Who's heading North? Spring Training begins.

[element1286]

And looking at the numbers this spring, we all know the issues with Alvarez (from what I heard he is still swinging like he is using an aluminum bat) but is anyone concerned about the lack of power/gap power by Tabata?

I haven't watched closely enough to know but his OBP is .317 and his slugging is .375. Not going to complain that he is getting on base at the top of the order but if it is all weak hits that won't last long.

Tabata needs to do a better job of using the whole field, he is too much to the middle and to right field. He hits the ball hard regularly, but its too easy to play defense against him.

 

[magnumo]

A Few Thoughts.....

- Since NH has named Alvarez to the 25-man roster DESPITE his putrid spring, I see ZERO chance that the Pirates will pursue Mark Reynolds..... especially since they alread have McGehee as the contingency plan for 3B.

- Since NH has named Alvarez to the 25-man roster, Matt Hague is likely toast, especially since he has options. Here we have a guy who has hit at every level in the minors and has hit well this spring..... and has EARNED a spot. Meanwhile Alvarez is given a scholarship. From my perspective, that earns Huntington yet another big BOOO-HISSS.

- This team cannot emulate an 80's style Cardinals team. Speed is pretty much limited to the 3 outfielders. Team OBP probably will take a hit (from a not-so-good performance in 2011) due to the players brought in by Huntington. Look at the 2011 OBP's of the position players who figure to be starters:

.364 - McCutchen CF
.349 - Tabata RF
.339 - Presley LF
.334 - Walker 2B
.321 - Jones 1B
.312 - Barmes SS
.287 - Barajas C
.280 - McGehee 1B-3B
.272 - Alvarez 3B

Those are NOT good OBP numbers, especially beyond the three young outfielders. Then add the 2011 major league OBP numbers of the most likely bench players (three of these guys won't make it..... which will they be?):

.344 - McLouth
.314 - Evans
.313 - Fox
.281 - Harrison
.276 - McKenry
???? - Navarro
???? - Hague

For reference only, here are the position players (30 or more at bats) who are no longer with the team, along with their 2011 OBP's as Pirates:

.398 - Lee
.376 - Snyder
.356 - Jaramillo
.353 - Doumit
.341 - Ludwick
.324 - Ciriaco
.303 - Diaz
.300 - Overbay
.297 - Cedeno
.293 - Paul
.277 - Wood
.260 - Pearce
.242 - d'Arnaud (still in the Pirates' system at AAA)

 

[magnumo]

Hmmm..... back in the lineup for tonight's loss against the Orioles, Pedro Alvarez went 2 for 3. That's 2 strikeouts in 3 at bats.

 

[element1286]

Hmmm..... back in the lineup for tonight's loss against the Orioles, Pedro Alvarez went 2 for 3. That's 2 strikeouts in 3 at bats.

Pedro can't catch a break; 2nd ab, the count is 3-2 and ump calls a curve at his neck a strike.

 

[Illinest]

On the other hand hague hit his sixth homerun. Let the hot hand play!

 

[magnumo]

Things continue to clarify.....

.....with Lincoln and D. McCutchen having been optioned to Indianapolis.

By my count, that leaves 28 players on the active roster, counting A. J. Burnett, but NOT counting Juan Cruz. I'm guessing that Burnett will start the season on the 15-day DL, which (barring additional trades) means 3 cuts before the regular season starts, and then 2 more when Morton and Burnett come off the DL.

Players on the bubble are:

Bullpen: Hughes, Leroux, Moskos
Bench: Harrison, Navarro, Hague

At this point, I'm guessing that Hughes and Moskos will be optioned to start the season..... leaving Leroux with the Pirates on a short leash. He has no options remaining.

I'm guessing that Hague will be optioned as well, despite his outstanding spring performance. The Pirates will see a need to keep two guys who can back up the middle infielders.

Hard to predict what might happen when Morton and Burnett return.

 

[Illinest]

And Hague hit #7 today.

I think it'd be dumb if they do send him to AAA but if Hague really has added the ability to hit for some power then it won't be long before he's in Pittsburgh.

 

[magnumo]

Just checked out Hague's Spring stats. In addition to the 7 homers, he has only 4 strikeouts in 52 at bats. One strange stat..... Hague has 0 (zero) walks. That's particularly strange since his walks per at bat rate in over 4 seasons in the minors is almost 10%.

 

[magnumo]

Meanwhile, Alvarez has 22 strikeouts in 49 at bats..... and only 1 walk.

 

[Darkstone42]

Oh man oh man oh man. The season is almost here!

Yahoo!

