SB Nation Pittsburgh Editor's Pick
Pirates Run Differential at the Halfway Point: On Pace for Worst in the Entire World Series Era (with commentary)
by Adam Reynolds on Jul 4, 2010 3:01 AM EDT
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PrintThe 2010 Pirates have consisted of a ton of terrible players. Akinori Iwamura, Jeff Clement, Ryan Church, Andy LaRoche, Ronny Cedeno, Bobby Crosby, John Raynor, Ryan Doumit's defense, Charlie Morton, Daniel McCutchen, Zach Duke, Brian Burres, Jeff Karstens, Brendan Donnelly, Javier Lopez, Jack Taschner, Hayden Penn, and Brian Bass. There was even an Argenis Diaz sighting! Another player has been disappointing even though I used to hype him as well, Lastings Milledge, and he may be a 3/4 outfielder even though he is frustrating. In addition, some top prospects such as Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata, and Brad Lincoln have stumbled out of the gate to some extent.
All this adds up to a historically bad first half, in which the team has scored 259 runs and given up 444 runs, good for a -185 run differential (runs scored minus runs allowed). After the jump, we'll take a look at how this rate stacks up against the all-time not-so-greats.
The 2010 Bucs have a -185 run differential in 81 games. If they kept up that pace for the entire year, they would have 259 * 2 = 518 runs scored, and 444 * 2 = 888 runs allowed. 518 minus 888 equals a -370 differential over the 162 game season.
-370 would be the worst in the modern era (starting in 1903, the first World Series and beginning of the standard 154 game schedule).
The worst team in the last 107 years is the 1932 Boston Red Sox, and they scored 566 runs while giving up 915. That's a -349 run differential, but it was done in only 154 games. Unfortunately, that doesn't make our first half Pirates any better. Adjusting our first half for 154 games, the Pirates are on pace for a run differential of -351.
Similarly, the Bucs come out behind the 1915 Philadelphia Athletics as well. Their differential is -343, the Pirates are on a 152-game pace for -347. The rest are self-explanatory. Over the first half of 2010, the Pirates have been worse than the 1962 Mets, 2003 Tigers, and 1911 Boston Rustlers, among other disasters, in terms of runs scored and runs allowed. And certainly, they have put themselves on pace for the worst mark in modern baseball history, or at least one of the worst. (***The table of lowest run differentials since 1903 is at the end of the post.***)
***
So what does this mean? What is the meaning of an historically bad major league team along with a relatively barren minor league club?
My heart wants to believe in the Andrew McCutchen/Pedro Alvarez group. But man, it's getting tough as we see how things play out. My gut disagrees with my heart, for sure.
My gut sees another 6 or so years before the Bucs are competitors (EDIT: maybe 5 years with some good breaks like Colton Cain and Bryan Morris developing like we want into competitive starters) . They tried to put something together for the next few years, but given the Pirates budget constraints it just doesn't look like it's going to happen. McCutchen and Alvarez are impact players, but it will be awfully hard on their back trying to carry the team.
Huntington and the front office tried to put something together in the short term. Thus, many of the players acquired were at the age where they would hit their stride in 2012-2013 or so.
I feel bad for Huntington in some ways, because he's not given a major league budget by Nutting for the major league club, and he's taken much of the heat for the epically bad product.
Also, i realize that realistically, the trade chips he inherited (McLouth, Wilson, Sanchez, etc.) were overrated. But whoever's fault the situation is, the relative short-term (of the next few years) just doesn't look like it's working at all. There isn't the breadth or depth of talent.
If Huntington might have done two things differently, one would be, possibly, to get younger (high risk/reward A-ball) in the trades instead of LaRoches and Ohlendorfs. It's impossible to say if and when that could have been done, though.
Second would be to get quality free agents, if only to keep McCutchen and Alvarez in the minors for an extra year of control, while not having a 100 loss team in the meantime. Neither one was no-doubt ready when called upon, and now the FO will be stretching to the max trying to build a team around the two before they depart.
Still, there is hope in the tunnel, but it might be more than just a couple of years away given the money situation. Keep drafting like they did this year, going very heavy on high school products for the next couple of years to go along with planting more seeds in the international markets. That's basically what they are doing now, though, so I'm encouraged by that.
I'd suggest $25-30 million the next couple of years for free agency, but it's never going to happen. Also, there's not enough lipstick to put on this pig. Again, it just looks like the long view is more realistic barring an unforeseen infusion of money. I hate to move the time line back another 6 or so years, and I wouldn't rule out Cutch and Alvarez making the Pirates competitors through sheer will. I wouldn't bet on it, though.
