Official 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

[Mr. Colby]

He may have won the battle, but he lost the war

Spoiler:

Not that he cares what people think of him, he's too busy being rich

[Old Time Hockey]

I am pretty sure I hate Ryan Braun more than any other player in the Majors

[doublem]

what is the staff going to look like to start the year?

[mac5155]

Oh great, more drivle for Pittsburgh Sports talk media to yap about instead of anything important or relevant.

The Fan won't touch that topic w/ a ten foot pole

[schreibdog]

How did Braun win his appeal? This aggrevates me. I say the 1st time he steps up to the plate against the Pirates this season, just throw at him!

Bud Selig couldn't let one of his beloved Brewers serve a 50-game suspension.

I am pretty sure I hate Ryan Braun more than any other player in the Majors

You and me both.

[Rocco]

what is the staff going to look like to start the year?

Pitching God Karstens, Burnett and McDonald are there. Bedard's there if he avoids hurting himself. Morton may or may not be ready. If he's not ready, Correia will be a starter.

[SolidSnake]

I wonder if Braun playing for the Brewers has anything to do with it.....

[ulf]

Morton's already throwing bullpens and Hurdle said he doesn't have any restrictions...should be good to go opening day.

[LeopardLetang]

what is the staff going to look like to start the year?

Pitching God Karstens, Burnett and McDonald are there. Bedard's there if he avoids hurting himself. Morton may or may not be ready. If he's not ready, Correia will be a starter.

i thought correia was the number 1 starter!?!?!?

[LeopardLetang]

for what its worth, the wall street journal ranked each teams offseason performance in terms of net WAR gained/lost. buccos finsished 7th. angels finished 1st (Not a shocker). the next best NL Central team was houston who finished like 14th.

What would it be if the Pirates just let their fantastic young players like Chase D'Arnaud and Rudy Owens play all the time?

Fear not, Burnett IS Jesus and things will be fine.

i think you're trying to start the first argument of the year! it's like LGP management put you up to it.

[LeopardLetang]

pitching god = karstens

pitching jesus = burnett this year hopefully?

[columbia]

for what its worth, the wall street journal ranked each teams offseason performance in terms of net WAR gained/lost. buccos finsished 7th. angels finished 1st (Not a shocker). the next best NL Central team was houston who finished like 14th.

What would it be if the Pirates just let their fantastic young players like Chase D'Arnaud and Rudy Owens play all the time?

Fear not, Burnett IS Jesus and things will be fine.

i think you're trying to start the first argument of the year! it's like LGP management put you up to it.

Rocco has taken over PBP's role and is chugging the kool-aid; someone needs to point that out.

[Rocco]

for what its worth, the wall street journal ranked each teams offseason performance in terms of net WAR gained/lost. buccos finsished 7th. angels finished 1st (Not a shocker). the next best NL Central team was houston who finished like 14th.

What would it be if the Pirates just let their fantastic young players like Chase D'Arnaud and Rudy Owens play all the time?

Fear not, Burnett IS Jesus and things will be fine.

i think you're trying to start the first argument of the year! it's like LGP management put you up to it.

Rocco has taken over PBP's role and is chugging the kool-aid; someone needs to point that out.

Hardly. Burnett's an upgrade over the rest of the crap on the roster. That doesn't make him an All-Star. I'm not the one who thinks every minor leaguer is a superstar waiting for an opportunity.

[LeopardLetang]

starters:

bedard - has been a good to great pitcher every time he's taken the mound. if he stays healthy he could be one of the top pitchers you've ever seen play for the pirates (over the last 20 years)

burnett - has been as good or better than bedard over his career. check out his IP/bb/k/era/whip last year by month

36.2 12 28 3.93 1.28
31.0 15 24 4.06 1.19
39.0 18 33 4.15 1.31
31.2 18 35 4.83 1.39
22.2 9 17 11.91 2.34
29.1 11 36 4.30 1.40

take away three terrible outings in august and he's as solid as you could ask for.

karstens - he's learned how to pitch. i trust him far more than morton or mcdonald. he likely won't repeat last year's numbers but he should be reliable. here's his last two seasons: 285IP 60BB 168Ks just under 1.30 whip. that's pretty darn effective.

morton - he has potential. he looks like halladay, has some good stuff and only gave up 6 HR in 171 IP last year. but his 1.53 whip indicates he's got a lot of improvement to do. of utmost importance he needs to improve his control of his cutter - especially against lefties.

mcdonald - i like mcdonald more than morton. he's primed for a solid season. good k numbers but he needs to command the ball more. often he left it up in the zone enticing umpires to call strikes balls and hitters to hack pitches into the stands.

