Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Charlie v Mike Pelfrey; Lineup & Notes

Today's Game - Charlie Morton (6-4, 4.59) vs. Mike Pelfrey (5-7, 3.94). Here's hoping Charlie can get back on the bicycle. He hasn't won a game this month with an ERA of 7.76 over his last six starts. Charlie's given up four homers, 11 walks and hit four batters in his last four outings, so his command has been part of the problem. So has the seventh frame; he's surrendered just eight runs total in the first six innings of his past five outings, but 10 runs in the seventh inning alone. This will be the first time he's faced the Twins.

Pelfrey has hit on hard times, too, as he's winless in his last seven starts. Still, he's a tough hombre at home. The right-hander has posted a 2.22 ERA in eight starts at Target Field, and held the Pirates to a run over six innings May 20th in a no-decision at PNC Park. He's 3-2 with a 4.33 ERA against Pittsburgh lifetime.

Like the Bucs, Minnesota has had a feast or famine attack, scoring two runs or less in five of their last eight matches. The Pirates have gone 10-14 all time against the Twins, which includes an 0-2 record this season. Trivia point: Pittsburgh played its first ever interleague road game on June 16th, 1997 in Minnesota and won an 8-6 decision.

Tonight's game starts at 8:10 and is on Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

Add caption
Pedro DH'ing with Ishy at first base, AL cities are so much fun. Clint loves A-Ram in the clean up hole; we'd prefer him lower in the lineup by a couple of spots. Maybe Clint doesn't want Aramis' .241 BA too close to Pedro's .232 average.

  • This is the Pirates first visit to target Field since 2009.
  • Monday's Cubbies-Bucs game at PNC Park will be televised on ESPN.
  • Steve Lombardozzi cleared waivers and has returned to Indy.
  • Tyler Glasnow fanned a dozen hitters in six innings, but Altoona lost to Akron, 2-0.
  • Bradenton SS JaCoby Jones has been promoted to Altoona. He hit .253 with 10 HR (tied 3rd in FSL) and 58 RBI (3rd in FSL) in 93 games.
  • It was a good week for the organization. Bradenton OF'er Harold Ramirez was named the FSL Batter of the Week, Morgantown's Jonathan Brubaker was named the NYPL Pitcher of the Week and Bristol 1B Carlos Munoz was named the Appalachian League Batter-of-the-Week.
at

4 comments:

  1. WilliamJPellasJuly 28, 2015 at 8:05 PM

    Concur with your speculation about the separation of Ramirez and Alvarez in the lineup. I have been hearing rumors from various people about the Pirates actively looking to unload Alvarez. Are you hearing the same from any reputable sources, Ron?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ron IeraciJuly 29, 2015 at 9:08 PM

    A week ago they were offering Pete to everyone; now the rumor is that he's staying put. Not really much out there, Will. I kinda liked Lind, and that was my short list. Looks like they'll either address 1B in the off season, or depending on his stretch run, keep Pedro around for his walk year, get the comp draft pick when he goes and hand the bag over to Josh Bell.

    ReplyDelete
  3. WilliamJPellasJuly 31, 2015 at 12:47 PM

    Nods, that's basically what I thought, too. Not much available that would truly be an upgrade over Alvarez other than Lind. In fact, the first base position in general is kinda weak around the big leagues at the moment. I know Ishikawa isn't a worldbeater but he had not-terrible numbers in his only sort-of full season in the bigs in Milwaukee, something like a .260 average with 17 homers in 450 at bats. At this point I'd gladly take that from my first baseman in Pittsburgh. What do you think of dealing Pedro this offseason and going with Ishikawa (as they originally thought to do in 2014) as a bridge to Bell?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ron IeraciJuly 31, 2015 at 7:05 PM

    Yah, 1B used to be such a strong position, Will, but now... My guess is that since they expect Bell in 2017, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they went with the Pedro tag-team again in 2016 and turn it over after that.

    ReplyDelete