***
Now, I'll try to add the historical worst run differential table below.
| 2010 |
Pittsburgh Pirates 162-game pace |
-370 run differential (runs scored - runs allowed) |
| 2010 | Pittsburgh Pirates 154-game pace | -351 |
| 1932 | Boston Red Sox (154 games) | -349 |
| 2010 | Pittsburgh Pirates 152-game pace | -347 |
| 1915 | Philadelphia Athletics (152 games) | -343 |
| 2003 | Detroit Tigers | -337 |
| 1954 | Philadelphia Athletics | -333 |
| 1962 | New York Mets | -331 |
| 1936 | Philadelphia Athletics | -331 |
| 1916 | Philadelphia Athletics | -329 |
| 1911 | Boston Rustlers | -322 |
| 1996 | Detroit Tigers | -320 |
| 1945 | Philadelphia Blue Jays | -317 |
| 1942 | Philadelphia Phillies | -312 |
| 1939 | Philadelphia Athletics | -311 |
| 1937 | St. Louis Browns | -308 |
| 1904 | Washington Nationals | -306 |
| 1939 | Philadelphia Phillies | -303 |
| 1939 | St. Louis Browns | -302 |
| 1921 | Philadelphia Phillies | -302 |
| 1905 | Brooklyn Superbas | -301 |
| 1928 | Philadelphia Phillies | -297 |
| 1941 | Philadelphia Phillies | -292 |
| 1910 | St. Louis Browns | -292 |
| 1938 | Philadelphia Phillies | -290 |
| 1903 | St. Louis Cardinals | -290 |
| 2002 | Detroit Tigers | -289 |
| 1974 | San Diego Padres | -289 |
| 1954 | Pittsburgh Pirates | -288 |
| 1979 | Oakland Athletics | -287 |
| 1919 | Philadelphia Athletics | -285 |
| 2004 | Arizona Diamondbacks | -284 |
| 1949 | Washington Nationals | -284 |
| 1925 | Boston Red Sox | -283 |
| 1924 | Boston Braves | -280 |
| 1969 | San Diego Padres | -278 |
| 1952 | Pittsburgh Pirates | -278 |
| 1935 | Boston Braves | -277 |
| 1920 | Philadelphia Athletics | -276 |
| 1909 | Washington Nationals | -276 |
| 1963 | New York Mets | -273 |
| 1955 | Kansas City Athletics | -273 |
| 1926 | Boston Red Sox | -273 |
| 1956 | Washington Senators | -272 |
| 1951 | St. Louis Browns | -271 |
| 1953 | Pittsburgh Pirates | -265 |
| 1905 | Boston Beaneaters | -265 |
| 1936 | St. Louis Browns | -260 |
| 1923 | Philadelphia Phillies | -260 |
| 1927 | Boston Red Sox | -259 |
| 1904 | Boston Beaneaters | -258 |
| 1965 | New York Mets | -257 |
| 1998 | Florida Marlins | -256 |
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the managing editor (Charlie) or SB Nation. FanPosts are written by Bucs Dugout readers.
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I agree with the first part...
but think it’s too early for the second part. 2012 is the year things are supposed to be interesting but I agree that with most of the MLB ready players acquired in trades flaming out things don’t look as promising as they did at the start of the season. The commentary though needs to be saved for the end of the season at the earliest. Alvarez, Tabata and Walker are just getting their feet wet and when you throw them in with McCutchen and Jones you have a pretty decent offensive core for the next 3-4 years. The big reason to wait to say this team will not compete is because there are questions that still need to be answered:
1) will Lincoln start showing consistent improvement like he has at other levels and give us glimpse of #3 upside
2) will Morris, Owens and Wilson perform in Indy like Altoona (for the record I hate the Duke comp for Owens, I feel Owens has more upside with better velo)
3) System Depth – we will have to make some trades to take things to the next level. That core I describe is good enough if you can supplement it with some interesting talent – particularly a SS and maybe C.
I didn’t write anything about Morton because honestly I don’t know what to expect from him when he returns but he still has a ton of talent. I think we have a chance to see a decent rotation with Morris, Lincoln, Owens, Wilson, Ohlendorf, etc. by 2012. The bullpen should remain strong with Meek, Hanrahan, Moskos (if this year is his true talent level) as well. The offensive core will have had a couple of years together and we will have to find a SS and maybe a catcher because I am skeptical that Sanchez will be ready but that could be an interesting team. But like you said, they need to continue to draft well and sign international talent if they are going to have a real chance at competing for a world series title.
