Nady Well Enough to DH

Xavier Nady's tight left hammy might be healed enough to let Bucco DH in the upcoming interleague showdown with the Yankees. Jim Tracy isn't even stopping there, and said Nady could even return to the field if he feels well enough, allowing Ryan Doumit to DH.

The Buccos could use Nady's bat, so the upcoming 15-game interleague stretch might be a blessing in disguise (I say this very timidly). The Buccos have never done well in interleague games.

They are 52-84 overall since the leagues began crisscrossing in 1997, and that includes 10 opposition sweeps in 46 series and a 19-46 mark in American League parks.

Nady won't have to rush back from his injury, and a DH role can help his hammy heal. I mean, Doumit's stats as a DH in the last 2 years of interleague play are terrible. 6-33, .182, no homers, 4 RBIs. Nady can DH, instead of possibly re-injuring his hammy in the field, and put a fresh Pirate bat into a foreign position.

But its up to the entire team to turn the horrible interleague record around. The Buccos always seem to be in the same position at this point every year. Somewhere between 5-10 games back of the NL Central leader, with no clear team willing to be the Central frontrunner. Interleague comes along, and the Buccos decide to stink it up...again.

The promises of April seem to turn into the realities of May. June and interleague bring the night terrors that eventually decimate the team. July through September is then soured by the roster expansion, and the experimental 9-man rosters that resemble D-II college teams.

Matt Capps' almost-certain suspension will not help a damn thing. His suspension (from the Prince Fielder incident, now 5 weeks old) will not be overturned, and the team will be without one of its best relievers for 4 games. Capps will pitch against the Yanks, but Salomon Torres will still have to (possibly) close 4 games against either the Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners or Los Angeles Angels. Including New York, the Buccos are 9-23 against their upcoming AL opposition.

Gorzo (6-3 2.53 ERA) takes the mound against Andy Pettitte (3-4 2.96 ERA) tonight at Yankee Stadium.

Time For Some Rebut

After I posted my feelings on the Matt Capps suspension, I received several emails complaining about my reasoning. Here is one email that I would like to share, complete with my rebuttal. The email came from a reader by the name of Brady Quinn.*

You need to look at the tape again. Prince Fielder was not hit in the elbow he was hit in the shoulder. Oh and by the way the reason he was hit in the shoulder? He lifted his shoulder to protect his head. I am all for the pitcher having the inside corner, but that's not what happened here. Capps was head hunting and it could have either seriously hurt Fielder or incited an ugly brawl.

Even Jim Tracy commented after the game that he understood why Fielder was upset. I can agree that four games may be harsh, however your stance is ridiculous.

Take your homer blinders off.

Here is my response to Brady Quinn.

Shoulder...Elbow...My bad. I typed that in a hurry cos I had to go to a meeting.
Capps headhunting? Could be. But is Capps known as a head hunter? Does he have a history of going after guys just because the batter before him is having an
unbelievable series? Thats a stretch to even think of. And should an isolated instance warrant an automatic ejection coupled with an overdone suspension and
fine?

And Fielder? His exaggerated spin, the stare at Capps, the glaring into Milwaukee's dugout to see if retaliation was coming in the next inning, and the childish antics he displayed on Sunday really begs the question if Fielder was doing a little acting. At least a little. And Capps was immediately ejected because of it. And now has four games to think about it.

Yeah I heard Tracy say that (about Fielder being upset). Fielder has every right to be upset, because the pitch was well inside. And he got hit by it. I'd be mad at that, too. I'm only saying that Capps' suspension is wrong, and Fielder, who was blatantly calling a hit on the Pirates in the next inning by constantly staring into his own dugout, is partly to blame.

Fielder gets hit sorta in between the shoulder and the elbow. Here's some crappy video. Note the elongated "lay on the ground and stare at Matt Capps."

And here is a quote from ESPN.com's account of Sunday's game.

Fielder just eluded catcher Ryan Doumit's tag as the throw home was up the third-base line. After he slid across the plate, Fielder popped up and repeatedly punched his fists toward the Pirates' bench, prompting plate umpire Tim Timmons to step in front of him and point him toward the Brewers' dugout.

Doumit followed with:

It was a nice slide," he said. "My hat is off to him, but I think that's pretty bush league what he did afterwards.

