Pittsburgh Pirates 2009 Preview: Starting Rotation, Part 2
The back end of the rotation here is where Gorzelanny’s demotion raises some questions. In the immediate light of the demotion, it seemed like two spots were open. Now, it’s certainly no more than one and probably not even that.
Ross Ohlendorf
I think the the Pirates like him the most of the three pitchers acquired from the Yankees, which is interesting. Reports from his starts in AAA after the trade last year had his velocity topping out at 99 mph. He blew through seven starts with Indianapolis with 40 strikeouts and just eight walks in 46 2/3 innings to go with his 3.47 ERA. In the majors, his performance didn’t really match that at all. He struck out 13 and walked 12 in 22 2/3 innings over five starts and his fastball sat mostly in the low 90s.
This spring, we’ve seen mostly the good Ohlendorf. He’s only allowed one earned run in 15 1/3 innings with 10 strikeouts and no walks. That’s certainly good enough to cement him into the fourth rotation spot.
The fifth spot
With Jimmy Barthmaier and Daniel McCutchen, both of whom should see some time in Pittsburgh this year, going to the minors along with Gorzo, we’re down to two internal rotation options for the Pirates. The first, and most likely to claim the fifth spot, is Jeff Karstens. He’s had a decent spring and showed a flash of brilliance after being traded to the Pirates last year when he nearly tossed a perfect game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Pirates shouldn’t be expecting brilliance out of Karstens this year — his strikeout rates are low and he doesn’t have great stuff, which can lead to him getting hit pretty hard at times — but I think they can safely hope for competence, which is way more than they got out of the five slot last year when it was manned mostly by Matt Morris, Yoslan Herrera, and John Van Benschoten.
The other option at the moment is Virgil Vasquez, who seems to be around mostly to create a bit of pressure on Karstens. He came up through the Tigers system as a mostly decent starter who’s never really stood out at any level but never really been bad at any level either. That got him waived by the Tigers and in to Pittsburgh where I think he provides some nice depth and maybe a decent long arm out of the bullpen.
All in all this Pirate pitching staff is far from great, but they should be improved over the staff that allowed 884 runs last year. They have more options both in the rotation and the bullpen after the trade with the Yankees last year. In the minors, I think Dan McCutchen is worth keeping an eye on. He started his career a bit late, so 2009 will be his first full year at AAA even though he’s 26, but he’s got some interesting numbers in the minors and could surprise some people if he gets a chance to pitch in the Pirates’ rotation this year, which I think he will sooner or later.
Topics: Dan McCutchen, Jeff Karstens, Ross Ohlendorf, Virgil Vasquez
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