Apparently the Pirates used up their supply of hits on Wednesday night when they played the redbirds…

It wasn’t a good day for The Last Pirates Fan, nor for the Buccos.  I wasn’t able to watch the game because it was untelevised and for some reason, my internet radio wouldn’t work, so I didn’t get to listen to it either.  I was watching the live updates, but I was also trying to gather more and more details on the Nick Adenhart tragedy.  Because of all this, I will again defer to DK’s Game Story.

Here’s what I know.  Chris Carpenter must have pitched a hell of a game.  A walk, an error, and two fielder’s choices ended his shutout bid in the third inning, but he kept his no-hit bid going strong for 6 2/3 innings.  This is a guy who is just coming back from injury, so I have to believe that he’s not at top form yet.  That’s a scary thought for the Buccos and the rest of the NL Central.

Ross Ohlendorf also pitched one hell of a game.  His strikeout numbers were nowhere to be found (just one), but he was still able to get outs.  What I loved most was that he only allowed one walk.  In fact, up until the 7th inning (right after we ended Carp’s no-hit bid), I believe he had only given up three or four hits.  According to DK’s Pirates Notebook, Ohlendorf was trying to throw his sinker more often (something I would know had the game actually been TELEVISED).  Well, Ohlendorf, it worked!  I wish I had gotten to see what was clearly a great pitchers duel for most of the game.

We have to send a special thank you to Ramon Vazquez for being the Pirates entire offense yesterday.  He scored our lone run in the third and had our lone hit in the seventh.  He also mixed in a walk and a strikeout in there.  Don’t be surprised to see him in there again today manning the hot corner.  Sorry, Andy LaRoche, but you actually have to hit well in the regular season to get at bats.

Speaking of the LaRoche’s, big brother Adam was sick yesterday, so Eric Hinske got his second start of the season.  Between the corner infield and the corner outfield positions, Hinske could see a lot of playing time this year, at least as many at bats as last year.  With that kind of playing time last year, he hit 20 homers and stole 10 bases.  That kind of production would be in the middle of our lineup!

Well we move on to Cincy to play three very winnable games.  Tonight, we get the young Johnny Cueto, who was great in spurts last year, but is beatable.  We’re running Jeff Karstens out to the mound.  7:10 tonight, everyone!

By they way, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a slight tip of the cap to Pedro Alvarez, who hit his first professional home run last night in a 3-4 effort for the Class A Lynchburg Hillcats.

Record:  2-2

Sincerely,

The Last Pirates Fan

I’m going to defer to ESPN.com’s report on the story, but allow me to quote Torii Hunter of the Angels:

“I’m in shock right now,” Hunter said. “He just pitched last night. It doesn’t seem like this is happening.

“This
is real life. This isn’t about baseball. This is his whole life, he had
his whole life ahead of him. He’s only 22, he’s still a kid. He was a
great kid, he was funny, he was very popular in the clubhouse and off
the field. People loved him.”

I’d personally like to echo the sentiments of Yankees Manager Joe Girardi:

“It’s sad. It really is. You think of a young man who realizes his
dream and pitches six shutout innings, and drives home and is gone.
Life is not supposed to be like that. I didn’t even know the kid and
it’s hard for me. He’s just a little boy who dreamed about playing in
the big leagues….Your
heart goes out to that family and that young man. You realize how
precious life is. You wake up every day and be thankful for what you’ve
got, because you never know.”  

Please keep the Adenhart family in your thoughts and prayers in the upcoming days.

(Picture Courtesy of ESPN.com)

(Update 4:35 PM – I will update the blog tomorrow on today’s Pirates game.  I want to show my respects to Nick Adenhart and his family by leaving this post in its rightful place atop the blog for at least the remainder of today.)

I can’t remember off the top of my head when the Pirates looked so effective with the sticks.  This is a team that is supposed to have a terrible offense.  They must have forgotten that last night. 

To be honest though, as well as we hit the ball, I have to believe that it was more of a result of ineffective pitching by the Cardinals.  It seemed like everything that their pitchers (Wellemeyer, especially) threw was straight and over the plate.  Very little movement and even less control.  Nonetheless, it’s great that the Pirates can take advantage of such mistakes by the other team.

