Laughter in the Rain

Battlin Bob is a huge fan of Neil Sedaka and watching the rain fall and the runs for the Philadelphia Phillies cross the plate,that song popped into my head.
Time for a little cleanup on the Pirates as I have missed a few days of blogging with live games and the little thing known as work.

Pirate Hooks

1) Full disclosure-To the best of my knowledge Battlin Bob is not a Neil Sedaka fan.
For the SCTV classic skit of Neil Sedaka "blowing up"-click here.

2) I have only seen two of the last four games with my typical luck missing the two wins over the Cubs and seeing the loss to the Cubs along with the rainy thumping to the Phillies.....

3) Charlie Morton struggled again in the loss,allowing six runs over four innings and falling to 1-7 on the season.
Everytime I see Morton pitch,I am torn between two futures for the righthander.
I can see him succeeding elsewhere as he has the arm to be a solid starter or just another player that is the "tweener" type that dominates AAA and struggles on the big stage.

4) Even Andrew McCutchen is getting into the act of bad fundamentals as he didn't squeeze the glove on a easily catchable fly by Kyle Kendrick.
I hate to see stuff like this because it is so easily preventable....

5) The Pirates are 5-1 vs the Cubs,11-22 against everyone else.
From what I saw from the Cubs,Lou Pinella appears to be playing out the string and cashing a paycheck with not a lot of interest in skippering that boat...

6) Promising outfielder Starling Marte,who was playing very well for High A Bradenton will miss most of the rest of the season with hand surgery to remove the hamate bone from his hand.
Marte should return sometime in August.
The loss of the bone is nothing to be concerned about over the long term,but it can sap the power from a player over the short term.

7) The Pirates promoted Bryan Morris from Bradenton to Altoona after Morris has posted an ERA of under one (0.60) with the Marauders.
Morris was the top minor leaguer brought into the organization in the various trades from 2008 and was sent back to High A ball after a disappointing 2009.

8) Akinora Iwamura has injured his hamstring and is day to day,but pinch hit last night with a flyout.
Iwamura has just two hits in the month of May and looks to have issues with either injury or being simply a shot player...

9) A quick note on a player that would make a decent story if things work out.
Former top pick Daniel Moskos has an ERA of 1.62 as the Curve closer with eight saves.
Considering his performance and what the Pirates have invested in him,isn't it about time to see what Moskos could do for AAA Indianapolis?

10) Finally a quick word of thanks to any new readers out there.
Readership exploded last week with all time records for daily hits being set three days in a row and have consistently stayed at that level since.
Almost makes me wonder what could have happened if I would have written more!

Back later with a few thoughts on the last few days with the Hagerstown Suns as they hosted the West Virginia Power and tonight's expected walk to the firing squad for the Pirates against Roy Halladay and the Phillies....

Photo Credits-Matt Slocum-AP Photo