By Jake, on March 21, 2009, at 1:31 am | Comments are closed
The way Tom Gorzelanny is currently being handled has three parts to the equation:
Part One: The Pirates assessment of his current state; and
Part Two: Whether the assessment measures were valid; and
Part Three: The Pirates decision that demotion was the proper course of action.
Part One – The Assessment
Now part one is the hardest part to accept as fans because our club’s evaluation of pitchers the last few years hasn’t exactly been our strength. Plus if we assume very few of Huntington’s lieutenants are even around Bradenton, that leaves the number of “pro eyes” making this assesssment down to Huntington and his field staff, possibly Chuck Tanner and Bill Lajoie if Lajoie is even in camp, and maybe a few of the guys from player development like Donnelly. Maybe a few more, maybe not.
That first part also uses these baseline assessments (these have been verified from various sources): Gorzelanny was in camp 32 days and had made four starts before being reassigned, his velocity was sitting between 88-89 with an occaisional pitch reaching 90 and a rare one here and there overthrown and out of the zone getting to 91 (I assume all two-seamers since that’s what the scout told me he saw him throwing but I don’t know that for sure), none of his pitches were seen as being even average offerings, and he wasn’t attacking the zone as he went to a three ball count this spring on 16 of the 40 batters he faced. There were other issues stated by the media but the Pirates never confirmed any of those.
The first question regarding Part One on everyone’s mind was, is four starts enough to make an assessment? I think so because those I spoke to quickly reminded me that it’s not just four starts, it’s also his side work being looked at. Plus, Gorzy knew he wasn’t a lock in the rotation so he had even more of a responsibility to show the eyes that were on him he was progressing from 2008. Good evaluators can easily determine within a month whether a guy “has it” or not.
The second question most asked was, is he actually healthy? That’s a great question because we all know he wasn’t exactly honest with the Pirates last year and then aired his dirty laundry list in the press over the winter which caught the Pirates off guard. That being said, the club has acknowledged they believe him to be healthy and Tom Gorzelanny has not yet told them anything to the contrary.
Now, did airing his dirty laundry list over the winter hurt him enough to get sent out? I don’t personally get the feeling that this was the chief reason but my senses tell me the front office didn’t like it one bit. Huntington isn’t a poor evaluator so I’d guess he was quick to see Gorzy not coming around and decided to set an example by sending him out early with the message to the other players being: if you aren’t forthright with us, we can’t set a plan in motion to make you whole and you are therefore responsible for any resulting action we deem appropriate. I think that’s also why we heard John Wehner the other day mocking Gorzy’s quotes in the press after his starts.. it wasn’t what Gorzy said that was the real issue, it was that Gorzy was once again using the press to sell his story much like what happened last winter.
Part Two – Validity of the Assessment
Since Gorzelanny’s assessment appears to be accurate the question now becomes, were the measures even valid? Consider Neal Huntington’s own words as told to the Post-Gazette:
“We tried to [study] the past and tried to help him recover the past,” Huntington added of that 14-10 summer before last. “To this point in time, we haven’t been able to do that… We’ve not seen a guy attack the strike zone, we’ve not seen a guy command his fastball, and that’s why the move – as difficult as it is – is to try to get him back into [that] position.”
Focus on the words “recover the past.” All we can do is guess but it sure appears that Huntington is suggesting that the answer to Tom Gorzelanny’s problems lies within Tom Gorzelanny’s heart and less on any potential mechanical issues.
It’s an interesting quote because how much time could have possibly ticked off the clock between the point the Pirates studied his past and tried to help him recover the past if the four day mini-camp in January was the first time Gorzy held a baseball for the club since last September?
Huntington has also stated over-and-over Gorzelanny’s command isn’t there and his pitches had regressed, but although Gorzelanny went to three ball counts on 16 of the 40 batters he saw, is it possible he might have only gone to a three ball count to say, five of the next fifty batters? Or is it possible Gorzy might have started snapping off breaking balls better, thrown better changeups, or commanded his fastball better over his next four starts before spring broke? Probably not to all of the above, but we don’t know that for sure and Huntington doesn’t either because the 40 PA sample size is too small for anything except generalizing.
As for Gorzelanny’s velocity Huntington said in that same PG article:
“The velocity’s down a little bit.. . . But there’s no easy explanation for why he was so good two years ago and why he struggled last year and in spring training.”
There are explanations such as the young man reporting to camp out of shape and the Pirates forcing him into the rotation, shoulder tightness in spring training that shut him down, back problems for a month which eventually caused him to fall off the mound in agony, leg fatigue, a sore shoulder reported again in June, elbow problems, and then getting shut down in September with a hand injury and then not seeing live action for another five months.
Plus the young man was +40 innings from 2006 to 2007 and numerous independent studies have shown a propensity for a downturn the year after a significantly increased workload year. Like above, is it possible then that Gorzelanny’s velocity might have improved as spring wore on?
As for the overall validity, is it fair to judge somebody on velocity and command if it’s his fourth time on the mound in the last six months having worked just nine innings?
Part Three – The Decision
As I mentioned above, I’ve pointed to numerous studies here on increased previous year workloads and the effect it has on the present year. My own research points to a one and one-half year recovery period as well as a significant risk of future injury the three years following the workload. So when I heard Gorzelanny was being shipped to Indy to start the year, my immediate thought was “that’s good news.. the Pirates are starting to understand recovery cycles.”
Until I heard the reasons for the demotion – and some of the quotes – and realized this move seemed to have more to do with one player’s personality than it did with recovering arm periods.
One ex-scout who now works in a front office told me that Huntington had to be concerned he was going to lose Gorzelanny if he remained in the rotation and then had a couple of bad months like he had in 2008. It’s a valid concern, but there’s a flip-side.. one retired front office old timer told me that Huntington should instead be worrying that he’s already lost Gorzy now that’s he’s been sent down.. rejection isn’t so easy to recover from.
So who is right?
There is no right answer to that question because every person handles things differently. Huntington has put his psychology degree to work here and he hopes he made the right decision. But there are factors that some believe play out historically here.
For instance, the old timer told me that it’s his experience that once a player has two years of service time under his belt in a starting role, extended demotion works as a pure negative and tends to alienate him from his club (peers and authority). Now he wasn’t talking about rehab assignments, he was talking about a player seen as inferior and shipped out.
Another obvious factor is whether there is any value in Gorzelanny facing 3A batters. Think John Van Benschoten as a good example. JVB could manipulate 3A batters all day long but when he got to Pittsburgh he folded like a wet towel. Huntington saw positive results from Gorzy facing 3A batters last year but it never translated to Pittsburgh. So why would that change in 2009?
Lastly, pitching rover Troy Buckley can’t shine Joe Kerrigan’s shoes and Rich Donnelly isn’t exactly a pitching coach but can probably assist, so that leaves Ray Searage in control of retooling Tom Gorzelanny along with any help Huntington can send down from Pittsburgh. I’m not saying Searage can’t do it, but that’s a lot to ask of one man who has other charges while also having to deal with attitude issues.
Unless, as noted above, all we are dealing with here is thought processes like, oh, willingness to follow Kerrigan’s orders and plans, and not mechanical problems.
Conclusion
I was warned point-blank today from someone inside that there is more to the Tom Gorzelanny story than we are hearing as fans.. or that we will ever hear. A second source also explained that the public will not always have all the facts because it does no good to air dirty laundry. I think we all accept that as part of the game of baseball because it’s a business too and the players are their commodities.
But why does this type of ad nauseum always surround our club regardless of the GM? Chris Duffy, Kris Benson, Salomon Torres, Tom Gorzelanny, Bobby Hill, Pedro Alvarez, Jose Mesa, Raul Mondesi, Roberto Hendandez, Brian Boehringer, Oliver Perez, and so on, and so on, and so on.
For better or for worse, Tom Gorzelanny is now a minor leaguer and I suspect he’s going to be down there for quite some time. I know one team started doing their due diligence wondering internally if Neal Huntington has placed the “For Sale” sign on him and I’m betting others are following suit.
We’ll see over time where this leads and how it affects the short-term blueprint. In any case, we’re just going to have to pray Gorzelanny finds the heart to bounce back or it won’t matter how bad anyone in Pittsburgh gets rocked because he might not be a Pirate very long.
