BleacherCoaches.com

Weekly Pirates chat. 

Pirates are playing Opening Day in Wrigley today.  

II’m a little nervous because the Cubs lineup is way too explosive to continue to be as poor as they have.  I hope they have one more down week before they start to heat up.  I was impressed with the weekend that Josh Bell had...can he be the power bat the Pirates have so desperately lacked?  Can Jung Ho Kang turn his early season struggles around or does Colin Moran need more of a look?  Finally, can the starters continue to be dominant through 5 or 6 innings?  Here’s looking forward to a successful series in the Windy City.  Let’s go Bucs!

Cubs are also 2-7 with a run differential of -9.  I think the Pirates have the best pitching staff in baseball.  As much as I can't stand this ownership and front office, you have to give them credit where credit is due.  They have the deepest starting staff in the big leagues when you consider they have Brault, Kingham,  Keller, and even Liriano to lean on if they have a few injuries. The back end of their bullpen feature a plus set-up man (Kela) and plus closer in Vazquez.  My big question is the 7th inning but I do think Rodriguez and Burdi are serviceable.  There aren't going to be many days that the Pirates are walking into the ballpark without the better pitchers available than their opponents. 
I'm not sold on the lineup.  Maybe Kang can hit 25 hrs.  Maybe Cabrera can pretend its 2015. Maybe Bell can finally reach his power potential. Maybe Dickerson can replicate last year and add some power.  Not many certainties.   The good news is, they will be able to win without scoring 5 or 6 a night.  Overall, I think it is time for Pirates fans to come out of the woodwork because I think they have as good of a shot at the Central as any team.  Everything went right for the Brew-Crew last year and their pitching came along much faster than anticipated.  I don't foresee that replicating to quite that extent.  Cubs really haven't done anything to add to their pitching staff or lineup since the world series and I see them as the 4th best team in the central.  Reds appear to already have thrown in the towel.  Cardinals have a deeper lineup than the Pirates but not as deep of a pitching staff.  End of the day, if I were to want to have a question mark on my team, I would much rather it be with the batting order than the pitching staff.

I think Kyle Crick is really good too. 

As we say this, our best pitcher gets chased and we forgot how to play defense....

* - Kevin Newman forgot how to play defense. 

Crimson's Ghost wrote:* - Kevin Newman forgot how to play defense. 

True, 3 errors in an inning by one guy for the first time since like 1901 for the Pirates.....

But how hot is Melky right now. Already 2-2 today.

Clutch hit by Moran with RISP. It may be time for him to get some more consistent at bats...if only his glove wasn’t so awful. Still, Kang has looked really bad at the plate. Disappointed in Kela’s start to the season. I still think he has good stuff and will be ok as the season goes on. Another good start from Williams and another bomb from Bell are both good signs. Good win against a team I think is a World Series contender.

If they could only play 7 innings, they'd be world champs.