SB Nation - Steve Pearce

Should Ramon Vazquez Keep His Roster Spot?

Charlie — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:58:39 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

Pittsburgh Pirates' Ramon Vazquez (5) connects for a two-run single against Cincinnati Reds' Micah Owings in the first inning during a baseball game in Pittsburgh Saturday, May 2, 2009. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

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Interesting tidbit in the Post-Gazette today:

Looks like Rule 5 pick John Raynor will be in a one-on-one battle with Brandon Moss for reserve outfield duty this spring. Locked into the bench for now are Jason Jaramillo, Ramon Vazquez, Bobby Crosby and Delwyn Young. That leaves room for one outfielder, preferably one capable of backing up in center. And Raynor might be better there than Moss.

Unlike Dejan Kovacevic, I can only speculate on what will happen, but what should happen here? Vazquez is vaguely useful in that, you know, he can play a bunch of infield positions and isn't Brian Bixler, but Vazquez hit a sub-Bloomquistian .230/.335/.279 last year, making 2009 the fourth season in the past six in which he failed to top a .620 OPS. I mostly admire Vazquez's patient approach at the plate, but that's really all he had in 2009--he looked like was praying for pitchers to accidentally walk him. I liked the Vazquez signing when it happened, but his strong 2008 campaign with the Rangers now looks very fluky. With Bobby Crosby in the fold, there doesn't seem to be any reason to break camp with another utility infielder, especially since Young can also sort of play second.

There are probably five bench spots available, and one probably will go to a catcher, and another to someone who can play shortstop. Jaramillo, Crosby and Young look very likely to make the bench, at this point. Maybe Kovacevic knows something I don't, but if I were in charge, it wouldn't be particularly likely that Vazquez would make the team next year. Assuming for now that Jeff Clement starts at first base and Garrett Jones is in right field, Moss isn't an ideal fit for the bench because he's left-handed like both of those guys. But Moss is out of options, can remain under team control for several more years if he sticks, and (despite his terrible 2009) has some prayer of hitting in 2010. There's really no upside in keeping Vazquez, except as insurance in case Crosby or Ronny Cedeno gets hurt or doesn't make the team. And even leaving Moss aside for a second, I'd probably rather keep Raynor and Steve Pearce as the last two bench guys than give a spot to Vazquez.

Of course, worrying about the Pirates careers of Vazquez and (probably) Moss is a deck chairs / Titanic situation. If Pedro Alvarez comes up, Vazquez will be gone, and if Jose Tabata comes up or the Pirates acquire another corner player, Moss will probably be gone. In the meantime, though, I think he could be a pretty decent bench outfielder--I think he's a bit better as a hitter than he showed in 2009, and his defense is good. It would be nice to stick with him for a couple more months before dumping him completely.

Lefties, Lefties Everywhere

Charlie — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:47:35 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Would another lefty hitter like Hank Blalock, right, be the best fit for the Pirates?

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Straight to the point today: one thing I find a bit strange about the idea of the Pirates pursuing Rick Ankiel and/or Hank Blalock is that both those guys are left-handed, whereas most of the Bucs' other options at first base and right field (Garrett Jones, Jeff Clement, Brandon Moss) are too. Steve Pearce is the only righty who might be in the mix right now at first and right, and I can't believe the Bucs are still taking him seriously. If the idea in pursuing an extra corner guy is to add an extra bit of upside and perhaps hope for a nice prospect at the deadline if the new player does well, I can't really fault the Pirates for not considering the player's handedness. But if the Pirates really are serious about seeing what they have in Clement, in particular, it would seem to behoove them to find someone whose skills complement his.

Admittedly, the pickings in that area are pretty slim. Two righty free agent outfielders who might make a bit of sense are Marlon Byrd and Coco Crisp. Byrd was a regular for the Rangers this year and has played pretty well for three straight seasons, so he might require the sort of multiyear contract to which the Pirates would probably rather not commit themselves.

Crisp is a subpar hitter, but he's not old, and he's an outstanding defensive player; he could certainly handle either left or center (if that were required) in PNC. Unfortunately, his throwing arm was poor even before he had surgery on both shoulders this year, so playing him in right wouldn't work. If he were added to the roster, the Pirates could work out some sort of time share where Lastings Milledge and Garrett Jones played every day but rotated between left and right (Milledge) and right and first (Jones), while Clement and Crisp formed some sort of weird semi-platoon at the other available positions.

...This is all really speculative, and Crisp obviously isn't ideal, but I'm trying to be creative here. Given the free agent market, I can see why the Pirates would be interested in Ankiel and Blalock, and I'm not opposed to signing either of them, if they'd be willing to play in Pittsburgh. But, as much as PNC is kinder to lefties than righties, it seems a bit strange to crowd the roster with lefties. Maybe a low-leverage trade or an inspired minor league free agent signing (Ernesto Mejia of the Braves, perhaps?) would be the right move here, with the righty Pearce's initial role being determined by how credible a major league option the new acquisition is.

