In our daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the baseball day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jameson Taillon has now gone from prospect to rookie pitcher to stabilizing force over the course of 10 major league starts.
It is startlign to think that just two short weeks ago, the rotation was in compete disarray, with Francisco Liriano and Jeff Locke serving as huge question marks in a rotation that needed to be solid, if not great, if the team had any true aspirations towards contention. Now, Taillon – along with the indefatigable Chad Kuhl – has given the rotation that stability it needs. Perhaps it was Indianapolis Indians PR man Ryan Sheets who said it best.
https://twitter.com/RyanSheets_/status/763812638409109505
To be completely fair, there are still questions around this crop of starters. Ivan Nova impressed in his Pirates debut, but he must show that his bad habits are behind him. Ryan Vogelsong will also need to show that the emotion that lifted him in this two return starts from his gruesome eye injury can give way to lasting results.
Still, Taillon’s outing yesterday may have helped the rotation finally turn the page on their underachieving performance.
A Make-or-Break Stretch
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but today the Pittsburgh Pirates embark on a 12-game stretch that will truly make or break their NL Wild Card hopes. Not only do the Pirates travel to Los Angels and San Francisco for three games apiece, they welcome the Miami Marlins – one of hteir direct competitors for the second wild card – to PNC Park. They wrap up the stretch with three against the always-frisky Houston Astros.
It could be worse. The Dodgers rotation is in disarray with Clayton Kershaw still in the midst of a long absence. They will avoid Scott Kazmir, and the Dodgers’ best young player, Corey Seager, was hit in the wrist by a pitch and is day to day. The Giants are mortal again, and the Pirates should avoid Madison Bumgarner, who will pitch tomorrow night.
It will be up to that improved rotation to set the tone, and for the Pirates’ offense to scratch across just enough runs to make the trip a successful one.
Yesterday’s Player Of The Game
After each game – win or lose – we put out a Twitter Poll to find out who you feel should take home ‘Player of the Game’ honors. Here now is yesterday’s results, for each game.
Who is your Player of the Game in the #Pirates' 4-0 win?
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) August 11, 2016
Keep an eye out for our POTG polls after each game on our twitter feed after each game, win or lose.
Baseball Talk on the Web
- Over at MLB Trade Rumors, guest author Burke Badenhop took us inside the mind of an MLB reliever in the month of August.
- Former Pittsburgh Pirates killer Carlos Gomez was DFA’d by the Astros this week. Fangraphs outlines the possibility of salvaging the outfielder.
- Jon Heyman whips around MLB in his latest column.
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