indianapolis, he finished strong with a .280 average and much better defense, justifying his callup yesterday.

Continue reading "Short changed"

I told a friend of mine recently that I would try to be more optimistic on here. He said that alot of what I wrote was negative and that he would enjoy it more if I was more upbeat. I am upbeat about a lot of things, but what I saw today from Craig Hansen is not one of them.

In case you missed it, Hanson came in to a 1 run game in the 8th inning this afternoon against Cincinnatti. Instead of doing what he was supposed to do; get three outs and move on to the next frame, Hanson failed...spectacularly.

Hanson walked the first batter he faced, which has become the standard for him. He only has 3 appearances as a Pirate where he didn't walk a batter. Now, a runner on first and no outs is not something to get up in arms about, and I was sure that Hanson would take care of business with the next 3 hitters. 

Continue reading "No trade backs"

I'ts about time.

Zach Duke, for the first time since his rookie year in my opinion, pitched the way he knows he can pitch. By going 9 relatively easy innings, and getting the shutot, Duke is putting together a strong case for why he should still be considered a candidate for the starting rotation next year. Couple this with his outing against the Cubs last week in which he allowed only 2 runs in 8 strong innings, and he has now allowed only 13 hits and 2 runs over his last 17 innings of work, dropping his ERA by nearly 1/3 of a run.

But to be fair to Duke, he has not pitched as poorly as his record and ERA would indicate. He has allowed a large amount of hits, 206 over 168 innings pitched, but he has been given poor run support in quite a few starts as well. Over his last 8 decisions not counting the 7-0 shutout last night, he has been given only 21 runs of support over 8 starts, less than 3 runs per game. Mind you, in that time, Duke has been giving up a fair amount of runs, but without any form of offense, it's not exactly like Duke has lost games entirely on his own.

Continue reading "Duke Nuked 'em"

After being at work for what seemed forever today (9 hours) I got to thinking, "What would the Pirates play like if they put in a good hard day's work at the ballpark?" Surely they wouldn't have the bullpen meltdowns that have become their Modus Operandi the past few weeks. And the offense would have some life to it. Maybe they would score more than 3 runs. That would be a nice change of pace, because besides the San Francisco series, they couldn't score to save their collective lives. And the starting pitching would be able to go at least 7 innings. So in summation, the Pirates perfect game would go as such...

Paul Maholm would go 7 strong innings, striking out 7 and no issuing a walk on about 100 pitches. 

The offense would score runs in the first inning, putting the onus on the opposition to play from behind. With some timely two out hitting, the Pirates would score 3 runs in the first en route to 8 for the day. As power is not really in the lineup, a few clutch doubles would knock in most of the runs.

Continue reading "Day dreaming"

Despite the fact that the Pirates lost their 83rd game of the season last night, I was not disappointed at all. Sure, the loss hurts, every loss does, but the way the Pirates played last night gave me hope for the rest of the season. It was a strong pitching performance from Ian Snell, who worked 6 strong innings, showing some velocity on his fastball yet again and working his slider in and out to the Astros' batters. Despite his one poor inning in which he gave up a rookie's first homerun and a few basehits, he was dominant in striking out 9 and only issuing three walks.

What else was positive is that the bullpen pitched well after they relieved Snell. Despite their struggles as of late, they were able pitch 2 scoreless innings iwth only allowing 2 baserunners, getting a timely double play in the 8th courtesy of John Grabow.

Continue reading "Acceptable behavior"

Looking forward to next season, Pirates General Manager Neil Huntington has made it known that no job is secure for next season. Everyone who plays this September is playing for a spot on next season's roster and not everyone will make it. Knowing that, there are a few certain locations on the diamond that are pretty safely locked for next season, with Nate McClouth and Ryan Doumit having performed so far beyond expecations this season that they are all but assured to be starting on opening day next season. I will go through position by position over the next few days and talk about each position as it is shaping up for next season, starting tonight in left field.

With Jason Bay gone, there leaves a gaping hole in both the Pirates lineup and left field that management needs to fill in order for the team to be successful in the near future. The Pirates do have some options going into next season. Option one has to be Nijer Morgan. Since returning from a long stint in AAA, Morgan has been impressive as the team's leadoff hitter and in left and right fields. He has had some trouble on the basepaths, being known to overslide second base on numerous occassions. However, if his average continues to hold up and he improves on the basepaths, Morgan has the speed and defensive abilities to cover the large expanse that is left field at PNC Park.

Continue reading "Not so fast my friend"

Continuing on with my look ahead to the 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates will be my thoughts on the Right Field position. After Xavier Nady departed with Damaso Marte to New York, right field was a position by committee. Most of the initial action went to Jason Michaels and Brandon Moss, with Steve Pearce being sent back to AAA to play out the rest of his season there.

Now with players jockying for positions next year, I have to say that Moss is the leader in the running for the starting job in right, with Pearce coming in a distant second barring an explosive spring training. While Moss has had his issues in right field since coming over from Boston, he has been getting better and better as he gets more experience at the position. Showing an average arm and a willingness to play hard, Moss has steadied himself in the Pirates outfield. What Moss must, and most likely will improve on, is his ability to play the ball off the 21 ft. high Clemente Wall. If Moss can learn to master the Clemente wall, and continue his solid hitting next spring, he will be a lock to start the opener in right for the Buccos.

