Game 3: Pirates @ Blue Jays - Observations...

This isn't going to be a real game post but I wanted to make a comment or two about what I have been seeing throughout this series. For one, I really love watching Alex Presley and Chase d'Arnaud play baseball. You can tell that these young kids are just happy to be in the big league and love playing the game of baseball. I love how they both run down to first as hard as they can which really shows me that they care about the game and playing it the way it is suppose to be played. Also, d'Arnaud has a freakin' hose for an arm. He fields the ball at 3rd and takes his grand old time getting the ball out of his hand and still gets the runner by 2 steps. I wonder how hard he throws the ball across the infield. What I would give for an arm like that. Another observation is the fact that I have absolutely no idea how Jeff Karstens gets anybody out. He doesn't throw hard, he doesn't have nasty stuff and he does spot his pitches particularly well but he has a 2.60 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP so he is obviously doing something right. The only thing that I can think of is that he changes speeds really well and just knows how to pitch. Some guys just get out there and throw (Re: Joel Hanrahan) but guys like Karstens are in the mold of Greg Maddux. Guys who don't throw hard or have "electric" stuff but pitch with their brain as much as they do with their arm, all of which leads to outs and wins. Here's hoping that he can keep up his winning ways and that the young guys can keep enjoying their "jobs" and playing hard. Let's Go Bucs!

Game 2 : Pirates @ Jays

I didn't write a blog preview for the series because I am bush with games every night this week and I wanted to change it up and write some reactions instead. Although most people watching last nights game would be concerned about the fact that Correia gave up 4 runs and the middle relief struggled before getting the game to Veras and Hanrahan, I am feeling exactly the opposite. I am encouraged by last nights game for a few reasons. First, Alex Pressley had a big game going 2 for 4 with his first bomb and 3 rbis. He should fill in nicely for Tabata with more power. Secondly, Hanrahan was again dominany, allowing weak grounders and a pop up before blowing absolute smoke by Thames for the final out with Jose Batista lying wait in the on deck circle. The hammer is 23 for 23 on save opportunities and at this point in the season is preventing anyone from squaring up tut ball against him. Lastly, over the last month the Pirates have been winning games with great starting pitching and just enough offense to squeak out victories. Yesterday the Pirates won in a completely different fashion by outscoring the Jays and hitting the long ball. Last nights win showed me that the Pirates might be able to occasionally win games with marginal pitching and good offensive production. Hopefully the Pirates can keep this up against the offensive minded Blue Jays. I am all in with these Pirates and have been all in for over a decade, I'm just glad that now it seems like the rest of Pittsburgh has hopped on for the ride. It's amazing what a team playing good baseball for 3 months can do for baseball fandom in this great city. Let's Go Bucs!

Quick Preview

I totally spaced on todays preview because I was so happy that the pirates have already won the series. Todays game is the Buccos playing with house money, so a sweep would be great but the series us already in the bag. James McDonald for a for the pirates and I do think he will pitch well but I just can't see a sweep of the mighty red sox. Red sox 5 - pirates 2. But oh how great a sweep would be. Let's go Bucs!

Pirates vs. Red Sox : 6.25.11

Recap: The Pirates were able to eke out a win last night behind some great starting pitching (Maholm - 5 1/3 innings, 6 hits, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K's), some timely hitting (Overbay - 2 for 4 with 1 RBI and 1 R against a lefty after being benched for the Baltimore series) and finally some great work from the bullpen as a whole (3 2/3 innings, 3 hits, 1 BB, 2 K's, 0 runs).  The biggest moment of the game had to be David Ortiz's at bat against Jose Veras in the 8th.  With runners on 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs, Ortiz is sent to the plate to pinch hit.  Veras who had already given up 2 hits, is left in the game (instead of being lifted for a left handed pitcher) and promptly gets Ortiz to ground out to Cedeno who was playing up the middle with the shift on.  The entirety of the at bat came in a deluge that distracted Ortiz and allowed Veras to get the out.  After that "the Hammer" came in and went 1, 2, 3 against the top of the Red Sox order and the game was over.

Pitching Probables:

 Jeff Karstens (4-4, 2.54 ERA) vs. Tim Wakefield (4-2, 4.26 ERA)

Matchup (sort of): Did you know that Tim Wakefield (who is 44 years old) is the last active major league player who was playing the last time the Pirates had a winning season.  The year was 1992 and Wakefield, then a 24 year old, was a starting pitcher for your Pittsburgh Pirates.  Wakefield has had one hell of a career.  After being released by the Pirates following the strike season of 1994, Wakefield moved on the the Red Sox and has become the team leader in games started, innings pitched and with 10 more victories the leader in career wins passing legends Roger Clemens and Cy Young, talk about good company.  Wakefield's best year statistically was his first year with the Red Sox in 1995.  That year he went 16-8 with a 2.95 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 27 starts including 6 complete games.  Eventhough Wakefield has had the majority of his success while pitching for the Red Sox, he was instrumental in helping the Pirates reach the playoff in his rookie year of 1992.  Wakefield's first win with the Bucs came on July 31, 1992 when he beat the Cardinals in St. Louis with a complete game, 146-pitch shutout.  That year he finished 8-1 with a 2.15 ERA and also had 2 complete game victories over the Braves in the NLCS.  The only time Wakefield has faced his old team was he he pitched seven scoreless innings at Fenway Park on June 18, 2005.  Wakefield has announced that he will retire at the end of this season and when he does there will be no one left in the major leagues that has been on a winning Pittsburgh Pirate team, unless...

