Be Like Tike

Wednesday, June 13th, 2007 by Adam Wagner

What Became Obvious

[Ed. This will become a daily feature.]

Notes from last night:

After the 7-5 win Tuesday night, the Pirates are at a staggering 10 games under .500. Tuesday’s game, however, provided some very interesting tidbits that allow for commentary on multiple topics.

First off, though, props must go to Justin Verlander for his no-hitter. Verlander allowed four walks the entire night and shut down a previously vaunted Brewers lineup that has been slumping recently. Verlander’s performance this year has been, quite frankly, more than a little bit surprising. I assumed that he would succumb to the sophomore slump and have a rough year, especially after doubling his inning load from 2005-2006. This extra work, however, has not caught up to the stud pitcher and he accomplished a feat that was last seen earlier this year when Mark Buehrle threw his no-no. Also of note is the fact that Verlander’s no-no was the second interleague no-hitter, with the other being David Cone’s (as a member of the Yankees) against the Expos on July 18, 1999.

Scott Olsen had a very good start tonight, going 7 innings and striking out 6 without giving up a run against an Indians lineup that is one of the tops in the American League. Olsen seems to have fallen off without the tough love of Joe Girardi, but he’ll have starts like this every once in a while just to remind all of the schlubs that he still has a ton of talent in his left arm.

If you had told me that, on July 12, Jeff Francouer would be batting 13 points higher than Brian McCann I would have asked why Francouer was hitting above .350. Instead, he is performing right on pace and McCann has been a huge offensive disappointment.

Just looking more closely at that Twins-Braves game, the Twins’ pitching is really fantastic. Kevin Slowey is a top young prospect who had a very good start tonight, but perhaps most importantly is the fact that, in innings 7 through 9, they are able to three guys in a row with ERAs of 1something out there (Matt Guerrier - 1.60, Pat Neshek - 1.16, Joe Nathan - 1.91).

AJ Burnett’s ridiculous pitch counts seem to have caught up to him. He left after throwing 82 pitches in 4.2 innings. In his last 6 starts, Burnett has thrown 130, 117, 125, 103, 103, and 118 pitches. That is not how you treat the extremely expensive near-ace of your staff who has had severe injury issues in the past. These problems may have caught up to the team at last as Burnett left the game accompanied by a Blue Jays trainer.

Speaking of the Blue Jays, Alexis Rios has gone from being one of the most overrated prospects in baseball to being one of the game’s most underrated borderline stars.

Now, back to the victorious Pirates. The team is now 1-3 in interleague play this season, but I am going to avoid writing about the sweep at the hands of the Yankees last weekend (Doh!). The Pirates proved several important things tonight:

- We’ll start with the negative because, for the first time in a while, there is more positive. If Jim Tracy keeps using his only effective relievers, Capps and Marte, game after game they are going to wear down very quickly. Marte can not throw 1.2 innings and 24 pitches very often. He is a guy who, in his ideal role, would be used as a lefty setupman/specialist, the role he was projected to fill. But, hey, beggars can’t be choosers, right?

-This team obviously has some power. Jason Bay and Adam LaRoche are the key components of this power, but Jose Bautista has shown flashes and Adam LaRoche has yet to hit the ridiculously hot streak he seems to go on this time every year. It should be happening soon and, when that happens, the Pirates should have at least five bats in their everyday lineup, which brings us to the next note . . .

-Jose Castillo should be this team’s everyday shortstop and Jack Wilson should be traded ASAP. Wilson has seemingly grown completely disinterested in the game as a result of constant losing, which is something he accused Castillo off in the offseason. Combined with his monster contract, declining defensive skills, weak bat, and what seems to be a developing bad attitude, Wilson is becoming a hindrance on a team that already has too many. They should dump him immediately for whatever they can receive. Castillo, however, seems to be more motivated whenever he plays, as is shown by his willingness to hit to the opposite field, where most of his power comes from. Never mind the fact that Castillo is also significantly more agile than Wilson and has the second-best arm on the team, both key traits at the shortstop position. Castillo for Wilson is a change that this team can not afford to avoid.

-When Zach Duke is throwing strikes, he makes opposing hitters swing and miss and he is a more effective pitcher for it. Tonight, Duke had 3 ks, which really is not enough, but he has only reached this number five times in 14 starts this season. When Duke is confident he is better and Duke is confident when there are easy outs being made behind him, which occurred tonight.

-I still think that if one of these young position players is going to turn into a superstar it is going to be Bautista (or Castillo, but probably not as there is too much goofiness there). I’m not quite sure why, but Bautista is just a very impressive baseball player to me. Maybe it’s his ability to field 3B better than even Freddy Sanchez, maybe it’s the two full-out diving catches I saw him make last season (One from the top of the rotunda, where, upon seeing him make the catch, I jumped up in the air. Not a good idea, to say the least.). Maybe it’s the fact that Dave Littlefield saw enough value in him to try to get him back three times after the Rule V debacle . . . No, that’s not it, come to think of it. It’s probably the first few reasons. Anyways, I never thought I’d see him as a leadoff hitter, but he is very good in that role.