Can the Young Bucs Make An Impact? Pittsburgh Pirates 2007 Season Preview

The Steel City is proud place with a blue collar work ethic, and residents have immense with their sports teams. Baseball heroes such as Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemenete, Bill Mazerowski, and Dave Parker once donned the black and gold, and made the city into a winner; however, but for the last two decades, fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates have had little to cheer about.

Although the city has had a new ballpark, PNC Park, built within the last few years which is considered one of the best in the game, fans have not had the opportunity to see a winning product. The Pittsburgh Pirates have endured 14 losing seasons, but the team is blessed with young talent like Jason Bay and Freddy Sanchez, so hope may be on the way.

Hopefully under the tutelage of manager Jim Tracy, the Pirates can turn the tide and get one step closer to being a viable contender in the National League.

The team did usher in a few changes with Mike Gonzalez and Sean White being traded, as well as Jeromy Burnitz becoming a free agent, while the team acquired Tony Armas as a free agent and received slugger Adam LaRoche in a trade.

The starting pitching for the Pirates in 2007 will be very young, with exception of veterans Tony Armas and Shawn Chacon. The rotation for the moment will consist of Ian Snell, Zach Duke, Paul Malholm, Tom Gorzelanny or perhaps Shawn Chacon or Tony Armas having some role in the rotation. As well, the Pirates have plenty of young arms in the organization to call up from the minors if anyone struggles.

The top of the rotation will probably be occupied by Ian Snell as he won 14 games last season with an ERA of 4.74. 2006 was his first full season in the majors, and he indeed did go through some growing pains, but overall was solid. He’ll need to work on giving up less runs and being more effective in tough situations, but if he progresses, Snell will be one of the better young pitchers in baseball.

Zach Duke will be slotted for now as the number two starter as he was 10-15 with a 4.47 ERA. He broke out in ’05 with an 8-2 record and an ERA under 2, but last season, he regressed and fell into the sophomore slump. However, he’s only 24, and very much has a bright future ahead of him; therefore, if Duke can recapture some of the magic he had in ’05, he’ll take the Pirates a long way.

Other young starters in the rotation will be Paul Malholm who was 8-10 with a 4.76 ERA, also his first full season, and Tom Gorzelanny who was 2-5, but managed a good 3.79 ERA. Both guys will only be 24 entering this upcoming season, but they have a lot of upside. If Gorzelanny & Malholm pitch to their potential, the Pirates might have a young rotation in a couple of years that may be the envy of baseball.

The Pirates have a lot of options as to who will be the 5th starter. Veterans Shawn Chacon and Tony Armas, Jr. are the candidates to occupy that spot, and perhaps have a more prominent role in the rotation if the young pitching struggles in ’07. Chacon got traded to the Pirates after saving the ’05 season for the Yankees, but in ’06 got hammered in the Bronx. He was 7-6 last season, but with an ERA north of 6 and he will need to get himself in order. He’ll be a big question mark going into ’07 and the team hopes he can rediscover his ’05 campaign.

Tony Armas came to the Pirates as a free agent after many years with the Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos organization. While he was a solid starter, Armas struggled mightily with injuries and record below .500 for his career. He’s always had the ability to break through, but at this point, it’s a question of when or if it will ever happen.

For a young team, the Pittsburgh bullpen was very solid, and should continue to be heading into 2007. The one big difference in the bullpen is that stud closer, Mike Gonzales who recorded 24 saves was traded to Atlanta for Adam LaRoche; however, Salomon Torres saved 12 games last year when Gonzales fell to injury, and finished with a 3.28 ERA last season. Torres will probably be the closer for now.

Another potential closer may be Matt Capps who won 9 games in 2006, made 85 appearances and had an ERA of under 4 in his rookie year, but for now will be the setup man. Also in the bullpen will be youngsters Damaso Marte, Josh Sharpless, Shane Youman, Marty McLeary, & John Grabow.

The offense for the Pirates was devoid of power for most part, and the Pirates spent the winter looking a power bat, and eventually got one with Adam LaRoche, although they had to part with young pitcher, Mike Gonzalez.

The infield is set up with the aforementioned Adam LaRoche at first base, Jose Castillo is at second, Jack Wilson is at shortstop, and National League batting champion Freddy Sanchez is at third. As mentioned, Adam LaRoche came via trade from the Atlanta Braves to the Pirates and gave the team the power bat they needed to support Jason Bay. LaRoche hit 32 homers and drove in 90 runs to go with a .285 batting average, and if he keeps up his steady improvement and doesn’t regress, he’ll be a well-needed offensive threat for the Pirates.

Second base will be covered by Jose Castillo who had a solid year batting .253 with some pop as he hit 14 homers and drove in 65 runs in ’06. Jack Wilson will play shortstop this year and he batted .273, but only drove in 35 runs in 142 games. Hopefully, he’ll improve his offensive output, though he’s not known for his power at all. The Pirates should be decent up the middle in the infield, though both men were not as solid in the field as they have been in the past. However, but they should bounce back and improve defensively.

The wild card in the infield will be Freddy Sanchez. He won the batting title with a .344 average and drove in 85 runs. He hit .291 in ’05, and his batting average jumped almost 50 points the season after; therefore, realistically, his average might go down. However, if he can remain as productive next season as he was in ’06, the Pirates certainly have a future superstar in the making.

Backing up the infield will be Jose Hernandez.

The outfield will be manned by Jason Bay in left field, Chris Duffy in center, and Xavier Nady in right.

Jason Bay is a potential superstar in the making, as he was solid and by far the team’s top offensive threat as he hit 35 home runs, drove in 109 runs and had a batting average of .286 last season. The Pirates should expect Bay to keep up his numbers and be productive for the Pirates. He’ll be the focal point of the offense, so the Pirates should he does not get injured.

In center field will be speedy Chris Duffy who hit .255, drove in 18 runs, and stole 26 bases in only 84 games. His backup will be Nate McLouth.

In right field will be Xavier Nady who had a solid 2006 season with the Pirates as he batted .280 with 17 homers and 63 RBIs. He’s not the threat Jason Bay may be at the plate, but he should be good for close to 20 homers, 70 RBI and a .260-280 batting average for the Pirates.

Jose Bautista may be a dark horse to win an outfield position, or at least get playing time in a platoon, as he hit 16 homers and drove in 51, but only mustered a .235 batting average and struck out 100 times. He had a .335 on base percentage, but needs to improve his plate discipline. Jody Gerut may also be a backup for the outfield.

The everyday catcher will be Ronny Paulino who was impressive at he finished with a .310 batting average and with a .360 on-base percentage. He’s got a strong arm, but made quite a few errors as a catcher, but he helped out a young staff immensely. Backing him up will be Ryan Doumit and possibly Humberto Cota.

In the end, the Pirates certainly may not have enough to be a contender in a weak National League, but they have enough young pieces in the organization to build a franchise around or perhaps deal and trade. As well, the Pirates have a potentially deep core of young pitching, but the development of the talent is paramount and the team is not quite there yet. The offense backed by Bay, LaRoche and Freddy Sanchez may do well, but they are still short at least once more bat offensively to compete.

Despite the Pirates’ weaknesses, the Steel City should have hope for optimism with a young team, filled with talent and potential diamonds in the rough.