By Jake, on March 19, 2009, at 12:54 am | Comments are closed
8:25 AM I started receiving the text messages.. I heard the phone ring but I didn’t look. Finally around 9:00 AM I decided I needed to see who was trying to get me and was shocked – Tom Gorzelanny had been demoted. The text messages I received all had the same tone and all held about the same information.. the Pirates were questioning his heart.
Last year I could have believed that, but not this year. So I started digging for the truth.
On the surface the Pirates were saying Gorzelanny had lost velocity and lacked command, among other things. Everyone in the game knows command has never been at the top of Gorzy’s game and, while he has been out of the zone some in his four starts, he’s also worked out of his jams well scouts say. As for his velocity, scouts tell me they had him (over)throwing up to 92 in late February, decreasing to about 90 in his March 9th start, and back about 91 March 15th. Considering it was still early spring and he was coming off an exhausting year, his velocity was more than fine.
Obviously what the Pirates were telling us wasn’t adding up. So I kept digging.
I then considered the move was a financial decision to keep Gorzelanny from entering his arbitration years in 2010. He’s sitting with two years plus some change in service time and even though he had a disasterous 2008, if he did spend a little time in 3A trying to keep him from entering his arb years, and then he came back up and had a good season, he very well could still fit into the top 17% performance of those in his service time class and be super-two eligible.
That made more sense because, after all, he is represented by the heavy-hitting SFX agency and the probability of the Pirates being able to buy one of his arb years at a reasonable cost (hometown discount) probably isn’t very likely. Plus, the Pirates bombed on Maholm’s deal not getting the fifth year and that hurt their long-term plan more than the fans realize – two bombs might cause an implosion in 2012. So, if that was the real issue, they would then have to keep Gorzy in 3A most of 2009 if they wanted him around until 2013.
All of that assumes, of course, that the Pirates brass feels Gorzelanny would have a good year if he remained in Pittsburgh because if he bombed, then worrying about the super-two status even with a little time in 3A during the year wouldn’t matter – he probably wouldn’t be in the top 17% of his class. The key there though is who the other players are in that class which I don’t have the answer to.
But even that didn’t pass the sniff test because if word started spreading in the industry that the Pirates were manipulating players that way instead of just dealing openly and fairly with them, they would never get another player signed long-term. Plus, they would lose the hearts of a lot more players than just Tom Gorzelanny.
It had to be something else.
Considering Karstens is probably the guy who benefits from Gorzelanny getting shipped out, the nexus between Karstens and Kerrigan came to mind. As one scout said, that just doesn’t make a bit of sense because that means Huntington is inviting opposing teams to load up on left hand hitters and take advantage of PNC’s short right field wall. Besides, the scout continued, Karstens isn’t Tom Gorzelanny even throwing at 90%. Nothing adds up there.
Then I considered why Huntington would want to break the bond between Kerrigan and Gorzelanny. I mean, the Pirates spent stupid money to get Kerrigan in Pittsburgh so why then ship out one of the few pitchers with upside they have to be tutored by Ray Searage in Indy?
No disrespect to Searage who many think is a good pitching coach, but that’s about as stupid as it gets.
All along I kept drifting back to that March 9th game that Gorzy got beat up in remembering he exited early after Wilson’s errand throw allowed a man to reach. A fan at that game told me Gorzy didn’t look happy when he left the mound and I secretly wondered if Gorzy finally took it upon himself to get in Wilson’s face ala Brian Boehringer and Roberto Hernandez days. After all, at that point Karstens was pitching behind Maholm (11th) and then was reassigned behind Gorzy in that March 15th start on four days rest. Also, wasn’t that Diaz’s last game he started at catcher? That’s an odd correlation.
And the other day when the team held a closed door meeting I heard a rumor that there were some things said in there that didn’t go over well. At the time I heard the rumor I thought it was something Huntington had said. If the rumor is correct, maybe it wasn’t what Huntington said.. maybe it was someone else? I still have some feelers out on that one.
Lastly, there are some media reports out there that Gorzelanny wasn’t being serious about his work and they cite quotes he made to the newspapers after his games on the 9th and 15th as examples. To me that’s a pretty cheap shot if the club is penalizing a guy for appearing comfortable in the press.
Now these are conjectures up to this point – all I did was try to give you some of the ongoing thought processes everyone is using, including the Pirates. At this point I don’t know why he was sent down other than the reasons why Neal Huntington has said, but I think it’s rather clear it was for reasons other than “poor command” and a “lack of velocity.”
I’m still digging, and if there’s more to the story I’ll unearth it for you. It’s just going to take a little time so hang on with me.
My personal thoughts? Chuck Finder has numerous quotes from Neal Huntington in this article which amounts to a shopping list of issues penned in the media the club has with Gorzy. The problem with the shopping list concept is that none of it adds up. None of it. And to be quite blunt, if Tom Gorzelanny has a shopping list to work on than how about Jack Wilson or Nyjer Morgan or Sean Burnett or several other guys on the 25-man?
Why single out Gorzy?
I mean, his downfall came as a direct result of the abuse put on his shoulder in 2007. Yes he reported out of shape in 2008 like about 15 other players in the system did and the Bucs beat on him for it. But they shouldn’t keep beating him down, especially after they again forced a heavy workload on him knowing his arm was tender last year from the increased workload the year before. I mean, it’s as if the Pirates won’t accept responsibility for their own actions either.
It’s scary stuff.
I honestly don’t a clue what’s going on. My senses tell me this is a possible super-two issue combined with a Kerrigan love for Karstens thing. Perhaps more is going on under the hood like concern for Gorzy’s 4.0 K/9 or other issues, I don’t know. Obviously the best help for Gorzy comes from facing better competition every five days in front of our best field staff and our GM.
And they are all in Pittsburgh.
But do you think Florida’s Anibal Sanchez or Detroit’s Justin Verlander are going to be sent to the minors because they can’t command their pitches this spring and aren’t striking anyone out? Think hard about that list you see in the link.
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The Twins game was uneventful. It was sickening listening to John Wehner mouth off his opinion about how Gorzy looked too comfortable and Duke is nothing but business-like. I’ve been sick of all the love for Duke since he was first brought up. See Nyjer Morgan. And you know, Duke faced exactly two Twins projected starters and a bunch of marginal others and still gave up two yard balls and a hit an inning.
Come on.. does anyone really believe Zach Duke is the answer to our prayers? If you do, just wait for his first few away game starts then let’s talk again.
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John Wehner explained to us in the Twins game why Sean Burnett did so well in Tuesday’s game: Burnett moved “back over” to the third base side of the rubber.
By Jake, on March 18, 2009, at 12:30 am | Comments are closed
What a game, what a game, what a game. At least we didn’t look as fundamentally flawed on defense as we did in Monday night’s game. That’s a plus. And I absolutely loved the fact John Russell packed the bus with all the kids and let them get some playing time. Watching a little Mercer and Kratz, McCutchen and Farrell, and even an entire game of Tabata was dy-no-mite.
Thanks JR.
Let’s start with our pitching. Vasquez has an average fastball who might be able to dial it up to a plus offering when his arm heats up more – I don’t know. He spots it well, he has a decent change, and that’s about it. He’s another two-pitch pitcher who simply isn’t going to fool anyone so if he makes the rotation we’re in trouble. We’ll need a sixth starter/long man so he might be a good candidate for that role over Veal.
With all the talk about Evan Meek having come around, I sure didn’t see it. He wasn’t able to repeat, his stuff was less than exciting, and he wasn’t thinking on the mound. He’s not a pen candidate in ‘09 without a lot of work down the road. Yates was throwing gas and had a new twist.. a heavier sinker. He didn’t control it well but he was getting strikes with it so we’ll see where that goes.
Sean Burnett simply has no business facing right hand batters. And you know, even left hand batters seemed to be picking him up better than I remember last year. His slider is still filthy against a lefty but he was up in the zone too much for my liking and I have to question his true value to this club. Honestly, I think I would rather carry Veal than Burnett and not worry about the situational stuff deferring to development to someone who at least has a tick of upside instead. But I’ll leave that to the pro scouts and the GM because the end result isn’t going to make much of a difference anyway. Bootcheck is a mess mechanically much like Meek and I don’t see him breaking camp with the club either.