Pirates' Season Ends With 6-0 Loss

Charlie — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 20:26:30 -0000

More photos » by David Kohl - AP

2 months ago: Cincinnati Reds Scott Rolen, left, slides safely into third past Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Andy LaRouche, right, for a RBI-triple in the fifth inning during a baseball game, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009, in Cincinnati. The Reds won 6-0. (AP Photo/David Kohl)

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In the Pirates' final game of the year, the Bucs managed to put a staggering fifteen men on base--ten hits, including a triple, plus four walks and a hit batsman--without plating a single one of them. This wasn't a good game by any stretch, but it could have been considerably better. In the fifth inning, Steve Pearce led off with a triple and Andrew McCutchen followed that up with a walk--and then Andy LaRoche came to the plate and swung at about a million pitches outside the strike zone, fouling off most of them before finally striking out swinging. Garrett Jones and Lastings Milledge followed that up with strikeouts of their own.

The Bucs' pitching today was one of those bullpen special days, with Jeff Karstens getting the spot start and pitching only two and a third. Today's bullpen only day didn't work out nearly as well as it did the last time, as Karstens allowed two runs and Donald Veal made a complete mess in the bottom of the fifth.

Brandon Moss got a start and went 1-for-2 with two walks. Good for him, but fortunately for all of us, it sounds like this was a last hurrah of sorts, since he won't be starting much next year. Moss finishes the season with 133 games played and a .236/.303/.364 line. That would be barely acceptable for a Gold Glove shortstop, but for a corner outfielder, well... at least Moss rates as a good defensive player, which means he's a worthwhile bench guy. Beyond that, I think we've seen what we need to see.

One nice thing--well, pretty much the only nice thing--about knowing you're a terrible ballclub is the ability to use playing time as a way of acquiring information. It wasn't automatic that Moss would fail this year. PECOTA (subscription required) said before the season that there would be about a 25% chance of him being as bad or worse than he actually was, and compared him to good players like Curtis Granderson, Paul O'Neill, Jason Kubel, Graig Nettles and Carlos Pena, along with some other guys who weren't nearly as good. The Pirates sensibly used the first couple months of the season to see if they had a Granderson or O'Neill on their hands. It turns out they almost certainly don't, but hey--it's not like the Bucs would have won 90 games with a different right fielder.

Pirates Sweep Split-Squad Games From Cubs, 4-0 And 8-2

Al — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:00:56 -0000

More photos » by Paul Beaty - AP

When Micah Hoffpauir and Sam Fuld couldn't come up with this fly ball, we should have known Game 2 wasn't going to turn out well.

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The lineup for game one yesterday read like the list of players the Cubs send to Tucson every spring to play the Rockies. You know, because the regulars don't want to ride the bus for two hours.

They played like they had ridden that bus, too, getting shut out 4-0 by the Pirates and Charlie Morton, a guy they had scored ten runs off of on August 14 before he could even register more than three outs. On a sunny but chilly afternoon when the announced attendance was 34,362, no more than about 13,000 entered Wrigley Field. For the first time that any of us could remember, the Cubs actually closed off the center-field bleachers with yellow caution tape, reminiscent of the days in the 1960's and 1970's when the Cubs wouldn't open the upper deck on weekdays when they expected small crowds. This practice ended after 1981 when the Cubs stopped selling general admission tickets in the main part of the ballpark. (See below the fold for a photo.) The announced attendance, based on the number of tickets sold, put Cubs attendance past 3 million (3,056,781 with four dates remaining) for the sixth straight year. The Cubs will need to put together a good offseason to do that again in 2010.

Ted Lilly didn't throw badly in the first game -- that is, after the first inning, when all four Pirates runs crossed the plate. Some questionable defense didn't help -- Bobby Scales, who again I remind Lou is not an outfielder, pulled up short on Lastings Milledge's looping line drive, allowing it to bounce in front of him. Then he nearly got Garrett Jones having taken too long a turn past second base; if this play had worked, Steve Pearce's ground ball on the next at-bat would have ended the inning with only one run scoring. Instead, Jason Jaramillo followed with a double to the LF corner, on which Jake Fox made a Jacque Jones-like throw to the infield, allowing Jaramillo to take third. Didn't really matter, as .225-hitting Brian Bixler drove him in.

And that was it -- the Triple-A lineup the Cubs sent up in game one managed only four singles, three walks and a hit batsman off Morton and got only three runners past first base; the last of those, Scales, took second on defensive indifference with two out in the ninth.

