SB Nation - Jeff Karstens

Who Is Chris Jakubauskas?

Charlie — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:59:42 -0000

Seattle Mariners' Chris Jakubauskas pitches against the Minnesota Twins in the first inning of a game on Friday, May 8, 2009 in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

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This weekend I watched some video of new Pirate acquisition Chris Jakubauskas. What I saw confirmed was the stat sheet said--basically, he's a low-leverage reliever, and if you need a spot starter, you could do worse.

Jakubauskas' basic M.O. is that he works quickly, chucking fastball after fastball into the zone. His heater is probably a notch better than you'd expect from his stats--it comes in at 90-93 MPH, so he's not a pure soft-tosser. He's able to get it into the zone very reliably, which explains why he walks so few batters, but he doesn't command it particularly well and he sometimes leaves it up, which explains why he allowed 15 homers in 93 innings last year.

Jakubauskas' curveball is filthy--it comes in pretty hard, at 78-79 MPH, but still has a ton of break. He mostly uses it as a change of pace, generally keeping it low and out of the strike zone. He also uses it pretty infrequently. He has a changeup that he uses very rarely--Fangraphs says he threw 73% fastballs, 21% curves and 6% changes last year, and based on what I saw, that seems about right. That seemed like a ton of fastballs to me, both from watching him and looking at the number, so I unscientifically looked around at the stats for a bunch of starting pitchers, and it looks like most of them throw around 60% fastballs, or fewer.

Jakubauskas has had a weird career. He was a position player at the University of Oklahoma, but he suddenly lost his swing, and he ended up trying to pitch. That got him gigs for a few years in the Frontier League, which is the league the Washington Wild Things are in, before he signed with the Mariners in 2007. He didn't even learn a changeup until 2008, which is probably why he throws so few of them. He might have some modest degree of success as a starter if he threw more changeups, but my sense is that he probably doesn't throw them for a reason right now, and it's not very likely the change will ever be a good pitch for him. Pitchers talk about learning new tricks a lot more than they actually do learn them.

Jakubauskas had an excellent spring for Seattle last season, and it wouldn't surprise me if he got people excited by pitching well for his first month or so in the National League, simply because he can throw strikes and he has a good breaking pitch. But I don't think that will last. Still, his two-pitch mix is pretty good, and he could end up being useful out of the 'pen. He's basically a cheap replacement for Jeff Karstens, and while I realize this isn't saying much, I think he has a good chance of being better, too.

Weekend Mug (of tea)

morineko — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:19:24 -0000

You may want to put down your owls before reading this post....

As you've probably figured out, I'm the third and final weekend editor to make a debut post here on BCB. You may know me from my many comments and parenthetical remarks. My weekend mugs are tea, preferably lychee-flavored, to keep me awake while I finish this post full o' links.

The Arizona Fall League season is over and the Peoria Javelinas are its champion. They defeated the Phoenix Dirt Dogs 5-4 on Saturday. Jonathan Lucroy went 1 for 4 with a single and run scored and Zach Braddock struck out 3 in one inning of work. Mark Rogers, who did not appear in the game, is satisfied with his AFL experiences.

Extra Bases offered its readers a challenge: create your own team of free agents. Their contest is over, but it's still a good puzzle. Better yet, try to pick what sort of team Doug Melvin would create out of the pool of free agents.

Roy Halladay doesn't want to sign with Toronto. He probably doesn't want to sign with the Brewers, either. It looks like another year of largely irrelevant Halladay madness in the media.

This weekend's (sort of) notable transactional excitement:

Diamondbacks: Add Cole Gillespie (and others) to the 40-man roster.
Pirates: Claim pitcher Chris Jakubauskas on waivers, designate Jeff Karstens for assignment. No word if Dave Kerwin is behind the move.
Reds: Laynce Nix has elected free agency.
Royals: Pitchers Doug Waechter and Devon Lowery have refused assignment and become free agents.
The non-notable 40-man additions before the deadline are over at Baseball America's Prospect Blog.

It's been a slow weekend for Brewers news. If you're not inclined towards football, you can go read a book. My baseball reading for this week was Minnesotans in Baseball, a published version of the Minnesota SABR chapter's work on the Biography Project. There's a fairly large section in there about Paul Molitor. At least in nonfiction one doesn't need to worry about characters named for airplane parts.

Bucs Make Flurry of Roster Moves

Charlie — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:39:04 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Chris Jakubauskas throws against the Angels in the third inning of a game Wednesday, May 20, 2009, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

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The Pirates have cut Robinzon Diaz, Justin Thomas and Jeff Karstens from the 40-man roster, added Brad Lincoln, Gorkys Hernandez, Bryan Morris and Ramon Aguero, and claimed reliever Chris Jakubauskas from the Mariners.

