Blogs

By Dejan Kovacevic | Trib Total Media

Morning, Lunatics …

>> No column today because of the Stanley Cup playoffs forcing us to flip schedules because I’ve been assigned to the Penguins throughout the run.

>> We will, however, have the weekly chat that was pushed back from yesterday. It’ll be at noon right here on the blog. Hope to see you in there.

>> The Pirates will never lose again.

At least that’s how they’re performing at the moment, despite an offense that ranks 19th in runs, 20th in OPS (the vital on-base plus slugging percentage stat), and a defense that ranks 17th in UZR (the equally vital Ultimate Zone Rating).

None of those should lead to one of the National League’s three best records.

But that’s why they say pitching is the name of the game, right?

The starting pitchers haven’t gone deep but have been mostly fine while on the mound, with a 3.61 ERA that ranks 10th. That’s largely to the credit of A.J. Burnett, Wandy Rodriguez and, of late, Jeff Locke, Francisco Liriano and even Jeanmar Gomez.

And yet, all of the above pales next to the bullpen, which ranks No. 1 in just about every category, notably a 1.14 WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) and 161 strikeouts. That, of course, is mostly due to nothing less than brilliance from Jason Grilli and Mark Melancon.

The relievers have been superlative beyond adjectives, and that’s a credit not only to the pitchers but also to all who acquired (Neal Huntington et al) and are instructing them (Ray Searage et al). Going above and beyond to this degree is never a player-only operation.

Beyond the tangibles, they’ve also shown a team toughness with all the comebacks and close victories, a credit not only to Clint Hurdle but also to the clubhouse leaders.

This team, basically, is A.J. in that regard …

I obviously haven’t seen much of the Pirates directly because of the hockey duty, but I continue to have grave concerns about the sustainability of any of what we’re seeing, and I think that’s perfectly reasonable given the above. I’m especially worried about the heavy usage of Grilli and Melancon. And I’d note, too, that including the rain-caused short start yesterday, the Pirates are now 13-11 when the starter goes less than six innings.

That’s just nuts.

For one, they’ve now had more starts of less than six innings (24) than with six or more (23). No team wins like that over a full summer. None. Even the 2012 Pirates were far better in this area, with 117 games of six-plus, 65 games of less than six.

For another, almost every team’s record is bad in games where the starter goes less than six innings. The 2012 Pirates were 22-43 in those games, 57-60 when they went six-plus. And the bullpen was pretty good last year, too.

All of this sounds like a comeuppance is due, in some form or other. The advanced statistical site FanGraphs does projected standings based on a variety of factors, and right now it’s got the Pirates going pretty much .500 the rest of the way (58-57). I’m having even a hard time with something that promising, if only because this team basically has yet to have a meaningful injury other than Neil Walker’s couple weeks out and the loss of James McDonald, who probably wasn’t long for the rotation, anyway.

But we’ll see.

And again, that shouldn’t take a sliver of credit away from this team being 11 games over .500 on the 23rd of May. It’s impressive, to say the least.

Next up are the Brewers, Reds, Angels, Tigers, Braves, teams a lot tougher than what the Pirates just faced, and it should be a telling stretch in terms of sustainability.

>> Let’s clear this up: Liriano is not pitching for a guaranteed $1 million this season, as I’ve been reading and hearing a lot lately. There was a $1 million risk to his signing, but only if one operates under the absurd assumption that his broken non-pitching arm never would have healed.

Here are all contract details as reported on the team’s official site, confirmed elsewhere.

Put simply, the moment Liriano joined the rotation — three starts ago — every single aspect of the full contract kicked because the broken non-pitching arm, the only injury specified in the deal, has healed.

Thus, he’ll earn roughly $4 million this year guaranteed, and what’s more, he’ll vest an option for next year at anywhere between $5 million-$8 million. For those who don’t know, vesting means the contract kicks in automatically. Yes, there is a club option to the terms, but that’s overridden by the vesting.

Liriano’s been incredible through three starts, and his performance, if sustained, would very much warrant the above money. But let’s not make it out to be some $1 million bargain. It isn’t. Liriano is now assured of making about $12 million over the next two seasons.

