The Pirates are in Washington DC tonight, hoping to stop their season-long losing streak at five games. The weather is going to make it hard to do that tonight and with the Pirates making another trip to DC the weekend before the Fourth of July, I’d guess this one gets called fairly easily if there’s no sign the weather will improve.
If it doesn’t, though, the Pirates will take the field with a heart of the order that features Matt Diaz, Steve Pearce, and Brandon Wood. Obviously this is one of those things that looks awful at face value, but I do think that platooning Garrett Jones and Lyle Overbay is one of the things that Clint Hurdle can do that will have a positive impact on the club over the long haul. There’s been some clamor lately to get Jones and Ryan Doumit some more at-bats with the offense’s struggles, but I can’t help but wonder if their success this year is coming because they’ve been moved to smaller roles and not in spite of it.
We saw from Jones in particular last year that he’s not an everyday player; even in his ridiculous 2009 breakout season he struggled against lefties (.698 OPS) and by the end of last year he could barely hit anything at all. He’s got good power and he’s a useful player, but he’s a matchup guy. Batting him against most lefties is counter-productive, no matter how hot he seems. Similarly, Doumit’s proven again and again that he’s not an everyday player. Neither is Chris Snyder for that matter, though he, like Doumit, has been useful when used in smaller doses and he’s been pretty good in a limited role this year. Between Snyder, Doumit, and Jones, the Pirates are currently getting solid production from two spots on the field that they got almost nothing from in 2010. I’d be pretty cautious about breaking that up, especially given the track records of everyone involved here.
If this game does get underway, Lannan and Paul Maholm are the starters, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05.
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