Thomas and Karstens aren't huge surprises--Thomas was claimed from the M's only a couple weeks ago, and Karstens was arbitration-eligible--but I'm a surprised by Diaz being cut. He was a perfectly functional backup catcher for chunks of last year, and functional backup catchers are valuable. If one looks at the entirety of his performance record, though, it's not that impressive--he actually hit worse at AAA last year than he did in the majors. So I suppose there's a case to be made that he wouldn't continue to be productive with the Pirates if he stuck with them. If Diaz is lost and Ryan Doumit is traded, the Bucs will have to hunt around for another catcher. This could be a sign that the Pirates are taking Jeff Clement seriously as a catcher, although it also might have nothing to do with that at all.

Jakubauskas doesn't have much of a performance record and he's already 30, but he has a great curveball and he held his own in the American League last year, albeit with a really low strikeout rate, and the sort of flyball tendency that plays better in Safeco than anywhere else but San Diego.

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.

Charlie Morton, Ryan Doumit, Jeff Karstens Help Bucs Sweep Doubleheader

Charlie — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:06:50 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

2 months ago: Pittsburgh Pirates' Lastings Milledge, left, keeps Chicago Cubs shortstop Ryan Theriot from completing a double play during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Pirates' Steve Pearce was safe at first on a fielder's choice. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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All of a sudden it seems like the Pirates have decided that losing 100 games wouldn't be so good after all. The Bucs defeated the Cubs twice today on the strength of strong starting pitching from Charlie Morton in the afternoon and Jeff Karstens in the evening. Pat has a good account of Morton's start, which involved a complete-game shutout, four hits and eight strikeouts, and essentially it seems like Morton took a little more than usual off his fastball and thus got more of them over the plate. Morton finished the year very well, knocking almost an entire run off his ERA in his last three starts.

In Karstens' starts I'm always watching from between my fingers, hoping that all the long fly balls he gives up stay in the park. That's a pretty scary proposition in Wrigley, but tonight, at least, it worked. Donald Veal came on in relief of Karstens and walked two batters in a third of an inning. Fun fact: Did you know Veal has a 2.15 WHIP? 2.15!

Ryan Doumit, meanwhile, went nuts, with a single and two doubles, and a towering homer to right in his final at bat. His name wasn't quite Andy LaRoche territory, but it wasn't far off either.

* * *

I just had an article about the Pirates' streak of seventeen straight losing seasons published at Failure Magazine. Yes, it's an e-zine about failure.

It's The 47th Anniversary Of... Cubs vs. Pirates Doubleheader Preview, Wednesday 9/30, 1:05 & 7:05 CT

Al — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:30:18 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Write your own caption.

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A 47th anniversary? Of what? What's that all about?

This all started with an email exchange on a SABR mailing list to which I subscribe. (Yes, I got permission from both men to post their email here.) Josh Heit asked the list over this past weekend:

On Monday, the Mets and Nationals begin a series and the teams will have at least a combined 191 losses (Mets 89 going into Sunday, Nationals 102). Is this is a record? I have checked some obvious choices such as the 2003 Tigers and did not find a series that beat 191, although I was not working off of a comprehensive list.

To which John Pastier wrote the following definitive reply:

As a 1962 Mets fan, I am deeply shocked that Josh does not consider The Amazin's to be an obvious choice to be checked for this honor. This club was to losing what Rickey Henderson was to stealing or walking, what Barry Bonds was to splash hits, what Ichiro is to singles, what the Rockies are to thin air, what Joe Morgan is to baseball analysis, and what Pete Rose was to making outs. They are the undisputed gold standard of losing, and holding up a puny 191 combined losses before this juggernaut of defeat is like asking whether Babe Ruth ever hit more than 40 home runs.

The Mets and the Cubs played each other on Sept. 30, 1962, and at the close of business, they had combined for 223 losses, 120 of them by the Metropolitans. And they did this even though they were not allowed to complete their full schedule, falling two decisions short of the requisite 162.

I hope Pastier was being facetious about Joe Morgan (either that, or in an oblique way calling him a "loser"). Anyway, yes, the Sept. 30, 1962 game (which the Cubs won 5-3), holds the record for the game in which the two clubs began the day with the most combined losses (222; the Mets began the game with 119 defeats and the Cubs 103, which is the franchise record, tied in 1966). Another interesting note about that season-ending series at Wrigley Field 47 years ago: the first game of that series, a Friday afternoon game on September 28 also won by the Cubs 3-2, drew a paid "crowd" of 595 people. That number of people could fit comfortably in a couple of bleacher sections. It was one of nine games between 1959 and 1966 that drew paid attendance of less than 1000. How times change.

