Pittsburgh Pirates

Besides Paul Maholm, Zach Duke is the longest serving Pirate. And he is still hard to typecast.

On a good night, he is capable of beating a Cy Young award winner like the New York Mets' Johan Santana, or the Phillies Roy Halladay. On a bad day, he can be truly awful.

An example of this was Duke's last outing against Cincinnati. He gave up five runs, two of them homers, in five innings, for a 9.00 ERA.

Last year, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded away Tom Gorzelanny, then later signed Brian Burres as compensation. Friday night's game was the first test of the direct impact of the two moves. So how did the Pirates do?

Not so well. Burres pitched four innings, one less than Gorzelanny. And he gave up six runs, one more than Tom Gorzelanny. Clearly, the Pirates had given up something with this sequence of events.

On July 22, 2009 the Pittsburgh Pirates traded Adam LaRoche to the Boston Red Sox, opening up the first base position. The next day they called up Steve Pearce and on the 29th they traded Ian Snell and Jack Wilson to the Seattle Mariners for Jeff Clement and Ronny Cedeno, creating a competition at first between the two college superstars.

No, the Pittsburgh Pirates aren't going to be a factor in the division race for some time to come. But they have already made a difference in the National League Central race.

The Pirates haven't been any great shakes against the Houston Astros, losing three games to them in Minute Maid Park, and they're 2-4 against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Expert handicapper ESPN rates the Chicago Cubs a 2-1 favorite over the Pirates in PNC Park tonight.

But the Pirates' Charlie Morton can beat the Cubs' Ted Lilly. Because Morton already has. Last year, in Chicago.

It won't be easy, of course. Recent history suggests that Lilly will go about six innings against the Pirates, giving up about three runs, more likely than not for a quality start.

Basically, the Pirates figure to score against him, but not run up the total. He is aged 34, which is to say that he figures to decline with each passing year.

It is certainly a matter of when, not if, the Pittsburgh Pirates will bring their top prospects up this year.

The three prospects the Pirates will likely bring up are Pedro Alvarez, Brad Lincoln, and Jose Tabata.

Lincoln will likely be brought up first, as the Pirates are in need of a starting pitcher right now. Charlie Morton has done horrible, and you cannot use spot starters forever. Injuries have also left the Pirates' starting rotation in tatters.

You and I are starting an all-time Fantasy Baseball Hall of Fame team. We must select one Hall of Fame player at each starting position.

I get the first pick because this is my article, but you can have the second and third picks, after which we alternate selections.

My first pick is Sandy Koufax. I want to prevent you from scoring, and no one can stop a team from scoring better than Koufax, unless it is Pedro Martinez.

Now that you are thinking about the best of the best, I will tell you that my second baseman will be Bill Mazeroski.

Jeff Karstens started his career as a Pittsburgh Pirate with six innings of shutout ball and a 3-0 victory against the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field in August 2008. Last night, he did much of the same with a two-run 6.2 inning quality start against Milwaukee that ended in a 7-3 Pirates victory.

In Miller Park.

Unlike division-foe Mike Leake , Pirates pitcher Charlie Morton is not a pitcher.

Morton, who has allowed at least five runs per start this season, lacks the mental toughness needed to pitch in Major League Baseball.

            “That won’t continue.” A new motto for Pittburgh Pirates fans to live by.

            During last night’s game, FSN Pittsburgh commentators Tim Neverett and Greg Brown stressed this point over and over again.