 

[Illinest]

I almost feel like the season is over already. I dont have enough hope. Last years team was a mirage and weve made no real improvements. Barajas defends better but he hits weaker. Barmes is almost the same player as cedeno. Small improvement maybe. Most of the other position players are the same general aptitude. Remember that we were optimistic about overbay and diaz last spring as well? This season theres going to be a new heartbreaker. Maybe tabata? Maybe presley? Maybe bedard? With 25 players on the roster its a good bet that a few of them will have a bad season.

 

[thecrow124]

Maybe we should call our little group here "The spotless minds of the eternal pessimists." Seriously am I the only one here that truely believes that this group is actually contenders? This team is much improved over last year and actually has talented players and not a bunch of riff raf.
At the end of the year one of us is goingto be wrong and I hope it is all of you.

 

[Darkstone42]

Maybe we should call our little group here "The spotless minds of the eternal pessimists." Seriously am I the only one here that truely believes that this group is actually contenders? This team is much improved over last year and actually has talented players and not a bunch of riff raf.
At the end of the year one of us is goingto be wrong and I hope it is all of you.

There's a reason my little smiley is dancing above.

I'm with you!



See, still dancing.


When dealing with young players, keeping the roster the same doesn't make you stagnant. If they've got any talent, going from one year to the next usually makes them better. Based on what I saw last year, I think there's a good chance we'll see guys getting better rather than worse.

I also think the upgrade of McGehee over 3B of the week last year will mark an improvement, and anything at 1B will be better than Overbay. If Hague's for real, that would be a nice little bonus.

Go Bucs!



^Still dancing.

 

[sychmd]

There's a reason my little smiley is dancing above.

I'm with you!



See, still dancing.


When dealing with young players, keeping the roster the same doesn't make you stagnant. If they've got any talent, going from one year to the next usually makes them better. Based on what I saw last year, I think there's a good chance we'll see guys getting better rather than worse.

I also think the upgrade of McGehee over 3B of the week last year will mark an improvement, and anything at 1B will be better than Overbay. If Hague's for real, that would be a nice little bonus.

Go Bucs!



^Still dancing.

upgrade behind plate, 1b, 2b(walker will be better than last year), ss, 3b, lf(presley better that diaz/jones), cf, rf(tabata will be better than he was last year.
SP - will be better when burnett in and correia moves to pen as long relief and sub when someone goes on 15 day dl- will throw more strikes, be more aggressive, and battle longer into games. RP will get more rest.
RP - more solid group, know their roles better, confident in hanny closing the door from the outset.
i like our bench a lot more with hague, mchenry, navarro, mclouth, harrison,
even alvarez will be better by midseason, but not the stud we are waiting for this year.

PLAY BALL and quit whining everybody. life is tough enough, lets not be pessimistic until we are 10 games back in april. it's only a game.

 

[sychmd]

oh yea, i forgot to say i ma with you darkstone.
let those smileys dance for another 3-4 weeks, then we can re-assess.

 

[element1286]

There's a reason my little smiley is dancing above.

I'm with you!



See, still dancing.


When dealing with young players, keeping the roster the same doesn't make you stagnant. If they've got any talent, going from one year to the next usually makes them better. Based on what I saw last year, I think there's a good chance we'll see guys getting better rather than worse.

I also think the upgrade of McGehee over 3B of the week last year will mark an improvement, and anything at 1B will be better than Overbay. If Hague's for real, that would be a nice little bonus.

Go Bucs!



^Still dancing.

Good point, Darkstone. I think there is definitely room for improvement among the Pirates 2nd or 3rd year players.

Can't wait for opening day! There are a bunch of windows at my office that directly look into PNC Park, gonna see if I can catch some of the game from there.

 

[Darkstone42]

High fives for optimism!

 

[stillmatic32]

I will be there Thursday. Exciting times. Hope we aren't outnumbered by the Philly fans on opening day. A little piece of me would die if that happened.

 

[sychmd]

i live in philly. so hard to get tix here so they probably circled it when the schedule comes out. they travel well to pitt, balt, wash, mets. hopefully we can send them home phrustrated, phlustered, phrantic, and phlummoxed with how we swept their 3 aces.


or at least didnt get no-hit three times.

 

[Darkstone42]

i live in philly. so hard to get tix here so they probably circled it when the schedule comes out. they travel well to pitt, balt, wash, mets. hopefully we can send them home phrustrated, phlustered, phrantic, and phlummoxed with how we swept their 3 aces.


or at least didnt get no-hit three times.

That's phantastic!

/Must spread rep.