Brad Lincoln

Since today's post is coming late and I have not watched today's game yet,I will post on Saturday's stunning comeback win and today's game tomorrow.

Last night in Hagerstown and after a two year wait,I finally was able to see the Pirates top pick in the 2006 draft-Brad Lincoln.
Lincoln dominated the Suns in his 6 and two third inning outing and picked up the victory in the 4-1 Hickory win.
Lincoln allowed 4 hits,struck out seven and walked two Suns in what was one of his better starts all season.
I was out of GA exile for one evening (thanks Luke),so I was able to check radar guns and pitch count was much easier to keep track of.
Lincoln was consistently throwing around 93 MPH and I was really impressed with his 12 to 6 curve,which is what was called a "dropball" when I was a kid.
I thought that Lincoln might have been as impressive as any pitcher here this season and showed glimpses of the talent that he showed at the University of Houston,which gives some hope for the future of the 4th overall pick.

A few other notes on Lincoln and the Crawdads over the first two games thus far.
Lincoln needs to continue his development as he turns 24 early next year.
I am interested to see if Lincoln starts next season at High A Lynchburg or do the Pirates attempt to speed his development by skipping the Hillcats and starting him at AA Altoona and add Lincoln and (presumably) Daniel Moskos to the Curve rotation.

Lincoln is listed at 6 foot in height,but I see no way that this is true.
He appears to be 5"10 at best.

Maybe I just caught them on good nights against a depleted Hagerstown lineup,but Lincoln and Duke Welker both looked awfully good in the series.
But looking at the overall numbers,the weakened Hub City bats might be just as big of culprits as Lincoln and (especially) Welker.

Lincoln was also pretty good with the pen as well as he signed several cards (offering a tongue in cheek "You guys aren't selling these are ya" with a smile along with a ball as well.

Hickory does not give much hope with the lumber,except for one-third baseman Matthew Hague.
Hague was a ninth round pick from Oklahoma State in the (2008!) draft and has already accelerated past State College and from what I have seen might even speed by Hickory.
The only problem with that is the Pirates appear committed to keeping Jim Negrych at Lynchburg all season and therefore freezing Hague in the SAL.
Everything Hague hits is hard,although it does appear that he is a bit pull happy.
Third round pick Jordy Mercer is struggling at the plate and seems to be pressing a bit.
Mercer also looked to struggle with the soft stuff against the Suns and considering that Hagerstown has no pitcher that throws especially hard,I had some concerns.
But I have no final judgement on Mercer,sometimes college guys are just wore down and struggle in early pro exposure.

Todays game was suspended after three,so the game will be completed tomorrow and then followed up with a seven inning finale.

Two very heavy crowds for the first two games of this series and the Saturday game was clearly the largest crowd of the Hagerstown campaign.
But todays rainout crowd was a humbling one as it did not look to be more than a few hundred scattered through the Muni.

Suns third sacker Stephen King was ejected from another game in the Saturday game.
I really hope King can control this temper a bit and succeed as he has loads of talent and is a really nice guy off the field,but these issues with umpiring are going to plague him as he climbs the ladder if he is not careful.
Bagofhealthandpolitics has a take on King and the game from the Hagerstown perspective.

Until tomorrow with bullpen notes and Pirate catchup!

Photo Credit
Lincoln:John Setzler Jr

A tale of two Dukes

Yesterday was Duke here at the world headquarters as the Pirates threw Zack Duke at the Cardinals and the Hickory Crawdads began their visit to Hagerstown with Duke Welker firing the white pill at the Suns.
Sadly,only one of them was able to get the job done in their contest.

The Pirates Duke (Zach) looked sharp for two innings,but then allowed four third inning scores with 2 coming off a LONG home run by Rick Ankiel and then allowed another shot in the following inning by Ryan Ludwick.
Duke was gone after six innings and picked the loss up (4-6) in the 6-0 loss to the visiting Redbirds.
Denny Bautista allowed a run in two innings of mop up work and Sean Burnett tossed a scoreless ninth.
The Pirates only threatened once and it gives me chance to again discuss the dumbness of the batting the pitcher eighth strategy.
After the Bucs loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth with one out,the eighth batter comes up in Duke with Jack Wilson on deck in the preferred pitchers spot in the order.
Had it been Wilson up,the chances of getting at least one run in with an out is dramatically better than Wilson with two out,which is what happened after Duke fanned.
Wilson then flied out deep to center to end the inning and I know that the difference would have been 6-1 instead of 6-0,but I still think that this "latest" strategy is doomed to fail and I could care less on the number of bean counters that think this is a good idea.

