Neil Walker has brought his average up to .291 at the All-Star break.

Andrew McCutchen has been getting all of the attention. Meanwhile, Neil Walker has been feasting at the plate.

In his last ten games, Walker is hitting .487 with two bombs. For the month of July, Walker is hitting .500 and slugging a stupid .900.

It was probably difficult to come off the field after a 5-for-5 highlight day on Sunday when he homered, doubled, scored four times and drove in two runs.

The Pirates second baseman will ride a 12-game hitting streak when the Bucs roll into Milwaukee this weekend.  Walk has also shown some tendencies which should pay off in the second half of the season as well.

Walker is hitting more line drives than he ever has in his career – 26.1 percent, according to Fangraphs.   The volume of linedrives makes us not as concerned about his high BABIP.  The power of Pine Richland has also reduced his flyball percentage to a career low.

He is working the base on balls more than ever this season, and his .357 OBP is also a career high.  He posted a .370 OBP in June and for the month of July has a .559.

The hometown kid will continue to rise in the ranks of MLB secondbasemen if he can continue to reduce strikeouts and rake linedrives.    Come on Friday night – get here quick!

Brad Lincoln. Trendsetter.

The Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff has done very well in 2012.  It’s been a big reason the Pirates have a winning record.

Pitching coach Ray Searage deserves a lot of credit for the turnaround of the pitching staff.  The Pirates have made some agressive moves in acquiring some talent that had the skills, but needed some type of help of one kind or another.

AJ Burnett needed a scenery change.  James McDonald needed someone to believe in him.  Nobody wanted Erik Bedard except the Buccos.  All of the stories you’ve heard before.

The puzzle that has been created is interesting.  One could even say its the envy of many teams in MLB.  Why couldn’t the Yankees make it click for A.J. ? The Dodgers would love to have JMac back.  Why didn’t the Red Sox just keep Bedard?

But there is one burning question we have had for a considerable time.  No, it’s not whether the staff will run out of gas like it did last year.

It’s this:  When will first-round pick Brad Lincoln start throwing a third pitch more consistently?  Going into the start on Sunday, we were really curious why Brad Lincoln wasn’t relying… wasn’t trusting his changeup.  Here is what we wrote:

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Maybe it’s that Lincoln doesn’t trust his changeup?  We’ve heard that comment when talking with some Bucs executives in the past.  We always trusted that the changeup was coming into shape for Lincoln, but he simply wasn’t trusting it.

But let’s not get confused as some people did on twitter.  It’s not like he hasn’t relied on the changeup in the past:

Look back at September 12 last season – the Bucs got a 6-5 victory.  Guess what pitch he threw most after his fastball?   You guessed it the changeup.

The outing wasn’t perfect.  He allowed eight hits in 5.1 innings.  But he gave the team a chance to win by getting three whiffs and six sniffs on his changeup which he threw 17 times.  Ten of the 17 were strikes!  Lincoln also mixed in 16 curveballs.

Look back at September 24 last season -  the Bucs grabbed a 5-1 victory over the Reds in that game as well.  Lincoln mixed in nine changeups in that game.

Again, the outing wasn’t perfect as Lincoln walked four, but he also struckout four and gave up just two runs.  He fired nine changeups.  Eight were strikes getting six whiffs along the way.

If Brad Lincoln is going to have success as a starter, he must throw a variety of pitches with good location.  We all know that fact.  But we found it ridiculous he got the start and relied on just two pitches for the first place Pirates.

It’s obvious to us that Lincoln doesn’t like throwing his changeup; he’s only thrown a handful of them this season–about 2%.  We get why–he loves his curveball.  But why – when the Bucs brass knows all of these facts about Lincoln – would he be allowed to make starts for the club?   We trust Lincoln can figure it out, but we all realize that he shouldn’t be doing it in the starting rotation.  He should do it in the bullpen.

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So Lincoln goes out on Sunday and makes a solid start, even flirts with a no-hitter for a bit against the Detroit Tigers.  He gives up a bomb to Melky for the only run allowed in the game and gives up just two hits.

For all that, Lincoln is rewarded with a spot in the bullpen.

Jeff Karstens comes out and gets beat harder than a zombie on The Walking Dead by the Phillies (and thanks to some help from shoddy fielding by his teammates.)   So, the rotation now includes Karstens and Kevin Correia, who has been doing his damnedest to keep his spot.

The strong start from Lincoln firmly puts pressure on both Karstens and Correia to prove they deserve to hang onto a spot.  The strong opening to the season by starters in AAA also adds pressure, although it seems unlikely to have an immediate impact on either Karstens or Correia.

The pitching is a tough puzzle for us, sort of like the ones with all the tree leaves on it your Mom used to work on.

The Pirates have great options that look like they might fit in the puzzle -Lincoln, Rudy Owens, Justin Wilson – hell, anyone in that AAA starting staff looks like they could fit at the big league level.  The Pirates staff has strong anchoring corners like A.J. Burnett and James McDonald, but how long can they be this strong?   How long will the Bucs go without getting a win on the road when Bedard starts?

March 24, 2012; Bradenton, FL, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett (34) talks with starting pitcher James McDonald (53) after he pitched seven innings against the Houston Astros at McKechnie Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

It’s really hard to believe the dynamic duo of McDonald/Burnett will hold up at this level for the remainder of the season.   But consider this: did you really think Bedard would make it to his 15th start?  The Pirates don’t typically get such luck.  Bedard made 15 starts in all of 2009.  Bedard made 15 starts in all of 2008.

