YinzPitt

The Pittsburgh Pirates start their 2010 season today!  I’m more than excited!  It’s easily one of the best weeks of baseball for us Pittsburgh faithful.  So much hope, so much life in the city around PNC park.  It’s just wonderful.  Sadly, this is also the time that most people are high on the Pirates too.  Let’s face it.  Once they hit that first 10 game skid, people are going to be all over them, and hopping back off the excitement train at break neck pace.

While the Pirates pay-roll was just rated the lowest in the leagues, however they do have some players with MLB talent at least.  In fact, I’m going to tell you about some of these players.  Some new faces, some familiar faces.  This is the first year in awhile, I can actually say the team does look promising.  They’ve got more than a handful of players looking to make an impact in a large way.  So let’s start with some of the position players.

Lastings Milledge, LF – While most people know Lastings from the trade the Pirates made last year, and the fact that he’s had sort of a troubled past.  This looks to be the year that he could break out in a big way.  Lastings has been doing all the right things with the Pirates organization.  He’s kept his image squeaky clean, he’s become great friends with Andrew McCutchen, and he’s worked on his game all year long.  While he was regarded as a power prospect from the Mets when he was drafted.  Milledge hasn’t turned out that way.  He’s projected for another year over .250 and around 20 Hrs.  Of course, projections don’t mean squat when it comes to performance, but look for him to provide some much needed offense from the corner outfield spot.

Andrew McCutchen, CF – Andrew has been well worth the wait.  Even with him coming up mid-year last year, after the Mclouth trade,

Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates

he earned considerations for the N.L. rookie of the year.  High honors for someone who didn’t even play a FULL season.  It’s becoming more and more obvious that he’s a leader by what he provides on the field and in the batters box.  Not to mention that he’s our most prized player in the organization save for Pedro Alvarez and Jose Tabata.  If he continues at the pace he did last year, no doubt could he be considered N.L. MVP.

Garret Jones, RF – Jones, was the diamond in the rough.  Coming from Minnesota in trade, he sparked our offense in a big way last year.  In 82 games with the Pirates he hit 21 home runs, projections this year have him topping out near 30.  Strange for a guy to go unnoticed that long with an organization, however, he was behind a stacked position.  I’m hoping the trend continues with his power, even if he is 29 years old.

Akinori Iwamura, 2nd – Akinori is a fresh face to the Pirates organization.  He’s the Freddie Sanchez replacement at second base.  He’s highly consistent and provides stable defensive play. He’s going to bat lead-off, so his batting is as close to contact as you can get.  Look for him to provide his usual stats, barring any injury.

Ronnie Cedeno, SS – He sucks.

Zach Duke, SP – Of course everyone knows this guy.  He’s one of the possible three aces in the starting pitcher rotation.  My only concern is that he won’t be here the full year.  I assume he’s going to get traded, and it’s a terrible thing to have happen.  He’s a workhorse, and when he gets on a team that can provide offense….look out.

Paul Maholm, SP – The second ace in the system.  Zach and Paul have the most consecutive starts over anyone else in the Majors.  Sure Paul has some knucklehead moments, but he’s another pitcher to be feared when he has offense behind him.  His slurve/curve-ball is just ridiculous.

Ross Ohlendorf, SP – The final ace in the system.  After coming here in the 2008 trade from the Yankees, that also brought Tabata, he’s

Ross Ohlendorf of the Pittsburgh Pirates

provided decent numbers and quality starts.  People even projected him to be the number one pitcher on this team once he panned out and advanced his slider, change-up.  He’s got a serious fastball, like 97 mph serious.  Of course, provided offense, he can do some serious damage to other teams batters.

Octavio Dotel, RHP/Closer – Octavio was a free agent signing this year.  He’s been up and down in the past with his former team the Chicago White-Sox, and he’s looking to revamp his career as a closer here.  I’m for it, hell he’s at least an MLB vet.

What about the rest of the guys?  Andy LaRoche?  Eh.  Ryan Doumit?  Injury Prone.  The entire bull-pen?  A big giant question mark.  I know all the guys back there, but none of their talent deserves to be mentioned.  At least not yet.  However, the re-occurring issue with this team is offense.  Without offense, their strong starting pitching is wasted, and their bull-pen can barely hold on to protect leads.  So we’ll see how this year pans out.

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