- The Bucs lost to the Twins 6-5 yesterday when their leather went south in the last couple of frames. Cutch went 3-for-3 with a double and homer. Ex Buc Kevin Correia tossed three shutout frames while another old Bucco, Aaron Thompson, got the win. The B game ended up a 3-3 tie, with all the Pittsburgh offense coming off a three run jack by Brent Morel.
- They strap it up today against the Rays at Port Charlotte, starting at 1:05. Tim Neverett and Bob Walk will call the game at 1pm on http://Pirates.com . The lineup: Starling Marte CF, Jordy Mercer SS, Russ Martin C, Pedro 3B, Gaby Sanchez 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Jose Tabata LF, Gregory Polanco RF and Chris Stewart C, with Francisco Liriano starting on the hill. Jeff Banister will manage the club, as Clint is evaluating the guys at Pirate City today.
- Russ Martin told Tom Singer of MLB.com that he went through the entire 2013 season with shoulder pain, not fully recovering until he got to rest his arm during the off season.
- John Lembo of the Bradenton Herald has a piece on Jaff Decker, including how he got his oddball first name.
- For fans who want visual proof that spring training is not a MLB hoax, the Pirates post a daily gallery of game pictures.
- Alex Susking of Sports Illustrated has a graphic scoreboard of Dock Ellis oddities.
- Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs has an early strength-of-schedule rating. Pittsburgh, the Brewers and Reds are about the same, while the Cards have the easiest (they don't play themselves) and the Cubs the toughest (ditto) in the division.
- Ex Bucs: Ollie Perez signed on with Arizona for 2 years/$4.5M. Joe Beimel, after a two year layoff, is having a strong spring so far with Seattle. Wil Ledzema went to Japan for a year, came back in 2014 and inked a minor league contract with the Tigers.
"Somehow we have developed this large contingent of know-it-all baseball fans who bay like wounded coyotes at any mention of wins, losses, RBI or batting average. I never know whether I should blame myself for this or not.." (Bill James)
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Bucs Face Rays, Camp Notes...
Bucco wagon slows down...
Ol' Kevin Correia is still getting it done, eh? I never did understand the animus some Pirates fans of my acquaintance had for Kevin. When you consider how much he cost, he was a very good free agent signing. Basically a no frills, meat-and-potatoes fourth starter type of a guy, but what's wrong with that? He keeps you in most games despite a near total lack of strikeout stuff, and that is no mean feat. He's around .500 for his career despite pitching for mostly bad teams. Etc. I've always liked him and I hope he continues to have success with the Twins.
ReplyDeleteTrue, Will. I don't know the KC had much to do with it. The FO made his signing sound like it was bigger than it was, and the media pushed the wins over quality angle. But he was what he was - a bottom ender that would give you five or six frames of competitive ball.
ReplyDelete