The Official 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates Thread

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  • mjb2124
    Hall Of Fame
    • Aug 2002
    • 13649

    #16
    Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

    Pirates extended Jack Wilson's contract today. There's a press conf at 4:00pm with the details.

    Rumor has it the extension is 3 years for 20 million (or in that ballpark).

    Comment

    • mjb2124
      Hall Of Fame
      • Aug 2002
      • 13649

      #17
      Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

      The Pirates played against mighty Manatee Community College today. The Buccos have beaten them 7 years running and last year crushed them 12-0.

      Top of the 9th and the Buc's are losing 7-1 today. Oye vi...

      So not only are they losing to a community college team (albeit a good baseball program down there), but they're getting spanked around a little.

      On a positive note, Ollie started and Manatee's first run was scored in the 4th. Ollie was likely out of the game by then. So it looks like he didn't give up any runs, but I'd still like to see his statline to see if walked a bunch.

      Comment

      • Karlos05
        -
        • Mar 2003
        • 5814

        #18
        Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

        The mighty, mighty Lancers of Manatee College.


        JB, I don't know where you were looking but both sites I looked at (MLB.com and espn.com) both have the Buccos winning in the 7-1 top of the 9th. I think that's probably a little better than losing to a bunch of college kids.

        Anyways it's going to be interesting to see when the box score is finalized and see what happened.

        Comment

        • mjb2124
          Hall Of Fame
          • Aug 2002
          • 13649

          #19
          Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

          Karlos - I was looking at ESPN and it did say the Pirates were losing 7-1. Of course, I checked now and that changed to the Pirates winning 7-1. I should've realized not to trust ESPN's inning by inning score during a meaningless spring training game!

          Well that's more like it. 7-1 victory makes me feel a lot better.

          Comment

          • mjb2124
            Hall Of Fame
            • Aug 2002
            • 13649

            #20
            Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

            Well, the mighty Pirates have started the spring off 4-1. Here's a few things I've read/heard from some non-media types down in Bradenton:

            - Duffy has been whincing a lot when stretching his leg before games. There's a rumor that the hamstring he injured last year is in a lot worse shape than the public was led to believe. It might never be 100% this year. He also has a bad shoulder which he injured in August. If that hasn't healed yet, what makes anyone think it will during the season?

            - Duke and Maholm both were hit hard in their first outings. Duke not as bad as Maholm though. It's early, but this has been my concern all along. People talk about these guys pitching like they did last year. Yes they're both good and I expect them to win their share of games, but last year both were nearly perfect when they took the mound.

            - Eldred has been crushing the ball and striking out a lot. Not much has changed there.

            - 19 year old Andrew McCutcheon has looked very good at his first ST. He's been patient at the plate, drawing walks, getting timely hits and playing a good CF. He's still got a few years in the minors, but he looks to be the real deal.

            - Jose Bautista has looked very good. Hmm.... Obviously Randa will start the year at 3B, but if Bautista continues to look good in AAA, there's a chance Randa will be traded around the All Star Break.

            - I haven't heard/read one negative thing about Tracy and staff. They seem to be on top of everything and doing a lot of hands on instruction. Excellent. Anyone who watched a lot of Pirate games last year saw some very poor fundamental baseball at times. More instruction now = less fundamental errors later.

            Comment

            • pncbucs
              Rookie
              • Jan 2003
              • 143

              #21
              Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

              Originally posted by joeboo
              Well, the mighty Pirates have started the spring off 4-1. Here's a few things I've read/heard from some non-media types down in Bradenton:

              - Duffy has been whincing a lot when stretching his leg before games. There's a rumor that the hamstring he injured last year is in a lot worse shape than the public was led to believe. It might never be 100% this year. He also has a bad shoulder which he injured in August. If that hasn't healed yet, what makes anyone think it will during the season?

              - Duke and Maholm both were hit hard in their first outings. Duke not as bad as Maholm though. It's early, but this has been my concern all along. People talk about these guys pitching like they did last year. Yes they're both good and I expect them to win their share of games, but last year both were nearly perfect when they took the mound.

              - Eldred has been crushing the ball and striking out a lot. Not much has changed there.

              - 19 year old Andrew McCutcheon has looked very good at his first ST. He's been patient at the plate, drawing walks, getting timely hits and playing a good CF. He's still got a few years in the minors, but he looks to be the real deal.

