Dodgers 11, Pirates 2
by Charlie on Apr 16, 2008 12:54 AM EDT
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This one was ugly. Dodgers starter Hong-Chih Kuo was, at least, interesting, walking in a run before striking out a bunch of batters and flashing great stuff (for a lefty), before being pulled after four innings. More than anything else, though, this game was just another data point in support of the arguments that Matt Morris and Evan Meek just aren't going to get it done. Morris got pelted; his velocity was nonexistent, and Dodger hitters simply took advantage of him. Then Phil Dumatrait came on in relief and promptly gave up a homer to Jeff Kent. Then, with the game out of reach, it was Meek's turn. He gave up three runs, two earned. Among the four hits he allowed in two innings were a homer by Russell Martin and a rocket off the bat of Blake DeWitt. DeWitt is a guy who should be at AA but has been forced into big-league action by injuries; that Meek couldn't get him out may or may not mean anything.
Oh, and Chris Gomez, Ronny Paulino and Luis Rivas all started. Gomez started at first. Yes, Kuo is a lefty, and yes, Adam LaRoche is still getting over the flu, but still, this was like one of Lloyd McClendon's Sunday lineups gone horribly wrong. No wonder most people cut out of this one early.
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Doumit
Evidently is coming down with the flu as well.
by Thunder on Apr 16, 2008 2:11 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Bring in the clowns...
Unless we get lucky and someone offers to take Morris off our hands only because they need an ineffective innings-eater, then it doesn’t matter when Russell does his best impression of the Gerbil (Don Zimmer). It’s never a good sign when we see a game that features Morris, Meeks, Rivas, and Gomez. That is embarrassing. But then what do you expect from a team whose GM decided to stand pat after winning only 69 games. As long as we continue to hire GMs with no experience who try cutting their teeth at our expense this is what we will get. There is a reason that the Indians demoted him and now we’re beginning to see it. Stay tuned for more of the “Huntington Effect”.
by Illinois Pirate Fan on Apr 16, 2008 9:54 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
your criticisms are fair for the most part...
... but remember that Huntington inherited Matt Morris and his grossly overpaid contract. in fact, Morris’ contract may have necessitated that Huntington mostly stand pat, in that no additional $ was available (at least from the perspective of the Nuttings; however, this is speculation on my part). I think the real tests of Huntington’s competence, or lack thereof, won’t be until the June amateur draft and then the August trade deadline.
by humbucker on Apr 16, 2008 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I agree with your statement on Morris...
And so it is not fair of me to blame Huntington for that problem but I cannot understand why he would choose to stand pat with a team that only won 69 games. He could have swung a package deal that includes any of our starters or at least let our youngsters get some valualbe experience since it’s obvious he has thrown in the towel for this season. I’m sure his rationale is that he’s hoping some of our regulars will improve this season so he can trade them while their value is high. But while this might make some sense we as the fans are made to continue to suffer through another losing season. If he played Pearce, Walker, et. al. at least we would have something upon which we could hang our hats in hopes of improvement. This way the best that can happen is that someone has a good season so that when he’s traded we get more talent. I’m too old and weary to keep accepting these damn losing seasons when we’re out of contention by Mother’s Day.
by Illinois Pirate Fan on Apr 16, 2008 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
"Package Deal"
Your argument died when you mentioned the dreaded “package deal”. No package of our crap is going to get us somebody else’s package of good major league players.
The experience you think our young players should be getting carries a price: one year of the Pirate’s control of those young players at a time when they are not yet near their peak in value in exchange for one year of those same players in their primes. Not to mention the fact that the only young player at AAA that you can remotely make a case for is Pearce, and his case is not a strong one.
by sisyphus on Apr 16, 2008 4:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Part of the problem here:
We really don’t have any “young starters”. Bullington, Burnett, and JVB are all too old to be real prospects, none have great physical projection, and all are coming off of significant DL time last year. Behind them, the upper minors have a guy who projects as maybe a #5 (Munoz), a guy who sucked on toast last year (Herrera), a guy coming back from TJ (Lincoln), and a bunch of people claimed on waivers over the offseason. I hate Morris as much as the next guy, but he isn’t standing in anybody’s way, because there isn’t anyone behind him. If we wanted to replace him over the offseason (and we probably should’ve tried), it would’ve involved buying a veteran, not turning things over to a prospect.
It’s a similar situation with position players. Pearce is ready, and should be starting, but Walker and McCutchen both need at least one more year in the minors or they’ll be totally overmatched, and after them you’ve got nothing until A-ball. So, let’s say he makes a Nady trade, gets us a B-level prospect from the Mets or Padres. One mid-minors prospect isn’t going to push us up from 69 wins, ne?
Giving up on this season has been in the cards for more than a year now. The low, low budget means that we can’t buy significant amounts of help, and Creech’s blown drafts and the desert wasteland that’s our international program mean that we can’t bring much up through the system, either. To turn things around, we need about three years’ worth of good drafts, combined with some solid veteran-for-prospect trades. We might be able to contend by 2010, if we’re lucky and good.
by Vlad on Apr 16, 2008 5:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
You keep harping on the lineup
But if I’m JR and I think Morris is a lost cause every time I’m forced to send him to the mound, I too might figure, “Might as well give the bench guys some PT, not like it will make a difference.” The real question is, are we going to keep running Morris out there to go, like, 2-24?
by bucdaddy on Apr 16, 2008 12:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Combo?
If the Pirates keep hanging around .500, it wouldn’t shock me to see Morris go to the pen in a month or so. No point in showcasing him – no one will take him if he keeps pitching like this.
Since Duke apparently can throw 5 really solid innings and Morris 3, pencil them in as one combined good starter and let Capps take the 9th!
by TPenaRules on Apr 16, 2008 4:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
For varying values of "good", I guess.
And who gets the fifth slot?
by Vlad on Apr 16, 2008 5:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
The fifth slot
The Savior, Sean Burnett, of course. :)
I guess they’d have to choose from our own scrap heap (JVB, Bullington, Dumatrait) or just about anyone on the waiver wire. Could it get much worse?
by TPenaRules on Apr 16, 2008 7:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
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