There will be a few more people than that in the seats during today's first game, a makeup of the postponement from August 16, but likely fewer than the estimated 15,000 who showed up last night.

Starting rotation note: Lou announced during last night's postgame news conference that Jeff Samardzija will start tomorrow vs. the Pirates, and Tom Gorzelanny on Friday vs. the Diamondbacks. (It was originally the other way around.)

Game One Starting Pitchers


Ted Lilly Cubs	vs.	Charlie Morton Pirates

12-8	W-L	4-9
3.02	ERA	5.01
143	SO	54
34	BB	37
22	HR	7
vs. Pit	--	vs. Cubs

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Ted Lilly	12-8	26	26	0	0	0	0	170.0	146	62	57	22	34	143	3.02	1.06

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Charlie Morton	4-9	17	17	0	0	0	0	88.0	98	49	49	7	37	54	5.01	1.53

Game Two Starting Pitchers


Carlos Zambrano Cubs	vs.	Jeff Karstens Pirates

9-6	W-L	3-5
3.69	ERA	5.45
146	SO	49
74	BB	44
10	HR	12
vs. Pit	--	vs. Cubs

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Carlos Zambrano	9-6	34	27	1	1	0	0	163.1	149	74	67	10	74	146	3.69	1.37

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Jeff Karstens	3-5	36	11	0	0	0	0	100.2	106	62	61	12	44	49	5.45	1.49

I'm going to try to say nice things about the Pirates' starters today, Charlie Morton and Jeff Karstens, but geez, those records are pretty bad. Neither one strikes out many hitters, and both ERA's are north of 5.00. The last time Charlie Morton faced the Cubs, they scored ten earned runs off him in one-plus innings on August 14 at Wrigley Field before John Russell took pity on him and got him out of the game. Jeff Karstens had one shining moment as a Pirate, in the first game he threw for them after being acquired from the Yankees. On August 1, 2008, he threw six shutout innings against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. His next two outings against the Cubs, not so much -- five earned runs in three innings in a start on August 25, 2008 and two earned runs in two innings in relief on September 9 of this year.

Ted Lilly will be trying to lower his ERA below 3.00 and finish the year with a sub-three ERA for the first time in his major league career -- a worthy goal. A win today would also be his 45th as a Cub, giving him an average of 15 wins a year over the first three years of his four-year deal, one of Jim Hendry's best free-agent signings. Ted is 1-1 vs. the Pirates this year with a 2.77 ERA and he threw better in the June 30 loss, when the Cubs got shut out by Ross Ohlendorf (who the Cubs won't face in this series), than in the September 9 victory at PNC Park. Ted is also 8-1, 1.60 in 12 starts at Wrigley Field this year and 8-3, 2.55 in 14 starts in day games.

Carlos Zambrano is 1-0, 2.19 in two starts vs. the Pirates this year; he will be trying to follow up his shutout of the Giants with another strong performance to end the year on an up note, and also to get his 10th win. That would make seven straight years in double figures for Z and it would be his 106th career victory. Of the current Pirates, no one has more than 14 career AB against Z, and only Brandon Moss has homered off him.

Today's first game is on WGN and FSN Pittsburgh. Today's second game is on CSN Chicago Plus (CLTV in Chicago, "check local listings" elsewhere). For other games today see the MLB.com Mediacenter.

MLB.com Gameday (game one)

MLB.com Gameday (game two)

Baseball-reference.com game preview (game one)

Baseball-reference.com game preview (game two)

SB Nation game preview (game one)

SB Nation game preview (game two)

Please visit our SB Nation Pirates site Bucs Dugout. They seem a little lonely over there.

There won't be a separate game preview thread for the second game; consider this a preview for both games (feel free to revisit this thread before the night game begins). Overflow comment threads will post today for game one at 2:15 and 3:15 pm CDT. The first pitch thread will post for game two at 7 pm CDT and overflows at 8:15 and 9:15 pm CDT.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Dodgers Defeated By... Donald Veal? Jeff Karstens? Brandon Moss?

