Some Notes and Observations
-P- As expected, the Bucs shipped Bryan Bullington back to Indianapolis. They will probably recall Marino Salas tomorrow. Bullington had been up for a couple weeks but hadn't even pitched, in part because the starting pitching has been decent and not a lot of mop-up work has been required.
-P- The Pirates signed four picks today: 7th-rounder Benji Gonzalez, 15th-rounder Chris Aure, 25th-rounder Brian Leach and 27th-rounder Edwin Roman. Gonzalez and Roman are both defense-oriented players from the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy who have dubious bats. Leach put up terrible numbers in pitching for Southern Mississippi, but there may be something there we don't know about, because Baseball America likes him and he was drafted last year, too. Aure, a pitcher from Alaska, appears, at least for now, to be the most interesting of the four.
-P- The Bucs are now, improbably, one game below .500.
-P- With four homers and two doubles in his last three games, Ryan Doumit is on one heck of a hot streak.
-P- Tom Gorzelanny's six strikeouts today were two more than he's had in any other start this season.
-P- Damaso Marte is awesome.
-P- Tyler Yates, Salas, Bullington, Sean Burnett, John Van Benschoten and Evan Meek have combined for only 30% of the innings the Pirates have pitched out of the bullpen this year, but they've got 60% of the walks. With Phil Dumatrait now in the rotation, that leaves only four other guys who have been reasonably effective. To the Pirates' credit, three of them (Marte, Matt Capps and John Grabow) have been very good, and all three have pitched a bunch of high-leverage innings. Not that I think the Pirates shouldn't be trading relievers at the deadline, but the ends of games could get pretty dicey in the second half of the season if they do.
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2 of those strikeouts...
...were the Nationals’ starting pitcher. :-\
by matskralc on Jun 12, 2008 6:49 PM EDT 0 recs
I'm definitely
going to miss Marte when he (most likely) gets snatched up before the season is over :/
.500 or bust...
by phillybucco on Jun 12, 2008 7:29 PM EDT 0 recs
I wish we had used him for more than just one out per week last year.
I’m hoping we get something good for him. How much do good relievers usually get?
by houksyndrome on Jun 13, 2008 2:37 AM EDT 0 recs
At the deadline? B-level prospect.
Give or take a bit.
by Vlad on
Jun 13, 2008 10:04 AM EDT
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How about a different direction with Bullington's demotion.
Bring up McCutchen for the next 6 games. We need a DH for the next 6 games. Nady’s ankle would probably be better off at DH for 6 games. We haven’t needed more than 11 pitchers for about 3 weeks now.
Play Cutch and Nate in CF and RF…whichever way works best, Nady at DH. Bench guys stay as they are.
We would have to cut someone from the 40 man to add McCutchen…although that could be accomplished by putting Duffy on the 60 day DL if they really don’t want to cut anyone. Cutch is going to be here in September anyway, if you believe everyone. What does it hurt to give him a taste now…and maybe some motivation that his work is being recognized.
by Thunder on Jun 13, 2008 2:44 AM EDT 0 recs
Does his 6-year clock start ticking if we bring him up now?
If it doesn’t then I think that’s a good idea. McCutchen has traditionally done well immediately following mid-season promotions. I like having Michaels and Mientkiewicz as bench weapons, as opposed to starting.
by houksyndrome on Jun 13, 2008 3:42 AM EDT 0 recs
Yes
but it will stop again when they send him back down.
by WestCoastBuc on
Jun 13, 2008 9:17 AM EDT
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It doesn't matter now...
Salas is the recall…per Pirates Press Pass.
by Thunder on
Jun 13, 2008 11:33 AM EDT
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Fine by me.
Bullington is slop, Salas doesn’t seem to have much more to learn at AAA, and we need to learn whether he can cut it at this level or not.
by Vlad on
Jun 13, 2008 11:52 AM EDT
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