After a surprising start in 2011 led the Pittsburgh Pirates to a winning record at the All-Star break and the National League Central lead later in July, the Pirates floundered soon afterwards and limped to season’s end with a 72-90 record-albeit a fifteen-win improvement over the pathetic 57-105 mark posted by the 2010 Pirates.
With a new season brings new hope for the Pirates to right the ship and put together the franchise’s first winning season since 1992. As they open spring training in Bradenton, Florida, there are some positive signs that the club is improving its organizational talent from within and has acquired a number of players from elsewhere to help the team have a realistic chance of producing a competitive, if not a winning season, this year.
Centerfielder Andrew McCutchen is a star in the making and under club control through the 2015 season. Second baseman Neil Walker, a Pittsburgh-area native, solidified his status as one of the league’s better young players in 2011.
Other youngsters like injury-prone outfielder Jose Tabata and woefully inconsistent third baseman Pedro Alvarez have considerable potential but need to improve their play at the plate and in the field to secure spots as regulars from Opening Day.
Closer Joel Hanrahan, a 2011 All-Star, anchors what should be a solid bullpen, especially if fellow reliever Evan Meek can return to his 2010 All-Star form. However, there were glaring holes in the starting rotation that needed to be addressed this offseason.
The Pirates’ front office believes it has done this and more by picking up several accomplished veterans whose last names by coincidence begin with the letter “B.” The “Bucco B’s” include:
Rod Barajas: The veteran catcher should provide a right-handed power bat and start around 100 games. The thirty-six-year-old backstop hit 16 roundtrippers in 2011. Barajas should be a capable defender as well and threw out 25% of runners attempting to steal last season.
Clint Barmes: Barmes, who will be thirty-three in March, played for years for current Pirate manager Clint Hurdle in Colorado and should provide consistent production at the plate and dependable defense at the critical shortstop position-something that was lacking last year in Pittsburgh.
A.J. Burnett: Burnett comes to the Bucs from the New York Yankees where he struggled for the most part over three seasons. A change of scenery might do him well, in addition to moving to a league without the DH and a division minus two of its biggest hitting stars of recent years in Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder-both playing for new clubs in the American League. Burnett still pitches a lot of innings and can rack up the strikeouts-as evidenced by his 190 innings pitched in 2011 with 173 punchouts.
Erik Bedard: The oft-injured Bedard brings the Pirates another starting pitcher who can pile up the strikeouts, but he must prove he can stay healthy if he is going to help the club for the duration of 2012. In 2011 with two AL teams, he had a subpar 5-9 record but did fan 125 batters in 129 innings.
In picking up these players, team president Frank Coonelly and general manager Neal Huntington have demonstrated the commitment of ownership to doing its utmost to deliver a better team to the fans this year. The team’s long-suffering faithful hope the improvement results in a winning season in 2012.
Additional source: http://www.bucsdugout.com/
Patrick Hattman is one of those long-suffering Pittsburgh Pirate fans and longs for a return of the Pirates of his youth when they put some of Pittsburgh’s best-ever baseball teams on the carpet at Three Rivers Stadium.