>> Joe Starkey’s column, moved to today, looks at the Penguins’ historic offense in advance of Game 5 tonight. Much more on the club on this morning, too, including this Gary Bettman interview by our Rob Rossi.

>> The Steelers sounded excited about their new blocking scheme, according to Mark Kaboly, who loves to write about the trenches.

>> Hope to have you in the chat!

By Dejan Kovacevic | Trib Total Media

Looking ahead to first pitch …

Game: Pirates (28-18) vs. Chicago Cubs (18-27)

Starters: RHP Jeanmar Gomez vs. RHP Edwin Jackson

Time: 12:35 p.m.

Site: PNC Park

TV, radio: Root Sports, 93.7 The Fan

Here’s the official live box score.

Here’s the Pirates’ lineup …

1. Starling Marte, CF
2. Travis Snider, LF
3. Andrew McCutchen, CF
4. Garrett Jones, 1B
5. Neil Walker, 2B
6. Michael McKenry, C
7. Pedro Alvarez, 3B
8. Clint Barmes, SS
9. Gomez, RHP

Here’s TribLIVE’s Pirates page. Rob Biertempfel is covering.

By Dejan Kovacevic | Trib Total Media

OTTAWA — Morning, Lunatics …

>> The Thursday column off Game 4 asserts that the Penguins maybe, just maybe asserted themselves at long last in these playoffs.

Here’s video of some of my conversation with Kris Letang afterward, including the column’s money quote that pretty much wrote the ending …

And here are Tomas Vokoun, Jarome Iginla, James Neal and Sidney Crosby all in one …

Here’s our full team coverage, by Rob Rossi and Josh Yohe.

And here’s the full highlights package from NHL.com.

>> There will be no chat today. I’d never pull off an hour of wi-fi during the drive home from Syracuse, which was our overnight stop last night on the trek home.

Anyway, the chat will be Friday at noon.

Your understanding is appreciated.

>> If you haven’t seen Paul MacLean’s press conference last night on the Senators’ side, be sure to set aside 22 seconds of your day for it. Tremendous.

>> LaMarr Woodley piped up for the first time since … well, it’s been a while.

I could spend this entire blog entry and the next dissecting all that he said and how it doesn’t sound as if his nothing’s-wrong attitude has changed, but I’ll instead applaud him for apparently reporting for the Steelers’ OTAs a little lighter and in quality shape.

Although that’s kind of what’s expected.

>> The Pirates got another superlative start from Francisco Liriano.

>> Mostly out of commission today because of the drive, which actually will begin shortly after this very filed is shut down for the night!

By Dejan Kovacevic | Trib Total Media

OTTAWA — Looking ahead to faceoff …

Game 4: Penguins vs. Ottawa Senators, Stanley Cup playoffs, second round

Series: Penguins, 2-1.

Time: 7:40 p.m.

Site: Scotiabank Place, Ottawa

TV, radio: NBC Sports Network, CBC (Canada), RDS (Quebec), WXDX-FM 105.9

Here is the official live box score.

Here is TribLIVE’s Penguins page. Rob Rossi, Josh Yohe and I are covering.

By Dejan Kovacevic | Trib Total Media

Looking ahead to first pitch …

Game: Pirates (27-18) vs. Chicago Cubs (18-26)

Starters: LHP Francisco Liriano vs. RHP Jeff Samardzija

Time: 7:05 p.m.

Site: PNC Park

TV, radio: Root Sports, 93.7 The Fan

Here’s the official live box score.

Here’s the Pirates’ lineup …

1. Starling Marte, LF
2. Travis Snider, RF
3. Andrew McCutchen, CF
4. Garrett Jones, 1B
5. Neil Walker, 2B
6. Russell Martin, C
7. Pedro Alvarez, 3B
8. Jordy Mercer, SS
9. Liriano, LHP

Here’s TribLIVE’s Pirates page. Rob Biertempfel is covering.w

By Dejan Kovacevic | Trib Total Media

OTTAWA — Morning, Lunatics …

>> The Wednesday column compares the Penguins to a molecule and other such weirdness, but it also has some pretty candid talk from mega-intense Kris Letang.