Charlie — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:06:52 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

2 months ago: Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama talks with Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hiroki Kuroda (18) before throwing out a ceremonial first pitch before a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers in Pittsburgh Friday, Sept. 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

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That the Pirates would win at all today seemed very unlikely even before considering the circumstances. But not only did they beat the first-place Dodgers, a team that usually destroys them, they did it with a ragtag bunch of pitchers. Jeff Karstens started and pitched well, but had to be pulled after a few innings, since he's just coming back from the DL and hasn't started in a while. That left a bunch of questionable guys to pitch more than half the game. Against all odds, though, things turned out fine.

The Pirates had a 3-1 lead by then thanks to a two-RBI bloop single by Brandon Moss, and they put in Donald Veal. That drew a series of groans from me--no matter how short-handed the bullpen might be, Veal is the absolute last guy you'd want in any winnable game. But after a bunch of wild fastballs and a quick visit from Joe Kerrigan, Veal started using more of his curveball, which today was borderline-unhittable and just plain great. He ended up striking out three batters, walking none, and allowing no earned runs in two innings. Steven Jackson, Jesse Chavez and Matt Capps took it from there, and the Bucs eked out a 3-1 victory. The Bucs benefited from some poor defensive play by the Dodgers, and from Matt Kemp getting himself picked off with Veal about to make a big mess in the fourth, but overall, some of the Pirates' worst players ended up looking great in this one.

A couple of links:

Alvarez, Owens Minor Players of Year
These were incredibly predictable picks, but now they're official: the Bucs named Pedro Alvarez and Rudy Owens their minor league hitter and pitcher of the year, respectively.

Could the Pirates Lose 110 Games in 2010? - Bucs Dugout
I did a big post right before the game on whether the Pirates could lose 110 next year, so be sure to check that out.

Dodgers Look To Plunder Their Way To Postseason

Eric Stephen — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:00:25 -0000

More photos » by Don Wright - AP

The Pirates' record run of futility has led to some light crowds at PNC Park.

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The Dodgers handed one opponent their 100th loss on the season by beating the Nationals last night, but they won't get the opportunity to do the same to Pittsburgh. The Pirates are 56-95 heading into the four-game series at PNC Park starting tonight. The Dodgers are close to clinching both a playoff spot and the division, and are facing a team in a complete tailspin in these Pittsburgh Pirates:

The Pirates have lost six straight games, and 23 out of their last 26, the Pirates' worst streak since 1890. No other team has had a 26-game run that bad this season.
The Pirates have also lost 42 of their last 55 games. No other team has had a 55-game run that bad this season.
They have also lost 55 of their last 75 games. No other team has had a 75-game run that bad this season.
Since the All-Star break, the Pirates have been outscored by 126 runs. That is two runs per game!
The Pirates are more respectable at home, with a 37-40 record on the season, but they are even struggling at PNC Park too, losing 21 of their last 30 home games
If Rodney Dangerfield played the Pirates, he would get respect.

The Dodgers have won 46 of their last 60 against the Pirates, included 26-6 in their last 32 games at PNC Park.

Jon Garland has pitched well as a Dodger so far (2.33 ERA, 3.97 FIP, 4.16 x-FIP in four starts), but take a look at the opponents he has faced:

Opponent	Frequency	OPS+ (NL Rank)
Arizona	twice	90 (13th of 16)
Pittsburgh	once	89 (14th of 16)
San Francisco	once	82 (15th of 16)

Its not Garland's fault that he has had such an easy schedule. After all, all you can do is play the teams on your schedule. The schedule is determined by Major League Baseball, not by Bill Snyder. However, a look at Garland's Dodger schedule makes it seem like he's the new guy at the office, the owner's son with the corner office and no real responsibility. To Garland's credit, he has pitched six innings or longer in 20 of his last 21 starts, with a 3.32 ERA and 4.23 FIP during that span.

If you are looking for strikeouts, tonight might not be your night. There are 139 pitchers that have thrown at least 90 innings this season. Here are how tonight's starting pitchers stack up in the strikeout department:

Pitcher	K/9	NL Rank
Jon Garland	4.58	125th (of 139)
Jeff Karstens	4.42	133rd (of 139)

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette beat writer extraordinaire Dejan Kovacevic noted the Pirates are "hoping to get 4-5 innings out of Karstens. After that, [manager John Russell] will choose from Donnie Veal, Denny Bautista, Steven Jackson, Chris Bootcheck or Eric Hacker." Karstens hasn't started a game since June 5, but has a 5.83 ERA and 4.91 FIP in 26 relief appearances since then. Opposing batters are hitting .276/.351/.483 off Karstens this season, or in other words, the league is Hunter Pence against him.

