We are 35 games into the 2018 Major League Baseball season, the Pirates sit at 19-16, third place in the NL Central, and 2 and 1/2 games behind the Cardinals. Way better than I thought that they would be at this point. Starting pitchers have all accumulated six or seven starts by now, and hitters have accumulated over 100 at bats. Time to look at some of the stats and play my pal Len Martin's favorite game. "How Are All the Ex-Pirates Doing?" I'll also take a look at how the current Pirates are doing. All statistics are through the games played through May 6.
First, let's look at this interesting comparison.
| G | AB | H | HR | RBI | BA | OPS | |
| Corey Dickerson |
32
|
124
|
39
|
5
|
24
|
0.315
|
0.888
|
| Andrew McCutchen |
33
|
114
|
28
|
3
|
14
|
0.246
|
0.765
|
Left fielder Corey Dickerson is the guy who replaced Andrew McCutchen in the Pirates lineup. There can be little argument as to who has been the better player thus far. It cannot be quantified in numbers, or at least I can't quantity it, I'm sure advanced SABRmetricians could, but it just seems that Dickerson is getting hits when the Pirates really need them. It should also be noted that since I last ran these numbers, back on April 14, McCutchen is picking it up just a bit. Back then, he was hitting only .214 and had a .647 OPS. It will be interesting to follow these two as the season progresses.
Here is the total picture for the Ex-Buccos. Since last time, I have added Francisco Liriano to the mix.
| Hitters | G | AB | H | HR | RBI | BA | OPS | |||
| Neil Walker |
25
|
90
|
17
|
0
|
8
|
0.189
|
0.504
| |||
| Pedro Alvarez |
30
|
78
|
16
|
7
|
14
|
0.205
|
0.811
| |||
| Andrew McCutchen |
33
|
114
|
28
|
3
|
14
|
0.246
|
0.765
| |||
| Russell Martin |
22
|
76
|
11
|
4
|
9
|
0.145
|
0.615
| |||
| PITCHERS | G | IP | W-L | ERA | WHIP | K | BB | HR Allowed | Sv/Sv Opp | BA Against |
| J.A. Happ |
7
|
41.2
|
4-2
|
3.67
|
1.08
|
53
|
11
|
7
|
0.218
| |
| Gerrit Cole |
7
|
50.2
|
3-1
|
1.42
|
0.69
|
77
|
9
|
3
|
0.151
| |
| Charlie Morton |
7
|
41.2
| 4-0 |
2.16
|
1.03
|
46
|
17
|
5
|
0.178
| |
| Tony Watson |
15
|
15.2
|
1-1
|
0.57
|
0.89
|
17
|
3
|
0
|
0.200
| |
| Francisco Liriano |
6
|
36.1
|
3-1
|
2.97
|
1.07
|
26
|
16
|
3
|
0.187
| |
| All stats through May 6 |
My $.02.....
- We always hear what a genius Ray Searage is. If that is true, then who is the Astros' pitching guru? So far, he's getting results out of Cole and Morton that Searage never even approached.
- Pedro Alvarez is what we thought he was. A guy who can hit home runs but can't hit. He has found his niche with the Orioles as a platoon DH. Only four of his seventy-eight at bats came against left handed pitching. (FYI - he went 1-for-4, with a HR and 2 K's)
- Is Neil Walker, at age 32, done as a player?
And now the current Buccos.
