If only we had starting pitching and defense...

Two of the biggest factors in the Pirates' early season troubles are the absence of Jack Wilson and the presence of Matt Morris. In the three plus weeks since Wilson went down with a calf injury, his replacements at shortstop have committed ten errors. It usually takes Wilson about 4 or 5 months to reach that figure on his own. The Bucs desperately need him back, but he hasn't even begun a rehab assignment yet. The recent word is that the team hopes he returns for the series against the Giants on May 6. That might be optimistic.

In brighter news, the Pirates plan to recall pitcher John Van Benschoten from AAA on Sunday. The team has not yet said how he'll be used or what current player will be moved to clear a spot on the roster for him. One would have to assume that Van Benschoten will start since he is a starter and he is doing a fine job at that in Indianapolis. Therefore, especially after yet another horrendous performance tonight against the Phillies, Matt Morris would appear to be the odd man out. Tom Gorzelanny has not pitched well all year, so he could be a candidate to be sent down to the minors, but that seems unlikely, and potentially very unpopular with Pirate fans. The obstacle with Morris however, is his contract. He is guaranteed over ten million dollars this season, plus a one million dollar buyout for next year, so that would be a lot of money for the thrifty Pirates to eat. The post-Gazette website reported that a compromise is possible: Morris could retire, thus saving face by not being released, and receive a settlement of something less than the total money he is owed. That option would certainly be ideal for the Pirates, perhaps less so for Morris. However it goes down I think it's the right move for the Pirates. Even if Van Benschoten pitches like he did last year for Pittsburgh, which was very Morris-like, it would be more productive for the team in the long term to find out he's not the answer than to keep sending Morris, a player who has no future beyond this year with the Pirates, to the mound every five days. We'll see what happens.

The Pirates on TV: Friend or Foe?

I often complain about the lack of televised Pirate games. I always find someone to blame for there being usually no more than a dozen games in a given season that I can watch out here in California. I could blame the 'liberal media', or maybe the conservative corporations that own said media and make a hefty profit off of them. Sorry, wrong rant. Anyway, perhaps I should be thankful that more Pirates games are not televised.

Today I watched my third Pirates game of the year, all against the Cubs. All three games were won by the Cubs, by a combined score of 26 to 16. Not exactly a number that paints our pitching staff in a favorable light. I don't have the stats in front of me, but I'm pretty sure the Pirates have won fewer than 40 percent of their games that I've been fortunate (fortunate?) enough to watch. This also applies to games I've attended (though they did have an impressive come-from-behind win at San Francisco last year that I witnessed). The common baseball fan might be saying to themselves, "40%? Why golly, that sounds pretty good for the Pirates." Well, allow me to correct you: since I became a fan in 1988, the Pirates have won fewer than 40% of their games just once, 38.3% in 2001. In fact, their combined winning percentage since then is 46.8%. Who's laughing now, cynics?

Anyway, my point is that it is probably much easier on my heart and mind and soul if I just read about the Pirate's losses online. I'm less invested in each game that way. Each of these three games this year began with Nate McLouth reaching base by hit or walk. So I'm immediately excited and optimistic. Shortly after, each time, McLouth was out on the basepaths, once on a fielder's choice, the other two on pickoffs. I should take those first inning gaffes as a sign to lower my expectations for the rest of the game. But sadly I never do.

Nate McLouth is a Golden God!

Wow. Seriously, wow. Nate McLouth, bench player/spot starter/pinch runner the last 2 seasons is thriving as an everyday player for the Pirates this young season. He has at least one hit in every game thus far, leading the majors there. He's also tied for the National League lead in doubles and among the leaders in runs, RBIs and batting average. So it should come as no shock to anyone that this very night, our beloved center fielder hit a 3-run home run with two outs in the ninth against the Dodgers and their previously unscored upon closer Takashi Saito to give the Pirates a dramatic 6-4 victory. There was no television for this game where I live, but I was following along on mlb.com's gamecast (I converted, thanks Cub). One nice thing abouts mlb's gamecast is that they have video footage available pretty soon after most scoring action happens. So I got to watch McLouth's winning shot while listening to Vin Scully call it. That was fantastic. The win put the Pirates over .500. I know it's early, but I plan to get as much enjoyment as possible from the Pirate's winning record. I'll also get a little extra enjoyment tomorrow at work as the guy whose desk is next to mine just so happens to be a Dodgers fan. But I'll try not to gloat too much.

