Can it get any worse???

I would like to say that it cannot,but with the return of John Van Benschoten that is far from certain.
After a disastrous start to the second in Colorado with four losses and awful efforts by all the starters except for Paul Maholm,who was merely average (which makes Maholm Cy Young on this team),things look no better when you hand the ball to Van Benschoten and expect the results to change.

I think that I will pass on post game autopsies on the weekend and instead address some various Pirate issues.

The Pirates need to go 38-26 the rest of the way to achieve that .500 mark that seems to be so important to the organization.
Is it possible? Yes.
Likely? No.

Why not?
Well,when the ace of your staff has become Paul Maholm,that does not bode well for a run of the type that is needed to reach .500.
Zach Duke was great for 3 innings and followed up with 9 runs in the next two innings.
Ian Snell has looked improved in his last two starts,but far from the electric hurler that was around in 2007 and JVB and Yoslan Herrera are beyond any hope.
Sadly the guys that they are running out are the best that they have now,unless you are ready to give Tom Gorzelanny another try and that does not say much at all.
Pirates fans are going to have to run with what they have and take their lumps.

There is hope though-be bad enough for another top two or three pick in the draft.
This will eventually turn things around (see Tampa) if you take advantage of these picks.
Of course,a numbskull (Dave Littlefield) can still screw this plan up.

The trade deadline looms and surprisingly the Pirates seem to want to keep the current core together.
Looking at the team,I find this hard to believe as the Bucs are not playing a bunch of youngsters like Tampa Bay and as a result do not look to have a huge future with these players.
I like Jason Bay a lot and I would not give him away,but his value may never be higher.
Same with Xavier Nady,except even more so as his ceiling is not nearly as large as Bay.
I can see keeping Damaso Marte as the two picks that they would get as compensation for leaving might be better than any trade offers they may get,but perhaps a contender could use John Grabow at a cheaper cost?

It is so obvious to me that Freddy Sanchez has not been healthy all season.
And I could care less what Sanchez,John Russell,Neal Huntington,the team doctors or anyone else says to the contrary.
The guy grimaces in pain every time he swings the bat.
The best thing for everyone involved is to shut him down for the year and let his shoulder heal and be ready for a comeback 2009 season.

I was one of those that loved the Pirate draft,but it appears that barring a late charge that the picks that looked so good are not coming to Pittsburgh.
Pedro Alvarez will get done because they have to and Tanner Scheppers too if he is healthy enough,but any of the other interesting picks do not look to be signed and that is discouraging.

Speaking of discouraging,check out the red flags on 5th rounder Justin Wilson.
Wilson threw a lot of innings and a lot of pitches and might be a injury waiting to happen after being abused by Fresno State this season.

Pitching Matchup
Pittsburgh:John Van Benschoten (1-2 9.77 ERA) at Houston:Renelyvs Hernandez (0-2 10.29 ERA) 8:05

Hard to believe they found someone with worse numbers than Van Benschoten isn't it???

All for now,might be back later with a thought that was triggered by a forward sent to me by Battlin Bob.