Did you miss some of the past week’s content on Pirates Breakdown? No sweat – here’s a weekly a look at what you might have missed on our pages.
It was an analytic-heavy week at Pirates Breakdown, as our staff began to take a detailed look at the 2016 Pittsburgh Pirates.
- Aaron Benedict took a look at just how good the Pirates’ infield defense was in 2015 and how good it can be in the new season up ahead. From his study:
Based on the the Defensive Runs Saved metric, the Pittsburgh Pirates are poised to be a slightly better defensive infield in 2016, as they’re projected to earn about three extra wins on defense alone. This is primarily because of the subtraction of Pedro Alvarez and Neil Walker on the right side of the infield and Jung Ho Kang playing third base.
- Co-Editor Jason Rollison was spurned on by the John Jaso signing to compare the Pirates approach to the first base position as compared to the rest of MLB. From his report:The team’s reliance on some combination of Michael Morse, Jason Rogers, and the newest acquisition John Jaso would suggest that the Pirates do not value a traditional home-run threat of Alvarez’s ilk at the position.Are they right to do so?
- Co-Editor Tyler Waite tackled both the remaining free agent starting pitchers and relievers that may make sense for the Pirates.
- Justin Kosanko put to words what many of us are thinking. The Pittsburgh Pirates are still dealing with the Mark Melancon conundrum.
- With the team more or less complete when it comes to starting position players, Assistant Editor Steve Kubitz took an early look at what may be the optimal lineups vs left and right handed pitching.
That does it for this week’s best of Pirates Breakdown. We want to take a moment to sincerely thank you for your readership. We invite you to join the conversation! Sound off on anything Pirates-related below in the comments, or let us know on twitter.
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