              - Jose Bautista has looked very good. Hmm.... Obviously Randa will start the year at 3B, but if Bautista continues to look good in AAA, there's a chance Randa will be traded around the All Star Break.

              - I haven't heard/read one negative thing about Tracy and staff. They seem to be on top of everything and doing a lot of hands on instruction. Excellent. Anyone who watched a lot of Pirate games last year saw some very poor fundamental baseball at times. More instruction now = less fundamental errors later.
              glad to see this thread not dying.. i personally am the most excited ive been for pirates baseball since maybe the 97 season and hope we can surprise some people this year..

              as for ur comments joe:
              1. i also am kind of worried about duffy. we've seen so many potentially solid center fielders in pittsburgh lately.. adrian brown and tike redman come to mind right now.. that it would not be hard to believe duffy not panning out. however, i think we could have a reliable plan b in nate mclouth.

              2. duke did get whacked around again today in a 10-5 win over the braves thanks to some offensive production (i'll get to this later), but managed to only give up 2 runs in 3 innings. not too concerned about those young studs though, i think at least one has staying power here

              3. another eldred home run today, along with one from bautista and mclouth

              4. i too am excited about mccutcheon. the kid is less than a year out of high school and faring quite well against major league pitching. perhaps the long term solution in center field? (going off the hopefully and unlikely assumption that duffy strikes out) haven't had one since van slyke as stan savran mentioned yesterday on sportsbeat.

              5. gotta be happy with bautista's production at this point.. see number 3.. the kids got some pop in his bat

              6. yes, definitely have to agree with you on jim tracey. being midway through my high school baseball career, even i could pick out some absurd things being taught (or not taught) last year to this club my mac. as simple a thing as working on a jump for a steal might have won a few more games last year. watch a vid of one of the '05 buccos taking off for second base.. its apparent that they take a step back before crossing over to steal.

              one other thing... kip wells had very successful surgery today in st. louis and is likely to be back by the all-star break. apparently he had complained about poor circulation in his hand in the past.. methinks we might see a new pitcher in mid july? or at least after he gets back to normal from rehab

              LETS GO BUCS

              Comment

              • mjb2124
                Hall Of Fame
                • Aug 2002
                • 13649

                #22
                Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                Glad to see another Pirates fan pncbucs! Now if Karlos would get his butt back into this thread......hint!!

                I'm not sure where LetsgoPitt or MSRoble are. I think that pretty much rounds out the Pirate fans that visit OS?

                It's good to hear that Kip Wells surgery was successful and went as good as it could possibly go. I was really looking forward to seeing what the new staff could do with him as I've always felt his problems were mechanical or mental. Looks like we'll have to wait until after the All Star break to see.

                Split Squad today. Afternoon game against the Reds and an evening game against the Yankees. Left-hander Tom Gorzelanny will start against the Reds. Marty McLeary, Scott Strickland, Josh Sharpless and Nerio Rodriguez also are expected to pitch. First baseman Sean Casey is expected to play against the Reds for the first time since being traded to the Pirates from Cincinnati. Left-hander Paul Maholm will start against the Yankees. Jorge Vasquez, Jonah Bayliss, Sean Burnett and Terry Adams also are expected to pitch.

                Comment

                • pncbucs
                  Rookie
                  • Jan 2003
                  • 143

                  #23
                  Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                  yeah joe, i've been a long time observer of OS in general, and these pirate threads in particular. i've enjoyed reading what you and karlos have to say as you seem to be as well informed as most good bucco fans i talk to.

                  update on your reds/bucs preview: pirates win in a 5-0 shutout with tom (great last name) gorzelany retiring all nine hitters he faced in succession. some guy named craig stansberry that i haven't heard much about hit a three run homer for the main offensive production. i believe that takes it to about 12 home runs for us in just seven games. this team is showing some decent power.

                  btw.. do you have a better spring training site than the pirates homepage? i can't seem to find alot of this good info you're getting on there, rather a few measly words about pirates on the mound/at the plate and a box score

                  woo hoo 6-1.. playing the skankees right now and down 6-3...but "yeah dude" ryan doumit just hit a homer.

                  Comment

                  • mjb2124
                    Hall Of Fame
                    • Aug 2002
                    • 13649

                    #24
                    Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                    I get most of my information from www.post-gazette.com and www.pittsburghlive.com. The post-gazette.com has some longer articles and seems to be more informed, but pittsburghlive.com isn't bad.

