Monday, April 30, 2012

Lineup, Pre-Game Notes

RHP James McDonald (0-1, 2.78) takes on Atlanta LHP Mike Minor (2-1, 3.42) at 7:10. J-Mac tossed a one-hitter last outing while Minor has held opponents to a .208 BA. The game will be shown on Root Sports.

The lineup: Jose Tabata RF, Josh Harrison SS, Andrew McCutchen CF, Casey McGehee 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Julio Navarro LF, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Rod Barajas C, James McDonald P.

Kinda odd lineup; Josh Harrison is at short and Yamaico Navarro in left. Alex Presley and Clint Barmes are sitting against the lefty Mike Minor. The oddity is that Pedro is in the lineup against a southpaw. Guess Clint Hurdle figures that it's time for the next step, and El Toro did double off Jonny Venters yesterday..

  • Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports writes, under the note title of "Pathetic Pirates" that "Rival execs actually like the top of the Pirates’ order - outfielders Alex Presley, Jose Tabata and Andrew McCutchen. But from there things deteriorate..."
  • Prospects LHP Justin Wilson (Indy of the International League) and RHP Jameson Taillon (Bradenton of the Florida State League) were named their respective league's Pitchers of the Week today.
  • Indy's LHP Jeff Locke went 7 scoreless innings today, giving up three hits and four walks to go with 2 K.
  • Baseball Prospectus' Ken Funck has another look at the Miguel Sano fiasco through the story told by the movie "Pelotero." The flick rightly or wrongly casts stones at Pirates' Latin scout Rene Gayo.
  • This day in history: 125 years ago in 1887, the Pittsburgh Alleghenys played their first National League game, defeating the defending league champion Chicago White Stockings, 6-2, in front of nearly 10,000 fans at Recreation Park. They wouldn't become the Pirates until 1890, when they "pirated" the services of second baseman Lou Bierbauer from the Philadelphia Athletics.

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