Prediction: I know I really didn't talk about any matchup's in the matchup section and rather used that space to talk about Tim Wakefield, the knuckleballer, and his amazing career.  With that being said, the Pirates have faced a knuckleballer this year in the Mets, R.A. Dickey and fared much better against him the second time they faced him.  The Pirates also have Jeff Karstens on the mound tonight who is 1-0 with a 0.65 ERA in four June starts.  Although Andrew McCutchen was 0 for 3 last night and has struggled against knuckleballers, I think he will be the player the Pirates need him to be tonight.  I also fully expect Garrett Jones to be in the lineup tonight against the right handed pitcher so look for him to have a good game.  Also, congrats to Chase d'Arnaud who made his major league debut last night at 3rd base and promptly hit his first triple.  Chase is the Pirates best infield prospect and more importantly best shortstop prospect, so he will be one to watch.  All of the above leads me to believe that the Pirates will be relaxed and will play well in front of another huge crowd tonight.  I look for the Pirates to chase Wakefield and hang on for the win.  Pirate 7 - Red Sox 5.  Let's Go Bucs!

Pirates vs. Red Sox : 6.24.11

Programming Note: Since this is a pretty big series with each game this weekend expected to be a sellout, I have decided to preview each game/matchup individually.  He we go...

Stats: The Boston Red Sox roll into town this weekend for what is sure to be one of the biggest series' in PNC Park history.  The series is of added importance because the Pirates are actually playing competitive baseball.  The Pirates somehow sit at .500 with a less than stellar offense and absolutely no power production from any of the corner infield or outfield positions.  As of today the Pirates sit 3 games behind the 1st place Brewers and for the first time since 1997 are in the division title race in June.  The Red Sox on the other hand wield the best offense in baseball and are ranked 1st in runs, batting average, on base percentage and slugging percentage.  They have won 14 of 18 games and are currently in 1st place in the American League East with a 1/2 game lead over the New York Yankees. 

Pitching Probables:

Paul Maholm (3-8, 3.29 ERA) vs. Jon Lester (9-3, 3.70 ERA)

Matchup: Look at the above pitching matchup.  Now, everyone including myself would say that Jon Lester is the better pitcher.  He is 70-28 in his career with a 3.57 ERA in 6 seasons.  He has been an all-star and has thrown a no hitter and oh yeah he beat cancer, so he is pretty much the man.  With all that being said, Paul Maholm has been the better pitcher this year.  Maholm has a lower ERA (3.29 to 3.70), a lower WHIP (1.16 to 1.27) and a lower batting average against (.221 to .242).  I know that Lester pitches in the American League East which has much better teams than the National League Central but all of the metrics that I have pointed out above show that Maholm has just been flat out better.  The only metric that Lester is better than Maholm in is record (9-3 to 3-8) and that is solely a product of the fact of run support.  In his 15 starts, Lester is getting an average of 6.7 runs of support from his Boston teammates.  In contrast, Maholm is receiving just 2.60 runs of support and has received more than 3 runs of support only twice.

Prediction: Tonight's game, not to mention the entire series will come down to whether or not the Pirates offense can keep up with the Red Sox.  Boston will score runs.  They average 5.41 run/game so the Pirates will have to do their best to keep up with them.  Neither pitcher tonight has ever faced the other team and only a few hitters have at bats against both Maholm and Lester so it is hard to predict who will be a factor.  With that being said, I think that McCutchen and Walker are going to carry the team tonight.  Walker will be batting from the right side and I fully expect him to be locked in and ready to go against Lester.  As for the Red Sox, I can tell you that without a doubt David Ortiz will not hurt the Pirates tonight because he isn't in the lineup since the game is being played by National League (aka the "best" league) rules.  The only way we will see Big Papi is in a pinch hitting situation.  Having said that, I think the Pirates will battle tonight but ultimately won't score enough runs for Paul Maholm and against Jon Lester.  Red Sox win 6-1.

Must win game...in June?

I try not to go overboard with my predictions and outlooks throughout the Pirates season.  Yes, every year I say that the Pirates are going to finish above .500, and honestly if I were to begin the season with a goal any lower than that, what fun would that be?  I also for the most part don't believe in must win games, unless they are of course the deciding game of a playoff series.  However, I truly believe that tonight and tomorrow afternoon's contests against the Orioles are just that, must win games.  For the most part this season, the Pirates have been able to keep their record around .500 because they have avoided the long losing streak.  Last season, without checking any stats, they had a losing streak of over 10 and another streak where they lost something like 12 of 13.  Long streaks of futility in a season are how a team loses 100 games.  The Pirates enter tonight's game on a 4 game losing streak after being 35-33 entering their series against the Indians.  Their next two series are at home against the Red Sox (who are 14-3 in June) and on the road against the Blue Jays.  Things aren't going to get any easier if the Pirates enter the series against Boston on a 6 game losing streak, I would bet big that at the end of the weekend that streak would be at 9.  So, with all that said James McDonald needs to be the stopper tonight.  He needs to pitch like he did in this game last year.  Andrew McCutchen also needs to continue to be the Pirates best player, while praying to God that someone else on the team decides they want to hit tonight.  I feel a win.  Pirates 4 - Orioles 2.  Let's go Bucs.

