Can Pirates get back to winning ways?
PITTSBURGH 鈥� It is only one game, but the Pittsburgh bats came alive in the home opener against the Atlanta Braves on Friday afternoon at PNC Park.
The Pirates dropped to 0-2 after a 3-0 setback in 12 innings to the Red Sox on Wednesday, but responded with a 5-4 win in the first game of the season at PNC Park. The Bucs hit two home runs, including one by David Freese, who is the replacement for Jung Ho Kang. The opener was great but there is a lot of work that has to be done and 162 games always tells the story.
Gerrit Cole was solid for four innings in the season opener, but gave up five runs in the fifth in a 5-3 Boston victory.
Cole and Game 2 starter Jameson Taillon will need to have great seasons for manger Clint Hurdle蘑菇视频 squad to have any chance of a return to the postseason after last year蘑菇视频 sub-par campaign.
Cole took a step back last season with a record of 7-10 in 21 starts. His 3.88 ERA was the highest in his first four seasons in the majors. The first overall draft pick from 2011 had his best season in 2015, when he went 19-8 with a career-low ERA of 2.60. Not surprisingly, the Bucs won 98 games that season and qualified for the playoffs.
Taillon had a great start against Boston, but it was all for naught as the offense couldn鈥檛 get a runner in scoring position. Taillon didn鈥檛 allow a run on five hits in seven innings of work. He had six strikeouts and walked three.
Ivan Nova got the nod in the home opener against Atlanta, and has the potential to be a solid No. 3. He was tremendous in the opener in allowing just one run (zero earned) on six hits in six innings. He had four strikeouts and didn鈥檛 walk a batter. The question is will the former New York Yankee be the player that was 6-11 with a 5.07 ERA in 2015, or the guy that was 5-2 with a 3.06 ERA when the Pirates acquired him last season.
Pittsburgh needs Nova to have a solid year for the dream of a playoff season to be a reality.
Chad Kuhl and Tyler Glasnow round out the rotation for the time being, but injuries and other factors will most likely play a role. The pitching shouldn鈥檛 be too bad, but I don鈥檛 think it will be enough to overcome an anemic offense.
The bullpen has been the strength of the team in recent years, and lefty Tony Watson should do the job as the team蘑菇视频 closer.
Antonio Bastardo may have given up the three-run homer to the Red Sox蘑菇视频 Sandy Leon but he has shown flashes of strong play in the past.
Juan Nicasio, Wade LeBlanc, Felipe Rivero, Daniel Hudson and Trevor Williams round out the bullpen.
The pitching is the strength of the Pirates while the hitting, especially in regards to power, is a huge question mark.
Kang was supposed to be the power threat for Pittsburgh, but multiple DUI convictions have led the Korean star back in his home country and there is no timetable to when he will return.
Freese is a valuable back-up at third base, but the former World Series hero for St. Louis admitted that he doesn鈥檛 have the power that Kang posses. He hit 13 homers last year and knocked in 55 runs in 437 at-bats. Kang had 21 homers and 65 RBIs in 318 at-bats in 2016. Freese had a career high in home runs (20) and RBIs (79) while playing for St. Louis in 2012.
Freese is clutch and has the reputation of being a postseason star, but you have to get there first. However, I still think he will fill in admirably while Kang is out. Plus, he likes the band, Tool, and that is enough to get my vote.
Andrew McCutchen has transitioned well in the move to right field in regards of his defensive ability, but he has not been strong at the plate. McCutchen has power but isn鈥檛 the ideal threat to hit the long ball. However, he did hit a career-high 31 in 2012 and a team-leading 24 last season. The average went way down for the 2013 NL MVP as McCutchen蘑菇视频 .256 batting average was a career low, and he struck out 143 times, which is another negative for his least productive offensive season in his big-league career.
Gregory Polanco hit 22 homers last season and knocked in a team-high 86 runs. Starling Marte has the pontential to put up power numbers, but they were not there last year as the Bucs鈥� center fielder only hit nine.
Rookie first baseman Josh Bell certainly has the build at 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds to hit the ball out of the park, but time will tell if he can handle big-league pitching for a full season.
Adam Frazier returns and will serve as the team蘑菇视频 utility player in taking over for the departed Sean Rodriguez.
The outfield had a major shift this offseason as Hurdle moved McCutchen, Marte and Polanco around. McCutchen was strong in right field against Boston. I don鈥檛 see too much of an issue with the change. If it turns out to be a disaster early on, hopefully Hurdle will have time to move them around.
The schedule and how the rest of the NL Central plays will have an affect on how many wins Pittsburgh will accumulate. The Cubs will win the division again, and I wouldn鈥檛 be surprised if they repeated as World Series Champions. You can never count out the Cardinals. They may not win the whole thing, but they have a tradition that is equal to the Steelers in the NFL.
Milwaukee is not picked to do anything special, and most baseball people think Cincinnati will be historically bad. The only problem is the Pirates tend to have trouble with the Brewers and Reds regardless of how bad those two teams are. The Bucs need to beat up on the teams that are in the basement and play the top teams close.
My gut tells me Pittsburgh will finish 82-80 and finish third in the NL Central behind the Cubs and Cardinals. The result will leave the Bucs one spot out of the final Wild-Card spot in the National League.
蘑菇视频 sports writer Jonathan Guth can be reached via email at jguth@heraldstandard.com or jonathanguth85@gmail.com