Thursday, March 31, 2011

Pirates vs. Cubs Preview (Series 1)

The Pirates open the 2011 season on the road this year against their division rival Chicago Cubs. The Cubs come off a disappointing 75-87 campaign which saw them above only the Pirates in the NL Central. The Pirates actually had a great deal of success playing the Cubs last year, in fact, their 10- 5 record against the Cubs was the Pirates only winning record against NL Central opponents.

Cubs probable pitchers are Ryan Dempster, Carlos Zambrano, and newly acquired Matt Garza. These three have had mixed results in Spring, with Dempster being fantastic, Zambrano being average, and Garza being terrible.

Ryan Dempster (33), RHP

Dempster had another solid season last year, leading Cubs starters in wins (15), starts, and K/9, while posting a 3.85 ERA.

He had very little success against the Pirates last season, in fact he picked up the loss in all three of his starts. While striking Pirates out at a 10.6 per 9 clip last season he also gave up 19 hits in 17 innings.

His career stats tell a pretty similar story. He has faced the Pirates more than every team but the Houston Astros in his 13 year career, and has found little success. In 45 games (20 starts) he has a 5.63 ERA. No team has scored more runs, or interesting been hit by more pitches, against Dempster over the course of his career than the Pirates.

Dempster at home is pretty much what he is. His Wrigley numbers show a 3.82 ERA, and 8.2 SO/9, and a 33- 26 record in 56 starts.

Carlos Zambrano (29), RHP

Zambrano’s 2010 season will likely be remembered more for his outbursts, and his removal from the rotation. All of that takes away from what was actually an improvement over his previous year. Zambrano was able to increase his wins, decrease his ERA (in fact he had the best ERA amongst starters), and honestly post pretty similar numbers to his All Star season in 2008. How much of the improved numbers comes from his trip to the bullpen? Not much. He was actually better as a starter last season in many statistical categories and similar in the rest.

The Pirates actually had some success against him last year despite his decent numbers. Pirates hitters hit him for a .300 avg and an OPS of .867 in his 3 games (1 start) last season. He ended up 1 -1 with a 3.68 ERA. While he struck out a ridiculous 11 Buccos per 9 he also gave up 9 hits in 7.1 innings. His four walks gave him a SO/BB ratio of 2.25, not so great considering the high SO numbers. His 1.773 WHIP was highest among team whom he threw more than 5 innings against.

His career against the Pirates has been pretty average, has his 12-8 lifetime record indicates. He has a 4.02 lifetime ERA against the Pirates in 161.0 innings. Zambrano is another guy who pretty much is his average at home, which makes sense because that’s obviously where he does most of his pitching.

Matt Garza (27), RHP

Garza came to the Cubs via trade after three good, and consistent years in Tampa Bay. The Cubs gave up a good bit for Garza in RHP Chris Archer, OF Brandon Guyer, C Robinson Chirinos, SS Hak-Ju Lee, and OF Sam Fuld. Adding Garza gave the Cubs another 15 game winner from last season, and just a really solid, consistent pitcher.

Garza has never faced the Pirates, in addition to that he has never pitched at Wrigley Field.

Player

vs. Dempster

vs. Zambrano

Vs. Garza

Vs. Cubs

Pedro Alvarez

.500/.500/1.000

.333/.333/.667

NA

.208/.269/.292

John Bowker

.500/.556/1.375

.000/.000/.000

NA

.200/.222/.400

Ronny Cedeno

.500/.500/.600

.000/.000/.000

NA

.229/.250/.300

Matt Diaz

.000/.000/.000

NA

NA

.185/.214/.241

Ryan Doumit

.158/.238/.158

.444/.583/.611

NA

.259/.365/.432

Jason Jaramillo

.500/.500/.667

.000/.000/.000

NA

.229/.243/.314

Andrew McCutchen

.250/.357/.250

.714/.818/.1.143

NA

.337/.415/.489

Lyle Overbay

.000/.800/.000

.190/.261/.190

.250/.289/.333

.256/.343/.393

Steve Pearce

.500/.667/1.000

.200/.333/.200

NA

.325/.429/.375

Josh Rodriguez

NA

NA

NA

NA

Chris Snyder

.364/.364/.364

.000/.000/.000

NA

.247/.313/.506

Jose Tabata

.500/.667/1.500

.000/.000/.000

NA

.192/.300/.308

Neil Walker

.750/.750/1.000

.167/.167/.167

NA

.469/.469/.906

The Pirates probable starters are Kevin Correia, Paul Maholm, and Ross Ohlendorf. All three of these guys had struggles in Spring Training, although Ohlendorf’s ERA was close to his loss total of last season. Correia was probably the best, and due to McDonald’s injury is probably the reason for these three going right now.

