Part two of the comparison will focus on the relievers. There are not many big names in the bullpens of the NL Central. Unless you count Kerry Wood and his 2003 season, that is. Let's see if we can make some sense of this.
Name............IP......W.......L.......H.......BB......K.......ERA
J. Grabow.......18......2.......1.......15......4.......16......1.50
D. Marte........20......2.......0.......16......5.......24......4.58
T. Yates........18......2.......0.......13......16......8.......3.00
F. Osoria.......27......2.......1.......41......6.......9.......5.60
M. Capps........18......0.......0.......14......3.......10......2.55
R. Franklin.....20......1.......1.......17......8.......9.......1.80
J. Isringhausen.17......1.......4.......20......8.......12......7.02
K. McClellan....19......0.......1.......18......5.......16......2.79
R. Flores.......10......1.......0........8......7.......9.......1.86
R. Villone......15......1.......1.......11......10......14......3.52
C. Marmol.......24......1.......0.......10......6.......32......1.13
M. Wuertz.......20......0.......0.......16......6.......11......3.60
B. Howry........19......0.......2.......28......2.......13......5.79
K. Wood.........19......2.......1.......11......3.......17......3.79
S. Marshall......9......0.......0.......8.......7.......5.......4.15
Several points to make. First, I have no doubt that Piniella will destroy Marmol's arm, if not by the end of this year, then definitely by the middle of next season. Kind of reminds me of the situation the Tigers were in a couple years ago with Zumaya. It's almost as if the temptation is too great for the manager. You've got a guy that throws way too hard to give anybody at the plate a chance, so you bring him in during every close game and sooner or later, he blows out his arm. As much as I hate the Cubs, Marmol is fun to watch, and I really don't want to see that happen to him. Here's to hoping Lou gets smart.
Second, notice the Pirate relievers' record. 8-2. Not bad. This obviously demonstrates the fact that Bucs have come back to win several games in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings. The IP's are a bit inflated due to all of those early season extra innings games. It's a shame the rotation didn't hold up its end in the beginning of the year, we could be in 2nd or 3rd place right now, well above .500.
Thirdly, the comparison of innings pitched leads me to believe the Pirates may just have the best rotation of all three of these teams. Before you laugh, hear me out. I honestly doubt the Cardinals can stay afloat with the talent and track records of the players they're going to have to count on to get to the trading deadline in a position of "buyer". The Cubs seem injury-prone, though they may get lucky, and they surely have the offense to get to the playoffs. As I already mentioned, the Pirate relievers have more innings pitched because of the crazy extra inning contests. Also, the inevitable Matt Morris effort added what amounts to be an extra 3 innings per every 5th day. Luckily, that's now out of the equation. Couple that with the addition of an effective (for a 5th starter) Phil Dumatrait and the hopeful rediscovery of form for Gorzo and Snell, and you have a solid staff, without the flash of a Zambrano or Wainright.
Contrary to my belief before the season started, I now wonder aloud that the Pirates may actually end up with an above average bullpen this year. How, I don't know. The stats don't lie, and compared to their counterparts, are actually quite favorable early in the year. And we finally have a manage that seems to know how to use John Grabow. Either that or he learned to pitch. I guess time will tell...
Showing posts with label Matt Morris. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matt Morris. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
5/11 Doubleheader
Today's rainout is being rescheduled as a doubleheader tomorrow. The Bucs will start Phil Dumatrait, the 26 year old waiver claim who has stepped in admirably for the not-so-admirable Matt Morris. Through two starts I think we've seen a good bit of why Dumatrait can be successful. He throws low 90's heat from the left side and can be deceptive. He has also been erratic at times, but seems capable of being the 5th starter.
In the second game the Bucs will give a spot-start to 28 year old former No. 1 pick John Van Benschoten. I remember Van Benschoten as the guy we picked instead of Casey Kotchman, Jeremy Bonderman or David Wright. I suppose it could be worse, the Cubs could have let Mark Prior slip to us.
This actually brings up an interesting point. As busy as Dr. Andrews has been with Pirate pitchers, does Mark Prior have us beat in terms of arm surgeries? I bet it's close.
