Will the Pittsburgh Pirates make the playoffs this year?

Ummm this is a big no for me but I would love to see them do it.

"Ray Finkle wrote:

Ummm this is a big no for me but I would love to see them do it.

Pirates = best pitching staff in MLB., streaky hitting team, young team that loves to play BASEBALL, great unity. The Pirates are playing about .500 baseball. What is not to like ?

"CashInFist wrote:

Pirates = best pitching staff in MLB., streaky hitting team, young team that loves to play BASEBALL, great unity. The Pirates are playing about .500 baseball. What is not to like ?

There not even close to the best pitching staff in baseball.

Die hard Pirates fan here and I say no. Though I have been pushing the idea with my friends that they should go after Reyes at ss. With their pitching doing as well as it has it would be nice to bring a good bat into one of their weaker spots to try and make a push. Perhaps get a solid hitting vet to play either first base shortstop or right field and show the fans that they(management) care a little now that they are playing good ball.

They're not ready yet and are nowhere near the best pitching staff in the NL.

"CashInFist wrote:

Pirates = best pitching staff in MLB., streaky hitting team, young team that loves to play BASEBALL, great unity. The Pirates are playing about .500 baseball. What is not to like ?

There's no way they're even close to being the best pitching staff in the MLB, and this is coming from a big Charlie Morton fan too. Look I'd love to see Pittsburgh win the NL Central but you got to be realistic, they just don't have the talent some of the other teams like the Cardinals and Brewers have.

"CashInFist wrote:

Definitely yes for me.

The Pirates will make the postseason this year. What do you all think?

How about a Cleveland vs Pittsburgh World Series?

I hate that MLB has forced me into some Catch-22. I REALLY want small market teams to do well because they have to be PERFECT to compete with the big boys.

But every time a small market team has some success, MLB points to it as a reason to not change the current system.

The way things are, even when small market teams have success, their fan base is so turned off from the years and years of losing that the 2-3 year window of success isn't enough to keep the fans going. I have to image that even with record profits, the current model is going to break in the near future. Television contracts changed the game and it is getting out of hand.

/rant

I would enjoy seeing Pittsburgh lose to Atlanta in the NLCS but they have some work to do. I think Charlie Morton is pretty good too. Pretty impressive how effectively he's copied Roy Halladay's delivery on the mound. Not many better guys to emulate. That Nate McClouth trade is looking a lot better for Pittsburgh these days.

As my old man says, "The sun doesnt shine on a baseball season until mid-August"......

I'll check back then....but crap bro I would like to see them do it...why not?

Not even close.

Best staff in the MLB? They'd be like, 4th in just the NL East alone.

I don't know but I sure hope so.

Cutch was named to the all-star team tonight during the game, which got a standing ovation.

"TheAnswer385 wrote:

Cutch was named to the all-star team tonight during the game, which got a standing ovation.

He should have already been there.....It was a joke he wasnt orignally named to go..........

"TheAnswer385 wrote:

Cutch was named to the all-star team tonight during the game, which got a standing ovation.

That dude is like Jose Reyes..but with heart.

Most exciting baseball player in MLB imo.

Yea, he definitely should have been in earlier. One of the best in baseball right now.

"TheAnswer385 wrote:

Cutch was named to the all-star team tonight during the game, which got a standing ovation.

That is good news. He definitely deserves it. Now if Tommy Hanson would get named to the team all could be right in the NL universe. For the most part.

kevin correia got in today

"TheAnswer385 wrote:

kevin correia got in today

I'm sure he's a good pitcher but him over Hanson is a joke. A guy with an ERA of four. Seriously? Was he another stellar Bruce Bochy selection?

"muscle979 wrote:

I'm sure he's a good pitcher but him over Hanson is a joke. A guy with an ERA of four. Seriously? Was he another stellar Bruce Bochy selection?

I'm pretty sure when a pitcher is replaced on the roster the next highest vote getter at that position goes in automatically. The rules changed a few years ago when Joe Torre took a bunch of Yankees that weren't really deserving so the MLB offices stepped in and now the players and coaches vote on who they think should go. But yeah as you can see even having the players and coaches voting doesn't always get the right/most deserving guys in.

"muscle979 wrote:

I'm sure he's a good pitcher but him over Hanson is a joke. A guy with an ERA of four. Seriously? Was he another stellar Bruce Bochy selection?

I think Jeff Karstens deserved it more than Correia.

2.55 ERA is sick...Karstens deserved to be in the All-Star game as much as any pitcher in the NL deserved to.

"CashInFist wrote:

I think Jeff Karstens deserved it more than Correia.