The Pirates try again tonight vs El Birdos at 7.

Pitching Matchup
St.Louis:Todd Wellemeyer (7-4 3.94 ERA) at Pittsburgh:Yoslan Herrera (MLB Debut) 7:05

Meanwhile the Crawdad version of Duke (Welker) faced off against Hagerstown prospect Colton Willems.
Looking at Welker's numbers,I was not expecting much,but he pitched very well in allowing just a run over seven innings in the 4-2 Hickory win.
Willems pitched well,except for the four run Hickory 6th,but both pitchers seemed to be aided by a larger strike zone than usual from the umpire behind the dish.
Welker allowed just five hits while striking out a season high seven batters.
Willems only struck out two and that seems to be his major stumbling block.
For a pitcher with his stuff,Colton just does not seem to miss many bats and that is a alarm when it is coming from the Sally league.
Mike Felix allowed a run in his two innings of work in grabbing a save,but seemed to have improved the control problems somewhat that have plagued him since his selection in the second round in 2006.
The series continues tonight with our first look at Brad Lincoln at 7:05.

Bullpen Notes

The revolving door that is the Pittsburgh pitching staff continues as Yoslan Herrera arrives from Altoona to start tonight.
I am not sure that Herrera has the stuff to succeed,but considering the financial investment and the lack of other possibilities,I have no problem seeing what he can do.
Luis Munoz enjoyed a day in the big leagues before being returned to the AA Curve.

The other Pirate move sees Battlin Bob's boy Phil Dumatrait returning to the DL after one bad start.
And if that is not bad enough,his roster replacement is Franquelis Osoria fresh from a Indy rehab assignment.
Yay.

Wladimir Klitschko defends his IBF Heavyweight title in Germany today against American Tony Thompson.
We like Klitschko in 5 rounds.

On the signing front.
We continue to chip away on the Hagerstown Suns with the additions of Hassan Pena and Terrence Engles,only James Lehman remains of the players in the set that are still on the roster.
We also add former Pirate Pokey Reese during his three day stay in Hagerstown.
Reese signed two cards each for me and Ryan on Monday and signed for everyone,but reportedly signed nothing on Tuesday (I wasnt there) and signed nothing Wednesday before his promotion to AAA Columbus.

The Asheville Tourists were tougher than expected.
Not because of unwillingness really,but more because they came out in large groups that make it hard to stop everyone and came out really close to game time.
I cannot complain though as I was able to add their best prospects and former big leaguers in coaches Houston Jimenez and Doug Linton.
The top players were outfielder Brian Rike,third baseman Darin Holcomb and pitcher
Connor Graham,who we selected in the 2007 mock draft at minorleagueball.com.
Graham tossed a two hitter in his start against the Suns during the series.

Until tomorrow!

Photo Credits
Ankiel:Don Wright-AP Photo
Welker:Setlzersports.com

McLouth and Maholm lift Pirates over the top

Paul Maholm pitched eight super innings,but it looked as if he was headed for a similar result as his last excellent start against Houston-a No Decision.
However,this time the bats would save the day as Nate McLouth launched a two run homer into the Pittsburgh night and lifted the Buccos to a 4-2 win over the Yankees.
McLouth's blast(18) continued the return of his power and picked the team up after the Bombers had scored two runs off Maholm in the only real threat of the evening by the Gothamites.
Pittsburgh had built a two run lead on two RBI by Freddy Sanchez.
Freddy knocked the games first run on a second inning single and added the other on a 5th inning sac fly that scored the tagging Nate McLouth from third.
The heroics by McLouth were terrific,but Maholm was the games true star as he scattered seven hits and walked just one batter in continuing his run of excellent efforts.
Maholm continues to keep his team close enough to have a chance to win and over this stretch has eliminated the one bad inning syndrome that hindered him earlier in the season.
The Mississippi native bumped his record above .500 with the win (6-5).
Damaso Marte continued to add to his value as he pitched a scoreless ninth for his fourth save .
The Cardinals come to town tonight for a weekend series before the All-Star hiatus.

