We Now Resume Our Regularly Scheduled Programming...

We now resume our regularly scheduled programming.

After two days of absolutely nothing, MLB resumes its season tonight with a full schedule of games.

While the players surely must enjoy the time off, fans are eagerly waiting for some baseball again. And specifically, Pittsburgh Pirate fans cannot wait to “get it on”, as the team looks to make a run at the postseason and lay the ghost of 20 years of sub-.500 baseball to rest once and for all.

Opening the second half with an important three-game series right off the bat against division rival Cincinnati Reds, the Pirates will send arguably their best, yet possibly least known starter to the mound against Reds’ ace, Mike Leake. Two of the Pirates’ Francicso Liriano‘s three losses have come against Leake and the Reds, but the 29-year-old left-hander has pitched very well in both games, allowing only three runs on nine hits in his 12 innings of work against them. Leake has been better though, allowing just one run against the Bucs in his last 13 innings.

The Pirates need to start the second half of the season off the right way, by winning series and road games. The first half of the season saw the Pirates take 18 of 27 series (splitting three), while going 24-19 on the road. While playing good at PNC Park should be a given, the road is where the Pirates will be tested right away, as the series with the Reds marks the start of a 10-game road trip. If the Pirates can pass that test, they can head home with some momentum for an 11 game homestand, including an unusual as well as very big five-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals, whom they’ve been battling for first place in the Central division since June.

Five games head to head with the Cardinals could involve some significant changes in the standings should either team win more than three.

Pirates Need Sweep Of Mets

The New York Mets are in town for a three-game series to close out the first half of the 2013 baseball season, as MLB teams head into the four-day All-Star break looking for rest and rejuvenation.

Traditionally, the “second half” in a MLB season is like the three-quarter mark in a horse race: it’s where champions are made as well as broken. Many a team has hit the dog days of late-July and August and faded like the last rose of summer. The Pittsburgh Pirates hope to avoid such a fate, but first they must take care of business with the Mets this series.

A sweep would be nice as it would put the Pirates back at their season-high mark of 21 games over .500, and send the team into the break on high note after a mini-slump that saw them drop three consecutive three-game series.

And there’s no reason the Pirates can’t pull one off.

The Mets come into town next to last in the NL in team batting average (.235) and team slugging (.378), while the Pirates are first in all of baseball in team ERA (3.07), as well as opponent’s BA (.225).

The Pirates’ formula for winning so far this season has been shutdown pitching and timely hitting. Leading both leagues in shutouts with 13, the Bucs should be able to keep the Mets in check offensively while scoring just enough runs to win. If they can get a lead going into the seventh inning, the Pirates’ bullpen will take it from there.

Since the Pirates’ recent nine-game win streak, the team has gone 3-6 and has fallen out of first place, now one game behind the St. Louis Cardinals. The Pirates’ losing ways once again correlate with a Neil Walker injury that has put him on the 15-day disabled list — a right oblique problem that the team can only hope heals quickly over the break.

The Pirates have called up Josh Harrison, who was hitting .317 with four homers and 34 RBIs at Indy, no doubts with hopes of providing some much-need offensive spark.

El Toro's In!

El Toro’s in!

David Wright righted a wrong and selected Pittsburgh Pirate 3B Pedro Alvarez to replace Colorado Rockies‘ Carlos Gonzalez, who withdrew from the competition because of a sprained right middle finger.

No doubt Mr. Wright feared the mighty wrath of the Pirate fans in choosing Alvarez to replace Gonzalez, instead of Philadelphia Phillies’ Domonic Brown for the newly opened spot on the 2013 MLB Home Run Derby roster. Brown, whose 23 home runs equal Alvarez’s total, doesn’t have the added incentive of having Wright’s team, the New York Mets, come to town this week. The stars were aligned for Pedro though, as the Mets are in Pittsburgh tomorrow night for three games and Wright would have had to endure at least 12 boo-’n-hiss-filled plates appearances in the series had he passed over Pedro again. No doubt a second snub would have “endeared” him even more to the PNC crowds this weekend.

Alvarez is just as deserving as anyone though, as his 23 homeruns before the All-Star break put him in some pretty good company. The only other Pirates ever to have 23 or more homers before the All-Star break are Hall-of-Famers Ralph Kiner and Willie Stargell. Not bad company for the 26 year-old from Santa Domingo, DR who grew up in Manhattan. In addition, his at-bats per home run ratio this season is 12.7, tops in the NL.

Pedro will join Bobby Bonilla (1990), Barry Bonds (1992), Jason Bay (1995) and Andrew McCutchen (2012) as the only other Pirates to participate in the Home Run Derby. No Pirate has ever won the contest.

Pirates need To Stay The Course (For Now)

The Pittsburgh Pirates need to stay the course.

Manager Clint Hurdle has claimed as much saying after their latest loss to the Oakland Athletics: ”We’re not changing lanes. We’re staying the course.”

Peaks and valleys. Valleys and peaks. That’s baseball season and the Pirates are certainly in one of those valleys to start the month of July, after dropping their fourth game in a row and six of their last eight. The chief culprit for the Pirates’ recent dismal stretch has been the hitting, in particularly, the bench.

Their last three losses have all been by one run, and a timely pinch-hit was needed in all three, but was nowhere to be found. Pirate pinch-hitters have scratched out only one pinch-hit during the recent losing streak and are now batting a paltry .148 on the season, with only one homer and 11 RBI.