The Zach Duke comparison was started by Keith Law.....
And, adopted by those that haven’t seen him pitch or are totally obsessed with K/BB ratios, without also looking at his control/feel for pitching/and, most importantly, his production. The guy is consistent almost everytime out.
He does need to K more guys, but not all pitchers are swing-n-miss types. A guy like Mike Leake that locates well, knows how to pitch, knows how to adapt, and knows how to work both sides of the plate can be pretty useful.
by CabreraKilledMyChildhood on Jul 4, 2010 3:04 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree with Owens over Duke, but they’re not worlds apart. Owens isn’t a good 2 or 3 (that being comparative with the competitive teams in the league.
by Adam Reynolds on Jul 4, 2010 5:56 PM EDT up reply actions
I didn’t write anything about Morton because honestly I don’t know what to expect from him when he returns but he still has a ton of talent. I think we have a chance to see a decent rotation with Morris, Lincoln, Owens, Wilson, Ohlendorf, etc. by 2012.
Again, a decent rotation, but not a particularly strong rotation.
That’s kind of the issue that I’m seeing. Without enough offense/defense to overcome it as a strong ball-club that is the talk of the baseball world. Again, I wonder if Tabata/Sanchez max out as nice guys to have in the lineup, but not difference-makers. Walker is a bit better, but you could throw him in the mix.
by Adam Reynolds on Jul 4, 2010 5:54 PM EDT up reply actions
Adam Reynolds
Excellent work
We have a core of young players in Tabata, Walker, Cutch, Jones, and Alvarez who might be pretty good for the next 5 years.
But that’s just “pretty good” with little else around them in the near future.
I’d like to think we’ll get someone like Tony Sanchez to fly through the system next year and give us something at a position of need moving forward.
The possible additions to the starting staff aren’t particularly encouraging. Lincoln might be O.K. with Ohlendorf for a few years, but Duke and Maholm won’t be around for even the best case scenario of the Pirates winning again. Maybe we’ll get lucky in the next year with a Morris or Owens, for example.
Some guys like Moskos might pan out to add to Meek and Hanrahan in the ’pen.
This team sucks now, will suck tomorrow, but hopefully not forever.
You talk about spending tens of millions in free agency, but it seems to me that we generally get burnt in FA. Nearly every time different FOs have done so over the past decade and a half, they’ve generally come up with bozos that really don’t want to play in Pittsburgh, but see it as a place to draw a nice paycheck for a while til they either get traded to someone better, or just sail off into the sunset.
I understand your rationale for spending more and wanting to improve the club in ‘11, but I just don’t think it will work. They’ve got to do their best to improve from internal sources for a couple more years before any of that, even with a good bit of luck.
The Slide for 110 in 2010 might become reality. I hope not. Around the 104 losses of the ’85 team is more likely.
Regardless of how the team’s prospects pan out over the next few years, we need to see the Nuttings out of the ownership of the Bucs. I’d like to think something will change about the next labor agreement to make them want to sell the team and get out with a bunch of extra millions.
Til the Nuttings end their baseball fling, there will be no sixth ring for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Anything more than a winning season or two this decade is hard to imagine.
Let’s keep pulling for improvements in the minors and for the guys who really matter in the majors the rest of this year and see what happens the next.
Bright spot
The 03 Tigers are way up on that list and they’ve done pretty well since then. Not that there’s any direct comparison but that’s about the only positive I can see that we could take away from this.
Really premature post
Especially calling Lastings Milledge ‘awful’…..
Especially saying that the young guys have stumbled out of the gate…….
Especially the ‘lipstick on a pig’ analogy, considering a lot of teams wouldn’t mind sitting with their LF, CF, 3B, 2B, 1B, and possibly their RF all being in their 20’s and all being either already pretty good major leaguers or guys with full of potential…..
Especially saying that we are 6 years away from being competitive…..
Also, you speak of Huntingdon’s trades as guys with no upside. Problem with that line of thought is that some of the guys acquired were high upside prospects (Locke, Morris, Tabata) and some of the ML ready guys were thought of pretty well as well (LaRoche, Morton). You can’t make every trade for high-end Class A guys…..as you wouldn’t be able to field a team when you have to trade your whole roster because the guy before you left you with shit.
