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Pirates Morning Report: More Bullpen Blunders

Final Score: Pirates 1 Rangers 5

Why the Pirates Lost: After scoring a run in the first inning on two hits, the Pirate offense pretty much went to sleep. They only collected four more hits the rest of the game, with one walk. The Pirates did not have an extra-base hit for the game. There were lots of collars to go around. Bryan Reynolds, Henry (Am I Supposed to Hit) Davis, Marcell Ozuna, Nick Yorke, and Konnor Griffin all went hitless. A third of the Pirate lineup had an OPS of under .600. Carmen Mlodzinski had a rocky outing, being charged with five runs on six hits, throwing 92 pitches in just 4 and 1/3 innings of work. You could argue that he should not have even come out for the fifth inning.

The Key Moments Of The Game: This game boiled down to the 5th inning. The score was 2-1 Rangers. In the top of the 5th, the Pirates had runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs and Oneil Cruz at the plate. Jake Magnum singled, and Konnor Griffin reached on an error after one out. Unfortunately, Henry Davis was at bat and rocketed a 43 MPH, 4-foot ground ball back to the pitcher. This advanced the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Oneil Cruz hit a deep fly ball to left center field. Evan Carter made a great catch, leaping up and robbing Cruz of the home run. Another yard higher, and the Pirates would have had a 4-2 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Carmen Mlodzinski got lit up with a 108 MPH double to start the inning. The runner moved to third on a fly ball to center field. This was followed by another double down the third base line to make the score 3-1. There was no move by the Pirates to take him out. Corey Seager singled to make the score 4-1. Don Kelly finally made a move, but it was the wrong one. You have a well-rested bullpen. With the game still hanging in the balance, you bring in your most inexperienced reliever, William Dotel. Don’t get me wrong; I like Dotel. I think he is going to be a real stud. First, the move should have been made three batters ago. Kelly should have brought in either Soto or Montgomery. In fact, the Pirates should have started this game with Montgomery, just like they did the previous time Mlodzinski pitched, which resulted in a three-hit shutout. Why would you not to do something that was so successful again? I guess you don’t. The bullpen blunders and pitching mismanagement just continue. The Rangers scored another run to make it 5-1, and the Pirates never threatened.

Next Game: Tonight, Rangers in Arlington at 8:05. The Pirates will start Braxton Ashcraft, who has pitched very well so far this year. Brandon Lowe is dealing with a knee issue, which is a bit concerning, and Spencer Horwitz has experienced some back tightness. Hopefully, both will only be out for a short time. The next three games feature our top pitchers: Ashcraft, Chandler, and Skenes. The bullpen is well-rested. Despite the rough start to the road trip, these next three games have a promising chance of being wins. The management team is still struggling to determine who should rest when. It is challenging being part of the Pirate organization. Oh, by the way, the Pirates are currently in last place.

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Pirates Morning Report: The Hitless Catchers

The Pirates have a bevy of catchers, but there is just one problem: none of them can hit at the present moment. There is one that appears to have some hope. Catching is primarily a defensive position, and the expectations for catchers are fairly low when it comes to hitting. Unfortunately, these four catchers need even lower expectations. Here are their dismal slash lines, ranked from worst to best. Joey Bart holds the unenviable position of the lowest with an anemic slash line of .156/.222/.281, resulting in an OPS of .503. He has managed one home run and driven in three runs while having the fewest plate appearances at just 38. For reasons unknown, the Pirates have opted to play Henry Davis a bit more, citing his perceived defensive advantage. However, in the small sample size, there isn’t much difference between the two at the moment. Davis’s slash line is almost as poor, sitting at .186/.300/.256 for an OPS of .556. He has zero home runs and three RBIs in 51 plate appearances. Davis ranks 318th in OPS while Bart sits at 351st out of approximately 400 players. There has been some clamoring for the two AAA catchers to be brought up, but they aren’t much better either. Endy Rodrigues is hitting a robust .185/.291/.277 for an OPS of .568 with one home run and 13 RBIs in 80 plate appearances. Rafael Flores is starting to show some signs of life, after sitting in the mid .100’s for most of the season in AAA. Right he boasts a slash line of .208/.329/.333 for an OPS of .662, along with one home run and nine RBIs in 85 plate appearances. As it stands, none of these four catchers will cause any pitcher to shake in their boots.

