Don't Panic... yet

It's April 7th, and the panic is already on.  We're only one week into the six month journey that is baseball season, and people have already written off the Pirates.  I'm not saying there's no reason to do so.

This has been a very disappointing start.  One win, five losses to start the year.  The total inability to get hits, let alone runs.  A series loss to the divisional rival Chicago Cubs, and a sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers.  It wasn't pretty.  The Bucs wasted two beautiful pitching performances by AJ Burnett.  They wasted a surprisingly decent showing by Jonathan Sanchez.  Today's loss to the Dodgers marked the first time this year where the pitching staff did not give them a legitimate chance to win.  The offense took a step forward, with Andrew McCutchen crushing the team's first home run of 2013.  Hits weren't quite as scarce as before.  People seemed to be getting better quality contact.  But still, there's not much good to take out of the first six games of the season.

But amid all of the widespread depression among the Pirates community, I'm about to say why it is absurd to panic just yet.  Here's why:

Pitching is the foundation for success.  It is absolutely the most important thing for a winning baseball team to have.  The Pirates have it.  AJ Burnett has turned in two top-notch starts.  Wandy Rodriguez delivered a handling of the Cubs' lineup.  Even Jonathan Sanchez turned in a quality start, pitching through six innings allowing three earned runs.  The bullpen has performed well, with Jared Hughes succeeding in both of his outings, Tony Watson getting out of a bases-loaded situation unscathed.  The pitching is certainly there.

The obvious, glaring issue with this team is the hitting.  The team collectively has hit below .200.  Until today, there were zero home runs, and only two doubles.  The only player to have two hits in one game was Starling Marte, and they were both singles.  Alvarez isn't looking good, if you know what I mean.  However, you should wait before hitting the panic button.  Look at last year's season.  We started in a very similar fashion, with excellent pitching and extremely bad offense.  But they pulled through.  Eventually (May 25th to be exact) the offense lit up.  And don't be fooled, the Pirates have some serious weapons.  Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez, Garrett Jones, Neil Walker, and Starling Marte make for a formidable core.  If something, anything, can spark this offense, it could easily light on fire once again. It's not a lack of talent, at least I don't think so.  It's something intangible.

This bodes well for the Pirates because it means things could turn around at any moment.  Today we could hit this horribly, but as soon as tomorrow we could have a big day at the plate.  I'm not saying it will turn around tomorrow.  I'm saying that it could turn around tomorrow.  And there's no reason to say it won't be tomorrow.  They face the Arizona Diamondbacks, who play in a very hitter-friendly ballpark, which could be just the thing to get this offense going.

I'm not pretending that this first week hasn't been bad.  All I mean to say is that the potential is there to pick things up any day now.

Pirates Batting Order

There are 25 days until Opening Day for the Pirates.  Over two weeks into Spring Training, we already have a good idea of what the team should look like.  Here's what I (not necessarily Clint Hurdle) think the batting order should be.

1.  Jose Tabata, RF
2. Starling Marte, LF
3. Andrew McCutchen, CF
4. Garrett Jones, 1B
5.  Pedro Alvarez, 3B
6. Neil Walker, 2B
7. Russell Martin, C
8. Clint Barmes, SS
9. A.J. Burnett, P

1. Tabata has the skills to be a good Major-League player.  As he showed last year, he lacked some of the motivation and effort.  If he gets it together, he should make the lineup.  He is in the leadoff spot over Marte because Marte is known to be more of a free-swinging type of player, which is not ideal for leadoff.
2.  Marte is speedy, and has some power, but isn't a true home run guy.  Perfect for the 2-hole.
3.  No brainer.  McCutchen played every game last year in the 3-spot, putting up a .327 average.  He got 195 hits, including 29 doubles and 31 home runs.  Don't change a thing.
4.  I have Jones batting cleanup not because he is a better power hitter than Alvarez, but because Alvarez has NEVER played well in the 4-spot.  Most of his notorious slumps can be traced back to being put there.
5.  Being in the 5-spot gives Alvarez a chance to clear the bases with his mighty power, but without some of the pressure of the cleanup spot.
6.  Not much debate here.  Walker is a solid hitter, but without very much power.  Easily better than the two below him.
7.  Martin is coming off of a poor season with the Yankees, but, hey, so was A.J. Burnett last year.  The only reason I didn't put him in the 2-hole is because the bottom of the lineup needs more stability.
8.  Not much thought here.  The worst hitter in this group of eight, although he showed signs of life at the end of last year.