Whatever the Pirate pitchers have, it must be contagious. Phil Dumatrait and John Grabow caught it too. Proving that a 6-0 lead is surmountable when you play Pittsburgh, the White Sox pounded out a 13-8 win.
The mound has become the Buc rotation's Bermuda Triangle. Once they toe the rubber, they're lost at sea. Is it too soon to declare the annual June swoon has arrived?
On the Pirate front: Since May 31, Jose Bautista has started all but two games and has posted a .345 average. After homering Wednesday, the third sacker finished the current six-game road trip with 3 long balls. He now has 7 on the season.
Bautista's batting average has improved to .255 since reclaiming everyday playing time, and he's driven in 11 of his 29 RBIs in his last 18 games. John Russell was dumb like a fox when he sat him down for Doug Meintkiewicz in early May.
Now to see if Joey Bats can hold off the horde of 3Bmen Pittsburgh's drafted and stashed in the minors.
On the minor league front: The Pirates traded RHP Jonah Bayliss to the Toronto Blue Jays for a player to be named later. Bayliss, 27, was 0-3 with a 6.00 ERA in 28 games for AAA Indianapolis. He pitched in 50 games over the past two seasons for the Pirates and went 5-4 with a 7.22 ERA.
The new suits continue to weed out the minor league organization. It's just about time for the guys in the bigs to get a little uncomfortable, too.
4 comments:
I never cared much for Bayliss. Although he was good enough in Kansas City's system to be worth a look when he came over here, he quickly got on my last nerve with his surfer dude-wannabe rock star personality. No, not every ballplayer has to be drill sergeant Kirk Gibson, but there is still such a thing as professionalism and dedication to one's craft. In my opinion---which is admittedly based only on his player profile and a couple of his interviews---Bayliss is simply not real mature and is not real dedicated to baseball. It seems to be something he likes to do but doesn't love to do, something he does while he is on his way to somewhere else---or thinks that he is. Maybe there's some players who are so supremely talented that they can get good results with that kind of approach, but I doubt it. And Bayliss was never "supremely talented".
I won't miss him, that's for sure.
Yah Will, maturity is the key word with him. And he was supposed to be pretty good when Pittsburgh got him from KC. Still, when you go for the infamous "player to be named later," you know you've worn out your welcome.
Regarding Bautista, when I first saw him I thought he had a quick bat and a good glove and that he might be capable of being a slightly better than average starting 3B. Not anymore. His power has levelled off at the 15-20HR plateau, and he's actually regressed with his batting average and plate discipline. His glovework has been good but not exceptional. In short, he has "career platoon or utility guy" written all over him. I'm ready to move on and take an extended look at Neil Walker.
There I have to agree, Will. He's a guy that can play third and both corner OF spots, and will hit .250 with a little pop. A good man to have around, but not to pencil into the lineup every day, especially at third.
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