The Pirates have improved greatly on the offensive side of the ball. Their offense is not good enough to afford carrying catchers that hit this poorly. It will be interesting to see how long the Pirates stick with the current duo of Bart and Davis. Right now, the decision is easy because their AAA replacements are not hitting either. Regardless, in my view, the sooner they part ways with Bart, the better. Over the next ten games or so, if Flores is trending upward and Bart is still hitting well below .200, it is time to let him go. In Bart’s case, he is out of options, which means he would be designated for assignment (DFA). I do not view it as a significant loss. I think there is a real possibility that he would clear waivers. All of this would be moot if Bart and Davis start to really hit. I think the chances of that happening are slim to none. The Pirates have played 22 games. We are heading toward that magical point of 30 to 35 games, which will mark around 20% of the season complete. The next six games are on the road against the Rangers and the Brewers. A .500 road trip is the worst the Pirates will need to do, especially in this division where no team is below .500. Then the Pirates will play four games against the Cardinals and three against the Reds, all at home. Ten straight games against division teams. Hopefully, the Pirates will stop giving games away. Thirteen games in thirteen days are coming up. This stretch should tell us if this team is for real.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pirates Win Series

Final Score: Pirates 6 Rays 3

Why The Pirates Won: Mitch Keller pitched a much-needed 7 innings effectively, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits while striking out 5 and walking none. After a frustrating start, the Pirate offense kept pounding the Rays’ pitching, scoring 5 runs in the last 4 innings. They belted out 12 hits, including 2 home runs and 3 doubles. The top of the order went 6 for 13 with 4 RBIs. Spencer Horwitz and Nick Yorke each hit solo home runs to pad the lead. Wilber Dotel, just 23 years old, made his major league debut out of the bullpen. Although he gave up a home run on a tough pitch to hit, he struck out the next batter and retired the following two on a comebacker and a fly ball to centerfield. While it’s only one inning, this guy looks like a keeper.

Key Moments Of The Game: Going into the bottom of the 5th, the Pirates trailed the Rays 2-1. Joey Bart hit a long drive to straightaway center field that missed being a home run by about 5 feet, settling for a double. Billy Cook barely beat out a bunt for a single, moving Bart to third. The Rays challenged the play and lost; had he been called out, the Pirates would have lost the challenge as well. It was that close. Jake Mangum grounded out to the pitcher after Cook had stolen second. Nick Gonzales hit a soft 72 MPH blooper just over the outstretched arms of the second baseman, scoring Bart and sending Cook to third, with Gonzales taking second on the throw. Bryan Reynolds hit a 95 MPH ground ball that found the hole between short and third in a drawn-in infield. The Pirates scored 3 runs to regain the lead at 4-2. Keller pitched a solid final 2 innings, facing just 7 batters and striking out the last two he encountered after a one out double. The Pirates added to their lead with solo home runs, departing with a strong win and a successful 16-game stretch.

Next Game: Tomorrow, the Rangers in Arlington at 8:05 PM. Carmen Mlodzinski will start for the Pirates. I am a bit surprised that the Pirates are not using an opener, especially since that strategy worked so well the last time Mlodzinski pitched. The Pirate management team must be really freaking out. The Pirates play 13 games in 13 days. They will be probably in meetings all day and into the night, trying to figure out who should get what days off and when. After all these 20-year-olds are so fragile today. Usually, when the Pirates take a day off, I take a day off too; however, tomorrow I will focus on one specific topic about the team. The subject will be the hitless catchers. The bad news for the Pirates right now is that everyone in the division is playing well, with every team in the division at least 3 games over .500. Hopefully, this trend will not continue, but only time will tell. The giveaway games the Pirates have played seem to loom even larger.

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Pirates Morning Report: Giving Another One Away

I did not get in until late last night, so the Morning Report won’t be in full mode until tomorrow morning. Right now, the Pirates stand 9-6 in this stretch of games where they played all but 3 at home. The Pirates need a win today to reach 10-6, which would be much better than 9-7. Up until the All-Star break, the Pirates will have a stretch of about 6 games on the road and 6 at home. After the break, they face a 9-game road trip in August and a 9-game homestand in September. In these last 15 games, the Pirates have lost 3 by scores of 7-6, 8-7, and 8-7. Do you think the Pirates have a bullpen problem? Of course, Ben (Sit On My Hands) Cherington has done nothing about it; he replaced two starting pitchers in the bullpen with two proven non-performers. The hitters can’t be held totally blameless for the losses either. When the Rays intentionally walked Jake Mangum to load the bases with one out in the bottom of the 10th last night, the Pirates’ win probability jumped to 84%. We all know what happened after that. The defense has also struggled, ranking 21st in baseball. In this early going, the Pirates have lost 9 games, giving away 5 due to their own failings. You will have days where you get beat, but you cannot lose nearly half your games because you help the other team with poor defense, horrendous bullpen performances, and failing in situational hitting. It had better change soon, or this team will implode during the dog days of summer.