Offensively we had our hands full with Sabathia and Rivera throwing about 90%. None of our guys could get on track against either of those two pitchers and only Tabata got a hit but that was a grounder off the third base bag variety.
You have to wonder since Tabata is getting such a long look if the front office is possibly considering letting him break camp with the club? McCutchen is obviously not ready offensively or defensively but I’m here to tell you Tabata is making big league adjustments kids his age don’t typically make. He’s quite advanced even in his pitch recognition.
But I still see him bouncing around on the base paths showing immaturity and I see him taking a few awkward routes to balls even in Tampa where he’s played before. No doubt he’s doing his best to make a case for himself but I think the long look is more about the front office wanting a pat on the back from the fans that at least one of the players they received last year looks to have some real potential.
Not about any serious consideration to start him in Pittsburgh even if Moss and Hinske both have delayed starts to the year.
That would really be stretching the limits with Tabata. If it was me, he’d start in Altoona in CF and make a case he deserves to be in Indy after 150 – 200 AB and wait for a September callup to see how he handles himself. But again, that’s me and that’s ONLY if we HAVE to play the “shoot for 2011 game” our front office seems intent on wanting to play. We’ll see just how fast he’s going to get pushed.
It was a decent game even though we were blown out of the saddle early. The only concerns I have from the game are in this video which show more fundamental defensive flaws that seem to show up every single game we play.
We’re simply putrid in outfield defense.. we’re going to give up way too many runs out there. And what’s up with Jack Wilson? I swear the man looks like he’s playing hurt.
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And Denny Bautista is where? Perhaps he’ll pitch Wednesday with Hansen and Capps? Oh, and southpaw Francisco Liriano will start that game for the Twins.
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A lot of email about some web report that Vegas has put the Pirates over/under at 67.5 and a few wondering what I would do.
That’s a sucker bet either way you go. Instead, run to 5dimes and open an account (requires a $500 deposit) and drop $20 on the 4000-1 odds against the Pirates winning the division. Is that unbelievably long, or what? Then stay tuned here during the year because I’ll hand you at least 10 solid longshot picks that you can line your pockets with during the season.
But what would I take - the under or the over? I’d take the over.. all day long.
By Jake, on March 17, 2009, at 12:34 am | Comments are closed
Wow. Simply, wow. We looked like crap. It was a very disappointing game.
The talk will be about how well Maholm threw the ball. But he didn’t. He was up in the zone often, wild at times, behind in counts at times, and his stuff was far from sharp, although I didn’t really expect to see him throwing plus stuff a couple weeks into the spring. Yet he still got typical Maholm results.. balls pounded on the ground from batters rolling over on his pitches and errors from his defenders behind him. Oh, and a few strikeouts to boot.
It was one of those games that it’s hard to figure out if Maholm’s results were because his stuff was that good or the batters were just that stupid. To me, batters swung early trying to pull him too much. To the average fan, he probably looked like he was in mid-season form. I guess it’s all in what you see.
Maholm aside, most of the other players looked like they had a buzz going. Throws well off the mark from our defenders, not thinking, playing out of place at times, and Ryan Doumit looking like he had the flu or something as little as he was moving behind the plate. Honestly, Doumit’s work was so lazy it reminded me of Monroe not running out his pop fly yesterday.
Take a look at these short clips and you’ll see what I mean about Doumit.. he was backhanding pitches, stabbing at balls, his glove was turned over trying to block balls in the dirt, and what you don’t see are numerous other pitches he didn’t even come out of his squat to try and block. For a guy that just signed a big fat paycheck, he looked putrid. More importantly to me, our field staff and front office obviously condone his work ethic because they have not attempted to correct these basic flaws in over a year now.
As for all the ridiculous walks in the game, who cares? Huntington and Russell threw a bunch of garbage on the mound after Maholm left for all of us to see for some reason. They did a good job. But hey, we have to save “our best” for the Yankees game being broadcast Tuesday night, right? Like I said yesterday, I don’t expect anybody we have in our pen to throw strikes anyway so if they ever do I’m tickled to death.
Veal is still junk as he was two years ago when I saw him at TN. C-ya
Davidson is still junk. C-ya.
Chavez has always been intriguing against right hand batters, but junk otherwise. C-ya.
Slocum???? Lord..
Tabata has my attention. His bat is lightening fast and the kid adjusts quick in the box. I won’t go as far as to say his bat would play right now in Pittsburgh but he sure looks impressive. With his open stance and the way he loads up, I think he’s probably a bit too vulnerable and I think he’ll start to see that in 2A if he goes down. I don’t think he’s ready for 3A myself but he’s certainly intriguing.
Can we drop Morgan off at the nearest Greyhound bus station and give him a ticket to Indy? Ughhh.. what a complete waste of time. For the resume Salazar has, he didn’t impress me either but maybe he’s a slow starter. Diaz behind the plate wasn’t as fluid as I had remembered.. Jaramillo is absolutely a better defensive catcher and I can see why he’s probably slated to be the number two guy.
I noticed the way Andy LaRoche is holding his hands in and back now and it does appear he’ll have better bat control, but I also noticed each at bat his stance seemed to gradually change back toward his 2008 stance so perhaps he’s still not comfortable with the modification? I’m not so sure we don’t have another Craig Wilson on our hands.
Anyway, considering it was the first game of the year being broadcast, and considering we threw everything except the kitchen sink at the Rays semi – “B” squad, you would have thought the players would have had a little more fire in their play around the diamond than they did. And you certainly have to wonder why Neal Huntington didn’t have some of our “product of the future” around to play an inning or two. Perhaps he will Tuesday night but by the looks of things he better have his “A” squad playing the rest of the spring.
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By the way, did anyone see any of our pitchers throw inside much? Think about it.
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How many stolen bases on Doumit? Yeah, yeah, balls were in the dirt. Excuses, excuses.
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I can smell another Jack Wilson “I don’t give a crap” year coming up. It’s blowing in the wind. Hey, did anyone else think he looked like he might be carrying his right shoulder in a bag?
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Snell pitched very well. He was hitting 93 on the gun and pitching inside which opposing batters didn’t expect to see. Very nice work from him although he had Molina behind the plate as you saw in the video and he was able to throw his slider in the dirt which he can not do/doesn’t do with Doumit, especially with men on base.
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Pedro Alvarez to Lynchburg? Yeah, I heard that’s because there are fewer McDonald’s and Burger King’s per square mile there.
This kid has a lot to prove after his stupidity with Boras.
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Ugly, ugly, ugly baseball in Bradenton last night.
By Jake, on March 15, 2009, at 12:11 pm | Comments are closed
Ok, so you heard about Craig Monroe’s three home run day and now your starting to drool a bit thinking about all that power over Morgan in left. That’s reasonable.. Monroe’s raw power is considerable and he can certainly play left field.
I remember folks thinking Brad Eldred was going to change the Pirates in 2007 after he opened spring training hitting 4 home runs in his first 25 at bats; or Craig Wilson as the savior in 2005 when he hit 8 in 68 AB; or even Pearce last year who hit 4 in 38 AB. But do you notice a common denominator with those other three guys? Sure, they could all wail fastballs in the spring but were all pitched offspeed stuff during the year and whiffed, whiffed, whiffed.
Craig Monroe just has more experience at both whiffing and hitting spring mistakes.
Sure, we read the other day where Neal Huntington said Monroe is hitting his home runs off fastballs and offspeed stuff this year but, come on, it’s way too early in the spring for pitchers to have any kind of a feel for their offspeed stuff yet. But what Twins pitching seemingly did have a feel for was their ex-buddy Monroe the other day when he stood hungry in the box with a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform on, so they fed him like good friends do to other friends in trouble.
It’s a common theme.
Now that doesn’t mean you can’t get all warm and fuzzy about Craig Monroe. You can. Just keep your head on because at the end of the year he’s going to be sitting with a very high strikeout rate, a very low batting average, and I’d bet a buck to your dime he’s going to disappoint your need to see in-game fireworks unless the pitcher on the mound just couldn’t care less.
For now, put your money on Morgan coming around because, even though you’d be betting on a 20-1 shot with Morgan, it’s a better bet than 50-1 on Monroe.