Oh, and the homer blinders part? That's part of the site. The name is Pittsburgh Sports and Mini Ponies, and I elude to seeing the world through black and gold colored glasses in my "About" section:

Yeah, my Pittsburgh bias is evident, and if it shows itself in my posts, then you'll just have to deal with it.

Its kinda part of the site. This isn't the place for unbiased analysis. Of course I'm gonna take Capps' side.


* Names have been changed for comedic purposes.

Well That Was a Bummer

The Pirates fell to the Cubs twice yesterday. Chicago held on to win the rain-delayed game 8-6, and touched Ian Snell for four runs in five innings in the ensuing, "real" game. The Bucs also lost that contest, 7-1. Ryan Doumit homered, and that was about it. 3 other hits were spread over the game by your awesome Bucs offense.

So after managing to hang on to a .500 record due to postponement, the Bucs suffered 2 divisional losses on the same day, and now sit at 12-14. The Brew Crew (18-9) sent the Redbirds (10-16) to their 5th straight loss, and lead the Central by a full 5 games over Cincinnati (13-14), and 5.5 over Pittsburgh(12-14) and Chicago (also 12-14). Houston (11-15), is only one game ahead of that World Champion bottom-feeding team from St. Louis.

The Brewers have won 4 in a row, so it is only fitting that the Pirates should start a series with them tonight. The Cubs entered this past series on a 4 game win streak of their own, and were able to take 3 of 4 against Pittsburgh. The Pirates send Tom Gorzelanny (3-1, 3.06 ERA) out to face Dave Bush (2-2, 6.23 ERA). Here's an extremely long post about Gorzo, which I first read via Mondesi's House. Nice to see he's getting some love.

Pirates Complete 2nd Series Sweep Against Houston This Season

Two series sweeps. In the opening month of the season. A 5-3 win yesterday afternoon guaranteed that. The more the Pirates keep handling Houston, the more I'll be able to continue comparing this young Pirate's season to the past Penguins season. We tend to forget that before the Penguin's 16-game points streak that started in early January and contained two 6-game win streaks, the team had 18 wins and 16 regulation losses. The Pens were in the middle of the cluster looking for the 7th or 8th seed in the East before streaking and (at one point) holding the 2 spot in the entire conference.

That's not to say that these Pirates will have the exact kind of season that the Pens enjoyed, but it is a possibility. 10-10 is a deserving record for the Pirates, given the stagnant offense and bipolar pitchers (Armas allowed 1 run after entering the game with a 18.90 ERA). As long as our starters continue this mini hot streak, the Pirates should look to do some damage in the Central (I can't believe I just said that).

Now that the Buccos have 10 wins, I must update my 7 Reasons to Keep Watching the Bucs This Season. Reasons 8, 9 and 10 are:

8. Humberto Cota is on the DL. Honestly, why is this guy still on our team? With Ryan Doumit being called up and contributing early, Cota is, at best, our 3rd catcher. He strikes out too much, that is, when he actually gets into a game. I thought he was gone last year, when Jim Tracy struggled to find places for him to play. The Bucs tried to off him by retiring Paul Waner's number 11, the number that Cota was still wearing. That didn't work, so I guess the DL is the next best place for Humberto.

9. We Play Houston 9 More Times. But not again until July 20th. Still, that's 9 more wins towards the goal of 82. If the Pirates continue to mirror the early success of the Pens against the Flyers, then Houston has no chance for the remainder of the season. Who knew that Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte had that much of an impact on the club? However, Houston has been a notoriously slow starter for the past several seasons and before you know it, they're advancing in the playoffs. I haven't completely written them off, but I like the Pirates' chances from here on out.

10. The 'Pen is Looking Good. Larry Brown Sports hit the nail on the head when he commented on the outstanding relief arms on the Pittsburgh roster. Jonah Bayliss and Matt Capps recorded the first 2 wins of the season for the Bucs, and John Grabow, who is just back from injury, was credited with the save yesterday. John Wasdin pitched 2 scoreless innings for the marathon win in the 16th, and former Yankees starter Shawn Chacon lurks in the 'Pen as well. The only big question mark is Torres (That's actually a huge question mark right now), so if he can return to form, the Buccos can rely on durable relievers to back up our relatively young starting pitchers.


Reasons to Keep Watching the Bucs Archive:
7 Reasons to Keep Watching the Bucs This Season

'07 Bucs vs. '06-'07 Pens Archive:
Bucs Win in 16, Fully Endorse Adderall
The 2007 Pirates: Holding Company With John Smiley and Doug Drabek