Seems to me that you are projecting 6 years in advance and ignoring the sizable contingent of talented players on the field and the high Minors.
The key to the Buccos being competitive in 2012-2013 (not 2017) is the development/progression of their Minor League pitchers, specifically Morris/Owens/Wilson/Locke/Morton/Adcock, as well as hitting on some of the other high-upside HS arms they have drafted over the last two years. The high-Minors guys will be with the team by mid/end 2011 (Morris/Owens/Wilson) with the other guys a year behind them. Add in a right Morton and an improving Lincoln, and our staff will be much more competent than it is currently. That is the next two-three years, not 6.
Premature post, to put it lightly.
by CabreraKilledMyChildhood on Jul 4, 2010 3:01 PM EDT reply actions
The high-Minors guys will be with the team by mid/end 2011 (Morris/Owens/Wilson) with the other guys a year behind them. Add in a right Morton and an improving Lincoln, and our staff will be much more competent than it is currently. That is the next two-three years, not 6.
The post is premature, but I like to speculate just for fun.
I agree that the pitching may be much more competent than currently, but competent is different from competitive. You look around the league, and the projection for a bunch of 3-5’s doesn’t compare with teams in a division race. Again, the minors is more talented now than it was before, but it’s still behind most of the rest of the league.
Alvarez and McCutchen are the real shakes, and Walker certainly looks the part. I just don’t know how many other teams would trade their lineup for ours. Jones is average at 28, and there’s an upside issue with Tabata as a corner outfielder relying heavily on BA/defense.
I think we’re looking at maybe 2016 (around 6 years, maybe actually a year or so less with some great breaks (like ZVR/Cain developing quickly as a #2 starter)) as an actual competitive club with another couple of good drafts. I don’t hold too much of the current situation against Huntington because of what he was dealt (cheap owner, bad trade chips). But again, competitiveness isn’t just whether we’re getting better. It’s getting a bunch of top-shelf talent and getting at least in a division race.
by Adam Reynolds on Jul 4, 2010 5:41 PM EDT up reply actions
After one....
full year with the Pirates, Jones has been anything but average. You can project going forward all you want, but every team would take his production over the past year. It certainly isn’t average.
I think a .370 wOBA the last two years is slightly above average for first base, but I think unfortunately, we have to project forward. Tabata has only been a .300 wOBA so far, but projecting forward I think he can get at least a little bit higher.
by Adam Reynolds on Jul 5, 2010 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions
"The high-Minors guys will be with the team by mid/end 2011 (Morris/Owens/Wilson) with the other guys a year behind them. Add in a right Morton and an improving Lincoln, and our staff will be much more competent than it is currently."
When, exactly, are you expecting this “right” Charlie Morton?
Lincoln will be a competent #3/#4 type, I bet.
Out of the others you mention, with the attrition expected through injury and the reality that some will not pan out, you probably get a couple more decent pitchers.
Don’t be so sure that the prospects we have in the system now will fill out the rotation any better than Duke, Maholm and Ohlendorf.
Hopefully we will strike it rich with Taillon and Allie from 3-4 years down the road.
Yeah, calling Milledge “terrible” was a mistake by AdamReynolds. He should’ve said mediocre at best with at best a ceiling of a backup OF for another year or two on a lousy team.
I agree on Milledge. He’s frustrating as anything, though.
by Adam Reynolds on Jul 4, 2010 6:13 PM EDT up reply actions
One other HUGE error in this post.....
Is that it lacks any context with whom we are losing with. If this was a veteran team with a bunch of average/below average players being used as stop-gaps or brought in to be starters for the next several years (re: nearly all of Littlefield’s teams/acquisitions/signings), then the fact that are record is horrible would be much more discouraging. However, 4 of the guys that we will be counting on for the next 5-6 years (Alvarez, Tabata, Lincoln, Walker) haven’t been on the team for more than 30 games. In essence, not only are we young and filled with guys who (theoretically) will get much better with more playing time, we also haven’t had them for anywhere near half our games.
So the question remains: What were you and others who agree with your “point” expecting in terms of wins/losses this year? If you were expecting us to have a lot more wins than we do now, you weren’t being realistic.
