Pittsburgh Pirates (41-28) vs. Cincinnati Reds (42-28)

June 17, 2013 – 7:10 pm
June 18, 2013 – 7:10 pm
June 19, 2013 – 7:10 pm
June 20, 2013 – 12:35 pm

Great American Ballpark – Cincinnati, OH

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Resources: Pirates Depth Chart | Bullpen Workload | Statistics

The Pirates and Reds – separated by just a half-game in the NL Central – meet again for an important four-game series. Cincy took two of three at PNC Park when they faced each other a few weeks back. There has been some bad blood between the two clubs since last August, with a ridiculous amount of hit-by-pitches on each side. Should be a fun series.

- The Bucs have a new starting shortstop.
- Jose Contreras is with the Indianapolis Indians after signing a minor league contract.
- Reese McGuire, the 14th overall pick in this year’s draft, is expected to sign with the Pirates tomorrow.

Probable Starters:

Game 1 – Francisco Liriano (5-2, 2.36) vs. Mike Leake (6-3, 2.76)

Game 2 – Charlie Morton (0-1, 3.60) vs. Mat Latos (6-0, 3.08)

Game 3 – Jeff Locke (6-1, 2.19) vs. Bronson Arroyo (6-5, 3.27)

Game 4 – Brandon Cumpton (0-0, 5.40) vs. Homer Bailey (4-5, 3.80)

Batting Leaders (Among Qualifiers):

Pitching Leaders (Among Qualifiers):

Opponent Blogs: Better Off Red, Blog Red Machine, Red Reporter

Player to Watch: Charlie Morton, who starts on Tuesday night. He was decent in his 2013 debut last Thursday, but will have to show more his second time out. He’s 4-6 with a 4.27 ERA against the Reds in his career, but you may remember the dominant performance he had on April 15th, 2011 at Great American Ball Park. Morton was so electric that someone edited the GABP Wikipedia page to say he owned the place:

Go Bucs

Via Travis Sawchik of the Trib: manager Clint Hurdle is officially handing over the starting shortstop role to Jordy Mercer, saying that he’ll “receive the lion’s share of work” moving forward.

Hurdle discussed the matter with both Mercer and Clint Barmes, explaining that Jordy “is now the guy.”

Obviously, this is news that Pirates fans have wanted to hear for a long time. Barmes, 34, is considered a defensive value, but hasn’t done anything recently to contribute on offense. He’s hitting just .198/.231/.265 on the year, with just four hits in his last 37 at-bats.

On the other hand, Jordy has been producing at the plate. He’s looked just fine in the field too, even though he isn’t regarded as a great defensive shortstop by some. The 26-year-old Oklahoma State product has started four of the last five games, hitting .438 (7-for-16) in that span.

Mercer has pulled way ahead of Barmes recently, and he’s now officially the starting shortstop.

Pirates:

- Brandon Cumpton will start for the Pirates on Thursday in Cincinnati.

- The Bucs executed their “Rudy” play on Friday night.

- Andrew McCutchen is the only Pirate close to the top of NL All-Star voting – he’s 7th among outfielders (1,319,419 votes).

- The club has been working to sign their 2013 draft picks. The highest draftee to sign so far is second rounder Blake Taylor, who agreed to a $750K bonus this weekend. First round picks Austin Meadows and Reese McGuire have yet to ink deals, but there’s plenty of optimism that they’ll join the organization.

- Jameson Taillon hadn’t pitched since June 4th, but made a strong return on Sunday night.

- Speaking of pitching prospects at Altoona: Nick Kingham was impressive in his Double-A debut on Saturday.

- Pirates Prospects looks at some popular players in the system and when they could be promoted.

Around the League:

- Players across Major League Baseball honored their fathers on Sunday.

- Torii Hunter hit his 300th career home run.

- The Rays are calling up their top prospect, Wil Myers.

- Alex Cobb was hospitalized after taking a line drive to the head on Saturday.