Kevin Correia (30), RHP

The oldest member of the rotation will pick up the Opening Day start for the Buccos. Correia came to the Buccos via Free Agency this offseason after spending the past two years with the San Diego Padres. Correia looked to be rebounding last season, until the tragic death of his brother.

Correia has spent 8 seasons in the majors, all of them in the National League so he has faced the Cubs before, and having little success. He has faced them a total of 8 times in the course of his career, 4 of which were starts. In those appearances he has given up 27 hits in 24.0 innings while striking out 15, and walking 14. His 5.63 lifetime ERA against the Cubs looks great compared to his 8.49 ERA at Wrigley. He made two of his four starts at Wrigley, and 6 of his 8 appearances came there. Out of his 27 career hits given up to the Cubs 17 came at Wrigley in just 11.2 innings.

Paul Maholm (28), LHP

Paul Maholm comes off his second disappointing year in a row since he posted his career best (10+ starts) 3.71 ERA in 2008. Things were looking alright for Maholm, through his first 14 starts he had 4 wins and an ERA of 3.77, but opponents were hitting him fairly well. His overall line was .280/.341/.446. The turning point in his season was the next game @Texas where he only went 1 inning. This stretch of 14 games saw him post a 7.35 ERA, and a line of .340/.395/.500. This period also saw his BABIP increase from .307 to .357. Maholm did put up three strong starts, and one real clunker, together towards the end of the year, but overall he was bad. He didn’t go deep into games and he was very inconsistent from start to start. This offseason also included trade rumors, and a mini-outrage about him skipping voluntary mini-camps. Can Maholm put his bad season and all the talk behind him? We’ll just have to wait and see.

For how bad his season was, it was kind of odd against the Cubs last season. Somehow he managed a 3-1 record against the Cubs, but his ERA was 5.01 in those four starts. His SO/BB ratio of 2.50 was second only to his 3.75 against the Astros, but the Cubs hit .323/.356/.495 against Maholm. This is in line with his odd career numbers against the Cubs where he is 7-2, with a horrid 6.42 ERA.

Even worse then those career numbers though are his stats at Wrigley. He is 5-2, but his ERA is even worse than his career numbers, a bloated 7.26!

Ross Ohlendorf (28), RHP

Ohlendorf, fresh off his controversial arbitration win, looks to build on another solid season. He also looks to avoid the injury bug that has plagued him over the course of the last two seasons. Ohlendorf. Ohlendorf missed a month between April 7 and May 10 with a back injury, but was relatively healthy the rest of the way.

His 1-11 mark really doesn’t tell the whole story. He led the rotation in ERA, WHIP, H/9, and K/9 for guys with 15+ starts, his ERA was just about league average. He was the best Pirates starter over the course of the whole season.

Ross only had two starts against the Cubbies last year but he was good. He pitched 13 innings, gave up three runs, and kept his WHIP down to an impressive .923. Two of those three runs were scored in Wrigley, where he went 6 and gave up four of his seven hits against in his only career game at Wrigley.

Ohlendorf’s only other start against the Cubs came in 2009 at PNC where he went seven innings allowing only five baserunners in the Pirates 3-0 win against the Cubs.


Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Link Dump


Some good shit on the internets today. Enjoy.

The Pirates Can Make it to the World Series; plus, postseason predictions![Buc You!]

A Thank You Letter [The Brog]

Sully Predicts that Jameson Taillon is on the big league club for good in July [Sully Baseball]

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Yinz Luv 'Da Buccos...wait, for real?


Jim Shearer, the mastermind behind the web-series Yinz Luv ‘Da Guins and Yinz Luv ‘Da Stillers, is answering a question he’s been asked ever since he started his homemade, YouTube sports shows three years ago: Do yinz luv ‘da Buccos? The answer is “yes.” In his Opening Day: Yinz Luv ‘Da Buccos exhibit on display at Wildcard through the month of April, Shearer pays homage to the Pittsburgh Pirates of his youth (back when it was somewhat customary to end a season with more wins than losses) in a series of portraits of beloved players. Using the same art tools he wielded as a youngster, each image is created with colored pencils, crayons, magic markers, and watercolors.

