Cutch

Cutch get a day off today.  He has been struggling at the plate going 2 for his last 26.  So hopefully he can clear his mind and start hitting.  I am not worried.  He struggled a little last year but put up MVP caliber numbers.

1st Place

1st place after 25 games.  After a poor start this team has won 14 of their last 19 games.  The last time the Pirates had 15 wins in the month of April was 1992.  That was the last year we had a winning season.

Jason Grilli

This guy has been great in the closer role.  He is 6 of 6 and throwing gas.  Joel Hanrahan WHO??

A Great Homestand

The Pirates had 9 straight home games and won 7 of them.  They are starting to get on a roll.  They swept the Reds, split with the Cardinals, and took 3 out of 4 from the hot Braves.  They are now half game out of 1st.  There record is 10-8.  Not bad after starting 1-5.

Starling Marte

Starling Marte is off to a great start this year.  He is tearing the cover off the baseball.  There have been questions about his plate discipline in the minor leagues and not taking enough walks.  Usually lead off hitters work the count and walk more but if Marte can keep doing what he is doing I don't think anyone will complain.

After a Slow Start...

After a slow start going 1 and 6 the Pirates have won 5 of their last 6.  They have reached the .500 mark and are 1 game out of 1st place.  The first 6 games reminded me of last year where the pitching was great and the hitting was horrible.  The last 6 games though the team is getting good pitching and some timely hitting.  Keep it up Bucs.

Opening Day vs Cubs

 

It was a cold day at the start of the game and the bats for the Bucs were also cold.  They could only muster up 3 hits all game.   Jeff Samardzija, the Cubs Pitcher, had an awesome day striking out 9 and only giving up 2 hits through 8 innings.  A.J. Burnett also pitched a good game for the Pirates but made a few mistakes in the 1st inning.  He gave up a 2 run home run to Anothony Rizzo.  That would be all that the Cubs would need.  Bucs lose 3-1.

Back in the Burgh

I was back in the Burgh this past weekend to visit the family for Easter and got to hear some of the local medias opinion of the Bucs.  The consensus is that the Pirates will win around 75-80 games this year.  This would give them another losing season that would reach 21 years.  I sure hope not.  There are just to many question marks with the pitching staff.