No offense.  Well, what did you expect with Doumit sitting?  Look at this gem:

True, 25 games is only the equivalent of 15% of a season.  But that’s the whole point – it IS  fifteen percent of a season.  And yes, I could find periods of other seasons where run production tanked.  But not 25 straight games at 3 runs per game in any year during the last three decades.

Ouch.

Pirates fans are used to watching rookie players trying to learn all the parks, learning the leagues batters and pitchers, and learning to play with new peers.  We’ve been watching development at the major league level for more than a decade. 

Take Wednesday’s game against the Cubs… everything is going at least ok until LaRoche is caught playing too deep with Johnson at the plate who lays down a bunt on him, and LaRoche can’t even get to the ball in time to make a throw.  It was a rookie mistake which eventually cost us a run.

DeRosa was the next batter and he hammered a line drive to left.  Moss picked the ball up and fired it… to third, not second to stop DeRosa from advancing.  Whether or not a throw from Moss to second would have prevented DeRosa from taking the bag isn’t relevant – it’s where you are taught to throw in a play like that.  He didn’t and it potentially cost us a run too.

This wasn’t the first time rookies cost us runs and it certainly won’t be the last.  As a Pirates fan I wouldn’t mind that so much if we were learning from our mistakes but Moss has already thrown to the wrong bag twice this year and LaRoche can be beat on a bunt any day he plays.

We’re not learning and because of it we’re losing more often than not.

Remember what Branch Rickey once said: luck is the residual of design.  With all the one-dimensional players we have, we can’t afford simple little errors like these which should have been long ironed out in the minors.  Or else, our field staff has to be smart enough to make adjustments during a game which ours clearly isn’t.

And man, did anyone see all the problems Moss has had the last few days covering the ball?  I noticed none of the media reports I saw mentioned three balls going off Moss’ glove yesterday – all they talked about was Wilson’s blunders which was far from the real problems of the day.  Today was no different – Moss had to make a basket catch one time because his route was so poor and, as mentioned above, a bad throwing decision might have cost a run in a tight game.

If Neal Huntington doesn’t take the time to develop these young men into ballplayers, then he’s no better than Dave Littlefield was when he brought up and burned out players like Jose Castillo.  Huntington’s wasting your time as a fan along with the player’s time.  These guys aren’t ready for the show and that’s more than obvious from even the basic fan’s eyes.

–

Have no fear, we’ll be playing the Giants shortly and our pitching staff will look like Cy Young candidates, our fielders look like Gold Glove candidates, and our rookies look like ten-year vaterans.

Maybe.

Well, maybe not.

Too bad the only homestand left this year seems to be all against contenders.

–

I told you the other day there were only three reasons Alvarez could be holding out, and one of those was a grievance.  Now it seems that’s the case.

The obvious problem to all this is that no matter who wins, Alvarez and the Pirates will always have a tainted relationship.  Like Benson had, and many, many others.

What bothered me about the draft signings was that the Pirates legal counsel, Larry Silverman, was on vacation during August and specifically the last week of the signing period, leaving Neal Huntington and, I assume, Frank Coonelly, handling the negotiations. 

True, vacation is a relative term anymore with cell phones, but still, that was quite odd for a team signing the most expensive draftee in franchise history and led me to believe something was amiss to begin with.  After the deadline passed and we heard the media report that it took a three-way conversation between Boras, the Pirates, and Alvarez to sign, I felt something was up.  That wasn’t typical reporting.

Lastly, Vandy’s coach Tim Corbin all of a sudden went into hiding, which had been unlike him. 

So I’m going to assume there’s a lot more to this than just $200,000 between the parties.  I’m guessing Alvarez didn’t agree to the deal verbally until after midnight, although his advisor (and notice that Boras was only advising, not Alvarez’s agent) agreed before midnight.

If so, the Pirates are going to lose.  And I’m guessing that’s probably what they wanted all along since Silverman was convieniently on vacation and rookies Huntington and Coonelly dicked around with Boras too long.

Notch another up for Bob Nutting – he saves $6M and did it so Boras looks like the bad guy.  Typical Nutting BS.  Somethings will never change in Pittsburgh.

–

Thanks for reading,

Peace.

