Record: 72-90, 5th, NL East (32 GB)
Postseason: --
Ballpark: Forbes Field (104 hits, 80 HR)
Runs scored: 622 (11th)
Runs allowed: 640 (3rd)
Pythag record: 79-83 (-7)
Recap: There are a bunch of mediocre teams in the NL right now. Not bad, mediocre. 5 of the 12 teams won between 70 and 80 games - Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in the East, Cincinnati, LA, and San Diego in the West. Of all of these mediocre teams the Pirates are the mediocrest. By the straight stats they look like they might have a decent pitching staff and defense holding together a terrible offense, but that's playing at Forbes Field, the roomiest park in the league (maybe the Astrodome is bigger). The Pirates by the way have another season left at Forbes for reasons similar to Philly's.
History: Pittsburgh is a lifetime also-ran, having not tasted postseason a single time in their existence. The closest they ever got was the inaugural 1946 season, when they still finished 6 games out. They've lost 90 games each of the last two seasons. In general, they've never been really good and they don't exactly have a recent track record of success.
Outlook: It's hard to see how they're going to move up. They're a mid-market team with a mediocre roster. Drinking game: the word mediocre.
Rotation
Code:
+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| first_name | last_name | age | throws | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Santos | Arango | 26 | R | 13 | 14 | 0.481 | 0 | 2.76 | 34 | 34 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 270.1 | 1101 | 263 | 96 | 83 | 17 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 57 | 2 | 154 | 15 | 0 | 8.8 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 5.1 |
| Kojiro | Nakazawa | 23 | L | 21 | 8 | 0.724 | 0 | 3.60 | 30 | 30 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 237.2 | 997 | 256 | 119 | 95 | 26 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 41 | 2 | 158 | 13 | 3 | 9.7 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 6.0 |
| Brandon | Horan | 26 | L | 13 | 11 | 0.542 | 0 | 4.38 | 28 | 28 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 205.2 | 864 | 220 | 113 | 100 | 25 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 50 | 1 | 140 | 10 | 0 | 9.6 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 6.1 |
| Ernie | Alvarez | 25 | L | 11 | 11 | 0.500 | 0 | 3.00 | 27 | 27 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 201.1 | 821 | 198 | 80 | 67 | 17 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 51 | 5 | 117 | 4 | 0 | 8.9 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 5.2 |
| D.J. | Cheeves | 29 | L | 12 | 8 | 0.600 | 0 | 3.77 | 26 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 186.0 | 782 | 171 | 92 | 78 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 76 | 1 | 120 | 7 | 0 | 8.3 | 0.5 | 3.7 | 5.8 |
| Jeremy | Battaglia | 26 | R | 7 | 12 | 0.368 | 0 | 3.42 | 25 | 24 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 171.0 | 696 | 168 | 75 | 65 | 12 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 44 | 3 | 70 | 6 | 0 | 8.8 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 3.7 |
| Pat | Holmgren | 24 | L | 17 | 3 | 0.850 | 0 | 4.11 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 166.1 | 729 | 194 | 86 | 76 | 16 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 57 | 2 | 137 | 8 | 0 | 10.5 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 7.4 |
| Clyde | Jones | 22 | R | 6 | 6 | 0.500 | 0 | 3.02 | 19 | 19 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 134.0 | 559 | 125 | 57 | 45 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 37 | 0 | 52 | 10 | 2 | 8.4 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 3.5 |
| Steve | Twitty | 25 | L | 9 | 4 | 0.692 | 0 | 3.92 | 16 | 16 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 128.2 | 553 | 114 | 65 | 56 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 73 | 0 | 119 | 15 | 1 | 8.0 | 0.6 | 5.1 | 8.3 |
| Sean | Rasmussen | 29 | L | 4 | 9 | 0.308 | 0 | 7.85 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 83.2 | 424 | 106 | 82 | 73 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 80 | 1 | 65 | 3 | 0 | 11.4 | 0.8 | 8.6 | 7.0 |
| Carlos | Torres | 31 | R | 5 | 6 | 0.455 | 0 | 4.56 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 75.0 | 315 | 88 | 38 | 38 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 43 | 4 | 0 | 10.6 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 5.2 |
| Juan | Santos | 27 | L | 1 | 4 | 0.200 | 0 | 5.53 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 57.0 | 237 | 60 | 37 | 35 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 9.5 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 5.4 |
| Larry | Marshall | 25 | L | 1 | 2 | 0.333 | 0 | 4.06 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 44.1 | 196 | 50 | 22 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 38 | 4 | 1 | 10.2 | 1.0 | 3.9 | 7.7 |
| Angelo | Borbon | 22 | R | 2 | 1 | 0.667 | 1 | 4.29 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 35.2 | 157 | 42 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 10.6 | 0.0 | 2.5 | 5.8 |
| Danny | Perez | 24 | L | 1 | 2 | 0.333 | 0 | 3.13 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 23.0 | 101 | 25 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 9.8 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 5.5 |
| Ramon | Morales | 22 | L | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0 | 9.64 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.2 | 25 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 19.3 | 0.0 | 7.7 | 3.9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
Santos Arango is one of the more underwhelming staff aces but he's not bad, per se. He led the league in complete games last year for the second time in a young career and did wind up 2nd in the NL in ERA as well. All right, I'm convinced. He's good. DJ Cheeves led the league in losses in 1968 but turned around into pitching to a winning record last year. Either year he was basically average. Jeremy Battaglia has managed to stay in the rotation after consecutive losing seasons (5-13 in '68 prior to going 7-12 last year). He's a control artist and his biggest barrier going forward, aside from the inability to win games anyway, is that he tends to tire out after 90 pitches or so.
