The Pirates, once a proud franchise that featured such names as Ralph Kiner, Willie Stargell, and Roberto Clemente, have lived in infamy the past decade for that tumultuous streak of consecutive losing seasons, the 18 being the longest such streak in the history of American professional sports. Countless attempts to rebuild have produced some Major League regulars, like Jason Bay, Freddy Sanchez, Ryan Doumit, Aramis Ramirez, and Jason Kendall, but no sustainable team success. In 2011, however, the script for what's normally baseball's worst team has been flipped dramatically.
But who exactly are these guys, and how are they doing it? The Pirates are only 23rd in MLB in runs scored, 24th in home runs, 22nd in batting average, but 8th in ERA, by a team that had the worst ERA of all 30 teams just a season ago at 5.00. The pitching has made all the difference in 2011, but the actual members of the pitching staff largely remain relative unknowns to the average baseball fan. Their ace's record is 6-9, but their second-worst starter's record is 11-7. The two men are Paul Maholm and Kevin Correia, respectively. The rest of the rotation, in which all five starters have respectable ERAs between 2.34 and 4.42, consists of Jeff Karstens, Charlie Morton, and James McDonald. Who, who, and who?
Karstens, a former Yankees farmhand, is finally finding his niche in the Pirates rotation at a no-longer-young age of 28 in his sixth Major League season. Correia, the 30-year-old elder statesman of the group, spent most of the last decade with the Giants before the Padres for the last two seasons. A lifetime mediocre starter, he could easily win 17 or 18 games this season. Maholm, 29, has seen much of the worst in his seven years in Pittsburgh. Much like the Pirates themselves, he has been around for quite a while, yet didn't attract hardly attention because of his mediocrity and irrelevance to winning. McDonald, 26, was acquired from the Dodgers last season as a reliever but was converted into a fine starter. And last but certainly not least is Morton, 27, whose miraculous turnaround has been crucial for the Pirates this season. Morton's ERA was over 7.00 in 17 starts last season, allowing almost 13 hits per nine innings. In his first 14 starts last year, he went at least six innings only six times.
It also doesn't hurt that the Pirates have one of the best bullpens around. Closer Joel Hanrahan's 1.62 ERA and 28 saves earned him a trip to the All-Star Game. Daniel McCutchen, Chris Resop, and Jose Veras, yet three more virtually unkowns, are the three most used relievers and all three have ERAs under 3.30. All three are in their late 20s but still have lots of time to become household names. And by the way this group has taken the National League by storm in 2011, watch out.
Ironically enough, the offensive stars are far more popular both in Pittsburgh and nationwide even though this season they haven't been as good as the pitchers. Center fielder Andrew McCutchen is a budding young star who was widely hailed as the All-Star Game's biggest roster snub. Outfielders Jose Tabata and Garrett Jones, although both slightly underperforming this season, have bright futures ahead of them. First baseman Lyle Overbay is the key veteran presence the Pirates were looking for in the offseason. But it's actually second baseman Neil Walker who's leading local sporting goods stores in jersey sales, according to a store owner in Pittsburgh. Another owner also remarked that it's an odd - but good -sight when Pirates stuff is far outselling Steelers stuff over the summer.
This is easily the best Pirates team in forever the 19 year stretch between 1992's NLCS-losing-heartbreaker. That team had some fan favorite slugging outfielder named Barry Bonds leading the team in many offensive categories. But ever since then, the Pirates have been a revolving door of misfitting veterans and underperforming prospects. They've gone through seven managers, three general managers, and two stadiums. Fans in the Steel City were often just forced to sit and watch the grass grow until August rolled around, and with it came Steelers training camp. As Cubs fans, we've all been there before, waiting for the Bears to finally take the field. Like this summer, for example. But for two decades in a row?! Any fans sticking around for that long should win a medal.
A quick glance at the Pirates' depth chart reveals a few things; free agents don't exactly gravitate to the Pirates, many of these guys are reclaimed late 20s rejects from other teams, and there are gaping holes on the left side of the infield. And not because the Pirates are playing a shift on a pull-hitting lefty.
After all the Pirates have put their fans through for all these years, the time is now to go for it all this season. The time is now to be a buyer at the trade deadline for the first time since, yes, 1992.
The Bucs need a third baseman to continue to compete with the Brewers, Cardinals, and Reds. Top prospect Pedro Alvarez, who was thought to be the starting third baseman for this season, was sent to the minors after a disappointing start and is now injured. The Pirates are reportedly interested in Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez, who began his career with Pittsburgh way back in the late 90s. The Pirates are probably still sore about giving him away, too, seeing as the trade that sent Kenny Lofton and Ramirez to the Cubs in 2003 returned not even a single remotely significant prospect. And although a reunion would be a great story and prompt happy Pirates fans to actually have a use for their old Ramirez jerseys sitting in a box in their garages, it's highly unlikely. Ramirez's contract situation is as such that a trade with exercise his expensive 2012 contract option, and that's even if the Cubs persuade him to waive his no-trade clause. But who is within the Pirates' reach?