That’s unacceptable, as a number of pitching staffs around the league are hitting higher than that.

Yet despite Hurdles vote of confidence, without bench production, the valleys will soon start to outnumber the peaks as the long season wears on. Reserves are always a key to any successful major league baseball season.

Gaby Sanchez (.233/7/24), Brandon Inge (.184/1/7) and Travis Snider (.225/3/22), the main block of Pirate reserves, have all underperformed so far this year, and questions about changes are naturally starting to arise. Deep in pitching, the Pirates could make a move by trading any number of pitchers without causing too much damage to a staff that leads all of MLB in ERA (3.12) and shutouts (12).

For now though, the Pirates do indeed appear to be staying the course as they head into the All-Star break next week. A few more wins will let them know they’re on the right one.

Pirates' Past Catches Up With Future

The Pittsburgh Pirates future and past were on display in Game 2 of their three-game series with the Oakland Athletics.

Unfortunately, the past caught up with the future.

The future, 22-year-old rookie starting pitcher Gerrit Cole delivered another excellent, yet wasted performance as the Pirates dropped their fourth game in a row; while the past, Brandon Moss, hit the game-winning two-run homer off Cole in the fourth inning, his 16th of the year, that held up the remainder of the way to give the A’s a 2-1 victory.

Cole was back on track after losing for the first time in his last start to the Philadelphia Phillies and seemed determined to lead the Pirates to a much needed win. Losers of five of their last seven coming into the game, the Pirates really needed a victory to right their ship. The 6-foot-4, 240-pound hard-throwing right-hander came away with a no-decision in keeping the Bucs in the game with a solid seven-inning, five-hit, two-run performance, but the Pirates’ muted bats continued to remain silent as they could only mange three hits on the night; the lone run-scoring one coming on All-Star Pedro Alvarez‘s 23rd home run of the season.

Moss, who played for the Pirates for three seasons from 2008 – 2010 before being let go to free agency, seems to have found a home in Oakland as a left-handed platoon player. Not quite living up to the expectations the Pirates had for him when they acquired him in a trade with the Boston Red Sox back in 2008, the Monroe, GA native has now homered 37 times for the A’s in his limited playing time with them the past two season and the A’s have to be happy as pie with his contributions.

The Pirates franchise remained winless against the Athletics’, their all-time record now at 0-11.

Pirates' Pedro Alvarez Snubbed By David Wright

David Wright snubs Pedro Alvarez!

Yo, dude? What’s up with that? Come on — El Toro’s born and bred NYC!

Alas, Pedro will watch from the grass in front of the dugouts as 16 other home run hitters swing from their heels and try and mess up their stroke for the rest of the season in what has come to be known as the annual MLB Home Run Derby, sponsored by Frito the Bandito and Wrigley’s Spearmint Chewing Gum! [Caution: Never mix these two products together.]

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle may secretly thank Mr. Wright when he and the New York Mets come to town this Friday for their three-game series at PNC Park to close out the first-half of the 2013 season. The Pirate fans will not, however.

They will most surely display their displeasure in Wright choosing to go with Bryce Harper and Michael Cuddyer, both whose home run totals (13 each) seem pale in comparison to some other sluggers who’ll also be watching, Dominic Brown (23), Paul Goldschmidt (21) and of course, Alvarez, whose 22 dingers would normally be enough to get a chance to participate in the over-hyped, overrated, over-covered and under-ignored baseball “event”.

The reason the Pirates & Hurdle may be secretly happy is the old adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Pedro is doing just fine right now. He’s found his stroke. Why take any chances in messing up that sweet swing for some gimmick contest that’ll all be forgotten 10 minutes after it’s over? Think I’m exaggerating? Who won last year’s home run derby?

In any event, it should be interesting to hear the fans’ reaction when Mr. Wright makes his first plate appearance this Friday.

Mark Melancon’s All-Star Snub No Surprise

Setup man Mark Melancon of the Pittsburgh Pirates has to be disappointed, but probably not too surprised.

Melancon, having his best year ever as a major league pitcher, was the odd man out as the Pirates sent four players to the 2013 MLB All-Star game. Leading all setup men in both leagues in holds (24), WHIP (0.80) and ERA (0.85), Melancon will have to watch from the comfort of his couch as his fellow teammates try to do the Pirates’s nation proud on July 16.

The best setup man by far this season in either league, the 28-year-old from Wheat Ridge, CO has been nearly perfect in his duties of handing the ball off to closer Jason Grilli to do his thing, who would not be leading the NL in saves without Melancon’s nightly stellar performance, and consequently would not be going to this year’s 84th All-Star game for the first time himself.

To his credit, Grilli has acknowledged this, and if it was up to him he’d have his eighth-inning setup man right there sitting next to him in the bullpen at Citi Field in New York if he could. But alas, players get no vote or say in who goes to the yearly Midsummer Classic.

Such is life. Who fed the puck to Wayne Gretzky for most of his goals? Who dished the ball to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most of his two-pointers? Who gave Brett Favre enough time to toss all his TD passes? Who knows? And kind of sadly, who cares?

Fans only care about results, not the process of how they’re obtained. And unfortunately, Melancon and all the middle relievers fall into the latter category. Starters and closers dominate the pitching roster of any All-Star game, so while Melancon has to be a bit disappointed, he can’t really be too surprised.