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Pirates Morning Report: Eleven Down 81 To Go

The Pirates are 4-2 since I have been away and could have been 6-0. A mismanagement of the bullpen and a controversial batting substitution affected the outcomes of both losses. I do not have a big problem with Don Kelly pinch hitting for Brandon Lowe with Nick Yorke. Lowe is horrible against lefties. I know he did hit a homer against a lefty earlier in the game but I am not going to 2nd guess him just because it did not workout. The bullpen mismanagement has been consistently a big problem. I put this on the entire Pirate management team. First they put basically two starting pitchers in the bullpen, Hunter Barco and Jose Urquidy. They finally sent Barco down to stretch him out. They should do the same thing with Urquidy. Carmen Mlodzinski pitched an outstanding 6 innings last night as the bulk guy, and should remain in the rotation. The Pirates are concerned about the inning load of their young starters, Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler. I don’t have a big problem with that either. What better way to solve that problem than to go to a 6 man rotation. You could use Barco or Urguidy. In the wings is Jared Jones. You could continue to pitch Paul Skenes every 5 days and work the other 5 or 6 starters around him. The Pirates have tremendous depth at starting pitching. The question remains will they use it in the best way. So far they have not.

They wrap up the series with the Nationals today. They need a win today to take the series. They finish this home stand with the Tampa Bay Rays. It would be nice to see them win the next 3 out of 4. The Pirates are tied for first with an 11-7 record. Everyone is really fired up about the Pirates. The problem is they could be 14-4 if it were not for management blunders. We can only hope this will not cost them in the long run. Hopefully they will learn from these mistakes. The Morning Report will return in full force on Sunday the 19th.

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Pirates Morning Report: Sign Him, But Don’t Play Him

Final Score: Pirates 2 Padres 8

Why The Pirates Lost: The bullpen and the defense completely crapped the bed the last 3 innings of the game. Justin Lawrence came in and got racked around for 2 doubles and a home run, giving up 4 runs. This was all preceded by a Nick Gonzalez throwing error that opened the floodgates. The defense even got worse in the 9th inning. Konnor (Why Didn’t I Start Today Even Though I Signed The Biggest Contract In Pirate History) Griffin booted a ground ball. Nick Yorke threw the ball low toward 2nd base for another error in the inning. This led to 4 more Padre runs. Half of the 8 runs the Padres scored were unearned. All of this wasted a great pitching performance by Mitch Keller. He went 6 innings throwing only 75 pitches. He gave up no runs, 3 hits, walked 1, and struck out 4. I am not sure why the Pirates thought he could not come out for the 7th inning. I am not saying the Pirates would have won today, but I saw absolutely no benefit to not starting Griffin today. He had gotten 2 hits yesterday. What better way to get his confidence going than to play today? He is 19 years old for God’s sake. He does not need rest. If anybody needed a day off, it was Brandon Lowe. He was 2 for his last 16 at-bats and hung another 0 for 4 collar today. I do not know if it was because of the big signing announcement yesterday of Griffin, but the entire Pirate organization sleepwalked through this game.

