Kudos to Matt Morris for keeping his composure despite a juggernaut series of defensive implosions behind him. Without going into detail let me just say, we played a horrid game on the field Monday. End of story, let’s move on.
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I talked again to someone close to many of the players today and asked what the heck is going on – the guys look lost in space. If you remember, I was told a couple of weeks ago that the guys just needed some time to get used to everything.
Today the answer was short, sweet, and to the point – “[many players] are still uncomfortable.” That was all I could get out of them.
I have to guess from the things I’m hearing, so I’ll assume that not one starting position player feels secure right now. Bay, Wilson, McLouth, and Nady are well-talked-about trade targets, McLouth and Morgan are fighting for a position they know they won’t hold more than a year or two at best, Sanchez’s name has come up at times during the winter, LaRoche has to feel he’s also on the block, Bautista is being pushed by the fans and Neil Walker, and Doumit is getting more than his share of attention from Russell et al leaving Paulino to wonder if he’ll even have a position in 6 months.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago Huntington needed to clear the young prospects out of the dugout and send them to minor league camp so they weren’t exposed to the flow of negativity around the older players, and, surprisingly, he did that in quick order. That’s helped their cause, and also helped the established guys. One prospect told me last week that the “air is fresher” over on the other side of the complex.
I’m sure he’s right.
But don’t misunderstand the negativity. It isn’t about Russell and his staff, it isn’t about Coonelly and his front office, it isn’t about position battles, and it isn’t about the makeup of the club. Instead, it’s about the innate need to feel secure in life. And right now, there isn’t much to feel secure about if you are a starting position player on the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Look for this club to come out of the starting gate looking tired, beat, confused, and mistake-prone and then, hopefully, pull it together as the air of competition heats up their blood.
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It’s good to hear Sanchez is healthy enough to allow him to work his way back to playing every day. I’m sure he has a lot of questions in his own mind, but now that he can put it all behind him, perhaps in a week or two he’ll be ready to play.
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As I mentioned above, the rumor mill is picking up steam again as clubs try to fill last minute holes. I haven’t heard any specific Pirates rumors yet but they are certain to come out in the next few days after all the released players are picked through and discarded.
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Opponents have averaged more than one stolen base per game against us this spring. Look at these staggering caught stealing rates:
Doumit 7% in 78 innings and 15 attempts (1-15)
Paulino 25% in 58 innings and 8 attempts (2-8)
Chavez 13% in 42 innings and 8 attempts (1-8)
Hernandez 50% in 38 innings and 4 attempts (2-4)
Base runners are taking off at the rate of 1.7 per nine innings against Doumit. Now that’s high – more than two times our last four year rate which was over league average as it was. Remember now, Huntington’s Indians didn’t stress having a catcher who could throw out runners for years as Josh Bard (19% CS rate, .98 SBA per 9 career) was clearly inept at it. But if Doumit and his battery mates don’t start nailing some of these runners, they are in for a long season.
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We face the Twins a lot this week so unless they pull their main starters over to the minor league side to get their work, we might be in for a long week. Tuesday we face Slowley who handled the Reds last week and the Pirates will counter with Snell who at least doesn’t have to pitch on the road this time. Should be a good game.
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