Right before the 2014 season for the Pittsburgh Pirates began, I predicted that they would again more than likely earn another wild card spot as one of the “middle of the pack” teams from the blood, sweat and tears soaked MLB NL Central Division.
On April 16, the Bucs won-loss record was 7-8 and they were just 4 games out of the top spot in the division. On May 1, I got the “sniffles” because the Pirates were 10-18, 8 games below .500 and 9 games out of first place. On May 16, I reluctantly pressed my way to the linen closet reaching not for my “terrible towel” but instead dragging out the ole “crying” towel because at that juncture in the season, the Pirates were sporting a lofty 17-23 record and were still just a “mere” 9 games removed from the top rung in the division.
At that point there were many fans and a even a few folks with press credentials that were saying both publicly and privately that the Pirates “ascension” during their 2013 campaign might have been an anomaly; some were even crude enough to define their success of the previous year as a “fluke.” Now that the Pirates are raising the “Jolly Roger” more often than not nowadays the “fans and the furious” are now beginning to feel their damn oats.
The “hater brigade” continued the rhetoric again last Sunday night on one of the sports review shows. The week before when the All-Star team selections were announced the general consensus in the Pittsburgh baseball world was that Neil Walker deserved to be selected to the NL 2014 All-Star roster more than the actual Pirate that was chosen, 2014 All-Star Josh Harrison. Now on this past Sunday a blogger, fogger, artful dodger, slacker, hacker, hater, procrastinating, prognosticator, said this and I am paraphrasing now that, “the Pirates would be crazy to even consider negotiating and/or signing a long term deal with rookie outfielder Gregory Polanco without first working out and completing a deal with switch hitting 2nd baseman Neil Walker.” What is this obsession with Neil Walker?
As far as I am concerned from the offensive side Walker has slightly average power from the left side of the plate and average power from the right side. The fact cannot be disputed that Walker is very valuable from a defensive perspective. However, the offense of the current Pittsburgh Pirates does not indirectly resemble, “murderers row” the formidable New York Yankees lineup from the 1920s; nor does the 2014 squad directly remind you of possessing the offensive prowess of the “lumber company” the Pirates slugging machine of the 1970s that caused opposing pitchers to sweat so profusely that they stuffed “dish towels” in their back pockets instead of handkerchiefs.
The Pirates of today must manufacture runs and I will repeat this over and over and over again. Every single time that Gregory Polanco steps into the batter’s box he potentially represents a scoring opportunity for the Pirates. Why? Well because if he hits a single, or draws a walk more than likely he will be successful in advancing to second base or even third base coupled with the possibility of a throwing error from the opposing catcher. Speed will almost always promote nervousness and miscues from the opposition. In 32 games in the majors, Gregory Polanco has stolen six bases. In 81 games Neil walker has swiped just two and Walker has 12 doubles, 50 percent of which potentially may have been triples for Polanco with his “antelope like” speed. Polanco is probably going to benefit from outfielders’ Starling Marte and Andrew McCutchen following him because no pitcher, even the Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw or the St. Louis Cardinals standout Adam Wainwright, particularly relish the prospect of going toe to toe with “Clutch” McCutchen in any situation especially, with men on base.
So if Polanco is on base and the number two hitter in the lineup Starling Marte is put out, the chances that McCutchen draws a walk increases dramatically, thereby Polanco may ultimately reach second base anyway. McCutchen will probably not get much to swing at. Also, as far as Polanco’s defense is concerned is when balls are safely hit to left field, potential doubles will be held to singles and batters who normally cruise into third base having earned a triple will be frustrated at the recovery speed and accuracy of Polanco’s RPG like arm and will be forced to settle for a double. This youngster will manufacture and save runs for the Pittsburgh Pirates for years to come.
The Pirates management of yesteryear may have been inclined to concentrate on marketing and “spinning” the image of a loser. The new Pirates “power brokers” have to feel a lot better because they don’t have to “spin” the image of a winner.
(Aubrey Bruce can be reached at: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412-583-6741.)
