Sunday, September 2nd, 2007 by Adam Wagner
Delusional Again (and other notes about the Pirates)
The Pirates, or at least Jim Tracy, apparently think that they’re in contention, as Tracy stated that the team would not play prospects at the major league level in order to compete better against “the other competitors . . .”
Tracy obviously forgot about April, May, June, and July; and only thought about August in making his statement, as the team had one very impressive month this season, one month where it can be fairly stated that they did not underachieve. And, it just so happens, they happened to dramatically overachieve in that period.
Along with this, they have been playing without the train wreck that is Zach Duke. The team is obviously better off without the Most Hittable Man in Baseball in the rotation and should not put him back in. The results will not change as long as Jim Colborn is the Pirates’ pitching coach, as Duke must feel as if he has somehow been violated by the man who changed his motion for the severe worse. The Pirates should shut Duke down and not let him pick up a baseball again until spring training. His implosion was no less severe than the one seen by Kansas City with Zack Grienke (despite statisticians loving Grienke and hating Duke and a dramatic difference between their stuff) . . . and it took a breakdown and a sports psychologist for him to put it back together.
- The Pirates should also shut John Grabow down. When one of the studs of the bullpen (and someone that the team hopes will be around for a while) is having pain in his arm, shut him down. It could prove important to his (and, therefore, the team’s) future . . . or, more importantly considering that he is a Pirate, his trade value.
- Just a prediction: the other players from AAA that will be called up will be Brian Bixler, Brian Bullington, Dave Davidson, and Brad Eldred.
- I am amazed that the Pirates only have four real outfielders on their 40-man roster right now, with Ryan Doumit and Steve Pearce not being counted.
At least Steve Pearce has arrived, as he shined in his debut, going two-for-four with one ball that should have been a hit. This guy should be in the lineup at the start of next year, no questions asked. Make room.
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