Getting back to Van Benschoten, I say there's a decent chance he sticks with the team for a while this time. I've always liked the guy, but you can't argue with the track record shoulder surgeries have. Maybe he can be one of the few to overcome one. It's about time someone in this organization came back from arm trouble and does ok. Let's hope Johnny V is it.
Speaking of shoulder issues, not even the spectacular outing Tom Gorzelanny had the other night can change my mind about his shoulder. There's something wrong in there, and his 88 mph heat may have kept the Braves off-balance, but I don't think he's healthy. The back problem also raises my eyebrow. I say it's very possible he caused his back strain by overcompensation. Mechanical problems or not, he's not the same finger-flipping bobblehead we saw last year. Though he does still look an awful lot like Sloth. HEYYY YOUUU GUUUUUYS!!!!
In the second game the Bucs will give a spot-start to 28 year old former No. 1 pick John Van Benschoten. I remember Van Benschoten as the guy we picked instead of Casey Kotchman, Jeremy Bonderman or David Wright. I suppose it could be worse, the Cubs could have let Mark Prior slip to us.
This actually brings up an interesting point. As busy as Dr. Andrews has been with Pirate pitchers, does Mark Prior have us beat in terms of arm surgeries? I bet it's close.
Getting back to Van Benschoten, I say there's a decent chance he sticks with the team for a while this time. I've always liked the guy, but you can't argue with the track record shoulder surgeries have. Maybe he can be one of the few to overcome one. It's about time someone in this organization came back from arm trouble and does ok. Let's hope Johnny V is it.
Speaking of shoulder issues, not even the spectacular outing Tom Gorzelanny had the other night can change my mind about his shoulder. There's something wrong in there, and his 88 mph heat may have kept the Braves off-balance, but I don't think he's healthy. The back problem also raises my eyebrow. I say it's very possible he caused his back strain by overcompensation. Mechanical problems or not, he's not the same finger-flipping bobblehead we saw last year. Though he does still look an awful lot like Sloth. HEYYY YOUUU GUUUUUYS!!!!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
The Month that Was: April '08
Ahh April. It's the time of hope all across the country. The winter weather is starting to subside and all major league baseball teams are essentially tied for first place. As Pirates fans, we had no idea that our team had already peaked on the last day of March with the heroics of Xavier Nady. Now as I sit here looking at a 13-19 record, I am reminded of a month ago when hope was the word of the day when describing the 2008 version of our baseball club. Some of you may ask "Duckworth, why now? It's May 7th. Even you have paid your rent by now. Why so late on the inaugural monthly review?" Well, we didn't think to start a blog until yesterday and I had a day off which happened to fall on Cinco de Mayo and Buck Night so I said screw it and drank too much. You're lucky I do this at all.
By the first of April, we had worked ourselves up into frenzy about the upcoming baseball season. I have no idea why I continue to ignore all of the clues. There were no significant moves in the off-season, the new regime was preaching patience and rebuilding, and our new manager is our former 3rd base coach that was actually fired by the team at one point in time. Still, when they started talking "accountability" and acquiring power arms I couldn't help but take notice. Eventually, it became like every other season. I would talk about their chances and start playing the "what if" game. By the time I was sitting on the couch eagerly awaiting the first pitch on opening day I was certain that we had four 20 game winners and an unstoppable powerhouse lineup. Who cares? This is what opening day is all about. Would you have listened to a Rockies fan on April 1, 2007 if he/she said that the season will end in Denver that year? No. So why not us?
It didn't take long for reality to set in. I think it happened right around the 12th inning of the home opener when Evan Meek turned into the right-handed, no-bat Rick Ankiel. I watched in horror as my beloved Buccos dropped winnable games. Worst of all, I watched Mash Morris pitch the team out of games before Nate McLouth even had the chance to lead off.
That said I would be lying if I said that there was nothing to enjoy about April. Xavier Nady is playing like a man who plans to be in the pennant race this year… with or without the Pirates. Nate McLouth surpassed the expectations placed on him after a decent spring and has provided the Pirates with the most stable CF option since Kenny Lofton’s brief tenure. Have you notice we seem to win more games with Ryan Doumit behind the plate than Ronny Paulino? Not a coincidence. Even “Erratic Evan” Meek had some outings that weren’t abysmal.
