The Astros have been flying under the radar a bit. They have a 14-17 record like the Pirates, and actually are a couple of games under their Pythagorean projection. So it could be an interesting series between a pair of chip-on-the-shoulder clubs.
The lineup: Jose Tabata RF, Nate McLouth LF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Neil Walker 2B, Garrett Jones 1B, Rod Barajas C, Clint Barmes SS, James McDonald P.
Alex Presley is out again against a righty; wonderin' how long Clint Hurdle and Gregg Ritchie plan to tweak his swing?
- The Pirates went 6-3 against Houston at PNC Park last year, winning all three series and finished 11-7 against them.
- The team plays only seven games on the road this month, from May 14-20 at Miami, Washington
and Detroit. They have two-gamers against the Fish and Nats with a three-spot in Motown.
5 comments:
Hmmm. The Presley - McLouth subplot continues. Presley does have options left and could be farmed out back down to Triple A. Doesn't look like they intend to do that in the immediate future, the more so because Marte is not yet torching the pitching at Indy the way he did at Altoona. In other words there doesn't appear to be another option in the upper levels of the organization that could step right in and play right away should Presley continue to struggle---other than McLouth.
I suppose they could opt to play Jones in right field, with Tabata in left and McCutchen in center, but that would leave us with Navarro as the new backup "outfielder"---a prospect that doesn't appeal to me in the least, despite the irrational love being given to Navarro in various quarters. I think Presley would have to continue to struggle for another month before they would entertain that kind of scenario. Presley getting sent down would presumably mean Matt Hague coming back up, but again, where would you play him? I guess he would get into some games at first, though McGehee would play there most of the time, except for when he spells Pedro at third. Again, there don't seem to be many options right now for the Pirates other than to stick with Presley and McLouth.
Ya know, Will, you'd think finding an extra outfielder wouldn't be all that hard. Heck, with the production they've had, I'd be willing to even plug in Gorkys Hernandez for a few weeks until Marte gets his act together. Kinda makes me miss Ryan Ludwick, lol.
Ludwick has been at least quasi-productive for the Reds, and he does have a passable major league body of work despite his failure to produce for the Pirates last year. But of course there are a number of Ludwick-types floating around big league baseball. As you say, Ron, you would THINK it wouldn't be this hard....
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