World Series CXV Coming Up

CXV?

Well, if you haven't figured it out, that is the Roman numeral for 115, and I just thought that it would be fun if I gave the upcoming Astros-Nationals World Series a bit of NFL-style pretentiousness.

Actually, I cannot recall an MLB post-season that I took less interest in than this current 2019 edition.  I attribute that to two factors.  One, I was out of the country during the Wild Card and Division Series rounds, and even through some early LCS games.  That made it hard to follow what was going on, much less watch and closely follow the games.  And, two, the total buzz-kill that was the performance of the Pittsburgh Pirates throughout the second half of the baseball season, followed by the clown show firing of Clint Hurdle and the retention of Chief Clown GM Neal Huntington killed a lot of the interest that I have always had for the sport, so, thank you for that, Bob Nutting and the Best Management Team in Baseball.

Even last night, with an elimination game being played in the ALCS, I opted instead to watch the Penn State-Michigan football game in spite of the presence of two extremely unlikeable coaches on each sideline.  When that game was over, I switched to the baseball game, saw that the Astros were up 4-2 after seven and opted to go to bed.  Of course, I know now that I missed a very dramatic ninth inning wherein the Yanks tied it in the top half, and Jose Altuve went "Bobby Thomson" and won it in the bottom half to secure the pennant for the Astros.  That, of course, was my loss, but I did take great satisfaction in seeing that Aroldis Chapman got to play the role of Ralph Branca in this little drama.  Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Still, the World Series is, after all, the WORLD SERIES, and I will look forward to watching this one.  The fact that both teams boast three-deep strong starting pitchers (Scherzer-Strasburg-Corbin vs Verlander-Cole-Grienke) make this an intriguing match up, so I am looking forward to watching this 115th edition of the Fall Classic.

You want a prediction?  I'll go with the Astros in six games, and a Series MVP Award for Gerrit Cole.  

I'll be rooting hard for Cole to shine in this Series (as he has all season long), if only to make GMNH look even more the fool when he tells us how great Joe Musgrove and Michael Feliz are and what value their metrics add to the Pirates.  Even Mrs. Grandstander, who wasn't a fan of Cole's when he was a Pirate, is rooting hard for him in the Series so as to make the Pirates look like chumps (as if THAT notion needs further reinforcement).

So there you have it.  As always, watch, but don't bet.

Buccos and Ex-Buccos

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.