That list makes me want to believe that our failure franchise may me turning the corner. Unfortunately, I only allot myself three instances of misguided optimism a season and we still have our inevitable dominant late May stretch and the draft with a new regime ahead of us so I don’t think I’ll be cashing in one of those chips right now. There are many holes on this team. Only two guys on the bench (Mientkiewicz and Paulino) have any right being in the majors, Gorzo seems destined for an appointment with Dr. Andrews, Ian Snell has been okay but nowhere close to expectations and Maholm, Dumatrait and Duke can range from capable to Morris-esque on any given night.
Keys to Improvement:
-Adam Laroche needs to leave his annual April swoon in April. I loved the homerun tonight and hopefully he can keep it up.
-Better starting pitching. Duke and Maholm have shown flashes this year but need to stop hitting their Josh Fogg self destruct switch so often.
-The return of Jack Wilson. Jack, if you ever read this, we’re sorry. Pirates’ fans have been torn on you for years. I even suggested at the beginning of the season that you should be traded if you have another decent year. I was wrong. We all were wrong. You don’t even have to hit when you come back. I guess we all just took the unbelievable glove work of #2 for granted.
-Freddy and Bautista turning it around. No one is worried about Freddy. The man can straight up hit and is extremely underrated on defense. As for Bautista, I hope he can bottle what he did against the Nationals. He can be great and I think he really works at his craft. Hopefully it will all come around for him.
-Fan cynicism. Hey, I’m as guilty as anyone. When I attended the Matt Morris’ swan song/Gorzo’s obscene bobblehead game I had a girl in front of me that continued to give me the finger and tell me to stop complaining about the state of our team. Granted, she was from Philadelphia and was wearing black nail polish which means she has no valid opinion but maybe she was right. I was kicking back, drinking beers and watching baseball with my homies. Life could be a hell of a lot worse.
By the first of April, we had worked ourselves up into frenzy about the upcoming baseball season. I have no idea why I continue to ignore all of the clues. There were no significant moves in the off-season, the new regime was preaching patience and rebuilding, and our new manager is our former 3rd base coach that was actually fired by the team at one point in time. Still, when they started talking "accountability" and acquiring power arms I couldn't help but take notice. Eventually, it became like every other season. I would talk about their chances and start playing the "what if" game. By the time I was sitting on the couch eagerly awaiting the first pitch on opening day I was certain that we had four 20 game winners and an unstoppable powerhouse lineup. Who cares? This is what opening day is all about. Would you have listened to a Rockies fan on April 1, 2007 if he/she said that the season will end in Denver that year? No. So why not us?
It didn't take long for reality to set in. I think it happened right around the 12th inning of the home opener when Evan Meek turned into the right-handed, no-bat Rick Ankiel. I watched in horror as my beloved Buccos dropped winnable games. Worst of all, I watched Mash Morris pitch the team out of games before Nate McLouth even had the chance to lead off.
That said I would be lying if I said that there was nothing to enjoy about April. Xavier Nady is playing like a man who plans to be in the pennant race this year… with or without the Pirates. Nate McLouth surpassed the expectations placed on him after a decent spring and has provided the Pirates with the most stable CF option since Kenny Lofton’s brief tenure. Have you notice we seem to win more games with Ryan Doumit behind the plate than Ronny Paulino? Not a coincidence. Even “Erratic Evan” Meek had some outings that weren’t abysmal.
That list makes me want to believe that our failure franchise may me turning the corner. Unfortunately, I only allot myself three instances of misguided optimism a season and we still have our inevitable dominant late May stretch and the draft with a new regime ahead of us so I don’t think I’ll be cashing in one of those chips right now. There are many holes on this team. Only two guys on the bench (Mientkiewicz and Paulino) have any right being in the majors, Gorzo seems destined for an appointment with Dr. Andrews, Ian Snell has been okay but nowhere close to expectations and Maholm, Dumatrait and Duke can range from capable to Morris-esque on any given night.
Keys to Improvement:
-Adam Laroche needs to leave his annual April swoon in April. I loved the homerun tonight and hopefully he can keep it up.
-Better starting pitching. Duke and Maholm have shown flashes this year but need to stop hitting their Josh Fogg self destruct switch so often.
-The return of Jack Wilson. Jack, if you ever read this, we’re sorry. Pirates’ fans have been torn on you for years. I even suggested at the beginning of the season that you should be traded if you have another decent year. I was wrong. We all were wrong. You don’t even have to hit when you come back. I guess we all just took the unbelievable glove work of #2 for granted.
