Pirates Pitching Propels Potential Winning Season

The air around PNC Park has a different aroma these days. The stale scent of defeat and the sickening odor of John Russell has vanished and is replaced with hope. That's right Pittsburgh, hope! The Pirates are at the .500 mark (33-33) for the third time this season and look to march to .507

With a win in tonight's game against the Houston Astros. A ton of the Pirate’s success (Did I just say success and Pirates in the same sentence? Is thanks to pitching Coach Ray Searage and the arms of the Pirates pitchers.

Since Searage took his position on November 24th last year, he has turned the Pirates pitching staff into a workable and effective unit. Just look at the numbers, for Bob Walk's sake! Last year the Pirates had a horrible year (57-105) and pitching was the major factor. In the National League,

We were last in ERA (5.00), saves (31), innings pitched (1411.2), and strikeouts (1026). We also gave up the most hits (1567) and runs (866).Despite these stats, the Pirates lone all-star last year was pitcher Evan
Meek. Go figure.

This year's staff is vastly, no that's not a strong enough word . . .Epic-ly superior. Searage has guided the staff to a 3.48 ERA (5th best in the NL) and four complete games (tied for 2nd with St. Louis & Colorado).
Kevin Correia has eight wins (one behind Roy fucking Halladay), Jeff Karstens is sporting a 2.66 ERA, and Paul Maholm leads the team with 58 Ks.

 The bullpen is the best it has been in years with solid stoppers like Jose Veras (12 holds), Chris Resop (7 holds), and the other McCutchen, Daniel). Joel Hanrahan is an All-Star with eighteen saves.

The pitching 180 can best be personified with the performance of Charlie Morton. Last year, Charlie Morton was the poster-boy for our terrible damn pitching. He went 2-12 with a jaw-shattering 7.57 ERA. We wanted his head inside in a plastic basket with fires and coleslaw on top. How in the blue blazes did he win two? This year, Charlie is 6-3 with a 3.08 ERA and a reliable starter. Sorry Charlie for all the hurtful things we said. . .

Baseball is a game ruled by numbers. These digits show that our Buccos have drastically improved on the mound. That being said, we still a little ways to go. The Pirates are last in the National League in strikeouts
(411) and second to last in starter innings pitched (593.0). But, I'd rather get my hopes up to see us erase a more upsetting number: eighteen straight losing seasons.



Written by Andrew Brown