Some might complain that the Pirates didn’t hit for any power last night, outside of Nate’s blast.  I will disagree with that all day long.  Sure, it would have been great if all of those 17 hits were home runs, but let’s face it people:  The Pirates are not a team that has a lot of power!  They did exactly what they needed to do and that is get hits in key situations. 

Here are my likes and dislikes from last night:

Like:  Freddy Sanchez – I’ll take your bloops and gappers all year, Freddy.  He looks more comfortable at the plate than I’ve seen in awhile, probably since his batting title year.  The guy can hit, there is little doubt about that.  He showed that in the second half last year.  He has very little power and even less speed on the basepaths, so he has to hit .310 to be a regular in a lineup.  He can do that.  John Russell, DO NOT MOVE HIM FROM THE 2 SPOT!

Dislike:  Nate McLouth – Wait, didn’t he hit a home run last night?!?!  Yes, so obviously that’s not my complaint.  My problem with him is that he is swinging for the fences every time he’s up to bat.  Nate may be one of our better hitters this year and he may lead the team in homers this year, but he needs to get back to doing what he does best:  hitting the gaps most of the time and putting mistake pitches over the fence.  He looks like he’s overswinging every time, causing him to pop out.  Shorten your swing, go for the gaps, and do what is best for this team.

Like:  The 2nd Inning – Anytime you bat around in an inning, you know you’ve done well.  We scored 4 runs in the inning, and if not for a Doumit baserunning error, we may have done more.  Either way, we did it exactly like we needed to.  Get guys on base, hit it where they’re not, and just keep the merry-go-round going.

Dislike:  Tyler Yates – Tried to blow it, but thankfully didn’t.  Two straight subpar outings for someone who is supposed to be one of the best guys in the bullpen for us.  Hopefully he’s just getting it out of his system now.

Like:  Matt Capps – Closing the door, just like he’s supposed to do.  The true measure of a reliever can be found in how he does with inherited baserunners.  Two men on, tying run at the plate, Capps put down two in a row to keep it under control.

It’s hard to find things to complain about when the team plays really well like this.  I also like Zach Duke’s performance (very effective), Nyjer at the top of the lineup, Jack’s performance at the bottom, as well as Bob Walk on commentary (that man has forgotten more about baseball trivia than I will ever know).  All in all, a great game by the Buccos.

Against Chris Carpenter this afternoon, the Buccos will try and take 3 of 4 from the redbirds.  I’m looking forward to seeing (hearing?  the game isn’t televised, so I’ll be listening on the radio) how Ross Ohlendorf performs in his first regular season start of the season.

Record:  2-1

Sincerely,

The Last Pirates Fan

Anyway, since I didn’t get to watch the game, my opinions are limited to what I saw in the box score.  For the full game story, I defer to my favorite PBC beat writer, the PG’s Dejan Kovacevic.

The box score shows the obvious:  Ian Snell didn’t get it done last night.  Nine hits, eight runs (six earned), and three walks against only two strikeouts.  I’m not sure why they were so rushed to put Snell out there tonight after he missed his last one or two starts of the spring, but he was out there nonetheless.  I have to trust that John Russell thought he could be effective enough to warrant the start despite that fact.

I like what the box score shows about the bullpen.  However, I’m glad I didn’t see Donnie Veal pitch the 5th inning.  Looking at ESPN’s Play-by-Play of last night’s game, Veal allowed a leadoff home run (I don’t have any problem with that; homers will happen, and as long as the bases are empty when they do, I’m ok with it).  What I like about his performance is that he bounced back from that mistake to strike out the next two hitters.  What would have driven me INSANE about his performance is that he then walked the next three (shades of Evan Meek last year?).  He was able to get himself out of the jam though by striking out Chris Duncan for the third out.  I guess the final result is what matters the most.  Donnie Veal is likely only going to see time when we’re being blown out so that we don’t have to give him back (because he is a Rule V draft pick).  So, I guess it’s good to see that he can get himself out of a jam, even if the jam is one he created.

The rest of the game was pitched by Burnett and Hansen, Burnett was perfect against Greene, Ankiel (struck out swinging), and Molina.  Burnett could be a very important piece of our bullpen by the end of the year if Grabow is traded, so performances like this one are welcome sights.  What I liked most was that Craig Hansen was able to pitch two innings without giving up a run.  He got himself into a bases loaded, no outs jam in the 8th, but was able to induce three straight outs to get out of the jam, before pitching a near-perfect 9th.  Hansen needs to show that he can be continually effective for this team, because we are in desperate need of strength in the bullpen.  I’m not even talking about the fact that he was a big part of the Jason Bay trade.  That’s the past.  Now, he is part of a bullpen that looks very weak.  Two innings pitched, no earned runs is a welcome sight anytime.