One week in

It's one week into the season and it's hard to tell how the Pirates look, at least compared to previous victory-deficient seasons. The offense has been better than a typical Bucs offense in April. The starting pitching has been a little weak though. With the exception of Gorzelanny on Monday, all the starters pitched have pitched well enough to keep the team in the game, but usually not anything to get excited about (Snell on Sunday, clearly the exception). Today however, Zach Duke has pitched quite well. He became the first Pirate of the season to pitch into the seventh inning. He allowed ten baserunners (8 hits, 1 walk, 1 hit-by-pitch), but only one run. Duke also had six strikeouts, which is a nice total for him. Unfortunately, the Pirate's offense has not yet shown up (it's currently 1-0 in the eighth, and the Pirates have 1 hit). The last time I posted during a game, the Pirates came from behind to win, so I'm hoping for the same thing tonight.

Other Bucs News:
Over the weekend, the Pirates signed closer Matt Capps to a two year deal, at an affordable rate even. So, that's three three key players the team has signed to multi-year contracts in the past few months. All three players are good enough to start on most teams and they're certainly players the Pirates need to win. And the contracts are very team/ownership friendly too. I'm impressed.

(error on Osoria; 2-0 Cubs. Boo.)

McCutchen Watch: Though he's hitting just over .200, future Gold Glover/All-Star/Hall of Famer (not too much pressure, right?) Andrew McCutchen already has two homeruns for the AAA team. This modest bit of success is encouraging since he got of to such a rough start last year. I hope he starts to put up some impressive numbers so the Pirates are forced to make a decision on him.

Well, back to the game for me.

(Bautista leads off eighth with single! That's encouraging.)

Pirates pull through in eventful game in Atlanta

The Pirates were able to pull off their second extra inning victory of this young season on Thursday in Atlanta, 4 to 3 over the Braves. Before the game started, poor Mike Hampton of Atlanta suffered yet another injury, this one a strained pectoral muscle that will send him to the Disabled List. Not that I wanted him to have a good start against Pittsburgh, but I certainly feel for the guy. He hasn't pitched since 2005 due to a variety of injuries and he was so good once upon a time that I can't help but pull for him. Anyway, the Pirates had their own injury concerns in this game as well. Jack Wilson left with a strained calf moments after he drove in the tying run in the seventh inning. His injury does not appear too serious and he could return this weekend in Florida. Freddy Sanchez also left the game early due to his lingering shoulder. Manager John Russell called it precautionary though. Hopefully he'll be back tomorrow.

But the most interesting part of the game came in the 10th when Bobby Cox brought in a lefty, Royce Ring, to face Adam LaRoche. Knowing is overused bullpen was running low on available arms, Cox moved his current pitcher, right-hander Chris Respo, to left field while Ring pitched to LaRoche. Ring struck LaRoche out and then Cox moved Respo back to the mound, with right-handed hitter Xavier Nady due up, and summoned a new left fielder from his bench. At that point, position players were more plentiful than pitchers so this would seem to be a smart move. It did backfire to some degree, as Nady drove home the eventual winning run off Respo. I still like this strategy and I was shocked to learn afterwards that this was the first time it's been used in nearly 18 years.

Tonight was also the return of Zach Duke. Well, in the first five innings Duke slightly resembled the phenom he was in 2005. In inning number six, he looked like last year's version. I'm really pulling for this guy, so I hope he can build on this start and return to being, at least, an effective major league starter.

Bucs win opener 12-11

It wasn't pretty, but the Pittsburgh Pirates were able to hang on and defeat the Atlanta Braves in 12 innings today. One of the team's strengths nearly cost them the game though. Of all the reasons for the Pirates to lose, I would have ranked late relief pretty far down the list. But that's moot, since they won. I know they won their first 3 last year, so I don't want to get too excited, but I'm very pleased with the team's hitting tonight. I don't expect 12 runs in a game to happen often, but I just hope they can keep the bats hot.