Jake

–

When I saw the early lineup which had Moss playing right field, I knew we were in for a long night with all the balls in play off Snell headed that way.  And indeed, that’s where they went… right off his glove inning after inning after inning. 

Now you know why I’ve told you he’s fodder – you saw it first hand.  He’s notched over 575 pro games under his belt and still can’t run a route, but Pirates fans will put on their hope caps believing he’s still worth gold, sure as I’m writing this. 

And Hansen… OMG.  I already told you about his lack of command and temper and you finally got to see both in one game.  He’s needs a lot more grooming than any casual fan can possibly realize. 

Andy LaRoche has played so poor he was sitting on the pine Tuesday night for the second time in the last three games, and Bryan Morris was shut down with bicep problems in his shoulder.

You and your pro scouts rock Neal - why not deal more salary off the books for additional quanity?

–

Snell wasn’t repeating from the second inning on.  One of the reasons for that, I’m guessing, is because the Pirates have altered his pre-game warm up routines so he comes out hot instead of luke warm in the first inning.

Little good that has done.  On paper he seemed to have strung together a couple of decent outings, but in reality it was more the teams he faced, the new windup mechanics throwing off batters a tick until film got around on him, and his increased velocity.

Now I’m going to bet the extra pre-game workload put on Snell will cause his elbow to break because the young man has confidence in only one pitch anymore – his fastball, which he can’t command.  It’s only a matter of time now before he goes down, mark my words.

–

I loved Sweet Lou’s stall tactic walking toward the mound in the 6th, getting close to the dirt, stopping, flashing four fingers to his pitcher, and then walking slowly back to the dugout.

The man’s a genius.

–

How many passed balls has Doumit rung up in the last two weeks?  Sure, they are almost all called wild pitches because Doumit doesn’t attempt to block them, but nearly all were blockable pitches.  More men have advanced and later scored on Doumit the last two weeks (I’m including stolen bases as well) than have scored in Snell’s last two outings. 

Put him in right Neal-baby… get Chavez back under contract for 2009 and give him 50 games with Paulino back behind the dish full time.

Unless you’re finally going to deal Doumit this winter.

–

I saw one of the newspapers report this week that the remainder of the season was irrelevant baseball.  Obviously someone hasn’t been awake all year.

–

To everyone that has emailed, I’m sorry again for not responding.  My wife and I really appreciate your fellowship.  Here’s a few answers to some of your most asked questions:

– I have no intention of blogging anywhere in the near future;

– Baseball Interactive Media hasn’t told me what they plan on doing with the blog;

– Wednesday’s post is my last;

– I saw Bill’s post about keeping the blog going, and I think that’s a great idea;

– no, I’m not going to spill my guts as I walk out the door.

–

Looks like hurricane Gustov is going to make landfall a week before the Bucs hit Houston.  I wonder if we’ll be playing in the Astrodome or if it will be being used as a shelter?  MLB needs to be thinking outside the box about a possible replacement site the way he’s bearing down on the Gulf and as powerful as he’ll be at landfall.

I was probably one of the few who was sincerely sorry for John Russell Sunday in Milwaukee when he went after Bob Davidson.  It wasn’t the ball off the plate being called a strike that caused LaRoche and Russell to lose it, it’s the thin skin they have. 

I feel PITY for Russell – he sucked up Neal Huntington’s phantom hiring storylines and is now seeing firsthand it ‘aint working like it was drawn up between them last winter.

Not even close.

Russell has a third division club ( <== notice that new baseball term that applies to the Pirates) with so much junk lying around even he can’t sort through it.  Nor does he even seem to want to try anymore. 

Accountability?  That went out the door months ago.

Afterall, if Neal Huntington isn’t going to be held accountable for the truckloads of vermin he’s bringing in weekly, why should someone like Russell even worry about it all?

–

How do I even begin to write up the game?  How about this: the first six balls in play resulted in two hits, one of which was a sure out but went off Andy LaRoche’s glove (E5 any park in America but PNC), a grounder to third that LaRoche bobbled but was lucky enough the ball stayed close to be able to get the out, a fly ball off the center field wall that was so badly misplayed by McLouth that Jim Edmonds – who sat watching the ball out of the box thinking it was a home run – was able to get a standup triple on, and a fly ball to right with a man at third that Michaels heaved a throw home so far up the third base line that had Edmonds actually broke he would have been safe by default.

