OnlyBucs

After a terrible start, the Pirate offense has completely turned around. Their team BA of .268 is now 2nd in the NL to Colorado, which is only .001 higher. They have the 3rd most hits. After laboring around 14th in runs most of the season, they've climbed to 10th, just 9 fewer than the league average. And this surge figures to continue to help them climb. Lack of power is still a problem as their 90 HRs are 13th in the NL and they are relying on one player to provide 28% of those. But there are no weak bats in the lineup. Even the bench is strong enough with Cabrera, Osuna, Stallings to not skip a beat when they start and Kang at least is a HR threat if nothing else. Having Newman and Reynolds develop as major threats has helped immeasurably. Sad to say but this is a much better offense without Polanco.

Run differentials are interesting to look at. The Pirates are now (up to?) a -43. Ironically, the first place Brewers are a -2. The Cubs (who are 5 games over .500) are a +52.



As has been historically the case, the NL Central is the best division and it isn't even close. All 5 teams are as close to each other as the separation between every 1st and 2nd place team in the other divisions (6.5 games)

765B56474051460605340 wrote: Even the bench is strong enough with Cabrera, Osuna, Stallings to not skip a beat when they start and Kang at least is a HR threat if nothing else.


Team is batting .342 (!!!) pinch hitting.  1000 OPS.



http://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/team/_/st ... g/split/87



Dare I say that the manager knows who to bat when?



*poke* 

44767A7A6E5C7F767B7E7176170 wrote: Even the bench is strong enough with Cabrera, Osuna, Stallings to not skip a beat when they start and Kang at least is a HR threat if nothing else.


Team is batting .342 (!!!) pinch hitting.  1000 OPS.



http://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/team/_/st ... g/split/87



Dare I say that the manager knows who to bat when?



*poke* 
It's hard to go wrong now with everyone producing. Likewise, we aren't complaining about Sunday lineups (which weren't always limited to Sundays) because no matter who is in the lineup, it looks formidable. IMHO, Hurdle isn't doing much differently. He just has the roster now to make it work (to the extent that the pitching doesn't subvert the efforts). He's always wanted to give players days off, give everyone (even those not producing) significant playing time and use certain days to start the entire bench. In other seasons, those decisions resulted in unnecessarily weak lineups. But right now, he can't go wrong no matter who he uses.



Two things I particularly liked about Hurdle recently was the day he used Vazquez in a close game for 2 innings. Vazquez shut down the Brewers in the 8th and 9th while the Bucs got a 9th inning run to win 3-2. If he holds Vazquez back in case a save opportunity presents itself later, maybe a less able reliever blows the game in the 8th. Hurdle put winning the game ahead of getting Vazquez a save (which he doesn't usually do). I also like that Newman played every day while his batting streak was mounting. Hurdle rested him last night and said he wanted to rest Newman but not while his streak was ongoing. That was smart. Don't cool off a hot hitter.

0F1236343A5F0 wrote: Run differentials are interesting to look at.  The Pirates are now (up to?) a -43.  Ironically, the first place Brewers are a -2.  The Cubs (who are 5 games over .500) are a +52.



As has been historically the case, the NL Central is the best division and it isn't even close.  All 5 teams are as close to each other as the separation between every 1st and 2nd place team in the other divisions (6.5 games)


Apropos of nothing, run differential is the dumbest stat ever.

04393E24393E500 wrote: Run differentials are interesting to look at.  The Pirates are now (up to?) a -43.  Ironically, the first place Brewers are a -2.  The Cubs (who are 5 games over .500) are a +52.



As has been historically the case, the NL Central is the best division and it isn't even close.  All 5 teams are as close to each other as the separation between every 1st and 2nd place team in the other divisions (6.5 games)


Apropos of nothing, run differential is the dumbest stat ever.


That's true but it usually works out at the end of the season. I mean if you score a lot more than the team you're playing you're probably going to win.

Okay, let me take this opportunity to bring up the "save" stat.

517C71606776612122130 wrote: Even the bench is strong enough with Cabrera, Osuna, Stallings to not skip a beat when they start and Kang at least is a HR threat if nothing else.


Team is batting .342 (!!!) pinch hitting.  1000 OPS.



http://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/team/_/st ... g/split/87



Dare I say that the manager knows who to bat when?



*poke* 
It's hard to go wrong now with everyone producing. Likewise, we aren't complaining about Sunday lineups (which weren't always limited to Sundays) because no matter who is in the lineup, it looks formidable. IMHO, Hurdle isn't doing much differently. He just has the roster now to make it work (to the extent that the pitching doesn't subvert the efforts). He's always wanted to give players days off, give everyone (even those not producing) significant playing time and use certain days to start the entire bench. In other seasons, those decisions resulted in unnecessarily weak lineups. But right now, he can't go wrong no matter who he uses.



Two things I particularly liked about Hurdle recently was the day he used Vazquez in a close game for 2 innings. Vazquez shut down the Brewers in the 8th and 9th while the Bucs got a 9th inning run to win 3-2. If he holds Vazquez back in case a save opportunity presents itself later, maybe a less able reliever blows the game in the 8th. Hurdle put winning the game ahead of getting Vazquez a save (which he doesn't usually do). I also like that Newman played every day while his batting streak was mounting. Hurdle rested him last night and said he wanted to rest Newman but not while his streak was ongoing. That was smart. Don't cool off a hot hitter.   




That's all true, but the Pinch Hitters are collectively hitting like a legitimate MVP Candidate. The matchups must be good (or there's a lot of good luck involved).