Pirates 9, Orioles 3: Offense Finally Comes For Bucs

Jones was a very loud 1-5 tonight.

Obviously his first at bat was fantastic. A shot clubbed to right-center to clear the bases. Exactly what we were looking for the, the thumper in our lineup who can deliver a big shot like that.

He also had another at bat that should of been for extra bases. Unfortunately, I can count on one hand the list of center fielders in baseball capable of making the play Adam Jones made to rob him (Our very own CF being another one of the rare athletic specimens.)

His other three at bats, no strikes out, and for the most part, very hard hit balls, two of them two the warning track that looked very good coming off the bat.

I’m really hoping he can keep that kind of lift on the ball and being the clubber we need in this lineup with Pedro still sideline… and continue to do so when Pedro gets back. His swing and overall approach definitely looks drastically improved from what we saw early on in the season with the Garrett Jones that was found in the Clint Hurdle doghouse.

I think I speak for everyone when I saw Jones is a guy we are all rooting for and hope can become a solid threat again.

Book it. .500 or better next year and then we’ll go from there.

Maybe it’s about time to do some more gambling in Wheeling.

I go to a lot of games, but have rarely been there with a crowd of 30,000+. It actually wasn’t a good experience at all. They just have no idea how to control fans when the game is going on. There was just a constant stream of people in the aisles during the action, and constantly people standing up in front of me to let others through. I missed about half the action just struggling to see around people. I don’t know how it goes at other baseball stadiums, but it’s nothing like that at other sporting events in town.

Let’s say after we resume from after the all-star break and were at pretty around .500 plus/minus 1 game. In this hypothetical, but not totally out of this world scenario were about 4 games back in the division, and about the same in the wild card.

Our lineup looks like this

C-Doumit (fingers crossed)
1B-? (clusterfuck)
2B-Walker
3B-Alvarez (fingers crossed… at least shortly after the break)
SS-Cedeno (upgrade needed)
LF-Tabata
CF-McCutchen
RF-? (clusterfuck)

Our bench:
McKenry (his defense alone is worth keeping him around as a backup)
Harrison (Once Pedro gets healthy, he’ll be the solid backup/utility guy he’ meant to be)

So that leaves first base:
What happens there? It’s a total clusterfuck. If Jones keeps hitting well, the logical consensus would be to keep him there, but I feel like the front office isn’t going to let Overbay $5 million slow bat rot away on the bench. Plus, he’s apparently been a “second half hitter.” What about Steve Pearce, what do we do with him? He was hitting well before he got injured and definitely is a guy I’d like to see get a shot if he can stay consistently healthy. So that leaves three guys vying for time at first. WHAT’S YOUR ANSWER?

Next, right field:
What happens there? Again, another complete clusterfuck of a situation. You initially had the Jones/Diaz platoon but that became a failed experiment. Jones is obviously starting to see more playing time, especially at first with Overbay’s struggling bat, but he’s certainly still an option to start out there if he isn’t playing first. Diaz obvious has gotten a few starts thrown his way when the pitching matchup calls for it, but then there’s the X-Man, who has made this so very confusing. He’s hit solid, much better then expected at around .270 and if he gets on base, he’s a threat on the basepath’s, which we all know Hurldle loves, but let’s be real, as someone alluded to earlier in this thread, he’s had a very nice BABIP influenced start and will probably start to see a decline in his offensive production. Still, as long as he continues to be serviceable, he’ll keep getting starts. Oh, and I forgot about Alex Presley, seemingly sentenced to Indianapolis without parole. Logically speaking, he should eventually be called up and is capable of playing there, too. So that leaves another handful of guys capable of playing one position. WHAT’S YOUR ANSWER?

Next is Shortstop:
We need an upgrade at shortstop. If a team in contention needs a backup shortstop who can come in late in games as a defensive replacement, Ronny would be great at that role, but that’s not the role he’s playing for our hovering around .500 team, he’s our starter. I would still love to have him on our bench as a backup. It would seem that the hope would be we can bring up Chase and he can become our everyday shortstop, but will he be able to step in and contribute right away? Do we make a trade? Who knows. WHAT’S YOUR ANSWER?

Starting Pitching:
Correia
Maholm
Morton
Karstens
????

So what do we do about that 5th spot in the rotation. Let’s be real, McDonald has issues that none of us want to see be worked out as a starter. Do we move him to the bullpen? Demote him? If either of those happen, who do we call up… Lincoln? Owens? Wilson? WHAT’S THE ANSWER?

Sorry, I know this was a long post, I’m just curious to know what you guys think about these holes and question marks in our roster.

I really like McDonald, I think he has some great stuff but he hasn’t really put it all together. I do see him as piece of this team down the road, whether it is as a starter or a reliever. It may be just me but he kind of reminds me of Veras if Veras was a starter. He’s got great stuff who can easily strike out the side in one inning, and walk the bases load on 12 pitches in the next.

Is anyone else falling in love with Watson?

Damn, those ‘71 throwbacks looked good, and for the rest of the season, I’d like to see those used as the Sunday uniform. Glad to see the club dispose of those black pinstripes from previous years on Sundays.

Lastly, there is some unfinished business about the 1971 World Champs. Danny Murtaugh belongs in the Hall of Fame, let’s give the man the respect he deserves. His credentials are definitely Cooperstown worthy, he won as many world titles as Bobby Cox and Whitey Herzog. Let’s not forget the Bucs were underdogs in both 1960/1971, and Murtaugh was managing against two HOF managers in those Fall Classics. His fine winning percentage is in the middle of managers already in Cooperstown, and Murtaugh’s postseason frequency is one of the best since 1969. His rating is superior to Walter Alston, Sparky Anderson, Dick Williams, and Leo Durocher. He also fielded the first lineup card of nine black players, which was actually a big deal in 1971.

Health issues prevented Murtaugh from more wins, and possibly titles during his tenure as Bucs’ skipper. Hopefully, the Veterans Committee will see the light, and put Danny Murtaugh in Cooperstown.