Hot Stove:  A rundown of each team in the offseason and what they are looking to improve in 2012. 

Pittsburgh Pirates:            The next team in the NL Central (alphabetically) is the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Projected Starting Lineup:

1B            Garrett Jones

2B            Neil Walker

SS            Clint Barmes

3B            Pedro Alvarez

LF            Alex Presley

CF            Andrew McCutchen

RF            Jose Tabata

C              Rod Barajas

Projected Starting Rotation:

Erik Bedard

Charlie Morton

James McDonald

Kevin Correia

Jeff Karstens

Projected Batting Order:

RF            Jose Tabata

LF            Alex Presley

CF            Andrew McCutchen

1B            Garrett Jones

2B            Neil Walker

3B            Pedro Alvarez

SS            Clint Barmes

C              Rod Barajas

The 2011 Pirates started out hot and played well through the break.  They played well enough that they even made trades at the deadline to GET players for the stretch run.  But they slowed down, fell apart, and ended the season with their 20^th straight losing season.  And while a 72-90 season was an improvement, and good enough to finish 4^th, two spots out of the basement in the NL Central, it was still a continuation of a streak of futility that’s almost old enough to buy itself a beer.  The Pirates have a strong core of young players.  Their leaders are back again this season.  Neil Walker led the team in AVG hitting 273 with 12 HR and 83 RBI.  The team leader in HRs and RBI was Andrew McCutchen who hit 259 with 23 HR and 89 RBI.  None of these numbers are fantastic, but they are pretty good.  The Pirates have two guys who can contribute in all categories, even on the base paths (Walker had 9 SBs, McCutchen 26).  They are the young guys who need to contribute and carry this team.  They also have high hopes for Jose Tabata, Alex Presley, and Pedro Alvarez, who have yet to reach the potential the Pirates were hoping for.  But last season those guys only played in 91, 52 and 74 games respectively and combined for 12 HR (4 apiece) and 60 RBI (almost 20 apiece, 21, 20 and 19 respectively).  They are excited for Presley who was able to combine his 4 HR and 20 RBI with a 298 AVG in 215 ABs, but also nervous about his small size.  They feel the opposite about Alvarez who packed on some pounds en route to a 191 season to go with his 4 HR and 19 RBI in 74 games.  Tabata played the most, hitting 266 with his 4 HR and 20 RBI, but also supplied a 349 OBP and stole 16 bags.  He’ll be back in the leadoff spot in 2012, and the Pirates hope a full season of him will give McCutchen and Walker plenty of runs to drive in.  If those three can stay healthy, and Presley and Alvarez aren’t derailed by size, this team can contend with youngsters.  They do have veterans Garrett Jones and Clint Barmes to back them up, not to mention Casey McGehee and Nate McClouth on the bench to provide support.  This is a Pirate team that can swing the bats.  If they do, they could be a threat to finish around 500 this season.

And while last season’s Pirates could swing the bats pretty well, the pitching struggled with consistency.  In all they had 10 different guys start games for them.  And while the numbers weren’t terrible, they weren’t great.  Nobody pitched more than 172 IP.  The best BAA among those starters was 262.  5 of those starters had ERAs north of 4.50.  Kevin Correia led the team with 12 Wins, but that came with a 4.79 ERA.  Jeff Karstens led the team with a 3.38 ERA.  That’s pretty good.  But a lot of it was luck as his BAA was 263 and he ended the season with a 9-9 record.  And not a single Pirates pitcher missed any bats, with Jason McDonald leading the team with 142 Ks.  The Pirates have a lot of youth on their pitching staff, so they are hoping for improvement.  And there were numbers to be excited about.  2 different pitchers had over 10 Wins.  Their staff threw 5 CGs and 3 shutouts.  They hope the addition of Erik Bedard will bring some excitement to their staff, but the risk there is that he is notoriously injury prone.  He started 24 games last season, the most he’s pitched in years.  In 129 IP, he struck out 125 hitters, going 5-9 with a 3.62 ERA.  They hope he can continue to strike guys out, and stay healthy enough to lead this young staff.  If he can, and the young guys grow a little this year, the Pirates could finally break that streak of losing records.

2012 Prediction…The Pirates are young and talented.  They have a strong core in place and are building for the future.  But I don’t think we are quite there yet.  The Reds look really strong this year, not to mention last year’s champs, the St. Louis Cardinals.  I think they will improve, but I don’t think they will contend for either the central title or the wildcard.  And while it’s possible that they have a 500 season, I think having to play both of those teams, plus the Brewers multiple times will come back to hurt their record, as will playing the strong teams in the east.  I’d like to think they have a winning record this season, but I just don’t think so.  Look out in the future, but not the immediate future. 

Up next…St. Louis Cardinals.