Pirates Win the First Series (Part 3)

After an awesome Pirates win today, it got me thinking about the lineup. Jack Wilson should be back soon, and though Ryan Doumit won't be back on the field for a month or so, Ronny Paulino still has to be considered an above average offensive catcher. We won't get into his defensive shortcomings (not today, at least). The offense should still be potent enough to keep the Bucs around the .500 mark. Hopefully, that scenario won't deter Neil Huntington & company from dealing Jason Bay and/or Xavier Nady for a top pitching prospect. Here's a detailed look at the Pirates' offense compared to the Cardinals and the Cubs.

Name...........AB....D....T....HR....RBI....BB....K....AVG....OPS

N.McLouth.....161...13...2....11....33.....21....21...304....1.007
F.Sanchez.....160....9...0.....1....21......6....22...250......603
X.Nady........153...14...0.....5....34.....14....28...320......894
J.Bay.........142....6...0.....8....17.....30....32...268......872
A.LaRoche.....132....5...0.....4....16.....19....40...197......624
J.Bautista....127....8...0.....4....17.....12....36...228......682
R.Doumit......103....8...0.....5....15......5....14...350......955
R.Paulino......67....4...0.....0....13......7....13...224......577

R.Ankiel......147....9...0.....7....21.....20....28...293......876
S.Schumaker...147....8...1.....2....13.....17....17...286......755
A.Pujols......143...10...0.....8....27.....41....15...357....1.097
T.Glaus.......140...14...0.....2....26.....26....28...264......786
Y.Molina......126....6...0.....2....14.....15.....5...302......770
R.Ludwick.....112...11...2.....8....25.....14....34...330....1.077
C.Izturis.....108....5...0.....0.....7.....13.....6...250......643
A.Kennedy.....106....3...1.....0....13......9....17...283......666

D.Lee.........168....11...1....10....29.....19....23...310......943
R.Theriot.....152.....7...1.....1....11.....20....17...329......816
K.Fukodome....148....11...2.....2....16.....27....26...324......892
A.Ramirez.....136....12...0.....6....26.....25....27...294......934
G.Soto........131....13...1.....7....29.....24....34...321....1.018
M.DeRosa......129.....7...0.....3....22.....22....30...287......810
R.Johnson.....121.....6...0.....1....17......9....19...256......674
A.Soriano.....113.....6...0.....6....18......7....20...257......767

I only took the top 8 players from each team based on at-bats. Notice that McLouth and Bay possess the Pirates top threats to reach via walk. Other than those two, the Pirates are a free swinging offense that has been lucky thus far. That luck will run out eventually, probably starting with Xavier Nady, if they don't start taking more pitches out of the strike zone. The Pirates, for far too long have coveted power hitters without an eye for the strike zone. Rich Aude, Brian Hunter, Freddy Garcia, Brant Brown, Chad Hermansen, Alex Ramirez, Jose Hernandez (twice), Carlos Rivera, J.J. Davis, Brad Eldred, I could go on forever. These guys each struck out around 3 times as often as they walked in the minor league career. Various Pirate GM's actually have labeled several of these guys as the future face of the organization at one time or another!

Actually, a superstar who struck out three times as often as they walk (like the guys I just mentioned) while still in the Minors comes along, on average, once every 5 years. In the whole major leagues. Yet our braintrust, if that's what you want to call it, thought we had one of those guys every year. Unfortunately, Dave Littlefield has left us with plenty of left overs. We'll call them Brad Corley's. Xavier Nady strikes me as more of a Brad Corley than an Albert Pujols. Speaking only about their betting eyes of course. Nady is a free swinger, just like the rest of the Pirates. Winning baseball takes patience. Especially for a Pirates fan - and especially from the Pirates offense.