Pitching Matchup
St.Louis:Kyle Lohse (10-2 3.61 ERA) at Pittsburgh:Zach Duke (4-5 4.23 ERA) 7:05

Bullpen Notes

Short version today as I am short on time.

The Hickory Crawdads hit town tonight for the their only visit to Hagerstown this season.
Full coverage here tomorrow.

The Pirates brought up Luis Munoz from Altoona to boost bullpen depth for the weekend before the break.
Munoz will likely be returned after Sundays game.

As part of the roster shuffle-Jared Hughes went to Altoona to make a start for the Curve and was returned to Lynchburg after the game.

The Indians (of all teams) claimed Bryan Bullington,so if the Pirates intent was to slide him through waivers and return him to Indianapolis-it failed.
I cannot blame them though-I was surprised anyone claimed him and it seemed that he was claimed to Cleveland to help them through injury issues to their pitchers that has affected Cleveland as well as AAA Buffalo,which is where Bullington was assigned.

The Pirates also made two minor trades that basically will add no real effect to anything.
Craig Wilson was shipped to Seattle for the Player to be named later,while Dan Reichert and Ryan Mulhern were added from Cleveland for the PTBNL.
Reichert,a right handed pitcher and Mulhern is an utility player that were added to add depth to the Indianapolis roster.
Reichert had spent time with the Royals,but had not been in the big show since 2003,while Mulhern has spent his entire career as a Indian organizational soldier.

Big on the signing front tomorrow when I have more time to cover the Asheville Tourists and my continuing to chip away at the Hagerstown Suns.

Until next time

Photo Credit
McLouth:Gene Puskar-AP Photo

Astros stop sweep attempt

John Van Benschoten did about what one could expect-4 runs in the first inning,walked six batters in a 4 and two thirds inning night,but the Pirate bats bailed him out by tying the game and giving him a no decision,but Houston was able to score two runs off the Pirate long men and avoided a sweep in Pittsburgh with a 6-4 win.
As hard as it is to believe,Van Benschoten actually lowered his season and career ERA with the outing.
I do believe that says it all.
Sean Burnett allowed 1 run from the bullpen and was the losing pitcher (0-1).
The Bucs chipped away at the Houston lead with a run in the second on a Adam LaRoche ground out and then two in the third on a Ryan Doumit single and Jason Bay double before a Freddy Sanchez sac fly tied the game in the fifth.
The Astros then salted the game away in the seventh scoring a run each off Burnett and T.J.Beam.
The Pirates were scheduled to be off today,but instead will be playing a makeup game against the Yankees before hosting the Cardinals in the final games before the All-Star break.

Pitching Matchup
New York Yankees:Mike Mussina (11-6 3.64 ERA) at Pittsburgh:Paul Maholm (5-5 4.05 ERA)
7:05

Bullpen Notes

Van Benschoten was sent down to Indianapolis after the game.
No word on a replacement that will likely add depth to the bullpen for the next four games.
I would like to see Jesse Chavez get an opportunity,but a Marino Salas return is more likely.

Arron Asham left the Devils and signed with the rival Philadelphia Flyers.
I liked Asham,but it appeared that he and Brent Sutter didn't really mesh well.
Many Devils bloggers are quite happy to see him leave New Jersey,but I would have rather seen him elsewhere than Philly.
My best Asham memory was this great slugfest with Riley Cote of the Flyers in what may have been the Devils fight of the year.


I had an interesting discussion with a few members of the Hagerstown Suns organization during last nights game and during it, I had the chance to say something that has been a thorn (in my opinion) in the Suns side for years-the problems that they have drawing fans during the Little League season.
As as been noted before,this area is insane for Little League baseball more than any area that I have ever seen and I really didn't have any answers for them that would help.
But now I have had my interest piqued by this and will work on offering a few ideas/solutions on a slow day here in the future.

