Great Pitcher Matchup in Houston tonight

[Jake]

Oswalt Vs The Duke

 

8:05 EDT!

 

Go Bucs!

[TruffleShuffle]

I find that I have a little bit of a soft spot in my heart for the Pirates, maybe b/c they have sucked for so long that I feel sorry for them, or maybe because they have been so good to the Cubs in trades the last few years. Hopefully some of their young guys like Duke and Eldred will turn into productive major league players... and then the Pirates can trade them to the Cubs.

 

In any case, I will be checking on how tonight's game goes. I know how it feels to be in your position, Jake... rooting for a team that is just playing out the schedule. It's hard to find much to root for, but following the progress of the young guys and enjoying a good pitching matchup or two give at least a little bit of meaning to the last third of the year.

[KatJ]

I find that I have a little bit of a soft spot in my heart for the Pirates,

 

I don't. The Pirates did quite well in the 90s when the Cubs were just dreadful. Those were what Jake might remember as the good old days - when Jim Leyland headed the ship, and there was Bobby Bonilla and a pre-roid Barry Bonds.

 

I think those Pirates teams were the last days of Whiteyball, where speed and hits (not huge HR) were the order of the day.

[KatJ]

Oswalt Vs The Duke

 

8:05 EDT!

 

Go Bucs!

 

Please sweep the Astros! Lawton has been suckage, so the least you could do is help us gain some ground this weekend... we dug ourselves in a DEEP hole over the past couple of weeks (not counting the last two days, of course). :)

[Brian]

GO DUKE! Not necessarily to help the Cubs (because there is no helping them) but from what i've seen of Duke he looks like a stud. Ollie Perez/Zach Duke is pretty scary going 1-2 next year.

[Jake]

Lawton has been suckage....

He was starting to Suck here, too. I was surprised we were able to move him. So you gave us damaged goods. Big deal. :-)

[Jake]

Ollie Perez/Zach Duke is pretty scary going 1-2 next year.

It's going to be an interesting pitching year for us next year. Come to think of it, so was this year. And, we see where that went.

 

Ollie needs to grow up. Not just about kicking carts, but about his off season workout too. He needs to take some responsibility. That's why he sucked this year - he didn't follow the throwing plan given to him. Or any plan for that matter.

 

Dave Williams seems to have locked up a spot. He has a winning record on a team 15+ games under .500. That says something.

 

Sean Burnett coming back after surgery. He'll probably start the year in AAA, then come up around the all-star game.

 

That gives us 4 lefties in the rotation!

 

Other minor league pitchers that could make some noise: Bryan Bullington & John Van Benschoten (Also coming off of missing the season for surgery).

 

Ian Snell is an enigma of sorts. He's never been able to do it in the majors for some reason. I'm hoping he'll get traded, along with some other parts, for a right fielder who can hit 30+ HRs! :-)

 

On the perifery: Paul Maholm, Cory Stewart. Maybe Matt Peterson.

 

Conspicuous by their absence: Kip, Fogg, Redman. Although, if Redman is around, we could start 5 Lefties! :-)

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Van Benschoten > Prior

[TruffleShuffle]

Van Benschoten > Prior

 

Absolutely true... offensively, he is definitely better than Prior.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Van Benschoten > Prior

 

Absolutely true... offensively, he is definitely better than Prior.

 

Sorry, it's a joke. The Pirates board at the time of the Ramirez trade had a thread where one guy insisted that JVB was better than Prior. It was high comedy.

[BigbadB]

Okay, I forgot. Who did the Pirates trade to get Stewart? I don't believe he was in the Giles trade. Stewart was one of the better San Diego pitching prospects at the time of the trade.

[Jake]

Okay, I forgot. Who did the Pirates trade to get Stewart? I don't believe he was in the Giles trade. Stewart was one of the better San Diego pitching prospects at the time of the trade.

It was the Giles trade. Stewart turned out to be the infamous Player To Be Named Later

 

Oh, JVB was never supposed to be a Prior. Just a good starting pitcher.

 

And, he could still be.

 

Unfortuantely, I avoid most Pittsburgh based boards (Sports & Otherwise). The posters can be too myopic.

[1wizard]

Truffle wrote:

I find that I have a little bit of a soft spot in my heart for the Pirates, maybe b/c they have sucked for so long that I feel sorry for them, or maybe because they have been so good to the Cubs in trades the last few years.

 

H3ll, they have made trades with the Cubs. I thought the Pirates were your AAA affiliate. Whew, I feel a little better now. I was concerned that the Cubs might bring Duke up to pitch at Wrigley. Well at least, the Cubs will have to give up a marginal prospect to acquire Duke in a few years.