Today we stand at 1-1, 81 losses to go until the record is reached…

Sincerely,

The Last Pirates Fan

On July 26, the Pirates traded Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte to the Yankees for four players.  Those four players were pitchers Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, Daniel McCutchen, and outfielder Jose Tabata.  At the time, Karstens was in the minors, but he did have some big-league service time with the Yankees.  Ohlendorf was in the bullpen for the Yanks, but the Pirates (as well as many scouts) saw him as a starter in the long term.  Dan McCutchen and Tabata were also down in the minors.  Let’s look at each player in the deal:

OF Xavier Nady (to Yankees) – Nady was due to be a free agent after the 2009 season.  Throughout his career, he has struggled to stay healthy, but when he is healthy, there are few that can doubt the results.  In San Diego and New York (with the Mets), he often struggled to find a position that allowed him to have constant playing time.  He was able to get that with the Pirates, finding a home in right field.  It finally all came together in the 2008 season, when Nady put up 13 homers and a .330 average through just 89 games.  His value would never be higher.  With the Yankees last year, he continued to hit for power, but his average was only .268 over the 59 games he played with the Yankees.  This season, he may struggle to find a place to play between Damon, Gardner/Cabrera, Swisher, and himself all in the outfield.

RP Damaso Marte (to Yankees) – Marte was a great acquisition by Dave Littlefield (is that name considered a curse word now?).    He came over to the Pirates after the 2005 season in a trade for Rob Mackowiak.  He was a solid reliever for us, though more of a one-out guy until 2008 when he finally could get righties out.  Again, he was at his peak value.    With the Yankees, he fell apart, putting up a 5.40 ERA in 25 appearances, spanning only 18.1 innings.

As I see things, the Pirates traded two guys at top value, something that we rarely ever saw from the Littlefield/Bonifay eras.  Because we did trade them at top value, people tend to think that we didn’t get nearly enough for them.  Do I agree?  Definitely not.  We acquired at least three useful pieces to the future of this team.  Let’s take a closer look:

OF Jose Tabata (to Pirates) – Put simply, Tabata could make or break this trade.  Tabata is now a 20 year old that most consider to be one of our top 3 prospects.  At 18, he was lighting the world abuzz about his immense talent.  However, just like any kid who gets too much thrown at him too soon, he didn’t know how to handle it and became a bit of a problem for the Yankees organization.  He needed a change of scenery and got it in this trade.  After arriving at AA Altoona, Tabata hit .348 over 22 games with 3 homers and 9 steals.  He will get some time at AA this season, but don’t be surprised to see him take over at CF for the AAA Indians after Andrew McCutchen is called up to the Show this year.

SP Jeff Karstens (to Pirates) – Karstens is a good innings eater that everyone wants to have at the end of their rotation.  He’s not going to strike a bunch of people out, but he did show in his 51.1 innings that he has the ability to miss bats.  He flashed his true potential in a near-perfect game at Arizona last year.  He’s still 26 years old, so he could develop more, but he could very easily be a capable 5th starter for the Buccos for a few years.

SP Ross Ohlendorf (to Pirates) – He spent most of 2008 in the Yankees bullpen, where he was good at striking guys out, but also good at giving up runs, compiling a 6.53 ERA over 40 innings pitched.    When he was brought over to the Pirates, he was sent down to AAA for a short time to stretch his arm out.  He returned just in time to make 5 starts for the Buccos, somehow losing his ability to strike out batters (he had a 5.16 K/9).  However, to look at that sample size and say that he is a waste would be bad (despite the .364 BAA in those five starts).  Way too small!  He earned the number 4 spot in our rotation this spring, despite a bad start.  I think he needs to spend a little more time in the minors as a starter before declaring him major league ready, but it looks like he is going to get some on-the-job training in the bigs.

SP Daniel McCutchen (to Pirates) – I’ll admit, I know the least about him of the four players that we received in the trade.  Judging from his limited minor league numbers, he looks like a solid prospect (though he is also 26 years old), but it seems that the trade was not good for his ERA, as it jumped nearly one run to 4.69.  The other stats looked good though, especially only issuing 8 walks over 7 starts.    I think we’ll probably see him in the bigs this year, maybe as one of the first up in case of injury.