Updated NL Central Standings:

On tap this week:

Go Bucs

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Here are some GIF’s of the best Bucco moments from the past week…

- Gerrit Cole flashing the Zoltan after his RBI single on Tuesday:

- Andrew McCutchen dancing back to second base:

- “Big Yellow” dancing at PNC Park on Saturday afternoon:

Previous Editions:
May 20 – 26
May 27 - June 2
June 3 – 9

The Pirates and Dodgers faced off in the rubber match on Sunday after splitting the first two games of the series. Here are some highlights from today’s game…

- Father’s Day got off to a rainy start, as the game was delayed until 3:00 pm. Gerrit Cole had to wait around a bit to make his second MLB start, but he started quickly and efficiently. He wasn’t overpowering, but still effective: 5.2 IP, 3 runs, 7 hits, 1 K, 0 BB. Cole heavily relied on his fastball again; it’d be nice to see him to start throwing his off-speed pitches for strikes. But he did his job today and picked up his second win in as many starts, becoming the first Pirate to do so since Josh Fogg in 2002.

- Garrett Jones, Pedro Alvarez, and Alex Presley brought their bats to the yard today… Jones (2-for-3) put the Bucs on the board in the first with a two RBI double; Alvarez launched a three-run homer into the bushes in the fifth; Alex Presley smacked a solo shot off Matt Guerrier in the sixth.

- Jordy Mercer, who made his fourth start in the past five days, went 2-for-4 with a run scored. He’s now hitting .400 (10-for-25) since June 4th and looks to be pulling ahead of Clint Barmes at shortstop.

- Overall, the Bucco offense got to Los Angeles starter/$147 million man Zack Greinke, who gave up five runs on eight hits over five innings.

- Starling Marte entered the game as part of a double switch in the sixth inning, so it looks like he’s healthy and ready to go. Clint Hurdle had said that if Marte couldn’t play by today, then he could land on the disabled list.

- Shark Tank today: 3.1 IP, no runs, no hits. Justin Wilson relieved Cole, Mark Melancon pitched a perfect eighth, and Jason Grilli notched his 25th save in the ninth.

- Kudos to all the Pirates fans who made it down to PNC Park this weekend. All three games were sold out.

- All in all, nice series win against the Dodger$

- Four big games coming up in Cincinnati this week with Liriano, Morton, Locke, and Cumpton scheduled to start on the mound. Buckle up.

Pirates (41-28) – Dodgers (29-39)

Win: Cole (2-0)
Loss: Greinke (3-2)
Save: Grilli (25)

BOX SCORE

Go Bucs

At this time last year, James McDonald was dominating on the mound, going 9-3 with a 2.37 ERA in the first half of the 2012 campaign. Now, he’s might not even be a part of the Pirates’ future plans.

He was crushed for eight runs on April 15th; the next day, we wondered what was up with J-Mac. His velocity was down, but he claimed he wasn’t injured. However, McDonald was placed on the disabled list on May 7th with “shoulder discomfort” after getting lit up by the Brewers (7 runs, 8 hits, 5 walks in five innings) on April 30th. That could very well be his final appearance as a Pittsburgh Pirate.

David Manel of Bucs Dugout is reporting some comments from general manager Neal Huntington regarding the future of J-Mac. Here’s what NH said:

At this point, does J-Mac fit? It sure doesn’t look that way, even though the Pirates are on their 11th starting pitcher of 2013 and could use another arm. Going forward with rookie Brandon Cumpton shows how much confidence the Bucs have in McDonald.

Now, there are rumors that players lost respect for him last August:

When James McDonald refused to hit Reds player when Cutch was hit, he lost respect in clubhouse and started his beginning of end w #Pirates

— Colin Dunlap (@colin_dunlap) June 16, 2013

Dunlap confirmed that he heard those rumblings directly from a player, rather than just starting speculation.

The club has 10 days to see if they can trade McDonald before his rehab expires. Should they part ways with the 28-year-old right-hander? It seems like there’s a good chance that they will.

UPDATE: In a rehab start on Sunday night, J-Mac allowed four runs on eight hits over five innings. He continued to struggle with his control, throwing 41 balls on 93 pitches and surrendering three walks. When Neal Huntington rhetorically asked if McDonald fit on the Pirates roster, the GM added, “…that’s a question to be answered ultimately by James McDonald and how he goes about it.” J-Mac certainly didn’t show that he’s worthy of a roster spot with this rehab start, and he won’t have many other opportunities to prove it.

