Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
March 21, 2006
Pirates Rotation

The Pirates starting rotation is starting to take shape with Oliver Perez getting the nod for opening day and Zack Duke the home opener.

Snell, a prospect comparable to Duke and Maholm before all three were promoted to the majors last season, has been Pittsburgh's most consistent starter this spring with a 1.38 ERA. Tracy wants the hard-throwing Snell pitching between Duke and Maholm because the left-handers are control pitchers who rely on location rather than velocity.

"Both have very similar stuff, stuff that can beat you down on any given day," Tracy said. "But you don't want guys with very similar stuff pitching on back-to-back days."

It's going to be a very young staff, but that worked for Oakland last year. There's lots of upside potential, but lots of potential for high ERAs as well. Can Perez regain the control he showed in 2004? Will a lack of strikeouts hurt Duke and Maholm? I'm glad they're taking a chance with the youngsters instead of going after washed up veterans, but it could easily get ugly.


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Posted by David Pinto at 09:04 PM | Pitchers | TrackBack (0)
Comments

I've always been a fan of Oliver. He did lead the NL in strikeouts only a year ago and the most important thing to remember is that he is still only 23. He also appeared solid for mexico in the WBC. Hopefully he can regain his 04 form.

Duke; i am kinda on the fence about...He was very impressive last year and i was hoping he would remain undefeated. I dont think he is as dominant as Perez can be but he may have better command.

These 2 and Jason Bay could be the beginning of big things for the pirates...

too bad they low-balled Oliver Perez, Jack Wilson (and i think duke too) with thier contracts, giving them all the league minimum...

Posted by: tony flynn at March 21, 2006 09:43 PM

Not to nitpick, but they didn't low ball Jack Wilson. He just signed a 3 year deal that he initiated. His agent tried to talk him out of it since he'd be a free agent next year, but Jack said he wanted to stay in Pittsburgh. Bully for him!

As for Oliver, they did the same thing last year to Oliver and Jason Bay. At least in the short term it turned out to be a good decision. Jason has since signed a 4 year deal, so he apparently had no bad feelings about it.

I can't really say whether Oliver is sore about his contract offerings. It wouldn't surprise me if he is dealt before the season is out though. They've got too many lefties right now, with 3 on the major league roster and 2 more at AAA ready to come up (Burnett and Gorzelanny). There isn't enough room for all of them. Depending on how everybody performs, I think they would look to trade one of them, most likely Perez for a long term solution for right field.

Posted by: Rick Meyer at March 22, 2006 10:06 AM
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