Pirates punt Polanco debut

The highly hyped debut of Gregory Polanco ended with one hit and a 7-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park.
Casey Sadler took the loss in relief (0-1) after allowing four runs in the sixth and seventh innings to snap a deadlock at three.
Andrew McCutchen homered for the Pirates in the third inning (9) to provide two of the three Pirates runs.
The series vs the Cubs finishes today with Brandon Cumpton (1-2) against Chicago's Jason Hammel (6-3) at 7:05

Pirate Hooks

1) Francisco Liriano started the game,but left in the fourth inning with "right side discomfort".
Hope it is not one of those dreaded "Oblique muscle" issues,those things take a lot of time to heal and often can become a chronic injury.

2) I like Starling Marte as a player and like the enthusiasm that he plays with as well,but sometimes that can be a detriment as last night,he took off on a caught fly ball,stood and watched it past second base,didn't re-tag second and was doubled off first.
Just not smart baseball....

3) Gregory Polanco scored a run after his career starting single on Andrew McCutchen's homer,but it was the way he did it that was amusing.
Polanco just roared around the bases like McCutchen had slashed the ball into the gap.
Love seeing the speed,but didn't he see a third base coach or anything?

4) Polanco,Marte and McCutchen are going to be a tremendous defensive outfield,but as the adjustment for Marte took time in left,Polanco will need the period of refinement as well.
Polanco had a ball hit off the heel of his glove that I would have scored an error,but the Pirates scorer tabbed a double.
The threesome will cover a ton of ground,but will need to learn to work together as a unit...

5) One can see the tools of Gregory Polanco,but I especially like his swing.
If you look carefully,you can see a little of Ken Griffey Jr. in the Polanco swing.
Slightly up without being an uppercut,if the Pirates got anywhere close to that type of production-they'd be thrilled.

I'll be in Frederick tonight,but with luck I'll be back with a look at the Indians in the afternoon game in Kansas City....

Pirates call up Gregory Polanco

The Pittsburgh Pirates pulled the trigger in an attempt to reverse a sub .500 season as they called up super-prospect Gregory Polanco  from AAA Indianapolis to plug into right field.

Polanco hit just under .350 in his Indianapolis tenure and gives the Pirates what has the potential to be a multiple tool outfield for years to come with Starling Marte and Andrew McCutchen,but why the wait with the spectacular start by Polanco and the less than fast start by Pittsburgh?

The reason was to make Polanco ineligible for arbitration as a "Super 2" which takes spectacular young players that exceed their contracts and allow them to go to the arbitrator's table.
I can understand the financial reasons for a small market franchise to save money when they can,but in this case,I think the team made an error in judgement.

When you consider the Pirates playoff appearance last season and the teams expectations after such a great year,the blatant money issue could result in a loss of goodwill with the fan base.
And if the Pirates turn things around and just fall short of a playoff return?
One could make a case if Polanco plays well,that he could have been the difference over the less than sharp play of Jose Tabata and Travis Snider.
I'm going to try to watch tonight's game and be back tonight,if all goes as I hope....