Official Spring Training Thread

[Illinest]

Our roster is filled with shit mags. If karstens, morton, bedard, burnett, and mcdonald pitch like champions then we have a chance. I think the team will live or die by the starters ability to keep scores down and last seven innings. Since the starters are getting pulled after 2 or 3, we are pretty much destined to lose most ST games.

 

[thedddd]

Today was a telling sign. Not one starter had a hit and that included all of them except Tabata and Barajas. Vance Worley made them look bad with 4 IP's, no hits and 8 k's.

The good news is Morton didn't look awful.

Honestly the Starting Pitching hasn't looked that bad outside of Reyes and McDonald. The suspect part has been the pitchers out of the bullpen and for the most part the ones with bad numbers probably won't make the club with the exception of Meek.

 

[magnumo]

Starting to Smell Like 2009-2010

The Pirates had a bad year in 2009, at 62-99 (.385)..... but they were significantly worse after the break that year, at 24-49 (.329). Then they went 7-21 (.250) during Spring Training before the 2010 season..... a continuation of their lousy play during the second half of 2009. Their play during the 2nd half of 2009, PLUS their performance during 2010 Spring Training, accurately predicted their putrid 2010 season..... at 57-105 (.352).

Skip one year ahead to 2011. Unfortunately, the Pirates were awful after the break, at 25-47 (.347)..... very similar to the 2nd half of 2009. After the first 10 games of Spring Training, they are extending that futility at 3-7 (.300). They NEED to get into the habit of winning more games.

I agree with thedddd that the starting pitchers have looked decent (and I believe that good pitching can overcome other roster deficiencies). On the other hand, if the team doesn't show significant improvement (in terms of wins and losses) by the end of Spring Training, I will be VERY concerned about the 2012 season.

I'm on record in the predictions thread at 66-96, but if the Pirates continue their lousy won-lost record till the end of Spring Training, I will lower that prediction before the regular season begins. In seasons past, I have overestimated their performance in EVERY annual contest..... or I could say that the Pirates underperformed my prediction each year.

At any rate, I'm gonna make sure that doesn't happen in 2012.

 

[evolver115]

Kovacevic: Pirates invest in a new day - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
great article by Dejan about the big 3 of the future

 

[smokeyburgess]

I think we need to check with Alan Iverson on this. "Spring training? Spring training? I mean, we're talking about Spring training. Not the regular season. Spring training."

There might be some relationship between ST performance and that of the regular season, but IMO it isn't usually significant. Starters pitch three innnings, minor leaguers dilute the lineup, players experiment with different ways of doing things, etc., etc., etc.

And I'm sure we can find several examples of teams doing poorly in ST and then having a good season or vice versa, so the Pirates' recent history is not definitive.

I don't blame you for being negative, Mags, but do you really think our beloved Buccos will do worse than 66-96 if they don't close out their exhibition schedule in better fashion? As beaten down as I've been over this team for so many years now, I think a combination of better defense and starting pitching, plus the continued development of some of the youngsters, will result in the Bucs ALMOST reaching the .500 mark this year
(I think my precition is 79-83).

But I've been wrong before.....

 

[magnumo]

I don't blame you for being negative, Mags, but do you really think our beloved Buccos will do worse than 66-96 if they don't close out their exhibition schedule in better fashion? As beaten down as I've been over this team for so many years now, I think a combination of better defense and starting pitching, plus the continued development of some of the youngsters, will result in the Bucs ALMOST reaching the .500 mark this year
(I think my precition is 79-83).

But I've been wrong before.....

Yes, I do, smokey. Before they picked up Bedard and Burnett, I had the Pirates pegged for another 100+ loss season. The additions to the rotation got me UP to 66-96. Now, with Burnett hurt, and the team continuing their awful performance from the 2nd half of last year, I'll move back into that 100+ territory..... UNLESS they do something to convince me otherwise.

I've been wrong before, as well, and I hope I'm wrong this time.

 

[Darkstone42]

Kovacevic: Pirates invest in a new day - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
great article by Dejan about the big 3 of the future

Encouraging stuff on both Cole and Heredia in that article.

 

[element1286]

Wow, 6'7" 220 is unreal for a 17 year old.

 

[Darkstone42]

Wow, 6'7" 220 is unreal for a 17 year old.

So is 98 mph.

 

[thedddd]

Heredia will be found to be 21 here in a few days with the real name Juan Pablo Martinez.
Sorry had to go there...

Seriously though that is unreal and if all is true that is great news for the Pirates.

 

[Darkstone42]

Just because we're Pirate fans, I feel the need to convey this message:

Be positive!

 

[thecrow124]

Encouraging stuff on both Cole and Heredia in that article.

That article doesn't even mention Stetson Allie who, to my surprise, has seen huge improvements over the winter. Tim Williams at Pirates Prospects said he was the most impressive player so far in spring training. If I remember correctly he is sitting 94-96, and is actually in the strike zone most of the time.

 

[thecrow124]

Marte wasn't in the first round of cuts. Probably means nothing, but I was under the impression he would be an early cut.

 

[thedddd]

Marte wasn't in the first round of cuts. Probably means nothing, but I was under the impression he would be an early cut.

Honestly I didn't think he would be part due to how well he is playing. I bet he stays until the end now so they can get a longer look at him.

Here are the 10 cuts:
d'Arnaud
Welker
Locke
Owens
Crotta
Kensing
Tony Sanchez
Ramon Cabrera
Robbie Grossman
and Anderson Hernandez.

Not really surprised by any of them. The articles out seem to be making a bigger deal out of d'Arnaud but really he is pretty far down on the depth right now.

 

[element1286]

Marte wasn't in the first round of cuts. Probably means nothing, but I was under the impression he would be an early cut.

Considering he is going to be at AAA, it makes sense that they keep him around no matter how well he is playing.

 

[magnumo]

I gotta say that the Pirate wins in the past two games have been encouraging..... and have given me a small bump of optimism.

Hey, I KNOW the samples are small..... and I KNOW that it's still early in ST..... but winning is a whole lot more encouraging than losing.

And it's great to see Hague continue to hit (even though Huntington was recently quoted to the effect that he has no chance to be part of the 1B platoon). I will continue to believe that Hague deserves a chance..... until he's given a chance and blows it. What did Hurdle call him? .....a "hit collector," I believe. His swing looks really good to me.

 

[Burgh Sports Rule]

With the 3 - 2 win today over the Phils, that's 3 straight wins for the Bucs!

3 straight very impressive wins at that. I had heard that Marte had homered again as well. Off of Cliff Lee no less, is that right?

Speaks well for the future. I guess the Pirates are taking the right path not to rush Marte, but Damn, he looks good & man, would I like to see him make this team!

I agree with Mags as well, in that I would love to see Matt Hague get a shot to make this team too.

I remain excited about the prospects for the season for this club.

Burgh.

 

[Darkstone42]

Winning is good.


Hopefully the taste of first place last year coupled with the bitter finish to the season will provide some extra drive for these young guys, who already probably feel like they have a lot to prove. Which they do.

Last year, we got off to a great start. This year, we need to do that again, but we also need to finish. And I'm hoping that's something which will happen as these players grow as individuals and as a team, and I'm hoping they grow a lot this year.

 

[Darkstone42]

Correia's apparently thrown nine consecutive scoreless innings.

We could use another strong start from him while Burnett's out.

 

[Darkstone42]

The Pirates are just about .500 now at 6-7, so for those of you who concern yourselves with W-L in spring training, it seems to be getting better.

Consequently, I'm getting really excited about the season.