The team was competitive and in the hunt for the division lead!
Hell,Fox was even selecting Pirates games for the Saturday Game of the Week to showcase those plucky Buccos!
Eventually teams without the talent to contend begin to fade away like Douglas Macarthur and the Pirates had their "Chico Ruiz" night in Atlanta losing a game on a horrible call at like three in the morning and it was all downhill from there.
Here are some thoughts on the 2011 Pirates and if time permits over the next week or so,I may do a similar post for the 2011 Indians,so if that interests you-let me know..
1) Andrew McCutchen continues to develop into a star.
McCutchen's average was not as high as I would have preferred it to be (.259),but his 800+ OPS was the only Pirate to reach that number with more than 250 at bats.McCutchen looks to me to be the only current Pirate that will test the financial resolve of Bob Nutting in keeping a home grown star...
2) After McCutchen,only Garrett Jones and Neil Walker even topped .700 OPS and that shows the weakness of this teams hitting.
Not only was it not very good,only with an exception or two could an excuse be offered.
3) The Pirates were in the race for a while and were the nations darling for a bit.
I bet I had 50 people over the course of that run asking me about the Pirates and was I happy?!
Yes,I was,but I had been watching the games and knew how tenuous things had been.
The ball had been bouncing right for a half and then returned to reality in the second portion of the season.
4) The story of the season other than the surprising first half has to be the stunning inversion of the development of Pedro Alvarez,who hit under .200 and looked worse doing it,if that is possible.
Alvarez had been a slow starter in each of his minor league seasons and I figured that his slow start was just that again.
Alvarez finished the way he started and made trips to Indianapolis during the season.
Unless the Pirates suddenly come up with an alternative,Alvarez will be the starter again next season with tons to prove...
5) Neal Huntington continues to struggle with refining the Pirates with major league free agents.
Huntington's two hitting acquisitions over the off season (Lyle Overbay and Matt Diaz) were so unproductive that neither finished the season in Pittsburgh and one (Overbay) was given his outright release.
Jose Veras was solid for a while before wearing out in the second half,while Kevin Correia used the first half offense to help him win 12 games despite a middling ERA and WHIP.
Pittsburgh will always struggle getting proven players to come there,but Huntington has to do a better job in getting the low to mid range free agent that will sign with the Pirates to be a quality addition..../
6) Jeff Karstens has to be the surprise of the season.9-9 and an ERA of 3.38 from a pitcher that looked to be the long man from the bullpen at best entering the season.
Listening to Greg Brown constantly compare Karstens to Greg Maddux was a bit much,but Karstens far exceeded expectations from any Pirate follower...
7) Charlie Morton ranged from good to bad in his starts,but that was improvement over his past,which was pretty much just bad.
The ballyhooed change to the Roy Halladay like mechanics made a difference and helped Morton keep the ball down in the zone.
If Morton can make a small improvement next season,he should be more than solid.
8) James McDonald had a awful April,but was pretty good thereafter.
The man with the dominant curveball could use some work in keeping the pitch count down and therefore in games longer,but I still think there are good things to come.
9) Two big questions involve Pirate options on Ryan Doumit and Paul Maholm.
I would bet that the Pirates will pass on Doumit's option as his is an unusual one.
The Doumit option,if picked up,is for two years at a total of 15.5 million.
Considering the injury issue that follows Doumit around,I think the Pirates will pass and take their chances with the returning Chris Snyder and Michael McKenry.
10) As far as Maholm goes,his option is for nine million and considering his weak second half and injury,I would say it is 50/50 that his option is picked up.
Can the Pirates get a similar pitcher for a lesser price? Maybe,but they almost certainly will not get a better one and the team needs to improve-not tread water...
11) Joel Hanrahan was dominant with his 40 saves,but I would not be against shopping him around in the off season.
Nothing against Hanrahan,but elite closers can bring a nice return and the Pirate need young hitters in the worst way...
12) Ronny Cedeno has a club option for 2012 as well at three million.
Three million is not an excessive cost for a shortstop of Cedeno's ilk,but I bet the Pirates are getting tired of the lackadaisical play and brain dead decisions that are a staple of Cedeno's game.
I wager Cedeno's option is passed on and Neal Huntington will likely waste money on another less than winning free agent,not that I think Cedeno deserves to have the option picked up...
13) Neil Walker continues to improve at second base.
Utley with the bat,but his bat will play much better at second than at third and his defense is better by the game,although I don't see him as an elite defender either.
If Walker's power increases a little,I'd be pretty happy.
14) Alex Presley has been the guy that has pushed his way into the outfield picture with his play in 2010 and 11.
Presley has just plain hit well and Alex is a guy I was dead wrong on.
I saw him play many times in Hickory and Lynchburg and I thought he would be an organizational soldier with speed.
Presley has changed my mind and deserves a shot at being a starter next season or the fourth outfielder at worst.
15) Derrek Lee hit well after the trade with the Orioles,but I am still not sure that he is the solution at first base next season.Something tells me the last weeks of the season was a salary run-just a gut feeling...
Bonus:Nice to see two favorites of ours make the team at times this season in Mike Crotta (early) and Jared Hughes (late).
Both had their good and bad outings,but both can say they lived the dream.
Hughes might have a shot at the bullpen for 2012.....
Hope you enjoyed this,if time permits-I may be back later today...
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