Watching Karstens Pitch = Torture

I know he's had some success in the Majors, even with the Pirates, but in today's game against the Reds, Jeff Karstens was almost unbearable to watch. Granted, many a Pirate has had a worse pitching line (5 innings, 6 hits, 5 runs, 4 walks, 1 strike out), but few have been as methodically and deliberately bad. I cringed with every pitch he threw, knowing that he had nothing that any Reds hitter couldn't at least put in play, if not drive hard. And, of course, his one strike out was of opposing pitcher Johnny Cueto, he of 4 career hits and an OPS that would make even Brandon Moss blush. I know that Karstens is better, or at least more capable, than previous number five starters the Bucs have sent out there; the names Morris, Van Benschoten and Vogelsong immediately come to mind. I was just hoping for more today, since this was only the Pirates' second televised game of the year here in Indiana. The other was also a loss, though far less dreary (Harang shutting out the Pirates 2-0, while Snell pitched pretty well).

Aside from Karstens, the Bucs' offense did next to nothing today, in the 5-0 loss. Though, to be fair, much of that had to do with Cueto, who pitched brilliantly. After getting roughed up by the Bucs a few weeks ago in Cincinnati (and in my presence), he held the Pirates to 4 singles and a walk in 8 innings, striking out 9. He mixed speeds and locations well, and the Pirate hitters were constantly off balance. Aside from not being able to adjust to Cueto's pitching, the only blatant blemish for the offense today was Nyjer Morgan breaking for second way too early and getting thrown out by an alert Cueto. This is the second time I've seen this happen in the two televised games I've watched this year, and I find it a little distressing. I've always been a Nyjer supporter, and I'm incredibly pleased with his performance this year, but getting picked off like that is very aggravating.

Oh, I suppose another area of concern for the offense is the play of Brian Bixler. Though he did have a clutch hit last weekend in San Diego, he still looks as over matched as he did last year, when he struggled with a .157 average and 36 strike outs in 108 at bats, while primarily filling in for Jack Wilson. Speaking of which, it's looking more and more like it's a bit too soon to anoint Bixler as Wilson's heir. Jack's no slugger, but he can put the ball in play and provide solid to spectacular defense. If his asking price for 2010 is low enough, I think the Bucs' management should seriously consider keeping him around another year.

Another bonus today (for me) was seeing Evan Meek pitch. I hadn't seen him yet this year and I'm not too sure I saw him at all last year. Meek pitched the 6th, 7th and 8th to help minimize the usage of the Bucs' pen in this fairly one-sided affair. And Meek looked pretty good out there, though compared to Karstens fumbling his way through 5 excruciating innings, Meek was a regular Greg Maddux. Also, Jesse Chavez saw some action in this one, pitching a scoreless ninth. Chavez has been a very pleasant surprise, out pitching most all Pirate relievers. He's probably getting closer to supplanting Tyler Yates as the top right handed set up man, which at this point, I fully support.

Up next is a quick little two game series against the Brewers. As everyone knows, the Pirates have lost an obscene number of consecutive games to the Brewers overall (plus an equally obscene number at Miller Park, though these 2 are in Pittsburgh). The match ups for this pair of games are Paul Maholm against Yovani Gallardo on Monday and Ian Snell versus Jeff Suppan on Tuesday. I have nothing too insightful to add here. Clearly the Pirates need some wins in general if they are to stay competitive early in the season here. Also, it would be a huge relief to the team, and us fans, to break this Brewer streak.