'Tis the season. Feel free to discuss the 2012 Pirates season here.
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'Tis the season. Feel free to discuss the 2012 Pirates season here.
Put it in the books.
Registered User
Bucs are getting thrown into the fire imediately to start the season. First 15 games are the Phillies, then a 9 game west coast trip thru LA,Frisco, and Arizona, then come home to 3 against the defending champs. I'm hoping for 8-7 in this stretch, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Bucs finish this stretch below 500. But I would worry if they go 5-10 or worse. If they exceed expectations and go 10-5 or better, I think it would give the young Bucs confidence being they would do that against 3 playoff teams, and teams expected to contend this season, and could vault the Bucs to that ever-elusive 500 season.
LETS GO BUCS!!
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Way too many question marks to predict anything at this point. Pitching staff largely remains an unknown. Will Bedard be reasonably healthy? Will burnett (when he comes back) show some of his older form? Will Correia and Karstens rise above journeyman status/ Will morton show continuued progress when he comes back? And on and on....
Catching- an old "new" catcher and a backup who doesn't hit and can't throw runners out.
Alvarez may be the key to offensive success. If he can hit .250 with 25 homers, the Pirates may score some runs. If he doesn't, McGehee, Jones, somebody else better show some real power. McCutchen's the only sure thing in the outfield. Presley's played half a season, Tabata's been hurt.
Almost everything breaks right (very unlikely) the Pirates could break .500. Almost everything goes poorly (very unlikely), the Pirates could have the worst record in baseball. Breaks down the middle, they're probably looking at a record similar to last year.
FIRE FRED WILPON
Pedro Alvarez: demote or platoon?
http://baseballpastandpresent.com/20...m-platoon-him/
NO HANDBALL PLAYING IN THIS AREA
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Give him the chance to sink or swim in the month of April. If he's hitting around the Mendoza line and his fielding doesn't improve, platoon with Casey McGehee or Josh Harrison. The Bucs have invested heavily in Pedro, and except for a 2 month stretch in 2010, there hasn't been much return on the investment.Originally Posted by Blue387
LETS GO BUCS!!
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What a start to the season, 3 down to the wire games with the Phils, with the Bucs taking the last 2 in walk-off fashion! Now on to the west coast for the 9 game roadtrip.
LETS GO BUCS!!
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0-for LA. 3 strong starting pitching outings. 3 more games where the bats were too quiet. 2 one-run losses and one 2-run loss. Gotta do better in Frisco over the weekend.
LETS GO BUCS!!
FIRE FRED WILPON
To be fair, the Pirates faced some of the toughest pitchers in the National League in the past two weeks.
Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Kershaw and Cain. That's sounds like a rotation of Cy Young winners.
NO HANDBALL PLAYING IN THIS AREA
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Yeah those were some tough pitchers, but those are the kind of Pitchers the Bucs need to beat a time or 2 if they want to get to 500.
Good to salvage 1 in Frisco. Starting pitching has been solid the first week and a half of the season. Hope it holds up all season. On to Arizona. LETS GO BUCS!!
Last edited by BeatEmBucs; 04-16-2012 at 08:22 AM.
LETS GO BUCS!!
FIRE FRED WILPON
A.J. Burnett leads Pirates to 2-0 win over Cardinals. He pitched seven scoreless innings.
Last edited by Blue387; 04-21-2012 at 10:33 PM.
NO HANDBALL PLAYING IN THIS AREA
It's Always Sunny
I go to school near Pittsburgh so I watch a lot, go to a few games. The Pirates with the exception of Alvarez play hard and you can tell they want to prove something. They are also exciting to watch. I think Hurdle does a good job platooning. Surely he is forced to play Alvarez.
But the pitching!!
The Pirates have been bringing in relievers seemingly at will recently. They had to pull Karstens against Arizona on Tuesday due to a shoulder problem (understandable) in the first and pulled James McDonald the next day after 4! He gave up 3 H, ER, BB, had 2 SO! I was at the game last night, they pulled Morton last night after 5 and he had the bottom of the order coming up. It was a 2-1 game and his line was: 4 H, 2 R, ER, 3 BB, 2 K. The defense was not helping him and he was pitching fine. The bullpen (Hughes) blew the game. Think that bullpen will last til the mid-summer if this continues? I doubt it.
12/21/26-1/22/12|1980, 2008|58, 61, 755, 2632|5, 8, 22, 24|1, 14, 20, 32, 36, P, P
I'm atomic man I'm the moon that holds the tides that take the sand.
FIRE FRED WILPON
Will Pirates score enough runs to compete?
http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/po...uns-to-compete
NO HANDBALL PLAYING IN THIS AREA
Registered User
Why do you say Alvarez doesn't play hard? what evidence do you have? Have you been on the field with him? Have you talked to him? Have you talked to his teammates? Alvarez has struggled- so have most of his teammates. Why do you single him out?
