Pittsburgh Pirates

Jeff Fulchino picked up his first career win and Humberto Quintero went 3-for-4 as the Houston Astros defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4 in a battle of NL Central cellar dwellers.

The Astros (25-30) won their third series in a row and seventh of their last 10. Houston is a half game behind Pittsburgh for fifth in the division. The Astros went 5-2 on their home stand this week.

The trade by the Pittsburgh Pirates of All-Star outfielder Nate McLouth is another reminder that the great tradition and history of the Pirates is now just that: history.

It has been 17 years since the Pirates last posted a winning record, and for most of that run they haven’t even been close.

One of the main reasons the Pirates traded CF Nate McLouth was to make room for super prospect and fellow CF Andrew McCutchen. Why the Pirates didn’t just move McLouth to RF so they could have an outfield with Morgan, McCutchen, and McLouth is beyond me. But I guess that is for a different post. Back to the matter at hand.

Here's something that the Pittsburgh Pirates' management don't seem to understand about prospects; they are much like fighter pilots.

If you take each year of major league baseball as the equivalent of one combat mission, the attrition statistics are strikingly similar.

About one in five won't make it past the first year/mission; barely more than half last beyond the fifth one. The ones that make it to double digits unhurt are dubbed "aces," and become legends in their own time. 

Well done Pirates! You've once again declared this season a lost cause and traded away our only viable All-Star, Nate McLouth. All this despite only being six games out of a weak division in early June! 

Well I guess it wouldn't make much sense to try and build the team around a solid young player, who is both a phenomenal hitter, a talented fielder and has also shown strong leadership skills in the lockerroom. 

Yeah, wouldn't want to do that; It might endanger our goal of reaching 17-consecutive losing seasons. 

It’s time for Major League Baseball to step in and do something to help the pitiful Pittsburgh Pirates. Their claim of being too small a market to compete also spreads to to the front office, where it’s apparent that their baseball minds are too small for the major league arena as well.

On Wednesday, the Pirates traded their best player, Nate McLouth, to the Atlanta Braves for three prospects.

Carlos Zambrano was tossed from Wednesday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates after a very close call at home plate with one out in the top of the seventh inning.

Zambrano threw an 0-1 pitch in the dirt to Nate McLouth on the first base side (inside to the left-handed hitter) which Geovany Soto slid over to block. In doing so, the ball kicked back to the third base side behind home plate.

While Zambrano ran home to cover the plate, speedy Pirates outfielder Nyjer Morgan bolted in from third base in an attempt to score.

The Pittsburgh Pirates more than batted around, scoring nine consecutive runs in yesterday's game against the Colorado Rockies in the seventh inning before making an out, and 10 runs in the whole inning in an 11-4 victory. That's a record of sorts.

Altogether, the Pirates outscored the Rockies 19-11 over the weekend. It could have been enough for a 3-0 sweep.

But it wasn't. The Rockies won the first game 3-1, wresting away in the ninth inning what could have been a 1-0 victory for the Pirates. And therein lies the problem.

Sometimes, a slump ends quickly.  Sometimes it takes awhile longer.

After a sixteen-year slump, perhaps the Pittsburgh Pirates are finally ready to right the ship.

They are certainly trying to right the 2009 incarnation of it, going from an eight game losing streak to consecutive series victories. 

Pittsburgh is not yet ready to be crowned a contender or even an also ran, but the Pirates do seem primed to pack up and leave the National League's basement after sixteen seasons of less than mediocrity.