The seventh ball in play was a sac fly scoring Edmonds putting the Cubs up 1-0.

Pitiful, pitiful baseball.

Ok, so even if Soriano would have been called out stealing third (he was out but called safe), Aramis Ramirez’s home run would have plated three anyway and that would have been enough to hold off the wonderlust Bucs.

What is it with ex-Bucs tearing our hearts out nearly every game in August?

Karstens looked as bad as I told you he would when we picked him up, although the fans bought into his ‘miraculous’ first two outings which the opposition didn’t have film on him.  Now he’s just another Matt Morris – another Josh Fogg – another Zach Duke – another Masumi Kuwata.

Jason Davis followed Karstens and at least he had an excuse getting bombed for five runs – he had already thrown 94 pitches the last five days plus bullpens.  He heaved another bullpen and 41 more pitches and walked away after two innings with an 18.00 ERA last three (135 pitches, 12 ER, 15 H, 6 IP last 6 days all in relief).

Talk about toasted Melba.  Don’t look for him to be worth a can of corn the rest of the year (or next year for that matter).

Then Bautista pitched who had been used as a setup guy but now had to throw two innings in a 10-3 blowout.  The Cubs let him drift by unscathed.

But when Burnett hit the mound, it was if the pinball machine was plugged back in again – singles here, doubles there, a tapper there, throw in a walk for good measure, and the Cubs racked up two more runs (last three outings for Burnett against good baseball teams =  3.2 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 ER, 9.84 ERA, 74 P).

I have to admit it was nice watching McLouth back out there running poor routes again sapped of power from fatigue, nice to see Doumit trying to catch the ball and trying to throw out base stealers (he did on one but didn’t get the call), and nice watching Andy LaRoche’s gold glove head toward the platinum stage. 

Yes sir, watching my favorite team “evaluating players” in August is the thrill of the year for me. 

–

The Pirates finally emailed back what we already knew – Byran Morris was shut down.  Duh.  The only thing they added was that they aren’t too concerned about the discomfort he’s having.

Of course they aren’t.  I mean, what exactly do we expect them to say?

–

I sent a note off to some buds at Vanderbilt to see if there has been a Pedro Alvarez sighting and they say no – he’s not on campus that they know of.  Obviously that doesn’t mean anything – he could be taking classes over the Internet.  And yes, I remember reading that he graduated but his name never came up in the graduation rolls I was told. 

I also asked around to see if Alvarez has been spotted with any of the Independent League teams and that also came up empty. 

So the young man is either unhealthy and refusing to report (unlikely), attending his final classes to graduate as I’ve been led to believe and I assume with the Pirates permission (most probable), or there is a grievance that’s been filed (unlikely). 

It’s ridiculous this young man hangs in limbo, and why the Pirates refuse to come clean with the reason.

–

Since everyone is asking, the feature article will be posted sometime Wednesday.

Are YOU kidding me?  The Brewers went off at -370 favorites offshore at betED and the Mirage in Vegas had it at -350.  Ole’ Jake had you playing the longshot and if you did, you lost.

By this much  |-|

Right, losing money is losing money.  But if you popped $100 on that game, it was the best longshot bet of the year for the Pirates and OHHHHHHH we came SOOOOOO close.

I had assumed Sanchez would start (well, I knew better than to count on him), and I’ll be dang if I scripted the game to go as it did, but I figured we’d get to Sabathia because we don’t bite on loose guns who throw in the dirt so often.  We just didn’t have enough clutch to do anything to him.

Ughh..  I hate losing longshots I felt like we should win in.  We had a lot of opportunities, but so did the Brewers.  No sense rehashing the game. 

But damn Beasley, you need more balls sending runners with the limited punch we have.

–

God Bless Paul Maholm.  Did I hear the broadcast right – that’s now 20 consecutive starts of 6 or more innings from a guy more than one pro scout told me was fodder.  Dude, he can be my #4/#5 anyday.  You take him out of the ace matchups he’s been in the last two years and he’s a 15 game winner, year-in, year-out. 