Key Moment Of The Game: After the disastrous top of the 7th inning, the Pirates actually got back into the ball game. Nick Yorke opened the inning by singling to center field. Nick Gonzalez ripped a double down the left field line, putting runners on second and third with no one out. The Padres brought in lefty Kyle Hart. The Pirates made their only good move of the day. They pinch-hit for Spencer Horwitz with Konnor Griffin. On the fourth pitch of the at-bat, Griffin took a splitter and drilled it down the left field line. Ramon Laureano made a fine sliding catch of the ball to get the first out, but it did score a run. If Laureano does not make that catch, 2 runs are in and Griffin is at least on 2nd with no outs. Joey Bart singled to drive in a run, and Jake Mangum walked. The score was 4-2 Padres. The Pirates had runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. Oneil Cruz hit a 110 MPH ground ball that Gavin Sheets was able to corral and get a force at 2nd base. This brought up Brandon Lowe, who at the moment is hitting .063 against lefties. This would have been a great time to let Billy Cook or even Marcell Ozuna pinch-hit. Ozuna has a .333 OBP against lefties this year. They let Lowe bat. He hit a big 84 MPH can of corn out to left field for the final out. The score was 4-2 going into the 8th inning. You have 3 well-rested studs out in the bullpen: Hunter Barco, Mason Montgomery, and Dennis Santana. The Pirates decided to bring in Jose Urquidy. Granted the defense was terrible, but the guy still gave up 4 hits, including 3 in the 9th. You talk about a clueless manager. The Pirates never tried to win this game, beginning with the lineup card to the bullpen choices.

Next Game: Tomorrow afternoon the Cubs in Chicago. The Pirate Morning Report will be going on about a 10-day hiatus from the daily reports. I will be on vacation. I will probably do some summaries about 2 or 3 times while I am away. The morning report will resume on April 19th. The Pirates will play 9 games while I am away. It would be nice if they won 6 of them, but the way things looked yesterday, I cannot be very optimistic. You cannot afford to have a day like that if you are really going to contend. I would not have even minded seeing Billy Cook play yesterday than some of the players that they played. Someone needs to tell the Pirate manager that if you are trailing by 2 runs going into the top of the 8th, that you are not out of the game. I know you cannot win them all, but at least you should try.

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Pirates Morning Report: Seven Down 85 To Go

Final Score: Pirates 7 Padres 1

Why The Pirates Won: Essentially, the Pirates offense ground-balled them to death. It did not hurt that Paul Skenes threw 5 and 1/3 innings of no-hit ball. For 6 and 1/3 innings, he gave up a home run, one other hit, walked 2, and hit a batter. He struck out 6 while throwing a fairly efficient 87 pitches. The bullpen pitched the last 2 and 2/3 innings, giving up 1 hit, 0 walks, and striking out 3. The Pirate pitching was so dominant that the Padres had only one at-bat with a runner in scoring position. In the bottom of the fifth, the Pirates had 3 ground ball hits, the last one by Oneil Cruz that went right down the 3rd base line just out of the reach of Manny Machado for a 2-out double that put the Pirates ahead 2-0. This all started in the bottom of the fifth, as the Pirates did not get a hit through the first 4 innings. They ended up getting 12 hits for the game, and 9 of them were ground balls that went through the infield. The Padres made a critical error in the bottom of the 8th on a ground ball.

Key Moments Of The Game: This was a tense, tight, tough game through the first 7 and 1/2 innings. Going into the bottom of the 8th, the Pirates were clinging to a 2-1 lead. With one out, Bryan Reynolds hit a ground ball down the first base line. Somehow the Padres’ first baseman could not make the play, and the ball went down the line for a gift single. Ryan O’Hearn hit a line drive that made it into left field for a legitimate single. Nick Yorke hit a slow ground ball to short that Xander Bogaerts could not handle, and the bases were loaded with one out. Nick Gonzales, Jake Mangum, and Konner Griffin each got base hits, and before you could say “sit down, Dennis Santana,” the Pirates had a 7-1 lead. The bottom of the ninth was a piece of cake for my nemesis, Yohan Ramirez, retiring the side in order with 2 strikeouts. He has pitched 7 and 2/3 innings and has given up just 2 runs, and one of those was from bad luck. I hope he proves me wrong all year.

Next Game: Today the Padres in Pittsburgh, 12:35 PM. Mitch Keller goes for the Pirates as they will try to win their third consecutive series. Michael King will start for the Padres. The Pirates must read my blog. They did get York and Gonzales in the lineup together. It will be interesting to see how long the Pirates will sit Ozuna. I feel he should not start until they go to Chicago. It looked like the Pirate bats were going to be silent again until the 8th-inning explosion. This was a nice bounce-back win for the Pirates. They played a solid ball game. A win tomorrow will put a lot less pressure on the brief road trip to Chicago. Hopefully, the daytime lineup will not be too weird.

