Here Comes the Cavalry

(Photo by Abelimages/Getty Images)

July 22, 2011 was the date. What is so meaningful about that date? In my opinion, that is the day the Pirates season turned for the worst. Most people will point to the 19-inning Jerry Meals travesty against the Braves on July 26th as the beginning of the end. July 26th is good arbitrary starting point for the decline, but I think the season starting going down the tubes before that.

On Friday, July 22, 2011, Alex Presley went 0-4 in a loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. The 0-4 was no big deal, but the injury to his hand was a big deal. Alex Presley was placed on the DL for a left hand contusion retroactive for July 23. This was awful news because the Pirates were winning on the legs of Alex Presley and Chase D'Arnaud (more on him later).



The Pirates are not built to win with home runs and bases clearing extra base hits. Not with the talent that is currently on the roster. At the time of this injury, Andrew McCutchen was the only player with a double digit total in home runs. The Pirates offense actually spiked though during the stretch with Presley and D'Arnaud playing every day. The Pirates offense was actually scoring 4.35 runs per game during the stretch Presley played.

I argue that Presley was THE major factor behind the increase in the offense for that stretch. In 87 ABs, Presley had a line of .333/.402/.494 and an OPS of .896. I know it was only 87 ABs, but in contrast Andrew McCutchen currently has an .837 OPS. Not saying Presley is better than McCutchen, far from it. I think Presley made McCutchen better because he got to hit with someone on base. Presley's OBP of .402 along with his speed made him a perfect lead-off hitter. Presley was outstanding, but he had help on the bases with another fellow rookie.

Chase D'Arnaud mostly batted second behind Presley and in front of McCutchen during this good stretch of Offense in July. D'Arnaud didn't nearly have as much success as Presley at the plate. In his 102 ABs, he only hit for a line of .225/.245/.294 and an OPS of .539. Those numbers are terrible, and actually demonstrate that D'Arnaud shouldn't have been called up. But those numbers don't show it all. Yes, D'Arnaud's bat was definitely not ready for the big leagues, but his legs and base-running instincts were.

D'Arnaud may have had a terrible OBP of .294, but when he got on, he made things happen. D'Arnaud is the poster child for what kind of base-running Hurdle wants the Pirates to be doing. He is very aggressive going 1st to 3rd as much as possible. I also don't recall D'Arnaud ever getting gun shy when it came to stealing bases. If he was on 1st, there was no doubt he was going to attempt to steal 2nd base. D'Arnaud is actually 7-7 in his steal attempts. With him and Presley causing havoc on the base pads, McCutchen and others got better pitches to hit, thus, more runs.

Unfortunately for the Pirates, D'Arnaud also went down with a hand injury. D'Arnaud received a broken right pinky from his agressive slide into 3rd base. He received that injury on July 24th. Two days after Alex Presley. Ironically, his last start was the game he won with a sac fly against the Cardinals.

These two injuries killed the Pirates offensive production. Now I know most of the downfall has been due to the pitching staff finally coming down to earth, but I can't still help to think that if the Pirates would have had these guys against the Cubs and Padres, there would have never been a ten game losing streak.

Now that both Alex Presley and Chase D'Arnaud are both coming back, we all can hope that they can bring back that excitement to the offense. This season may be over for the playoff race, but it still can be exciting to watch these two speed demons team up with McCutchen and Walker to end this magical season with a bang. Gotta Fly!!

Ryan Godsey
Contact me by email: rydog2469@yahoo.com
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