2011 Pirates
Posted by Andy on June 15, 2011
Some Pirates notes:
With their shutout win last night, the Pirates are now 33-33. Here is the last time they were at at least .500 in each of their recent seasons:
- 2010: 7-7 on April 21st
- 2009: 12-12 on May 3rd
- 2008: 7-7 on April 15th (although they were within 1 game of .500 as late as June 12th at 33-34)
- 2007: 12-12 on April 30th
- 2006: 0-0 on Opening Day
- 2005: 30-30 on June 11nd
- 2004: 23-23 on May 30th
- 2003: 14-14 on May 2nd
- 2002: 19-19 on May 15th
- 2001: 4-4 on April 11th
So, by that measure, this has been the most successful season in a long time, making it until after games on June 14th with a .500 record.
Last night's shutout was their 5th of the season, a pace of about 12 for a full season.
It's been a while since they've had that many shutouts in a season:
| Tm | Year ▾ | #Matching | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PIT | 2010 | 6 | Ind. Games |
| PIT | 2009 | 7 | Ind. Games |
| PIT | 2008 | 7 | Ind. Games |
| PIT | 2007 | 5 | Ind. Games |
| PIT | 2006 | 10 | Ind. Games |
| PIT | 2005 | 14 | Ind. Games |
| PIT | 2004 | 8 | Ind. Games |
| PIT | 2003 | 10 | Ind. Games |
| PIT | 2002 | 7 | Ind. Games |
| PIT | 2001 | 9 | Ind. Games |
Andrew McCutchen is currently second in the NL in WAR among position players. The last time they had a player finish the season in the top 10 was 2006, when Freddy Sanchez was 10th. The last time they had a player finish the season as high as second was 1990-1992, when Barry Bonds finished first in the NL each year.
Of course, from the damning-with-faint-praise department, we could chalk up some of the Pirates' success this year to the weakening of other teams in their division...
June 15th, 2011 at 7:48 am
"we could chalk up some of the Pirates' success this year to the weakening of other teams in their division"
...or having Clint Hurdle instead of the walking corpse from last season
June 15th, 2011 at 8:09 am
"the weakening of other teams in their division..."
It seems to me that the competitive balance in the NL Central is pretty much where it's always been, perhaps even slightly better. The division has never exactly been a powerhouse: the Cardinals and Brewers are both on pace for 91 wins, good enough to take the NLC in 4 of the last 5 seasons.
June 15th, 2011 at 8:40 am
@2
The competitive balance in the division is probably what it's always been, the difference being that the Pirates are now one of the mediocre teams rather than one of the terrible ones. Generally there was only one bad team (a hat that was passed around a bit) other than the Pirates, whereas now, the Astros and Cubs both really, really stink. Having *two* teams worse than them has to prop up the Pirates a tad, I think.
June 15th, 2011 at 9:02 am
I was having a discussion about this on some other blogs, but I think the 6 team division always is going to be closer to .500 than the other divisions based on the Central playing the Central an extra 6-8 games per team. It's clearly tougher to have the whole division finish at .500 or above as well; and they also haven't had anyone rattle off 110 wins.
June 15th, 2011 at 11:01 am
@4, they've had some big seasons though. '98 Astros and '05 Cardinals, for example.
June 15th, 2011 at 11:02 am
pirates and royals both in 4th, 78-84 yay!
June 15th, 2011 at 11:18 am
[...] Posted by John Autin on June 14, 2011 « Trivia Challenge: What links these 10 pitchers? 2011 Pirates [...]
June 15th, 2011 at 11:52 am
Last time the Bucs were at or above .500 after the games of 14 June was 1999, at 32-29. They spent the next couple of months hovering between -4 and +4. They were a .500 team (67-67) as late as 1 September, but an 11-16 finish gave them a final record of 78-83.
