Wow. Now that was one of the ugliest defensive games of the year.
‘Nuff said.
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211 runs allowed in the third and fourth innings (plus 4 Wednesday night) is a telltale sign to me that we’re putting too many 7th inning guys on the mound to start games. I expect to see higher runs allowed in those innings, but not 28% of our overall runs allowed. That’s insanely high and obviously has nothing to do with your pitching coaches, game plans, or catchers.. that’s just too much batting practice pitching the second time through the order, for whatever reason.
For reference, here is the NL average which includes the Pirates high numbers:
When you remove the Pirates numbers, the NL average is 21% of all runs allowed occurring in the 3rd and 4th.
If we have to begin the 2011 season with the same arms we have in 2010, one change that might be considered is that we bring out some top shelf relievers to begin the game and then bring our starters out in the third. The reason I say that is, we’re a young offensive club that does well when they feel they have a chance in the game. If we can minimize the early blowouts, we might find the offense putting up more runs earlier in the game and hang in tighter. I realize it’s a move the Pirates won’t make but..
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There was no better feel-good story among the new arrivals than that of outfielder Alex Presley, whose career had been clogged at high Class A last year but whose 166 hits this year for Class AA Altoona and Indianapolis had him reach the majors.Â
“It hasn’t really sunk in,” Presley said. “It’s just unbelievable being here.”
Russell called Presley “a great story,” adding, “It sends a message not only to Alex but to our whole organization what hard work can get you.” — Post-Gazette
Brian Bass — entered the game Wednesday night with a 12.79 ERA and 11.4 walks per nine innings. He left the game with a 12.27 ERA and 11.3 walks per nine innings after throwing 23 pitches, 8 for strikes.
So if Pressley is a feel-good story that the younger players should take into account, then what should they take from Bass being recalled?
Oh-my.
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“Right-hander Brad Lincoln, 25, was among the call-ups from Triple-A Indianapolis, and he said Tuesday that minor physical adjustments during his last stint with the Pirates affected his mentality. “It wasn’t a major mechanical delivery change, but there were checkpoints that were kind of just different from what I was used to and maybe made me focus too much on stuff there which, in turn, made me not focused on getting the hitter out,” Lincoln said. “So it was more mental for me.” Lincoln said it’s still a work in progress, but he’s getting back to being the aggressive, physical pitcher he needs to be. He made his last start with Pittsburgh on July 25 against San Diego.” — The Trib
I hate to call out Brad Lincoln for being an air head, but come on dude. If you remember, I picked up his mechanical change in Pittsburgh and reported it here weeks before anybody started talking about it in the media. Joe Kerrigan didn’t screw up Brad Lincoln, Brad Lincoln didn’t have anything to offer when he hit town. He simply had no business being in Pittsburgh.
On June 11th I told my readers what to expect from him at the major league level:
“For you semi-sabermetric types, in over 300 innings of minor league work Lincoln’s MLE FIP was well over 5 (expected ERA adjusting for park , luck, and removing the defense at the ML level) and his MLE FIP against left hand batters this year alone was near 6 with 35 hits in 31 innings and more than half of those hits for extra bases. Now when you adjust his numbers to the league talent this year he actually faced, and compare it to the rosters he will face, his MLE FIP jumps to near 7 and his MLE FIP against left hand batters jumps to almost 9!”
Now realize that those figures are based on Lincoln’s work in Indy before he was introduced to Kerrigan. When he came up, he kept shaking off fastballs and tried to live throwing 50% or more hooks and most of the time he couldn’t command the pitch. Not only that but his arm slot on his hook and fastball were completely different so Kerrigan didn’t have any choice but to drop his arm slot down on his fastball or he’d keep getting lit up at the major league level. Plus, I told you he was tipping his pitches in the stretch.
I’m sorry Mr. Lincoln – you can blame Joe Kerrigan for your problems but you’d be a better man if you keep your mouth shut and go about your business. BTW Mr. Lincoln, if you think being more aggressive with your fastball is the key to your future success at this level, then you are stupider than I thought you were dude. You can throw your stuff 98 and you’ll still get lit up if you don’t get some movement.
It pisses me off to see these kind of unjustified whiney rants from players. There is so much they should be mouthing off about around this club but to actually come out and say his mentality went downhill because of a mechanical tweak is about as weak as it comes.
End of story.
Original Story:
http://newbucs.com/2010/09/08/brad-li...
