Bob Nutting takes aim at the Pirates talent in Killing Them Softly

 Major League Baseball pitchers shouldn’t be paid for what they have done in the past.  Pitchers should get paid for what they will produce in the future.  We get it.  But damn.  It’s not hard to appreciate what Jeff Karstens has done for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

So let’s rewind a bit.  The date was August 25, 2011.  The Pirates pitchers were about to cave.  So as we stare at the possibility of non-tender for each of these pitchers, we think one stands out, at least when it comes to value for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Here was the situation back then.

JMac had thrown 139 innings in 2011 surpassing his innings total from a season before and we detailed the situation in Pirates Must Unleash Hell in order to break the streak .

Charlie Morton was nearing his innings total from the 2010 season when he threw nearly 160 innings split evenly between AAA Indy and Pittsburgh. Morton had thrown 139.2 innings headed into his August 25 start against St. Louis.  We said his new arm slot raised questions for us, wondering just how his shoulder will react to the change.

Jeff Karstens had pitched 148.1 innings. He pitched 122 in 2010 and 108 in 2009.

At the time, we said….”sound the siren men.”

If you consider each of these three pitchers, who would you bet $100 bucks on pitching well in 2013?  Yeh, me too.  Karstens deserves better.

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On August 5, just twenty days earlier, Karstens was rolling with the fourth-lowest ERA in the National League.

He was kililng it at night with a 1.87 ERA in night games, which was good for best in the league.

He was killing it in Pittsburgh with a 1.96 ERA in 11 games.  George Romero was proud.

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God, how Pirates fans love the skinny right hander who has grown into a cult figure of sorts.  Last night we sent out a quick tweet to gauge what Bucs fans thought about the Pirates tendering Karstens.  The response was stronger than we imagined, it’s over 80 now.

Pirates fans want to see Jeff Karstens in Pittsburgh in 2013

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Nothing is smoother than that slow curve.  Nothing is better than a snapshot of Karstens, the guy is a Dove commercial waiting to happen.  He’s truly comfortable in his skin.  He’s got a calm, confident, personality between the lines and a sly sense of style off the field.

Over the years as the Karstens legend has grown–at least with us–and we tried to capture it all for you in one convenient location.

The strong season by Jeff Karstens didn’t go unnoticed by the brand gurus at Chuck Taylor.

Karstens had his own Chuck Taylors…

You know you love ‘em

When he signed to return to the Bucs for 2012, we sent out a warning.

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WARNING: Major League Baseball
SUBJECT: Jeff Karstens was signed to return in 2012 for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Zombie Cometh. Prepare accordingly.

End of message.

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When he did make his return after a solid 2012 spring training, we were ready.

Jeff Karstens. Yeh, he’s back bitches.

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When he was hurt in 2012, we were ready for his comeback

The zombie is back! Photo: Tumblr H/T @Cocktailsfor2

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It’s also funny to remember what Keith Law said about Karstens.

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When the Bucs needed a bounceback start Karstens typically provided it eliciting such quotes from Clint Hurdle:

He controlled their barrel throughout the outing.  Slow breaking ball, changeup, ….outstanding effort from Jeff.  Clint Hurdle

….after such a devestating loss yesterday….that’s all I heard in my neighborhood…I said youre right, my guys probably won’t show up.  Clint Hurdle

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Thank you Cocktails. 

The Pirates Jeff Karstens has been the Bucs best pitcher and in the process is piling up the innings in 2011

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It seems like yesterday when Karstens popped on our radar when he outslugged Virgil Vasquez for a spot with the Bucs. Yeh, it wouldn’t be so damn funny if the shitty story and quotes we wrote back in March of 2009 weren’t true.

Karstens allowed two hits and no earned runs in three innings of relief work against the Rays on March 15. He gets his first start of the Spring today against the Red Sox.

