Pittsburgh Pirates Wake-Up Call: Disaster Strikes

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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 your way from around the web as well.

6-8 months is a long time

Think about how much your life can change in 6-8 months. It is a long amount of time. Now imagine that you are plying your trade in a new country, and things are going well. You are acclimating yourself quite well. Your co-workers and observers are taking to you in kind. Life is your oyster. And then something horrible happens to you and suddenly you can’t do what you love for 6-8 months.

That is the situation Jung Ho Kang finds himself in after a “clean” slide from Chris Coghlan took out his knee, resulting in gruesome injuries to his leg. Anyone who saw the play and the injury immediately knew that his season was over, yet now his readiness for opening day in 2016 is in serious jeopardy.

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Will the Pittsburgh Pirates be able to weather his absence? Hard to say, but this team has the makeup to do so, as Aramis Ramirez and Pedro Alvarez will now man the corner infield spots for the rest of the season. Jordy Mercer will be the starting shortstop. Nothing will be lost on on defense, yet the consistent threat of Kang shortly behind Andrew McCutchen will be missed. It will be up to Ramirez and Alvarez to show a bit more consistency to truly weather the storm. Kang has the third-highest WAR (wins above replacement rating) among position players with a 4.0 rating.

One player who I feel can step up is Starling Marte. Although Marte has been solid all year, now would be a great time for one of his patented tears.

Freakin’ Cubbies

The Cubs came into PNC Park and took three out of four games. Going into the series, many fans would have signed in blood for a split. With a doubleheader and Jake Arrieta involved, this would have been a dream scenario in the eyes of many. The Bucs now find themselves with a two-game lead on the Cubs for home field advantage in a wild card game scenario, as well as five back of the Cardinals.

To say this series was disastrous would be an incredible understatement. The Pirates would do well to “shower well” and move on.

To face Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke as part of a seven game road trip.

The next week will truly test the mettle of the Pittsburgh Pirates

Pirates talk on the web

Ken Rosenthal is the latest to take a look at the fairness of the current wild-card system.

Bill Brink of the Post-Gazette looks at what the Pirates must do in the face of the Kang injury.

Next: Gerrit Cole relying on a new mix of pitches