The 30 Team/30 Day Report Cards: Day 1- Pittsburgh Pirates

Without further adieu, we begin our 2010 report cards in the Steel City, where we break down the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Pittsburgh Pirates:
Record: 57-105 (Last place in NL Central, 34 games behind Cincinnati)

Batting Leaders
Batting Average: Andrew McCutchen (.286)
Home Runs: Garrett Jones (21)
RBIs: Garrett Jones (86)
On-base Percentage: Andrew McCutchen (.365)

Pitching Leaders
Wins: Paul Maholm (9)
Strikeouts: Paul Maholm (102)
Innings Pitched: Paul Maholm (185.1)
ERA: Ross Ohlendorf (4.07) Bullpen- Evan Meek (2.14)
WHIP: Ross Ohlendorf (1.38) Bullpen- Evan Meek (1.05)
Saves: Octavio Dotel (21)

Highlight of the Season: Take your pick between rookie Pedro Alvarez’s game-winning home run on August 7, or the fact that the Bucs somehow finished 40-41 at home.

Lowlight of the Season: A 17-64 record on the road.

The Lowdown:
Eighteen consecutive losing seasons is obviously a nightmare for this beleaguered fan base, however 2010 was the nadir, as the Bucs posted their worst record since 1952. A major contributing factor to this was their abysmal 17-64 record on the road, which tied the 1963 New York Mets for the least amount of road wins on a 162 game schedule (somehow, someway, the 1962 Mets were slightly better on the road at 18-62).

Also contributing to this nightmare of a season was their pitching staff, which was by far and away the worst in the majors with a 5.00 ERA. This obviously did not bode well for their offense, which averaged only 3.6 runs per game, ranking 29th in the majors. Adding insult to injury, the Bucs tied for the major league lead in errors with the Nationals with 127. If you can’t hit, can’t pitch and can’t field, you’re likely going to be one of the worst teams in baseball, and the Pirates were THE worst this year.

In spite of all of the negative things that came out of the 2010 season, there were some positive things to take out of this year. Pirate fans certainly have to be excited at what lies in store for rookies Neil Walker, Jose Tabata and Pedro Alvarez. Also, Andrew McCutchen put together a fine sophomore campaign for the Bucs, as he led the Pirates in most of their offensive categories. Perhaps the most surprising thing to come out of 2010 however, was the fact that the Pirates finished a respectable 40-41 at home.

Offense:
Pittsburgh struggled mightily with their offense in 2010, as their aforementioned 3.6 runs per game (587 total runs on the season) ranked dead last in the National League, and was second only to Seattle for the worst in baseball. Their team average was also a dreadful .242, which was the second worst in the majors as well. The Bucs did not hit for much power either, as their 126 home runs would indicate (25th in MLB). Despite their poor aggregate numbers, there were some good individual performances by a few of their players, including the aforementioned Neil Walker, Jose Tabata, Pedro Alvarez and Andrew McCutchen. Walker and Tabata performed well in their rookie campaigns, as Walker would hit .296 with 12 home runs and 66 RBIs, while Tabata hit .299 in 121 games. Alvarez put together decent numbers as a rookie third baseman, hitting .256, with 16 home runs and 64 driven in over the course of 95 games.

McCutchen featured perhaps the best all-around season of any Pirates player at the plate, hitting .286, with 16 home runs and 56 RBIs, along with a team-best .365 OBP, 163 hits and 33 steals. Garrett Jones also supplied some power in his sophomore season with 21 homers and 86 RBIs in 158 games. However, his numbers were a considerable drop-off from 2009, when he hit just as many home runs in only 82 games.

Even though the young talent on this ballclub showed some promise this year, it was not good enough to rescue the bulk of this lineup from the basement of the National League.
Final Grade: F

Pitching:
The Steel City pitching staff was absolutely dreadful this year, so I’ll just keep this short and simple. They finished dead last in ERA (5.00), WHIP (1.49), batting average against (opponents hit a ridiculous .282 against them) and complete games (1). Paul Maholm was the leader of the starting rotation only by default, as his nine wins and 5.10 ERA were actually among the best of the Bucs’ starting five this year. Otherwise, this rotation was dreadful, as Charlie Morton (2-12, 7.57 ERA), Ross Ohlendorf (1-11, 4.07 ERA), Jeff Karstens (3-10, 4.92 ERA) and Zach Duke (8-15, 5.72 ERA) were all either average or worse.

The only bright spot in this pitching staff was the All-Star performance by reliever Evan Meek. In 70 appearances this year, Meek fashioned a 2.14 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, struck out 70 and recorded 15 holds in 80 innings pitched. Joel Hanrahan also put together a commendable performance in relief, recording 100 strikeouts in 69.2 innings.
When you are surrendering more runs than any other pitching staff in baseball, you do not deserve a passing grade under any circumstances.
Final Grade: F

Wild Card: Blowouts
With a severely deficient pitching staff, combined with an offense that wasn’t much better, the Bucs were on the losing end of quite a few blowouts in 2010. Some of their more epic losses included:
4/22- Brewers 20, Pirates 0
4/26- Brewers 17, Pirates 3
5/17- Phillies 12, Pirates 2
6/23- Rangers 13, Pirates 3
6/25- Athletics 14, Pirates 4
8/30- Cubs 14, Pirates 2

Overall, the Bucs were outscored by a whopping 279 runs this year, by far and away the worst in the majors.
Final Grade: F

Overall:
While I really like the young talent this Pirates team features in their everyday lineup, that didn’t rescue them from being the worst team in baseball this year. Hopefully for Pirates fans, there will be nowhere to go but up for this team heading into 2011.
Final Grade: F

Check back tomorrow for the report card on the Seattle Mariners!