June 15th, 2011 at 2:39 pm
I've been having a feeling about the Buccos all year and I don't care why they're looking like they might have half a chance to make .500. Even if it's only because everyone else decided to (create vacuum-induced movement) a bit more than usual that's fine wih me; at this point I'm not too particular. I'm sure Pirates Nation is following this with interest. I can't imagine anyone else is, or should be, but for now I'm enjoying sharing this little corner of hell with my homies and far-flung ex-pats 🙂
June 15th, 2011 at 2:52 pm
Dare to dream...82 Wins for the Pirates this year?
Amazing how low your target gets after 18 straight losing seasons.
Pirates still have the bulk of their Interleague play ahead of them, 12 straight games starting this Friday. Historically they are the worst team in IL play since its inception; I think their record is an awful 75-124 per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette a few days ago.
And of course July 31 approaches. Will the Pirates be "big sellers" again? Maybe "buyers"? Or stay neutral?
June 15th, 2011 at 2:55 pm
And apparently the most recent time the Pirates were OVER .500 late in the season was August 26, 1997 (67-66). They went 12-17 the rest of the way.
June 15th, 2011 at 3:19 pm
The Blue Jays or Orioles would trade divisions with the Pirates in a heartbeat. 🙁
If the Pirates can claw their way back to respectability with their payroll over the last 6 years, then there's hope for any team in baseball..
June 15th, 2011 at 4:04 pm
@10
I don't see them being buyers - they're clearly not going to sacrifice their farm system if they're sitting around .500 in a month and a half, and I don't see them moving up much higher than that. As far as being sellers, there's not a whole ton to sell. Chris Snyder could've been a great pickup for a team that needed catching help, but he might be done for the year. So what does that leave in terms of veterans who can help a contender? Garrett Jones, possibly? Maybe Joel Hanrahan?
Still, they've been have been a fairly fun team to watch in what little I've seen of them this year, largely because McCutchen is great, but I'm not sure I see them keeping it up. Their pitchers strike out the fewest batters in the NL, yet are 5th in ERA, despite middle-of-the-road walk and HR rates. Their defensive efficiency has risen from .689 last year (worst in baseball), to .718, (6th), so that's part of it, but I still feel like there's a correction coming.
I'm rooting for them to turn it around though - Pittsburgh deserves a good baseball team, and baseball fans deserve to be able to see important baseball games played in that awesome stadium of theirs.
June 15th, 2011 at 5:27 pm
@13 Jim:
Pirate management has said repeatedly, getting to .500 is not a goal so that likely rules them out as buyers too. Long said their goal is to build a championship team.
Paul Maholm has a $9.5 mil contract for next year, with a $750K buyout, he's a possibility to be moved. Maybe Correia? Actually just about all the pitching staff might be "on the market".
Doumit was a possibility to go, but like Snyder, injury has intervined. G. Jones shouldn't have much market value, nor Overbay, nor X Paul. Cedeno? They wish.
However most of the other position players are "safe" as most are still pre-arbitration...Cutch, Walker, Tabata, Alvarez.
June 16th, 2011 at 3:22 am
Maybe this could be the Pirates' year. After all, they have been on the losing
track for nearly two decades. Maybe this time, they'll get 82+ wins. One can only hope.
June 16th, 2011 at 6:44 am
Baseball needs a successful franchise in Pittsburgh.
June 16th, 2011 at 9:35 am
@14:
Jones is a lefty with some pop. He's not a great player or anything, but he's the sort of "run producer" that a contending team with a hole in the middle of the lineup could trade for.
Maholm is a good call - he's having his best season, ERA-wise, but his walk numbers keep moving up. I'm sure part of his improvement is the improved team defense behind him. They probably wouldn't pick up his option, and I'm assuming he's not a Type A FA qualifier, so it makes sense to trade him while his value is high.
Correia is signed through next year at below market value. If they can get value for him I'd say it makes sense to pull the trigger, but I wouldn't fault them for holding on to him if they can't get much in return, since he's a fair bet to be worth more than he'll earn.
The other problem with Doumit is that he's a good hitter for a catcher, but he's not really a catcher. As a 4-Corner switch hitter I guess he had some value though. It's possible that if he were freed from the burden of catching his offense would improve, which would make him valuable since he's had an OPS+ over 100 in 4 of the last 5 years.