The weather for the night game (announced attendance 33,299; actual count in the park about 17,000) was colder than Tuesday night's and so were the Cubs' bats. The presence of Derrek Lee, who had two hits and a walk, made it a little less split-squaddy, but D-Lee appeared to still be bothered by his left foot, the one he fouled a ball off of on Tuesday night. It appeared that Lee's first-inning single might have gone far enough for him to reach second base, but he pulled up fairly slowly going into first, not wanting to risk any further injury on a chilly evening. We are told that Aramis Ramirez is going to play "sparingly" the rest of the year, which I'd read as "he won't play at all unless the weather warms up", which it probably won't. A-Ram gutted out half a season -- 80 games -- worth of very good performance considering the serious injury he suffered, and now he needs to rest up and be 100% for 2010. It appears he won't need surgery, which is good news.

Carlos Zambrano made it through six innings in his final 2009 start and didn't pitch too badly, but didn't have his best command. He walked four and two of them scored in a third inning where he couldn't manage to get that third out. One run had already scored when Z struck out Milledge, but Brandon Moss followed with a two-run single, and that, as the saying goes, was that. The Cubs managed their second and final run of the night in the bottom of that inning when Z smacked a double to deep center field, advanced on a groundout by Sam Fuld and scored on a nicely executed sacrifice by Ryan Theriot, perhaps the best thing the Cubs did all day. Z also hit another deep fly ball to CF in the fourth that was caught by Andrew McCutchen. No other Cub hit anything as well as Z did in his two at-bats.

Last night I met BCB reader katie casey and her husband and son -- nice to meet you; wish you (and the rest of us) had been able to see even one win yesterday. The Cubs now need to win all four remaining games on this final 2009 homestand to have a winning decade (this particular decade defined as "the ten years comprising 2000-2009"). That's a worthy goal, and also an 86-76 record would be one game better than Lou's first season as manager in 2007.

Weather permitting -- and this forecast doesn't look too encouraging -- the Cubs and Pirates will finish off their season series tonight. The Cubs clinched second place in the NL Central last night when the Brewers lost to the Rockies; that's nice, but not the goal we were all seeking this season.

The CF bleachers were closed for game 1 on Wednesday. BCB photo by David Sameshima (click on photo to open a larger version in a new browser window

Pirates Finding New Ways To Lose; Also, No More "Scholarship"

Charlie — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 04:44:26 -0000

More photos » by John Heller - AP

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Typical--the Bucs didn't get blown out by San Diego tonight, and they weren't even unambiguously bad, but they still ended up on the wrong side when the game ended. The Pirates rallied from a 6-2 deficit to tie the game against Heath Bell in the ninth, and that inning featured an awesome plate appearance by Steve Pearce, who laid off a number of tough breaking balls to draw a walk and keep the inning going. But their lack of a real bullpen ultimately undid them as they headed to extra innings--any team with bullpen troubles will be exposed in an 11-inning game, and in this case the Pirates were in a doubly tough spot because Joel Hanrahan, their best reliever by a mile right now, is on the shelf with elbow trouble. Anyway, if you have to rely on the likes of Jeff Karstens in a tough situation, there's a very good chance you're going to lose.

In the meantime, the Bucs' offense did the team no favors by leaving a ridiculous number of batters on base--the Bucs wrangled eleven hits and nine walks, but only scored six times. Garrett Jones hit his 20th home run of the season but, as has so often been the case for him (and I'm not bashing him for this because I don't think it represents a skill, just pointing out a fact), it was a solo job.

Whatever! I'm tired of this. Let's talk about something else. Let's talk about the word "scholarship." I come to bury that word, to attempt to remove it from Pirates-related discourse, except as it applies to draftees. For example, "Colton Cain passed up a scholarship to the University of Texas" is an acceptable use of the word. But "I don't know why Andy LaRoche is still starting, since Neal Huntington promised there would be no scholarships" is not. The attempted removal of a word sounds pretty fascist of me, I admit, but I'm not forcing anyone to stop using it, and if the tactic is good enough for an institution of higher learning, it's good enough for me.

I believe Huntington introduced the concept of a "scholarship." Unfortunately, I can't find its point of origin, because if you Google "neal huntington" and "scholarship" on the Post-Gazette's website, you get an amazing 124 results. What I took Huntington to mean or, at least, what most Pirate fans currently interpret Huntington to mean, is that under-performing players would not be given "scholarships"; that is, they would not receive playing time they did not earn on the field.

