Great series by the Pirates, knocked the Red Sux out of first! Looking a lot better than when I saw them at Cleveland. What are they going to do with D'Arnaud when Alvarez returns?

Just got back from the game. It's been a long, LONG time since I've seen the excitement around Pittsburgh for the Pirates that I've seen so far in this series. Yes, there's a lot of Boston fans there and yes, they are mouthy...until the game starts. It's fun knowing they spent all this money getting here, staying here, eating here, and LOSING!! They do seem very entitled. I've even noticed more people wearing Yankee gear just to get under their skin.

In an ideal world, D'Arnaud keeps staying hot and when Alvarez comes back he's forced to move to first and Overbay is out. But Overbay has been hot this series after getting benched in the Baltimore series. Pedro isn't coming back till around the All-Star break, so lets just see what D'Arnaud can do for a couple of week stretch.

2 games over .500 and 3 games out of 1st! Who would have believed it!!

LETS GO BUCS!!

d'Arnaud could end up being the starting SS.

We'll have to see. He made a lot of errors last year at Altoona but I think did better at that position this year.

Alvarez will probably move to first base eventually but maybe not next year. Alvarez at third. d'Arnaud at shortstop and somebody else at first base.

Cedeno has a $3 million club option. If d'Arnaud shows he can play SS, I wonder if they might get rid of Cedeno.

One thing I noticed about this years team after seeing them in person, they have a lot of team speed.

GoPens;814073 wrote:One thing I noticed about this years team after seeing them in person, they have a lot of team speed.

These last two games the defense has reminded me of the early 90s teams with Jay Bell, Chico, Bonds, Van Slyke, etc.

Particularly on Friday with Maholm pitching. The Red Sox were hammering balls but the outfielders did a nice job getting good jumps and tracking them down.

Alex Presley, who is expected to be called up for the Toronto series, has good speed as well. 19 for 22 SBs this season and he's had a lot of triples in the minor leagues.

Starling Marte appears close to being promoted from AA to AAA. Also very fast and considered an elite defensive player.

An outfield of Tabata, McCutchen and Marte would be incredible in terms of athleticism and speed. Just wonder if there will be enough power.

OSU alum Eric Fryer will start at catcher today for the Pirates. His MLB debut.

LHP Andrew Miller vs. RHP James McDonald in the series finale at 1:35 p.m.

Marte is SLOWLY developing power. Think he has 4 homers at AA unless he's hit one in the last couple days. But that will take a little longer. He's still young and did miss a substantial portion of last year with injury. But overall, McCutchen is the only one with real power at the moment.

The guys at Bucs Dugout noted that with Tabata, D'Arnaud and McCutchen at the top of the line-up, the Pirates have team speed to rival about anyone.

The infield situation, for the first time in forever, is turning into a good problem. Harrison showed promise when he was up (and I think he's expected to be called back up in a few days), D'Arnaud has a lot of potential, Wood (while still not good) is at least showing the ability to hit the ball better than he has previously in his career. There's actually enough depth, where when someone gets sent down or DFA'd, we'll be thinking..."Well, would have liked to see him up here, but there's just not enough room."

The only real problem with the team is that lack of power. Their "power" guys are more doubles hitters than home run producers. And before going on the DL, Pedro was NOT hitting for power on the occasions he was hitting. But I don't think anyone's on pace for more than 21 or so homers.

There's no evidence of this but my own prediction is that Tabata will develop power at some point.

I just have a feeling because of his build, good eye and plate awareness. I could see him hitting 20 HRs in a few years.

If he is legitimately 22 years old, that's a lot of time before he reaches 25-27.

Cutch could be a 30 HR guy because of his bat speed.

Marte maybe 15. He only has 4 HRs at Altoona but the extra-base hits are coming more regularly now.

They maybe should take a look at Chris Davis from Texas. He is currently at AAA Round Rock. He's a destroyer down there but hasn't panned out at the MLB level. Only 25 years old and a first baseman.

Tabata gets hurt in the 1st. Thought I heard it was a quad. It's amazing how well the Pirates are doing despite all the injuries to the team--especially at catcher. Hope Tabata isn't out very long.

Sloppy game today. Too many walks and errors.

Pirates lose the finale but still take 2 of 3 from Boston.

39-38 heading to Toronto on Tuesday.

They took 2 out of 3 against Boston......I'll take it.

What's the latest on Tabata?

Taken off on a stretcher but walked out of clubhouse on his own with a noticeable limp. Presley probably coming up tomorrow. If Tabata goes on the DL then they can bring Harrison back up.

Tonight starts the Toronto series. Lyle Overbay and his .230 average return to Toronto, while the Pirates renew acquaintances with Jose Bautista and his MVP-caliber numbers. I'd be pissed at management if Bautista had shown anything above "barely competent on a good day" while with Pittsburgh.

I try to be positive about this series but the Pirates interleague road game record is abysmal.

First MLB game and Presley hits a 2 run homer. 2-0 Bucs!

Back to 2 games over .500! Bucs break a 14 game interleague road losing streak beating the Jays 7-6! Corriea hits double digits in wins with 10. Last time that happened to a Pirate pitcher before the All Star Break...Bob Walk.

Buccos get the W.

That's what's up.

I've been begging for them to call up Presley ever since I realized that Ciriaco was wasting a roster spot that someone with talent could be using. So, I'm really happy he justified that with a 2-5, 1HR, 3RBI performance in his 2011 debut.

That was a rough game. Toronto with 4 HRs.

Credit Veras big time for getting the line out double play in the 7th and then working a perfect 8th to settle things down.

They're 40-38. Even if they lose the last two in Toronto they'll be 40-40 on July 1st and with interleague play behind them.

Non;817679 wrote:That was a rough game. Toronto with 4 HRs.

Credit Veras big time for getting the line out double play in the 7th and then working a perfect 8th to settle things down.

Especially rough for heart rates. They're up 7-4. Watson gives up back-to-back home runs to the "Former Cincinnati Connection" (Patterson, Encarnacion) to make it a one-run game. Then Resop gets one out while loading the bases and I'm thinking...EPIC COLLAPSE TIME. Fortunately, Veras changed all that.

Last night was disappointing in a big way, but if they win tonight, it'll be a winning record in interleague play for them, which is always a very big pleasant surprise.

Heretic;818814 wrote:Last night was disappointing in a big way, but if they win tonight, it'll be a winning record in interleague play for them, which is always a very big pleasant surprise.

Agreed.

Pirates win, Cards win, Reds resting, Brewers lose their 3rd in a row, 4 teams within 2 games, it could be an interesting 2nd half especially with Pujols out.