-Freddy and Bautista turning it around. No one is worried about Freddy. The man can straight up hit and is extremely underrated on defense. As for Bautista, I hope he can bottle what he did against the Nationals. He can be great and I think he really works at his craft. Hopefully it will all come around for him.
-Fan cynicism. Hey, I’m as guilty as anyone. When I attended the Matt Morris’ swan song/Gorzo’s obscene bobblehead game I had a girl in front of me that continued to give me the finger and tell me to stop complaining about the state of our team. Granted, she was from Philadelphia and was wearing black nail polish which means she has no valid opinion but maybe she was right. I was kicking back, drinking beers and watching baseball with my homies. Life could be a hell of a lot worse.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Nate the Great?
After reading today's article in the Post Gazette about Nate McLouth, several things jumped out at me. First off, while Nate is having a heckuva season, I'm still a bit skeptical. I don't think McLouth's a 4th outfielder, but let's face the facts. We're Pirates fans, we've seen this before. Several times. The rise and fall of Adrian Brown, Tike Redman and, more recently Chris Duffy, makes it seem as though this was meant to happen. The only question should be whether we're dreaming and this is really the second half of the season (in which case, like Brown and Redman, we can assume McLouth hits the usual .200 come next spring) or when he will have the unavoidable hamstring-followed-by-a-shoulder injury, which will no doubt reduce McLouth to a machine that takes the first 2 strikes and then whiffs wildly at the third.
By the way, has anybody noticed how many players Dave Littlefield was just plain wrong about? Counting McLouth, I'd say roughly half of our roster contains players in capacities Mr. Littlefield thought were impossible. Of course, a large helping hand was thrust forth by Jim Tracy, too. Let's look at the difference in personnel here:
Ryan Doumit c - Right Field, anyone? First base?! He can't be a Major League catcher! No way!
Freddy Sanchez 2b - Remember when it was Freddy or Bobby Hill for pinch hits? Thank God Wigginton sucked so badly.
Chris Gomez ss - Ok, you're right. This one is typical Littlefield. Though I doubt Littlefield/Tracy would have ever tried anyone else at short in Jack's absence.
McLouth cf - See article above.
Ian Snell sp - I still remember when the light bulb came on. Futures Game, thanks!
Matt Morris released - With Littlefield, he'd still be here to bontribute his share of 30 losses for the year.
Zach Duke sp - Perfect example of Jim Colborn's excellent instincts. Maybe Zach will never be "The Duke", but atleast he has a slider again.
Phil Dumatrait sp - Finally getting a chance, despite not being one of our #1 picks. How did this happen?
Doug Mientkiewicz util - It takes some big ones to tell a 35-year old gold glove 1b he should try some new positions. He'd be platooning at first with Littlefield. On second thought, maybe he should still be.
Ronny Paulino bench - Thanks to Jeff Manto, we still haven't fixed that step-in-the-bucket stance of his. Atleast his confidence is back
John Van Benschoten rp - Relief pitcher? Why? He's a #1 pick! Ahh, I can hear it still.
Sean Burnett rp - See above.
Jack Wilson ss - "Well we had a similar situation a few years ago with Aramis Ramirez, where he was able to avoid the DL, he just kept pinch-hitting for a month or so, he ended up fine. Just ask the Cubs." - Probable Littlefield quote.
Tyler Yates rp - A guy that can throw 98? Why would Littlefield want him?
While this is all speculation of course, the above hints at where the future was heading. I like the new management, believe it or not, and do think we're heading in the right direction. Not in the "you take a right, then a left and it's right there - you can't miss it" sort of way. More of a hopeful kind of way.
By the way, has anybody noticed how many players Dave Littlefield was just plain wrong about? Counting McLouth, I'd say roughly half of our roster contains players in capacities Mr. Littlefield thought were impossible. Of course, a large helping hand was thrust forth by Jim Tracy, too. Let's look at the difference in personnel here:
Ryan Doumit c - Right Field, anyone? First base?! He can't be a Major League catcher! No way!
Freddy Sanchez 2b - Remember when it was Freddy or Bobby Hill for pinch hits? Thank God Wigginton sucked so badly.