| Hitters | G | AB | H | HR | RBI | BA | OPS | |||
| Josh Harrison |
14
|
57
|
15
|
1
|
5
|
0.263
|
0.679
| |||
| Gregory Poanco |
32
|
121
|
25
|
6
|
18
|
0.207
|
0.741
| |||
| Starling Marte |
35
|
136
|
38
|
5
|
16
|
0.278
|
0.819
| |||
| Josh Bell |
35
|
130
|
31
|
2
|
17
|
0.238
|
0.661
| |||
| Corey Dickerson |
32
|
124
|
39
|
5
|
24
|
0.315
|
0.888
| |||
| Colin Moran |
31
|
97
|
27
|
2
|
15
|
0.278
|
0.774
| |||
| Francisco Cervelli |
28
|
93
|
28
|
5
|
22
|
0.301
|
0.950
| |||
| Jordy Mercer |
32
|
113
|
27
|
1
|
8
|
0.239
|
0.636
| |||
| Adam Frazier |
32
|
92
|
24
|
2
|
5
|
0.261
|
0.654
| |||
| Sean Rodriguez |
23
|
51
|
8
|
3
|
6
|
0.157
|
0.617
| |||
| David Freese |
24
|
48
|
13
|
3
|
9
|
0.271
|
0.845
| |||
| Elias Diaz |
16
|
39
|
15
|
2
|
6
|
0.385
|
0.967
| |||
| PITCHERS | G | IP | W-L | ERA | WHIP | K | BB | HR Allowed | Sv/SvOpp | BA Against |
| Jameson Taillon |
7
|
36.2
|
2-3
|
4.42
|
1.28
|
30
|
11
|
4
|
0.254
| |
| Ivan Nova |
7
|
42.2
|
2-2
|
4.01
|
1.22
|
35
|
6
|
6
|
0.269
| |
| Trevor Williams |
7
|
41.0
|
4-2
|
2.63
|
1.10
|
26
|
18
|
3
|
0.193
| |
| Chad Kuhl |
7
|
39.1
|
4-2
|
4.12
|
1.30
|
36
|
12
|
7
|
0.264
| |
| Steven Brault |
8
|
31.1
|
2-1
|
4.60
|
1.31
|
21
|
16
|
3
|
0.223
| |
| Joe Musgrovew | ||||||||||
| Felipe Vazquez |
13
|
13.0
| 1-0 |
3.46
|
1.38
|
15
|
6
|
0
|
6/6
|
0.235
|
| Michael Feliz |
16
|
14.0
| 0-1 |
3.21
|
1.21
|
19
|
6
|
1
|
0
|
0.208
|
| George Kontos |
16
|
15.1
|
2-3
|
4.11
|
1.37
|
4
|
5
|
2
|
1/1
|
0.271
|
| Tyler Glasnow |
8
|
16.1
| 0-1 |
7.71
|
1.71
|
23
|
12
|
1
|
0.246
| |
| Nick Kingham |
2
|
12.1
| 2-0 |
2.92
|
0.65
|
16
|
1
|
2
|
0.159
| |
| Kyle Crick |
10
|
8.1
| 0-0 |
3.24
|
1.44
|
13
|
4
|
1
|
0.235
| |
| Stats through May 6 |
Some observations...
- Four starting pitchers have ERA's over 4.00. That's a concern. One of those guys. Steven Brault, has been moved to the bullpen and has been replaced by Nick Kingham, who has looked good in two starts.
- Since I last did this on April 14, Gregory Polanco has had 1 HR and 3 RBI.
- Of the guys obtained for Gerrit Cole, Colin Moran has been a solid player at third base, Michael Feliz has been a pretty good set-up reliever, Joe Musgrove is still on the DL and has yet to make an appearance, and minor league outfielder Jason Martin is, presumably, somewhere in the Pirates minor league system. Cole is an early Cy Young Award candidate. The jury is still out on that trade.
- David Freese has proven to be a very good bench guy.
- If I had to select the "Pirate to Make the All-Star Team" today it would be Francisco Cervelli.
Will check back in on all of these guys in another month or so.
Josh Bell needs to be taken out of the clean-up slot. He has 2 homers! That is decidedly last in all of the ML. He's a young player, agreed. But a drop to fifth or sixth in the order may be in order. And what purpose does Sean Rodriguez serve? He is the sixth highest paid player on the team, really? What is this love affair management has with him? He's pretty much an automatic out. And please, his defense is not worth his pay. Thanks for the piece, Bob. JIM
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