Baseball Nation: All Posts by Charlie Wilmoth

Mike Zagurski clears waivers

2013-06-19T03:26:54Z

MLBTR reports that Mike Zagurski has cleared waivers, which obviously comes as no surprise. We'll know by tomorrow whether he elects free agency.

Zagurski quickly became a punchline in Pittsburgh, but he isn't quite as bad as what he showed in his brief stay as a Pirate, and he's good Triple-A depth. It would be nice to have him back.

Morton, Pirates shut out Reds, 4-0

2013-06-19T02:33:33Z

Charlie Morton and three relievers shut out the Reds Tuesday, 4-0.

Morton pitched 5.1 innings, struck out two, walked none and got seven ground ball outs. (He also hit two batters, including Shin-Soo Choo on his first pitch of the game.)

The Bucs got three runs in the first. Starling Marte led off with a triple, then came home on an infield hit by Russell Martin. Then Garrett Jones and Neil Walker walked, and Pedro Alvarez poked an 0-2 pitch into the left-field corner to bring home two runs. The Bucs got another run on Marte's RBI single in the seventh.

The Pirates struck out 17 times, although they also walked six times, and three of those walks (the ones by Jones and Walker in the first, and Jordy Mercer's leadoff walk in the seventh) led directly to runs.

Gamethread: Charlie Morton makes second start

2013-06-18T18:23:58Z

Charlie Morton makes his second start of the year, this time against Mat Latos and the Reds, tonight at 7:10.

Reds use four solo homers to beat Pirates, 4-1

2013-06-18T02:13:02Z

The Reds hit four solo homers en route to a 4-1 victory over the Pirates Monday.

The first of those was by Zack Cozart in the fourth. Then, after the Pirates tied the game on Russell Martin's RBI double in the sixth, Todd Frazier hit another solo homer int he bottom of the inning.

The Pirates replaced Francisco Liriano (who had a solid outing, striking out six and walking two) after six, and the Reds kept going, with Joey Votto and Jay Bruce hitting solo bombs off a visibly-frustrated Bryan Morris in the eighth.

The Bucs didn't exactly have lots of chances to score, but they didn't do much with the chances they did have, leaving runners in scoring position in the fourth, sixth and eighth. Pedro Alvarez struck out to end both of the last two innings.

Oh, and Aroldis Chapman threw at Neil Walker's head in the ninth, so expect to hear more chest-beating about this.

An extension for Pedro Alvarez? No. Just no

2013-06-18T01:33:31Z

I'm not sure why this happened, but the question of whether the Pirates should sign Pedro Alvarez to an extension reared its ugly head again today. Daniel Dudley at TribLive Radio asked me about it this afternoon, and Travis Sawchik, Joe Starkey and Chris Mueller evidently discussed it on The Fan this afternoon as well.

I didn't hear the segment on The Fan, and I don't know that any of these guys favor an extension. They're all smart guys, so I doubt they do. But I'm not even sure why we're talking about this. Last time this happened, I basically treated it like a joke, because it is, essentially, a joke. I've seen no indication that the Pirates have seriously considered it, and I don't think they ever will. But just in case, let me say it a little more strongly: Signing Pedro Alvarez to an extension right now would likely be the Pirates' worst move since the Matt Morris trade.

Now, obviously, extensions come in many shapes and sizes. If, for example, the Pirates were to sign Alvarez to a one-year, $500,000 extension with a series of $500,000 team options, I would favor it! But of course that's not really what an Alvarez extension would mean. Traditionally, pre-free-agency extensions involve buying out free agent years. (Or at least getting options on them, although it's doubtful Alvarez would give away options on free-agent years without a pretty serious upfront financial commitment.) And, unless the Pirates get a stupidly good price (and they won't, given who Alvarez's agent is) there is absolutely no reason for the Pirates to consider that.

This is Alvarez's age-26 season. The Pirates already control him through his age-29 season, so if they signed him to a long-term deal, the big "perk" for them would be controlling seasons after that. Hands up, who thinks Alvarez is likely to be good in his 30s? Anyone? Here we have a heavy-ish third baseman who isn't particularly athletic, strikes out three times as much as he walks, and has a .233 career batting average. Players who aren't athletic, who don't have athletic bodies, who don't control the strike zone, and can't hit for average ... well, pick any of the four. These are all giant warning signs. If injuries don't get to Alvarez, the need for him to eventually move to first base might. (He's made great strides at third, but that doesn't mean he'll still be there in four years.) If a slide down the defensive spectrum doesn't get him, his strikeouts might. If his strikeouts don't get him, his batting-average issues might. The most likely scenario, though, is that Alvarez's decline will involve some or all those things, and it will come quicker than you think.