And finally the answer to the age old question-which is the better way to place the toilet paper on the roll-over or under?
Well,the environmentalists over at Treehugger say that Over is the winner.
They argue that you will use less paper with the over method than the under and therefore take less from the planet via the trickledown method.
They have loads of charts and graphs to show the difference.
Someone had WAY too much time on their hands over at Treehugger this week.

Until tomorrow with Interleague cleanup,Suns-Asheville Tourists and on the signing front on Asheville before the Hickory Crawdads come to town!

Photo Credits
JVB-Gene Puskar-AP Photo

Pirates grab two wins,some positives for the Suns

The Pirates won two games since our last post,winning a 10-7 shootout on Monday and a rain soaked 4-3 win last night over the visiting Houston Astros.

The win on Monday can be credited to the bullpen as they completely shut down the Astro bats after Houston had ripped Battlin Bob's guy Phil Dumatrait for seven runs over a three and a third inning period and allowed them nothing else for the remainder of the game.
Denny Bautista pitched tremendously after being pounded in his last outing and earned the victory (2-1) after pitching two and two third of hitless baseball.
Tyler Yates and Damaso Marte finished the final three innings with Marte earning his second save.
Dumatrait allowed three runs in the first,but the Pirates responded with four of their own in the bottom of the inning as four Pirates all had RBI singles in the stanza.
Nate McLouth added to the lead in the second with a two run shot to left for his 16th homer and a 6-3 Pirate lead,but that was a lead that was short-lived as Houston drove Dumatrait to the showers with 4 runs in the fourth and erased the Pirate lead.
However,the Bucco bats regained the lead for good in the bottom of the inning as Ryan Doumit hit a two run homer (11) and Denny Bautista and Jack Wilson each added RBI singles to end the scoring on the evening.
Nice win and again showing some heart after the pitching placed them behind the eight ball and a nice job from the bullpen.
I am not counting on much from them,so it is always a welcome and pleasant surprise when we can get mileage from them!

The Buccos slogged their way through two rain delays that lasted
over three hours between them to escape with a win over the visiting Astros.
The Pirates didnt score until the 5th when a Nate McLouth solo homer (17) trimmed a Houston lead to 2-1.
The Astros had built the lead on two homers of their own in the fourth and fifth innings,one off starter Ian Snell (returning from the DL) and the other off T.J. Beam.
Snell pitched pretty well in his 3 and two thirds and was removed only due to the rain delay.
The Pirates took the lead in the eighth as the suddenly sizzling Adam LaRoche tied the game with his 10th homer and Nate McLouth finished off a three RBI night with a game winning two run single.
Damaso Marte finished up the game in the ninth in picking up save number three on the year.

The Pirates go for the sweep tonight at 7:05 with Battlin Bob's other favorite-JVB taking the ball for Pittsburgh.

Pitching Matchup
Houston:Brian Moeller (4-4 4.13 ERA) at Pittsburgh:John Van Benschoten (1-2 10.64 ERA) 7:05

Bullpen Notes

Before last nights game,the Pirates returned Steve Pearce to Indianapolis to make room for Snell on the roster.
Pearce batted just three times with one hit.
If the idea was just to bring someone up for the bench,other players would have been a better choice for the week.

A note on JVB that Battlin Bob will love:
Van Benschoten owns the worst career ERA (9.04) in baseball HISTORY among pitchers with at least 75 innings of work. The right-hander, a first-round draft pick in 2001, is 1-10 with an 8.82 ERA in 16 career starts.
HISTORY!
All the years that this game has been played and those are the numbers?
And this is a guy that will be running to the mound as part of your rotation?
Good Grief!
Now that makes you feel really good about tonight's game doesn't it?