Tough loss at the park on Saturday afternoon.  The Bucs had a chance to win a game started by Clayton Kershaw, but couldn’t quite pull it out.

The Pirates got a run off of Kershaw in the first, thanks to an errant throw by Hanley Ramirez.  After that, the lefty settled in.  He went the next six innings without giving up another run and striking out eight.  The offense couldn’t score off of him, but they worked some long at-bats to get Kershaw’s pitch count way up.  He was at 114 after seven innings, and exited the game.  Truthfully, knocking him out of the game after seven innings is somewhat of an accomplishment and if you can keep the game close up to then, you have a decent chance to come back against the LA bullpen, which has been atrocious.

Brandon Cumpton, making his major league debut, turned in an impressive start.  He struck out the first four batters he faced and held the Dodgers hitless through three innings.  His offense got him the lead in the first, and knowing that runs would be hard to come by against Kershaw, he was tasked with protecting that 1-0 lead.  Skip Schumaker eventually got to Cumpton in the fifth, bringing home the tying run with two outs.  In the sixth, Adrian Gonzalez and Hanley Ramirez figured him out, started off the inning with a double and single, respectively.  Andre Ethier followed with a single that scored Gonzalez from third and moved both runners up a base due to an error in LF by Alex Presley.  Cumpton was pulled in favor of Bryan Morris, who got through the inning, but not before another run was charged to Cumpton.

Morris and Justin Wilson pitched the next two innings, keeping the deficit at 3-1 until the bottom of the eighth.  The inning began with a single and walk, followed by back-to-back strikeouts looking.  That brought up Neil Walker, and the Dodgers made him bat right-handed by bringing in a lefty from the bullpen.  That move didn’t work them, as Walker lined a single into LF to cut the lead down to 3-2.  Tony Watson needed just seven pitches to get through the top of the ninth, and Kenley Jansen was brought in for the bottom half.  He struck pinch-hitter Garrett Jones out looking for the first out of the inning, but couldn’t do the same to Travis Snider.  After falling behind 1-2, Snider crushed a game-tying bomb in the seats, sending the game to extra innings.

Mark Melancon did his thing in the top of the tenth, but the Bucs couldn’t end the game in the bottom half.  After the first two batters were retired, Russell Martin walked.  Neil Walker doubled into the RF corner, and Yasiel Puig made a nice sliding stop to make sure the ball didn’t rattle around in the corner.  He gunned it home and the cutoff throw ended up being way up the line, but Martin was held at third anyway.  That ended up backfiring as Michel McKenry ended the inning two batters later by flying out and leaving the bases loaded.

Vin Mazzaro, not Jason Grilli, came in for the eleventh.  Not sure why Grilli wasn’t used, but Mazzaro sure didn’t held vindicate Clint Hurdle‘s decision.  He not only gave up the go-ahead run, but also gave up another to give the Dodgers a 5-3 lead.  There was a chance to come back against Brandon League in the bottom of the inning, but neither Cutch nor Gaby could come through with two men on.  Sanchez smoked a ball into LF that looked like it could tie the game, but it ended up being right at Schumaker, who made the catch for the final out.

Pirates (40-28) – Dodgers (29-38)

Win: Moylan (1-0)
Loss: Mazzaro (3-1)
Save: League (14)

BOX SCORE

Go Bucs

Entering Saturday, Travis Snider hit just .159 with a .484 OPS in his last 25 games.

Snider had a lackluster at-bat resulting in a strikeout while pinch-hitting in the seventh inning of Saturday’s contest. But just when you want to write him off, he does this…

…tying the ballgame with a solo shot in the bottom of the ninth. Then, he got things started in the bottom of the 11th, showing some serious hustle on an infield single.

Snider has shown flashes of success – he hit .357/.449/.524 in his first 17 games of the 2013 campaign, blasted a pinch-hit grand slam on May 21st, etc. He’s also one of the more clutch hitters on the team (read here and here, via David Manel).

But he also has his share of struggles, just as he’s dealt with over the past few weeks. Sometimes he’ll put a charge into one; other times, he’ll look foolish:

Sometimes, it’s enough to make you wonder if the Pirates should pursue external options for the right field job. But at what point would the Pirates give up on Snider?

