The Big 6 (Part 1)

The next 6 games should determine a lot. Not just about the Pirates, but about the National League Central Division. The Cardinals are fighting with the Cubs for 1st place, and though it's only May, there are reasons to believe that this could be the outcome of the Central at the end of the season. On paper, the Cardinals hardly look impressive. On paper, the Cubs look awfully impressive. On paper, the Pirates look, at least up until the last week, like a badly balanced check book. All kinds of zeros in the wrong places, and huge numbers where there should be small ones (like, ERA's for instance).
Let's take a moment to compare the Pirates to the Cardinals and the Cubs.

Name.............IP.....W....L....H....BB....K....ERA

Z. Duke..........49.....2....2....61...18....16....4.04
I. Snell.........48.....2....2....54...21....30....4.53
P. Maholm........41.....2....3....44...15....27....4.79
T. Gorzelanny....35.....3....3....32...29....21....5.97
P. Dumatrait.....30.....1....1....31...15....22....3.86

A. Wainright.....58.....3....2....46...13....39....2.95
T. Wellemeyer....48.....3....1....41...16....42....3.56
B. Looper........47.....5....2....49...11....20....4.21
K. Lohse.........44.....3....2....49...15....18....4.87
J. Pineiro.......33.....2....2....35....9....14....4.05

C. Zambrano......62.....6....1....53...16....43....2.03
R. Dempster......49.....4....1....29...23....36....2.76
T. Lilly.........45.....3....4....42...16....39....5.24
J. Marquis.......34.....1....2....43...15....21....5.08
R. Hill..........20.....1....0....13...18....15....4.12

So what's the huge difference? Walks! Our pitchers either need to miss more bats or quit throwing the ball out of the zone. The Pirates have pitchers that can be successful in this division. This proves it. Especially considering Gorzelanny and Snell have both competed well below expectations. If one of them, most likely Snell, can develop into a legitimate ace, based on the starting pitching we should be able to at least contend for the division title. More to come...