Duke and Maholm and Three in the Loss Column?

That phrase was mentioned by someone, I think it was in a Post-Gazette Q&A, around the end of the 2005 season, the season in which Zach Duke and Paul Maholm made their terrific debuts and made Pirate fans giddy with excitement, at least for the top 2 spots in the rotation. A number of different variations of this phrase were offered, but this was the most memorable. Perhaps the best of its kind since "Burkett and Swift and pray for a snow drift." Anyway, the 2006 through 2008 seasons made the phrase quickly fade from memory, primarily due to Duke, though both pitchers struggled in '06, and at least in parts of '07.

However, here we are, 10 games into the 2009 season and the Pirates stand at 5-5. The starting pitchers for the 5 wins: Duke and Maholm. And for the five losses: the other 3 starters. Okay, that's hardly fair, since Ian Snell pitched pretty well last Sunday in Cincinnati and Ross Ohlendorf's first start, last week in St. Louis, was decent. I don't actually expect this trend to continue. I'm sure Duke and Maholm will lose games this year. Snell and Ohlendorf will win some games. And Jeff Karstens, well...he'll try really hard.

It's funny looking back on 2005, and how so many Pirate fans were filled with optimism for these two young starters. Little did we know then that we were to endure three more losing seasons, during which our two young phenoms struggled at times, to reach this point: A young Pirates team, led by two kind-of-young hurlers. I'm not saying history's repeating itself, it's just that I think where the Pirates are now is where we thought they were going to be in '06, fighting their way toward respectability behind some solid young starting pitching.