I think there’s no denying the fact that we received a lot of talent in this trade.  What I like most about it was the fact that it helped us in the short term (Karstens and Ohlendorf), the medium term (Dan McCutchen), AND the long term (Tabata).

This trade was one that will help shape the Pirates for the next several years.  I think we’ll be able to look back on this trade in a few years and think that Neal Huntingdon was able to STEAL Tabata (no, that is not a wise crack on his much older wife).  If he is able to come even close to matching his production with his talent, we’ll all be saying Xavier Who??

This trade was a great one, and NH and Coonley are not getting nearly enough credit for it.

Sincerely,

The Last Pirates Fan

That being said, the Pirates will have to play a lot better to be competitive this year.  The defensive lapses that they showed throughout the game will come back to bite them this year.  Bad throws (I’m mostly looking at you Jack Wilson, but the worse of all was from Brandon Moss), whether or not they are marked as errors, will do you in.  Twelve men left on base is not going to cut it, especially when this offense looks like it’s shaping up to need every run possible.  It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win. 

As much as I may dislike the way the offense looks this year, they did come through when it counted the most.  I’d still feel better if we could put those runs up before the ninth, but oh well.  Like I said, we’ll take it.

Paul Maholm looked great.  He was hitting his spots, not letting anyone get solid contact with the ball.  Most importantly, he nearly got through seven innings in just 89 pitches.  That is going to be important to keep the strain off the bullpen.  Yates looked a little off, but between he and Grabow, I think we can get Capps the ball enough to have a bunch of saves this year (let’s face it, the Pirates aren’t going to be blowing anyone out anytime soon).  The rest of the bullpen still scares me to think about though.  We need our starters to do what Maholm did tonight and get through 6+ innings.

When all is said and done, tonight’s win showed that these Buccos will not just roll over and die, despite the fact that they have been written off by nearly every writer nationwide.  I was glad to see it.  However, we knew that Maholm was going to be good.  Now, let’s see how Snell, Duke, Ohlendorf, and Karstens handle things.  The key to this team will be our starting pitching.  Outings like this one from Maholm will keep us in contention in every game.

Sincerely,

The Last Pirates Fan

Starting Pitching:

1) Paul Maholm.  SI is apparently predicting a breakout year for Maholm.  He certainly pitched wonderful in the preseason, but if last year wasn’t a breakout for Maholm, I don’t know what will be.  His stuff is good, but it’s not overpowering.  If he pitches like he did last year, he will definitely be our number 1 starter.  I see him putting up similar numbers, but I don’t see any “breakout season”, sorry SI.
2) Ian Snell.  I’m calling him the number 2 because I think that he’s going to be our second best pitcher.  He showed flashes two years ago that led us to have faith.  Then he became a head case last year.  Personally, I think he belongs in bullpen as a shut-down closer.  However, he can be a pretty good starter for us if he can keep his head clear.  I think he does and puts up a career year.
3) Zach Duke.  Anyone predicting that he goes back to his rookie year levels is just crazy.  He hasn’t shown anywhere near that kind of dominance in the past few years.  He is what he is.  A good, but not great, number 4 or 5 type starter.  Unfortunately, our lack of depth has him listed as our number 2 or 3 pitcher.
4) Ross Ohlendorf.  Full of potential.  He COULD be the power pitcher that the Pirates have been lacking for years.  Can he turn that potential into reality?  We’ll see.  Personally, I’m a believer.
5) Jeff Karstens.  At least he isn’t miscast in this rotation.  He is a number 5 starter in the league and that’s what he will be for us.  An effective innings eater.  The near-perfect game last year was the stars aligning for him, but it’s good to know that when the stars align, he can come up with that kind of performance.

All in all, I think this rotation has more potential than any rotation that we’ve seen over the past several years.  I am concerned by the lack of depth though.  What happens when one of these guys goes down?  Gorzo?  Sure, but he can’t be trusted (management obviously doesn’t trust him).  Dumatrait?  Hurt, but he can fill in when he comes back.  Health will be key for this rotation.

Bullpen:
It could be ugly if our starters don’t go 7 or 8 innings every night. 

