Pirate Wildcard - Phil Dumatrait

Last year, the Pirates broke camp - heck, entered camp - with their starting rotation set in stone. This coming year promises to be different, thank the baseball gods.

Paul Maholm and probably Ian Snell are the only locks. Zach Duke, Tom Gorzelanny, Jeff Karstens, Ross Ohlendorf, and maybe Jimmy Barthmaier, will battle for the other three spots and the long man/spot starter roles in Bradenton.

The Pirates are also thought to be in the market for a middle-to-bottom end of the rotation veteran to add some stability and smarts to a young staff either through free agency or as part of a deal.

But don't forget about the star-crossed Phil Dumatrait.

Phillip Anthony Dumatrait was born on July 12, 1981 in Bakersfield, California. He played for Bakersfield High and then Bakersfield College (we guess he liked his mom's cooking) before he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2000 as the 22nd pick of the first round.

On July 30, 2003, the Reds traded Scott Williamson to the BoSox in exchange for Dumatrait, left-hander Tyler Pelland and cash. Then in 2004, Dumatrait suffered a season-ending elbow injury and underwent Tommy John surgery.

He missed that year, and came back in 2005. Dumatrait floated around the Reds organization in AA Chatanooga and AAA Louisville for the next couple of seasons.

He was a highly regarded arm - according to Baseball America, in his years at Boston, he was considered a mid-top ten prospect, and after struggling a bit after his surgery, he recovered enough to be the Reds sixteenth rated minor leaguer in 2007.

On September 9, 2007, Phil Dumatrait made his major league debut for the Reds against the Brew Crew.

In the first inning, he gave up four runs on five hits, including consecutive home runs to Rickie Weeks, J. J. Hardy, and Ryan Braun, the first three batters he faced. Dumatrait didn't record an out. He ended his year with an 0-4 record and 15.00 ERA.

The Red management lost all faith in him after that nightmare audition and cut him. The Pirates claimed him off waivers on October 26, 2007 after John Russell, who had faced him as a AAA manager, put in a good word for him to Neal Huntington.

Dumatrait was solid in the minors, but had control issues, both before and after the surgery. But Russell liked his stuff, a low-90s heater and OK off-speed pitches.

He never worked out of the pen, but the Pirates went into spring training with a set rotation and nobody in the minors to back it up. They eyed Dumatrait as a long reliever who'd add starting depth.

He pitched well enough to make the team out of camp, and in April, when the starters were getting bombed regularly, he put together a 3.92 ERA as a long man.

He joined the rotation when Matt Morris was released, and won his first MLB game on May 7, 2008 against the Giants, pitching 5-2/3 shutout innings.

After his first eight starts of May and early June, his ERA was 3.22, but he was raked for 14 runs in ten innings in his next two outings and went on the DL on June 22 with shoulder bursitis.

They brought him back on July 7th for one more try against the Astro's, but he was ripped again. Dumatrait went back on the DL on July 11th for good.

He eventually had a scope done to correct an impingement in the shoulder (the shoulder blade rubs on the rotator cuff) on October 3rd. A season that started with so much promise ended up 3-4, with a 5.26 ERA. That's the bad news. The good news is that he's expected to be good to go by spring training.

The question is which Phil Dumatrait will the Pirates see? He added a change-up to his repertoire, and it was effective. He also walked 42 guys in 78-2/3 innings, and his control was either very good or very bad, not only regarding free passes, but in keeping the ball down.

Two surgeries in 4 years kinda raises a red flag, too, although modern MLB pitchers do seem knife-happy.

Dumatrait has just 17 MLB starts under his belt. He's 27 years old, and has a pedigree as a number one pick and top prospect. His upside is pretty obvious, even if his clock is running.

We think that he's very like to be part of the rotation come April. If he can regain his May form, the Pirates have cleared one huge hurdle awaiting them in 2009, and Joe Kerrigan will look a heckuva lot smarter without making a move.

