Results tagged ‘ Steve Pearce ’

…And They’re Off

On Friday afternoon, the Pirates set sail on their 2011 season albeit on some unusual competition, the State College of Florida Manatees. They also faced off against Rays on Saturday and Sunday, here are my thoughts.

Friday vs SCF Manatees W 21-1

-Don’t really know what you could take from a game against a junior college team but I’ll try my best.

-Steve Pearce had a really good game at the plate. He’s doing a lot of work at third base this spring. It would be a big lift if he could take some of the pressure off Pedro Alvarez at the hot corner this season, especially since Pearce hits well off lefties and El Toro has shown struggles.

-Corey “Wimbo Slice” Wimberly has got some serious speed and potential. He may not make the team for Opening Day but I’m sure we’ll see him at some point in 2011.

-Awesome seeing prospects such as Chase d’Arnaud and Gorkys Hernandez do their thing. Don’t get to see the minor leaguers all that often except this time of year.

-Garrett Atkins had a 3 run HR. He’s one to follow this spring as well, as he’s a part of the competition for a bench spot.

-Though the webcast was low-quality, I still had a blast taking in the game with a lot of the other bloggers and super-fans of the team.

Saturday vs Rays L 9-5

-The competition for the 5th spot in the rotation got underway. Charlie Morton pitched two innings, allowing one hit and no runs. He was aided by two double plays. Brad Lincoln didn’t fare as well. He got out of a jam in the 3rd, getting a strike out and a pick-off of Sean Rodriguez on 2nd base to end the inning. In the 4th he wouldn’t be as lucky, as Evan Longoria hit a home run off of him. Round 1 goes to Morton, but it is a very long spring.

-Daniel McCutchen didn’t have good stuff at all. Allowed a bases loaded double, and threw just 5 of his 13 pitches for strikes. His future with the team was up in the air before the season, and this first outing didn’t help.

-Lyle Overbay is such an upgrade defensively at 1B over Jones and Doumit. What worries me is his offensive ability.

Sunday vs Rays W 10-3

-Andrew McCutchen had a big game, going 3-3 with a HR off James Shields. He also had an RBI double and a stolen base. A lot of people in baseball think this will be Cutch’s breakout season. However, I don’t like Clint Hurdle batting him 3rd in the order. The team would benefit a lot more with him and Tabata as a 1-2 punch causing havoc on the basepaths for the middle of the order.

-Kevin Correa had a tough opening start. He only pitched 1.1 of his 2 scheduled innings after reaching his pitch limit. He allowed 2 ER on 2 hits and 2 walks. He was thought to be a lock for the rotation, but if he can’t find the control the Pirates will have to look at other options.

-From the obscure ex-Pirate files, there were Jonah Bayliss and Chris Bootcheck sightings as both pitched for the Rays. Boy I though our options were bad.

The Pirates are beginning their first full week of Grapefruit League play this week. I hope to have a week and review post Sunday night. Until then happy Spring Training

Posted on February 28, 2011 at 3:16 pm
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Tags: andrew mccutchen, Brad Lincoln, Daniel McCutchen, Jose Tabata, kevin correia, Pirates, Rays, SCF, spring training, Steve Pearce

Garrett Atkins: What You Need To Know

The Pirates continue to throw more players into the pool of potential contributors with the addition of Garrett Atkins, who was signed to a minor league contract last week. Let’s take a look at what the Pirates have acquired.

Garrett was drafted in the 5th round of the 2000 draft. His first full season was in 2005 where he hit .287 with 13 HR and 89 RBI. The next year would be his breakout season, and his best of his career where he hit .329 with 29 HR and 120 RBI. His power to the gaps and patience was also very good as shown through his .965 OPS. Though his numbers in 2007 and 2008 weren’t as good, they were still decent as he would average 23 HRs and and a .285 AVG.

However in 2009 his numbers tailed off dramatically. He hit just .226 and had just 9 HR. The Rockies non-tendered him and the Orioles took a chance on him in 2010. After putting up abysmal Ryan Church-like numbers hitting .214 with 1 HR before being released in June.

The coincidence behind Atkins’s good years and the Pirates? He performed well under Clint Hurdle.