You got it – it’s all because Maholm hasn’t been ‘TWEAKED’ by Jeff Andrews. 

If the Pirates are smart they deal him for a two-plus impact young guns package this winter because he’s only going to get better as he gets smarter.  No sense keeping him around a rebuilding club paying him a ton of money down the road for a few measley wins eating innings.

Deal him.

–

The Pirates are now 2-8 their last ten while being outscored 50-27.  On Monday they meet the Cubs who are now 30 games over .500 and rolling along like they own the world. 

We don’t have a prayer in the world in this series but you know what, that’s usually when a team like the Cubs fold up.  So let’s hope for the best.

And enter stage left, Mark Cuban.  Word on the street is that he has the inside track to get the Cubs with Zell if for no other reason than the price is right.  Damn his billions – I wish it were millions he had instead.  Now if he would lose out on the Cubs, I wonder if he and Chuck Greenberg might get together and offer Nutting enough money to just walk away? 

Start saying your prayers because some around the Pirates suggest there might be a few partners willing to sell this winter.  Perhaps Nutting could be persuaded to join them? 

–

John Russell tossed.  Hilarious.  When your club is a billion games out of it and one of your only power hitters starts to complain about balls and strikes to the home plate umpire, what can you do except dig up a reason to whine to him.  Russell did and was able to exit to the charter before everyone else.

But he was right – the Davidson crew has been calling bizarre strike zones all year.  It wasn’t just this series.  But unfortunately as I mentioned earlier this year, it’s been a fair zone to both sides no matter which of them was behind the dish.  It was Sunday as well.  LaRoche just needs to get the bat off his shoulders more often – he’s not with the Braves anymore where he’d get that call more often than not.

–

Gosh it was nice to see Andy LaRoche sit.  Yeah!  The guy’s got some upside – that’s plain to see.  But it’s a long way from coming and may never come to pass.  I think his bro needs to be gone before it happens though.

And Moss – my gosh, what a putrid waste of time this cat is.  He has about as much upside as Steve Pearce does.  Zeeee ROW.  Waste of time.  Move on. 

If it were me, Moss would be in 3A trying to correct bad habits and learning pitch recognition.

–

No excuse for Andrew McCutchen to not be playing right field.  None.  Let’s face it, if the Bucs send him down for 31 days next year then bring him back, they still get their six years but what does it matter – they won’t be able to afford him after 4.5 years anyway. 

Ughh.. bring the kid up in front of his home crowd Neal.  Or, are you playing the Nutting azz-kisser holding him out until 2009 to help sell tickets for ole’ Bobbie boy?  Never mind, I believe we know the answer to that one.  (right… he’s not ready.  *wink*)

Baseball in Pittsburgh with a Nutting in control sucks… really sucks. 

–

Bryan Morris was put on the DL with his sore shoulder, essentially shutting him down for the rest of the year.  Mercer came back Sunday.  Hat tip to Hickory Mark.

–

My email runneth over.  Sorry for not responding to anyone about signing off but I haven’t been in the mood to, to be quite honest.  Just know the family has been reading your prayers and thoughts and I really, really appreicate everyone writing.  This isn’t going to be a fun week, to say the least.

True MLE?  Naw, but still, fun with numbers.

Well, hand it to Gorzy – he appeared to walk off the diamond with his shoulder still attached although he looked like crap all night.  That’s all Pirates fans want to see – him staying healthy. 

Funny thing watching Gorzy pitch:  he started the year with a hands-over-head windup mechanics and Jeff Andrews ‘tweaked’ his approach removing the hands-over-head windup trying to get more command out of him.  Of course, he’s gotten worse.

Last night we saw Duke who Andrews ‘tweaked’ by having him use a ‘hands-over-head’ windup for the first time for more command and he walked as many batters as he had since the start of July.  And we know Andrews added hands-over-head windup mechanics to Snell for more command and he’s walked 12 in 23 innings since.

So in the last two years these starters have had two pitching coaches tweaking everything from windups, where they stand on the rubber, pregame routines, and mechanics hoping they repeat better, and nothing has been accomplished except, perhaps, blowing the confidence of a few pitchers who did have a little bit of success like Gorzy and Snell.

