Pirates Lineup: So Where Did Brandon Inge Go?

Brandon Inge has left the building. Up to this point, the Pittsburgh Pirates seemed to be building some of their bench based on that elusive skill known as ‘veteran presence.’   The children were sent on the life boats and the old men were still playing on the ship.    That looks to have changed today with this tweet:

Apparently Inge took his .156 average and .362 OPS and hit the streets for a free Friday in Bradenton.  What no walkoff home run drill first??

Wait…wait…

The Bucs have sent youth down to the minors and reassigned young players to gain more experience in the minor leagues. None of the moves were shocking, but it has put the Pirates forthcoming roster into a bit of persepctive.

Looking at the Pirates roster, it isn’t exactly filled with youth.

The Pirates youngest player is 24 years old. The team has a couple of 38-year old players. The roster isn’t as diverse as the World Champion San Francisco Giants who have five switch hitters and are nearly balanced with right and left-handed pitchers, but the Pirates roster is far from complete.

Yet it’s becoming harder to see the team having young players with possible upside.  Yeh, Old McDonald looks to be the backup infielder, not a younger player like Ivan De Jesus, Jr. or Jordy Mercer.  It troubles us a bit.  We are sure it will be chalked up to giving the younger players experience, consistent playing time and at-bats, yet it seems silly to us at the same time to award the final roster spot to Josh Harrison, but that looks more and more like the way the roster will be set.

Inge can opt out on Tuesday if he’s not on the roster.

The lineup:

Alex Presley in center

Jose Tabata in left

Alex Pie in right

Gaby Sanchez at first

Brandon Inge at second

Josh Harrison at third

Mike McKenry will do the catching

Old McDonald at short

Jeanmar Gomez pitching