CL – Matt Capps.  Gotta love the Mad Capper, but the next person to consider his stuff up there with some of the better closers in the league will be the first.  He’s a good closer and a personal favorite of mine (his signed picture sits on my bookshelf).  I’ll feel a lot better if he can keep his velocity up and his walks down.

SU – Tyler Yates and John Grabow.  Two good setup men.  Unfortunately, Grabow is a candidate to be traded if we’re not performing.  And if Capps goes down, neither one of these guys has the “stuff” to be a closer.  Grabow will likely get the first shot if the Capper gets hurt.

The rest will just be a revolving door.  Sean Burnett will be able to get lefties out, but can he get righties out?  Evan Meek will be up at some point and I look forward to that (it can’t be worse than last year, right??)  I wonder how long management will stick with Donnie Veal if he cant hack it.  They stuck with Meek too long last year.

Starting Lineup:
1) LF- Nyjer Morgan.  He’s gotta perform and quickly.  A leadoff hitter who has trouble getting on base is not a good thing for the team.  Will have Eric Hinske looking over his shoulder in the short term.  By the end of the year, Andrew McCutchen is going to be in this exact spot (yes, playing LF and leading off.  LF may be more spacious than CF, so we will need his speed to cover it all.).
2) 2B – Freddy Sanchez.  I love Freddy in this spot.  If he gets back to the level he played at during the second half of the year, and I think he will, he will be a great asset to this team, both offensively and defensively.
3) CF – Nate McLouth.  Miscast as a number 3 hitter.  Would probably do better as a number 2, but where else are we going to get any power from?  I can see another 20/20 season out of him.  His defense is good but not great (how much did he have to pay the voters to get that Gold Glove?!?).  In all likelihood, will be the Pirates MVP this year.
4) C – Ryan Doumit.  Switch hitter who hits with power.  That’s all great.  His defense?  I’ve seen worse.  Can he stay healthy though?  If he’s hurt, this team’s power potential drops immensely.
5) 1B – Adam LaRoche.  He will put up 25 homers again and play great defense at 1B.  Unforunately, most of that will happen after April, and most likely on another team.  Adam will be traded by July 31st.  Pedro Alvarez is our 1B of the future, but Steve Pearce will be playing here before the end of the year.
6) RF – Brandon Moss.  I haven’t gotten to see enough of him to make any decision about him.  He can’t seem to stay healthy.  If he can, can he hit with enough power and average to play?  I don’t think so.  Hinske and Monroe will play a good bit here.
7) 3B – Andy LaRoche.  The star of Spring Training.  If he can carry that over to the regular season, we will have our best 3B since Aramis Ramirez.  Don’t forget, this kid was a top prospect for a reason. He’s good, but he sure didn’t show it last year for us.  Only time will tell if he can handle the bigs.
8) SS – Jack Wilson.  I don’t know why the guy loves to hit in the 8 hole so much, but this is where he is most effective.  I don’t see 200 hits coming again, but I think he can put up his usual .280 average with double digit homers and steals.  His defense is his biggest asset.  I don’t see him being traded though.  I think he sticks around throughout the year and resigns.  Bixler doesn’t impress me, and there is no one else in the organization to play SS.

Bench – Ramon Vazquez was rewarded for putting up a great year where he had a lot of playing time.  If he takes time away from Little LaRoche, it will be bad for his development, but I like the idea of having him around to be a sub at 2B, SS, and 3B.  Eric Hinske is still younger and is a pretty good players.  He put up 20/10 last year, in roughly 400 ABs.  He should get around that many ABs with us and should put up similar numbers.  Let’s hope he re-ups with us after this year if that’s the case.  Craig Monroe is a question mark.  Sure, he tore up Spring Training, but can he keep it going?  He was BAD last year.

Summary:

The offense will struggle at times.  There isn’t much there in terms of power, so I hope that they can play “small ball” and play smart with their baserunners.  The pitching will need to make up for it and play MUCH better than last year.  They also need to stay healthy, because our depth at pitching is almost nonexistant.

If the pitching can keep it together and healthy, this ballclub could potentially win 85 games.  That won’t be enough to make the playoffs, however.

If the pitching falters (yet again), it will be a long year for my beloved PBC.  The will struggle to win 72 games.

Prediction:  75-87 and the record that no franchise wants.

Sincerely,

The Last Pirates Fan