This was a stupid thing for Huntington to have said (and not only because the "scholarship" students I knew in college were often the hardest working and most talented ones, the ones who didn't need their parents to pay their way, but I digress). The goal of a baseball team should not be to mete out rewards and punishments for its players based on how they do; it should be to win games. It's true that the former often goes hand in hand with the latter, but not always. When deciding who gets major league playing time, there shouldn't be moral considerations about the perceived quality of someone's previous play; instead, it should be one factor that should be weighed along with others. When I hear most fans dismissively use the word "scholarship," I feel like what they really want is some sort of vigilante justice based on how the fans feel someone is playing. Justice has little to do with it.

The fact is that top prospects, like Andrew McCutchen or Pedro Alvarez, should get scholarships, while journeymen should have to do more to prove themselves. If Alvarez comes up after tearing it up for three months at Indianapolis next year, he should play every day in the big leagues, even if he starts 5-for-50. If Ronny Cedeno gets hurt and Argenis Diaz comes up and hits 12-for-30 in his absence, the Pirates should probably send Diaz back to Indianapolis once Cedeno is healthy.

Yesterday in the comments, someone mentioned the concept of a "scholarship" in reference to the possibility that Jeff Clement could end up starting next year. Now, one can certainly express the hope that Clement will not start next year, but invoking the "scholarship" concept attempts to find a very uncomplicated kind of justice in what is actually a very complicated situation. The Pirates will have two outfield positions set with McCutchen and Lastings Milledge, while Jones has shown he should get more playing time in either the other outfield position or at first.

That leaves either an outfield spot or first base unaccounted for. There is, of course, a chance that the Pirates could seek a free agent like Rick Ankiel, but many free agents do not want to play for the Bucs, and the Pirates shouldn't want to give a free agent so much money or so many years that he interferes with the team's long term plans. If they can't find a suitable free agent, and I'd actually bet against them finding one, that leaves them looking for a trade or an internal option. Alvarez or Jose Tabata could be possibilities, but both could probably use at least a couple more months in the minors--the Alex Gordon Problem applies in Alvarez's case, and Tabata hasn't really dominated in the high minors yet.

That leaves guys like Brandon Moss, Pearce and Clement, and of that bunch, why not Clement? Moss is a fourth outfielder, and while Pearce might be a reasonable bench option, he's had an up-and-down career since 2007 and could probably be considered as much of a "scholarship" case as Clement is. (So could Moss, actually.) Clement has a first-round pedigree and a reasonably good minor-league track record. He tailed off badly after a hot start at Indianapolis this year, but that may have had something to do with the oblique strain that finally shelved him. It's not at all unreasonable to think he's a better, higher-upside choice than either Moss or Pearce. Alternately, the Bucs could platoon the lefty Clement with the righty Pearce.

Choosing Clement need not have anything to do with "scholarships." That's irrelevant. It has to do with sorting through a number of possibilities, all with pros and cons, and finding the best one for the present and future of the organization. Sometimes that means playing the guy who played best last month, or for some short span in the majors last year, or for some longer span in the minors this year. Sometimes it doesn't. Anyway, I usually get the sense that when someone is using the word "scholarship," it usually just means "The Pirates are playing a guy I don't like." Instead of using that word, make an argument. There's no doubt that the Bucs sometimes make personnel decisions I don't agree with, but that doesn't mean there's some moral dimension to it, and it simply doesn't follow that the Pirates should always use the guy who played best in whatever arbitrary timeframe or context you care to pick. So please, no more "scholarship." Let's just leave that word alone.

By the way, this post is dedicated to Neil Walker, who earlier this year complained that players like him and the great Brian Bixler were getting the shaft while players acquired by Neal Huntington coasted through. Walker didn't use the word "scholarship," but that's the concept he was invoking.

Well, it's extremely early, and of course it's still possible that Walker turns a corner, but he has begun his major league career 4-for-26. And, with his inning-ending double play with two men on in the bottom of the tenth, he's as responsible as anyone or the loss tonight. Cheers to you, Neil! May your teammates in Indianapolis next year enjoy your grousing as much as I have.

Pirates may pursue familiar faces?

Eli Greenspan — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:55:31 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

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The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that the Pirates will be more aggressive in their pursuit of free agents this offseason. General manager Neal Huntington told the Gazette that he wouldn't rule out anyone in free agency, including some of the recently traded Pirates like Jack Wilson or Freddy Sanchez.

"We will look into the free-agent market, and we have some money to apply to the right situation," Huntington said yesterday. "We go in not feeling that we have a desperate hole to fill but that, if we can find someone who makes us better in the short and hopefully the long term, we can do that."

Adding a middle infielder should be one of their goals, but the Pirates would probably have to overpay to lure someone like Placido Polanco or Ronnie Belliard to Pittsburgh.

The Pirates currently have Steve Pearce at first base, who is hitting .211 in 51 games. The Pirates still believe Pearce can contribute long term, especially after a solid season in Triple-A where he hit .286 with a .373 on-base percentage and 13 home runs.

