High Expectations
Most of the time when you are talking about streaks you are
talking about good streaks. This streak
is about as far from good, though, as you can get. It is not good for the Pirates, not good for
Pittsburgh, and not good for baseball.
But, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel, a pot of gold at the
end of the rainbow, and so forth. The
Pirates, with their current lineup, have been gaining in the win column and
losing in the loss column. 2 years ago
they had a year that made people think that strides were being made. The first half made Pirates Nation think Neil
Huntington’s plan was taking shape.
Unfortunately, the second half came to a screeching post all star break
crash. Last year, the high point was
August 8, game 110. The Pirates were
63-47 and 2.5 games behind the NL Central leader. The prospect of ending the streak was looking
good. Sixteen games over .500 with 52
left, made Pirate Nation believe this was the end of the losing and beginning
to a new era. But once again they were
in for another colossal fall. Injuries
happened, pitching could not continue the strong beginning and despite improved
offense, it could not keep up with the failing pitching. The decline gained steam and the Pirates
ended up at 79-83, again falling short of that magic number of 83.
What went right in 2012?
Two names stood out last season. One is unmistakably the star of the team and
the key to the near future of the team.
Anyone that is a Pirates fan knows who I’m talking about, Andrew
McCutchen.
McCutchen’s star has been
rising since he came up to the big leagues, make that since he was drafted by
the Pirates, but last year he took it to a new level. If not for the second guy to be named I would
say he carried the team. Undoubtedly, he
caused them to rise to levels that weren’t expected and not known to recent
Pirate teams. To say he was hot was an
understatement. At the height of the
Pirates season he was considered an MVP candidate, I would say the leading
candidate. Unfortunately, he could not
keep up the torrid pace that he had set and came back to earth. When I say he came back to earth, I mean he
was playing better than most. He just
couldn’t keep up the MVP numbers he had been putting up. A wrist injury caused by, what else, an all
out effort to make a catch may have been what caused his offense to
diminish. He reached a high average of
.374 on July 17 and finished with a .327 average. Not too shabby. I have a feeling even better things are
coming this year, and that MVP may not be able to escape his grasp this time. He will most certainly be a preseason
favorite for the NL MVP this year. Count
on it.
As much as Andrew McCutchen brought to the table last year
another new addition was quite important also.
Neil Huntington had the opportunity to pick up an ace pitcher that had
been to the World Series and was affordable to the Pirates. One of the biggest moves he has made as a GM was
to acquire A.J. Burnett.
After a
tumultuous stint with the Yankees, they were willing to pay another team part
of his salary to remove him from their roster.
Maybe he didn’t like the overwhelming attention NY fans give their
players or didn’t pitch up to NY expectations for some other reason. He had no problem pitching for the Pirates last
year, though. After a slow start due to
injury he stabilized a group of pitchers that had not tasted much
consistency. He became the stopper for
the team and he consistently frustrated other teams, including the Yankees who
were paying for him to play for the Pirates and would have gladly taken
pitching outings like the ones he was turning in for the Pirates.
Another surprise performance last year was turned in by
James McDonald and possibly this performance had something to do with the
acquisition of Burnett. McDonald had
whetted the appetites of the Pirates and their fans at times since being picked
up from the Dodgers, but again, consistency was sorely lacking from his
repertoire. Somehow he managed to put it
all together in the first half of the season and, along with Burnett, pitched
like a staff ace. Once again,
contributing to the second half demise, he could not repeat his first half
performance in the second half.
Other Stories
There were other stories of 2012. The Pirates locked up Jose Tabata with the
hope that he would be a part of a core of young players to take them back to
respectability. Tabata didn’t perform
up to expectations and was eventually sent down to AAA to regain his
confidence. The Pirates annual attempt at
a solution to the catcher position was Rod Barajas. Barajas eventually started hitting home runs,
but his average was miserable from the beginning and so was his ability to
throw out runners attempting to steal. Pedro
Avarez started off slowly, but put up some numbers that are cause for optimism
that he will break out as a premiere slugger.
These, and many other stories led to the failure of the Pirates to overcome
the .500 mark. So, again the Pirates
will make an attempt to end the string of losing seasons.
Room for Improvement
What have the Pirates done to improve their chances this
season. They have brought up and in a
few new position players. Gaby Sanchez
was brought in at the end of last year as a reclamation project to share time
at first base with Garrett Jones and provide some power from the right side of
the plate. Travis Snider was brought in
to compete for an outfield spot.
Starling Marte, has grown up in the Pirates farm system, came in last
year with a homer in his first at bat, and is expected to be a star on the
team.
Russell Martin will continue the
annual attempt at finding a decent catcher until Tony Sanchez can prove he’s
ready to take over. Andrew McCutchen can
provided the defense that will make up for many mistakes by the pitching and
infielders as will Starling Marte once he becomes a fixture and accustomed to
the territory he needs to cover in left field.
Help from Latin America
The farm system seems to be improving and providing talent
for the major league team. Rene Gayo has
improved the Latin American System.
Starling Marte will be the poster boy for that system along with a few
more projected to be in the lineup by 2015-2016, Alen Hanson and Luis Heredia.
A huge question mark this year will continue to be the depth
of the pitching staff. Kevin Correia and
Erik Bedard did not work to plug the holes last year, so it was time to bring
in a few more potential starters.
Who’s it going to be this year?
A.J. Burnett, James McDonald, and Wandy Rodriquez are set as
the top 3. Burnett proved himself last
year and the hope is that he will continue what he started. He finished 16-10 and was dominant most of
the year. James McDonald was unhittable
for most of the first half of last season then faltered in the second
half. He still finished 12-8, allowing
for a formidable 1-2 punch with Burnett.
Wandy Rodriguez managed to finish 2012 with a 12-13 record despite
playing most of the season for the worst team in baseball, Houston. He also dominated his starts in the World
Baseball Classic, leading the Dominican Republic to the Championship. After that it’s a bit murky. Ideally Jeff Karstens and Charlie Morton
would be numbers 4 and 5. But Karstens,
an effective starter when healthy, has had health issues throughout his tenure
with the Pirates. He has been shut down
several times and that will not help the Pirates cause. Charlie Morton may be an option at some time
this year, but will doubtfully contribute much due to his recovery from Tommy John
Surgery. Karstens will probably end up
in the rotation, and Francisco Liriano or Jeff Locke who spent part of last
year on the roster will end up number 5.
Two more players may play a big part in the rotation also. They are Gerrit Cole
and Jameson
Taillon.
They are prospect number 1 and
number 2 for the Pirates and they may arrive this season. That would result in some power pitching
added to the rotation. But, rarely do rookies make a huge difference in
their first year.
The Pen
The bullpen is also a big question mark, especially with the
trade of Joel Hanrahan. Jason Grilli
will take over as the closer and Mark Melancon will slide in as the set up
man. After that it’s all wait and see to
find out what they have in relief.
To sum it up
The Pirates are maturing.
The core of Andrew McCutchen, The Pittsburgh boy Neil Walker, and Pedro Alvarez will have high
expectations heaped upon them.
New kids
on the block Starling Marte, Gaby Sanchez, Travis Snider, and Russell Martin need to perform up to their anticipated talent level and the pitching needs to fall
into place. If all that happens the
Pirates will have a winning season and possibly more. If not there’s always next year, we all know
that.
Go Buccos!
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