If you were expecting to have a bad record, yet a team (by the end of the season/mid-season) filled with core guys for their future and interested in their development……then you are seeing precisely what is going on.
by CabreraKilledMyChildhood on Jul 4, 2010 5:31 PM EDT reply actions
If you were expecting to have a bad record, yet a team (by the end of the season/mid-season) filled with core guys for their future and interested in their development……then you are seeing precisely what is going on.
I expected a bad record, but I’ll admit to expecting the trade acquisitions to do more. Obviously Bryan Morris is having a banner year, and other low-tier prospects like Nate Adcock are showing signs of life as well. But boy, there were an awful lot of disappointments/flameouts in the majors and even minors (Alderson, Hernandez).
I think that sets the team back some, but it’s not as much of an indictment of Huntington as some would think, because he was given nothing to deal with. Even though it’s not NH’s fault, the situation on the ground still isn’t great. The trade acquisition performances show that 2012-2013 as a target was never realistic no matter who was hired as general manager.
by Adam Reynolds on Jul 4, 2010 6:12 PM EDT up reply actions
I was expecting the record to be what it is...
but what has disappointed me is that I was expecting at least a couple of Laroche, Milledge, Clement and Morton to take a big step forward towards reaching their potential. I was truly hoping one or two of them could develop into impact players and that has not happened. Laroche and Morton have regressed, Clement has done as well as he always has at this level (which isn’t good) and Milledge hasn’t taken a step forward towards realizing his potential. That is pretty disappointing to me and tempers expectations for short term success.
butttttt
Pearce when being up for a handful of games looked good, he can easily take over at 1B, therefore really no need to have Clement. That moves Jones to RF, basically no need for Milledge as a starter. LaRoche was destined for the bench with Alvarez on the way, and now with the great success of Neil Walker so far, no need for LaRoche on the diamond.
Would i love to see LaRoche, Clement, and Milledge be successful sure. Does it hurt us long term? No. The only hurt is not having Morton play up to par. Reallyl puts a strain on an already weak rotation by most standards. IMO Morton is the only dissapointment to the season
"getting better all the time"
C-Death has a good point that I think got glossed over a bit. Not only do we need to consider that Walker, Pedro, et. al. haven’t been with us for the whole year, but we also need to consider that the young guys can keep getting better.
I think after a full year’s worth of games we pretty much have a handle on what GFJ brings to the table (by the way, Pat at WHYGAVS has a good post on this. But Walker, Alvarez, Lincoln, Tabata, and even Cutch can and should continue to improve. Does anyone think Cutch has hit his ceiling yet? I think he can be an even better hitter than he’s shown us so far, as he continues to learn and gain experience.
If that core of players really hits their prime at the same time that Sanchez, D’Arnaud, and Morris are getting their feet wet, with (hopefully) Allie & Taillon in the wings, this could turn into something solid.
I agree with AdamReynolds that things don’t look awesome right now, and it’s not a guarantee that we’re going to be world-beaters in 2012. But I don’t think things are nearly as dire as some of us think, either.
Steve Pearce has done nothing to impress at any level since his one big minor league season
other than a nice job for a couple weeks earlier this season and we still have a bunch on BD who think he’s something for the future.
He’s a scrub at the big league level for a while, if he can stay healthy.
Garrett Jones does not move back to the OF on a daily basis to accomodate Pearce.
Garrett Jones does not move back to the OF on a daily basis to accomodate Pearce.
I think this actually depends more on who plays better between Milledge and Pearce. GJ should be in the lineup regardless.
by BlindSquirrel on Jul 4, 2010 8:43 PM EDT up reply actions
No way Jones is moved back to RF to allow for daily time at 1B for Pearce.
With Pearce’s nagging injuries, it’s hard to say when he’ll be back in Pittsburgh anyway.
So what you're saying is:
Milledge will outperform Pearce?
Pearce has better defensive skills at first than Jones (fwiw) so in my mind it comes down to who bats better between M & P.
by BlindSquirrel on Jul 5, 2010 7:55 PM EDT up reply actions
I think Pearce is capable of an .800 OPS/.340 - .350 wOBA...
and that’s all Jones is doing right now. Also according to UZR Jones has been better in RF than he has at 1B, though not by much.
Anyway, Jones hasn’t done anything to prove he has locked down any position permanently IMO, he’s just better than the alternatives right now. And man, scrub is way harsh for Pearce. He not only performed well in Pittsburgh (SSS) but has at Indy all season. Isn’t it possible that he is coming into his own this season? Walker looks like he has so why not Pearce?
What you think Pearce is capable of, Slick1, IS what Jones has been doing for a year now.