MARCH 2009.  BRADENTON.  Presumably, the battle we all have been waiting for begins today for the coveted fifth starter spot for the Pirates. It definently is an undercard as both pitchers have not come up with a cobra clutch on the spot. The final two men standing are…. in the red corner, standing 6’3″ weighing in at 205 pounds from Santa Barbara California, Virgil Vasquez. In the blue corner, weighing in at 185 pounds and standing 6’3″ from San Diego, California Jeff Karstens !

Pirate fans, it has come down to these two right handed pitchers. Each have displayed some ability in the minors. Each has not proven their ability on the big league level. (Insert deep breath and long sigh here.)

Karstens after you drink your dozen egg yolks, here is some bulletin board material for you. I suggest before heading to the mound, please read this about your opponent/teammate Virgil Vasquez.

 ”He’s intriguing because he does throw strikes and he does have pitches,” manager John Russell said. “He just has to have a better mix of them and to utilize what he has.”

“I was pleased with how he (Vasquez) attacked the zone. It’s nice to see him throw strikes. He gets ahead. I think once he starts to use his other pitches, that’s going to make him more successful.”

Jeff,  we wanted you to know Virgil attempts to call you out in the following quote.

“I don’t know how they perceive me,” Vasquez said. “I’ve gone out there for most of the spring and I feel like my stuff has been comparable to every guy who’s fighting for this spot. I just have to keep doing it. Hopefully, my next start will be up here and I can bounce back. I want to show them how I bounce back, that one start’s not the end.”

Jeff,  Virgil says his stuff is comparable to yours.

Please show us differently today.

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The Pirates have always tried to ignore Karstens, but his performance wouldn’t let them.  Remember this story from June of 2010–How Did Karstens Get Ignored?

Remember earlier in the year when Jeff Karstens threw six shutout innings against the Cardinals? Sure you do. Because after he and the relief corps shut down the Cards, he earned himself a trip to the bullpen. Karstens and four relievers combined on a four hitter in a 2-0 Pirates victory.

Karstens isn’t rattled by stupid moves made by this ballclub.

Remember when Karstens pitched against Stephen Strasburg at Strasmas? He pitched well. Nobody noticed he ran out of gas until it was too late.

Sorta like Bradenton. Remember Karstens in spring training? Nobody noticed him then either. The right hander was entirely ignored. He pitched well, but just wasn’t given any shot by the Bucs and was sent to AAA. I recall Neal Huntington even mentioning how well Karstens was pitching at the time to Greg Brown on his radio show. But it seemed the club was too enamored with Kevin Hart losing the fifth starters job to notice a player that wanted to win the job.

Sure it’s easy to second guess. Let’s face it, the right hander isn’t very exciting, but he gets the job done. He has improved. Did you see that breaking ball last night? During some key games this season Karstens has pitched well.

Last night at Wrigley Field, he couldn’t solve Alfsono Soriano. The Cubs left fielder hit two home runs and the Pirates could only manage a bomb by Doumit. The Cubs snapped the Bucs back to reality and took the victory 3-1. The video recap is here.

But the fact is, Karstens deserved better.

All along.

Look at some of Karstens starts this season at the bottom of this post courtesy of Yahoo Sports. The great starts against the Cards and the Tigers. The relief appearance against the Braves when he allowed just one earned run. He pitched well enough against the Cubs in both of his starts this year to certainly give the Bucs a chance to win. Against the Brew Crew, he allowed just two runs while pitching 7.1 innings.

Hell, Karstens has four earned runs or fewer in eight of his nine starts this year. Only the Dodgers have lit him up in a starting role, the Reds when he came in as a reliever.

Looking at the work of the Pirates pitching staff this season, Jeff Karstens has been the underdog we have been cheering for all year. It’s a shame it took so long for anyone on the Pirates coaching staff or even the front office executives and evaluators to notice the guy is a gamer.

Karstens has given the ball club a chance to win in eight of his nine starts. It’s a shame that the Pirates offense is so futile it hasn’t bothered to notice either.

