MLB Season Preview: Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates

Last Season's Standings: The Pittsbirgh Pirates were 67-95 last season, including 2-8 in their final ten games, which put them in 5th in the NL Central

In: SP Tony Armas Jr. (prev. team: Washington Nationals); RP Jim Bower (prev. team: Florida Marlins); C Elnar Diaz (prev. team: LA Dodgers); 2B Nick Green (prev. team: NY Yankees); RP Kevin Gryboski (prev. team: Washington Nationals); 3B Jose Hernandez (prev. team: Philadelphia Phillies); RP Dan Kolb (prev. team: Milwaukee Brewers); RP Allan Simpson (prev. team: Milwaukee Brewers); 1B Adam LaRoche (via trade w/ Atlanta Braves); RP John Grabow; 3B Freddy Sanchez; SP Shawn Chacon; Jamie Romak (via trade w/ Atlanta Braves); 1B Xavier Nady; RP Yoslan Herrera

Out: RP Mike Gonzalez (via trade w/ Atlanta Braves); SS Brent Lillibridge (via trade w/ Atlanta Braves)

Starting Pitching: The Pittsburgh Pirates have a young pitching staff led by the 23 year old Zach Duke. He was 10-15 with a 4.47 ERA last season and will need to improve those numbers if the Pirates are to have any success in the upcoming season. Duke has a wicked curve but needs to improve his change, which will help his issues against righties. Tends to get hit hardest early in starts. Pitching second in the rotation should be Ian Snell, who is entering just his second full season in the majors. He is coming off a solid rookie season in which he went 14-11 with a 4.74 ERA in 32 starts. He needs to improve against left-handed hitters, who just pound him, as well as to gain consistent command of his arsenal. Likely pitching in the third spot in the rotation will be Shawn Chacon. He missed a month last season to an injury to his left leg. Chacon went 7-6 with a brutl 6.36 ERA in 26 appearances (20 of those being starts). He is typically a ground ball pitcher and will get hit hard if his pitches hang in the strike zone. Look for Paul Maholm to get the nod as the Pirates 4th starter. Maholm is entering just his second full season in the majors and will be looking to build on a reasonably successful rookie campaign in which he went 8-10 with a decent 4.76 ERA. Maholm needs to be more effective in mixing his soft fastball against big-league hitters, gets pounded by righties and in the first inning. The fifth and final starter's spot will be a toss-up between Sean Burnett, who is looking to get back in the majors after missing the entire '05 season to shoulder surgery and not making the squad in '06. He'll need to prove that he's MLB-ready. Tony Armas Jr. is another option, however, he's injury prone (missed a month to a right forearm strain). Armas was 9-12 with a 5.03 ERA in 30 starts last season. Occasionaly, Armas will hang his pitches with the obvious results. However he throws strikes and has good movement on his arsenal. Look for Armas to land a role in the bullpen and make the odd start. Rookie southpaw Tom Gorzelanny will also get consideration as a fifth starter, although he'll likely start the year in Indianapolis fo more fine-tuning. Rookir Bryan Bullington is entering training camp having missed all of '06 to shoulder surgery and will start the year somewhere in the Pirates minor league system and may even have extended training camp to get his arm up to speed. A third pitcher attempting to come bck from shoulder surgery is John Van Benschoten, who missed time in April with a shoulder injury after having surgery in '05. Look for him to start in Altoona or Indianapolis and possibly be a recall option depending on his progress.

Bullpen: The Pittsburgh Pirates do not have a set closer. The Pirates will likely operate on a closer-by-committee strategy, using Marte and Youman depending on the situation and who's at the plate. Damaso Marte will likely face left-handed hitters and Shane Youman will likely face righties as well as some left-handed hitters. Marte was 1-7 with a 3.70 ERA in 75 appearances last season. He'll need to be more effective if the Pirates are to be successful in '07. Must work on his pitching against righties as well as holding base runners. Youman is 0-2 in five appearances in '06. He could wind up in Indianapolis to polis his arsenal at a lower level. Tony Armas will likely pitch middle-long relief if he pitches out of the 'pen. The ever-durable Salomon Torres will see a lot of action this coming season and could very well be the closer, since he saved 12 games for the Pirates last season. Otherwise he'll be a set-up man coming into the ball game in the 8th mostly. Torres was 3-6 with a 3.28 ERA in the '06 season. Southpaw John Grabow provides this organization with a lefty specialist, albeit just an average one. Left-handed hitters launch balls out of the park against him and Grabow is ineffective when not well-rested. He could improve his command. Grabow was 4-2 with a 4.13 ERA in 72 games played last season. Should the Pirates need a pitcher in the 5th or 6th, Matt Capps is their man. He had a solid season last year, going 9-1 with a 3.79 ERA in 85 relief appearances in '06. Josh Sharpless will also get some consideration for a job out of the 'pen but because of a lack of experience, he'll likely start in Indianapolis, although he could be a middle man. Rookie Jonah Bayliss is hoping to prove to management that he's ready to start the year in the bigs. He'll need strong performances to do so and will likely start in AAA ball but be available as a call-up. Rookie Marty Mclearly made a good first impression with mangement going 2-0 in five appearances as a September call-up (2 of those being starts.) He'll get a good look and stands a slim chance to make the squad as a long man. The Pirates have high hopes for rookie Ed Rogers but he'll likely be a September call-up because he was brutal last season accumulating a 8.31 ERA in 10 games played. Finally, Juan Perez will also be looking to improve on his performance last season after going 0-1 with an 8.10 ERA in 7 appearances.