Rapid Reaction : Indians Series

The Pirates were 10-5 in the month of June when they began their series against the Indians this past weekend.  During that span, Andrew McCutchen one of the best hitters in major league baseball, leading the league in batting at .479 while amassing 1 home run, 6 doubles and 11 RBI in 48 at bats.  Over the past three days, McCutchen went 0 for 13 with 4 K’s.  He lowered his season average 14 points and the Pirates only scored 5 runs in 3 games.  The Pirates go as Andrew McCutchen goes.  Everyone agrees that the kid is a star in the making.  He has all the tools to be a legitimate 20-20 if not 30-30 guy for years to come.  The Pirates need to sign Cutch to a long term deal that buys out at least one of his free agency years.  Not only would this move solidify McCutchen as the face of the franchise for the future but it would also be a great PR move for a front office that desperately needs one.  The facts are all there, the Pirates win when McCutchen is their best player and when he’s their worst, well let’s just say the outcome is all too familiar for Pirate fans.

Pirates @ Indians : 6.17.11 - 6.19.11

Series: Pirates @. Indians, Jacobs Field, Cleveland, OH

  

TV, radio: Root Sports, WPGB-FM (104.7).

Facts/Reaction: I know the Indians now play in a stadium called Progressive Field but I refuse to call it that.  It's a joke and that place will always be "the Jake".  With that being said the Pirates enter interleague play on a 4 game winning streak after sweeping the Astros in Houston.  The Pirates record sits at 35-33, which is incredible given the lack of top tier talent and the rash of injuries that the Pirates have endured throughout these last few weeks.  In addition to being 2 games over .500 the Pirates are only 3 games behind the NL Central leading Milwaukee Brewers.  If only we could win a game against those Wisconsin Weenies.

Pitching Probables:

Friday, June 17 - Kevin Correia (8-5, 3.73 ERA) vs. Josh Tomlin (7-4, 4.14 ERA)

Saturday, June 18 - Paul Maholm (3-7,3.12 ERA) vs. Carlos Carrasco (6-3, 4.09 ERA)

Sunday, June 19 - Jeff Karstens (4-4, 2.66 ERA) vs. Justin Masterson (5-5, 3.16 ERA)

Stats and Matchup: The Pirates begin a stretch 12 games against the American League, with three of those series' (Baltimore, Boston, Toronto) coming against teams from the American League East.  The Pirates have the worst record in interleague play since it began in 1997.  However, in the last two years the Pirates are 4-2 against the Cleveland Indians.  With that being said, these aren't the same Indians.  The Tribe are currently 36-31 and are 1 game back in the AL Central, but they have gone 3-11 in their last 14 games.  Since the beginning of June the Indians have been swept by the Rangers (at home) and have lost series' to the Yankees, Twins and rival Tigers.  In contrast the Pirates enter the series having won 4 in a row and are 10-5 in the month of June.  The Pirates are being powered by a resurgent Andrew McCutchen.  Although he recently had his hitting streak ripped away from him (screw you New York Mets) he has been unquestionably the best outfielder, if not the best player in the majors since June 1st.  Since the beginning of June, McCutchen is hitting .479, with 6 doubles, 1 home run and 11 RBI in 48 at bats.  His OPS in June is 1.218.  That's insane.  Needless to say that Pirates best player has really stepped up and carried the Bucs during their streak of winning baseball.  McCutchen has not been the only factor in the Pirates recent success.  Much of the credit has to go to the starting pitching.  As a staff; Correia, Morton, Maholm, Karstens and McDonald have combined for the following stat line: 15 starts, 7-3 record, 3.77 ERA and only 3 home runs allowed.  The star of the staff in June has been Sunday's starter Jeff Karstens.  Karstens was relegated to long relief when the season began but has been spectacular since joining the starting rotation.  Since June 1st, Karstens is 1-0 in 3 starts with a 0.44 ERA and a 0.58 WHIP.  Those numbers have propelled him to 5th in the National League in ERA (2.66).

Prediction: The Pirates and the Indians enter the series going in two opposite directions and I don't see any reason why things shouldn't stay the course.  The Pirates will send Kevin Correia (7-1, 2.42 ERA on the road), Paul Maholm (3.12 ERA) and Jeff Karstens (see above) to the mound over the weekend.  The Indians have equally successful pitchers but Josh Tomlin (1-2, 9.53 ERA in June) and Justin Masterson (0-2, 3.48 ERA) have both struggled a bit during the Tribe's current losing streak.  I think that the Pirates will stay hot and buck their trend of poor interleague play.  I think that the Pirates will win Games 1 and 3 but it wouldn't surprise me if they have a chance to win all 3 games because their starters have done such a great job of giving the team quality starts each and every time they take the ball.

Player(s) to Watch: Lyle Overbay is the only starter for the Pirates with a lot of experience against the Indians.  He has hit .269 in 30 career starts against Cleveland while playing for Toronto.  He has yet to hit a home run against the Indians and I think that this is the weekend that he finally gets it.  Also watch McCutchen because quite frankly he has been nothing short of "en fuego".