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Ahh, it’s time to let go.  We know that Jeff Karstens will always be watching us. We will miss you Jeff Karstens.

Damn, we will miss you.

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Jeff Karstens won’t die.  He will just return to haunt us.

The Pittsburgh Pirates desperately needed a solid start against the Milwaukee Brewers.  Right hander Jeff Karstens gave them what they needed last night when he blanked the Brewers, halting a brutal four-game slide for the Bucs.

Karstens went 7.2 innings, and did not walk a batter before he left with a groin injury.  The Bucs starter struck out four.

He also helped himself with a big two-out, one-run single on an 0-2 count in a big fifth inning off Brewers starter Shaun Marcum.  The Bucs took advantage of the Beer Makers errors, and when Neil Walker scored on a Michael McKenry double, it was the  fourth time this month that the Pirates managed to score first.

Karstens scored from first base after being chased around the bases on a Jose Tabata double.  (The Pirates left fielder felt discomfort as he rounded first base and headed to second.)

Travis Snider reached out of the zone with his powerful right hand, and flicked Marcum’s 25th pitch of the inning into left center to score Tabata.

As he picked up his first win against the Brew Crew in nine starts, Karstens kept the bats of Milwaukee off balance with some excellent breaking pitches.   The Bucs said Karstens injured his right groin.

The Beer Makers were in business in the eighth, and after former Bucco Nyjer Morgan got an infield hit, it was apparent Karstens wasn’t feeling right.  The Pirates brain trust watched as their most effective pitcher lately fired one pitch to Norichika Aoki before getting pulled from the game.

Karstens felt he wouldn’t miss his next start, and thought it was more a painful hip than his right groin.

“When you’re out there on the mound, you don’t know how bad it’s going to be. I think all the tests came back pretty good, at least from my standpoint, I thought.  We’ll come in tomorrow and see how it is, but I don’t see it being a big issue. I should be able to go in five days.”  Jeff Karstens

Jose Tabata also got pulled from the game with an injury to his groin as well.  Travis Snider slid over to left field, Garrett Jones moved to right and Gabby Sanchez took over at first.

The game wasn’t exactly as clean as it appeared.

The Buccos took advantage of a big Brewers error in that fifth inning when Carlos Gomez dropped a leadoff Neil Walker fly ball that got the four-run fifth inning rolling; also, shortstop Jeff Bianchi booted a sure Andrew McCutchen ground ball out.   But errors on the basepath cost the Bucs as McCutchen got thrown out stealing.

Pedro Alvarez got picked off second base, but had two more hits.  And unfortunately, the Bucs were also in double digits (again!) with ten strikeouts.

But lost in the boxscore might be a play that we don’t see often:  With two runners on and Ryan Braun at the plate, the 2011 MVP lifted a ball into shallow right field that first baseman Sanchez went out and caught.  In past years, that ball seemed to always drop in.  But not tonight.

A win is a win.  A starting pitcher hasn’t pitched as well as Karstens did tonight in a long time.   (Or at least it seems like it.)

The Pirates are off the schneid with an opportunity to win the series this afternoon.  Let’s trust injuries to Karstens and Tabata really aren’t that bad when they arrive for this afternoon’s matinee.

A quick look at how the key players for the 2012 Pirates came together:

SP James McDonald – On July 31, 2010 the Pirates traded their closer, Octavio Dotel, to the Los Angeles Dodgers for McDonald and minor league OF Andrew Lambo.  Dotel pitched exactly 18.2 innings for the Dodgers, who finished 80-82.  Lambo is still just 23-years old, but has struggled with injuries and inconsistency.  McDonald has become an ace starter, and is under team control until 2016.  This is a trade that the Dodgers wish they could un-do, a candidate for the best move made by Neil Huntington.

