Harrisons In The News

It was quite a day yesterday for Pittsburgh athletes named Harrison.

First, the bad news.  Pirates second baseman Josh Harrison 

was placed on the disabled list after suffering a broken bone in his left hand when he was hit by a pitch on Sunday.  This is the same bone that was broken last August in the same manner and that ended Harrison's season.  He is expected to be out from four to six weeks.

As I postulated in the space two days ago, the Pirates are a team that can ill afford to lose any of their starters for any length of time, but Harrison might - might - be the one guy whose loss would be felt the least.  A combination of Adam Frazier and Sean Rodriguez will be the tandem that will be expected to pick up the slack in Harrison's absence.

To replace him on the roster, the Pirates recalled infielder Max Moroff from Indianapolis.  Moroff spent time in Pittsburgh last season and accumulated 120 at bats.  Overall, the numbers on the back of his baseball card (to use a Neal Huntington-ism) were not impressive, but as I wrote on The Grandstander last winter, his 2017 progressed in such a fashion that he at least becomes an intriguing guy to look at.

https://grandstander.blogspot.com/2017/10/opening-day-of-hot-stove-league.html

Of course, at this point, we have no idea who will get most of the playing time while Jay-Hey recovers.  Frazier is no doubt first among equals here, but I'm okay if Moroff gets a legitimate shot at it.

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Meanwhile, down at the other end of General Robinson Street, former Steeler James Harrison announced his retirement from football.

A former NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Harrison will go down as one of the all-time greatest Steelers, but his last year here didn't end well.  He was released by the Steelers in December, and after that there was talk that he was disruptive, lackadaisical, and a bad teammate in his final season here.  Plus, he incurred the wrath of irate Yinzer Steelers fans by signing with the Patriots after his release.  I mean, who did he think he was, signing with the hated forces of Kraft-Belichick-Brady?  Like he had a right to try to keep earning a living? (Some Steelers fans need to get over themselves.)  As Art Rooney II said in his annual post season presser, sometimes the final acts of even the greatest players' careers don't often end well.

Be that as it may, as great a player as Harrison was, and he was great, he was not an easy guy to like.  He had a penchant for borderline  and, shall we say, questionable hits, that made you cringe sometimes (and cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines by the League).  He was one of the guys that you like him when he plays for YOUR team, and you hate him when he plays for the Other Guys.  There was also a domestic violence incident back in 2008 that the Steelers looked the other way on (not one of Dan Rooney's finest hours) that cast a shadow over Harrison in the minds of many.

Still, he will be remembered for perhaps the second greatest play in Steelers history, and probably the greatest single defensive play in Super Bowl history.  His 100 yard interception return for a touchdown that was crucial in the Steelers Super Bowl XLIII win over the Cardinals.  If you are a Steelers fan, you never get tired of watching it.

World Baseball Classic, Part II

I stayed up on Wednesday night to watch the USA's 8-0 victory over Puerto Rico in the WBC championship game.  I found it and the previous night's semi-final game to be enjoyable and compelling to watch, and I was especially impressed by the joy of the USA players, and in fact of all players in the WBC, throughout the games.  

It seems that we have become accustomed to watching ballplayers treating a major league game with the same degree of ennui as a guy putting in eight hours at, say, an accounting firm, a bank, or a Highmark sales office.  Yes, it is their livelihood, but it is also a game.  It's supposed to  be fun.  The international players all showed how fun it can be, and it seemed that that sense of joy infected the USA players.  Did you hear Christian Yelich say in the post game interview that this tournament was "the most fun he ever had playing baseball"?

One exception of course was a grumpy statement from Ian Kinsler saying how those international players "don't know how the game should be played".   So, along with his WBC gold medal, give Kinsler a sour lemon to suck on in the clubhouse while he reads the Book of Unwritten Rules.  Too bad he couldn't have demonstrated the same sense of joy that Yelich, Adam Jones, Marcus Stroman and others appeared to have throughout the tournament.  

