Comments for Stealing First Base

Comment on It’s too early to call Pedro Alvarez anything, let alone a bust. by naterose

naterose — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 05:16:40 +0000

I’m not pretending each of these guys is a perfect analogue for Alvarez. Especially not Bautista, though I do love noting the irony that the same fans that think the team was too impatient with Bautista now wants to send Alvarez back to AAA, even though Bautista had over three times as many plate appearances at the time he was traded. Hindsight is 20/20, eh?

The point is this, and only this: 500 or so plate appearances is not enough to call a player anything. In 500 plate appearances, some of the greatest of all time have looked like Mario Mendoza, and some of the worst of all time have looked like Babe Ruth. It’s too soon to call Alvarez anything at all.

Comment on It’s too early to call Pedro Alvarez anything, let alone a bust. by robert

robert — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 14:22:51 +0000

Most of the players that you cite were high school draftees who made the majors in their very early 20′s. Obviously, a player like that will take more lumps. When Ramirez, for example, started slowly he was 20 years old. By the time he was 23 (2 years younger than Pedro) he had a year with an OPS of .885. You’re comparing apples to oranges. Comparing anyone to Bautista is misleading: there has never been, in the 100+ years of MLB, another case like his. Using him as a beacon is providing false hope.

Most I’ve heard don’t want Pedro cut, just think that when the team was still contending, it should hot have inserted a no-defense, no-speed, no-power .200 hitting 3B into the 5 hole when there were, and are, better options in Wood and Harrison.

Comment on On bullpen management by Daquido_Bazzini

Daquido_Bazzini — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 22:05:58 +0000

Big Bob Nutting just loves new technology.
He recently purchased a refurbished Blackberry Pearl 8130 from an online used cellular site.
A friend of his explained that you can now do conference calls from cell phones, as opposed to what a free-lance electrician had set up for him in the offices of PNC Park a couple of years ago.

Nutting: Damn!….I’m gonna make a conference call with Neal & Coonelly right from the comfort of my home here in Wheeling!….And I don’t have to criss-cross any wires.
(Nutting pulled out the “how to do” directions that were written on the back of a recent Eat ‘n Park receipt, and started dialing up his Regime cohorts)

Nutting: Neal……You there?
Huntington: Yes boss
Nutting: Coonelly……You there?
Coonelly: Gentleman….Bon Soir!…..From the city of lights better known as Paris, France. I was just taking a seat at my favorite bistro in the Latin Quarter.
Care to join me?…..HaHa!
Nutting: Damn Coonelly….You’re a real jet set guy!
Coonelly: Well boss….I’ve learned that I can handle my business AND continue my salsa dancing hobby events at the same time…In-ter-national style!
Nutting: Well, you’ve sure been doin’ a good job comrade. They’re packin’ em in over at PNC Park nightly.
On top of it ….We haven’t had to do doodley! We still got the lowest damn payroll in all of Major League Baseball.
I just want to take this golden opportunity to thank you both. We’ve shown all the critics they can wear egg on their faces that don’t come off.
Coonelly: No problemo boss….It’s always my pleasure.
Nutting: You know….The thing that tickles my innards the most is the fact that JR is finally gettin’ some recognition for the manager he is. Ain’t that great?
Huntington: Ummm…..Don’t you remember boss? We fired JR after last season and hired Clint Hurdle.
Nutting: Ohhhh…haha!…….I forgot all about that. When I went to see the team take their at bats in San Diego a couple months ago, I thought JR had just gained himself some weight.
I guess that was that Hurdle guy…..Wow.
Anyway…Moving on…..You know Neal, you had me a little bit scared when we were in 1st place a couple weeks ago.
I started hearing we’re gonna add all these high priced players. But I knew better!
Huntington: Not on my watch boss. Coonelly laid the groundwork way back in May with his classic, big time lawyer fluff….”We’re not going to mortgage the future.”
Our base fell for it like DB Cooper without a parachute.
Nutting: Coonelly….You never cease to amaze me.
Coonelly: Not a problem boss. You know….Every once in awhile I have to step in and keep a tavern in line, or come up with a statement regarding a game I didn’t even attend. It’s all part of the job of being El Presidente.
Nutting: Sure …. Sure. Now Neal….I can’t help but to think this season is gonna buy us time to sell off some of these guys comin’ up to towards that dreaded $5 mil a year mark.
I know Major League Baseball has no salary cap…..But I have the Nutting cap!
Huntington: Consider it covered boss. We’ll dump at least Maholm, Correira & Doumit for prospects. Maybe even Hanrahan and Karstens. By next July…..I’ll start sending out feelers around the league on Cutch.
Maybe we’ll sign him and trade him…..Just like we did with McLouth.
We’ve already got the built in excuse that Starling Marte…..Who’s over in Altoona…..Couldn’t be held back by anyone anymore.
Coonelly: Ahhhhh……That’s always a good one Neal. It worked before, so it’ll work again.
Nutting: Anyway….I’m happier than a pig in a poke with an ear of corn. I believe that’s about it for me comrades.
Coonelly: Great!…..Just in time as my souffle and bottle of sparking Le Duc is arriving as we speak.
Nutting: Now before we hang up…..I want you all to join in on our secret motto…..I’m gonna say “Let’s keep doing things our way for Pirate fans”…..And you guys chime in with the motto.
Sorta like those NFL teams do every Sunday before the game.
Ok?
Huntington & Coonelly: Ok boss.
Nutting: Ok, here goes……”Comrades….Let’s keep doing things OUR way for Pirate fans”
Nutting/Huntington/Coonelly: In your face!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Comment on Some perspective by Arik Florimonte