SP A.J. Burnett – Burnett had never lived up to the expectations of a massive contract he signed with the New York Yankees in 2008.  In February of this year, the Yankees were trying to unload their veteran hurler to any team that would take him.  The Pirates swooped in and acquired Burnett for a pair of minor leaguers, neither a legit prospect.  To facilitate the deal, New York agreed to pick up $20 million of the $33 million owed to Burnett over the next two seasons.  Ultimately, Burnett has proven that getting out of New York was the best thing that could have happened to him.  He has become the veteran leader of the Bucs, and has been integral to the success of 2012.

SP Kevin Correia – Correia was coming off a down year in San Diego when the Pirates signed him to a two-year, $7 million contract in December of 2010.  His workhorse mentality and veteran presence has been a great value at that price.  Correia will never be a Cy Young winner, but he is the type of pitcher that every contending team needs to have – a reliable, inning-eating starter who rarely has a dud outing.  By comparison, St. Louis is paying SP Jake Westbrook $8.5 million this year for essentially the same type of production.

SP Jeff Karstens – The Pirates trade OF Xavier Nady and RP Damaso Marte to the Yankees for Karstens, OF Jose Tabata, SP Ross Ohlendorf, and RP Daniel McCutchen at the 2008 trade deadline.  While Ohlendorf fizzled out after showing promise, Karstens has continued to develop into a solid starting pitcher.  Tabata is a work in progress, but has started 265 ballgames for the Pirates since being promoted in 2010.  McCutchen represents depth for the Pirates in the bullpen, unable to find a job in the 2012 relief corps despite showing reliability last season.  He will be one of the first calls if the Bucs need reinforcements for the stretch run.  Nady played in 66 games for the Yankees, batting .270 before injuries derailed his career.  Marte stayed in New York for a few more years, but never regained form as a dominant left-handed reliever.

SP Eric Bedard – Bedard has had a very up and down career, but it was his 2011 season that convinced the Pirates that he could fit into their 2012 plans.  The Bucs were able to agree with Bedard on a suitable contract, $4.5 million for one year.  While it was unknown how much could be expected of Bedard, given his past injuries, it was a chance worth taking.  Thus far he has been inconsistent, a few good starts, a few bad, and most recently a decent one against Colorado.  How much further Bedard goes as part of this rotation will depend on what the Pirates do at the trade deadline, and on his production over his next two starts.  Either way, it was a bargain deal for the Bucs.

CL Joel Hanrahan – “The Hammer” was acquired on June 30, 2009 from Washington in the deal that sent RP Sean Burnett and OF Nyjer Morgan to the Nationals.  The Pirates also received OF Lastings Milledge, who is no longer with the organization.  Hanrahan has only developed into one of the top closers in baseball, saving 71 saves as a Pirate.  Burnett has been a reliable lefty reliever for Washington, and Morgan is in Milwaukee after Washington gave up on him.  Advantage – Pirates.

RP Jason Grilli – Grilli had floundered around the major leagues for 10 years before the Pirates bought his contract off of the AAA-Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs on July 20 last summer.  Grilli was on a minor league deal that had an opt-out clause if any major league team offered him a contract, and after he dominated at AAA for a few months, the Pirates came calling.  Since then, he has morphed into the best 8th inning set-up man in the National League, posting amazing numbers and building a bridge to Hanrahan in the 9th.  Grilli has the stuff to be a closer, and in time he will probably get the chance.  For 2012, the Pirates will continue to revile in their undefeated streak when winning after the 7th inning, made possible by the “Grilli Cheese Hammer” combo.

RP Chris Resop – Resop was another scrapheap acquisition by the Pirates, who found him on the waiver wire from Atlanta in August 2010.  Resop has turned into a reliable relief pitcher who has the flexibility to pitch long relief or short, and has the stuff to shut down teams one inning at a time.  He has been a great pickup that cost the Pirates a total of $1.25 million and is signed through 2015.

