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The Pirates -- 18-22, Tied for 3rd, 8.5 games behind the Cardinals in the NL Central -- are coming off back to back playoff appearances since back in the era when the presidential candidates were named Clinton & Bush (oh wait!) but they’re not off to a good start in 2015 (although with a +9 RS/RA) and are in the midst of a 6-12 month of May. Their pitching’s been good enough with their RA/G just a bit above that of the Mets. The main problem is due to their offensive ‘Stars’ not duplicating the recent lines on the back of their baseball cards.
Friday 7:05 — Gerrit Cole [5-2, 2.40, 1.15] vs Noah Syndergaard
Cole, the #1 overall pick out of UCLA in 2011 (after spurning the Yanx in an earlier draft — heh, heh), has been solid or better in each of his 8 starts this year
Saturday 4:05 — AJ Burnett [3-1, 1.38, 1.15] vs Matt Harvey
After contemplating retirement over the winter, the 38 y/o Burnett has been their best starter so far holding the opposition to 2 runs or less each time.
Sunday 1:35 — Francisco Liriano [1-4, 4.15, 1.11] vs Jonathan Niese
Lots of Ks and only 6 Hits Allowed/9 IP for the 31 y/o lefty Liriano. But he also walks too many (4.0/9) and is too erratic as evidenced by his previous start, a 2-inning outing vs Twins where he got tagged for 7 ER
C - Francisco Cervelli (an excitable boy they all say) [.286/.348/.352]
He’s the former Yanqui acquired in an off-season trade to replace the previous former Yanqui Russell Martin who FA’d it for Toronto. That he’s out-OPS-ing current Yanqui catcher Brian McCann, who Cervelli backed up last year, is just an added bonus. Backing up Cervelli this season is former Yanqui Chris Stewart.
I sense a theme here.
1B - The non-retention of Ike Davis cleared the way to move native NYer Pedro Alvarez across the diamond from 3B where he had been averaging like 98 errors/year (OK it was “only” in the mid-20s but that includes 25 in just 99 games last year!!). But, aside from the pitch he smacked into a boat docked on the Allegheny River behind the RF wall the other day, he’s one of those not hitting up to par [.220/.317/.431 - 7 HRs] and is still on pace for 20 errors on the “easy” side of the diamond.
2B - Switch-hitting local boy Neil Walker begins his 6th season as the (more or less) everyday 2B-man for the Buccos [.267/.333/.390].
Not a star but a good all-around player. Think Daniel Murphy but with an understanding of how baseball is played.
SS - Incumbent Jody Mercer wasn’t hitting -- and I mean REALLY wasn’t hitting [.171/.225/.198 over 111 ABs] -- so the much-discussed (including here) Korean FA from last winter, Jung Ho Kang, has taken over and is off to a hot start [.313/.378/.450 - 2 HRs].
They say he’s challenged on defense but the club is willing to live with that for the promise of offense. Boy, good thing we didn’t sign up for a SS like that!
3B - Josh Harrison has finally found a permanent home at the hot corner (another byproduct of the Alvarez move) after floating between five different IF & OF positions during his career to date. But his offense is down across the board [.255/.289/.407 - 4 HRs] as compared to his Top-10 MVP season in 2014
Biggest issue with him is that the Pittsburgh fans and announcers have to get a better nickname for him than the totally unimaginative ‘Jay-Hay’
LF - Sterling Marte [.297/.346/.531]
Not to be confused with Sterling Hayden, Roger Sterling, or Sterling Equities, this Sterling, 26, is part of a young & talented OF.
CF - Andrew McCutcheon [.238/.333/.399 - 5 HRs]
No doubt some are blaming the troubles of this 2013 MVP (and 3rd last year) on the Samson-like removal of his famous locks, but really his numbers are down due to a horrid April and he’s pretty much back up to speed lately. Again a bit like Murphy but with, you know, lots of talent.
RF - Gregory Polanco [.234/.297/.326]
This is the first full season for the highly touted, though still learning on the job, 23 y/o left-hand hitter.
Pen:
Mark Melancon in their 9th inning go-to guy (another one-time Yanqui) but isn’t your typical high-octane closer. He tends to run towards a low Ks / low walks approach and has already had two separate 3-run innings blotting his record this year.
Tony Watson & ex-Phillie Antonio Bastardo are their LHPs, plus they got a bunch of no-name RHPs out there who I’m not even going to pretend to know anything about.
They appear to be missing no major players due to injury (boy that must be nice!)
The most important news about the Pirates is that they appear to be leading the charge towards the matte finish batting helmets, a trend I'm noticing more and more in MLB and one that has been part of the Japanese leagues for a while. And while I'm not a uniform minutia maven like some here, I like this look and it's something I hope will replace the glossy/metallic look on NYM unis soon. Don't be the last ones to pick up on things, OK F & J?
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