Where Have you Gone Ben? Take Two.

I know I haven't posted in quite some time but with Amanda out of town and me playing baseball every night, it has gotten hard to find the time.  With that being said I will return with some preview pieces for the upcoming interleague series' and some thoughts about the Pirates season as they head into a stretch of 12 games against teams from the American League.  For now I will leave you with this nugget of goodness...

The Pirates have 3 pitchers currently in the National League's top 12 in ERA.  Jeff Karstens (5th, what?) at 2.66, Charlie Morton (10th) at 3.08 and Paul Maholm (12th).  Two other teams have 2 pitchers in the top 12 and both teams (Philadelphia and Atlanta) are in the NL East.  In addition that Pirates have a staff ERA of 3.48 good for 7th in the National League.

Tonight, Charlie Morton faces J.A. Happ.  Let's hope Charlie bounces back after his first tough outing in a while and shuts down the Astros propelling the Pirates record to 34-33.  Pirates win 5-1.

The End May be Near...

I know that the Pirates are 30-31, just one game under .500 and have won 6 of 9.  I also know that they recently won series’ against the Phillies and the Diamondbacks, two teams who are at or near the top of their respective divisions.  As many of you know, I am one of the biggest and most loyal Pirates fans in this great city.  Hell, I bet on the Pirates finishing above .500 every single year and every year (so far) I have lost.  Obviously, I am ecstatic about the Pirates start and how well they have been playing.  The pitching has been a more than a pleasant surprise and that was never more apparent than last night when Jeff Karstens only needed 79 pitches to get through 7 innings while only giving up 4 hits.  The Pirates took the loss but the starters as a whole have a 3.58 ERA, good for 8^th in the majors.  With all that has been going well recently, I should be optimistic for the Pirates and their prospects for success throughout the summer.  That just isn’t the case and here’s why.

Starting Pitching – Yes, it has been fantastic but can these guys really sustain this level for the entire year?  I truly believe that Charlie Morton is the real deal so I think he will be fine.  I also think Maholm is a pro and is pitching to either get his option picked up (9.75 million next year) or get traded.  Correia has found a comfort level away from Southern California and all the distractions that last few years have brought him, most notably the death of his brother last year, so I think he will continue to pitch well.  I like McDonald and his stuff and Karstens just keeps going out there and getting the job done, but how long can they be this good?  Something tells me a staff ERA around 4.25 is more likely.

Hitting – The Pirates are batting .240 as a team and rank 26^th in SLG percentage.  During this streak of good baseball the Pirates have gotten a ton from Andrew McCutchen.  Since May 25^th, when the Pirates were 22-26, McCutchen has raised his average 32 points and is now hitting a respectable .283.  He is currently riding a 9 game hitting streak and also is hitting .500 in June.  It is no coincidence that during that span the Pirates are 8-5 with 3 series victory and a series split in New York.  Apart from McCutchen, only Overbay (what?) and Tabata are hitting well in June.  The rest of the order is struggling to get on base and drive in runs, which brings me to my final reason…

Injuries – The fact that the Pirates have been playing enjoyable to watch; competitive baseball has overshadowed the fact that they are not a healthy ballclub.  Pedro Alvarez just had another setback (quad) and won’t be ready until mid-July at best.  Steve Pearce has been out since early May making 3^rd base a rotation of soft hitting Josh Harrison and Brandon Wood.  Not exactly the typical power you would like to see from a corner infield position.  Those injuries pale in comparison to the ones currently affecting the catchers in the organization.  First, Jason Jaramillo hurt his wrist and was placed on the minor league disabled list.  That was followed by Ryan Doumit fracturing his left ankle in a collision at Wrigley.  That injury forced the Pirates to purchase the contract of Dusty Brown, who is a career .259 hitter in the minors and so far with the Pirates is hitting .125 while allowing 2 passed balls and having a caught stealing percentage of zero.  To make matters worse, Chris Snyder will have back surgery today and will most likely be out until August if not the entire year.  Now the Pirates have Brown and Wyatt Toregas (.179 hitter in 51 at bats with Cleveland) as their backstop tandem.  To say the catching situation is desperate would be an understatement with no help on the horizon.  The only other options are to acquire a catcher from outside the organization (who would only be needed for 6 weeks and would not be a long term solution) or call up Eric Fryer who hit .345 at AA Altoona before being called up to AAA last week.  Fryer would need to be added to the 40 man roster and then would need to clear waivers (which isn’t likely) to go back to AAA.  Overall, it is a crappy situation.  I don’t know what the Pirates are going to do, but don’t be surprised if Dusty Brown is the starting catcher until Jaramillo or Doumit is healthy enough to return.

Overall the next 6 weeks will be really interesting and potentially hard to watch.  Here’s hoping that the Pirates can hang on until they are healthy enough to actually field a major league caliber team.  As always, Let’s go Bucs.

