The 2011 Pittsburgh Pirates are off to a better start than most people anticipated. They're 14-16 and have a 10-8 record on the road after only winning 17 road games all last year.
I said in a post in early April that this team was exciting. Not because necessarily because of their record, but because they were getting clutch moments from the young talent who are tasked with leading the team out of the dark ages. Players like Neil Walker, Andrew McCutchen, Jose Tabata and Pedro Alvarez were making big plays and providing timely hitting. Pirates fans were counting on them to overcome the horrible pitching the team was supposed to have.
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| Despite his unimpressive hitting, this pose is very impressive |
But then something weird happened. The team's pitching staff started doing well and these young hitters all seemed to slump at the same time. There is no way I would have believed you if you told me in March Kevin Correia would have an ERA below 4 in April, let alone 3.
So the pitching is keeping the Pirates competitive while the young lineup with boat loads of potential hold the team back? When did we land in Bizarro World?
The Pirates pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.72, which is 10th in the National League. It's certainly not great, but who it's a lot better than I ever thought it would be. Leading the way are Kevin Correia and Charlie Morton, two men who were lightning rods for jokes in the offseason. Correia has an ERA of 2.90 and Morton, although prone to walks, is at 3.52. Blog contributor Mike is sitting in an igloo by Lake Erie right now yelling, "I told you so!" to the world about Morton.
While the pitching has pleasantly surprised everyone, including Mike, the lineup has gone to hell.
- Jose Tabata started out great. He was batting .317 and getting on base at a .427 clip as of April 18. Today he is at .242 and .333, respectively. I have no idea what happened, but he's definitely striking out too often.
- Andrew McCutchen has struggled since the second week of the season. While he has five home runs, he's batting .222 and striking out almost 25 percent of his at bats.
- Neil Walker hasn't fallen off a cliff yet. He's batting .284 and has been consistent all season. But once again, he strikes out way too much. Are you seeing a pattern here? The Pirates strike out a lot.
- Pedro Alvarez is a mess. Not only does he tuck his ears into his hat, but seems to start every at bat with an 0-2 count. As a power hitter, his 34 strikeouts would be defensible if he was hitting for any kind of power, which he is not doing. Alvarez has five extra-base hits in 99 at bats and only one of them is a home run.
While they are sucking right now, I still think this core of position players have the potential to carry the Buccos to a winning season in the near future. I'm also terrified as to what will happen to the team this season when the pitching comes back to earth and the lineup doesn't wake up.
April gave us a taste of what this team is capable of if the pitching and hitting is clicking at the same time. Just look at that first road trip. The big question is can they ever do it again?
Hahahaha thanks for the dap. I could get used to this (especially if you ignore my Jeff Clement post.) I've been able to watch very little of him but from what I've seen on TV and some of his Pitch FX charts is that he's still learning how to control the crazy dip on his sinker. Looks like he isn't getting the low strike calls that he should be either(I smell a sabermetrics post in the future!), so I expect his peripheral numbers to start looking a little better soon.
ReplyDeleteStrikeouts are kind of a concern for me too, because the box scores always seem to say they strike out about 8 times total and walk maybe twice. I think you nailed it with McCutchen as well.
Correia's been a nice surprise, if getting a bit lucky. He's keeping his HRs down, but his BABIP is at .233 and xFIP at 4.35 so he's pitching a little over his head right now.
Good stuff Jeff. This gave me a bunch of idea for when I jump back into it in about 2-3 weeks.
Like Jeff Clement, that post has disappeared from my mind.
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