However you shouldn’t go around thinking that just because the two are back together, that Atkins will be back as a middle-of-the-lineup force. He won’t be a starter. He will most likely be a key part of the now depleted Pirate bench. The Pirates are just hoping to get a little extra out of him by reuniting him with his former manager.

Atkins seems to fit a similar role as another Pirate from past years Steve Pearce. After showing promise against lefties, Pearce’s season was derailed with an injury. The addition of Atkins seems to thwart any chance of a comeback and I expect Pearce to be left off the roster.

This is a shame. In the few times I’ve met him Steve has been a great guy. He has always been one of my favorite players despite his underground standing with the team. Unfortunately in this business, being nice doesn’t guarantee success. We’ll just have to see how the roster shakes out.

Posted on December 27, 2010 at 11:53 pm
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Tags: free agent, garrett atkins, Pirates, Steve Pearce

Piratefest Day 1

The day had finally come. Piratefest 2010 was upon us. Immediately after school i met up with my dad and brother and we were off to the convention center. However despite getting there nearly an hour before the 4 PM start time we were greated by this…

It was a line of 300 or so people that had already formed. They were here to see Bill Mazeroski who would be singing autographs for the early entry hour. In past years the crowd would be half the size.

Shortly after 4PM I had made my way into the Convention Center hall and in a short amount of time was waiting in another line to get my autograph. After what seemed like an eternity (but really one hour to be exact) I had made my way to the front of the line.

Here is the man himself signing my lithograph of his famous home run. On everything he signed, i noticed he put a little footnote like “HOF ’01″ or, in my case, he put “10-13-60″ which is the date he hit one of the greatest home runs in baseball history.

Along with Maz, Steve Pearce (red shirt) and Joel Hanrahan (black shirt) were signing.

I’ve always been a big fan of Steve Pearce. Maybe it’s the fact that he walks from his apartment on the North Side to PNC Park on gamedays, or that he got yelled at by a coach because he was talking to us rather than stretching with the team when we watched BP on the field last year. He’s a class act and it was a thrill to meet him. Im also a fan of Joel Hanrahan so getting both of their autographs was nice.

Soon after, I headed here…

The lost treasures area is chock full of game used jerseys, lineup cards, bats, and other miscellaneous things. I was determined to get a Pearce or Ohlendorf jersey but that hope came to an end with the price tags. All 2009 jerseys started at $200!! There was no way I would do that. Instead I found some other cheaper options including an Ian Snell Puerto Rico and John Grabow USA jerseys from the WBC last year. In the end I bought a 2008 Bryan Bullington jersey for $50.

The certificate certified that it was game issued rather than game used, meaning that he wore it while riding the pine in the bullpen. The fact he was taken over the likes of BJ Upton, Cole Hamles, Prince Fielder, and Ryan Howard in the 2002 draft have made him a symbol of all that has gone wrong the past 17 years. This jersey is my claim that I was around for the Dark Ages when the team finally turns things around.

Next I checked into the MVP zone. Since this was the early entry day for season ticket holders, it was packed. Charlie Morton, Daniel McCutchen, and Paul Maholm were inside signing. After getting them I heard a security person say Lastings Milledge was on his way. I immediately got back in line. After another 30 minutes….I made it

Andy LaRoche (who hasn’t met him?)….

And former Pirate (and pitt basketball broadcaster) Dick Groat accompanied him. The MVP Zone was much more crowded than in past years so the wait was long. My legs were tired so I stopped by the stage as the Q and A with the front office was about to begin. Unfortunately, the same old questions were asked and Neil and Frank were giving the same answers (Don’t these people read the news?) After hearing a question about missing out on Miguel Angel Sano for the fourth time I decided it was time to browse some more.

I came upon the radio booth and Extra Innings host Rocco DeMaro was preparing to do an interview with Andrew McCutchen.

Rocco is a great guy to listen to and hearing the interview was a real treat. After it was over, Cutch, along with security, was heading over to the MVP zone. I got back in line and after a 40 minute wait his signature was mine.

Ryan Doumit (who is probably my least favorite player) accompanied him. While waiting in line we got to meet Tim Nevrett. He is a great guy and we had a nice conversation with him. (Crappy pic quality courtesy of my cell phone).

The lines were dying down at the games so we did a full round in a short amount of time. We then left what was arguably the most productive day of Piratefest I ever had. Here are some other random pictures to leave you with.

The Maz Statue model