Walker, Hanrahan, ‘n ‘at

The big news of the day was the injured elbow of Joel Hanrahan.  Hanrahan had been tabbed to be a late inning option for the Pirates going into 2010.  The injury, as described by the Post-Gazette, is a flexor pronator strain in the elbow, also known as golfers or throwers elbow.
According to Sports Injury Clinic:

Golfer elbow is a similar injury to tennis elbow only it affects the inside of the elbow instead. Golfer elbow is more common in throwers and golfers hence the 'nicknames'. Also known as flexor / pronator tendinopathy this elbow pain is seen in tennis players who use a lot of top spin on their forehand shots.

40 Man – Around The Corners

First
The options at 1st base are somewhat limited.  Steve Pearce had a chance last season to show he was capable of being an everyday MLB 1B, unfortunately his bat has yet to show above AAA.  His career BA is .237 in 378 PA’s with 8 HR’s. 

The next option is Jeff Clement, a converting catcher.  He has some experience, 28 games, playing 1B in the minors.  Hardly enough to consider him a seasoned player.  At the MLB level, he is a career .237 hitter with a limited sample size of 243 AB’s with 7 HR’s.

Comparing Pearce and Clement is like comparing two peas from the same pod.  Both have limited MLB at bats batting .237.  The HR numbers are very similar as well.  The only real difference?  Pearce has much more experience through the minors as a 1B.

Which leads me to who I am picking to start the season at 1B, not a shocker at all.  Garrett Jones and his .276 BA with 23 career home runs.  I want to emphasize start the season.

40 Man – For Starters

The first 4 are pretty much a given, the order is what is not a given.  The first 4 will be Maholm, Duke, Ohlendorf and Morton.  I’ll dig into what the order will be sometime in the next week.

For this post I am looking at who I see as the 5th starter.  The front runners are Hart and McCutchen.  Veal has an outside shot at the spot, but he really needs to be stretched out a bit in the minors as a starter after spending 2009 coming out of the pen as a rule 5 pickup.  Brad Lincoln also has a shot, but the Pirates seem dead set to keep him in AAA for at least the start of the season.  Think arbitration clock and you will know why.

Let me preface my prediction by saying one thing, don’t expect the loser to spend time in Indy. 

McCutchen is too much like Duke and Maholm by being a finesse pitcher, although from the other side of the rubber.  By being too much like Duke and Maholm, this actually lends more to a rotation spot than spending time in the bullpen.  Would you want the same type of  pitcher relieving a guy who just got pulled after 3 innings?

I am leaning towards McCutchen, more because he had 179 IP’s last year between AAA and Pittsburgh, that would allow him to go around 210 innings before the Pirates would start pulling back on the reins.  In other words, McCutchen could go the entire season as a starter and not reach an inning limit.

Hart had approximately 133 IP’s last season between minors and majors.  The Pirates would have to shut him down or limit him when he got around the 165 IP mark.

Hart has the pitches to really fit in the pen.  In the last 2 seasons, he has spent more time coming out of the pen than starting.  Over the two years, Hart has appeared in 89 games between the minors and majors.  Of those 89 only 32 were starts.  The Pirates do look at him as a starter, but he will either need to be stretched out this year, possibly in Indy, or be tabbed as a long reliever.  My bet is as a reliever and emergency starter.

My call for the 5th starter:  Daniel McCutchen

 

Walking:

Once again, for the 4th year,  I am walking in the MDA Stride and Ride event and  I am looking for sponsors.  If you can find it in you heart to donate a little, it does not have to be much as every dollar helps, it would be greatly appreciated.  Please sponsor me in this worthwhile cause.

You can donate online at my MDA page that can be found here:

https://www.joinmda.org/MyStrideRide/MyHomepage/tabid/121966/Participant/dharr18/Default.aspx

Thanks for reading, and thanks for your support.