Jeff Andrews is the worst pitching coach I have ever witnessed.  He might be the nicest guy in the world but he knows absolutely nothing about polishing young pitchers – only hurting them/confusing them.  Neal Huntington better wake up to that because I’m not the only one around the players that feels that way.

–

Ho-hum, another ball off Andy LaRoche’s glove and another Andy LaRoche throwing error.  Did anyone else also notice both LaRoche’s struckout looking at the same pitch in the one inning?  Goodness.. I can’t wait to see these two hitting next April.

–

Raise your hand if you started to doze off during the game and woke up at one point thinking the Brewers were the Pirates.  A few of you?  Me too.

The Brewers slapped the Pirates in the face by throwing a full game battery of ex-Pirates at us for the win.  Jeff Suppan, who we signed in 2003 when his agent claimed ‘collusion,’  Brian Shouse who was brought up in the system and released, and Salomon Torres who Huntington pushed out the door for two bags of popcorn this year clearing out more salary for Nutting-baby.  And, of course, Jason Kendall caught the game.

Huntington was robbed on the Torres deal, like the rest of the deals he’s done.

–

They say Doumit has the flu, and I’m sure he does, but replay of some video Friday night makes me believe he has another concussion. He took several hard shots off the mask and one in particular that snapped his neck hard.  He has to be hurting from those blows and I’m betting “flu” is just the PR excuse for his being out, and possibly not the real cause.  Just a guess.

–

CC Sabathia Sunday.  I’ve already told you if you’re going to bet on a longshot game this year, this is the one to do it with.  Don’t ask me why.

–

Memo to the Pirates: a message from Miller in the 3rd suggested Gorzy’s strides were being read.

–

Just for the fun of it, let’s look how we are doing with our projected win/loss projection:

With 7 games remaining in August, the Bucs are currently 57-72 meaning we are projected to win at least one of the remaining seven and end up at 58-78 on pace for a 93 loss season.

I’m going to suggest we’ll be in the 95 loss column at the end of the year, the way things are stacking up.

–

Thank you kindly to everyone who has written and sent prayers.  Yes, this is my last week of blogging.  No, Baseball Interactive Media hasn’t announced who they plan to add on here, at least not to me.

Doumit out – probably with another concussion as he took a few off his mask.

–

I can’t even begin to add up all the errors and miscues in this game which started in the 4th when Braun hit a grounder to LaRoche at third who airmailed a throw to his bro allowing Braun to take second.  Fielder was then walked on four, Hart hit a fly ball off the right centerfield wall Morgan couldn’t get to, the ball bounced off the wall and Michaels bobbled it allowing Fielder to score, and then Sanchez heaved one toward the plate which was late, a mile high, and up the third base line and Hart was at third.

That’s four errors/miscues on the first three batters in the inning.  Like good wine, we got even better as time went by.

Cameron then walked, Hall hit a sac fly scoring Braun, and with Kendall at the plate Cameron was picked off first but Adam LaRoche’s throw was way off the mark and went into left, Kendall then ground one to Wilson who threw a rainbow throw to LaRoche and Kendall beat out the throw. 

Kendall

Beat

out

the

throw.

Oh-my.

That’s now six errors/miscues in the inning.  Bush then laid down a sac bunt that Andy LaRoche grabbed easily and he threw a one-hopper to Sanchez covering who picked it out of the dirt.  Thankfully, Weeks struck out with men at second and third to end the threat.

Six errors/miscues (one of them called a hit), two walks, a sac bunt, a sac fly, three hits and three runs.

And we were just us getting warmed up.

In the bottom of the 7th with the score 4-3 Brewers, Duke was lifted for Bautista who walked Nix, Weeks hit a line drive that went off Michales glove (E9) called a triple scoring Nix, despite the close and late status of the game Andy LaRoche was playing way off the third base line and Hardy hit grounder down the 3B line for a double scoring another.

