Punchless Pirates

Well, it finally happened. Lastings Milledge finally cranked a ball out of the ballpark in 2010. Milledge is batting to a clip of .279/.347/.383. He's tied for the team lead for doubles with 16. He's batting .392 with runners in scoring position. Not bad stats, but a single homer almost through April, May, and June is embarassing.

48

That's the total number of home runs hit by Pirates players this season. Good for 28th best in the majors. If you subtract the 7 hit by Aki Iwamura and Jeff Clement, that brings the total down to 41. That number would be good for last in the majors.

For all the talk about how the Pirates need their starters to keep them in games, it should be noted that the offense needs to do their job as well. With a 29th ranked team batting average, a 29th ranked team on base percentage, and a 28th ranked team slugging percentage, it's clear that the offense isn't doing their job. With a team that can't score runs, it's no wonder the Pirates have lost 6 in a row.

Enter Pedro Alvarez. The "savior" has managed 4 hits in 35 at bats (.114 avg), knocked in 5 runs, and managed 3 walks. All this to go with his 17 strikeouts and 0 home runs. If the Pirates are going to be succesful, Pedro may be the key.

In 2009 Pedro hit 27 in 126 games. About 1 every 20 PA. In 2010 he hit 13 homers (1 every 21 PA) before being plucked to join the big club. If you translate his minor league home run per PA to a 600 PA season, it equates to about 30 home runs.

The Pirates haven't had a player hit 30 or more home runs since Jason Bay in 2006 and 2005. This decade, the only Pirates to accomplish such a feat were Jason Bay, Reggie Sanders, Aramis Ramirez, and Brian Giles. The only teamates to both hit 30 this decade were Aramis Ramirez and Brian Giles in 2002.

The closest the Pirates have come to hitting .500 this decade was the 2003 squad which went 75-87. The Pirates hit 163 home runs that year. It's second most this decade to the 2000 team that hit 168 home runs. The same 2000 team that had 4 starters with a 4.80 ERA or worse and an average starters ERA of 5.15. The 2003 team starter ERA average was 4.37.

So while the starters need to pitch well for the Pirates to win, the offense really needs power. Pedro Alvarez, Garrett Jones, Andrew McCutchen and Ryan Doumit will need to carry the team on their shoulders and get some balls out of the park. If Jeff Clement could ever get his average to stick at the majors, he could be another cog as he hit a home run about every 27 at bats this year.

A lot of Pirates fans talk about how it takes Pedro a few weeks to adjust at every level he has been. Until he does adjust, the Pirates won't be winning very many games. So sit down, relax, and wait for it.