Friday news

Tom Gorzelanny has struggled mightily this spring and many believe he should have been sent back to AAA. Today, he made his final start before the team breaks camp. It is difficult to get a grasp on how someone is throwing in Bradenton when you are stuck in an office near Pittsburgh most of the day, but Gorzelanny's final line was encouraging. He allowed 2 earned runs on 4 hits in 6 innings and, much more significantly, walked only 1 while striking out 8. In addition, Dejan states that, "...he rarely was hit hard. Even Chris Heintz's solo home run in the second inning needed a healthy gust of wind to land beyond the left-field fence." All spring, we have been hearing that Gorzo was struggling with his command, but was close. That is why his K/BB of 8/1 today was so encouraging. The Pirates rallied for five runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to win, 5-3.

In other news, the final 25-man roster is nearly complete. Relievers Jonah Bayliss, John Wasdin and Juan Perez have officially joined the bullpen, while John Grabow was added to the 15-day disabled list as expected. Jose Castillo, Nate McLouth and Don Kelly have been named to the Pirates' bench, while Ryan Doumit, Brad Eldred and Humberto Cota will continue to battle for the two remaining spots. Jose Hernandez, Luis Matos and Dan Kolb all lost out on possible jobs. Three weeks ago, I was convinced that all three of these players would break camp with the team. Wasdin and Kelly are surprises to make the roster. Wasdin pitched a perfect 7th inning today to lower his spring ERA to 0.79. Kelly walked and scored in the deciding 8th inning. He is hitting .257 this spring.

Roster updates

The Pirates' roster is becoming more and more clear each day. This is what we know at this point:

C - Ronny Paulino
1B - Adam LaRoche
2B - Freddy Sanchez (Jose Castillo)
3B - Jose Bautista
SS - Jack Wilson
LF - Jason Bay
CF - Chris Duffy
RF - Xavier Nady

SP - Zach Duke
SP - Ian Snell
SP - Tom Gorzelanny
SP - Paul Maholm
SP - Tony Armas Jr.

RP - Salomon Torres
RP - Matt Capps
RP - Damaso Marte
RP - John Grabow (Juan Perez)
RP - Shawn Chacon



That leaves seven open spots. Two will go to relievers, with Dan Kolb, Josh Sharpless, and Jonah Bayliss still in the hunt. I would expect Kolb and Sharpless to prevail, mostly because Bayliss lost some of his spring to an injury. The other five roster spots will make up the Pirates' bench. The only sure thing at this point is Jose Castillo. Other than that, there are many different directions that Jim Tracy could go. Luis Matos, Nate McLouth, Jose Hernandez, Michael Ryan, Ryan Doumit, Don Kelly, Humberto Cota and Brad Eldred all still have a chance. I would like to see Castillo, Matos, McLouth, Doumit and Kelly head north. I don't think Eldred is ready to hit Major League pitching, though he may find his way to Pittsburgh if LaRoche struggles against left-handers early in the season. Doumit should pinch-hit as well as back up catcher, first base and right field, allowing him to play a few times a week. Matos and McLouth should back up in the outfield, with Ryan waiting in Indy should one of those two falter early on. At this point, I would rather see Don Kelly play the role of Jose Hernandez this season. I don't think either are any good; I just like Kelly better. The fact that he is left-handed doesn't hurt either. This is a pretty sad bench.

Outside of Gorzelanny, the starting pitching has been a pleasant surprise this spring. Sean Burnett looks like he is ready to pitch in Pittsburgh again, and I would not be worried if Shane Youman had to make a spot start. Also, Bryan Bullington looked solid during limited action. I was concerned with the lack of starting depth coming into the season. I am feeling much better about that right now. The Pirates should have a few insurance options in the Indianapolis rotation.

NOTES: Juan Perez will likely make the roster out of camp due to John Grabow's injury. Assuming Freddy Sanchez starts the season on the disabled list, Jose Castillo will fill in at second base. Because of this, both Don Kelly and Jose Hernandez might come north at the beginning of April. That is a very scary thought.

ONE WEEK

03/17/2007 Twins 7 - Pirates 3

I finally got the chance to view some Pirates spring baseball this afternoon. Here are some of my observations while watching the game:

• Green baseball caps are dumb.
• Regardless of whether he's any good or not, I like Don Kelly.
• It took a whole 6 pitches before we were told that Don Kelly is Neil Walker's brother-in-law.
• Boof Bonser kind of reminds me of Jimmy Anderson. Except he's a much better pitcher than Jimmy was.
• Why aren't the Pirates wearing green helmets? That must have been too costly. Or maybe after the hats were made, they realized how stupid it was.
• I was thinking Armas was looking pretty good early on. Then Torii Hunter came to the plate.
• Don Kelly could use a sandwich. Or maybe several sandwiches.
• The Pirates' bottom of the 2nd inning started like this: leadoff single, high chopper over the third baseman's head for a single, a pop up that is misplayed and drops in, groundball off the pitcher goes for an infield single. Final result: zero runs. What is this, April 2006?
• Here's a quote from Bob Walk. "Brian Graham has done a heck of a job." Sigh.
• Jack Wilson actually looked like a good number two hitter today. 2-2, 1 BB
• Don Kelly will play the role of Jose Hernandez/Mike Edwards at Jim Tracy's next job.
• With all the Don Kelly references, you might think you are watching/listening to a Pirates broadcast.
• The middle of the order looked very shaky today.
• Masumi Kuwata looks like a guy that was a star in Japan. Five years ago.
• Ronny Paulino looks like he's ready to make the trip to Houston.
• Someone should have told Jason Bay about the "spontaneous" green hat/8-pack promotion. He probably didn't help the cause much during his interview when he said something along the lines of, "I get to keep the hat, I don't know that I will though."
• That looked like a high school game. I think the Twins misplayed 31 flyballs. But the Pirates were kind enough to run the bases poorly so as not to take advantage,
• Brad Eldred is still really big.
• This looked like the same old Pirates game. Waste early opportunities, fall behind 7-1, start to rally in the 9th, bring the tying run to the plate, leave the bases loaded, lose 7-3.

I'm back

Hey folks, sorry for the hiatus. I had prepared all of my excuses about being busy and not having time to post anything, but I will spare you from my sob story.

I have missed some significant happenings during my time away. Most importantly, spring training has begun. As is usual for this time of year, my spirits are high and my smile is quick. Any moment that the sun peaks out from behind the clouds, I boldly proclaim that spring is here and it is time for some infield practice. Then I scoop up the nearest stone and try to play catch with whomever I might be with at that moment. After dodging this hurtling object, he or she must attempt to stay patient, while once again explaining to me that my mediocre high school baseball career ended almost five years ago and to please stop throwing rocks at people. Others may not enjoy this time of year as much I do, but thus far no serious incidents have occurred as a result.

Check back soon for more optimistic previews. Hopefully I will get through the starting lineup before the season begins.