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Today's scoreboard watching

4:05 pm
Braves (Javier Vazquez: 14-9, 2.77 FIP) at Nationals (John Lannan: 9-12, 4.83 FIP)

The Dodgers can clinch a playoff spot today with a win OR a loss by Atlanta

5:10 pm
Cardinals (Chris Carpenter: 16-4, 2.80 FIP) at Rockies (Aaron Cook: 10-6, 4.66 FIP)

The Dodgers' magic number to clinch the NL West is three. Aaron Cook returns from the disabled list to make his first start since August 21.

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Check out Xeifrank's simulation of today's game here.

Don't forget to RSVP for True Blue LA Day at Dodger Stadium, on the next-to-last day of the regular season, October 3 against the Rockies.

Get your guesses in for our today's "One, Two, Three Strikes, You're Out," here.

Game Time: 4:05pm

TV: Prime Ticket

Baseball Reference Preview

Furcal, Kemp Lead The Way To Dodger Victory

Eric Stephen — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 05:07:05 -0000

Rafael Furcal has been on fire in September, hitting .345/.415/.560 with 20 runs scored in 20 games (photo courtesy of Larry Goren / LA Dodgers)

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Matt Kemp set the spark early, and Rafael Furcal came through with the fireworks late to give the Dodgers a hard fought, 7-6 victory over the Nationals on Thursday night, as they lowered their magic number to clinch a playoff spot to one.

After Furcal opened the game with a single, Andre Ethier and Manny Ramirez decided to join in the fun with singles of their own. Matt Kemp followed with a three-run home run to give the Dodgers a 4-0 lead before the fans even had a chance to get comfortable in their seats. This was the third game all season the Dodgers opened a game with at least four straight hits:

Date	Opp	Streak	Dec
May 3	Padres	single, double, single, double	7-3 win
May 31	Cubs	five singles	8-2 win
Tonight	Nationals	single, single, single, home run	7-6 win

Despite the early lead, Vicente Padilla was shaky, giving up four runs in his five innings of work. Ronald Belisario was brought in with a 6-4 lead in the sixth inning, and he induced a ground ball to get out of the inning, but Ronnie Belliard's throw to first base was wild, allowing Cristian Guzman to score. The Nationals added another run to tie it, in a style eerily similar to the Nationals' comeback victory at Dodger Stadium on May 7. That night, the first game of the Manny Ramirez suspension, the Dodgers also had a big first inning lead with a Kemp home run, this time a 6-0 lead thanks to a Bison Slam, only to lose 11-9.

The frustration continued for the Dodgers in the seventh inning. Kemp tripled to deep left to lead off the inning, narrowly missing his second home run of the night. However, he was left stranded at third in a scene reminiscent of last night's bases loaded, nobody out failure in the ninth inning.

However, thanks to the torrid Furcal, the Dodgers took the lead in the eighth. Furcal's home run to right center field was his fourth hit of the night, good for his second four-hit game of the series. In Washington DC, Furcal had 10 hits in 14 at-bats with three doubles and a home run during the series. He got on base to start all three games of the series, and has done so in five of his last six games. The Dodgers are 28-8 when Furcal starts off the game on base this season. Furcal came into the series hitting .257/.325/.361, and leaves for Pittsburgh hitting .268/.334/.379, raising his OPS 28 points in three days.

George Sherrill pitched a scoreless eighth, but not without some trouble. After getting two outs, Sherrill walked Willie Harris, just the sixth left-hander walked by Sherrill all season. Harris stole second, and looked to score on Ian Desmond's single to right. However, Andre Ethier uncorked a great throw home to nail Harris and preserve the lead.

Jonathan Broxton pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 36th save, his 16th straight appearance without allowing a run.

Kemp's three-run home run in the first gave him 100 runs batted in on the season, joining Andre Ethier as the first pair of Dodger teammates to amass 100 RBI since Shawn Green and Gary Sheffield in 2001. If Kemp, who is hitting .306, can keep his batting average above .300 for the season, he will become the first Dodger ever to hit .300 with 25 home runs, 30 steals, and 100 RBI.

The Dodgers move on to Pittsburgh tomorrow for a four-game series. Jon Garland will face Jeff Karstens in the opener. I hope there's a BevMo near the team hotel.

Magic Numbers
To win NL West: 3 (Rockies lost to the Padres 5-4)
To clinch a playoff spot: 1 (over the Braves, who were off tonight. The Giants lost to the Cubs 3-2, so they can no longer pass the Dodgers)

WP - Ramon Troncoso (5-4): 1.1 IP, 2 walks, 1 strikeout

LP - Ron Villone (4-6): 0.2 IP, 1 hit, 1 run

Sv - Jonathan Broxton (36): 3 up, 3 down

Box Score

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.