Two Disappointing Losses & A Look At Pitching

The Pirates seem to have continued their downward trend from last year after trading a big name player in the franchise. The last two losses to the Braves have really had to be tough pills to swallow for the Buccos.

First, to come back in such a manner as they did on Monday night, only to lose ini 15 innings is heartbreaking. Jeff Karstens, welcome to the world of Ryan Vogelsong. You will forever be a mop-up guy in the bullpen. It's a shame you cannot recapture that dominating presence you had back when you were first traded here.

Last night was another disappointing loss. Ross Ohlendorf pitched a good game. Poor thinking by Delwyn Young (still like this guy though) and awful pitching by Sean Burnett cost the Pirates this game. Why Russell would choose to go with Burnett is beyond me. In a situation like this, you need to bring in your best pitcher in the bullpen. I think leaving Gorzo out there for another inning wouldn't have hurt either. He may have been up in the batting order so maybe that's why he didn't stay in.

To be honest I didn't watch too much of the game. I was too busy watching the Pens game.

Moving on to pitching. I'm glad to see that the pitching rotation has been shaken up a bit. More needs to be done though. Neal Huntington and John Russell take note, this is what your pitching rotation and bullpen should look like by the end of the trade deadline or next year.

First, the rotation
1. Maholm - He's been a little shaky recently, but still a solid #1 or #2 guy for this team.
2. Duke - Has been the most consistant and, in my opinion, best pitcher all year. He is in the same boat as Maholm.
3. Morton - If he is as good for the Pirates as he has been in AAA, he will show everyone that the McLouth deal was well worth it.
4. Ohlendorf - Just a solid 3/4 guy.
5. Karstens - A typical #5 guy. Could easily be swapped out at any point for guys like Gorzo, McCutchen, Dumatrait.

Now the bullpen
1. Gorzo - easily the best option for long relief/spot starts. He has been really good out of the pen.
2. Snell - If he's not in AAA starting, he could be a good bullpen option. He's good enough to give you 1 or 2 innings of work. Possibly a SUPERSTAR closer.
3. Meek - Hard thrower, good enough to be a set up man, not quite closer material.
4. Capps - Closer for now, unless he develops another pitch or gets some movement on his fastballs, he's not the long-term solution for this position.
5. Chavez - He has been a solid pitcher all year. A great middle guy.
6. Jackson - Big sinker ball pitcher. I haven't seen him do too many dumb things to really be down on him.
7. Burnett - He's been better this year than some of the games he's recently played in. I feel her could be a good specialist pitcher.

I made this list without seeing some of the other options we have currently in AAA. I'm sure that once call-ups happen in September, I could end up making some changes on this list.