If you're a Pirates fan, who do you want to see at first base next season? If you haven't already, you can check out our 2010 MLB Free Agent list to get a better feel for who is available this offseason.

If you're going to stake your rep on being a fifth place team, these are the games you HAVE to win. Reds sweep double header, win 6-3.

Brendanukkah — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 03:18:02 -0000

More photos » by David Kohl - AP

He still thinks the C on his hat is for "Cueto." (AP Photo/David Kohl)

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Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Brandon Phillips. Phillips went 3-4 with two runs, two RBI, a home run and a stolen base. He hit what seemed to be a second home run, but replays showed that it was a foul ball.

Key Plays

The Reds came flying out of the gate in the evening contest, with Drew Stubbs singling and Paul Janish bringing him home with a double. One out later, Brandon Phillips scored Janish with a single. Scott Rolen singled and Jonny Gomes hit a ground rule double to plate Phillips. After Darnell McDonald struck out, Corky Miller walked to load the bases. Sadly, Johnny Cueto struck out, but the Reds had a 3-0 lead.
Phillips made it a four run lead in the third inning with his 18th home run of the season.
Cueto, fresh off the DL, cruised until the sixth inning when he gave up a home run to Andrew McCutchen. Danny Ray Herrera came in to relieve, but after getting two quick outs he gave up a single to Ryan Doumit, a double to Steve Pearce, and singles to Brandon Moss and Ronny Cedeno. The Pirates had crept to within one run, and Nick Masset was called on to get the third out of the inning.
The Reds got some Great American Insurance runs in the eighth, when Darnell McDonald hit a ground rule double and Drew Stubbs hit his second home run of the day (but first of the game) to increase the lead to 6-3.

via FanGraphs

Other Notes

This was Johnny Cueto's first win since July 1. It's his ninth of the season, which matches his total from last year.
The announced attendance of 13,051 for the day game was actually the attendance number from April 10, the rained out game. The Reds had an attendance of 9,087 for the nightcap, the lowest attendance ever at GABP.
The Reds had not swept a double header in ten years. (Actually, the last time I'm seeing such a sweep occurred on May 26, 1997. John Smiley beat Al Leiter [BOO!], and Mike Morgan beat Matt Beech. Terry Pendleton played third base. I'd totally forgotten he'd ever been a Red.)
With nine more losses, the Reds will clinch a losing season for the ninth straight year.
Nick Masset and Arthur Rhodes pitched in both games for the Reds. Jesse Chavez pitched in both games for the Pirates.
Francisco Cordero earned his 29th save. He's five away from passing Dan Quisenberry on the all-time list.

Final - 8.31.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh Pirates	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	3	8	0
Cincinnati Reds	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	X	6	13	0
WP: Johnny Cueto (9 - 10) SV: Francisco Cordero (29) LP: Paul Maholm (7 - 8)

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Pirates' Q+A Portion of Season Continues

Charlie — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:15:07 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

Lastings Milledge homers on Tuesday.

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Neal Huntington's life has to be pretty painful right now for all kinds of reasons--just walking through the streets of Pittsburgh must be difficult. But in some ways, it's a baseball dork's dream.

Some of the hardest of the hardcore Bucs Dugout baseball dorks play in a fantasy league each year that has 18-20 teams, with many more spots per roster than most fantasy leagues have. The number of players drafted is about twice that of the standard 12-team fantasy league. Which is great, because you get to indulge your weirdest flights of fancy in the draft. In the late rounds this year, I picked Matt Joyce, Homer Bailey, Brandon Moss and, much more successfully, Russell Branyan (who I also wanted the real-life Pirates to sign in the offseason). But the size of the league quickly becomes a problem in the middle of the season, when a couple of your players go down and you're forced to find new ones in the free agent pool. The problem isn't finding a guy who's talented, it's finding a guy who's actually going to play.

What the Pirates are doing with their big-league roster right now is like managing a team in a very deep fantasy league, except that they also can hand out playing time. So it's a sort of experimental method that, in the short term, is aimed more at answering questions than getting results. Can Delwyn Young play second base? (Kind of.) Can Ronny Cedeno hit enough to stick as a starter at shortstop? (Maybe.) Can Garrett Jones play? (No comment, although he's certainly done little to prove me right so far.) Can Andy LaRoche develop any power? Can Charlie Morton finally translate his ability to mow down minor leaguers to the big leagues? And what about Lastings Milledge? Or Steve Pearce? Or Kevin Hart?