                    I also visit www.onlybucs.net and read some stuff on their forum. There's some good info from guys (some are even down at spring training), but there's also a lot of junk to filter through. I never posted on that site though.

                    Nice start by Gorzelanny again. He's making it very hard for the Pirates to start him in AAA. However, I think that's the right move. He hasn't pitched many innings in the minors.

                    Looks like we lost to the Yankees 8-3. Maholm got beatup gain. His spring ERA is 14.40.

                    Comment

                    • Karlos05
                      -
                      • Mar 2003
                      • 5814

                      #25
                      Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                      Sorry this week is Spring break for me, so needless to say I'm not around the computer as much. Anyways I'll try to recap some things said earlier and dump in some stuff of my own.

                      - Troubles with Duke and Maholm. With Duke he said he's been having a little trouble with his two-seamer which is his bread a butter. Didn't sound too critical, and this is why you have Spring Training to work this out. For Maholm getting lit up, sure didn't look good. I think I read in the PG that he really has such limited experience above AA ball that it's not a surprise he's going to be knocked around some. He's not going to be as stellar as his brief stint last year, but he should be better than this. Probably going to be an up-and-down rollar coaster all season.

                      - Always good to get another Pirate fan in here. Converstations have a tendancy to die when there's only two of us in here (espically when we seem to agree so damn such). For the other MIAs, LGP has been in and out last couple months. Had a couple spurts during the Steelers when he was around alot. I talk to Roble every once and a while and he does a lot of baseball chat on another board, and I think he might be a mod there. I'm sure he'll check in from time to time. Speaking of MIAs whet ever happened to spacefunk? Wasn't around for the Steelers and was about as pessimistic of a Pirates fan as you can find.

                      - Scott Strickland has looked very good so far it sounds like. Making a real push to be put in the pen. I didn't think he had a real shot but if he keeps this up he will. Means that either Giovanna (spelling is close enough), or the loser of the Vogelsong/Santos/Snell rotation spot might be bounced from the ML roster if they want to keep Strickland.

                      - One thing to remember about the offense and homers in particular, Bradenton (and most other ST parks) are an absolute launching pad during ST. Always inflates the homers, so when Stansberry is leading the team in HRs he's probably got a few off 3rd stringers and got a few to carry in the wind. That being said nice to see some one stepping up and putting up nice numbers.

                      - One real question is if the team can keep up the disciplined approach at the plate. Tracy has been preaching taking pitches and working the count and so far it seems to be working, even with some guys like Eldred. Now if this carries over into the season and they're still doing this in August than that's a huge plus. This isn't something we've ever seen under Lloyd.

                      - McCutchen seems like he's going to be good in a few years. I seen raves about how he works the count and takes walks, which is amazing seeing how he's still pretty fresh out of high school. He has the potential to move up the ladder fast.

                      - I think Doumit can have a big year if put in the right spot in the lineup. I would hate to see him hitting 8th. After whatever combination of Bay-Burnitz-Casey-Randa that Tracy uses I hope he sticks Doumit. I think he can excell at knocking in runs.

                      - I believe Burnett got hit a little tonight too. Its going to be really interesting to see how the organization handles this. My head says don't rush him and let him play in AAA for a month or two, but if he shines are you really going to deny him a spot in the roation for Victor Santos?

                      - Victor Santos. I've only seen one box score on him so far this Spring Training but it might be a long year if he stays in the rotation for a good part of the season.

                      - I'm also starting to worry a little bit about Duffy. I think pnc said it earlier but I don't think I can take another Pirates centerfield in the mold of Chad Hermanson, Adrian Brown and Tike Redman. This shoulder/hamstring thing sure doesn't ease my worries.

                      - If Duffy does flop or gets hurt I think McClouth would still be in AAA, and either Bay or Burnitz would bump to CF with Craig coming off the bench. All things considered this might be the best group we can start at one time, but it would destroy our lineup. I can't even begin to think who would lead off. Jack? *shudder* Castillo?

                      - Snell is starting today against the Reds. If he shows something it's going to be tough to send him back down the AAA considering the compostion of the rest of our lineup (LH and mostly soft-tossers).