Orioles third baseman Mark Reynolds, 27, is having yet another quiet season for a small market team but still has good power with 21 homers. His strikeout rate, although still quite high, has improved dramatically and he would make a good fit on this Pirates team that doesn't strike out very often at all. Reynolds' power would be welcome for this Pirates team that thought it would get much more production out of Jones (only nine homers) and third baseman Pedro Alvarez (two homers before being sent to minors and being injured).
Rockies third baseman Ty Wigginton, 33, doesn't possess the standout power that Reynolds does but still produces in his own right, with 13 home runs in 78 games this season. Wigginton's salary of $4 million is also much cheaper than Reynolds' $11 million. Wigginton is much more of a [Pirates manager] Clint Hurdle-type player. But the power upside with Reynolds is hard to ignore.
General Manager Neil Huntington can't really go wrong either way, but he can go wrong by acquiring neither, or not finding some other solution to the problem. The offense needs help to go up against the high-powered offenses the Reds, Cardinals, and Brewers have (ranked 5th, 6th, and 8th in MLB, respectively). The Pirates, although ranked at 25th, have something those other three teams don't, and according to the cliché, it should win them championships. But the pitching staff, shockingly superior to that of the other three teams, won't help in the playoffs unless they can get there first. And the Pirates need to make a move to get there.
You know, the near-decade old notion about beautiful PNC Park, widely hailed as one of the best in the league, was that with such a terrific ballpark, it's a real shame that the Pirates are never good. This year, they have that team. This team has caught so many people by surprise (they were in first place just yesterday) that they could go back to being bad just as quickly as they became good. After all these years, the Pirates front office owes it to their loyal fans that have stuck around for the last 20 painful years to go for it this year. Because if they don't, they might not get another chance.
Karstens, a former Yankees farmhand, is finally finding his niche in the Pirates rotation at a no-longer-young age of 28 in his sixth Major League season. Correia, the 30-year-old elder statesman of the group, spent most of the last decade with the Giants before the Padres for the last two seasons. A lifetime mediocre starter, he could easily win 17 or 18 games this season. Maholm, 29, has seen much of the worst in his seven years in Pittsburgh. Much like the Pirates themselves, he has been around for quite a while, yet didn't attract hardly attention because of his mediocrity and irrelevance to winning. McDonald, 26, was acquired from the Dodgers last season as a reliever but was converted into a fine starter. And last but certainly not least is Morton, 27, whose miraculous turnaround has been crucial for the Pirates this season. Morton's ERA was over 7.00 in 17 starts last season, allowing almost 13 hits per nine innings. In his first 14 starts last year, he went at least six innings only six times.
It also doesn't hurt that the Pirates have one of the best bullpens around. Closer Joel Hanrahan's 1.62 ERA and 28 saves earned him a trip to the All-Star Game. Daniel McCutchen, Chris Resop, and Jose Veras, yet three more virtually unkowns, are the three most used relievers and all three have ERAs under 3.30. All three are in their late 20s but still have lots of time to become household names. And by the way this group has taken the National League by storm in 2011, watch out.
This is easily the best Pirates team in
A quick glance at the Pirates' depth chart reveals a few things; free agents don't exactly gravitate to the Pirates, many of these guys are reclaimed late 20s rejects from other teams, and there are gaping holes on the left side of the infield. And not because the Pirates are playing a shift on a pull-hitting lefty.
After all the Pirates have put their fans through for all these years, the time is now to go for it all this season. The time is now to be a buyer at the trade deadline for the first time since, yes, 1992.
Orioles third baseman Mark Reynolds, 27, is having yet another quiet season for a small market team but still has good power with 21 homers. His strikeout rate, although still quite high, has improved dramatically and he would make a good fit on this Pirates team that doesn't strike out very often at all. Reynolds' power would be welcome for this Pirates team that thought it would get much more production out of Jones (only nine homers) and third baseman Pedro Alvarez (two homers before being sent to minors and being injured).
General Manager Neil Huntington can't really go wrong either way, but he can go wrong by acquiring neither, or not finding some other solution to the problem. The offense needs help to go up against the high-powered offenses the Reds, Cardinals, and Brewers have (ranked 5th, 6th, and 8th in MLB, respectively). The Pirates, although ranked at 25th, have something those other three teams don't, and according to the cliché, it should win them championships. But the pitching staff, shockingly superior to that of the other three teams, won't help in the playoffs unless they can get there first. And the Pirates need to make a move to get there.
You know, the near-decade old notion about beautiful PNC Park, widely hailed as one of the best in the league, was that with such a terrific ballpark, it's a real shame that the Pirates are never good. This year, they have that team. This team has caught so many people by surprise (they were in first place just yesterday) that they could go back to being bad just as quickly as they became good. After all these years, the Pirates front office owes it to their loyal fans that have stuck around for the last 20 painful years to go for it this year. Because if they don't, they might not get another chance.
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