Our pitchers and the NL Central.

by sidbreamslegs on Feb 23, 2012 12:46 AM EST

We now have two guys at the top of our rotation who can eat up innings and have "miss the bat" stuff. Both guys are really walking into great situations. Health, both mental and physical will decide how their seasons end up, but here are some reasons to have high hopes.

The biggest reason is the woeful offenses in the NL Central. The Astros are predicted to have a historically bad year. Even if they have some of their young guys with breakout seasons, this team is going to be awful, strikeout a lot and not score few runs. The Cubs are in the same boat. Two of their top three leading power hitters are gone in Pena and Ramirez and they are shopping their third in Soriano. The Brewers look to have a solid pitching staff, but they will also need to be a lot better as Fielder is gone and Braun looks to miss 50 games. They picked up Ramirez, but he is getting older and is going to need to carry that offense. The Reds return a solid lineup, but they do strikeout a lot. If Macdonald can take a step forward, then our strikeout per nine as a staff should jump 10 fold. The Cardinals also look to return a solid offense, but they also lost the best player in the game. Both Berkman and Beltran will be injury risks and have the possibility of dropping off.

The NL Central should have the fewest runs scored as a whole in the league(quite possibly by a large margin.) Then you look at our defense. We are strong up the middle. We have one of the fastest and best defensive outfields in the league. We also right now have 6 major league starters with a 7th looking for his opportunity. Undoubtedly there will be injuries, but we are deep enough to throw someone other than Brian Burress in there to compete. This is the time of season to have unconditional optimism. This is something that is still hard for Pirates fans, but if you take into account our strengths and the overall weakness of our division, there really is reason to think this is the year we break .500.

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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As long as our young players improve, or even approach their potential, this could be a very nice season indeed

other than the Reds and Pirates, every other team has, on paper anyway, declined in the talent department. its really up to our offense to show up though, which it hasnt done in about 4 years now.

by white angus on Feb 23, 2012 8:19 AM EST reply actions

Nice post

I have to agree with you through most of it. Pitching as a whole should be a strong point this season. The starting rotation is the best that Buccos have had in recent memory, and if the bullpen performs similarly to last year (with the potential for improvement if Meek returns to form) we should be decent on the defensive side of the ball. The Offense is still a huge concern. Cutch and Walker should be rather predictable, with a slight chance of progression for Walker and a decent chance for Cutch. Alvarez and (to a lesser degree) Presley are wild cards. Tabata is a health question. McGhee had the wheels come off last year. Jones is streaky. Barmes and Barajas are unlikely to be significant contributors. My guess for the season is that the Bucs will finish in third or fourth in the division (behind the Reds and the Cards…and maybe the Brew Crew) and flirt with .500 most of the season. But there is cause for optimism…and that is pleasant.

by Bill Coyne on Feb 23, 2012 9:31 AM EST reply actions

That hole at cleanup is enormous.

Perdro has this whole lineup screwed. Hopefully McGehee can fill that hole when he is filling in at 3rd or 1st.

by oldfrothingslosh on Feb 23, 2012 1:10 PM EST reply actions

We now have two guys at the top of our rotation who can eat up innings and have “miss the bat” stuff. Both guys are really walking into great situations. Health, both mental and physical will decide how their seasons end up, but here are some reasons to have high hopes.

So we are assuming good health for us.

The Cardinals also look to return a solid offense, but they also lost the best player in the game. Both Berkman and Beltran will be injury risks and have the possibility of dropping off.

And hoping for bad health for them. Something doesn’t click right there, either you assume health for all or not. To pick in choose is just to help your argument. I like the post, I’m just nit picking.

Thats what she said! - Michael Gary Scott

by C Shint on Feb 23, 2012 1:39 PM EST reply actions

I don't think he's predicting that we will stay healthy and the others won't. . .

just pointing out if we get some breaks we can have a nice season. I would agree, I’m thinking 75 wins, but we could be a decent Pedro and a healthy season from Bedard away from breaking this albatross of a streak.

Everything that guy just said is bullshit . . .thank you

by Scranton on Feb 23, 2012 2:47 PM EST up reply actions

Hoping our guys stay healthy and that the opposition drops off is optimistic as is the purpose of the thread. However I think more important than those two staying healthy is the fact of depth. While we played above our talent level for the first half of the season last year, and we were just waiting to come back to Earth, the biggest reason for our slide was that our pitchers were over extended. Without checking, I believe all of our pitchers had career highs in innings and they just couldn’t keep it up through the season. Now you have a couple of guys who have in the past put up a lot of innings and you have more major league pitchers that can extend our staff through the season. Also another season for the young pitchers will undoubtedly do well to increase their stamina for the season. Of course it is possible that either the Reds or the Cardinals could run away with the division, but I do think we have done things in the offseason to prepare ourselves for the entire season.

by sidbreamslegs on Feb 23, 2012 3:29 PM EST up reply actions