                      -Mexico won today in the WBC, in the grand scheme of things that's about next to last of things I needed to know today, but anyways Ollie didn't pitch again. First, I find it hard to believe that he's not one of the better pitchers on that squad even with the year he had last year. Granted he's a starter and I don't know Mexico's mananger's philosophy of using starters out of the pen but come on he's got to be better than some of the guys they ran out there. Second, he was pulled away from camp and has yet to really pitch this year. Of all the guys on the team he's one of the guys who needs to pitch often. After last years performance he should be using all of Spring Training to get ready for the season. I hope he pitches against Canada today.


                      Well I think that's enough to chew on for now

                      Comment

                      • rsox
                        All Star
                        • Feb 2003
                        • 6309

                        #26
                        Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                        Jody Gerut is 10-40 as a leadoff hitter, so i imagine Tracy would at least consider him.

                        Comment

                        • mjb2124
                          Hall Of Fame
                          • Aug 2002
                          • 13649

                          #27
                          Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                          Karlos - Hope you're enjoying spring break!

                          rsox - I know the Pirates like Gerut's bat (when healthy), but if Duffy really is hurting and will be out for a longtime, I think the Pirates will lean towards Nate McClouth. He's not as good defensively as Duffy, but he's supposed to have one of the better sticks in the Pirates minors. They say he's just a pure hitter who could hit more HR's (20-25 range) when he matures.


                          Some random things:

                          - Canada will be eliminated today. Bay played very well throughout the WBC, but I'm also glad he's back and un-injured.

                          - Ollie took the hill for the first time last night. 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K. Obviously he was very wild. I believe the PG mentioned he threw almost 50% or over 50% of his pitches for balls? I'm not real confident with him. I also hate that he lost a few weeks due to the WBC when the new staff could've been working with him - Mexico will advance to the next round as well.

                          - Bucs lost today, but McClouth hit his 2nd HR and Bautista hit his 2nd. Good to see from both players. Bautista is really making a case as the 3B of the future - which might come as soon as the middle of this year.

                          - The battle for the 4th and 5th starting pitchers and long reliever(s) is heating up. A few of the guys have pitched really well. Snell's line hasn't always looked great, but the reports are all raving about him. They said his stuff has been electric.

                          - I agree with Karlos about Strickland. I think he's averaging 1 K per inning in ST. He's really been doing well. The staff is going to have a real hard time trimming some of the last guys. Many of which, have clauses that say the Pirates will release them if they don't make the MLB team.

                          Comment

                          • rsox
                            All Star
                            • Feb 2003
                            • 6309

                            #28
                            Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                            Joeboo, i agree McClouth has good bat and will probably be a much better hitter than Gerut but the question i was referring to was about who would bat leadoff if Duffy can't go. If not Gerut than Jack Wilson would be the only other real option and Wilson has not faired well as a leadoff hitter in the past. But again, i agree with you about McClouth.

                            Comment

                            • pncbucs
                              Rookie
                              • Jan 2003
                              • 143

                              #29
                              Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                              good win for the bucs today coming back from a lousy start by ryan "I think I'm ready for another shot at it" vogelsong. big offensive contributions from our three offseason acquistions: casey, burnitz, and randa, plus others from castillo and sanchez. chris duffy was hit in the head by curt schilling, but released from the hospital with a mild concussion. he's listed as day to day. duke is set to make his third start tomorrow against the d-rays. good to see the bucs rebound from that little losing streak. i'm trying to think of the positives of pittsburgh sports right now: bucs win, pens actually beat the devils, but unfortunately syracuse just defeated the panthers for the BE championship.

                              btw.. rsox: ive seen you around alot in the baseball forum posting transactions and what not. you seem to be very up on pretty much every player in the majors. what's your deal, man? lol
                              Last edited by pncbucs; 03-11-2006, 10:31 PM.

                              Comment

                              • mjb2124
                                Hall Of Fame
                                • Aug 2002
                                • 13649

                                #30
                                Re: The 2006 Pittsburgh Pirate Thread

                                I know I shouldn't worry about this since it is spring training, but Zack Duke got lit up again today. Duke and Maholm haven't had 1 good outing yet.

                                Duke's line today:

                                4 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 6 R, 0 BB, 0 K 8.00 ERA this spring.

                                Maholm has a 14.40 ERA this spring so he's pitching even worse.

                                I do think Duke is the real deal and expect him to pitch well this year. Maholm on the other hand, I'm not sold on yet. However, watching Duke get hit around in the spring (when pitchers are supposed to be ahead of hitters) does have me concerned.

                                Oh yeah, Bay hit a HR today! Welcome back!

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