Archive for June, 2009

A quick prospect update for everyone… The Pirates traded Andy Phillips to the White Sox earlier this year for Michael Dubee.  Big deal.  Why are you bothering me with this you ask…just keep reading.   Dubee is having an amazing season.  46 strikeouts and two walks?  Huh?  Look at these stats…[Hillcat site, Dubee] Sure Andy has done a lot in his life, his Wiki is quite large. Michael Dubee doesnt seem to have a Wiki.   I will give you one tidbit…his dad is the Pitching Coach for the Philadelphia Phillies.  So you now have another example of the Pirates building future talent.   Hell, Phillips [...]

Jeff Karstens and John Grabow were impressive last night in the Pirates victory over the Atlanta Braves.  Charlie Morton made his debut, but it turned into a cameo.  I think Charlie being on the big league club has improved the Pirates significantly.  Exhibit one:  Ian Snell pitched like he had real blood in his veins again. Exhibit two:  Jeff Karstens tonight… Karstens threw 59 pitches after coming in for Charlie Morton in the second inning.  43 were strikes.  Karstens mixed the four seamer on average at 92 miles per hour with a nice changeup in the 87 mile per hour range.   [...]

I know many of you love fantasy sports. I would like you to meet Norm Brooks. Fantasy Addict. *Enter *Enter

Five great things I learned today: 1.  Nobody in a Red Wing jersey was smiling after this year’s game six.  The Penguins travel to Detroit for all the marbles with a suddenly confident goaltender.  The home team is perfect in this series, just like the Canadiens back in the day.  Can we do it? 2. The Steelers Super Bowl rings are really big.  Really shiny.  You know for a fact that there were a lot of NFL players searching the internet tonight to get a glimpse at those rings. 3.  There are tens of thousands of draft gurus in Pittsburgh.  I [...]

Scott reports here that he thinks Charlie Morton could pitch tomorrow against his old team. Well won’t this just send Pirate fans into a volcano of hyper drama.  Great job on the article Scott.  I trust Morton is well received by his teammates.  Break out the pie for the post game celebration. Get up here quick!

Much to the chagrin of the Post Gazette Editorial Board, baseball prospects do turn into good baseball players.  Exhibit number one.  Andrew McCutchen.  The Bucs battled again last night.  Good sign. No killer instinct from the Bucs last night.  Bad, bad sign. It was another very winnable game that slipped away.  As you will hear later, I spent some time in the car today.  The St. Louis Cardinals have a very tough roadtrip.  They aren’t playing well having dropped five of six. Two opportunities for the Pirates to gain ground on the Cards were lost in 48 hours.  Remember that [...]

Two 2006 draft choices were selected as Carolina League All-Stars after impressive first-halves of the season for the Lynchburg Hillcats.  Catcher Kris Watts (.883OPS, 3HR, 22RBI) and OF Miles Durham ( .816OPS, 6HR, 33RBI).  [Kris Watts page]  [Miles Durham page] Pedro Alvarez was

After watching Ramon Vazquez yesterday, I became angry.  What a tough game to lose.  He set the shortstop position back a little bit didn’t he?  The Pirates desperatley need depth at the shortstop position.

Game recap including details on Jack Wilson being rolled over by Pudge Rodriguez.  [Trib] Bahahahahaha… [ NY Daily News Nats 7 Mets 1 LaRoche must be smiling ] Nyjer Morgan is in a 10-for-55 slump during which he has a .182 average and a .262 OBP Maybe we need to give up on McAwesomeER and let it be Andrew McCLUTCHen.  Matt Capps pounded the zone as he closed out the Bucs 6-4 win against the Astros.  Capps recorded his 13th save on the season.  He threw eleven pitches, only one was his slider.  His fastball averaged 94.6 mph.    If you read only one [...]

The Pirates are on the rise in the Baseball Prospectus hit list  [BP] Great story on Nyjer [Pittsburgh Sports Report] Ugly ERA for Indy(4.39) WHIP (1.4) [Indy Team Pitching]  Altoona.  Well you decide for yourself , but I will warn you.  It’s bad. One  last post about 0-for-4 Nate McLouth from Fan Graphs.  [McLouth Deal]  [The Pirates Haul] Adam LaRoche read our letter to Mr. Beltran.  HAHA   He isn’t happy.  Heh, Andy you stole our zero class line!  [LaRoche blasts Beltran] Charlie Morton (7-2, 2.26 ERA) is ready to do something with his opportunity.  [PG]   [AAA Indy Morton page]  He has now fanned 62 [...]