Saturday, May 12, 2012

Lineup, Notes

LHP J.A. Happ (2-2, 5.24) of the Astros takes on RHP Charlie Morton (1-3, 4.61). Neither guy has been particularly sharp in their past couple of outings. The game is at 7:05 and will shown on Root Sports.

The lineup: Jose Tabata LF, Neil Walker 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Casey McGehee 1B, Yamaico Navarro RF, Clint Barmes SS, Mike McKenry C, Charlie Morton P.

Alex Presley and Garrett Jones sit against the lefty, sorta surprised Rod Barajas is out after getting his first multi-hit game of the year last night; guess the ol' knees are creaky.

In the past two games. Pittsburgh has collected nine hits and whiffed 26 times. Not much of a secret to what they need to be doing better. For a man as widely accepted as a hitting guru as Clint Hurdle, it seems odd that his club doesn't seem to have a coherent approach at the plate. And you can't blame the Pirate system; Cutch, Pedro and The Kid are the only starters that came through it from the beginning. They have the lowest walk rate (6.1%) and highest whiff rate (22.4%) in the NL according to Fangraphs. Until the hitters figure out the difference between a strike and a ball, it's gonna be a long season.

  • We'll see today if Charlie Morton has found his sinker. He's has surrendered four home runs in his last three starts after being one of the toughest guys to go long on in 2011.
  • Garrett Jones has faced a lefty only 3 times this season.
  • No announcement yet on whether Erik Bedard will miss his next start on Monday or not.
  • Jeff Snedden at Rumbunter has an in-depth look at Pirate options if they decide to pull the plug on SS Clint Barmes.

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