Hey, you might be right and Pearce could have a banner second half with Jones playing RF.
I just don’t see it, though.
Put it this way: Pearce has played in 135 MLB games. I’d be very surprised if he gets into more than 135 more in the majors before the end of his career.
a quick point...
you got the scored and allowed formula description in brackets around the wrong way. You may wanna edit that.
No need to thank me ; )
Run Differencial
Probably one of the least important stats in all of baseball. The fact that it can be controlled by the manage for the most part and is run up with lopsided games from time to time that managers will let happen to save their bullpens.
It is meaningless, if you start from yesterday and don’t have any blowouts and play .500 ball with the rest of the games, that will be more important than any stat created by players that are not here anymore.
The Phillies could well have looked at the run differential stat and said this is an easy series, but opposing scouts know the players that ran up that stat, for the most part are not here anymore, so the stat moving forward is useless IMO.
Almost 85% of the innings, and 75% of the earned runs pitched for this team this season are still on the 25 man roster (if you include Duke on the DL for another week).
And, all but Taschner are still in the organization.
And 90% of the plate appearances are still on the roster. (Iwamura, Clement and Raynor are the other 10%). And Raynor is the only one out of the organization.
So, sorry…the players that created that differential are still here. And the Pirates have shown no capability to 1) avoid blowouts, or 2) play .500 ball for any significant amount of time, let alone half a season.
to your point
the phillies outscored us by two runs this past 4 games series and lost 3 of the 4 games
I want to marry this post.
CLIFFNOTES VERSION: The Pirates will never be competitive without some impact pitchers in their rotation or some huge bats in the line-up. I don’t see either happening in the next few years.
Let’s be honest: the “2012” time frame that we all have been looking towards was pretty optimistic and relied on progression/development from several players. I was bullish on some of the Pirates’ younger players acquired in recent years to break out, I really was. However, none of these players has progressed at all. In fact, most have regressed. Really the only realistic hope for that timeframe was LaRoche, Clement, Milledge, Cedeno, Ohlendorf, Morton, and Daniel McCutchen emerging as better-than-average major leaguers. They were the guys we were banking on to be competitive, and it looks like it may not happen. There’s still time for ALL of them, but I think we have to get realistic here: without those guys, we’re back to a line-up of a couple young studs surrounded by a whole bunch of below-or-just-barely-league average. That’s not a recipe for success. I’m not nearly as optimistic about the rest of the system as some people here. I don’t see Tabata as someone to build a team around, though he’s a good guy to have in the line-up, and I see Lincoln as a back of the rotation guy. Fine, just not the path to success.
We could go one by one picking apart these players and their failures and successes, but it’s looking more and more likely that they’re nothing better than league average. That’s not necessary a bad thing, and a guy like Ross Ohlendorf is fine in the back of the rotation, but the Pirates needed more if they are going to be a World Series contender in 2012. All of these guys still has potential, and they all may soon realize that potential. That would be fantastic, and I’m sincerely rooting for that. However, I think we have to get realistic here. It’s not likely the happen. If this team is really competitive with this group of players in 2012, I would be pretty surprised.
So, I, too am looking at 5, 6 years until the Pirates could contend for a World Series. By then hopefully the high end talent acquired in recent drafts are hitting the major and making an impact. Alvarez and McCutchen will still be around (hopefully), and by then they should have some impact talent around them.
This post says what I wanted to say better than I put it. I agree that 2012 (and really, even 2013) was unrealistic/unreasonable from the beginning, even though I’m guilty of falling into that trap in the past year. I also agree that there are out-sized expectations for Tabata among some posters here and possibly Lincoln as well. But the only way to begin to find out is to get at least another 600 PAs or 30 starts with both of them.
by Adam Reynolds on Jul 5, 2010 4:10 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m not as concerned with the hitting as I am with the starting pitching. Swap out Morton for Lincoln and it’s pretty much the same guys getting hammered as early in the season (assuming Duke is back after the ASB). None of the young guns at Altoona will make the rotation for Opening Day 2011. A 5+ team ERA is not going to win many games unless we are averaging 6 on offense, which doesn’t look likely any time soon.
And we still have to find a competent SS, one of the most important positions on the field.
Wow, this is pretty sobering, but . . .
I think your time frame is a little overstated. I don’t think the Pirates will compete for a W.S. in 2012, but I think there’s a legit chance they can be pretty competitve by that point.
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