Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Pre Game Jots & Minor Matters

-- In the last four days, the Pirates have started four different right fielders: Lastings Milledge, John Bowker, Ryan Doumit, and Delwyn Young. Hey, no problem - they just called up another, Brandon Moss, along with Alex Presley, who can play all three OF spots. Besides that group, Garrett Jones and the departed Ryan Church also have played in the Clemente pasture.

-- Speaking of a logjam of players, the Pirates are tied with the 2008 club's franchise record for most pitchers used in a season with 26. The team has used 47 different players overall in 2010, two less than the Pittsburgh record of 49 set in 1987 and tied in 2001.

-- Consistency? As Dejan Kovacevic noted in today's PG, Neil Walker has been with the big club since May 25th, and has yet to go more than three straight games without a hit. The Bucco evaluators that had him slotted as a utility guy sure missed the mark with The Pittsburgh Kid. Maybe that's part of the Pirates' problem.

-- How many come-from-behind wins are there in MLB? Not many. Even Pittsburgh is 38-1 when leading after eight innings; they're 3-82 when trailing.

-- RHP Chris Resop, released by Atlanta, got a strong endorsement from Bobby Cox. It seems Resop had a drop-dead date in his contract to be placed on the active roster, and a pulled oblique, not his performance, is what cost him his Braves' gig.

-- If you're wondering, Pirate attendance this year averages 20,115, a 3% increase from 2009's average of 19,480.

-- Altoona and Bradenton start their playoffs on Wednesday at home. The Curve face the Harrisburg Senators at Blair County park while the Marauders take on the Charlotte Stone Crabs at McKechnie Field.

-- OF Brandon Moss (.266/22/96) was named the 2010 Indy Indians MVP. Alex Presley (Rookie of the Year; .294/6/38), Jeremy Powell (Most Valuable Starting Pitcher; 11-9, 4.92), Erik Kratz (Slugger of the Year; .274/9/41) and Jean Machi (Henry Smock Relief Pitcher of the Year; 5-5-23, 3.92) took the other trophies home.

-- Altoona Curve Manager Matt Walbeck has been named the 2010 Eastern League Manager of the Year. It is the second time in Walbeck’s career that he has been named the E.L. Manager of the Year. He earned his first title with Erie in 2007 and was also named the best manager in Minor League Baseball by Baseball America the same year.

After the 2006 season, the former big league catcher was named the Midwest League Manager of the Year with West Michigan. Looks like Pittsburgh has another internal candidate to look at if JR gets his walking papers.

-- Altoona honored catcher Hector Gimenez (.305/16/72) as the Curve's MVP, LHP Rudy Owens (12-6, 2.46) as Pitcher of the Year, and closer Daniel Moskos (3-1-21, 1.52) was the Fireman of the Year. 1B Matt Hague (.295/18/86) won the Iron Man Award and IF Josh Harrison (.300/4/75) was named the team's Unsung Hero.

-- Short-season State College awarded OF Adalberto Santos (.319/3/35) the Spikes' MVP and RHP Kevin Decker (8-1, 3.75) was named the Pitcher of the Year. OF Cole White (.250/3/19) and IF Chase Lyles (.241/6/33) shared the Spikes Leadership Award.

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