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Tom Gorzelanny has me stumped. An amateur scout that saw him Sunday said he looked like he was laboring, he estimated (didn’t have a gun) Gorz was throwing in mid to upper eighties, perhaps touching low 90’s when overthrowing, wasn’t impressed with the movement on his pitches except late tail on his fastball, and he confirmed what we heard over the radio that Gorzy stayed away from the hitters. This scout hadn’t seen Gorzy up close before so it was a refreshing review.
But it wasn’t what I wanted to hear.
I’m not too worried about the movement on his pitches because it’s still early, but to hear he thought Gorzy was throwing with a lot of effort didn’t have a good ring to it. We’ll have to try and get a few more reports from people who put their eyes on Gorzy before camp breaks.
As for his results Sunday, he only gave up a couple of seeing eye ground balls and one line drive that wasn’t too bad, the two muffs by Cruz added to his runs allowed but that’s all in a days work in Pittsburgh anyway, and he was digging out of holes after the first inning by not throwing early strikes. Right, all that could be said about almost any pitcher in our rotation.
He still has the potential to see four starts before camp breaks (March 20, 25, 30, April 4) but I’m guessing with the two off days the 19th and 26th Gorzy will actually only get three more starts (21, 27, 1), stay behind and pitch a few innings at a minor league game on the 4th or 5th, then join the club later for his first start the 10th.
So he has a little time to start nailing things down, but he better start getting to work.
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Still lots of fundamental mistakes on the field. Monroe didn’t even run out a popup Sunday, Andy LaRoche was sleeping on a line drive to third and was then doubled off, and what’s with Cruz? Poor kid.
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Nice to see Alvarez get his first pro HR. More interesting to me is that Tabata continues to put the ball in play. I wonder if he’s the kind of kid who thrives on challenges so much that putting him down in 2A this year might just kill his momentum? There’s been some talk about him starting at 3A in CF with McCutchen playing LF, but that doesn’t make a bit of sense to me down the road.. Tabata can’t handle CF at PNC. Or maybe I should say, by the time Tabata finally gets to the point of handling CF at PNC we hope he’s filling out and has to be moved.
So why not just pen him in for LF now and keep the speedier McCutchen in CF? I drool thinking about the potential for runs saved with a better than average arm in left. Wow. Let’s hope Moss forces the equation by getting on track this year.
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No surprises were in Neal Huntington’s weekly radio interview with Greg Brown other than the fact we have “competition” betweeen Pearce and Monroe. Oh my, what exciting fun stuff we get to witness each spring in the battle of the bench contests. C-ya Pearce.
Huntington also mentioned he felt Duke, Maholm, and Snell have all done enough to warrant breaking camp with jobs leaving two spots open in the rotation. Folks, the other two spots are already spoken for – Gorzy and Ohlendorf will break camp in those slots – unless something really drastic happens.
I’m with Bob Walk, I think most of the 25-man roster was pretty much set back in October of last year and unless one of those lose their slot with pitiful work or having shown up in camp out of shape, it isn’t going to matter what a Pearce or McCutchen does in the spring.
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Poor Vasquez.. is he getting set up? Let’s see if he pitches Tuesday against the Yankees on MLB.tv which will be just the second game Pirates fans see this spring. The first will be tonight when Maholm faces a somewhat limited Rays lineup.
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Would I sign Pedro Martinez for $5MM? No. $4MM? No. $3MM? No. $1MM? Yes, if it was a split contract. Not interested, even though we need pitching so bad my head spins. I’d rather us try to pick kids off the wire.
– start game blog –
Just three Rays starters in. 15 – 20 mph wind L to R.
Top 1st
Garza in — McCutchen, bunt 3B side between P and 3B but thrown out by P; Tabata (open stance) 0-1 called, 1-1 away, 2-1 low, flair CF drops in front of Kapler single; Ad LaRoche FB LF Tabata holds; Monroe deep in box, throw to 1b, 0-1 heater, 0-2 foul, 0-3 swing and miss on heater up.
Bot 1st
Gorzy in — Ruggiano gb 3B; Crawford 0-1 called breaking ball, 0-2 breaking ball, 1-2 away, 2-2 low, 3-2 away, LD off end of bat down LF line LaRoche grabs little floater, Kapler gb 3B. 8 P 1-2-3
Top 2cd
Garza in — Pearce FB LCF deep Kapler ran it down although tailing away into gap; An LaRoche 0-1 called, 1-1 away, 2-1 away, 2-2, 3-2 high, 4-2 heater away/high walk; Bixler 1-0 low, flair RCF bounced in single LaRoche to 2B; Cruz 1-0 low/away, pitching coach out (impressive – they didn’t waste time – went right out), 2-0 low/away, 2-1 foul, 3-1 low (we’re being patient – good stuff), LD crushed right to Ensberg at 3B who rifes across to 2B to catch An LaRoche sleeping off the bagfor DP. Ughh.
Bot 2cd
Gorzy in — Pena 1-0 away, 1-1 swing n miss, 2-1 breaking ball away, 2-2 swing n miss, 2-2 foul, 3-2 inside, FB shallow LCF Tabata grabs; Burrell 1-0 high, 2-0 high, 2-1 painted Burrell looks back at Wally Bell, 2-2 foul, 2-2 foul tip caught; (Gorzy staying away with almost everything) Ensberg 0-1 swing n miss, 1-1 away, 2-1 away, 3-1 just missed, 3-2 painted inside, LD into LF past Bixler reaching for it single; Brignac 0-1 breaking ball, looper shallow CF McCutchen camps under. 20 P/ 28 P total 4 batters
Top 3rd
Garza in – Jaramillo LHB (looks like he’s going to be the ‘official’ backup catcher.. too bad) 1-0 high, 1-1 outside heater, gb to P (oh boy, although Garza is known to be poor fielding P); McCutchen 0-1 swing n miss, 0-2 offspeed called, 0-2 foul, 0-3 swing n miss on breaking ball (he’s been k’d the other day quite a bit on breaking balls); Tabata LD off LCF wall double; Ad LaRoche 1-0 away, 1-1 big hook called, 1-2 foul, pickoff play at second when Brianac’s arm went up perfect but Tabata was on it, FB shallow LF.
Bot 3rd
Gorzy in – Riggans 0-1 called, LD off Cruz’s glove E6 single (gave him a hit); Kennedy 1-0 high, 2-0 high heater, 3-0 high (nobody out yet), 3-1 called, 3-2 foul, 3-2 foul, looped shallow RF broken bat single Cruz didn’t get to (should have had it) - Riggans to 3B; Ruggiano 1-0, 2-0 away, 3-0 away (still no pitching coach), 3-1 called, gb through left side Tabata quick coming in to ball to hold Riggans at 3B (why??) – bases loaded; (Kerrigan out) Crawford 0-1 slider swing n miss looking dead red, 0-2 inside foul, 0-2 foul tip not caught, 1-2 low, gb 1B Pearce throws to 2B for one out, run scores, no throw to 1B; Kapler, throw to first (men 1b & 3b), throw to 1b again, 1-0 high, Gorzy steps off rubber, Crawford off on pitch 2-0 throw to 2B safe, LD single into left run scores, Tabata throws out Crawford at plate because of wide turn at 3B (rainbow throw off plate but in time) Kapler to 2b; Pena gb 2B. 2R, 4H (3H, 1E in reality). 23P/51 total. (we missed Ford’s range in this inning)
Top 4th 2-0 Rays
Garza in – Monroe popup to C, Monroe didn’t run it out; Pearce 1-0, 1-1 foul, popup 3B Ensberg came in to mound on but dropped it E5; An LaRoche 0-1 called, 0-2 tailing in fastball, 1-2 away, 2-2 offspeed, FB CF deep, Pearce playing it halfway; An LaRoche 0-1 painted away, 1-1 ball in dirt blocked by Riggans, Pearce takes off late and is thrown out at 2B (was he sleeping when the ball hit the dirt??). Poor baserunning.
By Jake, on March 14, 2009, at 11:59 am | Comments are closed
An email I received this evening from a Pirate fan said it all:
“It was a very disappointing game.” — Rob in Philipsburg, PA
You see, he was upset about all the walks Pirates pitching issued, he was upset we allowed 13 runs on just 8 hits, and he was upset we lost yet another game to a weaker lineup card. He stated he listened to the entire game but not once did he mention home plate umpire Rob Healey’s name.
