I Feel Sorry for Clint Hurdle

I’m really feeling bad for Clint Hurdle these days. He has to be sitting in his office just wondering what he is going to do. He has so many decisions to make. He has to find a way to get his third baseman to hit better and to provide a power source. That guy, Alvarez, he hit miserably the first couple of months. Hit an occasional Home Run here and there and just could not seem to get untracked. He’s got to be a big source of concern for Clint. I haven’t looked at his numbers for a while so let me just pull them up. What? 21 home runs, 58 RBIs. I must have read that wrong. Let me look at another stat site. 21 HRs, 58 RBIs. 17th in the league in HRs. That’s a shocker, I guess Clint doesn’t need to worry about 3rd base as much as I though. Phew! One less worry for him. That’s makes me feel a little better. But, he still has to worry about 1st base. The Pirates really need some power from there. That’s one of the big problems they have, no power from the spots that are traditionally supposed to generate it. McGehee and Jones just have not been doing their job over there and I know it’s really aging Clint worrying about it. Let’s check their stats. Garrett Jones is hitting .264 with 15 Home Runs and 47 RBIs, hmm..not too bad. Casey McGehee has 8 HRs and 35 RBIs. Together they total 23 HRs and 82 RBIs. Granted, Jones has played some outfield and McGehee has played other positions, but those numbers aren’t too bad for a first platoon of the primary 1st basemen. 23 HRs put them right above Pedro in the HR category. I guess I can’t feel too bad for Clint at First Base. That catcher’s position has been a real sore spot offensively for them this year. I’m sure you can see the extra wrinkles just from worrying about that position. Rod Barajas started off awfully. Fans were calling for his release and that signing looked like a dismal failure. Michael McKenry isn’t really backup caliber for the big leagues, right? Let’s take a look at their stats. Barajas has to be just plain horrible the way he started. 8 HRs, 19 RBIs, yeah, that’s not too good. But some of those HRs have been in big game situations for the Pirates and the pitching staff has reacted well to his play at catcher. That McKenry can’t have more than a few HRs I’m sure. Shocking, 8 HRs, 20 RBIs, and a .250 average. Together, they have16 HRs and 39 RBIs. Defensively, they’ve lacked in the caught stealing category and Barajas could hit for a higher average, but the power numbers aint too bad. With all those bad starts Clint must be really worried about consistency. There’s nobody on the team that has played great from the start of the season. It seems like everyone on the team started off poorly and has gradually climbed their way above Mr. Mendoza. Oh, wait a minute, there’s that McCutchen guy and that Walker guy. McCutchen is leading the league in average and high up there in the HR category. Walker is in the .290s and is there at second every game. Both provide sound defense up the middle. Poor Clint, I know he’s worried about his outfield beyond McCutchen. He’s got no speed and the guys in right and left field are pretty much your typical backups that can’t hit, the ceiling is low for them. I better check this out just to make sure I’m not off on that statement too. Let’s see, they just called up some guy named Star Marte. Interesting…oh, it’s Starling Marte. Wonder what his numbers at Indy were. 21 doubles, 13 triples, 12 Home Runs, 62 RBIs. Wow, that looks like someone with a lot of upside. I must have been under a rock when he was promoted. A home run on his first pitch. Can’t wait to see this guy play. He’s a center fielder that can play with two other center fielders in the outfield. I forgot how that Presley tore up the league at the end of last season. Maybe, he’ll revert to that form yet. Then there’s Tabata. If he overcomes his fear of injury and lives up to the contract he signed the Pirates will have plenty of depth in their outfield. They’ve got that Gorkys Hernandez that can cover ground with the rest of them and come in for defensive help late. I don’t know why they’d need defensive help late with those other guys but if they need it they got it. Man, I guess I was too concerned about Clint Hurdle he has got a pretty good team in the field and they can get on a roll and provide some power. Now if the pitching staff could just do their job. What am I talking about, these guys have kept the Pirates in games from the beginning of the season. If they can stay healthy, forgot .500, the Pirates will be shooting for the playoffs. Clint, I think you’ve got a pretty good team there. I don’t know what you’re worried about. Just coach your head off and you should be fine. Go Bucs