Pirates vs. D-Backs : 6.8.11

The two winningest (is that a word?) pitchers in PNC Park history will take the mound against each other as Zach Duke makes his return to face Paul Maholm and the Bucs tonight.  After the Pirates were able to come from behind and hand the Diamondbacks there 1^st loss when leading after 7 innings, you can be sure that D-Backs are desperate to win tonight’s contest.  Their biggest hurdle may be their own pitcher as Zach Duke isn’t exactly Randy Johnson.  Duke is 46-71 in his career with a 4.52 ERA, not exactly great numbers.  Obviously this will be his first start against the Pirates since being traded in mid-November for minor league pitcher Cesar Valdez.  I have always liked Zach Duke, but I was also happy to see him go.  His time here in Pittsburgh was full of moderately successful seasons like 2005, when he debuted and when 8-2 as a rookie and also his 2009 All Star Game selection.  However, there were also plenty of seasons like last years were he led the majors in losses (15) and had an ERA of 5.72.  Tonight, I am happy to see Zach return and I hope he gets a warm welcome from the PNC Park fans.  I also hope that after his first pitch he falls flat on his face, loses his command and the Pirates pound him for 7 runs, on 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings pitched.  That would be the best welcome home present the Pirates could offer.

Prediction: Pirates win 9-2.  Let’s Go Bucs!

Pirates vs. Diamondback: 6.7.11

Don't have much time to write up a full preview for tonight's game but I will leave you with a few nuggets of baseball goodness followed by my prediction for tonight.  First, the Diamondback enter their series with the Pirates as one of the hottest teams in the National League having won 18 of their last 23 games, good enough for a .782 winning percentage.  Wow, that is solid.  Tonight's pitcher, Daniel Hudson, is 2-0 with a 4.71 ERA in his past 3 starts.  Kevin Correia on the other hand has faced the Diamondbacks plenty of times in the past few years considering he was a member of both the Giants and Padres before landing with the Pirates this season.  Correia is 4-8 with a 4.81 ERA.  Justin Upton has owned Correia in his career hitting .351 in 37 at bats with 1 home run.  All of that leads me to believe that the Pirates are going to struggle to keep the D-Backs off the board.  The only way I see them winning tonight is by scoring a bunch of runs.  Andrew McCutchen will have to stay hot in order to lead his team to victory.  

Programming Note: Josh Harrison will be playing 2nd base tonight, replacing Neil Walker because Walker has a scheduled day off. 

Prediction: Diamondbacks 4 - Pirates 1

Gerrit Cole : Pirates Future Ace?

With the 1^st Pick in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates select:

Gerrit Cole, RHP – UCLA

Last night the Pirates had the 1^st overall pick in the MLB Draft for the 1^st time since 2002 when they drafted Bryan Bullington out of Ball State.  He is currently pitching in Japan so obviously that wasn’t a great pick.  However, that was with Dave Littlefield steering the ship and so far Neil Huntington has done a great job thus far selecting, Pedro Alvarez, Tony Sanchez and Jamison Taillon with his 1^st round picks.  So enough about the past, let’s look at the future and Gerrit Cole.

The Good:

Cole has the look and feel of a future top of the rotation work horse, with three big time power pitches. His fastball is 92-99 mph and sits comfortably at 95-96 deep into starts. His hard slider comes in at 88-90 mph, and even his changeup is 88-90 mph. In some ways, that's been the problem -- no variation of velocity, allowing good hitters to time him.

The Bad:

Occasionally Cole can overthrow and therefore has trouble staying consistent in both his delivery and pitch location.  During a stretch when he was getting hit around a bit, despite his stuff looking just fine, he was opening his front side so his release point was right down the middle, meaning his pitches were catching off the white rather than living on the black.  It was at this point that his pitches would tend to come in flat, with less late movement, ultimately leading to more solid contact.  Overall though his control is fine and he doesn’t hurt himself with walks.  

The Overall:

Cole has three plus pitches and has all the tools to be the “ace” on the Pirates staff for years to come.  He has had, to this date no arm problems and since he is a bigger kid (6’-4”, 220 lbs) will hold up much better throughout a long, inning heavy season.  Cole will need to work on replicating his delivery and keeping his front side closed but both of those should be easily corrected with hard work and the attention of the Pirates minor league pitching coordinator Jim Benedict.  I expect Cole to rise through the system relatively quickly, and a 2013 arrival in Pittsburgh doesn’t seem out of the question.

Better Than You Think

Editors Note: The guest blogger today needs very little introduction.  He is not only one of my best friends but he is also the only Phillies baseball fan I like, let alone respect.  So excuse his jabs at Pittsburgh because it is hard for him to admit his love for our great city.  Without further adieu, closet Pittsburgh lover, Cameron Koehler.

Let me start this by saying that I absolutely despise almost everything about the city of Pittsburgh.  What you are about to read is not something that I would say just to make you all feel good about yourselves.  Your constant reminders about 6 Super Bowl rings gives me good reason to never ever try to give a Pittsburgh native any type of extra confidence.  I say what I say in this post because it’s my honest reaction to my trip to the ‘Burgh and the series loss that my beloved Phillies suffered and I had to witness firsthand.

