Wednesday, March 30, 2011

It Wasn't Pretty...

Ohlie was beat up again, the Bucs played like a little league club behind him (Dewey threw a ball into center, and Ronny Cedeno muffed a DP grounder), and the result was a 8-5 loss to the Phils, a team that certainly doesn't need gifted with extra at-bats.

For Ross Ohlendorf, it was the same ol'. In four innings, he gave up six runs (four earned), seven hits, a walk and three hit batsmen while tossing 94 not-very-well-aimed pitches. His camp ERA came in at 9.82.

He says that he's ready, but the truth is he hasn't gone five innings once during camp. Ohlie seems lost with Clint Hurdle's emphasis on quick releases and holding runners; it's a distraction to him and leads to some long frames, which doesn't help his teammates in the field. Let's hope the regular season sharpens his concentration.

Mike Dubee, Garrett Olson and Jose Veras shut the door on Philly; Chris Leroux gave up an earned run and Evan Meek an unearned one thanks to Neil Walker's misplay.

Ah well, at least the top of the order still hit some. Neil Walker collected three hits, McCutch a pair, and Lyle Overbay finished the spring with hits in 14 of his past 16 games.

It would have helped the cause if the rest of the lineup could have chipped in; only Dewey had a hit outside of those three, and the team had just five knocks.

Charlie Morton will face Cole Hamels in the final exhibition game today at 4:05 PM.

-- The word is that RHP Mike Crotta will make the 25-man roster; that leaves the last spot the coin flip between Garrett Olson and Chris Leroux. That decision could come down today, unless somebody the FO just can't resist pops up on the waiver wire.

-- The Pirates will have nine holdovers from 2010's opening day roster: Ronny Cedeno, Ryan Doumit, Jason Jaramillo, Garrett Jones, Paul Maholm, Andrew McCutchen, Evan Meek, Charlie Morton and Ross Ohlendorf.

-- Baseball announced a new DL designation. There will be a 7-day slot available now for concussions, a good move by the suits to allow guys time to recover from minor dings and be properly evaluated for more serious blows.

-- RHP Jeff Suppan's pixie dust finally blew away; the inning-eater was released by the Giants yesterday.

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