For being just a “casual” fan, he GOT it.
I agree with Rob – it was a disappointing game but not because of the walks, not because of the runs allowed, and not because we lost. But because more unprofessional, selfish conduct was displayed on the field by one of our players — this time by Freddy Sanchez.
You see, Healey was calling a strike zone the size of Texas through four innings so every batter knew by that time they needed to be swinging the bat when they walked up to the plate. But Sanchez sat there and watched two pitches float by that Healey rung him up on and then turned to the ump and mouthed off. What he said isn’t relevant.. whether Sanchez was right or wrong whether they were balls or strikes isn’t relevant either.. what is relevant is that Sanchez took matters in his own hands on ball/strike calls instead of letting his manager handle field management.
That’s a selfish act.
Plus let’s not forget Healey is a minor league umpire probably only calling big league games because of the WBC action and we’re only 16 games in.. umpires have to get in a groove too. And we all know every umpire calls a different zone.. some are big, some small, so batters have to learn to adjust anyway. It’s part of the game.
In too many recent years we’ve watched our young studs make fun of major league umpires.. staring them down, small talk from the mound or box, nodding or shaking heads, and a million other negative innuendos, and the ones who ultimately suffer from all that immature action are their teammates. They have to learn that umpires are a very strong fraternity and they are going to back each other up.. all year long. And our players have to learn they play on a team.
Anyway, the real point to me is that this is just another example of the guys in the clubhouse making their own decisions, no different than they did with McClendon or Tracy. Call it anarchy.. a lack or rejection of discipline.. refusal of Russell/Huntington to take control.. whatever.. but a clear signal that nothing has really changed the one place needing change the most – the culture in our Pittsburgh clubhouse. And it’s not like this is the first act this spring.. there’s been numerous others.
Neal Huntington needs to step up and take control. It’s unfortunate he hired a passive manager to run this club because the players are just running all over him and that’s 180 degrees from what is being allowed from the players in the minor league camp where discipline is king.
Think about it another way.. have you ever bought a new red shirt and accidentally washed it with your whites in hot water? What happened? It bled all over the other clothes, right? That can be said of the clubhouse culture.. it bleeds too. If the youngsters see the veterans running out of control and doing what they want, when they want, then they are going to start doing it too. I already explained weeks ago here I started seeing this with McCutchen this winter – it’s trickling down.
You can’t build a new foundation on an old house without first removing the old foundation.
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As for the game, Ohlendorf threw strikes and allowed balls to be put in play. His defense responded and made a few nice plays and the end result was that he was perfect through four. But his pitching was far from perfect.. he was 2-0 on many batters, some of the balls in play were rocket shots, and he wasn’t exactly facing a major league lineup so take his line with a grain of salt.
But considering where we are in the spring, and who he is, he did a nice job.
The rest of our pitching bit the dust but who knows if it was because of Lerud catching, Healey’s zone, poor command, or a combination of those and/or other things. I’m really not too worried about it because, to be quite blunt, I expect our pen guys to miss the plate. The fact we missed so much in one game doesn’t freak me out anymore than us hitting five home runs in one game did.
Other parts of this game were a bit worrisome.. Jack Wilson fielded a groundball with a runner at second who broke to third in front of him with one out and he tried to throw him out at third. Unfortunately, Walker wasn’t in place to receive the throw and the runner was safe. There’s no question Wilson should have gone to first to get the second out instead of to third.
Another play that bothered me was that with one out a fly ball was hit to Morgan in left and Nick Swisher tagged up at second and went to third. Morgan’s throw was weak and off the bag so Swisher made it. Now Swisher isn’t exactly a speedy guy by any means so the fact he was able to move up on Morgan is pretty depressing.
Lastly, listen to this two minute exchange between Steve Blass and Greg Brown today: Pitching is our strength? Funny, just two weeks ago I swear I heard Brown wondering who would step into the #5 slot.. now it’s the #4 and #5 slot and in another part of the broadcast I believe he was wondering who would be in the #3, #4, and #5 slots.
“Geoff Miller of San Diego, who bills himself as the Mental Skills coach for the Pirates organization, is meeting with the pitching staff as this gets typed.” Chuck Finder, Post-Gazette, at 8:51 AM Saturday morning before they walked eight batters, hit two more, and threw to wrong bags, failed to properly advance on base running plays, and a host of other calamities.
What the players probably said was, hey, you got me out of bed two hours early for this crap? Take this! Ball one, ball two, ball three, ball four..
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Here’s the play-by-play file for this game: 3-10-2009
Here’s a little clip of the Sanchez/Russell action in the 5th: Sanchez tossed (5 min mark).
– start game blog –
I’ll be live blogging the first few innings today against the Yankees short squad which is pretty short on talent.
Top 1st
Ohlendorf in against his old club (not walked a batter yet in the spring) — Cabrera LHB 0-1 called, 1-1, 1-2 foul, 2-2 low, gb over mound Wilson throws him out; Swisher LHB 1-0 low, 2-0 outside, LD RCF Salazar late jump left feet dove and got it; Teixeira LHB 0-1 called, 0-2 called, 1-2 bounced 10′ in front of plate, 2-2 in dirt, 2-2 foul tip, 2-3 swing n miss (change?) 14 P, 1-2-3
Bot 1st
Hughes in — Morgan (he’s bunt back to the pitcher in two of the last three games he’s been in – poor bunts) 0-1 called, FB RF leadoff HR (wind aided – 15 mph wind blowing straight out) (jeez, nice to see our leadoff guy swinging for the fences?????); 0-1 called, 1-1 low, 2-1, 2-2 foul, 2-2 foul late swing, FB shallow LF out; McLouth 1-0 away, 1-1 called, 2-1, 2-2 foul, 2-3 swing n miss bat leaves his hand and sails toward SS; Doumit 1-0, FB HR crushed “WAYYY GONE” per Brown; LaRoche 1-0, 2-0 in dirt, 3-0, 3-1 called, 3-2 called LaRoche backs out of box slow as if to tell ump that was a ball, 3-3 called
Everybody swinging for the fences again which is exactly what has killed us the last three/four years coming out of ST.
Top 2cd
Ohlendorf in — Posada LHB 1-0 in dirt, pop up 3B; Jackson (2A guy) 1-0, 1-1 foul, 2-1 low/away, gb 3B Walker (dad in seats) nice backhanded swipe behind bag slow enough for him to be waiting on the bounce he wanted then threw rocket to get Jackson; Cash 0-1 foul, gb 3B; 8 P/22 Total 1-2-3
Bot 2cd
Hughes in — Monroe 0-1 foul, 1-1 away, 2-1 check swing up, 3-1 low, pop up foul catcher; Salazar 1-0 low, 1-1 called, gb to mound; Walker LHB 0-1 called, 1-1, 1-2 curve, (Blass says Healey has generous zone today) 1-2 foul, 2-2, 3-2 away, 3-2 foul, 4-2 curve missed away; Wilson (will he carelessly swing first pitch in zone again?) 1-0 high, throw to first, pop up 1B (yup, he did.. get him out of here Neal)
Top 3rd
Ohlendorf in — Bernier (minor league FA signing) RHB 0-1 called, 0-2 foul, 1-2 low/dirt, 2-2 bounced to the plate, 3-2 up/away, HBP(?) no went off his bat handle getting out of way foul, LD CF out; Russo (3A guy) 0-1 called, 1-1 away, 1-2 foul, 2-2 inside, gb SS; Pena 0-1 called, 0-2, pop up CF; 15 P/37 total 1-2-3
Bot 3rd
Hughes in (throwing tons of hooks today – must be working on that pitch) — Morgan 1-0 showed bunt, 2-0 showed bunt, 2-1 showed bunt, 3-1 showed bunt, 4-1 leadoff free pass; Sanchez, throw to first, 1st P gb 3B Russo bobbles it but he gets Sanchez for one out – Morgan safe at 2B (thankfully); McLouth 1-0 low, 1-1 called, 2-1, 2-2 heater high, little tapper Hughes throws him out, Morgan to 3B; Doumit 1-0, 2-0 high, Cash out to talk to Hughes, 3-0 check swing, 4-0 (probably handed to him); LaRoche 1-0 high, 2-0 in dirt blocked by Cash, gb Bernier diving stop robs LaRoche of a hit
Top 4th
Ohlendorf in, 2cd time thru lineup — Cabrera 1-0, 2-0, 2-1 called, 2-2 foul, 3-2 high, 3-2 foul, gb SS deep out smoked; Swisher 1-0 low, 2-0 in dirt, 2-1 changeup swing and miss, popup foul near wall foul Morgan gets to it for out; Teixeira 1-0, 2-0, (lots of 2-0 counts), 2-1 foul, 2-2 foul, 3-2 low, 3-3 called painted Teixeira starts to head to first but is rung up. 17 P/54 P total 1-2-3 — now 12 straight set down but some balls in play hit hard we had to offer up some decent D on.