And then, of course, there were these two guys who rejoined their team in Bradenton today.  They look pretty happy don't they?

Jay-Hey and Cutch

Now that the USA has broken through and won one of these in their fourth try, I suspect that the quadrennial World Baseball Classic is here to stay.  I also suspect that guys like Mike Trout and Bryce Harper and others may be less inclined to disdain the WBC when 2021 rolls around.

The Pirates at the 1/5 Pole

For all you mathematical sticklers out there, I will stipulate that the Pirates, having played 31 games are only at the 19.1% mark of the season, are not exactly at the 1/5 Pole, so please save your comments on that facet of this post at least.

Okay, the Pirates are at 17-14, a pace that would earn them 89 wins (the exact number predicted by The Grandstander, btw), not great, but not bad, and a mark that would certainly have them in contention for at least a Wild Card spot in the post season.  That's the good news.

The bad news is that the Chicago Cubs have a record of 24-6 (which includes a 3-0 series pasting of the Pirates at PNC Park last week), and are seven and one-half games ahead of the second place Pirates.  The pace that the Cubs are currently on (.800) would have them winning 130 games this season.  Certainly, they are not going to remain on that pace over 162 games, and certainly Jake Arietta, 24-1 over his last twenty-five regular season starts, will not maintain that pace either (he really can't, can he?), and 7.5 games can certainly be made up over the next 131 games, but.....

Yep, there's a but, and it revolves around the Pirates starting pitching, which has been, somewhat mediocre this season, and the bullpen, which has been lousy.  A perfect example would be yesterday's performance of Ryan Vogelsong.  With the Pirates having a five run lead over the Cardinals, Vogelsong was brought in to pitch the ninth inning.  He got one out and loaded the bases and had to be relieved.  When you can't get out of an inning with a five run lead, well, that ain't good, folks.

Also, and in the true tradition of Pirates fans, let's dwell on the past for a bit, by comparing departed Buccos to the current guys who have replaced them.

How about new first baseman John Jaso and his predecessor, Pedro Alvarez.

	John Jaso	Pedro Alvarez
AB	106	63
Runs	14	4
HR	3	2
RBI	12	7
K	12	15
BB	11	11
BA	0.302	0.206
OPS	0.841	0.701

Of course, Pedro does not have a comparable number of at bats with the Orioles, but when you look at the BA and the OPS, you'd have to say that Jaso is doing more than an adequate job in replacing Alvarez.  I know what you're going to say, "Let's see if Jaso hits those 27 homers that Pedro did."  Fair point, and Jaso will probably not hit half that number of dingers, but if that average and OPS stay on track, I'll take it.  And while I do not have the defensive metrics at hand, the eye test tells me that Jaso in the field has more than lapped Pedro in that department.

And then there is the loss of the Pittsburgh Kid, Neil Walker.  Josh Harrison has replaced him at second base.

	Josh Harrison	Neil Walker
AB	116	112
Runs	13	14
HR	1	9
RBI	17	19
K	18	24
BB	5	6
BA	0.319	0.259
OPS	0.761	0.806

Hard to make the call on this one.  Harrison is outhitting Walker by sixty points, and has only one fewer run scored and two fewer RBIs despite the fact that Walker has out homered him 9-1.  Walker's OPS is forty-five points higher, they both strike out a lot and don't walk enough.  Using the same eye test that I used above with Jaso and Alvarez, I would say that Walker is better with the leather than Harrison, but not by all that much.  I call this a toss up.

Of course, the real judgment on the Neil Walker trade is the performance of the guy who came here in exchange for him.  Pitcher Jon Niese is currently 3-1 with a 5.94 ERA, 1.68 WHIP, and a BA Against of .309. Right now, that trade is heavily skewed in favor of the Mets.

