The Pittsburgh Pirates have been a huge disappointment after their first two series of the season. The club appeared to be poised to break the 20 year losing streak and maybe even compete for the division crown. However, the team is looking like the same team that collapsed in the second half of last season instead of the promising young team ready to turn the corner. Their .119 team batting average is last in baseball…by a huge margin.I am very disappointed by the sluggish start, but it’s early in the season and I’m optimistic the team can turn around their early misfortune. The pitching has been above average and ranks amongst the best in Major League Baseball. If the quality pitching continues, the Pirates will still have an opportunity to assemble a winning season. Unfortunately, the offense has been non-existent and must start producing runs if the club has any shot of hanging around .500 at any point this season. Faced with the most difficult April schedule in all of baseball, just surviving the early part of the schedule will be an emotional victory. In order to turn things around, I’ve assembled a list of things that must happen:
• Pitching will have to continue to be above average. We’ve come to expect the ageless AJ Burnett to mow down the opposition. With 19 strikeouts after his first two starts, Burnett is on track to have a phenomenal season. The rest of the pitching staff was strong enough to rank as the 2nd best rotation in all of baseball before tonight’s game. They likely won’t continue at that pace, but anything close to it will be enough to give the team an opportunity to win more than they lose.
• 1st Base – The Garret Jones / Gaby Sanchez tandem must start to produce. Jones is batting .163 with 0 RBI and Sanchez is batting .063 with 2 RBI. The team must improve significantly at 1st base to be competitive.
• 2nd Base – Neil Walker must revert to Neil Walker-ish form. Walker is off to a very slow start batting a measly .100 with 0 RBI. He has been a consistent contributor in his time with Pittsburgh, but he will have revert to the hitter he has been over the last couple of seasons very soon.
* SS – Clint Barmes needs to produce more offensively. Barmes currently ranks third on the team in batting average. Sounds good right? Unfortunately, his lowly .154 batting average is good enough to be the third best on the team. Barmes has never been a great stick, but he will have to improve at least 80 - 100 points for his offensive production to be acceptable.
• 3B – Pedro Alvarez must become one of the most fearful hitters in the National League. Alvarez is currently one of most significant areas of concern. Pedro’s hot and cold streaks must end for the Pirates to be a serious contender. Alvarez is a prototypical cleanup hitter with the power he has displayed. He could be a perennial 30-40 home run type of player. Unfortunately, Pedro is batting an anemic .091 with 1 RBI after 22 AB’s. More concerning, his 10K’s are enough to rank 5th in all of baseball at this point. Pedro Alvarez must become a consistent run-producing cleanup hitter for the Pirates to be a legitimate contender. Pedro has already slid to 6th in the batting order and has been a huge disappointment early in the season. He looks lost at the plate needs to improve significantly.
• C – Russell Martin needs to hit like a Yankee. Martin’s lack of offensive success is nothing new for Pirates catchers and his .000 batting average after 14 AB’s is par for the course. I will give Martin credit for being a great game-managing catcher, but his offensive statistics will have to be similar to what he did in New York for the team to be a contender. It’s unlikely Martin will post similar power numbers in Pittsburgh as PNC Park is not as hitter friendly as Yankee Stadium, but he must start driving the ball soon for the Pirates to start scoring more runs. Heck, a hit or two here and there would be nice at this point.
• LF – Starling Marte needs to evolve as a leadoff hitter. Marte has been fairly impressive in his first season as a full time starter. Although his .261 BA leads the team after 6 games, he will have to continue to develop as a leadoff hitter for the team to be successful. Marte will have to get on base frequently and put himself in scoring position to be an asset in the leadoff role. His defense has been up to par, but his offense must continue to develop. I’d like to see Marte improve his .292 OBP and be a terror on the base paths for opposing teams.
• CF – Andrew McCutchen needs to play like it’s 2012. Cutch finally hit his first home run tonight and the first home run for a club that was yearning for it’s first offensive home run. It’s not fair to expect McCutchen to tear up the league like he did for most of last season, but he’s going to have to improve offensively on what he’s done so far this season. He’s leading the team in RBI (4) and stolen bases (4), but his .238 batting average needs to climb over .300 for the team to be successful. He’s the best player on the team and the unquestioned leader. He needs to lead by example and help right the ship.
• RF – The Garrett Jones / Jose Tabata / Travis Snider tandem in right field has been awful and needs a significant upgrade. Between the three of them, they’ve mustered up 3 hits in 31 AB’s. Somebody has to step up and start producing in right field. It’s only a matter of time before the Pirates give Alex Presely another shot. Presley finished the spring with a batting average over .300 and he’s batting .412 with a home run and a double after 4 games at AAA Indianapolis. Regardless, the team needs production in RF to be competitive and I’m not opposed to giving Presley another shot on the big league roster if the other 3 guys do not turn it around quickly.
• Garrit Cole needs to dominate AAA. Many Pirate fans are counting on Cole to arrive in Pittsburgh sometime in June and bring an immediate shot to the arm of the pitching staff. His first start in AAA Indianapolis wasn’t all that impressive as he allowed 5 hits and 3 runs in only 4 innings of work in his first start. The fireballer only had 2 strikeouts in his first outing. The future of the Pittsburgh Pirates is depending on Cole developing into one of the league’s top tier pitchers. For the Pirates to be successful this year, Cole needs to arrive in June and be an upgrade to the starting rotation.
Whether you agree or disagree with how the Pirates brass spent their payroll dollars this season, it’s encouraging to see the payroll likely climb to a figure greater than 70 million. Unfortunately, the Pirates aren’t seeing the return on their investment so far this season. Thankfully, I’m writing this only 6 games into the season, but the club must survive a difficult April so they are not scratching and clawing later in the season to be relevant. Hopefully the upcoming road trip to Arizona will be the first step in turning the corner. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an entire team slump before, but these guys continue to impress me. If they can find a way to get hot as a team, they could even the score very quickly. Here’s to a great series in AZ. Let’s go Bucs! #BUCN.
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