Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
May 04, 2003
Sailing Away

Sam Ross Jr. of the Pittsburgh Tribune looks at why the Pirates are so good on the road and so bad at home. His answer is a lack of lefties on the Pirates:


Manager Lloyd McClendon has made much during his tenure about the desirability of left-handed pitchers at PNC Park, to negate left-handed hitters in a ballpark with an inviting right-field porch. Conversely, left field is unusually expansive for right-handed pull hitters.

Last season, the Pirates got 25 starts from lefty Jimmy Anderson, nine from Dave Williams, eight from Joe Beimel and seven from Ron Villone. Although all four had losing records, they kept getting chances, arguably because it was thought left-handers were important.

Now, Anderson and Villone are gone. Beimel is in the bullpen, and Williams continues his comeback from shoulder surgery.

Also, owing to the PNC Park configuration, left-handed power hitting is critical. Having Brian Giles off to a slow start, and then sidelined with a knee injury, has stripped the Pirates lineup of its main left-handed threat.


It's a good theory. Jones is a bit negative about all this; however, if a team is doing well on the road, that's a very good sign.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:12 AM | Team Evaluation | TrackBack (0)