This Q+A-based approach to handing out playing time often produces painful results; after all, there are reasons why a lot of these guys never got extended shots before now. But, in a way, these August and September games are more fun for me to watch than April or May games, because in August or September there's often much more value in getting a "yes" answer. If Jack Wilson has a good week in April that's great, but the only long-term upside there is that the Pirates get something better for him in a trade, and even then that's often wishful thinking, since everyone basically knows what Jack Wilson brings to the table. If Delwyn Young has a good week, though, that's much better, because you don't know nearly as much about what he brings to the table, and if it turns out to be something tasty, you get to keep him for five years.

The only Bucs rookie who's even close to a sure thing is Andrew McCutchen. Many of the others, perhaps most, will ultimately fail. The best of the Pirates' young talent is still in the minors. But the Pirates are still well worth watching this fall, because if a surprising number of their youngest players are successful, they could end up being in great shape if and when Pedro Alvarez, Tony Sanchez, Jose Tabata, Tim Alderson and some of their other top prospects are finally ready.

That's why--and not to count chickens before they hatch here, but I have to leave a little before tonight's game is actually over--it's been really rewarding to see the Pirates in general, and guys like Cedeno and Milledge in particular, do good things in this series. It may almost be football season, but these Bucs are still pretty interesting to me.

Pirates' ship decimated by trades

Poseidon's Fist — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:54:55 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

There's nothing to do but bite the...railing...and push through the long rebuilding process in Pittsburgh, unless you're lucky enough to be considered old enough to play for a different team.

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Just who are the Pirates anymore? In barely the last year, they have traded away OFs Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, Nate McLouth, Nyjer Morgan, Eric Hinske, C Ronny Paulino, SS Jack Wilson, 2B Freddy Sanchez, 1B Adam LaRoche, 3B Jose Bautista and Ps Ian Snell, Tom Gorzelanny, Damaso Marte, Sean Burnett and John Grabow.

Wow. It certainly needed to happen, as Pittsburgh continued to parade a team out that would never be good enough to contend in the NL Central in September. It may be good for the future, but it's devastating for the present, fracturing team chemistry and faith. The trade of Nate McLouth angered some players, who actually lit a candle to the former Pirate in his locker after the trade. Said third baseman Andy LaRoche, who saw his brother traded away to Boston earlier this season:

"It's been ... almost like a bad dream. It seemed like every other day, we're trading one of the guys we're close with, one of our team leaders." Rob Biertempfel, Tribune-Review

Pittsburgh won the first two games after the final trade, of Gorzelanny and Grabow, against the Nationals. Since then, however, they have dropped eight straight, being outscored 52-26. In losing 13 of 15, the Pirates have fallen to last in the NL Central, just 5.5 games ahead of the Nationals for the worst record in the league. Curiously though, their run differential is closest to the contending Seattle Mariners than any other team.

Naturally, trading away their core has stripped John Russell of fielding a competitive team. After posting winning months in April and June, Pittsburgh went 8-17 in July, only beaten in futility by their 1-8 August thus far. Adding in that the Pirates have a pitiful 17-39 road record, losing this series would be the greatest embarrassment of the season thus far.

If you are feeling sentimental towards the beginning stages of GenR, visit our friends at Bucs Dugout .

Pittsburgh Pirates (45-66, L8, 6th, 16.5 GB)

Tuesday-Thursday: 3-game series at Coors Field

The Bats: D

Looking at season stats are obviously useless. Only the third baseman and center-fielder remain as carry-overs in the lineup since the last time we faced the Pirates six weeks ago.

LINEUP	Avg	HR	RBI	OBP	SLG	wOBA
Andrew McCutchen - CF	.292	7	32	.352	.486	.366
Lastings Milledge - LF	.293	0	5	.310	.341	.271
Garrett Jones - RF	.291	12	19	.354	.662	.422
Ryan Doumit - C	.234	6	32	.250	.446	.282
Delwyn Young - 2B	.301	5	30	.357	.411	.344
Steve Pearce - 1B	.230	2	6	.338	.443	.343
Andy LaRoche - 3B	.257	5	41	.329	.376	.314
Ronny Cedeno - SS	.308	2	7	.325	.462	.348

Milledge came in the Nyjer Morgan deal, Cedeno came in the Jack Wilson/Ian Snell trade, while Pearce and Jones were internal callups to fill voids left from other trades. Young was promoted to be the everyday 2B when Freddy Sanchez was dealt and projected everyday catcher Ryan Doumit returned from the DL July 10.

You can judge by wOBA if you wish, but there are sample size issues all over the place. Garrett Jones is no Prince Fielder and Ryan Doumit is no Brian Schneider. The lineup is riddled with unpolished talent that could erupt at Coors Field - or completely buckle against good pitching. For more on Jones, who has 12 HR in 39 hits, check out this feature article from Fangraphs. McCutchen, Jones and Doumit are legitimate threats.

