The 10 Best Pirates of the First Half

10.  Alex Presley - Presley left the building in his first start with Pirates this season upon being called up from the minors as he homered against the Toronto Blue Jays. Presley has only played in 9 games this season, so this ranking could be uncalled for, but I am excited about this kid. I think that when Tabata is healthy that Presley can move to right field as he is playing well at the major league level. Presley is hitting .324 through nine games with 1 homerun and 2 triples. A speedy player, Presley also has 2 stolen bases on the year.

The speed of Presely, Tabata, and Cutch in the outfield and on the base paths could make the Pirates very dangerous. It is highly likely that Presley will come back down to earth or perhaps go through a slump, but his hot start is impressive and is not luck but skill so I know this 9 game preview is a sign of things to come.

9.  Jose Tabata- Tabata is currently injured, yet I still have him as one of the ten best for the Pirates this season. Why? Because of his early season production. Tabata started the season on fire when McCutchen was still warming up. Tabata opened the season with a 10 game hitting streak. Tabata went 4/5  on April 16^th when we beat the Reds 6-1. He has 14 stolen bases despite having been injured for portions of the season and still ranks 3^rd on the team in runs with 39.

Tabata is only 22 years old and in his second major league season. I hope his quad heals well and he can join Presely and Cutch to make a stellar Pirates outfield.

8. Paul Maholm- Paul Maholm, what did you do to your teammates to make them not hit for you? Maholm would be ranked higher if he had more victories but for some reason the Pirates often struggle to hit when Maholm takes the mound. As I described Morton and Karstens to be up and down, Maholm has been the epitome of consistency for the Pirates. Maholm’s ERA of 3.08 has been steadily around that mark throughout the season. Maholm’s woes are most perfectly described the month of May.

In May Maholm had an ERA of  2.14, but went 1-4. He lost games by scores of 4-2, 2-0, 2-0, and 3-2. The offense more than doubled their efforts of the first four games of the month giving him one win in May in a 10-0 victory over the Cubs. Maholm is pitching at his best, and there is a chance the Pirates trade him, but for now as he is pitching for the Pirates I hope his buddies in the locker room work harder to give him the run support he needs.

7.  Charlie Morton- Chuck Morton the guy who was “electric stuff”, has heralded Roy Halladay comparisons and pitched very well for the Pirates early on. Just as Walker performed well when McCutchen was off to a slow star. Morton was the star of the show when Karstens was struggling through April and May. Morton’s best stretch came in May when he had an ERA of  2.06 and pitched a shutout victory of our division rival Reds.

In June Morton struggled greatly, posting a June ERA of 8.50. People began to question his arm fatigue. Hurdle gave Morton a rest in late June. His most recent start since the rest was a 2-1 loss at Washington in which he gave up 1 run over 5.2 innings. This is a positive sign for Chuck.

The kid has a great delivery and the Pirates defense has improved to be able to handle the groundballs that will come their way with Morton on the mound. Morton can replicate his fantastic May and help the Pirates win more ball games. Thus I rank him 7^th because of his recent struggles, but still say he is in the top ten for his early season success and victories.

6.  Jeff Karstens- Karstens had a red-hot June and solid July so far (last night giving up 1 run over 7 innings). Thus the Karstens descriptor would be ERA. Karstens began the season as the question mark of the rotation. Everyone, including myself worried about Karstens ability to pitch deep into games.

Karstens endurance has improved. In April and May, the longest outing Karstens pitched was 6.2 innings which he did once. In Karstens’ 7 starts in June and July he has pitched 7 innings 5 times and 6.2 innings the other two starts. Karstens opened the season with ERA’s of  3.57 and 3.58 in April and May respectively. I didn’t consider these numbers horrible for a 4^th starter, especially having dealt with poor Pirates pitching for most of my life as a young fan. I have been blown away by Karstens in June when he posted an ERA of 1.52 for the month.

The other night I watched him pitch and he did let up his typical solo homer, he’s given up 15 this year, but that was the only run he gave up on the night. Karstens seems confident and has been dominating, I’m cheering for him to continue this great work.

5. Kevin Correia- Cole Hamels pitches on Sunday and therefore cannot be on the roster for the All-Star game on Tuesday, the next guy up? Yes! Another Pirate all-star Kevin Correia. If our pitching staff were to be split into different statistical descriptors Correia would be the winner, as he leads the National League in wins with 11. Correia has won 9 of his games for the Pirates on the road. An important figure because last year the Pirates only won 17 games total on the road. Correia’s numbers so far are more than half of that win total.

4. Joel Hanrahan- The Pirates All-Star representative, I expected him to be an all-star and am happy he is representing the Pirates as a worthy candidate in 2011, rather than a guy who had to be put on the all-star team as every team gets one (Mike Williams 2003). Hanrahan is 100% in converting save opportunities. He is 3^rd in the National League with 25 saves. He has struck out 33 and only walked 8 batters this season. Give the Pirates a lead  going into the 9^th and the W seems to be locked up with this closer on the mound. Check out this entrance video:

3. Neil Waker- The hometown hero, Neil Walker is clutch. McCutchen leads Walker  in average and homeruns, but Walker leads in the important category of RBIS having batted in 55 runs this season. McCutchen was off to a slow start as I wrote earlier only having batted .219 in April, yet the Pirates were still dancing around .500 at this time due in large part to Walker’s bat. Walker hit .301 to open the season in April. However, batting average does not constitute his worth. For while hitting .301 Walker had 14 RBIs, yet his May totals were .227/19, June .213/18. So far in July Walker is as hot like McCutchen hitting .400 and having 4 RBIs so far. So, although the average had dipped in June, when Walker was up with runners in scoring position his average was much higher than .213. Walker was hot early and Cutch heated up in June when Walker cooled off. Both players seem to be hitting the ball well so far this month, it will be exciting to watch our offense when both players are on a roll.

2. Clint Hurdle- The manager for the Pirates may not make plays on the field, but has done a great job dealing with a roster plagued with injuries throughout the year. I also credit the bench players for stepping up. Last night Brandon Wood replaced an injured Josh Harrison and knocked in 3 RBI’s leading the Buccos to a 5-1 victory over the Astros. The Pirates are winning without a home run threat as Alvarez has been hurt for much of the season. The Pirates have gone through 8 different catchers this season, yet are finding ways to win. Smart decision making by Hurdle has helped such as selecting specific pieces of the bullpen to perform to set up a victory. Hurdle seems to have injected a winning attitude into these young Pirates. The average age on the Pirates roster is 26.9, these are some young guys who need a manager to discipline them and push them forward. Hurdle for manager of the year.

1. Andrew McCutchen- The All-Star snub of the Pirates is having a great year in 2011. McCutchen started off slowly batting .219 in April then .275 in May. He has been red hot in June and July as he batted .347 in June and is batting .500 so far in July. McCutchen often carries the offense as how Cutch goes the Pirates go. For example, when the Pirates were swept by the Cleveland Indians last month McCutchen went 0-13. McCutchen currently leads the Pirates in average at .291, homers with 12, and has an OPS of .884. It’s not just the bat that works well for Cutch, he is quick on the base paths having stolen 15 bags this season. The quickness of McCutchen additionally gives him great range in centerfield. I like to argue that McCutchen has less dazzling plays in centerfield than a Jim Edmonds type because McCutchen is fast enough to get there, thus there is no need to lay out. This play against the Mets shows Cutch’s defensive abilities.