Pittsburgh Pirates Wake-Up Call: Can’t win em all?

Welcome to the Pittsburgh Pirates Wake-Up Call, a daily feature here at RumBunter.com. Every morning at 9 AM, one of us will give you our random thoughts on the goings-on around the Pirates’ organization, and we’ll throw out a few links to some good Pirates-related items from around the web.

Can’t win em all?

The Pittsburgh Pirates dropped a game to the Colorado Rockies yesterday 5-0. Having already won the series by winning the first two contests, Pirates fans were nonetheless frustrated. And why wouldn’t they be, with another “bad” outing from Charlie Morton.

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But was the loss really the result of a pitcher who gave the team six innings? If Morton hadn’t allowed two runs come through on his own error, I’d be inclined to say no. Yet if we judge him based solely on how he pitched, Morton had a typical Pirates back-end starter type of day. Fans should focus their ire on an inept offense that saw Gregory Polanco, Starling Marte, Josh Harrison, and Franciso Cervelli all finish the game without a hit. Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa lived up to his de-facto billing as the closest thing to an ace for the Rockies by striking out seven Bucs over six strong innings.  Again, the Pittsburgh Pirates had already won the series. Were it not for wins by the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs, this loss would barely register a blip on the radar.

In the waning days of August in a very tight pennant race, it’s difficult to stomach leaving wins against an inferior team on the table.

More trade deadline magic?

What a difference a month makes. On July 31, Pittsburgh Pirates fans were up in arms over a perceived lack of big-name action at the non-waiver trade deadline. Today finds us at the waiver-trade deadline. Today also finds us very happy with the July deadline deals that brought in J.A. Happ and Mike Morse.

Barring any last minute offers he can’t refuse, Neal Huntington seems to be apt to stand pat today. And why would he force a move when the team suddenly is one of the deepest over the past three years? With Harrison and Jordy Mercer back in the fold, the bench is solid and will only get better with the addition of Travis Snider, Jaff Decker, and other call-ups.

I feel very comfortable predicting that no move will be made today. And perhaps contrary to previous years, that is absolutely the right move.

Pirates talk on the web

Stephen Nesbitt of the Post Gazette put out his latest notebook with some encouraging news on A.J. Burnett.

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports thinks that the Pittsburgh Pirates have the toughest remaining schedule for any contender.

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