Friday, May 13, 2011

Notes...Better Late, Hey?

-- James McDonald and Yovani Gallardo take the hill tinight. The game begins at 8:10 PM and will be shown on Root Sports.

-- The lineup: Andrew McCutchen CF, Jose Tabata LF, Garrett Jones RF, Neil Walker 2B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Lyle Overbay 1B, Chris Snyder C, Ronny Cedeno SS, James McDonald P.

McCutch is back in good graces and The Pittsburgh Kid is back from the flu. Welcome back, guys. When the two of them are out, the lineup is a real challenge for Clint Hurdle to piece together.

-- Evan Meek will report to Indy for his rehab assignment tomorrow; let's hope the ol' Meek returns - the pen could sure use another arm about now.

-- Indy CF Gorkys Hernandez has missed the past four games with a sore hammy.

-- Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com says of the upcoming draft: "It appears that the Pirates are primarily looking at three potential candidates...UCLA right-hander Gerrit Cole and Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon have long been thought to be the most likely choices for Pittsburgh. And now University of Virginia lefty Danny Hultzen, who's been dominant all spring, is coming up in conversation."

-- Baseball America's mock draft has the Pirates selecting Cole; Rendon and Hultzen go 2-3.

3 comments:

WilliamJPellas said...

No, no, NO to Cole as the top pick. He's been overused and he hasn't been nearly as dominant as a true top collegiate pitcher should be. I'd say Rendon is the no-brainer except for his 3 (count 'em) significant injuries before his 22nd birthday, 2 of those to the same ankle and the other to his throwing shoulder. That spells "Hultzen" to me.

Ron Ieraci said...

The draft will be interesting, Will. There are no real sure things this year, and I do like the fact that the team is looking at college players who can help without the long incubation period. Hultzen is rising with a bullet.

As per the whiny Brew Crew, hey, every team needs a hated rival - Steelers and Browns, Pitt and WVU/PSU, Duquesne and Pitt, Pens and Flyers. Milwaukee fills the bill for the Bucs; Pittsburgh always liked teams that man up, not prima donnas.

All the good guys had long losing streaks to their nemesis, and it makes breaking that skein so much sweeter.

WilliamJPellas said...

Yeah, yeah, whatever re: the Brewers. Put a couple in their ribs!!! RRRAAARRGGGHH!!!! ;-)