When we last checked in on “The FortTracker”, our hero was well into half a month as the best damn catcher on the Pittsburgh Pirates roster.  Since that time?

#StarttheFORT has become a Twitter battle-cry for Fort Nation and all Buccos fans everywhere.

The Start the Fort Facebook Page was created and quickly gained over 20 likes in a short time.  Go on over to the bookface and LIKE the Start the Fort page!

And of course on the field, Michael Charles McKenry continues to just be better than Rod Barajas.  Barajas looks like he is mailing it in this season, a swansong to a career that was very, very, average.

Meanwhile, the cult of The Fort continues to grow.  The Pirates have a winning record when McKenry starts (4-3).  Fans are beginning to tire of watching Barajas and his sidekick Clint Barmes turn the Pirates 7-8-9 into an albatross of strikeouts and runners left in scoring position.

courtesy Yahoo! sports

The FortTracker: Week Three (April 23 – April 29)

The Fort only got two starts this week.

April 25   Rockies 2, Pirates 1    PNC Park

McKenry started and got 3 at bats.  He finished 1 for 3 with a strikeout.  Behind the dish, he called a great game and spent the night digging balls out of the dirt for starter James McDonald.  There were no stolen base attempts for the Rockies in this game.  This was the first game of a doubleheader for the Bucs.

April 29  Braves 4, Pirates 3    Turner Field

Fort started and went 1 for 3 with a walk, and a run scored.  There were no stolen base attempts in this game.

FortTracker Totals for Week of April 23 – April 29

7 AB   1 run scored  1 single  1 walk  1 K

Season Stats:  .300/.440/.500

Defensive:  No stats this week

Rod Barajas Stats for Week of April 23 – April 29

15 AB  1 run scored  3 hits  2 walks (both intentional) 1 K

Season Stats:  .130/.200/.174

Defensive:  Threw out 0/2 potential baserunners – for the season base stealers are running at a 1.000 clip against Barajas

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FortTracker Summary for Week Three

More limited action for “The Fort”, who continues to produce at least decent stats when he is given a chance.  The defense McKenry has shown has been superb, especially on Sunday when he saved at least 3 potential passed balls for starter Kevin Correia.  Meanwhile, Barajas continues to show he is done as a starting ML player.  We can only hope that Clint Hurdle reads Rumbunter or sees the #StarttheFORT campaign start popping up at PNC Park.

If you are heading to the games during the upcoming homestand, throw a quick #StarttheFORT on your sign and get it on TV.  If you get on the air and can send me a screencap of your sign, I’ll toss your name and comment sinto the next FortTracker!

Remember, #StarttheFORT on Twitter and Start the Fort at Facebook!

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You can follow Jeff Snedden on Twitter @jeffsnedden

You can follow RumBunter on Twitter @rumbunter

And of course, you can get your Pirates fix all year round right here at www.rumbunter.com, the BEST Pittsburgh Pirates blog on the whole World Wide Web.