Being a fan of the Philadelphia Phillies is not exactly a chore.  Our worst day generally happens about once every 10 games when our 5^th starter gives up too many runs and we don’t score any.  Our best day?  Well there are days when Cliff Lee strikes out 12 guys, Ryan Howard drives in 6 runs, Roy Halladay throws a perfect game, Chase Utley gets 3 hits, or we clinch a playoff series.  I have said to Ben on multiple occasions that I honestly feel sort of bad complaining about anything the Phillies do when there are teams out there who can’t manage more than a 2-game winning streak.  Teams like, well, the Pirates.  Being a Phillies fan is easy, and being a Pirates fan is not.  And I’m sure all of you know that much better than I do.  After having spent  this past weekend in Pittsburgh and attending Saturday night’s and Sunday afternoon’s games, I’m here to tell you some good news.  With no real background on the Pirates and very little basis for saying this other than the events of the past 72 hours or so, I think that the Pirates are a decent-to-good baseball team.

If I had lived under a rock for the past 20 years and paid absolutely no attention to the Pirates or the rest of Major League Baseball in general during this season, I would have pegged the Buccos as a first place baseball team.  Here’s what I saw this weekend and why it makes sense that this baseball team is on the rise.

Game 1:  All I saw was extra innings really, but that’s all I really need to see to know that the Pirates aren’t half bad.  Cole Hamels is nasty.  And anytime a pitcher like Cole Hamels pitches 8 innings of 1-hit ball for a first-place team, that team will win.  That didn’t happen Friday night.  The Pirates pitching staff went toe-to-toe with the Phillies, something that I even said I thought they could do in my series preview, but I don’t know that I really believed it until I saw it in action.  And the winning run?  Driven in by a 22-year-old leftfielder and scored by a 26-year-old rightfielder.   And the pitcher who hung with Hamels for 7 innings?  He’s only 28, which isn’t too bad in baseball years.  Does this individual game represent the projection of their entire careers?  Not at all.  But it could be a good sign of what they can do.  And I know you Pittsburghers have seen plenty of young promising talent come and go, but a promising enough team should encourage the ownership to keep these guys around.  Right?

Game 2:  You have Roy Halladay on your team, and there’s nothing wrong with that, especially when he’s only 27 years old.  This game was pretty much exactly what I expected it to be.  I never once thought that we would win this game from the time I saw the matchup to Chase Utley’s fly ball to left to end the 9^th.   I’m sure you all know how good Andrew McCutchen is, but this game and series in general should have served as a nice reminder of that.  

Game 3: You lost to Roy Halladay, and there’s nothing wrong with that.  And if we look at his line compared to Charlie Morton’s Saturday night, they are (much like the pitchers) pretty much identical.  Halladay: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K; Morton: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K.  And Neil Walker (27 years old) went yard off of the best pitcher in baseball in his first career at bat against him.  Not bad at all.

So if you look back at this series, what do you see?  For me, it’s about as even of a series as you can possibly get.  A 6-3 win by the Pirates, a 7-3 win by the Phils, and a 12-inning coin-flip type game on Friday night that the Pirates won.  Do I think this makes the Pirates better than the Phillies?  Not at all, and I will never say those words.  Does this mean that the teams look pretty much equal right now?  With the Pirates exceptional pitching as of late and the Phillies complete lack of hitting, it sure does look that way.  The Phils are in first and are considered a favorite to represent the National League in the World Series.  I don’t think the Pirates can do that this year, but it definitely looks to me like they have a lot of the pieces in place to make some serious noise in the NL Central very soon.  And the general consensus I got from my years at Penn State is that Pirates fans don’t exist.  Baseball is ignored in Pittsburgh because the Pirates will never be good.  I hate to break it to myself, but the Pirates are better than you guys think.

As a Phillies fan, there is really only one positive that I can take away from this series.  I learned this weekend that there are multiple teams throughout the league that make horrible shirseys (or jerts…take your pick of what you want to call a t-shirt/jersey) with players’ nicknames on the back rather than actual last name.  I had seen a few people walk around Phillies games with “Chooch” written on the back of their #51 Carlos Ruiz shirseys.  I had also seen one too many Raul Ibanez shirseys with “Rauuuuulll” pasted above the 29 on the back.   And when I say one too many, I mean I had seen at least one.  This weekend, however, I saw someone with a Shane Victorino shirsey that read “Flyin’ Hawaiian,” and a Roy Halladay that simply said “Doc.”  As the Phils were losing game 2 on Saturday night, these dumb as crap shirseys certainly weren’t going to help me sleep at night.  Until something magic happened to let me know that God still loved me.  There was a sudden onslaught of Pirates nickname shirseys.  It all started with “Cutch.”  Then, “Pittsburgh Kid.”  Soon enough, G.I. Jones, El Toro, and Great One at least let me break even for the night.  Sure we lost the game, but at least we only had 4 horrible shirseys wandering around the park and not the embarrassing 5 that Pittsburghers managed to get.  Pittsburgh…what a joke.  Of the 29 people who actually support the baseball team, at least 5 of them can’t even do it with any type of fashion intelligence.  What a shame

Pirates vs. Phillies: 6.3.11 - 6.5.11

Series: Pirates vs. Phillies, PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA

TV, radio: Root Sports, WPGB-FM (104.7).

