When we last left our hero, “The Fort” was still having trouble getting playing time behind struggling veteran backstop Rod Barajas. One week later and Barajas is still struggling to hit his weight (although at this point, hitting .250 would be a Godsend for the veteran).
#StarttheFORT continues to be the Twitter-Battle Cry for fans of McKenry whop want to see the young catcher get his shot at the Pirates starting job.
The Start the Fort Facebook page is gaining likes by the day an we infect the Pittsburgh baseball scene with the support for our hero.
On to the forth week of the FortTracker!
The Fortracker: Week Four (April 30 – May 6)
It was a bad week for The Fort, as he only got three appearances for the Bucs.
May 2 Cardinals 12, Pirates 3 PNC Park
The game started out horrifically for the Pirates and starter AJ Burnett, who were down 4-0 before the end of the first. By the third inning, it was 12-1 and for all intents and purposes, the game was over. Barajas started the game but was taken out after one at-bat. The Fort played the remainder of the game and logged 3 At-bats, all outs, including 1 K. The Fort did not have any defensive plays in this game.
May 3 Pirates 6, Cardinals 3 PNC Park
McKenry started and went 0-4 with 2 K’s in his worst offensive performance of the season. He failed to throw out two basestealers.
May 6 Reds 5, Pirates 0 PNC Park
Once again, the spot start did no favors for McKenry. An 0-4 performance with 3 Ks dropped his batting average to .194 on the season. He gave up a stolen base to Drew Stubbs.
FortTracker Totals for Week Four (April 30 – May 6)
11 AB, 0 hits, 6 Ks
Defensive: Was 0/3 throwing out runners stealing second base.
Rod Barajas stats for Week of April 30 – May 6
14 AB, 2 hits, 1 double, 2 Ks
Defensive: 1/5 in throwing out basestealers, 1 PB, 1 Error
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FortTracker Summary for Week Four
The limited action seems to be catching up to “The Fort”, who needs to start seeing some solid playing time to get into a groove. So long as he is used sparingly, it is going to be very hard for him to statistically beat out Barajas. Barajas is having a horrendous season, and defensively he has been even worse. The Fort needs at-bats, Clint!!
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