Welcome your feedback, as always, but I’d also like to ask: Which player is your key to Game 4?

And to extrapolate a bit, let’s go a bit past Tomas Vokoun here. That’s obvious.

>> Here’s our full team coverage from practice yesterday, by Rob Rossi and Josh Yohe.

One of those pieces is about the imminent return of Jussi Jokinen, interviewed right here …

>> If you missed my follow-up interviews off the Tuesday column about Jarome Iginla and Dan Bylsma’s usage of Iginla, the videos of my questions yesterday afternoon are right here.

>> My TribLIVE Radio show podcast yesterday included discussion of the power play, of the Pirates’ challenge in reining in A.J. Burnett and of the Steelers’ challenging in weighing LaMarr Woodley.

>> Travis Snider’s grand slam and Jason Grilli’s 35-pitch save carry the Pirates past the Cubs. Rob Biertempfel reports from PNC Park.

>> Farewell to Max Starks, total class act and a big — literally — part of the Steelers’ success the past decade. He’s bolting for the Bolts.

>> Mike Tomlin’s message to the Steelers on first day of OTAs: Shut up. Alan Robinson reports.

By Dejan Kovacevic | Trib Total Media

OTTAWA — The Penguins’ practice didn’t reveal lines, but a couple things became eminently clear: Jussi Jokinen will be back for Game 4 tomorrow. Brenden Morrow left the session early and might not play. And Dan Bylsma still doesn’t have a compelling reason for not using Jarome Iginla on the power-play point.

At least not with the first team. Iginla and Paul Martin worked points with the No. 2 unit.

I asked Iginla his thoughts on that …

And I asked Bylsma a few minutes later for his …

I appreciate the thought process, but that strikes me as a little more fear-driven than necessary for a power play built of such world-class talent. You don’t adjust for an opponent when you’re that loaded.

Besides, even if the Senators pressure the points — and they do — that’s what you want. You want to have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin benefiting from more room to work down low.

Anyway, I’m working on something else entirely for tomorrow’s column. Just wanted to kind of follow up on all this for you, given what I wrote this morning.

By Dejan Kovacevic | Trib Total Media

Looking ahead to first pitch …

Game: Pirates (26-18) vs. Chicago Cubs (18-25)

Starters: LHP Wandy Rodriguez vs. RHP Matt Garza

Time: 7:05 p.m.

Site: PNC Park

TV, radio: Root Sports, 93.7 The Fan

Here’s the official live box score.

Here’s the Pirates’ lineup …

1. Jose Tabata, RF
2. Neil Walker, 2B
3. Andrew McCutchen, CF
4. Garrett Jones, RF
5. Russell Martin, C
6. Pedro Alvarez, 3B
7. Gaby Sanchez, 1B
8. Clint Barmes, SS
9. Rodriguez, LHP

Here’s TribLIVE’s Pirates page. Rob Biertempfel is covering.

By Dejan Kovacevic | Trib Total Media

OTTAWA — Morning, Lunatics …

>> The Tuesday column wonders why the Penguins even bothered to acquire Jarome Iginla if they aren’t going to use him properly.

How do you feel about Iginla’s usage?

Would you rather see James Neal get preference?

Looking forward to your feedback in the comments below.

Here’s the rest of the Trib’s team coverage from yesterday’s off day.

And here’s video of some of their media session …

>>The TribLIVE Radio show today — 1-2 p.m. — will come with an opening rant on the power play, which hasn’t been nearly as good as the numbers would suggest, plus a visit from Trib hockey writer Josh Yohe and, of course, the local Twitter treasure @suckmeter offering the Suck of the Week.

To listen, just click on the link above. It’s free, easy, no signup. One click, and we’re on. If you’ve got an iPhone, iPad or Android, we’ve got the upgraded TribLIVE Radio app. Also free and easy and everything else.

I want you involved, too.

Email: sportstalk@tribweb.com

Call: 412-320-7925.

>> The Pirates open a series tonight against another powerhouse, the Cubs.

>> The Steelers open OTAs today with a good chance to study the draft crop.