Facts/Reaction: Big crowds, good pitching match ups and the Pittsburgh-Philadelphia rivalry make these games mean more than your typical weekend series in June.  All that could have made this series against the Phillies really exciting.  However, the Pirates decided to completely collapse against the Mets today and in doing so they left a really bad taste in my mouth.  That taste can easily be forgotten with a good series against the Phillies this weekend.  The Pirates enter the series after earning a split with the Mets in their last series.  From my last post and hell the box score, it is obvious that the Pirates could have easily taken 3 of 4 and in turn gained a ton of momentum going into the longest home stand of the season.  

Pitching Probables:

Friday, June 3 - Jeff Karstens (3-4, 3.58 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (7-2, 3.01 ERA)

 

 
Saturday, June 4 - Charlie Morton (5-2, 2.51 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick (3-3, 3.18 ERA)

 

Sunday, June 5 - James McDonald (3-3, 4.85 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (7-3, 2.56 ERA)

Stats and Matchup: The Pirates begin this 10-game home stand with three games against their cross state rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies.  Last season against the Phillies, the Pirates were 4-2 with three of the wins coming during a July 4th weekend at PNC Park.  During those games, the Pirates were able to beat both Halladay and Hamels, while taking their only two losses while Kendrick was on the bump.  This home stand comes at a crossroads for the Pirates.  During the month of June the Pirates will play 3 teams who are leading their divisions (Arizona, Cleveland, Philadelphia), 3 teams from the American League East (Boston, Toronto, Baltimore) and then 2 teams under .500 (Mets, Astros).  From all that it is pretty easy to see that the Pirates are going to have to play some good baseball to stay around the .500 level.  That could be especially hard as the Pirates face three pitchers this weekend with a combined ERA of 2.92.  For the first time this year, hear is a breakdown of each game and matchup.

Game 1: Karstens vs. Hamels

It's a good thing Hamels had struggled in his last 3 starts.  Over that time he is 3-0 with 22 K's and a 2.57 ERA.  However, he has not done quite so well against the Pirates in his career, going 1-1 with a 3.81 ERA in 26 innings pitched.  Karstens on the other hand has pitched relatively well over his past few starts even though he carries a record of 3-4 into Friday's matchup.  The big thing to watch is what the Pirates decide to do with their outfield arrangement.  We all know that McCutchen will start in center but the question remains, who will flank him in left and right?  The easy answer is Tabata in left since he has held that spot all year.  However, Xavier Paul went 4 for 5 yesterday with a triple and 3 runs scored.  That performance alone might warrant another start from manager Clint Hurdle.  In right field, the choice seems to me to be pretty obvious.  Garrett Jones doesn't hit lefties well.  Matt Diaz on the other hand, has a career batting average over .300 against lefties and is hitting .286 in 39 at bats in his career against Hamels.  If I were managing, I would send out the hot hand in Paul (even though Hamels is left handed) and Diaz because frankly it's a must.   

Prediction: Phillies win 7-3.  Too much pitching, too little hitting by the Bucs.

Game 2: Morton vs. Kendrick 

How I wish this game was Charlie Morton vs. Roy Halladay.  A matchup of either teams best pitcher.  A matchup of guys who if you watch their delivery's are almost exactly the same.  Go ahead and youtube, Charlie Morton Roy Halladay and you will see what I am talking about.  Even though the "dream" matchup isn't happening, I am still pumped because my good pal Cameron (of High Hopes blog fame) will be in town to take in games on both Saturday and Sunday with me.  Cameron is the only sports fan in Philadelphia that I tolerate, let alone respect so an entire weekend with him and baseball is going to be pretty awesome. Sidenote: if there was only a way that no other Philly fan would be in PNC Park on Saturday and Sunday, that would be awesome.  Anyways, the game, Kendrick is 4-0 in his career against the Pirates with a 2.61 ERA and 14 K's in 31 innings pitched.  That isn't exactly great news for Pirates hitters, but I have a feeling that the Bucs will be able to get to him.  Morton on the other hand is 0-2 with a 9.75 ERA against the Phillies, but we know that this is a different Charlie Morton.  This is not the guy who had the highest ERA in major league history through 10 starts last year.  This is the Charlie Morton who throws like Halladay with a nasty sinker and a lower ERA; maybe it is time for the pupil to become the teacher.

Prediction: In Charlie “Electric Stuff” Morton we trust.  Pirates win 4-1.

Game 3: McDonald vs. Halladay

This game is all about Halladay.  The guy is dominating.  He dominated the American League East and now he lays waste to the National League.  It really isn’t fair.  No team should have as many “aces” as the Phillies have.  Any of their top 4 starters (Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Oswalt) would be and have been No. 1 starters for other teams.  Oh well, baseball isn’t fair, give me a salary cap.  Anyways, since I will also be at this game I would like to see something cool, so…I am thinking that Halladay throws his second perfect game.  I don’t care that it is against the Pirates; only 18 perfect games have been thrown in the modern era.  It is one of the rarest things in sports, if not the most rare thing to see in sports.  To witness history would be unbelievable.  Now I say all of that in hopes of jinxing Halladay and the Phillies and somehow winning Game 3 of the series and in the process crushing the hopes and dreams of every fan from the right side of the state.  I don’t think Halladay will throw a perfect game, but I don’t think the Pirates will win either.  But hey, there was this game last season when Halladay lost to the Pirates while throwing a complete game and a season high 132 pitches, so anything can happen.