RP Jared Hughes – Hughes is a product of the Pirates minor league system, and has become a suitable reliever in just his second major league season.  His 2.06 ERA and 1.145 WHIP are great numbers for a middle reliever making a cool $481,000 this year.  He is also under team control through 2018.

RP Tony Watson – Watson was drafted three times (2003 by Florida, 2006 by Baltimore, and 2007 by the Pirates) and found a home in Pittsburgh this year.  He is a homegrown product that makes $484,000 and is under team control through 2018.

As for the position players, a quick rundown on the “homegrown” products that are playing a huge part in this incredible 2012 campaign:

CF Andrew McCutchen – former 1st round pick by the Pirates in the 2005 Amateur Draft.  Has become one of the top overall players in baseball in 2012 and signed a 6-year extension that keeps him in Black and Gold through 2018.

2B Neil Walker – former 1st round pick by the Pirates in the 2004 Amateur Draft.  Has become a fantastic second baseman who can hit .300 and drive in 60-75 RBI per season.  Walker is a Pine-Richland native who is signed through 2017.

3B Pedro Alvarez – El Toro has found his stroke in 2012.  The former 1st round pick (2008) is here to stay, another in a line of great 1st round picks that have helped form this team.  He is on his way to being a .250/40/100 player and is signed through 2017, with an extension probably coming this winter.

OF Alex Presley – Presley has been inconsistent but has the makings of a future starting outfielder who can hit at the top of the lineup.  He was drafted by the Pirates in the 8th round of the 2006 Draft.  Presley is under team control through 2018.

These players were all acquired through trades or free agent signings and have become major contributors to the 2012 Pirates:

1B/OF Garrett Jones – The Pirates signed Jones as a minor-league free agent in December 2008.  He exploded onto the Pirates scene in 2009 with a 21 HR campaign in just 314 at-bats.  Since then, he has become part of Clint Hurdle’s mix-and-match bench, providing solid production when called upon.  Jones is making $2.25 million and can not be a free agent until 2016.

UTIL Josh Harrison – Harrison was the forgotten man in the July 2009 deal that sent SP Tom Gorzelanny  and RP John Grabow to Chicago.  He has emerged as a dynamic little player whose value lies in his ability to play just about any position on the field.  He is an energetic player who seems to live for dramatic moments.  Harrison is making $484,000 and is under team control until 2018.

C Michael McKenry – Talk about a steal!  “The Fort” came to Pittsburgh last summer in a deal with Boston and immediately become the backup catcher due to his defensive skills.  He has learned to use the bat in 2012, developing power and becoming a very clutch hitter.  He has also been praised for how he handles the pitching staff.  A player like McKenry is hard to find for so cheap, and the Pirates have him locked down through 2018 at the earliest.  McKenry could very well be the heir apparent to Rod Barajas as the starting catcher in 2013.

1B/3B Casey McGehee – Acquired in a trade with Milwaukee over the winter, McGehee is a versatile player with major pop in his bat.  He has helped the Pirates develop Pedro Alvarez by playing early in the season against the tough lefties and has recently began to find the stroke that made him a feared hitter with the Brewers.  The cost for McGehee?  The Pirates sent RP Jose Veras to Milwaukee.  McGehee is signed to a very cost-efficient contract through 2015.

OF Gorkys Hernandez – Hernandez is a defensive whiz who should be inserted into a corner outfield slot late in each game to improve team defense.  His bat is a work in progress, but his speed and defense are as real as it gets.  He was part of the original Nate McLouth deal with Atlanta in 2009 and has spent years honing his craft in Altoona and Indianapolis.  He is ready to contribute for the Bucs this summer, and is under team control until 2017.

As the trade deadline approaches, remember how this team was built.  It doesn’t always take a headline-stealing deal to help a contending team down the stretch.  These Pirates love each other and fight for one another, so management must be careful to not mess around with the chemistry if the team.  A small deal or two, yes.  But a gut-busting deal for Justin Upton or Cole Hamels……maybe that isn’t what these Pirates need.

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