A Few Promising Things

I am not trying to drink the Kool-Aid. I am not saying this team will contend.

What I am saying, even with a four game losing streak, there is still a few things to believe as promising.

Even with Maholm having a bad outing, he never should have started his last inning, Maholm still fought and had his team in a position to win when he was finally removed.

The night before, the Pirates battled back to tie the game at five before the bullpen imploded.

Snell pitched very well, being out dueled in Wednesdays game.

Duke has continued to shine.

The pitching staff still lead the NL in ERA at the end of April, a five pretty good teams in Pittsburgh Pirates history did the same. So there is some hope with the pitching staff.

There are plenty of reasons to think this staff has at least 3 legitimate pitchers at the top of the rotation.

Ohlendorf and Karstens, they have even looked good at time.  They are both filling their roles in the rotation the way they should as forth and fifth starters.  The way they have pitched, many teams would take that production from the 4 and 5 spots.

The Pirates offense has not been as outstanding the last 22 innings, but slumps can be expected on any team. 

The best part of this 4 game skid...The Pirates are still at .500 on the season.  As long as the team can get this skid under control, and soon, there is still plenty of reasons to think this team might break the streak.  The key to breaking the streak, the pitching must maintain what they are doing. 

The starting rotation needs to keep from pushing, thinking they need to go 7 or 8 innings scoreless.  The only way that mind set is avoided...the offense needs to step it up and soon.

Injuries:

Jaramillo has stepped in nicely to fill the mitt behind the plate after Doumit went down with a wrist injury.  He has hit better than expected and has provided a little better defense behind the dish.  While Doumit's bat is missed, his glove has been more than adequately replaced.

Bixler has provided solid play at short with Jack Wilson on the DL.  His bat has yet to fully translate to MLB levels, but his defense has been solid. 

The loss of McLouth for 6 games did not help the offense.  Morgan has continued to play well, when not getting picked off when on base. 

The problem for the Pirates right now, they can't afford any more key injuries.  The depth still is not where Huntington would like it to be.  Luckily, the injuries have happened at positions where adequate players were waiting in the wings. 

If the Pirates take a hit in the starting rotation, that could doom the team to that record breaking season of 17. 

Brother In Arms:

I am formally retiring the Lil and Big LaWhiff titles.  Both brothers are playing well.  Andy has recovered from one of the ugliest starts of a season I have ever seen a player have.  His glove has been solid and his bat has translated enough to show he is ready to be the everyday third baseman until a certain someone arrives.

Adam is being 2nd half Adam in the first half.  If he can keep this up the whole season, he has a good shot at 35 HR's this season.  A nice change for a lineup that hasn't had much pop since the early 90's.

 

Game Thread:

The game thread may be up late again today.  Too many things to do and I am still tweaking the new Netbook.

Random March Madness

Pitt was doing well enough in the tournament, I did not want to jinx them with my posting.  Call it my superstitious side, call it the baseball player in me reemerging.  Call it whatever you will, I had to step back from the keyboard for a couple days, and they won both.  The old rule, don't mess with a streak.

Unfortunately, I am back now.  On to the Madness...Random that is:

How's this for a 180:

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Jack Wilson have begun discussions for a contract extension.  Apparently Wilson has initiated the discussions.

BTW Take:

Did I miss something?  For the last few years Wilson has been making statements on how he would retire after his contract was up.  Now he is initiating discussions for an extension?  Personally, I would be a little annoyed with Wilson.  He has basically undermined trade discussions with his talk of retirement.  Now he wants to continue playing.  I can't blame the guy for wanting to stay in Pittsburgh, it is a great city to live in and I miss it dearly. 

Could there be more to it?

Might Wilson be looking at the team as actually being close in the next couple years?  Might he be showing faith in the direction Huntington is going?  Considering how well the rotation has done this spring.  Considering the stars of the Pirates future (McCutchen, Tabata, Alvarez) are very close.  Thinking Andy LaRoche is ready to show what he can do.  Might all those things add up to Wilson having faith in the direction?  Might he see an end to the humiliation, and end to the streak?

Maybe?  Or Jack is full of it and just wants another payday.  You decide.

 

WBC Should Be WBC:

I have an idea for the World Baseball Classic.  Change the name.  It should be the World Baseball Championship.  I want to see a true world champion determined.  No more of this country versus country crap.  Let's abbreviate it and take league champion versus league champion.  I want to see a true World Champion named.  MLB fans could cheer on their representative, Japanese League fans root for their representative.  I want to see who is the best of the best.  Make it a yearly event.  Make a true World Champion!

 

Rumor Update:

My last post was on a rumor of the Pirates hunting for someone for the rotation.  The next day the Ohman rumors started kicking up again.  Now they can be tied together.  If the Pirates can land Ohman, they will be trying to move Burnett to land a fifth starter off the waiver wire heap.  There are going to be quite a few casualties of the 25 man roster in coming days, the Pirates are scouring the wire for a target.

As a side note, I have heard Walkers name in some rumors surrounding the starting rotation, as trade bait not a position switch.