The more we consider the puzzle,  Brad Lincoln might be a key piece.  Ray Searage was on 93.7 The Fan this morning (links below) and said he threw the changeup more in his outing on Sunday.  It’s true.  Lincoln threw seven changeups.  It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it about doubles the number he threw all season.

Just look at the results….six of those changeups went for strikes.  Lincoln looked like a different pitcher with the changeup.  Maybe someone will make him work on it more while he is in the pen.

It’s hard to finish the puzzle right now.  But we are willing to bet the current rotation of Bedard, McDonald, Burnett, Correia, and Karstens won’t be the rotation at the end of the season.

March 5, 2012; Sarasota, FL, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Justin Wilson (61) throws in the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium. The Pirates defeated the Orioles 10 - 3. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE

We would love to see Justin Wilson and his strong whiffabililty in the rotation.  He has struck out 81 batters in 80.2 innings in AAA.  Currently, he still needs to improve in getting right handed batters, as they have caused the most  damage against the lefty.

Of course, Rudy Owens could be up here at anytime.  A couple veteran pitchers to consider might be Reyes and VandenHurk.

Reyes is battling back from an injury, but VandenHurk has been a project for the organization.  Neal Huntington mentioned the fact that several people in the organization have wanted to get VandenHurk on the squad.  The Bucs GM said some adjustments have been made and it has been a success for the 6’5″ right hander.

Everywhere you look the Pirates have some pitching options to fit into the puzzle.  It’s obvious the Bucs pitching is a strength for the team.

It will be very interesting to see what arms get moved for the offense as the trade deadline approaches.

Ray Searage interview.

James McDonald struck out ten Atlanta Braves in a big Pirates victory

Pittsburgh Pirates skipper Clint Hurdle seems a bit ticked off in his post-game interviews this season. After the Pirates exploded for nine runs in a blowout victory over the Braves last night, we could see it again.

“We do believe in ourselves, we have that going for us,” Hurdle said as he stared intently at the reporters around his desk in Atlanta.

Hurdle believes in this club.  It’s very evident.

The pitching staff is improved despite the club having the same record, 10 wins and 12 losses, as they did a season ago.

Unquestionably, it’s the early season offensive struggles that have taken their toll on the Bucco skipper.  In last night’s post-game, he fired off his sarcastic – but valid – belief in the team, and then cruised through the last couple of questions.

Not that it should be a surprise, but it’s unmistakeable that Hurdle has confidence in his team.

Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, trying to measure fan support with April games at PNC Park is difficult.  No, actually it blows.  We trust Hurdle realizes there will be a shitload of Bucco fans this weekend showing their support for what this Pirates team has been able to accomplish after their April “Walk of Death”  schedule.

Personally, we are satisfied with how the ball club finished up the month, and we’re thrilled with how they started the month.  But what was in between was downright awful.  If this team slumps over a significant period of time—as they did as a team in April,  it will be difficult believing they could come away with a similar (near .500.) outcome.

The pitching staff simply hasn’t got enough credit for how they have performed.  Seriously… we love JMac, but as much as we felt he would strikeout more bad guys, we didn’t expect to actually see him do it in April.

The Bucs skipper might have practiced his ‘I believe’ line in the mirror a few thousand times before he broke it out in front of the Pittsburgh media last night.  He sure seemed confident, and rightfully so, after the Pirates were able to put up more than five runs for the first time in the 2012 season.  But heh… the Pirates lineup – the constantly changing lineup – delivered in big time fashion.

Even if Pirates blowouts like this one come along just once a month.

It took about 12 pitches for the Bucs to go down 2-0, and James McDonald appeared to be on the ropes.  After the Bucs nearly got back in the game on their first chance, the Pirates’ offense didn’t waste the opportunity when their second chance came back around.

The Pirates haven’t had much of a problem putting runners on base recently; the big struggle has been delivering the knockout punch.

Last night, the Pirates knockout punch came in a big way:

McDonald put up a career high ten strikeouts after his shaky start.  We don’t know where the JMAKKKKKKKKKK switch is, but last night somebody flipped it—and that guy deserves a beer, because it was a pleasure watching JMac deal, sending batter after batter on the long, quiet walk back to the dugout.

The Lack-of-Lumber and Lightning offense delivered for the Bucs’ McDonald, who had received just two runs over 22-plus innings coming into last night’s game.   JMac simply got more and more impressive as the game wore on and he relied on his dirty curveball.

Yamaico Navarro hit a laser beam two-run shot (check out the video in our hub section)

Pedro Alvarez continued on his torrid pace with another bomb, his fifth on the season, this one a two-run blast into the right field bleachers.  How much fun is Pedro to watch when he is on a tear?

Neil Walker has been on a tear since a 1-for-21 start to his 2012 season

And  Neil “the Pittsburgh Kid”  Walker continued on his tear with three more hits.  Walker is ripping the ball and it’s actually falling for him after a slow start to the season,  where every other ball was a line drive hit directly at someone.

Games like last night haven’t happened for the Pirates very often in the past 19 years, but if this pitching staff can continue to dominate, Hurdle will have a lot of company on the belief bandwagon.