Bot 4th
Albaladejo in Hughes out — Monroe (?? I was getting sandwich) out; Salazar 0-1 called, 1-1, gb 2B; Walker 1-0, 1-1 foul, 1-2 foul, FB LF carried by wind to track;
By Jake, on March 12, 2009, at 12:42 pm | Comments are closed
Craig Monroe put on a show Thursday against his former club with three home runs. That’s good stuff but it’s going to take a lot more than 20 mph winds and a burning desire for a little payback for Monroe to play full-time.
We can’t lose sight of the fact that his power doesn’t translate well on paper at PNC where his playing LF could be more of comedy act than with Morgan. That leaves him as a road warrior and, unfortunately, in a platoon with Morgan. Perhaps Monroe starts more than we think then Morgan comes in as a “defensive” replacement? Ughh..
Still, the Twins announcers today said the same thing a few others have echoed about Monroe – he looks slimmer, faster, and seems to be more hungry than when the Twins released him in 2007. Not having a job can do that to a guy I suppose.
So I’m guessing he becomes the “big right hand bat off the bench” utility corner OF who will spell Morgan as much as his bat – and defense – will allow. And not much more. It’s a good story developing though.. a good story.
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Vasquez’s work didn’t excite my senses despite his good line. He was too textbook in my opinion and even I was sitting at home correctly guessing pitch types and locations. And it’s more than that.. the type of fouls, the quality of balls put in play.. just a few hints suggest he’s going to get hammered by good MLB hitters unless he’s throwing with more stuff than I’ve heard about, or he used Thursday.
Sure, the long bombs we hit out of the park look nice on paper.. home runs are sexy even in the spring. But what bothered me more about the long balls was that everyone seemed to be swinging for the fences probably as a result of seeing the ball carry so well in the drier winds blowing straight out during batting practice.
Not an impressive win by any means, but does it really matter? No, of course not.
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Dumatrait shut down. I suspected in my February 18th post that they were pushing the kid too fast. So good, they finally shut him down and will let him heal before starting him up again. That’s what they should have done a month ago.
But that now begs the question, who is going to be our fifth starter? Probably better put, who are our third, fourth, and fifth starters? We have some real problems brewing.
Karstens hasn’t fooled anyone in quite some time and most of the NLCD rosters eat average fastball/changeup guys for dinner so he’s not going to be much help unless his excuse is his shoulder; Ohlendorf might as well start in 3A as bad as he looks early; Dumatrait is shut down; Gorzelanny can’t find the plate and is getting hit hard early this spring; Davis is a joke; Snell might be able to get some batters out but he’s been getting hit hard in the league the last 18 months; and Barthmaier has a tick of upside potential but a long, long way to go.
So who does that leave?
Duke, who like Snell gets mauled but tends to keep the ball in the park unlike Snell, and Maholm.
It’s the same problem we had starting last year even though we thought Maholm and Gorzy gave us two guys to count on. Now it’s just one, and we didn’t address the need during the off season. Perhaps we’ll find a few castoffs here shortly? I can’t wait to see who they might be.
Our starting pitching is a much bigger problem than the fans realize. Then we have to consider we have guys like Meek and Bootcheck close to making the pen that also holds guys like Burnett. Oh man..
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Shelby Ford out with a bruised wrist. Poor kid just can’t stay healthy.
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Nice article on McCutchen, Alvarez, and Tabata at USA Today.
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Dave Cameron wrote about the Pirates at Fan Graphs and although I generally enjoy Dave’s work, he bombed on this one. In his opening paragraph he said:
“Under the old Kevin McClatchy regime, the Pirates were about as poorly run as any team in baseball… It will take a while to undo the disaster that was the McClatchy era, but the new ownership group is on the right path. “
Obviously Dave doesn’t know much about the Bucs because “the old Kevin McClatchy regime” had Bob Nutting as Chairman of the Board since early 2003 so Kevin enjoyed his position only because Bob and the Board allowed him to. Plus, ”the new ownership group” is, in fact, pretty much the old ownership group of the last six years plus or minus a few meaningless limited partners.
BTW Dave, it’s not “Neil Huntington” it’s Neal Huntington. Anyway, Cameron went on to say:
“[Huntington] has worked extensively to upgrade the Pirates decision making processes. From hiring analysts like Dan Fox to modernizing the databases they have to compile information, Pittsburgh made a 180 degree turn from where they were under previous administrations.”
Puh-lease. First of all, Huntington lost guys like Beam who still had options, traded away guys like Torres for cans of beans, and is still holding on to guys like Wilson. I’m not so sure that’s an upgrade in “the decision making process” but, whatever.
And Dan Fox isn’t an analyst. Dan Fox is a systems development admin who, perhaps, has a small voice in the front office think tank, but Eddie Epstein is the club’s consulting analyst. Plus, a “180 degree turn” is a radical statement.. the Pirates had ScoutAdvisor, Lotus Notes, and a few other systems in place.. it’s not like they didn’t have an adequate means of communication.. they just weren’t being used efficiently.
Instead, what they are building is a proprietary modeling/communication system built exclusively for the needs of the Pirates (as identified in-house) instead of using generic modeling/communications systems. It’s nothing new or revolutionary, and it’s certainly not a 180 degree turn.
Cameron then lists his observations of the farm and major league talent which is neither here nor there and then concludes the article saying:
“For Pirates fans, there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel… While the new ownership and organizational philosophies should eventually lead to the Pirates returning to respectability, they just don’t have a lot on hand to work with… But, with a strong blueprint in place, once they get good, they could stay good for quite a while.”
There’s light at the end of the tunnel which will eventually lead to a return of respectability even though we don’t have much to work with other than a blueprint which every other GM in Pittsburgh has had for centuries.
Wow.. not your best job Dave.
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How to singe your nose hairs in spring training, and other assorted Cubs junk:
– start live game blog –
Top 1st
Not an impressive Twins roster, just two projected starters – lineup also has 2 players not on their 40-man. 15 mph blowing straight out, gusts to 20, and a dry 60% humidity.
Vasquez (waiver claim) in — Span 1-0 low showed bunt, 2-0 inside, 2-1 outside, 2-2 foul, LD to SS out; Tolbert 1-0 low, 1-1 called, 2-1 low, 2-2 foul, 2-3 swing n miss up and away heat; Gomez 1-0 high, 1-1 foul, 1-2 called, gb SS.
Bot 1st
RHP Baker in – McLouth 1-0 low, 1-1 away, 2-1 painted didn’t get call, 3-1 low, 3-2 foul, FB LF out; Sanchez 0-1 at knees called, 0-2 foul, 0-2 foul, 0-2 foul, 0-3 swing n miss chasing off plate away; Doumit 1-0 low, gb 1B. 1-2-3
Top 2cd
Vasquez in working fast — Young 1-0 low and in, pop up 2B sawed him off; Valencia 1-0 away/low, 1-1 got call from ump painted away, 2-1 low, 2-2 called, LD CF single drops in front of McLouth; Peterson 0-1 foul, 1-1, LD smoked to 3B right to Walker – out – he tried double up didn’t get it; Macri 1-0 low/inside, 2-0, 3-0 high, 3-1 across plate, LD back up middle into CF single – runners 1st and 2cd; Ramos 1st P FB shallow RF
Bot 2cd
Baker in — Ad LaRoche 0-1 foul, FB LCF out; Monroe 1-0, FB HR crushed; Pearce 0-1 called, 0-2 called, LD double down LF line; Tabata 1-0, 2-0 away, 3-0, 4-0 4 pitch walk; Walker w/2 on – 0-1 called, 0-2 foul, 0-3 hook Walker watching it/bat on shoulders; Wilson 1-0, FB LF to warning track out (win blown). 1 run, 2 hits
By Jake, on March 11, 2009, at 12:05 pm | Comments are closed
As parodistically told to me today..