Clyde Jones might deserve to be a bit further up in the rotation following a solid stint last year (he had a single start in 1968). The Pirates may be a little wary due to the fact that he's played a grand total of 48 minor league games. Rounding things out is another guy who might feel hard done by a low spot; Ernie Alvarez is a year removed from a 15 win season but last year he was only 11-11 and like so many other pitchers on the roster he's more of a pitch to contact guy than someone who will wow you with a big breaking curve or overbearing fastball.
Bullpen
Code:
+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| first_name | last_name | age | throws | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Paz | Lemus | 26 | L | 8 | 14 | 0.364 | 24 | 2.77 | 75 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 65 | 104.0 | 442 | 113 | 37 | 32 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 35 | 3 | 74 | 3 | 0 | 9.8 | 0.4 | 3.0 | 6.4 |
| Eddie | Steinman | 27 | L | 4 | 5 | 0.444 | 5 | 4.08 | 29 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 79.1 | 342 | 88 | 39 | 36 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 32 | 3 | 38 | 1 | 0 | 10.0 | 0.6 | 3.6 | 4.3 |
| Kevin | Kading | 33 | R | 4 | 4 | 0.500 | 0 | 3.56 | 31 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 73.1 | 301 | 59 | 31 | 29 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 31 | 2 | 43 | 1 | 0 | 7.2 | 0.7 | 3.8 | 5.3 |
| Greg | Pollak | 26 | R | 7 | 1 | 0.875 | 4 | 3.71 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 60.2 | 263 | 64 | 26 | 25 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 21 | 1 | 56 | 4 | 0 | 9.5 | 1.5 | 3.1 | 8.3 |
| Bruce | Britt | 28 | L | 2 | 2 | 0.500 | 7 | 3.76 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 55.0 | 239 | 53 | 26 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 1 | 47 | 5 | 0 | 8.7 | 0.3 | 3.6 | 7.7 |
| Andres | Miegge | 37 | L | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 3.56 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 48.0 | 197 | 52 | 22 | 19 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 9.7 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 4.9 |
| Jorge | Cervantez | 24 | L | 2 | 3 | 0.400 | 1 | 4.02 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 40.1 | 171 | 48 | 24 | 18 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 10.7 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 3.8 |
| Vernon | Covington | 29 | L | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0 | 9.00 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 39.0 | 187 | 58 | 45 | 39 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 0 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 13.4 | 2.1 | 4.2 | 6.5 |
| Dustin | Kessler | 31 | L | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 1 | 4.24 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 34.0 | 150 | 35 | 18 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 27 | 4 | 1 | 9.3 | 0.5 | 4.5 | 7.1 |
| Dave | Garcia | 28 | L | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 3 | 1.73 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 26.0 | 110 | 25 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 8.7 | 0.3 | 2.8 | 7.3 |
| George | Rosson | 24 | L | 2 | 1 | 0.667 | 1 | 3.86 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 21.0 | 92 | 22 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 9.4 | 0.0 | 5.6 | 5.6 |
| Eric | Scherer | 29 | L | 2 | 2 | 0.500 | 4 | 8.47 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 17.0 | 82 | 26 | 18 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 13.8 | 1.1 | 3.2 | 4.8 |
| Jon | Vaughn | 28 | L | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 2 | 4.24 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 17.0 | 79 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 8.5 | 0.5 | 7.9 | 5.8 |
| Lamar | Boyce | 27 | R | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 0 | 2.45 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 14.2 | 57 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 7.4 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 6.8 |
| Paul | Harris | 29 | L | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 0 | 5.93 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13.2 | 64 | 14 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 9.2 | 0.0 | 6.6 | 6.6 |
