A few weeks ago, the Mets blew into PNC and destroyed a hopeless Pirate team that was trying to stave off 81 losses for at least a little while. Only what may have been Zach Duke’s last good start as a Pirate salvaged any wins at all from the series when he out-dueled Johan Santana. I do think the Pirates have been playing a bit better in the last week or so, so maybe this road series at CitiField will be a nice barometer for that.
What I’m curious about right now is whether or not Pirate fans would trade places with Met fans if given the option. The Mets have a poorly run front office that dumps money on poor investments like Jason Bay in hopes of solving every problem, but has botched just about everything they’ve put their hands on over the last two seasons (see: Tony Bernarzard, Carlos Beltran’s knee surgery, forcing Willie Randolph to fly to Anaheim before being fired, etc.). Their mammoth payroll will allow them to finish in the vicinity of .500 this year (currently 70-73), but their minor league system isn’t exactly awash with great talent. Still, they won’t lose 105 or more games and they do have a lot of money and owners willing to spend it to try and cover up their weak spots. So all things aside, Pirate fans, would you switch places with Mets fans?
First pitch tonight is at 7:10. James McDonald and someone named Dillon Gee (nice ratios in the minors but a huge homer problem, from what I can tell) are pitching. Clemente/Cangelosi is after the jump.
Just a quick reminder: all Clementes and Cangelosis are chosen by WPA from FanGraphs, not by me. The Clementes are the top two players in WPA from the previous night and the Cangelosis are the two bottom players.
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