Morton gone with TJ surgery

[sychmd]

hopefully that explains his demise since 5/1 and will allow him to come back 6/1/13 and be our #5 in 14 when we get the other 2 studs on deck.

bad break, but an opening for someone else

1. mcdonald
2. burnett
3. bedard
4. karstens
5. not lincoln, correia
5. owens, reyes, locke, slaten, leroux (start the auditions for next years rotation)

what is the soonest we will see cole. will it be before 9/1 this year?

2013
mcdonald, burnett(barring blockbuster trade), karstens, cole, owens, morton

2014
mcdonald, cole, karstens, owens, taillon, morton

 

[magnumo]

Damn shame about Morton..... but not too surprising. Serious hip surgery can cause a guy to alter his arm motion, over-compensate, whatever, putting an unusual and unprecedented strain on his arm. On the other hand, perhaps there was no cause-and-effect there whatsoever..... perhaps just a coincidence.

The Morton situation definitely hurts my confidence for the rest of 2012, since I was looking forward to Karstens and Morton replacing Correia and Lincoln in the rotation. Longer term, I see a much higher probability of success for Lincoln in the bullpen, rather than as a starter. He's a two-pitch guy (no viable change-up) who shows better velocity out of the pen. Correia..... well..... he was never more than a stop-gap, in my opinion..... but I guess there MIGHT be worse 5th starters out there.

I agree with your notion of starting auditions for next year's rotation. Unfortunately, many Pirate fans will not, and I gotta feeling that Huntington won't do anything like that as long as the Pirates seem to be competitive.

Of the guys you mentioned, Owens would be my first choice..... but he's the kind of pitcher whom I expect to take some lumps before possibly settling in. Reyes has failed in some previous attempts..... but what the heck. Locke seems to have some potential. I don't see Slaten as a starting candidate. Leroux is perhaps the most intriguing guy on your list..... but I don't see him as a near-term possibility. He needs to be stretched out first, and the Pirates have indicated in the past a reluctance to project him as a starter.

I've seen some recent reports of Rick VandenHurk as a possibility. He was picked up by Indy fairly recently and has been impressive in 4 starts. He's 27, born in the Netherlands, and previously had several trials with Florida. His career doesn't look all that great, but his small sample at Indy this year is outstanding:

BaseballAmerica.com: Stats: Rick VandenHurk

I don't see Cole (or Taillon) with the Pirates this year, even after rosters expand on September 1. At this point, I'm just hoping that Karstens can return and pitch effectively.

One final thought: I'm guessing that Morton is no sure thing to be tendered a contract for 2013. He'll be arb-3 in 2013, which means the Pirates might not be willing to pay him "big bucks" and thus guarantee him a roster spot when he returns. (Morton is making close to $2.5 mill as an arb-2 this season.) Damn shame about Morton, indeed.

 

[Darkstone42]

Losing Morton does put a big damper on the season. Having to suffer through Lincoln and/or Correia long-term this year will be painful, so hopefully a guy like Owens or Locke (who are the only two I could conceivably see coming up right now and contributing) can help us out.

I actually see both of those guys as Paul Maholm types, so if one or both of them could come up and pitch around that level, it would be very good for the team going forward. Though when Karstens gets back and settles into that #4 spot, and Correia is back to being #5, it might be manageable without help from Locke or Owens.

 

[Etrius24]

I am still hoping that Correia can iron out the kinks and give us his best impersonation of himself from a year ago...

that is what I am hoping for at least... I think they should move Lincoln back to the long relief swing role ...He seemed to be getting the job done there... Let's at least put him somewhere that he can be effective for the team.