| Jaden | Terrell | 24 | L | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 1.35 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 13.1 | 48 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 3.4 | 0.0 | 2.7 | 8.1 |
| Ryan | Reichel | 33 | L | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 6.75 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12.0 | 58 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 9.7 | 0.7 | 9.7 | 5.2 |
| Aaron | Gebhardt | 25 | L | 0 | 0 | | 2 | 0.96 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9.1 | 38 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 7.7 | 0.0 | 1.9 | 5.8 |
| Juan | del Valle | 26 | R | 0 | 0 | | 1 | 1.59 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5.2 | 25 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 7.9 | 1.6 | 3.2 | 6.4 |
| Omar | Ramirez | 33 | R | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 3.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.0 |
| Zach | Hale | 24 | R | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 6.75 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.2 | 17 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13.5 | 0.0 | 16.9 | 13.5 |
| Gerardo | Vinueza | 33 | R | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 10.80 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 27.0 | 0.0 | 16.2 | 10.8 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
Paz Lemus is a real enigma. He folloqwed up his first All-Star appearance in 1968 with a season which, by the numbers, might have been even better: a 2.77 ERA, 75 games pitched (good for 2nd in the league), and 24 saves. At the same time, he evinced a frightening penchant to melt down every now and then: his 13 relief losses were the worst in baseball last year. This is now a trend: Lemus' records over the last 4 seasons (all of them as a reliever) have been 3-6, 6-16, 7-12, and 8-14. His win totals have been climbing every year at least!
Maybe the long-term answer is to stop using him literally any time the team is within a run from the 8th inning on, no matter how tired he might be. Kevin Kading is a guy who could help with that, although he'll need to be a bit better than league average to convince Pirates management that he's actually better than a tired Lemus. Jorge Cervantez wasn't even average in '69 although he was at least young.
Catcher
Code:
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | bats | age | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| C | Doug | Connally | L | 25 | 121 | 386 | 40 | 97 | 19 | 0 | 11 | 50 | 64 | 5 | 75 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0.251 | 0.369 | 0.386 |
| C | Chris | Campbell | L | 30 | 84 | 278 | 34 | 80 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 48 | 53 | 2 | 44 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0.288 | 0.391 | 0.338 |
| C | Mike | Fenley | R | 23 | 47 | 145 | 16 | 31 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 18 | 19 | 2 | 28 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.214 | 0.305 | 0.407 |
| C | Joe | Laymance | L | 29 | 44 | 134 | 23 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 26 | 25 | 2 | 39 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.194 | 0.335 | 0.366 |
| C | Ben | Doran | L | 30 | 29 | 65 | 9 | 26 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.400 | 0.411 | 0.538 |
| C | Hector | Miramontes | L | 26 | 15 | 36 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.139 | 0.205 | 0.167 |
| C | Andy | Alfaro | L | 25 | 8 | 26 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.192 | 0.400 | 0.231 |
| C | Jonathan | Boggan | L | 33 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.250 | 0.250 | 0.250 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
At 25, Doug Connally is right on the verge of earning a series of All-Star berths. He's got nice pop, he gets on base a lot, and pitchers seem to love him. His backup Mike Fenley is even younger and was drafted in the 2nd round to boot, so he may push Connally for a starting job if the incumbent regresses. The Cards also brought in the Padres' 1969 backup catcher Carlos Hernandez by way of St. Louis (in a separate trade that send platoon 2B Pietro Palmarocchi to the Gateway City); I'd say he provides a veteran presence but to be honest he is a bit of a Grumpy Gus.