In fact, we look forward to a much improved staff in 2009. Now if the Bucs can find any bats to support them...

phil's first...

Mama and Papa Dumatrait must be so proud tonight. Their son Phil won his first MLB game, and in pretty convincing style.

He scattered three hits and struck out five without yielding a run in 5-2/3 innings to earn his first W, 3-1. Dumatrait was yanked after 78 pitches, and not because he was in trouble. "I just thought it was time," John Russell said. "He hasn't been that deep in the game and I had the feeling it was time to get him out."

He's apparently on a pretty strict pitch count regimen, even though Russell has said he'd let him get to the 100 pitch mark. His ERA is down to 3.86, so whatever Russell and Jeff Andrews are doing with him, it's working so far.

Dumatrait outpitched Barry Zito. While Zito's hit on tough times, he's just the kind of hurler the Bucs have trouble solving - he throws soft and softer.

The trio of Xavier Nady, Jason Bay, and Nate McLouth did all the damage, and the bullpen was up to the task of putting the G-Men to bed tonight, although Matt Capps made it interesting.

But ex-Buc Jose Castillo came to the rescue, bouncing into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game against his old mates.

Russell rolled out another different lineup tonight. The order was Sanchez, Bautista, McLouth, Bay at cleanup, Nady, LaRoche, Paulino and Bixler.

We might have put Bay second and Bautista sixth, but hey - if it works, who are we to harp? We'll see what he pulls out of the hat tomorrow when Ryan Doumit is behind the dish.

It was a good day to pitch. Ump Rob Drake had a generous strike zone, and perhaps because of that, the batters were fishing all night. It's nice to get a couple wins outta the five spot in the rotation, something Pittsburgh couldn't do when Matty Mo trailed the pitching parade.

The game drew less than 10,000. They should get a bigger crowd tomorrow - if it doesn't rain, thunder and lightning - to catch a businessman's special with Paul Maholm matching up with Giant wunderkind Matt Cain.

Then the Braves come to town. It'll be interesting to see how the teams match up now after putting on a three-ring circus act to start the season.

On the Pirate front: The Bucs actually lead the league in a couple of categories that aren't negative. They've turned the most DP's, with 40 (although with all the runners Pirate pitching has allowed...) And the X-Man took over the lead in RBIs with his 2 run shot, with 34, to nose ahead of the 'Stros Lance Berkman.

And how about Damaso Marte? His 5.06 ERA would make you think he's lost his stuff, but he's retired 20 straight hitters and struck out 20 of the 63 batters he's faced this season, including K'ing the side in the 8th tonight.

GM Neal Huntington confirmed that the Pirates are in discussions with Tampa Bay, trying to work out an agreement that would keep Evan Meek, who cleared waivers today, with the Pittsburgh organization. The talks have involved both cash considerations and player trades.

It's always nice to see San Francisco. The Pirates have won 12 of the last 14 games against the Giants.

More than 7,000 area school children will take part in the first two Pittsburgh Pirates "Education Days" starting tomorrow when the Bucs take on the San Francisco Giants and again on Monday when they host the Atlanta Braves.

Teachers will be given a lesson plan that involves Pirates baseball and in-game entertainment while covering subjects like history, math and geography. To think we had to shoot hookey to get out of school and see a ball game back in the day...

On the injury front: Gorzo should be ready to go Saturday, but Jack Wilson told the FSN crew that he's 2-3 weeks away from returning. We expect a steady diet of Bixler at short for the foreseeable future.

the night the lights went out in DC...

Jose Bautista from MLB.com

A lot to like tonight. Then again, whats not to like about an 11-4 romp?

Jose Bautista went yard twice and collected 4 RBIs while playing a sterling hot corner. Jay Bay and Nate the Great reached base four times, the X Man and Ryan Doumit three times. Chris Gomez dinked another patented two strike, two out, two run hit.

The pen retired 14 straight batters before yielding one infield hit in five innings. The Pirate gloves were at work, too. When the Nats still had some life in the fifth inning, Gomez made a nice grab of a one hop throw to get a force out and Bay made a sweet running catch just inside the line in the left field corner.