Some more good news: the Pirates are now 10-8 against NL Central Division teams.  Better than last year, but that record also includes an 0-3 mark against the Cubs.

Oh, and one other statistical anomaly concerning the Cubs.  As of this morning, their 7.5 game lead over the second place Pirates, is greater than the lead of the first place team over the fifth place team in three of the other five divisions.  And take away the terrible Braves and Twins in their divisions, and the fourth place teams in those divisions are closer to first place than the Pirates are to the Cubs.  So much for all the hype over the superiority of the NL Central, competitiveness-wise.

Conclusions?  None to be made at this point.  The pitching has to get better, and Jameson Taillon and Tyler Glasnow are banging on the door with sledge hammers down there in Indy.  Also, someone has to start slowing down the Cubs.  The Washington Nationals, nominally the second best team in the NL had the chance to do so this weekend and went 0-4.  (The Nats, by the way, are now nominally the third best team in the NL as a result.) Is it too much to ask the Pirates to begin that process this coming weekend with that three game series in Wrigley?  It will be right in front of them.

I'm not ready to give up, nor am I ready to concede the World Series to the Cubs at this point, but better pitching from the Pirates and the slowing down of the Cubs need to start soon.

Josh Strikes It Rich!

Last year at this time, there were many, many Pirates fans (and if you believe some media reports, some Bucco front office folks) who didn't think that Josh Harrison belonged on the Pirates twenty-five man roster.  At best, he was the 25th guy on the roster, so who really cared?

We all know what happened last year, and today the team announced that Harrison has agreed to a four year contract extension that guarantees him $28 million and could be  worth as much as $50 million dollars over the life of the deal.  To that, I say, good for Josh Harrison.  I hope that he earns every cent of it.

If you want to really read between the lines here, I am thinking that this spells the end of the Neil Walker Era here.  Not now, but whenever the team's control over Walker comes to an end.  Doesn't look like a long term deal is in the cards for the Pittsburgh Kid.

Let's Hear It For The Boys....

Congratulations go out to the following Pittsburgh Pirates selected to play in the All-Star game in Minneapolis next week.

First, the incomparable Andrew McCutchen, who by virtue of being the leading vote getter among all NL outfielders, becomes the first Pirate to start an All-Star Game since Jason Bay in 2005.

 McCutchen is having a superb season as a followup to last year's MVP season.  In fact, this is the fourth consecutive All-Star team to which McCutchen has been named.  You know what other Pirates were selected to play in four straight All-Star Games?  

Ralph Kiner and Roberto Clemente. 

That's it.  That's the list.

Pitcher Tony Watson, he of the 5-0 W/L, and 0.89 ERA has also been deservedly named to the squad.  There was a time when middle relievers never would have been considered for a spot on an All-Star team, but with the way the game has evolved, and the major role played by "set up men", then there can be no question as to Watson's qualifications.






But the real "feel good" story of the make up of this All-Star team is the inclusion of Josh Harrison, the J-Hey Kid, on the team.

Derided by many, including Yours Truly, as the quintessential "25th guy" on the roster, there can be no denying the important role that Harrison has played for the Pirates in 2014.  While Jose Tababta and Travis Snider struggled in right field (before the Polanco call up), Clint Hurdle, in a seemingly desperate move, put Harrison in right and both he and the team took off from there.  He is currently at .298 on the season with 5 HR, 25 RBI, 33 Runs, and a .788 OPS, and the Pirates can't keep him out of the line-up in one of four different positions.

He has been a real spark plug for the team.  Will water eventually seek it's own level with Harrison?  Maybe,  but until then, the Pirates need to keep riding him, and he has most definitely earned something that can never be taken away from him: He is a Major League All-Star.

One down note is that Neil Walker did not make the All-Star team. I am guessing that the stint on the DL hurt Walker's chances.  Too bad, because he is having a year worthy of being in Minneapolis for the game.

Way to go, Cutch, Tony, and J-Hey!!