Sunday night we went clubbing in Tampa and drove a 1962 Ford Falcon owned by Steve Blass. It was a four door hardtop, the rear side windows were painted black, and the rear seat had been removed and a small couch was back there with those little plastic drink holders hanging on the doors. Ry drove because he said he liked the fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror.
After getting on the interstate we cranked up the music. Blass had a THX II 600 watt system with 16″ kickers in the trunk that would make your ears bleed if you went past three but the only tunes laying around were bands like Deep Purple and Uriah Heep. So we turned on the satellite radio and found something better.
Now you have to sit back and invision four guys decked out for clubbing in a ‘62 Falcon cruising down the interstate at 70 mph music blaring so loud we were bouncing up and down with the beat in the backseat couch and Ry punching the fuzzy dice like he was in the ring. It was too much.
Then, it happened.
One of the dice broke open at the seam and a baggie popped out. Zach grabbed the baggie and opened it up, took a whiff, and proclaimed it the best Colombian bud he’d ever smelled. And the four or five buds in the bag were like, you know, huge and had these dark red veins running down the side. We marveled at the idea Blass had this sort of stash but after a few minutes we got scared knowing that there must be 100 cops on I-275 between Bradenton and Tampa.
So what could we do with this stuff?
There was just too much traffic on the road so we decided against throwing it out the window and we thought about stopping on the side of the road and heaving it but we saw too many cameras up and down the highway.
So we decided to smoke it. Like, what better way was there to get rid of it anyway?
On the dash was a button labeled “Goldfish Resuscitator” so Zach pushed it and out of the trunk area came this huge five-gallon figal. You know, the kind Coke or Pepsi used to put syrup in? But it wasn’t just a figal.. one of the two ends where you connect the syrup lines had a huge bowl attached to it and the other end had six clear 3/8″ gas line hoses attached. I opened the center and took a whiff inside and I swear the liquid was Scotch or something.
All of a sudden Nyjer says – I know what to do. He took the buds and put them in the bowl, he told Zach to flip the “on” switch below the Goldfish Resuscitator button which caused some kind of motor to start, Morgan put a fire to the buds and all of a sudden smoke was pouring out of the six hoses like we were on fire or something.
With all the windows rolled up and this weird floorboard mounted air conditioner barely throwing out air, the inside of the car became so foggy, so fast, Ry couldn’t even see the road. After a minute or so of shock, Zach flipped off the “on” button and the smoke stopped pouring out of the hoses.
Morgan then yelled – DON’T OPEN THE WINDOWS!
We were in St. Petersburg now at the 54th Street exit and there was a roadblock on the off ramp and probably 20 cops there. I could hear Zach saying some prayer to Mary and Ry saying that he hoped the cops thought the Falcon had an oil lead from all the smoke we were leaving behind.
But we made it.
We rolled the windows down and the smoke finally cleared, Ry pushed the Goldfish Resuscitator button and the figal went back into the trunk, and we turned the music off and all thanked God we were ok. It was the most bizarre thing I had ever been through in my life.
Needless to say, clubbing was a gas that night.
The next day the “White Knight” was in interviewing Ryan when all of a sudden we heard him say real loud:
“Dude, there’s a buzz here.”
“I don’t know. There just is, I’m telling you. It’s a positive buzz.”
Those that had the 411 in the clubhouse were rolling on the floor in laughter.
Then we heard Huntington tell the reporter:
“We’re building on the energy, passion that the staff brings,” Huntington said. “There is attention to detail, focus and … the non-acceptance of the idea that we’re just getting our work in. We’re getting quality work in.”
And reality settled back in – we were playing baseball on a 100 loss club with a bunch of Ivy League front office types who wore their pants higher than my mom does and everyone of them thinking they knew more about us than we did.
Word on the street is that the Pirates might be getting some phone calls about Freddy Sanchez. We’ll see if it goes anywhere.
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Don’t forget to enter your estimate of the Pirates win/loss record in our CONTESTS!. You just might win some cash.
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I’ve shut down the forum because there are just too many out there and too few were using it. I’ll keep the scripts around in case we need to fire it back up another day.
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Our production against opposing starting pitching so far:
13 G
29 IP
28 H
7 R (4 in one game)
4 ER
8 BB
23 K
2 HR
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Observations about today’s game before you read the live game blog below. One, we made plays on defense we typically wouldn’t have made and that’s good news.
Maholm pitched well but I’m not so sure if it was because Maholm was on or the Jays batters were off. I did notice we started to go back to old habits calling games which resulted in a few hard hit balls but it was nice to see the plan quickly change up when it was obvious the Jays were reading it so well. Still, I can’t help wondering what would happen if Maholm opened against the Cubs or Cards throwing as many first pitch strikes?
Perry Hill’s work is already starting to show up as evidenced the last few games. Ford is a rangy guy and I expect him to get to balls a bit better than Sanchez plus he has a better arm and can play a bit deeper, but he’s still raw. Exciting, but raw.. maybe one more solid year of development and he could be a lock for 2010.
I continue to worry about McCutchen still in the ML camp. I realize that’s the “appropriate” thing to do considering his status but I don’t like the way he’s handling a bat and I think he’s going to lose some confidence here pretty soon if he stays up and the arms get warmer and warmer. But how does Huntington send him back down without sending Tabata and Ford too? Tough, tough decision, but one that needs to be made before we lose him.
– start live game blog –
I’ll try to keep up with the first few innings. Lots of speed in our away game lineup today and the Jays are starting just three of their projected opening day guys but are fielding a solid group.
Top 1st
Halladay in — Morgan 0-1, 1-1 away, gb 2B out; McCutchen 0-1, 1-1 away, gb over 3b bag all the way into corner for double; McLouth 0-1, 1-1 low, 2-1 away, 2-2 backdoor curve swung missed, same curve just missed 3-2, 4-2 away off plate and Doc is looking in at ump; men 1B & 2B Ad LaRoche 1st P gb 1B over bag stopped by Overbay and gets out at first – runners advance; Monroe 0-1 foul, 1-1 low hook, 1-2 looking, 2-2 heater high, 3-2 away, 3-3 swing and miss cut fastball.
Bot 1st
Maholm in — McDonald 0-1 heater, gb ‘tweener that An LaRoche dove for and it went off his glove (it was Cruz’s ball and he was in position to make out); Hill sac bunt moves McDonald (why sac bunt so early with our roster??); Lind 0-1 looking, 0-2 swing and miss, gb ss he gets out at first and McDonald moves up to 3rd with 2 outs; Millar 1-0 high, 1-1 foul, 1-2 foul off Jaramillo’s mask and he’s shaking out the cob webs, 2-2 high, 3-2 in dirt, 3-3 strikeout looking at knees painted on the black. 12 P
top 2cd
Halladay in — An LaRoche 0-1 inside looking, 1-1 high, 1-2 called, 2-2 away, gb SS out; Ford 0-1 looking, 1-1 low, 1-2 foul, 2-2 high, 3-2 hook away off plate, gb2b to Lind deep in hole spun and threw on grass and he throws Ford out; LHB Laramillo 1-0, 1-1 foul, gb 2B out.
Not one ball out of the infield other than McCutchen’s gb over 3B bag. Nice to hear us working counts and laying off tough pitches though.
Bot 2cd
Maholm in — LHB Overbay 1st P LD LF two hopper to Morgan single; Lane deep FB RF 1st P out; Snider 1-0 down/away, LD LF one hopper to Morgan single Overbay holds at 2cd; Barrett 0-1 called, 0-2 slow hook called, gb 2b Ford to Cruz to 1B DP. Very nice. 7 P
Top 3rd
Halladay in — Cruz 1-0, gb SS out; Morgan bunt back to mound easy out (so much for working counts); McCutchen 0-1 cutter away at knees looking, 1-1 hook too low, 2-1 away offspeed, 2-2 change swing and miss, 2-2 little nubber foul, 2-3 called heater down pike.
