Month 1 as a Pirates Fan

By: Jake

For this year in the MLB I decided I'd change from being a fan of the World Series favorite St. Louis Cardinals to a younger team who I could really get behind and call my own, so I chose a team with one of the best young players in the MLB, Andrew McCutchen. Its been quite the up and down month as the Pirates started off with two quality wins against the Dodgers but then things have gone down from there. They went on to lose 5 of their next 7, giving up 59 runs in the process. The abysmal pitching was horrifying to watch and the offense didn't really make much noise except for McCutchen and Garrett Jones who homered 3 times in the first 2 games. Andy LaRoche was solid at the plate too but didn't supply the power he was supposed to. After that abysmal slide, the Pirates came home to sweep the division foe Reds and give fans another glimmer of hope. This didn't last long as the very next game the Bucs were shutout in front of their home crowd 8-0 and 20-0 respectively and it was the start of a disastrous 7 game losing streak during which I questioned my transformation into a Pirates fan. But through the tough times one thing gave me hope, #22 in CF. Andrew McCutchen leads the league in stolen bases and still manages to put up solid power numbers especially for a leadoff hitter. He wasn't always the leadoff hitter though. Pirates Manager John Russell had at one point had 20 different line ups through 22 games giving very little stability to the team. This complete lack of a consistent lineup was partly due to trying to jump start the offense but also due to the fact that there aren't really many staples in the line up besides McCutchen and LaRoche. Even Aki Iwamura was subbed out for times to see if a player like Bobby Crosby or Ronny Cedeno could provide more pop. The outfield has been shifted around numerous times as Garrett Jones switches from RF to 1B depending on the troubled young Jeff Clement's status for the game. Even the backstop has been rotating for the Pirates. Ryan Doumit has been playing very well this year, but youngster Jason Jaramillo is almost too good not top play plus he has the arm to throw out runners which is something Doumit lacks.

Overall, this team has been frustrating to watch, but something tells me they'll put something close to a respectable season together once SP Ross Ohlendorf comes back from the DL and a kid from AAA like Brad Lincoln is called up to contribute. I remain optimistic as I am with all my favorite teams and especially can't wait to travel to Pittsburgh and see the best stadium in the MLB in PNC Park. I'll be sporting a brand new black McCutchen jersey by then hopefully.