Catcher: Ronny Paulino had a successful first season as the Pirates #1 catcher hitting .310 with 6 HR and 55 RBI. He's fine defensively, but struggles to hitting breaking balls and is a slow runner, which is typical of catchers. Look for Paulino to bat 8th and play between 120 and 130 games in '07. If healthy, the injury-prone Ryan Doumit should be the back-up catcher, although he m,issed significant time with a serious hamstring injury. Not a great runner and terrible hitting from the right side. Defensively, he's improving every year. Humberto Cota is also in the mix for a roster spot and could very well see time as a back-up considering Doumit's fragility. He is impatient at the plate, struggles against righties, and is not good at throwing out prospective base stealers. Carlos Maldanado will also get some consideration at training camp, but he'll almost certainly start the season in Indianapolis to gain more experience and for more playing time.

First Baseman: Trade acquisition Adam LaRoche was a nice pick-up by the Pirates and will be a solid defensive asset who can smash the ball. He needs to be better with runners in scoring position and he's a terrible baserunner. Look for him to bat 5th in the line-up and to play around 150 games next season. Likely backing him up will be Xavier Nady, whose weak arm makes him an ideal candidate for this position. He hit .280 with 17 HR and 63 RBI in '06. Also battling for the back-up job will be Brad Eldred who could start in AAA ball because he has only 55 games of experiences but he won't be there long. He hit .221 with 12 HR and 27 RBI in 190 AB's.

Second Baseman: Jose Castillo is the #1 player at this position and will play around 150 games next season and bat 2nd. He's an average player who's a strong base-runner. Castillo hit .253 with 14 HR and 65 RBI last season. Backing him up will be NL batting Champ Freddy Sanchez who will be looking to repeat his offensive output from last season where he hit .344 with 6 HR and 85 RBI. Sanchez is not a power hitter but is effective as a contact hitter. He'll bat clean-up in the batting order and play 155+ games if healthy.

Shortstop: It is possible that Jack Wilson could play every game next season. Of course the Pirates could still sign a utility infielder or some prospect could catch fire in training camp. Wilson hit .273 with 8 HR and 35 RBI next season. His strikeout total is not great and he hates taking a walk. Defensively, Wilson has soft hands, good range and strong arm. Wilson should bat 6th in the line-up.

Third Baseman: For more on the starting third baseman, see under Shortstop. Backing up Sanchez will be Jose Bautista who is sound defensively and has some speed, but he's undiscplined at the plate, struggles against righties and freezes with RISP. Bautistahit .235 with 16 HR and 51 RBI.

Left Fielder: Canadian Jason Bay is a solid hitter who boasts power, as evidenced by his 35 HR last season. He can get a hit fairly regulary (.286 average in '06) and he drove in 109 runs as well. Bay will play all 162 games if healthy and will bat 3rd in the line-up. He must improve his strikeout total, as he struck out a brutal 156 times in the '06 season, something that cannot happen this season. The reason for the high K total is he gets in trouble when behind in the count and panics; also he struggles with off-speed stuff.

Center Fielder: Chris Duffy will bat lead-off mainly because of his speed and ability to connect with the ball. He hit .255 with 2 HR and 18 RBI last season. Must reduce strikeouts and increase walks. Duffy should play around 100 games. Backing him up will be Nate McLouth who should be the 4th outfielder for the Pirates, as he is entering his second full season in the bigs and knkows how to play. McLoud hit .233 with 7 HR and 16 RBI in the '06 campaign. McLoud must improve his plate discipline and success with RISP. Rookie Rajai Davis will also get some consideration, but look for him to start in AAA ball and to be recalled as an injury replacement, but more likely in September.

Right Fielder. Nady will bat 7th in the line-up and will play between 125 and 135 games this season. For more on Nady see under First Baseman. Backing him up will be Bautista (for more on him see under Third Baseman). Finally Jody Gerut should be the platoon outfielder. He'll be looking to prove to management that he's healthy again after missing the entire '06 season with right knee surgery. Needs to improve with RISP and in clutch situations, as well as against lefties. He's great against righties and crushes breaking balls.

Season Prediction: The Pittsburgh Pirates are a team that will very much rely on small ball for their offensive support. The question will be whether they can generate enough to support their young pitching staff and what is likely to be an average/mediocre bullpen. I feel that the Pirates will finish in the basement of the NL Central.