Bot 3rd
Maholm in starts with 20th pitch — LHB Campbell 1-0 inside, gb 1b – broken bat – out; McDonald 0-1 looking, 0-2 foul, 1-2 high over McDonald’s head, 1-3 changeup swing and missed in dirt and throw to first for out; Hill 0-1 away looking, 1-1, 2-1 high heat, 2-2 looking offspeed at knees away, gb 3b backhanded by An LaRoche and he throws off his heels to just get Hill. Nice stuff. 11 P/30 total
Top 4th
Halladay in — McLouth 1-0 hook low, pop up 2B out (first in air – still none out of infield); Ad LaRoche 0-1 inside, 1-1 hook inside, 2-1 hook low, 2-2 foul, 2-3 swinging at high heat; Monroe 1-0 two-seamer inside, 1-1 foul offspeed, 1-2 heater foul tip caught, 2-2 offspeed away, 2-3 looking painted inside. 11 straight retired.
Bot 4th
Maholm in, and typically his get hit hard inning – Lind 0-1 looking, gb up middle 2B side where Ford gets to it backhanding it then flipped to Cruz and he threw out Lind; WOW shades of Jose Castillo; Millar 0-1, 1-1 low, 2-1 high, 2-2 foul, FB RF to Cutch; Overbay 0-1 looking, gb 1B backhanded by Ad LaRoche out. 9 P/39 count
Top 5th
BJ Ryan in for Jays — An LaRoche leading off 2cd time, 1-0 low, 2-0, 3-0 low, 4-0 four pitch walk (Ryan has had command problems so far in the spring); Ford 0-1 looking, 1-1 low, 1-2 slider looking, 2-2 Ford held up/check swing, 3-2 low, 3-2 foul hanging in, 3-3 looking cut fastball at knees (ouch); Jaramillo 0-1 called, 1-1 bounced to plate, 2-1 low, pop up LF shallow; Cruz, throw 1st, 1-0 heater away, 1-1 foul, 1-2 looking, (swing the dang bats guys), pop up 2B.
Bot 5th
Karstens in — Lane FB CF; Snider 1-0 away, 1-1 looking, 1-2 swing and miss change, 1-3 swing and miss on change; Barrett 0-1 called, FB RF McCutchen with over the shoulder catch on the run. Whew. We got ‘da “D” baby, got ‘da “D”
Top 6th
Southpaw Perez (24 yr old kid, 1A FSL player) in — Morgan 1-0 away, 2-0, 3-0 inside, 4-0 four pitch walk; McCutchen Morgan off on first move 0-1 safe at second, 0-2 called, 0-3 hook swing and miss (I hate to see the young Cutch have to watch pitches on Morgan running); McLouth 0-1, 0-2 foul, gb 1B out, Morgan to 3rd; Ad LaRoche 0-1 called, 1-1 low, 2-1 inside, gb up middle through to CF scoring Morgan from his leadoff walk; Monroe 0-1, 1-1, 1-2 foul, gb SS.
Hey, we picked the kid’s pocket then scored on him. Shame on us.
By Jake, on March 11, 2009, at 12:37 am | Comments are closed
So what do we talk about today.. the fact poor Barthmaier has faced the best lineups and smoked as a result? That five of the ten home runs we’ve allowed have come off our southpaws with Gorzy and Burnett leading the way with 1 every 3 innings thrown? Maybe how well Capps is doing blowing away all the 2A players? Or Adam LaRoche’s near 50% K-rate? Or that Morgan’s number of times caught stealing and strikeouts combined almost equals the number of hits he has?
Maybe instead we should focus on the 4A/fringy MLB players trying to make the club and how they can help us take that next step forward in 2009. Naw.. that’s too depressing.
How about some fun facts instead?
Through Monday’s games, Andy LaRoche leads all NL hitters in on-base percentage at .625, is second in the NL to the Brewers Brad Nelson in batting average at .556, and is eighth in the league in slugging at .722. Now that’s a feel-good story developing.
And how about Andrew McCutchen who is second in the league to Mr. Pujols in walks with 7 and third in runs scored with 8? That’s another feel-good story even though he has the 16th highest number of at bats so far. Oh, leading the NL in runs scored is… Garrett Jones. I bet you knew that.
Unfortunately we don’t have any ranked high in doubles, triples, or home runs, but hey, we’ll just blame that on the Arizona heat and move on before we start to lose the feel-good groove we’re in.
Now if you knew this fact you are a true-blue Bucco fan.. Sean Burnett and Don (Donnie?) (Donald?) (Donny?) Veal lead the NL in wins tied with five other players.
The club that has allowed the most appearances by an individual pitcher? Yep, Pittsburgh.. Bootcheck, Hansen, and Meek are running away with that title with six outings each.. in twelve games no less. Hmm..
Strikeouts? Jesse Chavez’s heat is making Matt Capps look bad.. he’s third in the NL in strikeouts having fanned 9 of the 17 batters who stepped in the box. Impressive even though he’ll probably never be anything more than a right hand specialist down the road.
And we can’t forget Meek whose three saves tops the NL tied with the Nats Colome.
Lastly, we’re 4-1 in one-run games which is also encouraging.
Sure, all of these feel-good stories are meaningless right now but still fun to look at. Things are going to start getting a bit more serious over the next week to ten days so we’ll come back to this then.
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Shhh.. the Cubs are 0-3 against southpaw starters in ST play. Ok, not THE Cubs but you get the idea.
I don’t think the Astros are as lost a club as everyone is making them out to be. They always roll out of the gate clueless and emotionless and come roaring back. Don’t count them out quite yet even though they have a lot of problems.
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E-mail from Vegas today.. my stat man out there says the Bucs will go 74-88, +/- 2.
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Strasburg is sick.. 45 strikeouts in three starts? Unbelievable. And look who is right behind him.. Alex Wilson, the Hurricane, WV, arm that the Cubs drafted last year (he had TJ surgery in 2007). Big man Kyle Gibson has 27 K’s in 21 IP and is probably worth keeping at least one eye on. Alex White is also off to a good start (he’s a very, very good pitcher), AZ’s Mike Leake is turning some heads, as is Baylor’s Kendal Volz.
Bryce Massanari, a very big catcher out of Georgia, is also doing well. Remember his name although he may never stick behind the dish.
“Wheeling’s first family of obsessive greed, public opinion manipulation and sanctimonious, hypocritical and archaic standard operating procedures – the Nuttings – remain as elusive, nomadic and mysterious as ever. In fact, I’d say the vast majority of Ohio Valley residents don’t even know the faces of these penny-pinching power brokers who mold your minds daily through their local newspapers and bleed you dry if you can stomach a day at the old ballpark in Pittsburgh…
The five Nuttings are: Robert M., second-born son and chief executive of everything called Ogden or Nutting. He’s affectionately known as “The Smart-Ass Little Prick Bastard of 1500 Main Street.” Friends also call him “Der Commissar,” “El Diablo,” “Attila the Nutting” and “Bob Mexico.”
It goes on and on.. evidently written by a former employee of Ogden Newspapers, not Steve Novotney.
How I missed that work of art is beyond me.
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Speaking of penny-pinching, it looks like Ogden Newspapers has cut the pay of their salaried employees 6% at one of their entities. I wonder if those cuts had anything to do with ole Bob having to cover his ass with Bud Selig from one of his newspapers running this editorial cartoon February 26, 2009, in the Lahaina News – a weekly paper in Hawaii owned by Ogden Newspapers:
This article at Pam’s House Blend (R-rated warning if you click the link to her Pittsburgh blog), which caught the publication of the cartoon, goes on to mention:
Father Bill Albinger, pastor of Holy Innocents Episcopal Church in Lahaina, has this to share: “The apology is totally inadequate and shows that either they still just don’t get it – that portraying gay couples either marrying or enter civil unions as a wedding between a male human being and a sheep is dehumanizing and denigrating – is a bit more than “offending some community sensibilities”. I don’t know if the blame is on the editor or the publisher for picking the cartoonist, running that cartoon, and issuing such a weak response to community outrage.”
My-oh-my.. I stopped digging for Robert Nutting news right there. And this guy is the majority owner of the Pirates… wow.