Infield
Code:
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | bats | age | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| 1B | AbĂ*lio | Valdivia | L | 37 | 150 | 600 | 77 | 185 | 24 | 1 | 20 | 80 | 42 | 0 | 32 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0.308 | 0.359 | 0.452 |
| 1B | Mark | Meixell | L | 25 | 93 | 353 | 80 | 108 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 50 | 46 | 1 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 5 | 0.306 | 0.386 | 0.431 |
| 1B | Cameron | Jackson | R | 26 | 96 | 257 | 30 | 82 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 49 | 27 | 4 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0.319 | 0.379 | 0.440 |
| 1B | Jerry | Reyes | R | 36 | 86 | 115 | 11 | 32 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 16 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.278 | 0.368 | 0.357 |
| 1B | Sal | Mastache | R | 32 | 30 | 42 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.262 | 0.306 | 0.262 |
| 1B | Danny | Zimdars | L | 24 | 6 | 25 | 9 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.560 | 0.586 | 0.800 |
| 1B | Chad | Shorter | S | 31 | 18 | 26 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.269 | 0.286 | 0.346 |
| 2B | Pietro | Palmarocchi | L | 26 | 89 | 253 | 25 | 57 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 18 | 4 | 50 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0.225 | 0.280 | 0.265 |
| 2B | Carlos | Urbina | L | 26 | 44 | 153 | 22 | 43 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 28 | 21 | 0 | 25 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0.281 | 0.367 | 0.438 |
| 2B | Dwayne | Fraser | L | 24 | 52 | 137 | 28 | 52 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 22 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.380 | 0.445 | 0.526 |
| 2B | Gary | Bender | R | 34 | 11 | 31 | 11 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.387 | 0.556 | 0.839 |
| 2B | Josh | Pascoe | L | 25 | 21 | 23 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.478 | 0.500 | 0.478 |
| 3B | Troy | Carmer | L | 25 | 117 | 478 | 82 | 169 | 25 | 4 | 9 | 81 | 38 | 3 | 81 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.354 | 0.403 | 0.479 |
| 3B | Roberto | Prieto | L | 36 | 127 | 457 | 59 | 128 | 17 | 4 | 9 | 49 | 51 | 0 | 74 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 7 | 0.280 | 0.351 | 0.394 |
| 3B | Gregg | Powell | R | 28 | 80 | 193 | 28 | 53 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 31 | 18 | 2 | 45 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0.275 | 0.333 | 0.456 |
| 3B | Alex | Romero | R | 27 | 63 | 161 | 25 | 51 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 39 | 14 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.317 | 0.361 | 0.460 |
| 3B | Mark | Esbenshade | L | 28 | 16 | 53 | 12 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.340 | 0.453 | 0.528 |
| 3B | John | Daughtry | L | 26 | 10 | 40 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.325 | 0.372 | 0.500 |
| 3B | Eduardo | Dinares | R | 27 | 6 | 21 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.238 | 0.333 | 0.286 |
| 3B | Alex | Flores | L | 25 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.100 | 0.100 | 0.100 |
| SS | Henry | Villar | R | 26 | 134 | 482 | 53 | 124 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 36 | 74 | 6 | 83 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 0.257 | 0.348 | 0.330 |
| SS | Tyler | Webster | R | 25 | 107 | 381 | 50 | 88 | 16 | 4 | 14 | 55 | 58 | 1 | 109 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 0.231 | 0.332 | 0.404 |
| SS | Ki-tak | Kim | L | 26 | 108 | 344 | 58 | 84 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 45 | 54 | 13 | 43 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0.244 | 0.345 | 0.334 |
| SS | Sung-min | Park | L | 33 | 30 | 93 | 12 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 24 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.237 | 0.390 | 0.312 |
| SS | Tyler | Cohen | L | 28 | 33 | 73 | 15 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.274 | 0.376 | 0.411 |
| SS | Luis | Cardenas | L | 27 | 23 | 56 | 4 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.250 | 0.300 | 0.375 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Abilio Valdivia is the veteran first baseman who anchors the Pirates' offense, although unlike some of the older first basemen we've profiled, Valdivia is not a superstar or even a borderline Hall of Fame candidate, barring some kind of amazing turnaround late in his career. It should be said that he's a career .328 hitter; it's just that he's also only played 125 or more games 5 times in his career, as most of the time teams seemed to prefer using him as a pinch hitter or platoon mate throughout his 20s. He did hit .308 with 20 HRs, the latter being the 2nd most of his career.
Henry Villar had a good, solid rookie season with the Pirates, flipping between second and short as needed, and this in turn led the Pirates to ship off the guy he was sharing the position with, Pietro Palmarocchi, to St. Louis in exchange for erratic starting pitcher Aaron Cellini. Villar's hitting profile is closer to shortstop than second but should he stay at the keystone for the entire year he could take home a Gold Glove. He's got A-level range and the only thing that really keeps him from being the best of the best at shortstop is an arm that's merely above average.
Roberto Prieto isn't quite the guy he was when the Pirates traded for him in 1965 but he's still quite good with the bat and gets the job done in the field. As he's in his mid-30s and you can't really ever count on that, Gregg Powell figures to play a fair bit. Powell was used a lot as a pinch hitter last year as it was and his 193 at-bats were a career high. He also, scouts say, fields better than Prieto as well. Perhaps Prieto needs to be pushed a bit in spring training...