His former team, the Toronto Blue Jays, gave up on him rather quickly. He was rated as the seventh best prospect in baseball by MLB.com in 2008. After 835 at-bats as a Jay, he was traded to the Bucs in exchange for Brad Lincoln. Many Toronto fans weren’t pleased with the trade, as they wanted to see Snider live up to his potential north of the border. Blue Jays blogger Tom Dakers said, “I think if he gets 500 at bats, he’ll figure things out.”

Lunchbox is on pace for around 430 at-bats this season; he isn’t showing that he can live up to the hype or that he’s “dripping with power.” But that’s not to say the Bucs shouldn’t be patient with their 25-year-old corner outfielder.

A similar case: Brandon Moss. The Pirates acquired him in 2008 as a part of the Jason Bay trade; Moss was 24 at the time, just like Snider was last July. Their numbers are actually pretty similar…

- After being acquired in 2008, Moss hit .222 with a .712 OPS in 45 games.
- After being acquired in 2012, Snider hit .250 with a .652 OPS in 50 games.
Moss hit for less average but more power, but the two outfielders had a similar opportunity after they were brought to Pittsburgh (Moss had 30 more at-bats).

- In 2009, Moss hit .236 with a .668 OPS in 424 at-bats.
- This season, Snider is hitting .238 with a .668 OPS and is on pace for about 430 at-bats.
If Snider would keep his batting average and OPS over the entire year, he’d be Moss 2.0.

The Pirates pretty much gave up on Moss in 2010. He hit .154 in 17 MLB games, spending the bulk of that season in Triple-A Indianapolis. He was granted free agency in November of 2010. He’s gone on to be a decent ballplayer for the Oakland A’s, and was great during their Cinderella season in 2012 (.291/.358/.596 with 21 HR). Moss is only hitting .225 so far in 2013, but he’s crushed 11 bombs (second most for Oakland). Even though he was only in his mid-20′s, the Pirates let him walk after giving him just 569 at-bats.

These are two different players in two different situations. Snider, who seems to be a smart player and has looked good defensively, still has years of control and could be kept around. But it’ll be interesting to see if they give up on him after a certain point, or at least demote him to a lesser role and seek an upgrade in RF. Should the Pirates be patient with him and see if he can finally reach his full potential?

- Two great stats via @MLBStatoftheDay:

The @Pirates have 11 team shutouts to lead @MLB. The club’s 11 through 67 games are most for the franchise since 1908 team also had 11.

— MLB Stat of the Day (@MLBStatoftheDay) June 15, 2013

For fifth time this season, @Pirates LHP Jeff Locke finished an outing with at least 6 shutout innings and no more than 3 hits allowed.

— MLB Stat of the Day (@MLBStatoftheDay) June 15, 2013

- We wrote about Jeff Locke’s recent success last night. In his last five outings: 1.21 ERA, .186 opponent batting average, 28 strikeouts.

- And who would’ve guessed Locke would be the only pitcher in the Opening Day rotation still standing on June 15th? A new face gets an audition today, as 24-year-old right-hander Brandon Cumpton makes his MLB debut. From Pirates Prospects:

- In four years of Minor League ball, Cumpton went 26-24 with a 3.85 ERA.

- Cumpton’s mound opponent is one of the best in the game: Clayton Kershaw. In his career against the Pirates, Kershaw is 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 42 innings.

Pirates Batting Stats (Table of stats updates daily):

Pirates Pitching Stats (Table of stats updates daily):

With A.J. Burnett unable to pitch on Friday night, Jeff Locke was moved up a day, leaving an opening on Saturday. The Pirates have selected the contract of RHP Brandon Cumpton, who will make his MLB debut at 4:05 pm against the Dodgers.

Cumpton’s profile…
Age: 24
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 198 lbs.
Drafted by the Pirates in the 9th round of the 2010 Draft out of Georgia Tech

In 10 starts for Triple-A Indianapolis, Cumpton went 4-4 with a 3.31 ERA. He’s not overwhelming with strikeouts, but induces plenty of groundouts. His career MiLB stats:

A quick scouting report via Pirates Prospects:

To make room for him on the 25-man and 40-man rosters, LHP Mike Zagurski has been designated for assignment. The 30-year-old reliever posted a 15.00 ERA in six outings.