Everyone's Undefeated

Now as we all know, I'm a bit of an old-school, romantic when it comes to the great game of baseball. So my love and adoration of opening day should come as absolutely no surprise. You wait through a cold March, and finally the boys come back home and the games count. And no matter how poor the previous season went, this is a clean slate. Everyone is undefeated, everyone is tied for first place. This includes our beloved Battlin' Bucs. Now I will be the first to admit that I can be a bit of a downer when it comes to the Pirates, but let's be honest, I'm usually right. But I have hope for the 2011 campaign. Don't get me wrong, It's not "book my October tickets" kind of hope, but it's hope none the less. It's not playoff hope, it's not even .500 hope. I am considering it "step in the right direction" kind of hope. This hope mainly is born out of the fact that the Bucs can't possibly be worse than they were last year... can they? I'm going with no, if for no other reason that there has been addition by subtraction. Even if there were no other improvements, Pittsburgh is better simply because they don't have Aki Iwamua and the Laroche brothers in the opening day lineup, and not to mention Mr. Personality, John Russell was given his walking papers.

These vacancies alone allow for improvement, but the replacements at these positions are what makes this season exciting. Since Neil Walker was called up to plug the leak that was Iwamura, he has become the every-day second baseman and was one of the best rookies in baseball last season. This will be his first chance to play in the Bigs full time, and starting on opening day. Same goes for slugging Pedro Alvarez who got a lot of MLB experience under his belt last season and should come out swinging in '11. He might not have to greatest glove at the hot corner but his bat will more than atone for it. Throw in the best centerfielder in the league in Andrew McCutchen, young leadoff man Jose Tabata, and new manager Clint Hurdle, who stresses the fundamentals, and the Buccos should be exciting, if nothing else.

Although the pitching staff as a whole should be a little better, most of the improvement was made in the bullpen. The starting rotation will still be the glaring weakness for the Pirates this year. The good thing about the staff is that they are young, and young pitchers always have the potential to get hot and surprise us. New acquisition Kevin Correia will provide some needed veteran leadership in the rotation. We know what to expect from Paul Maholm and hopefully he can provide some consistency. Those are the two guys that we have a general idea of what we will get out of them. The other three guys are the wild cards, and a huge chunk of Pittsburgh's season will fall on their young arms. James McDonald is not an ace, but has good stuff and is as close to an ace that the Bucs have to offer. Ross Ohlendorf is coming off a 1-11 season but has the stuff to bounce back. His teammates did not give him much run support last season and his record does not reflect his pitching. And then comes you know who. It is widely said that Charlie Morton has the best stuff on the team, but for some reason he just can't put it together. He had a pretty nice spring and word is he was really putting in the extra reps. Let's hope that all translates to the real deal when he hits the bump at PNC Park. Pitching will make or break the Buccos this year. Their offense should be able to keep them in most ballgames.

So it's that simple. Pittsburgh finally has the talent in the field and at the plate. The pitching is still a little rough, but this team looks like they may be ready to start making some serious strides toward relevance. The pieces are starting to fall into place for a bright future. You hear alot of people say that Pirate fans should be hoping for more than just a .500 season and that the playoffs should be our goal. I was one of these people. But you have to look at the big picture. When a team hasn't had a winning season in 18 years, a .500 record has to be your first goal. I mean of course they want to win the division and make the playoffs, but that's not realistic. When you have been so bad for so long, you just need that one season to break the streak. I have to believe that when it happens, and it WILL happen, that it will be a huge step toward legitimate hope. Will this be the season we hit the 81 win mark, and lift an 18 year old gorilla off the city of Pittsburgh? Only time will tell. But trust me, we're on the right track.