Tyler Webster hits for a deceptive amount of power for a shortstop and that changes the game a little bit. Looking over this team there are actually a lot of young players; perhaps Pittsburgh has more going for it than I initially thought. Webster missed a bunch of time last year but isn't considered injury prone yet so the Pirates only have Luis Cardenas, who is a bog standard backup MI, to cover for him.
Outfield
Code:
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | bats | age | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| LF | Justin | Lawson | L | 28 | 138 | 533 | 53 | 153 | 20 | 1 | 13 | 64 | 42 | 3 | 73 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0.287 | 0.347 | 0.402 |
| LF | Jose | Fernandez | L | 25 | 94 | 306 | 67 | 89 | 14 | 2 | 12 | 63 | 61 | 0 | 53 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.291 | 0.402 | 0.467 |
| LF | Justin | Hearl | R | 26 | 68 | 191 | 26 | 46 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 19 | 32 | 2 | 38 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0.241 | 0.346 | 0.340 |
| LF | Brandon | Kane | R | 26 | 64 | 164 | 28 | 43 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 28 | 3 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.262 | 0.371 | 0.335 |
| LF | Dave | Guerra | R | 30 | 45 | 95 | 18 | 29 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0.305 | 0.412 | 0.421 |
| LF | Cody | Miller | L | 26 | 12 | 42 | 8 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.286 | 0.500 | 0.405 |
| LF | Mike | Kelly | R | 24 | 18 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.188 | 0.409 | 0.250 |
| LF | Dustin | Carlson | R | 32 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| CF | Elijah | Johnson | S | 36 | 125 | 487 | 45 | 120 | 15 | 5 | 8 | 46 | 26 | 2 | 65 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 0.246 | 0.287 | 0.347 |
| CF | Mike | Runfola | L | 24 | 88 | 344 | 64 | 103 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 42 | 58 | 0 | 45 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 39 | 7 | 3 | 0.299 | 0.400 | 0.395 |
| CF | Jon | Glynn | L | 24 | 52 | 217 | 45 | 63 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 25 | 1 | 33 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 33 | 4 | 1 | 0.290 | 0.360 | 0.364 |
| CF | Jim | James | R | 24 | 23 | 91 | 15 | 26 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0.286 | 0.340 | 0.385 |
| CF | Roy | Conners | S | 28 | 24 | 68 | 9 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0.235 | 0.284 | 0.265 |
| CF | Carlos | Carrera | L | 24 | 28 | 63 | 6 | 17 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.270 | 0.361 | 0.492 |
| CF | Josh | Pitt | R | 34 | 12 | 46 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0.348 | 0.415 | 0.457 |
| CF | Frank | Menner | L | 26 | 6 | 19 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.211 | 0.250 | 0.263 |
| CF | Devin | Bucciarelli | L | 23 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.300 | 0.462 | 0.700 |
| RF | Brian | Jackson | L | 25 | 145 | 602 | 76 | 167 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 50 | 45 | 5 | 28 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 4 | 6 | 0.277 | 0.325 | 0.354 |
| RF | Carlos | Rodriguez | L | 24 | 94 | 334 | 71 | 123 | 19 | 1 | 8 | 65 | 33 | 0 | 21 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0.368 | 0.428 | 0.503 |
| RF | Miguel | Felix | L | 27 | 65 | 172 | 26 | 44 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 17 | 25 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0.256 | 0.340 | 0.360 |
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Justin Lawson continues to bat in the heart of the Pirates' order mainly due to a great 1966 season that saw him slug 23 HRs, hit .316, and drive in 86 runs. He just plain hasn't lived up to the hype he created for himself since then, averaging 13 HRs (actually he's hit exactly 13 HRs a year every year) and 64 RBI since. 1970 will be a put up or shut up year for him, as the Pirates have several decent outfield prospects who are reasonably close.
Elijah Johnson won his 11th Gold Glove this year almost like clockwork. One might argue that he's no longer worthy of these yearly awards but that's straight up blasphemy: his range still matches anyone's in the NL and his arm was still strong enough to cut down 15 baserunners last year. Offensively he was miscast at the leadoff slot, where he garnered 75 at-bats in 1969, but that's not really his fault so much as it is the fault of a struggling Pittsburgh team trying to force a player's speed into a top pot of the lineup.
Brian Jackson hit .308 in his rookie year of 1968 but slumped to .277 last year. He's still a good fielder but he doesn't have anywhere near the power that justifies keeping him in the lineup at a corner OF position if he's not hitting .300. Justin Hearl will challenge him in 1970; Hearl is an even better fielder than Jackson is (and Jackson is a good fielder) but has even bigger holes as a hitter. That would seem to indicate a victory for Jackson before this spring training battle even starts but, well, that's why you play the games.