Game 62: D-Backs at Pirates

Whatever is inhabiting the recesses of Tom Gorzelanny's mind takes on Dan Haren tonight at seven. Gorzo can't keep up his 1.87 WHIP and 28 K to 40 BB act for much longer.

Game 61: D-Backs at Pirates

Snell and Webb at seven. Ronny calls the game remotely from Indy.

Day two of the draft continues. None of JR's kids taken yet.

Game 60: Astros at Pirates

Maholm vs. Backe starts now. An angry Wiggy stands between the Bucs and a trip out of the basement.

Draft thread

C'mon, lucky seven. Baby needs a new pair of shoes!

Game 59: Astros at Pirates

Duke and Oswalt at seven.

Red Wings at Penguins at eight.

Game 58: Astros at Pirates

Wandy Rodriguez and Phil Dumatrait tonight at seven.

If I had to pick one game to go see the Pirates, I'd look for a game where they are facing Wandy Rodriguez. I don't much of anything about Wandy, but the way the Pirates bat him around, when his name is drawn as the match-up, I'm always surprised to see he's still in the league.

The weather could be better for this one.

In other news, Bo Diddley died. The ipod shuffled through "Dearest Darling" about two hours before I heard the news. That would be freaky except that I listen to Bo Diddley all the freakin' time. The man was pretty good.

And, oh yeah, last night there was a hockey game. It was pretty good.

Game 57: Pirates at Cardinals

Tom Gorzelanny and Adam Wainwright at eight.

Game 56: Pirates at Cardinals

Ian Snell and Braden Looper at two.

It's June. Now is when bad starts become bad first halves.

Game 55: Pirates at Cardinals

Maholm, Parisi, seven eastern time.

Game 54: Pirates at Cardinals

Duke and Wellemeyer at eight.

Game 53: Pirates at Reds

Dumatrait and Harang starting pretty soon.

Game 52: Pirates at Reds

Tom Gorzelanny and Bronson Arroyo at seven.

Game 51: Pirates at Reds

Snell and Cueto at seven tonight.

Pirates are 24-26, five and a half back of first.

The YTD stats are somewhat comical. Not in a good way. Bay is back with a 950 OPS. McLouth, a guy we called "Frodo" when he came up with Duffy ("Sam"), wants to be an All-Star with a 1025 OPS. He is proving something this season, but I'm pretty skeptical he'll keep that Vlad Guerrero-like pace all year long. Nady (900 OPS) and Doumit (950 OPS) have been solid. Cue the Benny Hill music for the rest of the numbers: Paulino (500), LaRoche (700), Sanchez (600), Bixler (440).

The only starting pitcher who has been league-average has been Dumatrait.

The bullpen has been great.

More than half that offense will be better, but that does not mean they will be good. Of the four sluggers, only Bay I think is likely to maintain that pace in something like everyday play. Doumit and Nady could too. Whatever happens, I don't expect the offense to dramatically improve.

The bullpen could stay the same. The starters should improve. The substitution of Dumatrait for Morris, alone, might be enough to pace the team to 26 wins in the next 50 games. Heck, if they can manage 24 of 50 with these numbers, I guess I expect -- assuming no major subtraction of players through trade or injury (big assumption) -- that this team will still be around .500 at the 100-game mark.

And this is falling in line with expectations I've had for a long time. When the Pirates finally finish a season at .500, we will be underwhelmed, on the whole, with both the record and the general range of individual performances. .500 is mediocre.

That said, we will enjoy all the victories. It is cool to watch, listen, or attend a game and see it end with a victory. I don't get tired of that.

Off day

The Pirates are not playing this Memorial Day, for some reason. Tomorrow they will start a stretch of twenty games in twenty days.

Game 50: Cubs at Pirates

Lilly and Maholm this afternoon.

Game 49: Cubs at Pirates

Marquis and Dumatrait this evening.

Game 48: Cubs at Pirates

Zambrano and Duke. Pirates have to do better than 1-8 against the division's frontrunner.

Game 47: Brewers at Pirates

Dave Bush and Tom Gorzelanny in half an hour.

Bucs in a bit of tailspin here. How low will they go before they get within a series of .500 again?

Game 46: Brewers at Pirates

Ben Sheets and Ian Snell in about an hour.

What are your expectations for Snell going forward? I see him settling down and clubbing the crap out of the league through the end of the summer. I'm not sure when he'll start all this though. Maybe tonight?

Game 45: Brewers at Pirates

At seven, Manny Parra and Paul Maholm at PNC Park.