Prediction: Phillies win 2-1 behind Halladay’s dominance, or do they…?

Programming Note: Cameron and I will be attending games both Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, so expect some in-game, live blog updates from the ballpark.  Also, at the conclusion of the series each of us will be writing a reaction for the other’s blog so look for a Philadelphia biased reaction on the blog sometime early next week.  Lastly, if you will be at the ballpark at anytime this weekend, give me a holla and we can have a beer while taking in the glory of America’s Pastime.  Let’s Go Bucs!

Pirates @ Mets: Rapid Reaction

I am not going to use a 1000 words when 10 will do, actually it will be more than 10 but regardless I promise to be brief.  Today's 9-8 loss at the hands of the New York Mets, a game in which the Pirates had a commanding 7-0 lead at one point, is the type of game that tends to define a season for a team.  Had the Pirates won and by doing so taken 3 of 4 games in New York, momentum would have been firmly on their side.  They would have been 1 game under .500 going into this weekends series against the Philadelphia Phillies.  This series, A.K.A. the biggest home series in recent memory, could have provided the Pirates with a spark if they somehow won 2 of 3 in front of what are guaranteed to be sellout crowds.  Taking the series from the Phillies could have been the moment this young ball club and many wary fans needed to boost the hopes of a successful summer of baseball.  However, they lost to the Mets in a fashion that Pirate fans know all to well.  A fashion that leads even the most optimistic Pirate fan (yours truly) to doubt the teams ability to recover and continue to play "good" baseball.  The loss leads me to believe that the Pirates may get steamrolled by the Phillies making the series just another home series loss. 

However, the series this weekend against the Phillies is still huge.  Big crowds, good pitching match ups and the Pittsburgh-Philadelphia rivalry make these games mean more than your typical weekend series in June.  Hopefully, the Pirates are able to recover from today's terrible loss and continue to play competitive baseball and in turn put a walloping on the Phils.  Let's Go Bucs.

Pirates @ Mets: 6.2.11

Not going to get a full preview in because I forgot the game started at 1:05 today.  However, I was right about Kevin Correia pitching well and getting his 7th road win of the season.  Correia's win also helped the Pirates reach the same number of road wins (17) that they were able to amass all of last year.  Crazy huh?  I also was right about Cutch having a good game with a great catch in centerfield and 3 hits.  Today Paul Maholm goes for the PBC and looks to win back to back games for the first time this year.  Hopefully the Pirates can get ahead early because Maholm seems to be great when his team is out front, although with a 3.13 ERA this year, he has pretty much been great whenever.  As far as a prediction, I think Xavier Paul, who will start in left field for Tabata has another good game and the Pirates find a way to take a lead early.  Bucs win 5-3.

Pirates @ Mets: 6.1.11

Series: Pirates @ Mets, Citi Field, New York, NY

TV, radio: Root Sports, WPGB-FM (104.7).

Pitching Probables:

Kevin Correia (7-4, 3.44 ERA) vs. Chris Capuano (3-5, 4.94 ERA)

Preview/Prediction: The Pirates look to earn at least a split in their series against the Mets with a second consecutive win tonight at Citi Field.  Last night, Josh Harrison had two hits in his major league debut and led the Pirates to a come from behind 5-1 victory.  For most of the game R.A. Dickey, the Mets elusive knuckleballer baffled the Pirates to the tune of 10 strikeouts, with Andrew McCutchen earning the golden sombrero.  Tonight the Pirates face Chris Capuano who is 3-6 with a 6.46 ERA against the Pirates in his career, with all of those starts coming as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers.  Chris Snyder has a home run and 4 RBIs in 4 career at bats against Capuano.  Capuano and the Mets will be opposed by the Pirates Kevin Correia who became the 1st National League pitcher to win 7 games when he beat the Cubs last Friday.  Correia is 7-4 this season overall, but is an outstanding 6-1 on the road with a 2.35 ERA.  None of the Mets hitters have ever homered off of Correia but Mets outfielder Willie Harris is a career .308 hitter against Correia.  I look for Harrison to get another start at 3rd base tonight while also helping the top of the lineup generate runs.  Andrew McCutchen has a good night and Correia keeps the Mets in check as he moves to 8-4.  Pirates win 6-2.

Where Have You Gone Ben...?

I know I haven't posted anything in quite some time but I just returned from the Bahamas (be jealous) and I am trying to get back into normal life.  With that being said, I plan to preview the last two games against the Mets and then have a big preview for the weekend series against the Phillies.  I will be at the ball park both Saturday and Sunday and hope to have some sort of live blog or visiting team reaction from my buddy Cameron who will be in town to take in the games.  Until tonight's Mets preview I leave you with this nugget of baseball goodness courtsey of the Elias Sports Bureau:

From Elias: James McDonald allowed one run in six innings for the Pirates in their win over the Mets Tuesday night. Pittsburgh's starting pitchers have not allowed more than two earned runs in any of their last 12 games, the longest such streak for any team in the major leagues this season and the longest by the Bucs since 1984. The Pirates starting pitchers during their 12-game streak in 1984 were John Candelaria, Larry McWilliams, John Tudor, Jose DeLeon, Rick Rhoden and Lee Tunnell.

And everyone thought it was the pitching that was going to struggle.