And guess what, the very next batter (Braun) hit another shot down the third base line and right off Andy LaRoche’s glove (we’ll be extra nice and say it was too hard for an error, although it should have been gloved) for yet another double scoring yet another run.  Burnett then relieved Bautista and, with Fielder at the plate, Braun stole third since Burnett didn’t even look at him.  Fielder then hit a sharp ground ball to Sanchez who looked Braun back to the bag then threw a rainbow throw to LaRoche at first to get Fielder but Braun broke home and was safe by such a margin, LaRoche didn’t even bother to throw.

And Burnett was standing on the mound with his hands up in the air looking at Sanchez like he was going to shoot him or something. Burnett then walked Hart, Cameron took him yard, Hall walked, and Burnett finally got a ground ball double play to end the fiasco.

So if we forgive the Pirates not positioning Andy LaRoche correctly closer to the bag in a close and late game because we know we’re all about development now (cough, cough), that’s three more errors/miscues which helped allow three of the six runs in the inning.

Needless to say, the game was well out of reach for the Bucs at that point.

–

I’ll say this again, just HOW many errors have the LaRoche boys made since they became teammates?  A ton, and many of them not even called.

–

That’s right, ladies and gentleman, you are witnessing first-hand the future of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Players like Moss who has a hole the size of the Grand Canyon in his swing and slower to the ball defending than even Bay was, Andy LaRoche who pulls everything his bat can reach and makes Aramis Ramirez seem like a gold glover at times, Adam LaRoche who forgets where he’s at half the time, old fart Michaels playing in the outfield instead of youth being brought up and given a chance, and Doumit who can rake but can’t catch and is more likely than not to be wearing a neck brace the next two years from all the whiplash he’s taking from our crappy soft tossers.

Then there is Wilson – old stinky crappy player with a major me-first bad attitude, and Sanchez - a singles hitter (when he does hit) with limited range, a farce double play partner, and now with no-arm. 

Throw in Jeff Andrews tweaking every pitcher’s mechanics weekly, Russell’s love for players like Burnett, Duke, and Morgan (not to mention Minty and Michaels who should have been looongggg gone once we decided to finally mention the “R” word), so many soft tossers we should consider entering egg tossing contests instead of baseball games, and the guys who can throw heat throw straight heat which gets crushed.

Whoopie! 

Oh Pirates fans, where the hell you think there’s hope is beyond me.  BTW, Sanchez threw two hard throws Friday night so can we expect him to sit the next three games now?  We’ll see.

–

Speaking of mechanical adjustments, last few starts Ian Snell showed off his new overhand windup – the third tweak to his mechanics in the last three months.  Snell has opposing teams so confused which delivery he’s going to use on any given day, he’s actually done pretty well (3.52 ERA last four, albeit we won’t mention his velocity being back up to 96 mph has anything to do with it although you and I know Snell could throw between his legs locating 96 mph heat and do as good).

Now it’s Zach Duke’s turn.  Look at this video to see this weeks change to Duke.  The first one to comment on what the change is wins the “weekly tweak watch” award.

Did it help Duke?  Sure it did – he confused the hell out the batters who watched two days of film on him with different mechanics throwing away, while Friday night he tried to come in more.  Since his velocity was the same as it’s been – touching 91 and typically 88 – 90, the second time through batters were squaring the ball on him pretty hard so by my own observation I’d say this tweak won’t last long. Plus, he’s going to get crushed trying to locate his average stuff more inside.

Way to go Jeff “the tweak machine” Andrews. 

Man does this club need some real professional help.

–

Gorzelanny is taking the ball Saturday night.  Great, just what we need – Gorzy coming back with pressure to try and win a game wanting to stay off buses in AAA.  Please, pleaaasseeee keep your arm attached G-man.  Screw the pressure – just throw strikes even if you get bombed and walk away happy.

–

Newly acquired Bryan Morris was shut down with a sore shoulder.  Annnnnnd, aaaaaaa ‘nother one bites the dust.  We need to get him with Andrews asap.  OMG. 

–

Does anyone in the right mind think Perry Hill will still join this club in 2009?  Man, was he smart to stay out or what?  Olivia, you’re an angel despite what Mike Hill and the Marlins say about you.