We attempt to be fair when we deal with the Hagerstown Suns and we have been far from shy from drilling them in the past,but part of being fair means giving credit and criticism.
So here is some credit,I thought the Suns handled Mondays Feed Your Face night rainout about as well as one could expect and better than I expected.
After a FYF face rainout last year that was poorly handled,I figured for sure that we would see a replay in which the food lines would be closed ASAP to save money and minimal effort would be applied to attempt to make the field playable.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a real effort made to get the game in (Good call on the cancellation) and keeping the food stands open for the fans to continue to eat was a positive and fan friendly move.
Two other moves that I was surprised with and again in a positive manner were these.
With one exception (a hot dog eating contest between Suns employees),the Suns were content to let the fans just sit and enjoy the company of the people that they came with and attempt to ride things out instead of their usual efforts to entertain (Usually loudly) with attempts that are lacking to be charitable.
I thought that added to the laid back atmosphere and honestly the rain delay did not seem that bad when you are not getting crushed by overly loud music,the Sunsations running around attempting to liven up the crowd (oh brother) or an extreme amount of relentless "entertainment" that is far from such.
I thought they handled it very well in all manners and I hope they consider continuing to do things that way.

But the most pleasant surprise came after the official cancellation.
The rain check would be good for ANY game this season.
Last year the FYF rain check was good for any game OTHER than a feed your face game,which screwed over people that paid that price and then would not get to attend the promotion.
We commented on that last year and whether they listened to us or not-they made the smart and fair move.
Good work to the guys at Municipal Stadium.

A final note on the Hot Dog eating contest.
Think about pulling two fans from the stands to compete with one of your employees next time.
Some of the problems with the stunts is that they look too staged (which of course they are),but the secret is to make them look not so staged.
Pick two fans from the crowd and let them go at it against one of the guys,that way at least the people that came with the contestants are interested.
Just a thought.

Not sure how I feel about the Rich Harden trade.
Oakland did not get any really top prospects,but at the same time with the injury history Billy Beane could have thought that this was the best he could get with the chance that Harden could break down at any minute.
Harden is devastatingly good when he is healthy,so Chicago has a chance to win the deal if things go right.
Ryan has to wonder which of his teams will do better in the deal or in the perfect world-both teams do well.

Until tomorrow

Photo Credits
Bay:John Heller-AP Photo
Marte:Gene Puskar-AP Photo
Charlie Brown:Schulz/UFS
Hot Dog:Ecartoonlogos.com
Harden:AP File

Sabathia peddled to Sudsville,Pirates swept from Milwaukee

The Pirates showed some heart yesterday after watching baseballs fly from the field in the first inning and immediately fell into a 4-0 hole.
The Pirates battled back to eventually even take a 6-4 lead,but the relentless Brewer offense continued to pound the suspect staff and romped to an 11-6 win and a sweep of the three game set.
Zach Duke was sent to the showers after failing to complete the third inning,but thanks to the Pirate rally was able to escape with a no decision.
Duke was deserving of the loss as he allowed six runs (5 earned) in the abbreviated outing.
The loss instead went to Denny Bautista (1-1) who was pounded for four runs in just an inning.
The Bucs tied the game in their part of the second as Jason Bay led off with his 17th homer of the season and then tied the game on Nate McLouth's bases clearing double down the right field line.
Adam LaRoche then smacked his 9th homer with one man on to give the Pirates the lead that they would not hold onto for long.
Just another ugly pitching performance,but the infielders did not add much as they combined for three errors,two by Jose Bautista.
Must have a bad day for players with that surname.
The Pirates return home for a series against the Houston Astros tonight at 7 with the returning Phil Dumatrait taking the ball on the hill.
I can hear Battlin Bob celebrating from here!

Pitching Matchup
Houston:Runelvys Hernandez (0-2 5.40 ERA) at Pittsburgh:Phil Dumatrait (3-4 4.66 ERA) 7:05