correia - i'm not as sour as most fans on correia. he could serve as an effective arm out of the bullpen - possibly getting his K ratio up. at least he showed he could be effective for half a year. not bad for a 6th starter.

lincoln - he's shown flashed of being a potential MLB starter. but if he can't get his K rate up he doesn't look to have much of a career as a starter. he's a two pitch pitcher right now really so he needs to command his solid FB and nice curve

locke - looked like a boy against men in his debut. but his great showing in limited AAA action won't let me write him off yet.

owens - two time minor league pitcher of the year really struggled in AAA last year. bounce back candidate.

wilson - got his FB up to 99 in relief outings. has risen to occasion in college world series and Altoona and i think even Bradenton playoffs. will likely debut this year out of the pen.

reyes - still fairly young, this lefty has had lots of chances but has always been hit hard. the braves couldn't turn him into anything. now the pirates get a shot.

martis - pitched excellently as a 24 y/o last year in AA. but had been rushed to WAS as a 21 and 22 y/o where he pitched for the nationals with poor results.


bullpen:


hanrahan - Hammerhand!

resop - struggled some in the second half but his impressive k/9 gives him the edge to work some late innings

grilli - up there in age but only gave up runs in 4 of his 28 appearances for the pirates. he struck out 37 in 32.2.

mccutchen - workhorse looks to improve on his solid 2011

meek - was as impressive as hanrahan in 2010. injuries marred his 2011 campaign and cloud his future. needs to regain his velocity

watson will turn 27 during the year. struck out 37 in 41IP allowing only 34 hits but issued 20 walks.

leroux - sleeper for some late inning work.

hughes - had very solid results for the pirates. has a potentially above average fastball which seems to either have good velocity or good sink.

moskos - he has the potential to be quite good but has a lot of work to do

morris - he's advancing slowly with only decent numbers through the minors. but he has the right stuff.

[LeopardLetang]

the pirates played over their heads for most of the year last year. but they have a chance on paper to play better this year by just playing to their abilities. this will likely come from bedard, burnett, pedro, barmes, tabata, presley and 1B. and possibly mcdonald.

check out this run of 11 starts by bedard last year.

68.1 IP...48H...14ER (a bit over 1 every 6IP)...15BB...68Ks from the end of April till the end of June

if pedro plays closer to his rookie campaign than last year's debacle (do people still relate this word to cowher?) then we've got a chance this year.

burnett should match maholm's effectiveness. barmes should slightly improve on cedeno's. mcgehee and jones should improve on overbay's. tabata and presley, if healthy could improve the outfield and mcdonald is likely to improve.

i don't envision .500, but i think it's more likely than last year's chances.

mccutchen is in line for a career year and walker shouldn't regress. barajas is a question mark for me. i'll miss doumit's bat but the D here should improve if he stays healthy. the bullpen should stay strong. the D should be a bit better. the bench is much better. mclouth has a chance at rebounding. the depth isn't bad. this is a nicely average team.

[IanMoran]

Was PBP banned or something?

[Mr. Colby]

I could see 78 wins, not to arbitrarily throw out numbers (which is pretty much what Im doing haha)

[LeopardLetang]

i've been saying 77 hah. but if i had to bet i'd bet the under so...

[LeopardLetang]

i'm still dreaming about bedard and burnett. again, dreaming.

but, imagine bedard with 11 straight outings going 6 giving up 1 and striking out a batter per inning. then imagine burnett. showing signs of greatness some games and then being ordinary other games - terrible a few. that sounds like a no. 1 for the buccos.

[Mr. Colby]

i'm still dreaming about bedard and burnett. again, dreaming.

but, imagine bedard with 11 straight outings going 6 giving up 1 and striking out a batter per inning. then imagine burnett. showing signs of greatness some games and then being ordinary other games - terrible a few. that sounds like a no. 1 for the buccos.

they're going to be so much better than Maholm and Correia it isn't even funny

Even though our WAR only improved so much, it could positively effect the other 3 starters as well

[LeopardLetang]

stats, war, pythag, have me less than optimistic. but there is some excitement this year.

[Rocco]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12059/1213087-63.stm

Correia wants to be the best starter in the rotation. A noble goal. If he's the best starter, the Pirates will be a 40-win team and I will drinking bleach.

[columbia]

Pirates' Burnett hit in face by ball

Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett was struck in the face by a batted ball on Wednesday, and will fly from the team's spring training complex to Pittsburgh to have his right eye examined by team doctors.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/b ... index.html

[Mr. Colby]

fan-fricking-tastic about Burnett.

And if Kevin Correia is this team's best starter I will light myself on fire

[Rylan]

lol just the Pirates luck...