To coincide with the Pirates’ first game of the season, Opening Day: Yinz Luv ‘Da Buccos will have its opening night celebration on Friday, April 1 from 8-10PM. The event is free and includes complimentary drinks and refreshments, along with a Pirates trivia contest and other surprises.

Old Friend Morgan Traded to the Poo Crew

The Brewers traded for former Pirate, and fan favorite Nyjer Morgan today. The CF lost his job after a poor, outburst filled season that saw him suspended.

The Brewers agreed to the trade after confirming Morgan was a highly overrated, slap hitting speedster with horrible skills on the basepaths, while also being a complete and utter douche canoe. The latter fact means he will fit in well with the Brewers organization, who have a well documented history of overrated douchiness.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Kevin Correia Gets Opening Day Nod

The Pittsburgh Pirates have announced that RHP Kevin Correia will pitch Opening Day against the Chicago Cubs. Correia has gotten knocked around quite a bit this Spring giving up 27 Hits in just 18.1 innings.

The Pirates also announced that Paul Maholm will start the next game in Chicago which puts him in line to start the home opener at PNC Park against the Colorado Rockies.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Pirates Cut Ten

Jen Langosch is reporting that the Pirates have cut ten players

Here are the cuts:
Andrew Lambo reassigned to Minor League camp
Brian Friday reassigned to Minor League camp
Chase d'Arnaud reassigned to Minor League camp
Aaron Thompson optioned to Double-A Altoona
Ramon Aguero optioned to Double-A Altoona
Jeff Locke optioned to Double-A Altoona
Tony Watson optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis
Gorkys Hernandez optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis
Alex Presley optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis
Daniel Moskos optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis

I guess the two biggest surprises, if you can call them that, are Presley and Thompson. There is nothing really absurd with any of these cuts. Some people were calling for Thompson because he has had some success but I really didn't see anything out of these guys that says they should be with the big club.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Video: Penn State Band Day: Early 1960s



Thanks to @russwbeck for the find!

Pirates vs. Twins 3/8/2011

Lineup:

1. Andrew McCutchen
2. Jose Tabata
3. Pedro Alvarez
4. Lyle Overbay
5. Neil Walker
6. Garrett Jones RF
7. Ronny Cedeno SS
8. Ryan Doumit
9. Brian Burres

Pitchers:

Jeff Locke
Sean Gallagher
Fernando Nieve
Chris Leroux
Daniel McCutchen

2011 Big Ten Tournament Predictions

click here for larger view

Monday, March 7, 2011

5 Things I Want To See End Before The Pirates Losing Streak Ends


5. Ryan Doumit in a Pirates uniform. There has to be a team out there (Houston?) who needs a shitty catcher.

4. All You Can Eat Seats. $35 get you an outfield bleacher seat and all the food you can eat*. Water is NOT included because, well, that's healthy. How about giving us all the beer you can drink seats. We will pack that place.
* denotes that you are fat

3. Promotions over players. The Pirates should be promoting players like McCutchen, Alvarez, Tabata and Walker. Instead we get Tee Shirt Fridays and Train concerts. Did you ever go to a game when there was a post game concert? Unless it's Pearl Jam or The Stones, I'll pass. It gets people in the seats but I would rather sit there with true fans.

2. White Cutch. Daniel McCutchen has the worst nickname in sports. How about D-Cutch instead?

1. Blogs with lists. Really, a list? Stupid.

Steelers Hire Carnell Lake



One of my all-time favorite Steelers is back in the black and gold. Carnell Lake has been hired as the teams new Defensive Backs Coach. Let's just all pretend that one season he played for Baltimore never happened.

Anthony Morelli Relased By Pittsburgh Power



Former Penn State quarterback Anthony Morelli has been cut by the Pittsburgh Power. I'm assuming after he was told this he immediately threw an interception. Morelli failed to win the backup QB position from Kevin McCabe.

The Power season starts this Friday.

Pirates vs. Rays 3/7/2011

Lineup:

1. Jose Tabata LF
2. Ronny Cedeno SS
3. Neil Walker 2B
4. Matt Diaz RF
5. Garrett Atkins 3B
6. Lyle Overbay 1B
7. Chris Snyder C
8. Gorkys Hernandez CF
9. Ross Ohlendorf Boss

Pitchers:

Ross Ohlendorf
Evan Meek
Jose Veras
Tyler Yates
Mike Crotta
Danny Moskos

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Pirates vs. Blue Jays 3/6/2011

Today's game will be broadcast live on FSN Pittsburgh (soon to be ROOT Sports), and at 11 pm tonight on MLB Network.