In the past week, the Pirate's comedy revue in the field has died down, especially with the steady if rangeless Gomez at short. When and if Jack Splat comes back next week, Pittsburgh may look like a major league team between the lines.

The worst part was that Phil Dumatrait couldn't go five to get the win, which would have been his first in the show. But John Russell made the right move to get him out when he did in the fourth.

A couple more Nat scores would have changed a laugher into a struggle, so he called for Damaso Marte to douse the embers. (He got the win.)

There was a 25-minute delay when the lights went down, and it seemed to suck the juice out of Dumatrait, who looked pretty sharp during the first three innings.

He used his heat almost exclusively the first time through the Washington line up, but after the brownout, he went to more off speed and breaking stuff. They got spanked by the Nat hitters.

So the jury is still out on the Dumatrait rotation experiment. Can he develop an effective off speed pitch, or will the second time through the lineup continue to be his Achille's Heel?

And there's the Freddie Sanchez funk, which continued tonight. His eye has deserted him, and the Nat pitchers got him to fish for pitches in the dirt and off the plate. Ditto for Adam LaRoche. He had a seat on the pine, and K'ed as a pinch hitter.

How about the poor 26,001 Nat fans? Not only did their team get whacked, not only did they sit through a half hour delay, but to add insult to injury, tonight's scheduled fireworks display was canceled because of the time. There woulda been a riot if that happened at PNC.

On the Pirate front: LHP Phil Dumatrait (0-1, 3.92 ERA) replaces Matt Morris in the rotation. Since he's been throwing out of the pen, he'll probably max out at 80 pitches tonight. Dumatrait's looking for his first big league win.

For Dumatrait, it is a second chance to start in the MLB. He was 0-4 as a starter last season in Cincinnati and posted a 15.00 ERA. He once gave up three straight homers to start a game against the Brewers to Rickie Weeks, J. J. Hardy, and Ryan Braun - and that was just last September.

It will also mark the first time since 1994 that a team has started four consecutive lefties. The Nats are doing their best to respond in kind, starting three against the Pirates.

The Bucs and Nats will dress in throwback Homestead Gray uniforms tomorrow. The Grays played at both Forbes Field and Griffith Field during WW2. In fact, it's said that Gray catcher Josh Gibson hit more home runs by himself in Griffith Field in 1943 than the Washington Senators did as a team.

The Grays, btw, were one of the more popular suggestions for a team name when the Nats came into existence.

On the hot stove front: Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News sez that the New York Mets are interested in reacquiring outfielder Xavier Nady. And no, we really don't want Ollie back that badly, thank you.

Lyle Spencer of MLB.com writes "Xavier Nady (26 RBIs) is reaching his vast potential. Wouldn't he look good in the cleanup spot behind Adrian Gonzalez in San Diego, his first home? The power-starved Mets, with their .371 team slugging percentage, also could use the X Factor."

On the ex-Pirate front: Billy Wagner expanded on his blunt criticism of Oliver Perez Thursday during his weekly radio spot, saying the Mets will go nowhere this year if the enigmatic lefthander doesn't learn how to battle through his own troubles.

In his weekly interview on ESPN Radio, Wagner said Perez has to hold himself accountable for lasting only 1-2/3 innings Wednesday on a day the Mets needed some innings from him.

"If he goes out there and battles and comes up short, you know what, we're not going to have a problem with that," he said. "But you have to battle. You have to go out there and find a way," according to Newsday.

Reliever Mike Gonzalez, a year removed from Tommy John surgery, is scheduled to pitch his last extended spring training game May 14 and may then join the Braves, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

On the MLB front: What the heck is up with Roger Clemens? Now the happily (we thought) married father of four has been linked with a jail bait country singer, a stripper, a barmaid, and a golfer's wife. Geez, maybe that was Viagra and Spanish Fly he was scoring off trainer Brian McNamee, not HgH.