Kevin Correia has been getting a lot of press as the Pirates “ace” this year, but I think that Charlie Morton has probably been the team’s best pitcher. He was particularly good in his last start, as he’s starting to mix his four-seamer, changeup, and curveball in with his sinker and that’s getting some serious swings and misses. His peripherals don’t look great now, but I have a feeling they’re going to start shaping up in short order.
Today should be partcularly fun to watch as he’s matched up against Ubaldo Jiminez. Jiminez has given up some runs since his return from the DL on April 19th, but his peripherals don’t look bad at all and sometimes all these struggling guys really need to get in line is a few innings against the Pirates. What I’d love to see the Pirates have an inning or two where they string three or four hits together and score some runs. That’s been notably absent the last couple nights, which have seen the Bucs mostly score on solo homers. Maybe Jiminez isn’t the right guy to do that against, but I’ll at least hope that the offense can show some life.
I don’t see the lineup posted anywhere yet, but Clint Hurdle made it sound last night like Jose Tabata would probably miss another game or two. Hopefully that doesn’t mean more of Matt Diaz in the starting lineup, because he can’t play defense or hit anything and as near as I can tell, his only function on the roster is to remind me of how much I didn’t like his signing in the first place. I’d much rather see just about anyone out there in left field today.
First pitch today is at 3:10, so get your Sunday chores done early.
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