Jason Jaramillo (.250, 3, 19) is Doumit's backup backstop, while the reserve infielders are Luis Cruz (3-for-10) and Ramon Vazquez (.254, 1, 13). Brandon Moss (.22, 5, 48) and Jeff Salazar (1-for-24) are John Russell's bench outfielders. Of the five on the bench, only Luis Cruz is a right-handed battter.

Hop after the jump for the scouting report on the arms, the D, the pitching matchups and the hot/cold players.

The Arms: D+

We will see Kevin Hart (obtained from Chicago in the Grabow/Gorzelanny deal), Princeton grad Ross Ohlendorf, and lefty Paul Maholm. All three are serviceable starting pitchers, but none should strike the fear in a lineup that scored 22 runs in the last two days against a team ranked 3rd in ERA in MLB coming in. The staff ERA sits at 4.42, 20th in the league, but that has slowly trended downward as the season has progressed.

Trading away John Grabow robbed John Russell of the only left-hander he has in his bullpen. Closer Matt Capps has a terrible Lidge-like statline.

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Matt Capps	2-7	5.97	1.75	35	15

Joel Hanrahan is another failed closer in the bullpen. The rest of the pen is made up of Jeff Karstens, Chris Bootcheck, Jose Ascanio, Jesse Chavez, and Evan Meek. Karstens, Capps and Bootcheck are rated as below average relievers by Statcorner this year, though the other four have been above average in Pittsburgh.

The D: C

SS Ronny Cedeno and Andrew McCutchen are very good fielders, though the corner outfielders have been liabilities, especially Garrett Jones, who gives Brad Hawpe the rare opportunity to be the right fielder with the greatest range in the series. Delwyn Young is below average defensively at second base, though Steve Pearce and Andy LaRoche are fairly solid fielders. In the last series, I rated this team as having A defense. However, notable downgrades at second, right and left have dropped them significantly.

Probable Pitchers:

Tonight, 7:10 pm MDT

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Ross Ohlendorf	9-8	4.29	1.32	70	41

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jhoulys Chacin	0-0	1.80	1.00	9	3

This is the best pitching matchup for the Pirates. Ohlendorf is having his best year, hasn't allowed more than two runs in his last four starts, and has managed a winning record despite being a Pirates pitcher. Hawpe and Tulowitzki beat him up at Coors on June 19. Meanwhile, Chacin will be making his MLB debut, and that 70-75 pitch count could be problematic for a guy who has walked three guys in five innings. Vegas isn't biting though, making the Rockies -190 moneyline favorites. Favors: ROCKIES slightly

Wednesday, August 12, 6:40 pm MDT

W-L ERA WHIP K BB

2009 - Kevin Hart 3-1 2.94 1.51 18 19

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Kevin Hart	3-1	2.94	1.51	18	19

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Ubaldo Jimenez	9-9	3.65	1.26	134	59

W-L ERA WHIP K BB

2009 - Ubaldo Jimenez 9-9 3.65 1.26 134 59

Hart came from Chicago in the Gorzelanny/Grabow trade. He's not the Kevin Hart that's wearing green at 3:11 of this clip, so he's not even the most famous guy with his name. He allowed three runs in six innings against Arizona at PNC Park in his lone Pirate start. He has a history of control problems at the major league level, as noted by Marc Hulet, and despite a sparkly ERA, his FIP is quite bad (5.93) as you might expect with that high WHIP and horrid K/BB ratio. The righty throws a fastball around 91 but mixes in an 86mph cutter almost a quarter of the time. He also has a mid-80's change and a high 70's curve. Jimenez is just a stud. He has strung together six straight quality starts, going 3-1 in the process. Favors: ROCKIES very strongly

Thursday, August 13, 1:10 MDT

W-L ERA WHIP K BB

2009 - Paul Maholm 6-6 4.76 1.44 88 44

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Paul Maholm	6-6	4.76	1.44	88	44

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jason Marquis	12-8	3.65	1.28	72	48

We miss All-Star Zach Duke again, but this other lefty has talent too. Maholm has a better tRa and stymied the Rockies for seven scoreless innings in May. Of course, we trashed him at Coors in June. His slider is his only above average pitch this season and he's allowed at least four rusn in four straight starts. Marquis' tRA is actually .07 higher than Maholm this season, but we know who has been the better pitcher. The Rockies' winnar had his 6-game quality start streak snapped Saturday in the Rockies only loss of the series, mostly due to atypical walks. He'll try for the fourth time for that elusive 13th win. Favors: ROCKIES moderately

My take

There is no excuse for losing this series. We really ought to sweep, though I'm never confident in projecting a sweep when one good start from an opposing pitcher (which these three are capable) can derail that declaration. The Rockies are a better team overall at every single position except perhaps center field, though the Rockies boast a couple hot and talented "ballcatchers" there as well. Let's not get too down on this team if they drop one game, but this series absolutely must be won, and sweeping it would make whatever result of that Giants/Dodgers series sweet.