2.55 ERA is sick...Karstens deserved to be in the All-Star game as much as any pitcher in the NL deserved to.

This is Jeff Karstens we're talking about right? And no he didn't deserve to be on the team as much as anyone nor did Correia especially over someone like Tommy Hanson. Sure the 2.55 ERA looks nice (Hanson's ERA is even better anyway) on the surface but both Karsten's and Correia's advance stats don't match their performance to date and Karsten's other stats besides the ERA (which isn't a great indictor of pitcher performance anyway) aren't All Star level or even close to it. Karsten's WAR is at .1 which means he's barely a replacement level player while Tommy Hanson is at 2.2 and Hanson's other stats (normal and advance are much better than Karsten's).

Karsten is due to a big regession in the 2nd half ERA wise, I mean 17 home runs allowed in less than 100 innings? Yeah I'd chalk up Karsten's ERA to simply luck (his FIP is .467 and xFIP is .382 which are more advance stats used to measure ERA which includes things out of the pitcher's control like defense and ballpark factors). Basically a good way to look at Karsten is to think about what happened with Charlie Morton recently and that's what's going to happen to Karsten, only worse, who doesn't have the stuff or talent as Morton does.

"Ray Finkle wrote:

This is Jeff Karstens we're talking about right? And no he didn't deserve to be on the team as much as anyone nor did Correia especially over someone like Tommy Hanson. Sure the 2.55 ERA looks nice (Hanson's ERA is even better anyway) on the surface but both Karsten's and Correia's advance stats don't match their performance to date and Karsten's other stats besides the ERA (which isn't a great indictor of pitcher performance anyway) aren't All Star level or even close to it. Karsten's WAR is at .1 which means he's barely a replacement level player while Tommy Hanson is at 2.2 and Hanson's other stats (normal and advance are much better than Karsten's).

Karsten is due to a big regession in the 2nd half ERA wise, I mean 17 home runs allowed in less than 100 innings? Yeah I'd chalk up Karsten's ERA to simply luck (his FIP is .467 and xFIP is .382 which are more advance stats used to measure ERA which includes things out of the pitcher's control like defense and ballpark factors). Basically a good way to look at Karsten is to think about what happened with Charlie Morton recently and that's what's going to happen to Karsten, only worse, who doesn't have the stuff or talent as Morton does.

LOL...You need to eat some crow.

How do you like Jeff Karstens now? Complete game shutout...

I'm right.

"Ray Finkle wrote:

This is Jeff Karstens we're talking about right? And no he didn't deserve to be on the team as much as anyone nor did Correia especially over someone like Tommy Hanson. Sure the 2.55 ERA looks nice (Hanson's ERA is even better anyway) on the surface but both Karsten's and Correia's advance stats don't match their performance to date and Karsten's other stats besides the ERA (which isn't a great indictor of pitcher performance anyway) aren't All Star level or even close to it. Karsten's WAR is at .1 which means he's barely a replacement level player while Tommy Hanson is at 2.2 and Hanson's other stats (normal and advance are much better than Karsten's).

Karsten is due to a big regession in the 2nd half ERA wise, I mean 17 home runs allowed in less than 100 innings? Yeah I'd chalk up Karsten's ERA to simply luck (his FIP is .467 and xFIP is .382 which are more advance stats used to measure ERA which includes things out of the pitcher's control like defense and ballpark factors). Basically a good way to look at Karsten is to think about what happened with Charlie Morton recently and that's what's going to happen to Karsten, only worse, who doesn't have the stuff or talent as Morton does.

I don't see how anyone that watches MLB regularly could ever take you seriously again...

"CashInFist wrote:

LOL...You need to eat some crow.

How do you like Jeff Karstens now? Complete game shutout...

I'm right.

It's July 16th right now, come back at the end of the year and let's talk about Jeff Karstens. He pitched a good game, it was against a terrible Houston line up but he pitched a good game none the less. Still, what you don't seem to realize or even acknowledge is that besides his ERA none of his other stats (regular or advance) are any good nor match his low ERA. Let's not even mention his stuff or talent (which isn't good either).

I'm pretty confident he's not going to keep this up. But hey laugh all you want on July 16th, I'll be around when the season ends and we can talk about him more. Hey if he keeps it up I'll be more than happy to admit I'm wrong (it's happened many times before and I always admit it when I am) but I hope if/when Karstens turns back into a pumpkin you'll be here to own up to it too.

"CashInFist wrote:

I don't see how anyone that watches MLB regularly could ever take you seriously again...

Right.... because I don't think Jeff Karstens is very good hurts my credibility?