Lineup:

1. Corey Wimberly SS
2. Pedro Ciriaco 2B
3. Andrew McCutchen CF
4. Pedro Alvarez 3B
5. Matt Diaz LF
6. Steve Pearce RF
7. Josh Fields 1B
8. Dusty Brown C
9. James McDonald P


Pirates will not be using the Designated Hitter today. Lots of guys in that lineup that Pirates fans might not get to see again for a while. Also a great opportunity for Corey WImberly to show what he has. He is the type of guy who, with a good spring, will become a fan favorite and someone the blogs (including this guy) can gush over.

I'd expect the Pirates to be somewhat active on the basepaths today.

Pitchers:

James McDonald
Joel Hanrahan
Chris Resop
Aaron Thompson
Daniel McCutchen
Justin Wilson
Jeff Locke
and/or
Justin Thomas

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Dustin Jeffrey is a Boss

Well actually they all were tonight. The entire team played fantastic, but Jeffrey was the hero of the night with his 2 goals, including at overtime game winner. Staal had the other.

It's hard to look back and find too many games that the Pens worked harder than they did today, and they finally were rewarded for their hard work with a 3-2 overtime victory against Boston Saturday night.

Games don't get much more physical than this one. Huge hits dominated the highlight reels all night long, but none better than James Neal destroying Chara in the corner boards midway through the 1st. (It's probably on Youtube by now)

The unsung hero of the game has to be Ben Lovejoy, whose quick stick saved a goal that slipped past Fleury early in the 1st. Then he got down on one knee and showed off his Game 6 Scuderi impression to make a few more saves. If that one goes in, who knows if the Pens would have been able to recover at all.

Kris Letang strapped down his jersey tonight.

Best game I've seen from Rupp in a while. Not only are his fists on top of their game, but his skating was superb tonight. He is playing like he wants to keep his spot when Kunitz comes back.

Talk all you want about James Neal not scoring yet, but anyone who says that he has played poorly probably isn't watching very many games. Neal is not only grinding it out on the forecheck, but he is also distributing the puck quite a bit too. Once he gets a little more comfortable shooting than his production will go right back up.

Normally, I would say that the fact that the Pens gave up another late goal is a problem that needs to be addressed, but we're at the point in the season where 2 points is 2 points no matter which way you get em.

Speaking of which, the Flyers lost today.
The Pens have pulled within 2 points of the Flyers, but I wouldn't get too excited just yet. I am keeping track of the deficit through "potential points," meaning that every game the Flyers have on Pittsburgh is another 2 points they have the opportunity to get.

So right now the deficit is at 8. (2 + 6) If the Pens can get that number below 4 before they play the Flyers twice late in March, then those 2 games become "winner take all" for the division. (and avoiding Washington in the 1st round)

Of course, there is another way to avoid the Caps in the 1st round. Tampa has found themselves in a spot of bother recently, and the Caps have pulled within 1 point of them. I wouldn't be too upset with that first round matchup, with or without a certain center who wears number 87.

But we got 15 more before that. Flyers play a biggie tomorrow against the Rags on NBC prime time, and if they lose than the number drops to 6.

Let's Go Pens.

Pirates @ Phillies 3/5/2011, First Cuts of Spring

Today the Pirates announced that they have reassigned four players to minor league camp. The players are C Tony Sanchez, C Eric Fryer, LHP Donnie Veal, and RHP Cesar Valdez.

Catcher Tony Sanchez was not expected to make the team and only made one Grapefruit League appearance, which came yesterday as a DH against the Phillies.

Eric Fryer was a part of the Eric Hinske trade along with RHP Casey Erickson. Fryer is a pure athlete and his defense is said to be MLB level. His arm is plenty strong, and he has actually spend a substantial time in the outfield.

LHP Donnie Veal is still recovering from Tommy John Surgery and had little chance to make the team.

Cesar Valdez was the return for Zach Duke. He still has options remaining and hasn't been terribly impressive so he could use the time in the minors anyway.

None of these guys was expected to make the team and they need to work with their teammates. Both catchers were sent down as well because there just isn't enough work for them in Major League camp.