Continue reading "Right where?"

With the Pirates resting their third base hopes for the future on the possibility of Pedro Alvarez, the need for a third baseman to hold the fort till he gets here is paramount for the team to enjoy some semblance of success next season. With that in mind, there are three viable candidates for next year to open the season at the hot corner.

Ideally, the winner of this competition would be Andy LaRoche. One of the additions in the Jason Bay trade, LaRoche was looked at as a high prospect in the Dodgers organization until the play of Blake DeWitt and eventually Casey Blake pushed LaRoche to third on the organizational depth chart. LaRoche has struggled as a Pirate since coming over, hitting under .200 and playing a below average third base with 6 errors in his first 18 games. But his defensive play has picked up as of late, and I'm hoping his bat will do the same. If he can finish up strong this season and show an improvement in his footwork and his approach at the plate in the spring, he will have a great chance of winning the starting nod.

Continue reading "I don't know's on third"

As I went through the Pirates roster to determine possible changes in the starting lineup, I came to realize that in terms of the starting 8 are concerned, not as many positions are up in the air as I thought. I have covered left and right field and third base as areas of change. However, it is also worth noting the players that have performed up to snuff this season that have, for all intents and purposes, earned a starting position in next season's lineup.

At first base will return Adam LaRoche. This despite the fact that he will again get a raise through arbitration, putting his salary in the 6 million per year range, making him one of the highest paid players on the Pirates in 2009. However, do not be surprised if the Pirates are less tolerant of his slow starts than in previous seasons. If he struggles in April and May, look for Steve Pearce to get some work in at the position.

Continue reading "Locked up"

During the second inning of the Pirates-Dodgers game this evening, the first base umpire ruled that Derek Lowe was safe on a sacrifice bunt attempt. The play went like so...

Lowe bunted the ball to the third base side of the mound. The ball was fielded by tonight's starter, Jeff Karstens, and thrown to first base where it skipped into and out of the glove of Freddy Sanchez. Sanchez, upon realizing that he dropped the ball, picked it up, roughly 2 steps before Lowe crossed the first base bag. Lowe was ruled safe and an error was given to Karstens. 

Due to this lack of an out, the Dodgers were able to score 3 runs and stake themselves out to an early 4-0 lead.

What I fail to grasp is why John Russell did not go out and argue the call at all. His players were left perplexed at the situation and more runs were scored to put the Pirates in a hole early on, something that usually dooms them to failure. This lack of managerial support puzzles me. Even if it accomplishes nothing, you need to defend your men. You cannot allow an umpire to take control of the situation like that. He needs to step out, raise some hell, and give his team the confidence it needs to get through the inning.

Continue reading "Way to defend your man, Russell"

Despite the fact that I have not blogged in a few days, it does not mean I have given up on the idea of writing about my pathetic Buccos. With plenty of work to keep me busy, it's been difficult to find the time to make it here every day. But I promise I will make a better effort these last ten games of the season. With that said, lets take a walk down memory lane and look at what's been plaguing the Pirates the past few days.

And walking is exactly that. The Pirates have been issuing free passes the past few days at an alarming rate. By allowing 19 walks their last 21 innings. If you want to find a reason the Pirates have lost those two games, look no further than that. By issuing such rediculous amounts of walks, the Pirates are running up the pitch counts of their starters, limiting their effectiveness. They are also stressing out an overworked bullpen, forcing them to throw more innings than they should ever have to. 

Continue reading "Take a walk"

Roughly 20,000 fans attended the Pirates home season finale yesterday afternoon. And about the only thing worth noting of that game was the fact that Jack Wilson played in what is most likely his final game as a Pirate, knocking a pinch hit single to left in his only plate appearance. His plate appearance raised up what had been a relatively silent crowd into an uproar as he approached the plate and got his single. After that, the place was practically dead, as have been most Pirates home games this season.

It was stated in an article by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette that the Pirates average attendance was just a hair over 20k perr date this season, the lowest it's been in the 8 year existance of PNC Park. If the Pirates want to put butts in the seats, than they have to give us more than this.

Continue reading "Enjoy the Silence"

In what has been another disappointing season for the Buccos, our one shining light in terms of pitching is making his final appearance of the year against the Brewers this evening.

Paul Maholm has put together the kind of year that the Pirates expected of all 4 of their young starters. He has posted so many quality games that it boggles the mind that the Pirates have only given him 9 wins. He has allowed fewer than 3 runs in 9 no decisions. If the Pirates win those 9 games, Maholm is an 18 game winner and the Pirates aren't in dead last in the NL Central.

The culprit in many of these failings has been the bullpen, which has failed to hold leads in many of Paul's starts. However, the offense can also be given some of the blame, as they routinely fail to score more than 4 runs in Maholm's starts.

Continue reading "Double Digits"