Who thinks this player is likely to age well? Anyone? There isn't a serious case to be made that Alvarez will be a good player in his 30s. Of course, he might be, but the odds are against him. And if you can't make a case for Alvarez being likely to be good in his 30s, I humbly remind you that the Pirates already control Alvarez through his age-29 season. There is no urgent reason to sign him now.

Mo Vaughn. Richie Sexson. Cecil Fielder. Troy Glaus. Albert Pujols! What do these players have in common? Well, besides being much better players than Pedro Alvarez? They were all unathletic corner infielders who declined badly in their 30s. We see this with this player type all the time.

Maybe Alvarez will be the exception. But in general, players like Alvarez tend not to be good in their 30s. Even at 26, Alvarez seems to be constantly teetering over the edge of a cliff. Signing Alvarez to an extension is an awful, awful idea, and a team in the Pirates' position has no more business tying itself to an aging player with Alvarez's profile than I do tying a boulder to my leg before a swim.

Gamethread: Starling Marte returns to lineup vs. Reds

2013-06-17T19:27:41Z

Starling Marte returns to the Pirates' lineup as they face the Reds in the opening game of a big series.

Starling Marte LF
Alex Presley RF
Andrew McCutchen CF
Garrett Jones 1B
Russell Martin C
Pedro Alvarez 3B
Neil Walker 2B
Jordy Mercer SS
Francisco Liriano P

Jamestown Jammers roster includes Elvis Escobar, Harold Ramirez, Jin-De Jhang

2013-06-17T15:52:37Z

Not exactly a star-studded roster, but there are still some interesting players, and more will be on the way once the Pirates sign more players from the draft. Luis Heredia is not on the roster.

The top prospects here are two young outfielders in Elvis Escobar and Harold Ramirez, along with catcher Jin-De Jhang. 2013 fourth-rounder Cody Dickson, a college lefty, is here, along with 2011 fourth-rounder Colten Brewer. 19-year-old first baseman Edwin Espinal also bears watching.

CATCHERS

Jin-De Jhang
Max Rossiter
Dave Valesente (DL)

INFIELDERS

Francisco Aponte
Yhonathan Barrios
Jodaneli Carvajal
Dan Collins
Edwin Espinal
Michael Fransoso
Jimmy Rider
Beau Wallace

OUTFIELDERS

Elvis Escobar
Harold Ramirez
Jeff Roy
Jesus Vasquez

PITCHERS

Lance Breedlove
Colten Brewer
Shane Carle
Axel Diaz
Cody Dickson
David Jagoditsh
Kevin Kleis
Chad Kuhl
Jared Lakind (DL)
Jackson Lodge
Cesar Lopez
Jovany Lopez
Brett McKinney
Dovydas Neverauskas
Isaac Sanchez
Justin Topa
Kurt Yacko

Pedro Alvarez's 3-run bomb keys 6-3 victory

2013-06-16T22:10:51Z

Pedro Alvarez's three-run homer proved to be the difference in the Pirates' 6-3 victory over Zack Greinke and the Dodgers Sunday.

Gerrit Cole went 5.2 innings in his second big-league start, striking out one. He still hasn't walked a batter in the majors.

"I think there's a few times where I wish I had a better breaking ball today, or I wish I had a better changeup, to maybe generate a few more of those swings and misses," Cole said. "I was just fortunate that we had guys tracking down every fly ball that was hit, and all those weird ground balls, they were all handled accordingly."

Clint Hurdle's evaluation of Cole's start was similar.

"I actually think he pitched much better the first start. He just had to compete today. Didn't have much of a breaking ball. That kind of was hit-and-miss. He threw some changeups in to keep them off the fastball," said Hurdle. "That was just straight pitching with an edge today."

The Pirates scored two in the first on Garrett Jones' two-run double, but the Dodgers scored one in the second as Yasiel Puig singled, stole second (on a terrible throw by Michael McKenry), and came home on two groundouts. The Dodgers tied the game in the fourth on an RBI single by Andre Ethier.

Alvarez left the bases juiced when he grounded out in the third, but made up for that in the fifth, when Jones and Neil Walker reached base and Alvarez brought them home with a no-doubt homer to center to make it 5-2.

"We needed somebody to click one, and Pedro clicked one," Hurdle said.

The two teams traded runs in the sixth, with Alex Presley homering to right. Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli finished the game out as the Pirates maintained their three-run lead.

David Manel contributed to this post.