Saturday, July 23, 2011

Why the Pirates are Above .500

     This year, the Pirates have surprised just about everyone. Going into July 23 games, the Pirates are 51-46, and 2nd in the NL Central. They are on track to posting their first winning record since 1992, when Barry Bonds was the star of the team. Although there are a few notable hitters in the Pirates lineup, the key to the team's success has been pitching.
     Jeff Karstens, Paul Maholm, Kevin Correia, James McDonald, and Charlie Morton. Those are the pitchers that have made all but three starts for Pittsburgh this year. In any other year, they would probably be scrub pitchers, maybe a 4-starter at best, but this year they've formed one of the most reliable rotations in the NL. The one that has been the best and most surprising is Karstens. Never before posting an earned-run average below 4.92 (when pitching at least 100+ innings), Karstens paces the National League with a 2.28 ERA and owns the NL's third-best WHIP at 1.04, ahead of many star pitchers such as Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. According to ESPN's Average Game Score, which measures how good the average outing for a pitcher is, Karstens ranks 10th. Since Karstens' June 3 start against the Phillies, Karstens has worked at least 6 2/3 innings in every start while the most earned runs he allowed in a start was 3. In those starts, seven of them were when he allowed one earned run or less. In June and July, Karstens has been spectacular, going 5-1 with monthly ERA's of 0.78 (July) and 1.52 (June).
      Next is Paul Maholm, the workhorse of the Pirates rotation. He is one of 17 pitchers that have started an Nl-high 21 games, and Maholm comes in at 12th for innings pitched with 132.2, on pace for a career-high. Maholm has a 3.26 ERA and 1.24 WHIP to complement those, showing how his 6-10 record has been unlucky.
     Onto Correia, the last of the three overachievers, he was magnificent in the month of April and pretty average from then-on. He was one of the first NL pitchers to break 10 wins, and currently is in a tie for third in wins with 11. Although he has a 4.04 ERA, his whip is an above-average 1.26 and he has been consistently been working late into games. And although these two haven't been performing like stars, James McDonald and Charlie Morton deserve recognition. McDonald's 85 strikeouts are the most of any Pirate and Morton has gone above expectations with an 8-5 record and 3.62 ERA.
     The starting rotation can't do it all. The bullpen has done a great job, with once again three pitchers going above and beyond. First up is All-Star closer Joel Hanrahan. The former National has followed-up on last year's strong showing by converting 28 of his 29 save attempts and posting a 0.92 WHIP and 1.24 ERA. This guy's only allowed six earned runs the entire year. His two set-up men, Jose Veras and Chris Resop, have also been great. Both have ERA's under 3.50 and WHIP's under 1.25. Between the two, they have 32 holds.
     The Pirates as a team have pitched well. Their 3.36 team ERA is 5th in the NL, and their 5 complete games put them and the Dodgers in second behind the Phillies. This is a team that can overcome their woeful offense with terrific pitching to possibly take the NL Central Crown.

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