Arik Florimonte — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 20:17:34 +0000

Very nice analysis. I also had expectations for Correia based on peripherals in the second half last year, and until his last 3 starts he was about where I hoped he’d be (aside from the high W total).

I think Karstens has been a nice surprise. His low walk rate is a big reason why he’s been successful, so I think reason to believe he can build on it. Alas, he’s now at a career high in IP, and I’m afraid it’s starting to show.

They’ve also picked up a good defensive catcher in McKenry, and Brandon Wood isn’t breaking any records but over the last month he does have 3 HR, a 13% bb rate, and an .809 OPS in 49 AB.

I predicted 75 wins for this season, and I think that has a pretty good chance of happening.

Comment on Thoughts on a post-injury Pirates lineup by Happy G

Happy G — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 19:57:10 +0000

@naterose: I just noticed this blog and really like this post. I know this was posted before McKenry’s game on Monday. After that game, I posted on my recently created blog an argument to keep McKenry starting over Doumit when he returns. I know that we desperately need Doumit’s bat but McKenry’s defense and playcalling more than make up for it by keeping us in games. Any thoughts on possibly altering your lineups?

Comment on The Pirates are in first place. by Gavino Villapiano

Gavino Villapiano — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 03:06:18 +0000

I have been a Pirates fan since at least 1965 (my fave was Clemente, of course). The Buccos were relevant and competitive for over 30 years.

Then this 20 year drought…

I feel like balance has been restored to the universe…

Comment on The Pirates are in first place. by deron

deron — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 01:52:06 +0000

I’m not a Pirates, but I am a baseball fan. I love that they’re in first place, and even if they don’t win the division, just being in the race in September would be great. I just hope the starting pitching will hold up. So far this season, they improved more than any other team. I guess I’ll be an honorary fan this season

theresastatforthat.blogspot.com

Comment on Is it a freak show? by rory

rory — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 19:55:46 +0000

I think you are missing the freakiest part of the ’97 team. Young, Martin, and Randa all to an extent had career years, but it wasn’t completely out of line with the way their careers have progressed. What amazed me, at least that year, was the otherworldly performance of replacement level players Kevin Polcovich, Mark Smith, and Turner Ward.

Also, I disagree about the ’97 team not having a competent farm system. It was rated the number one farm system in baseball that year. Cam Bonifay won the executive of the year award mainly because of what he had done with the minor leagues, not what the Major League team was doing on the field. The pre-1997 Top 100 Prospects included the following: 1 Kris Benson, 21 Chad Hermansen, 24 Jose Guillen, 26 Aramis Ramirez, 48 Ron Wright, 69 Abraham Nunez, 88 Jimmy Anderson. And if you are going to include Bronson Arroyo, you can throw in other highly regarded players like Adrian Brown, Freddy Garcia, Lou Collier, and Jose Silva. I like the point of the article, and agree that the future looks a lot more promising, but as good as our system is, and as much as the ML club has room to improve, I’d be reluctant to expect such a thing.

Comment on Is it a freak show? by NorCal Buc

NorCal Buc — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 14:39:16 +0000

Nice piece, nate. You made insightful points about the performances of players in 1997, alluding to career years for Young, Randa and Martin. NOT high-end talent there. To jump to 2011; all the more remarkable when only Cutch and Cedeno have performed anywhere close to expected. We’ve gotten little production from C, 1B, 3B, RF and average results LF and 2B. I’d say we potential high-end talent at 3B, 2B, LF and CF. Therefore, more offense can be expected. Nothing earth-shattering, right? As we all know, the biggest factor this year is pitching, and defense. My take on the pitching staff is that they are pitching up to capability, and are not showing more than can be expected. Maholm has never pitched on a winning team before; he is showing he has winning stuff. Everyone expected Morton to be this good, because his stuff is this good. The others are merely maturing into their potential.

Comment on There’s something about this team by ThomasTSKH

ThomasTSKH — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 05:04:53 +0000

This is pretty much how I feel about the Mets, only without the part where any of the injured guys are ever coming back. Also the part about never seeing my team successful, because there was that year and that other year where they were pretty good.

But yeah, you can tell there’s “something about them” because I, who really don’t care about the Pirates, kind of like them. They’re intriguing. Interesting. More so than their record would indicate. That’s not an awful place to be.