Pittsburgh Pirates mid season review

I really want to say that I am skipping the Pittsburgh Pirates because I am doing a mid season review of the Major League ball clubs. Maybe that is a little too mean, even for a spiteful sports blogger such as myself. The only nice thing I can think to say about this team is at the very least they are not the worst team out there currently. The Baltimore Orioles have that distinction but we shall see at the end of the year. The Pirates are 31-59 and have fallen 18.5 games out of the lead in teh National League Central.

It seems this team is pretty bad at everything except stealing bases. They have stolen 56 bases this year and that is sixth among NL clubs. The news is not so great after that. As a team the Pirates are hitting .235 and hat is the worst team mark in the NL. They have scored just 286 runs on 692 hits. Those hits may be broken down like this; 151 of them were doubles, 12 were triples, and 59 were round trippers. They have struck out 652 times and drawn 266 walks.

If you were expecting for things to get better for the pitching staff, prepare to be disappointed. Not one of their starting five hurlers has a winning record, and the staff ERA is a whopping 5.10. They have given up 483 runs on 860 hits, 104 of which were home runs. They have managed to strike out 545 batters, and issued 312 walks.

The amount that this team sucks is almost unreal. They have a losing record at home as well as on the road. They have not managed to have a winning record at the end of any month, including a 6-20 record in June. On top of that they went just 2-13 in interleague play. Bud Selig needs to do the right thing here and contract this team, if only to end the misery.

Related Links:

•Pittsburgh Pirates news and notes
•The business of Major League Baseball
•MTR Baseball.com