Pittsburgh vs. Cincinnati Doubleheader, 28 August 2007

The first game:

5:05 PM, FSNP, WPGB

Elizardo Ramirez (0-1, 6.35) vs. Tom Gorzelanny (12-7, 3.40). Here's the box. I'll be in comments for at least part of this one.

The second game will feature Bronson Arroyo and Paul Maholm.

A few notes:

-P- This collection of Pirate nicknames is pretty awesome. I'm pretty proud of my own contribution to the list, which comes in right at the top. B.P. has had an ERA above six in two of the last three months, by the way; if he keeps this up, I will use his nickname as much as possible in September.

-P- John Perrotto recommends the Pirates consider Jays player personnel director and Pittsburgh resident Tony LaCava for CEO. I don't know - it's good that smart baseball guys like Mark Shapiro and Keith Law like LaCava, and I'm sure he'd be better than Joe Garagiola, but I don't think people should be rushing to annoint someone with local ties to fill every high-level opening in the Pirates organization. And I'm not impressed that, as a scout for the Indians, LaCava recommended the trade that netted Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee and Brandon Phillips for Bartolo Colon. That wasn't great scouting, that was just taking advantage of an extremely confused Expos team. That trade was highway robbery, and everyone knew it at the time - everyone was aware of Sizemore's upside. It's not that LaCava's necessarily a bad candidate, but I don't find Perrotto's editorial very convincing.

-P- The Pirates have promoted Brad Corley to Class AA Altoona. Putting aside the facts that he was drafted in the second round in 2005 and that he was leading the Carolina League in RBIs, Corley isn't a prospect. He had 14 walks compared to 99 strikeouts at Single-A, and he only posted a .319 OBP. Hitters with K/BB ratios like that tend not to make it at the higher levels.

-P- A Jack Wilson trade before the offseason is looking increasingly unlikely.

-P- Zach Duke made another rehab start for rookie-league Bradenton yesterday, allowing one run and no walks and striking out two in four innings.

-P- From the same article, seven Pirate minor leaguers will play in the Arizona Fall League: pitchers Pat Bresnehan, Dave Davidson, Jesse Chavez and Chris Hernandez, and hitters Steve Pearce, Andrew McCutchen and Brian Bixler. One reason the AFL is so friendly to hitters os because of selections like these - Pearce and McCutchen are among the Pirates' best prospects, and Pearce is probably major league-ready right now, whereas all the pitchers are marginal relief prospects.