Lineup:

1. Andrew McCutchen CF
2. Jose Tabata LF
3. Pedro Alvarez 3B
4. Lyle Overbay 1B
5. Neil Walker 2B
6. Garrett Jones DH
7. Ryan Doumit C
8. John Bowker RF
9. Ronny Cedeno SS

Pitchers:

Paul Maholm
Jeff Karstens
Tony Watson
Sean Gallagher
Chris Leroux
Rudy Owens

Friday, March 4, 2011

Phillies @ Pirates 3/4/2011

LINEUPS:

1. Jose Tabata LF
2. Pedro Ciriaco SS
3. Neil Walker 2B
4. Lyle Overbay 1B
5. Matt Diaz DH
6. Garrett Jones RF
7. Andy Marte 3B
8. Chris Snyder C

Ronny Cedeno was scratched with a sore finger.

Pitchers:

Kevin Correia
Brian Burres
Fernando Nieve
Bryan Morris
Kyle McPherson
Daniel Moskos

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Pirates @ Blue Jays 3/3/2011

Lineup:

1. Andrew McCutchen CF
2. Steve Pearce 1B
3. Matt Diaz LF
4. Pedro Alvarez DH
5. Garrett Jones RF
6. Garrett Atkins 3B
7. Ronny Cedeno SS
8. Brian Friday 2B
9. Jason Jaramillo C

Pitchers:

Charlie Morton 3 innings
Brad Lincoln 2 innings
Tyler "floodgates" Yates 1 inning
Jeff Locke 1ish innings
Cesar Valdez 1ish innings

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Twins @ Pirates 3/2/2011

Lineup:
1. Jose Tabata LF
2. Corey Wimberly SS
3. Andrew McCutchen CF
4. Pedro Alvarez 3B
5. Neil Walker 2B
6. Lyle Overbay 1B
7. Steve Pearce DH
8. Ryan Doumit C
9. Andrew Lambo RF

Pitchers:
Ross Ohlendorf
Tony Watson
Joel Hanrahan
Jose Veras
Mike Crotta
Chris Leroux

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Pens: Jeffrey up, Injury update, Mustache Boy

update from practice today. -Dustin Jeffrey has been called up again. King Shero already said that he plans to have D.Jeff finish the season in PIT, and that Sunday's demotion was only a paper move for Clear Day.

-Both Paul Martin (upper body) and Tyler Kennedy (lower body) practiced today and are expected to be in the lineup tomorrow night. This probably explains why Vitale and Strait did not come back up with Jeffrey.

-Brent Johnson participated in practice today, but is listed as day-to-day. Theissen has not yet been called up, though, so all signs point to him being ok to back up Fleury tomorrow.

-Chris Kunitz is getting close to being ready to play, but not quite yet. Apparently injuries don't exempt you from the mustache shootout, though, as Kuni will be sporting a 'stache until the end of the regular season.

-Bad news regarding Nick Johnson and Eric Tangradi today, as it doesn't look like they will be seeing much ice time for the rest of the year. This is unrelated to their concussions, because even if they are healthy enough to play they did not make the WBS Clear Day roster and cannot go down for the playoff run.

-I don't really have the desire to think up my own Crosby timetable, so you can find your ridiculous rumors from somewhere else. As far as the real Crosby timetable, there is none yet.

Big game tomorrow.

Let's Go Pens

Yankees @ Pirates 3/1/2011

Today the Pirates take on the villainous, small market hating, New York Yankees at McKechnie Field. Game time is at 1:05.

Lineup:

1. Alex Presley CF
2. John Bowker LF
3. Matt Diaz RF
4. Garrett Jones DH
5. Garrett Atkins 1B
6. Andy Marte 3B
7. Chris Snyder C
8. Josh Rodriguez 2B
9. Pedro Ciriaco SS

That lineup is fringe-city. Half of that lineup could easily not make the team. Interesting note this marks Rodriguez's second start of the season, speedy Corey Wimberly has only started once, and it was as at 2B against the Manatees.

Pitchers:

James McDonald
Aaron Thompson
Daniel McCutchen
Chris Resop
Daniel Moskos
Ramon Aguero

Daniel McCutchen looks to rebound after his three ER performance last time out.

Some bad news out of Pirates camp as well as Joe Beimel was once again shutdown due to soreness in his forearm. He will be getting an MRI in the next few days, but two days of arm pain is never good. The Pirates have no other lefty relievers so this opens up a spot for a young guy like Danny Moskos, or Scott Olsen if he washes out as a starter.