Lambo Leaps Backwards

Remember Pirates Spring Training last year, when Gerrit Cole was clearly one of the better pitchers on the Pirates staff, only to be sent down to the minors at the close of Camp?  Remember people bitching and moaning with words to the effect of "what kind of message is it that the team, in sending Cole to Indy, was clearly not starting the season with the best possible 25 man roster/12 man pitching staff?"

I remember because I was one of the people who was bitching and moaning about it.

Anyway, this comes to mind today with the news that the Bucs are sending Andrew Lambo to Indianapolis and, apparently, awarding the job as left-hand hitting first baseman to Travis Ishikawa.  In some comments I am seeing on Facebook, people are complaining about this, saying Ishikawa is not all that good, and is, at best, a step down from Garrett Jones.  I am guessing that many of the people complaining about this move also complained about the Cole demotion 12 months ago.

Well.

Seems to me, that based upon performance, Ishikawa clearly earned the job. Granted, the Pirates clearly wanted Lambo to win this job, and no one is thinking of Ishikawa as being the Second Coming of Lou Gehrig, or even Donn Clendennon, but if we want baseball to be a meritocracy, which we did last year in the case of Gerrit Cole, then we can't complain about the Ishikawa/Lambo moves.  Travis earned this spot on the big team, just as Lambo "earned" his spot in Triple-A.

The preferred scenario is that Lambo will relax and get untracked in Indy for a month or so, and be here in Pittsburgh by Mother's Day.  I would also not be surprised if the front office makes some kind of deal for another option at first base.  Or, maybe Ishikawa will continue what he has done this spring, and provide the kind of 1B platoon with Gaby Sanchez that will propel the Pirates to new heights.  (We can dream, can't we?)

One can argue that the team did not properly arm themselves in the off-season to fill the first base position, but what cannot be argued, in my mind at least, is that, given what they have and what has transpired in Bradenton, the Pirates made the right call today.

Has Any Team Ever Had Two Guys Named Travis On Their Team At the Same Time?

The questions that confronted the Pirates when Spring Training began are still raging among Buccos fans.

Who will play first base?

Lacking a dominant do-it-all first sacker, the Pirates are planning on a lefty/righty platoon at first this year, and that's fine.  RH hitter Gaby Sanchez, who raked against LHP last year would be one half of the platoon, and Andrew Lambo, he of the 32 minor league home runs in 2013, would be given every chance to be the LH half of the platoon.  He definitely earned the opportunity, and it would be his job to lose.  Trouble is, he appears to be losing it.  He has gone 4-for-42 (.095) at the plate, while non-roster invitee Travis Ishikawa has been lighting it up.  He is hitting .350 (7-for-20) with 3 HR and 6 RBI.

We have gone on and on all Spring by saying that Spring Training stats don't mean anything, but sometimes, they have to mean something, and this appears to be one of those times, when two guys are fighting for the same job.

Let's face it, in the much traveled Ishikawa, the Pirates won't exactly be trotting Lou Gehrig out there to play first, but perhaps both Lambo and the Pirates would be best served if he started the season in Indianapolis and got untracked at the plate for a month or so.

Who is going to play right field?

Everyone's answer, including Neal Huntington's, to that is "Gregory Polanco, starting in late June or early July".  Well, it may work out that way, and I hope it does, but until then, it looks like it's going to be the familiar platoon of Jose Tabata and Travis Snider (hence, the question posed as the title of this post).  Snider is doing pretty well so far: .333, 1 HR, 7 RBI, .851 OPS. Tabata, not so much: .121, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .273 OPS.  That's not just bad, that's downright awful.  Then, there is Jaff, pronounced "Jeff", Decker who is at .250/0/2/.669.  Looks like Snider will get the bulk of the AB to start the season, and I for one am looking forward to what a healthy Travis Snider will do.  Neal keeps telling us it was injuries that hindered Snider's performance last year.  We'll see.

In the meantime, let's hope and pray that Polanco lights it up in Indy for 200 or so at bats and arrives in mid-season ready to tear up big league pitching.

Who will replace A. J. Burnett in the starting rotation?

Like it or not, folks, it's going to be Edinson Volquez, who has already assumed the mantle of Chief Whipping Boy among the horde of Pirates followers.  One thing to remember - he will be the fifth guy in the rotation. Let's face it, the fifth starter on probably 27 or 28 of the 30 MLB teams is usually not all that great.  If he can be anywhere from a game under to a game over .500 in W-L, and an ERA around 4.00, and pitch into the sixth and seventh innings of his starts, I'll take it.  That is what is expected from fifth starters.

And of course, waiting in the wings in Indy, is former #1 draft pick Jameson Taillon (see comments about Polanco above).

Anyway, we will start finding out how it's going to play out one week from tomorrow when the 2014 season opens.  Raise the Jolly Roger!