Chris Gomez ss - Ok, you're right. This one is typical Littlefield. Though I doubt Littlefield/Tracy would have ever tried anyone else at short in Jack's absence.
McLouth cf - See article above.
Ian Snell sp - I still remember when the light bulb came on. Futures Game, thanks!
Matt Morris released - With Littlefield, he'd still be here to bontribute his share of 30 losses for the year.
Zach Duke sp - Perfect example of Jim Colborn's excellent instincts. Maybe Zach will never be "The Duke", but atleast he has a slider again.
Phil Dumatrait sp - Finally getting a chance, despite not being one of our #1 picks. How did this happen?
Doug Mientkiewicz util - It takes some big ones to tell a 35-year old gold glove 1b he should try some new positions. He'd be platooning at first with Littlefield. On second thought, maybe he should still be.
Ronny Paulino bench - Thanks to Jeff Manto, we still haven't fixed that step-in-the-bucket stance of his. Atleast his confidence is back
John Van Benschoten rp - Relief pitcher? Why? He's a #1 pick! Ahh, I can hear it still.
Sean Burnett rp - See above.
Jack Wilson ss - "Well we had a similar situation a few years ago with Aramis Ramirez, where he was able to avoid the DL, he just kept pinch-hitting for a month or so, he ended up fine. Just ask the Cubs." - Probable Littlefield quote.
Tyler Yates rp - A guy that can throw 98? Why would Littlefield want him?
While this is all speculation of course, the above hints at where the future was heading. I like the new management, believe it or not, and do think we're heading in the right direction. Not in the "you take a right, then a left and it's right there - you can't miss it" sort of way. More of a hopeful kind of way.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Intro to The White Flag
Well after months of contemplation (and 15+ years of the Pirates losing), we've decided to do it. We've finally had enough of bending over and taking the McClatchy and Nutting soft-serve. The name pretty much sums it up. The White Flag. We've now endured season after season of losing, bad decisions, bad personnel moves, bad...well just plain bad. Bad everything.
So rather than turning a new page, or giving the new management some time to prove themselves, we have decided it is time to "go big or go home". We're gonna let everything hang out and hope that if nothing else, we can spark some more interest in the lovable losing Pirates.
The White Flag has several meanings. In addition to the aforementioned losing streak, we would also like to commend the following pitchers for being the White Flag of the Pittsburgh Pirates for the last 15 years. Here are the nominations:
1993: Mark Petkovsek
1994: Blas Minor
1995: Jim Gott
1996: Steve Parris
1997: Dave Wainhouse
1998: Todd Van Poppel
1999: Jose Silva
2000: Jeff Wallace
2001: Omar Oliveras
2002: Ron Villone
2003: Brian Boehringer
2004: Ryan Vogelsong
2005: Ryan Vogelsong
2006: Victor Santos
2007: Tony Armas Jr.
Each one of these names should bring back a certain ire to any Pirates fan, along with the constant notion of "why?". At any rate, those 15 names represent a whole bunch of worthless as far as I'm concerned, and I'm happy to debate the early stages of 2008's White Flag (think Meek, Osoria, Morris).
So rather than turning a new page, or giving the new management some time to prove themselves, we have decided it is time to "go big or go home". We're gonna let everything hang out and hope that if nothing else, we can spark some more interest in the lovable losing Pirates.
The White Flag has several meanings. In addition to the aforementioned losing streak, we would also like to commend the following pitchers for being the White Flag of the Pittsburgh Pirates for the last 15 years. Here are the nominations:
1993: Mark Petkovsek
1994: Blas Minor
1995: Jim Gott
1996: Steve Parris
1997: Dave Wainhouse
1998: Todd Van Poppel
1999: Jose Silva
2000: Jeff Wallace
2001: Omar Oliveras
2002: Ron Villone
2003: Brian Boehringer
2004: Ryan Vogelsong
2005: Ryan Vogelsong
2006: Victor Santos
2007: Tony Armas Jr.
Each one of these names should bring back a certain ire to any Pirates fan, along with the constant notion of "why?". At any rate, those 15 names represent a whole bunch of worthless as far as I'm concerned, and I'm happy to debate the early stages of 2008's White Flag (think Meek, Osoria, Morris).
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