 

Wily Mo No Mo':

The Nationals released Wily Mo Pena.  Please Neal Huntington, look away from the shiny object like Wily Mo looks away from the ball on defense.

 

McCutchen, Tabata, Alvarez:

This spring, all three have shown they are nearly ready.  Look for Alvarez to finish the year in Indianapolis, he should fly through the system in quick order.  Tabata and McCutchen should be in Pittsburgh and soon. 

 

Left Field:

While Nyger Morgan is a fun and energetic guy, he does not belong on a MLB roster at this time.  It is a certainty that McCutchen will not be starting in left to start the season, more of a business of baseball thing than a baseball decision.  This leaves a few candidates for the starting job: Monroe, Salazar, Jones and Hinske.  A platoon may be in order for Monroe and Hinske.  But my money, if I were to bet, is still on Salazar.  Salazar can play better D than either Monroe or Hinske and is no slouch with the bat either.  Jones is the wildcard, I have liked what I have seen of him and he just seems to have that little something extra.  That something that it is hard to put a finger on.

 

Fifth Of Starter:

Ohlendorf has locked up the fourth starter sot in the rotation.  As mentioned earlier, the front office is not happy with the competition for the fifth starter spot and are looking to fill from outside the franchise. 

 

Jaramillo:

It was made official, Jaramillo was named backup to Doumit.  Diaz was sent to Indy.  I look at this more along the lines of wanting to get the better all around guy some more playing time.  Jaramillo is obviously better with a glove and arm, but Diaz has impressed with the bat.  If Doumit goes down for an extended period, look for Diaz to get called up and step into the starter role.

 

BTW:

It is great to be back writing again, I wish my superstition would have won Pitt the championship.  Anyhow, Jon with his beast of the east entry is leading a pitiful pack of prognosticators in the BTW Bracket Challenge.  It is not a pretty sight.

 

In my Sportsocrocy  Mock Celebrity Bracket, I still have a good chance of winning.  I need a win out of Michigan St and North Carolina today and it is nearly locked up.

Ohman, Jaramillo, Steroids

Ohman:

Jerry Crasnick is reporting on ESPN.com that the Pirates are one of three teams who have offered major league contracts to Will Ohman, the other two are the Padres and Marlins.  Ohman plans to continue discussions with three contending teams being the Mets, Dodgers and Phillies.

BTW Take:

While it is nice to know the Pirates have an offer on the table, all three contending teams could still use help in the pen.  One of them will step up and offer a deal to Ohman.  The only chance the Pirates actually have is if the money is so far off that Ohman looks at a deal with the Pirates as nothing more than a preamble to a trade to a contender in June.

 

Jaramillo:

A player happy to come to the Pittsburgh Pirates?  Yes there is such a player.  His name is Jason Jaramillo. 

BTW Take:

While on the surface one would wonder if Jaramillo is destined to pop a drug test, he actually has a lot of reasons to be happy.  He and John Russell have a good history.  He was trapped behind two solid catchers in Philly, much the same as where Ronny Paulino sits now, but now has a chance to make the majors.  He also knows quite a few Pirate players and coach Long.  He feels like he is coming home in a sense.

Jaramillo is a good defensive catcher, a nice alternative to the average at best defensive catcher in Doumit.  Don’t think Jaramillo will take away Doumit’s position, Doumit is a catcher because of his bat which is much better that Jaramillo. 

 

Steroids:

Just like anyone else, I am sick of hearing this story and how everyone wants to hear the other 103 players named.  What does it matter?  It has already been leaked that players were warned of the tests prior to 2003.  It is not hard to “study” for such tests.

If anyone is gullible enough to believe the 104 players who tested positive are the only players to have used?  I have some ocean front property here in Iowa I’d like to sell you.

People are calling for “clean” players to come forward and be “role models” by standing up for clean and fair play.  The name I hear most often is Jeter.  Has anyone considered why Jeter may not step up and do this?  Might he be viewed as a hypocrite the same way A-Rod is being viewed?  Might he be afraid his name will be mentioned in the future on a different report?

The 104 failures are not the only doping cheaters in the history of the game.  Please people, stop acting like this list is the be all end all list of cheaters.  It is merely a start of what is sure to be a long laundry line of dirty laundry to be aired in the coming years. 

There is a reason the 1990-2003 seasons are looked at as the “Steroid Era”. 

This is why I don’t write about steroids.  The more time that passes.  The more players get named.  The important thing is MLB does everything possible to keep the game clean.  Lord knows there are no players in the Hall that have cheated.  Right?  (Sarcasm alert in case you missed it)

 

Donate:

I will be walking in the MDA Stride and Ride locally. Please sponsor me in my Stride and Ride Walk for MDA at https://www.joinmda.org/srcoralvilleia09/dharr18. Every dollar is appreciated.

 

BTW Note:

My wife is having surgery on Tuesday.  I can not guarantee a post Tuesday night, but I have been working on my most challenging piece yet…An optimistic view of the Pirates 2009 season.  Hopefully it will be up soon.

I am also working a new 5 Questions piece that I hope to have up sometime in the next couple weeks.  I am getting the questions together and hope to have them sent out sometime this week.  Thanks to the surprise 5 Question target.