The Brewers improved their team even more today by acquiring the ace of the Cleveland Indians C.C.Sabathia for outfielder Matt LaPorta,pitcher Rob Bryson (From the West Virginia Power),journeyman reliever Zach Jackson and a player to be named later.
The PTBNL is expected to be third baseman Taylor Green,who played here in Hagerstown as a member of the Power in 2008.
The powerhitting LaPorta is the centerpiece of the trade as he has been very impressive since being drafted with the seventh overall pick in the first round of the 2007 draft.
No word on whether LaPorta will be assigned to AAA Buffalo or AA Akron.
Either makes sense,but a Buffalo stint makes a bit more as LaPorta has little to prove at the Double A level.
Bryson started a game here earlier this season against the Suns,but was placed in the closer role by West Virginia in May.
Bryson was the closer for Helena in the Pioneer League last season and was regarded as one of the top ten prospects for the league as well as the 11th in the Brewers organization by Baseball America.
Bryson will likely be assigned to Low A Lake County.
Green is the top hitter for the Brevard County Manatees,as he leads the team in average and runs batted in along with being second in homers.
Green does have power questions as he moves up the ladder and despite the speculation,it is not a guarantee that he will be the player to be named later.
Jackson is a journeyman type that is a depth move for either the Indians or Buffalo with little impact as he is basically a toss in to the deal.

I like the deal for both teams.
Milwaukee gets to make a run at the post season and will likely get two first round picks in next years draft after Sabathia goes elsewhere as a free agent.
Cleveland adds a player (LaPorta) that they never would have added with the picks they would have gotten for Sabathia if they had kept him,so I like it for both teams.

Bullpen Notes

The Pirates wore blue hats for two of the three games in Milwaukee and it is pictured above.
They look a lot like the Potomac Nationals hats to me.

The Pirates All Star representative will be Nate McLouth.
McLouth certainly was the most deserving Pirate despite good starts from Jason Bay and Xavier Nady.

Former Pirate Pokey Reese makes his Hagerstown debut tonight vs the Asheville Tourists at the Muni.
The shortstop is working his way along the comeback trail in the Nationals system in hopes to be ready to contend for the shortstop spot that will likely be vacated by Cristian Guzman next season.

I have not forgotten about the Indy wrestling post,just waiting for pics and a slow day to write about it.
Until next time

Photo Credit
Sanchez:Morry Gash-AP Photo
LaPorta:Topps

Gorzo gonezo,Maholm's effort goes for naught.

Paul Maholm tossed an excellent start for eight innings and that should have taken an immense amount of stress off the suspect bullpen.
However,Maholm could not stay in the game forever and after lifting him,Tyler Yates came into the game,walked the first batter and allowed him to score on a Prince Fielder single which lifted Milwaukee to a 2-1 win.
Why on earth is Tyler Yates pitching in a tie game in the ninth inning with his noted control issues?
Beats me,but to be entirely fair-you can replace Yates name with any other member of the relievers with the arguable exception of Damaso Marte and ask the same query.
This pitching staff is going to be pretty tough to watch for the next few weeks for sure.
The bullpen is awful with only Marte and maybe John Grabow being above mediocre (I am being kind) and the starters are no better with Ian Snell on the DL and now Tom Gorzelanny is out of the rotation for his poor performance and will be toiling in Indianapolis for the foreseeable future.
I can see the demotion-Gorzelanny has been pretty bad,but looking at a rotation that for now looks like this-Maholm,Zach Duke,the returning from the DL Phil Dumatrait and who knows?!
The Pirates look like they are going to keep running John Van Benschoten out there,Ty Taubenheim could get another try and after that????
Jimmy Barthmaier was likely rushed here,Bryan Bullington was designated for assignment,maybe now is the time to throw Yoslan Herrera up against the wall and see if he has anything to offer?
In any case,you have not likely seen the worst yet....

But we will try to be positive and look at the improvement that Paul Maholm has shown over the last six weeks.
Last night he allowed just 4 hits and if one of those stays in the yard,he gets a win instead of a no decision.
The Mississippi State Bulldog has allowed 4 runs only once since late May and clearly is the best pitcher on the staff right now.
Sure,he does not strike many out,but that is not his type of pitcher.
Looking at the bright side of things-Maholm seems to be shaping up as a decent middle of the rotation starter and right now that is enough to be this teams ace.

Pitching Matchup
Pittsburgh:Zach Duke (4-5 3.88 ERA) at Milwaukee:Jeff Suppan (5-6 4.30 ERA) 2:05

Slow day otherwise,so until next time.........

Photo Credit
Maholm:Morry Gash-AP Photo
Gorzelanny:Bill Gentry