It's not Andrew McCutchen's fault Pittsburgh hasn't won in August. He hit 3 HR in their sole August win on th 1st and has 4 dingers this month, including a .364 average and a 1.220 OPS. Ronny Cedeno is hitting .314 with a surprising 2 HR thus far in August as well. Ross Ohlendorf has allowed 2 ER or less in four straight starts, and Joel Hanrahan has a 3.29 ERA with Pittsburgh.

Ryan Doumit has continued his disappointing season wby hitting just .194 with two XBH in August. Brandon Moss is just 3 for his last 19. Garrett Jones is 8 for his last 34, but half of those hists are XBH. Jesse Chavez has been scored upon in 3 of 4 outings and 5 of 8. Jeff Karstens has yielded 10 runs in his last 5 reliefappearances.

Tyler Yates (elbow - 5/16) and Donald Veal (fingers - 8/4) are on the 15-day, while Phil Dumatrait (shoulder - 3/27) and Craig Hansen (trapezius - 4/25) are on the 60-day.

Poll

How will you be feeling Thursday night?

Confident and accomplished. Sweeping the Pirates isn't the greatest accomplishment, especially these Pirates, but a sweep is a sweep.

86 votes

A little disappointed but accepting. You can't sweep every series against a bad team. Series wins are never bad.

66 votes

Rational, borderline masochistic: Losing a home series to the Pirates is embarrassing, but then you remember the Giants lost 2 of 3 at home to the Reds and are still contenders.

4 votes

Borderline homicidal: how could the Rockies piss away their contention by pissing away a series at home vs PITTSBURGH?!

6 votes

162 votes | Poll has closed

On Garrett Jones, Nyjer Morgan and Steve Pearce

Charlie — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 05:10:19 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

Steve Pearce after homering against John Lannan.

Browse more photos »

Nice to see Lastings Milledge grab a couple of hits in his Pirates debut today...

There was a discussion earlier today in the Adam LaRoche thread about my position regarding Garrett Jones, Steve Pearce and Nyjer Morgan, and this seems as relevant as ever, what with Nyjer in town and Milledge's arrival potentially jeopardizing some of Jones' playing time.

If I seem wishy-washy about these three guys, it's because I don't think any of them are very good. We can't get too excited about small sample sizes. I know there were some people here championing Jones back when he was still in the minors, but most who have argued passionately on his behalf have done so since he came up to the majors. When you have a 1500 at bat sample telling you one thing and a 100 at bat sample telling you another, you should weight the 1500 at bat sample a lot more heavily. Jones' last three years in the minors have been distinctly unimpressive, so his (admittedly brilliant) performance so far this year is probably mostly just the world's biggest sample-size fluke. And yes, minor league stats matter. It's not reasonable to claim that Jones was blocked in Minnesota (the obvious conclusion being that he's going crazy now because he's finally getting the chance the Twins unfairly denied him). He wasn't blocked. He never earned a chance. Major league promotions aren't given at random, and minor-league stats, particularly AAA stats, matter.

Morgan is a slightly different story. I do think a lot of the improvements he's made this year are legitimate, but I still can't get too excited, because he's still 29 and still has no power at all, so he's playing at the absolute peak of his abilities. He won't get any better than he's played so far this year, and he isn't likely to have a long career. To my eyes, he's improved from a mediocre, unpredictable defender to a sure-handed one; I'm not sure what changed, really, but if he can continue to do that, he's a good role player for a contending team. But since I wouldn't bet on him still playing well a few years from now, and that's when the Pirates would need him.

As for Pearce: it's not that I think he's good, it's that I think he has some remote chance to be good. Neither Morgan nor Jones have ever had a full season as promising as the one Pearce put up in 2007, when he was the Hitter of the Year for all the minor leagues. He also improved every month at Indianapolis this year. He might as well have stayed at home in 2008, though, and now he's 26. I argued passionately for him in 2007 and before 2008, but that moment has passed.

I'm not sure any of the three are particularly helpful for what the Pirates are trying to achieve. If someone wants to argue for Jones over Pearce, I think that's defensible--not because Jones is any good, but because neither of them are good. If I seem overly negative about Jones, that's probably because, in my opinion, a lot of people, including John Russell, have gotten far too excited over a career minor leaguer on a hot streak. If you want to stump for Jones, go ahead, but please understand if I don't come to your rally. If it's any consolation, I'm not carrying signs for Pearce anymore, either. I'm probably done with Brandon Moss, too, who's already gotten plenty of time to prove he's little more than a decent fourth outfielder.