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Pirates Morning Report: Lots Of Blunders

Final Score: Pirates 0 Padres 5

Why The Pirates Lost: They were shut out for the second time this season. Both shutouts, the Pirates had a decent amount of traffic on the base paths. In the 2-0 loss to the Reds, they had 4 hits and 5 walks. They went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and left 8 on base. Last night, they had 7 hits and 5 walks. They were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position and left 9 on base. The reason the hit did not score a run was that the 3rd base coach of the Pirates apparently lost sight of the ball and held up the runner when he would have easily scored. He then had to send him when the runner from 1st was heading to third. The Padres easily threw Ryan O’Hearn at the plate. In the 7th, Henry Davis was doubled off first on a relatively soft (87 MPH) line drive. Of course, when you get on base as little as Davis does, it is hard to know what to do. Bubba Chandler continues to have control problems, this time walking four in 4 and 1/3 innings. In 8 and 2/3 innings of work this year, he has walked ten batters. Three of the four walks scored. Bryan Reynolds fell down trying to catch a fly ball in the top of the 5th, which helped the Padres score 2 runs. The Pirate pitchers did get racked up for 11 hits, with four of them being doubles. To me, this was just one of those games that even the best of teams will have once in a while. We will see if the Pirates will bounce back.

Key Moments Of The Game: The base running blunder in the bottom of the 2nd was a pivotal moment, when the third base coach made the crucial mistake of not sending the runner home. This costly mistake not only denied the Pirates a run but also meant they would have had 1st and 3rd with one out. In a twist of fate, the Padres took advantage of the Pirates’ missteps and scored 2 runs in the top of the 5th without technically earning a hit, a situation that arose due to Reynolds misjudging a high fly ball, which fell just out of his reach. The Pirates, however, showed signs of life with a leadoff double in the bottom of the 6th, igniting hopes for a comeback. Unfortunately, the severely slumping Marcell Ozuna, who has been struggling at the plate for quite some time, could not even advance the runner to third base, by grounding out to short. Nick Gonzales stepped up next, hitting a fly ball deep enough that would have surely scored O’Hearn. For whatever reason, the Pirates looked sluggish in this contest, failing to capitalize on opportunities that could have shifted the momentum in their favor. As the game unfolded, it was clear that a lack of urgency and execution plagued their performance. Hopefully, there are better days ahead for the team.

Next Game: Tonight, Padres in Pittsburgh at 6:40 PM. Paul Skenes goes for the Pirates tonight. He looked better than in the opening day outing. With the Pirates’ batters, it is either feast or famine. In last night’s game, the Pirates had 3 batters that are way over the league average in OPS. They had two just slightly above the league average. They had four that are way below the league average. Then there is Marcell Ozuna. He could not have gotten off to a worse start. In 34 plate appearances, he has a slash line of .065/.171/.236. If he does not come out of this soon, the Pirates are going to have to make some tough decisions. At the very least, they are going to have to consider putting him much further down in the batting order and maybe even the possibility of platooning him. The offense is better, but that is because of about 5 players. In the long run, other players are going to have to step up, or some replacements are going to need to be made. The only player that has gotten off to a slow start who looks like he is starting to come around is Spencer Horwitz. In my view, the Pirates need to find a way to get Nick Gonzales and Nick Yorke in the lineup at the same time. The Pirates are never good at making difficult decisions. I do not expect them to start now.

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Pirates Morning Report: Six Down 86 To Go

Final Score: Pirates 8 Orioles 2

Why The Pirates Won: This is an easy one today. The Pirate offense took advantage of Chris Bassitt’s lack of command. They scored 2 runs in the 1st and 4 in the 2nd to take a 6-0 lead and never looked back. Ryan O’Hearn was the big gun, hitting a 2-run, 2-out home run on a 3-0 pitch. In the 2nd inning, he smashed a 2-out double to make the score 6-0. O’Hearn knocked in 4 of the first 6 runs. Oneil Cruz added an RBI in the second inning. He hit a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 6th to account for the final two runs. Braxton Ashcraft pitched a solid 6 innings, giving up 1 run on 4 hits and did not walk a batter. He struck out 8 while throwing 87 pitches. Mason Montgomery got touched up a little bit, going 1 inning, giving up 3 hits and a run. It could have worse. He got a 2-out strikeout with runners on 1st and 2nd. Jose Urquidy came in and pitched 2 innings, giving up just a hit. Even though this was low leverage, it was nice to see Urquidy have a good outing. The Pirate pitchers did not walk a man while recording 14 strikeouts. The Pirates wound up with an easy win to sweep the series.