–

yeah, yeah, Tabata’s killing the ball late in the year in AA.  I mean, hey, he’s played the last ten games against the same two teams and both have some of the worst pitching in AA right now.  Now I agree going 20-40 last ten is quite impressive even if it was against Portland and New Hampshire, but let’s see if he can find a little more power before we start thinking about him as a corner OF in Pittsburgh next year. 

Think late 2010 or 2011, not 2009. 

And don’t forget for one second the question about Tabata isn’t his bat – it never has been.  It’s his makeup. 

Just keep looking at play in the minors and hope it translates one day.  <==  notice — the new hope machine spin.

–

So will Pedro Alvarez be playing in Hawaii this winter?  Or will the Bucs throw him to the fire and have him play in the AFL?  Maybe the better question is, will Boras even allow him to play winter ball at all?

We really, really, stink from Federal Street to Bradenton.

The game went downhill today with the announcement that MLB will start using instant replay later this year.  I’m totally against this for numerous reasons, the most obvious being that baseball has always included the human decision element.

I suppose the next thing we’ll be seeing is robotic umpiring. 

And think about the basic consequences of this a second - your team has a starter on the mound pitching a good game when a batter hits a ball down the line that an umpire calls foul and the batting team asks for a look at the replay.  The game stops for three-plus minutes as the umpires, one-by-one, go review the tape, make their call, and play resumes. 

And then the starter can’t find the zone for the next three batters and gets mauled.

This is just bad for baseball. 

–

Jose Bautista to the Jays.  It’s a good fit.  The Jays needed someone to step in and Bautista needed another opportunity.  I’m just glad he’s gone.

–

Pirates head to Brewer country.  We start Duke vs Bush Friday, Karstens vs Suppan Saturday, and Maholm vs Sabathia Sunday. 

Wow.

The Pirates are 0-6 last six in Milwaukee when Duke starts and the Brewers are 2-5 in Bush’s last 7 starts against the Bucs, so why not pick the over in this wild one especially knowing the over has won out 20 of Duke’s last 30 road starts.  Oh, and the Pirates are 3-16 last 19 games Duke started on a Friday night. 

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.

And has anyone really looked close at the Brew Crew’s bullpen lately?  These guys are on fire.  Last 12 innings they haven’t allowed an earned run despite five walks and ten hits.  Talk about shut down mode.  Or has it been lucky mode?

But Bush has been on too good of a roll even for Bush – last three he has a 1.77 ERA and a ridiculous 0.89 WHIP.  Duke?  You don’t even want to know.

Suppan has been in the zone a lot better since August 1st but most of his starts have been on the road in mostly bigger parks.  He’ll be a bit more naked at home against the Pirates but I’m not so sure that’s going to matter much.

And Sabathia has been plain filthy.  End of story there, although maybe he’ll feel sorry for Neal Huntington and toss a bad game?  If you are going to bet the Pirates to win on a long shot (and I mean reeeaalllll long shot), that would be the game.

Tough series coming up with the Brewers needing a sweep and the Bucs hitting at a putrid pace of .234/.311/.347 and averaging 3 runs per game last ten.  If we win one, it will be a miracle.  If we win two, the Brewers are done for the year in my mind. If we sweep, Yost will probably be immediately fired.

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I’ve been asked about my Pirates top ten list since everybody seems to be publishing them now. 

Alvarez
McCutchen
Andy LaRoche
Grab a dart and throw it

Honestly, that’s how I feel about it.  Tabata, a maybe. Morris, a maybe.  Ohlendorf a maybe. Lincoln, a maybe. Neil Walker, a maybe.  There’s nothing there but possibilities and, in some cases, more probability they won’t make any impact than they will.

I think we do have some sleepers: Matt McSwain could easily vault to the top five if he stays healthy and continues to pitch instead of throwing as he had in the past; Pat Bresnehan is interesting; and Andrew Walker is also interesting if he can stay healthy.  But I wouldn’t put a lot of stock in any of them other than McSwain right now.  I also like Shelby Ford but can he stay healthy? 

Ho-hum.  Just not many tools in the system despite all the writers who want to believe there is something to put hope in.

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I emailed the Pirates for word on Bryan Morris who was evidently pulled in Hickory with a sore shoulder, and Jody Mercer who seems to have a hip flexor injury.  When I get word back, I’ll update this part of the post.