Blogs

HIGH ATOP MT. LEBO – Howdy, folks. Included below in this missive are some thoughts and observations from the week that was…. (A shameless, truncated borrowing from Peter King’s MMQB column).

Yes, back-to-back series loses for the Buccos is not a great way to begin May. But the good news is the Mariners are coming to town – although King Felix is pitching Wednesday – and the Pirates have only three road series in May after holding their head above water on a daunting 10-game road trip. The Pirates need a big month.

But first, about last week …

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PNC PARK – If you really like Rock and Roll and you were around for the 1960s, you’d probably have loved to watch The Beatles during a sound check, or in a recording studio. Better yet, if you studied music, you’d have loved to watch The Beatles become The Beatles in their early years as they performed hour after hour at various clubs in Hamburg.

If you like baseball and wanted to see a similar once-in-a-generation talent early in his career, and you live in Pittsburgh, you probably should have come to PNC Park to watch the great Bryce Harper this weekend. (Yes, at 20, he’s already great). If you bought a ticket for Sunday’s game – Harper was thrown out after his first at bat for arguing a call – Bryce sends his apologizes.

This weekend was my first chance to see Harper up close. This is what struck me….

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HIGH ATOP MT. LEBO – Pirates outfielder Starling Marte has saved his best for first this season.

But should the Pirates save him for later in the batting order?

Marte enters today’s series with Washington (buy a ticket this weekend, folks) with an MLB-best .609 average in the first-inning. I wouldn’t suggest moving Marte out of the lead off spot while he’s on such a first-inning tear. But I do wonder in the medium-, to long-term if it’s the best place for the Pirates’ burgeoning 24-year-old star in a lineup.

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MILWAUKEE – The Pirates entered Wednesday’s series finale at Miller Park having won just seven of their last 53 games played in the building. The run dates back to 2007.

Crazy, right?

I can think of only one other similar house of horrors in major sport. Clemson, which I previously covered before joining the Trib, has never won a men’s basketball game in Chapel Hill, N.C. Never. I believe the streak stands at 0 for 55 now. So, it could be worse #BUCN.

But getting back on point, it really is a dramatic run of futility. So what is it about Miller Park?

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MILWAUKEE – Wandy Rodriguez is really two different pitchers. There’s Wandy at home, and there’s Wandy on the road.

There are platoon splits and then there are Rodriguez’s  home-road, polar-opposite performances.

For his career, Rodriguez has a career 3.40 ERA at home. At home he’s one of the best left-handers in baseball. We saw it last homestand when he was nearly perfect for seven innings against the Cardinals.

Then there is the Rodriguez’s road resume.

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MILWAUKEE – So many good things have happened for the Pirates this April.

They’ve won 15 games in April for the first time since 1992. (And we know how that season ended: with a winning record, the Pirates’ last season with more wins than losses.)

The Pirates have done all this against some of the National League’s best teams, including winning a road series at St. Louis. And before taking down the Cardinals, the Pirates beat Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee in consecutive days. Not bad.

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So about last night …. it wasn’t so great for the Pirates.

Jonathan Sanchez didn’t record an out. He allowed two home runs and was tossed after hitting Allen Craig. They may be his last 17 pitches as a Pirates’ starting pitcher. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said Sanchez will be available in the bullpen today because he threw so few pitches, but with Francisco Liriano ready on May 10 and Charlie Morton and Gerrit Cole not far behind, it’s very possible we’ve seen the last of Sanchez as a starter. A decline in velocity combined with shaky command has led to extremely poor results for Sanchez, who is winless in his 18 starts.

Also in the series-opening loss, Neil Walker required six stitches to close a cut. He could be out for a few days. And for good measure, Hurdle and Jay Bell got tossed.

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We saw the bad version of Francisco Liriano, the guy who loses focus and command at times, in his second rehab start at Double-A last week. Liriano failed to complete three innings and needed 67 pitches to record eight outs.

We saw the good version of Liriano – the version the Pirates need come May - last night in Triple-A.

Against more experienced batters, Liriano did not allow a run over five innings, throwing 59 of his 72 pitches for strikes. Perhaps most encouraging for the Pirates is he didn’t walk a single batter while striking out eight.

He touched 95 mph. (He sat between 90-94 mph with his fastball in his previous start.)

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Brandon Inge was batting .150 in 18 games at Triple-A Indianapolis before getting called up Tuesday to give the Pirates another option against left-handed pitching. The Pirates have struggled against lefties, entering Tuesday the Bucs were batting .169 with two home runs against southpaws.

So what does Inge do?

He authors game-winning hits in back-to-back games in Philly. Not bad. Not a bad lever pull there, Clint Hurdle.

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MT. LEBO – The consensus top pitching prospect in baseball, Orioles’ right-hander Dylan Bundy, went to see Dr. James Andrews on Tuesday.

Other than “I’m from the government and I’m here to help,”  the words “I’m going to see Dr. Andrews” might invoke the most fear of any phrase in the English language.

In case you’re a casual fan, Andrews is one of the top orthopedic surgeons in the country. He specializes in an elbow-ligament-replacement surgery called  Tommy John surgery, that while often effective, still requires a year of rehab and in some cases pitchers are never quite the same (See: Francisco Liriano and Edinson Volquez).

Bundy was the fourth overall pick in the 2011 draft, but was the top talent on some team’s draft boards. The Pirates drafted Gerrit Cole No. 1 that year, and according a Yahoo! report, Bundy’s camp suggested the Pirates not draft him because they were not on board with his throwing program.

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