Key Moments Of The Game: Chris Bassitt was just a little bit off. It looked like he might get out of the 1st unscathed when Brandon Lowe lined into a double play after Cruz had been hit by a pitch. However, he walked Bryan Reynolds on 4 pitches and threw 3 pitches outside the strike zone to Ryan O’Hearn. He threw a fastball that was just below the letters and out over the plate. O’Hearn did not miss it. He hit it 402 feet into right center field to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead. It just seemed to set the tone for the rest of the day. The Pirates started the 2nd inning fast with a walk and 3 straight singles to make it 3-0. Bryan Reynolds hit a sacrifice fly to drive in run number 4. O’Hearn got his second consecutive 2-out hit, a double to left center field to clear the bases and make the score 6-0. The Pirates were never threatened after that.

Next Game: Tonight, Padres in Pittsburgh 6:40 PM. The Padres are coming from Boston where they took 2 out of 3 from the Red Sox. This should be a good test for the Pirates. Bubba Chandler will make his second start for the Pirates. Let’s hope he can find the strike zone better in this outing. Jared Triolo went on the IL yesterday with Billy Cook being brought back up. Oneil Cruz continues to lead off for the Pirates but seems to be handling it better than last year. It still does not make sense, but as long as the Pirates keep winning, I am sure they are not going to change. The Pirates are on a 5-game winning streak and will hope to keep the momentum going. The pitching has had its ups and downs a little more than expected, but it still looks like the backbone of this team. We will see how the Pirates do against a very good and experienced Padre team.

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Pirates Morning Report: Five Down 87 To Go.

Final Score: Pirates 3 Orioles 2

Why The Pirates Won: I have no idea. All I know is that even though tomorrow is Easter Sunday, all Orioles pitchers are to report to PNC Park at 8:00 AM sharp for fielding practice. The Pirates had 8 hits, with 2 of them not leaving the infield. They took 28 pitches for strikes. They were 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position and left 13 men on base. The Pirates were able to pull this one out because the Oriole pitchers muffed two weak ground balls off to their left. One was charged with an error, and the second one should have also been an error. Jake Mangum was gifted a hit. That one may be overturned by the league. Either way, it was pitcher incompetent fielding that led to the 2 Pirate runs that tied the game. The Pirate pitching staff had control issues for most of the game. Carmen Mlodzinski walked 3 in 4 and 2/3 innings. Hunter Barco walked 3 in 2 and 1/3 innings. Isaac Mattson walked one in 1 inning. Only Dennis Santana did not walk anyone in his inning of pitching. The only reason the walks did not hurt more was that the Orioles were just about as incompetent as the Pirates. They were 2 for 7 with runners in scoring position while stranding 9 runners. In the first two games of this series, the Orioles could have won game one, and they should have won game two. The Pirates will take them any way they can get them.

Key Moments Of The Game: This was the first Pirate game that the ABS challenge system really helped decide the game. In the top of the 9th with 2 outs and nobody on, Gunnar Henderson challenged a called third strike, and it was upheld. That was the Orioles’ last challenge. In the bottom of the 9th, the Pirates had runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. Nick Yorke worked the count to 2-2. On the 7th pitch of the at-bat, Yorke took a pitch that was at the knees and well within the diameter of the plate. The home plate umpire called it a ball. The Orioles were out of challenges. Yorke had new life. He launched the next pitch 106 MPH, just out of the reach of the left fielder, and the Pirates had their walk-off win.

Next Game: Today Orioles in Pittsburgh, at 1:35 PM. The Pirates are going with Braxton Ashcraft to try and get the sweep. Like most of the Pirate starters, he pitched well in his 6-inning outing. Like most of the Pirate pitchers, he walked a lot of batters. I do not know if this is the new pitching coach’s philosophy, but the Pirates are 3rd in the league right now in giving up the most walks. Only the Angels and the Astros have given up more walks than the Pirates. Our new pitching coach came from the Astros, so that might shed some light on the subject. That old adage of a walk being as good as a hit may be true. However, a walk is not as good as a home run. I will admit, seeing the Pirate pitchers give up this many walks makes me a little uneasy. Not as uneasy as seeing Cruz lead off. I just don’t understand why this guy is leading off. He had his two best games hitting further down in the lineup. Why don’t the Pirates see this? Maybe the Orioles will hand them another game today despite these goofy batting orders the Pirates come up with. Going for the sweep on Easter.