It's Always Sunny
Just seems like he lacks focus. He has talent. His approach at the plate seems to be only to hit HR's and he is a decent contact hitter (hence his BA). Maybe my opinion is skewed. A lot of Pirate fans I talk to complain about him. His production does nothing to help tho.
12/21/26-1/22/12|1980, 2008|58, 61, 755, 2632|5, 8, 22, 24|1, 14, 20, 32, 36, P, P
I'm atomic man I'm the moon that holds the tides that take the sand.
Registered User
Pedro has become the poster child for Pirates fans' frustrations. 20 years of losing can do that. Pedro alienated a lot of fans before day 1 when he- through his agent- held out until the last minute to obtain the highest bonus possible. Sounds like good business sense to me, but Pgh fans- and I know them as well as anyone- I grew up in WPa, have lived in WPa for all but about 5 of my 65 years- can be a spiteful, resentful bunch. They hate big bonuses and big salaries unless the player really delivers. And, if he doesn't deliver, he's a bum. And if he doesn't look just right, or if he wears his hat a little bit differently, watch out!
I've never seen Alvarez loaf. I've seen him make plenty of bad plays, and some good ones, but I've not seen a lack of effort. The comments about his conditioning are ridiculous. He may have been a few pounds heavier than optimal his first couple of seasons, but I'll guarantee you that he's in better condition than 99.9% of those who are belittling him.
I'm not sure how he'll pan out- he has some problems with pitch recognition, and swings at a lot of pitches out of the strike zone- fastballs up, and breaking balls down. Two years ago I thought he'd become a star- now I'm pretty uncertain. But, I seee no evidence whatsoever that his problems are from lack of effort or "bad" attitude. I'd play him all year, as long as he's healthy, to see if he can straighten himself out. But, Pittsburgh fans will run him out of town before then if he doesn't start hitting.
Registered User
6-9 thru the rough 15 game stretch to start the season. So far I'm pleasantly surprised at how well the pitching staff (especially the starters) have performed so far. I hope the hitting comes around soon, which means pretty much everyone besides McCutchen. I'm hoping the Bucs can step up against the Rocks and Braves this week, and look forward to May where 18 of the 28 games are at PNC Park.
LETS GO BUCS!!
FIRE FRED WILPON
I think Logan Morrison could be a good fit for the Pirates.
NO HANDBALL PLAYING IN THIS AREA
Registered User
The Bucs offense finally comes alive in the series finale in Atlanta! A pleasant surprise that Navarro, and Harrison stepped up in rare starts while Presley and Barmes got a day off. It was also good to see Pedro go yard again, and finally get over the Mendoza line. James McDonald also racked up a career high 10 K's and threw a strong 7 2/3 innings after a shaky first inning.
So thru the first month the Bucs are 10-12. Starting pitching has been tremendous thru the first month. Hitting was anemic for the most part, but I'm hopeful the hitting surge tonight will be a sign of things to come in May. The Bucs need to take advantage of the home cooking (18 games at PNC in May)
in May, especially since June will be mostly spent on the road.
LETS GO BUCS!!
FIRE FRED WILPON
Is Pedro Alvarez back? From April 25th to May 2nd, he is batting .414/.469/.966/1.434 with four homers and 8 RBI.
NO HANDBALL PLAYING IN THIS AREA
FIRE FRED WILPON
Good job by former Met Rod Barajas in hitting a walk-off home run against the Nationals.
NO HANDBALL PLAYING IN THIS AREA
Registered User
Another walk-off win courtesy of Josh Harrison today! Bucs go 5-4 on the first 9 game homestand of May. Now on to brief stops in Miami and DC before heading to Detroit for the weekend and the Bucs first taste of interleague in 2012. Bucs 16-18 now, and still battling for 2nd in the division as of now.
LETS GO BUCS!!
Registered User
2-2 on the roadtrip so far. Still just 2 games below 500. J-Mac looked solid striking out 11, and Cutch with a 2 homer game. Now on to Detroit and the first taste of interleague play.
LETS GO BUCS!!
FIRE FRED WILPON
Mets to play the Pirates this week in Pittsburgh. The Pirates take on Johan Santana, R.A. Dickey and Jon Niese.
Santana and Niese are lefties and Dickey is a knuckleballer.
I must question Neal Huntington for assembling this team. The Pirates offense is terrible.
McCutchen, Walker and Harrison are the only batters with an OBP over .300.
McCutchen, Alvarez and Harrison are the only batters with an OPS over .700.
I want to see the Pirates win but this is terrible.
NO HANDBALL PLAYING IN THIS AREA
LETS GO BUCCOS !!!
It's looking like the boys are gonna be setting another franchise strikeout record this season. It would mark the third time in a row that the franchise mark was topped if they don't settle down.
LETS GO BUCCOS !!!
After beating the Cubbies tonight, the Buccos own the same exact record they did at this time last year(after 46 games).
The season is still young.
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