Be Like Tike

Wednesday, August 29th, 2007 by Adam Wagner

Pirate Update

I actually have time to write something tonight, so I’m just going to use bullets to write about some interesting (read: depressing) stuff from Pirate-land the last few days. First of all, the Pirates were named the “Worst organization in baseball” by CBS Sportsline. No surprise there, as they truly are the worst organization. Any time you are celebrating a player winning the stolen base title at High A ball two years in a row or misdiagnosing broken ribs, you deserve the title.

(More after the jump)

Ian Snell was terrible tonight, ruining any momentum that the team gained last night. He gave up seven runs on 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings. Snell is hard to figure out, as he went from being so dominating earlier in the year to being so bad after the break. The Pirates desperately need consistency from their starting pitching, and Snell is not providing it right now.
Paul Maholm has been the best Pirate starter post-All Star break, with a 3.47 ERA compared to a 4.76 pre-break ERA. One of the most interesting things is that hitters are actually posting a higher average (.284 to .276) against Maholm post-break. Hopefully this is a sign of Maholm learning how to throw a gutsier game, not a sign of luck.
Speaking of All-star break splits, Ian Snell’s are particularly ugly. Before the midsummer classic he had a 2.93 ERA, while he has posted a 6.11 ERA after it (not including tonight). Opposing hitters have gone from hitting .239 to hitting .312 against him, indicating a major loss in stuff from the Pirate ace.
The Pirates are finally considering dropping Chris Duffy. It’s about time. A head case like Duffy should be made another team’s problem.
Just how bad does that Daniel Moskos pick look? Well, the pitcher has thrown 10.2 innings and posted a 4.22 ERA…as a reliever. Moskos is the type of pitcher that the Pirates should have shut down after they drafted him, sort of like last year’s first round pick Brad Lincoln. Lincoln was coming off of a career high in innings, so the Pirates had him throw some more. Moskos is coming off of his first year as a starter, so the Pirates naturally threw him into the minor league fire. And then they wonder why they’re labeled the worst organization in baseball.
Fine, I’ll be an optimist. They swept a doubleheader against Cincinnati. And Tom Gorzelanny pitched really well. And Freddy Sanchez is really good. And Matt Capps is pretty solid, too. There. I said it. Something complimentary about the Pirates.

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