It seems like poor form to try and take something positive out of this game because this game was pretty terrible, but, well, why dwell on the obvious?  Really, the only positive from this whole game is that despite the lackluster result, Charlie Morton does appear to be stronger as a result of his Tommy […]

Let's be straight about this: Charlie Morton is probably my favorite Pirate. The guy came through the minors with all of the talent in the world, but couldn't get it right in the big leagues. He completely scrapped his approach and rebuilt himself from the ground up, turning in one of the more pleasantly surprising […]

On Sunday, we were worried that the Pirates' offense was never going to wake up. On Tuesday, the Pirates scored eight runs. On Wednesday, the exploded for 12 runs and 18 hits. Those 18 hits were a result of multi hit nights from Starling Marte (four singles), Jordy Mercer (three singles), Andrew McCutchen (a double […]

Last night was a really, really fun night to be a Pirate fan. Tonight is a fun night to be a Pirate fan, too, though. Even without Gerrit Cole on the mound, the Pirates are a good team playing a team that's right behind them in the wild card standings, and they're sending Francisco Liriano […]

Let's start with the warm-and-fuzzies: Gerrit Cole took the mound in his Major League debut tonight. The first three pitches hew threw went 96 mph, 96 mph, and 98 mph. They were a called strike and two swinging strikes. There were 30,000+ at PNC Park tonight, and they exploded with every pitch. Cole hit some […]

Here are some things you should know about the Pirates' newest starting pitcher:  His four-seam fastball generally sits around 94-95, but he can ramp it up to 98-100 for big occasions. The command isn't quite the same when he throws it that hard, though. He also throws a two-seamer that sits in the low 90s. […]

If I asked you to name the ten best position players in Pittsburgh Pirates' history, we could have a debate that lasted for days. In no particular order, Roberto Clemente, Honus Wagner, Willie Stargell, Dave Parker, Barry Bonds, Arky Vaughan, Pie Traynor, Paul Waner, Lloyd Waner, Kiki Cuyler, Fred Clarke, Ralph Kiner, Max Carey, Tommy […]

Well, that was strange. Jeff Locke seemed to get off to a really good start, but completely unraveled as the afternoon went on and he stopped being able to find the strike zone. He gave up a run before he gave up a hit and walked seven hitters. Justin Wilson bailed him out of trouble […]

Let's not mince words: the Cubs are terrible and the Pirates could really use a sweep after their terrible week against the Reds and Braves. Clint Hurdle is not pulling his punches with a Sunday lineup today;

The Pirates officially confirmed that Gerrit Cole will start on Tuesday against the Giants yesterday, and today Travis Sawchik at the Trib has a great article about Cole's trip through the minors. I'd recommend that you read the whole thing, but there were a couple of things that really stood out to me.  One is […]

Despite a strong start to 2013, AJ Burnett is only 3-6 and the Pirates have only won five of his 13 starts. Last year, Burnett made one of the best starts of his career against the Cubs. I think that it's time now for Burnett to turn things around, and the Cubs seem like a […]

When the Pirates signed Francisco Liriano this winter, this is exactly the sort of game I had in mind. I don't mean that as a compliment or a criticism of Liriano, just that I've always thought of Liriano as a guy with great stuff that can be his own worst enemy because of his control. […]

There's a lot going on today, but the Pirates are also playing the Cubs at 2:20 for the Wrigley Friday Afternoon Game. Francisco Liriano goes against Travis Wood. It's time to break out of the slump.

It's been a rough week for the Pirates, but there's some good news for them today; Michael Sanserino says that the tests done on

Day two of the MLB Draft starts today around 12:30ish and will include rounds 3-10. Most of the big names are off of the board, though Oklahoma high schooler Jon Denney (also a catcher) is still on the board. I'll update this thread as much as I can this afternoon with information about the picks […]

With the 51st pick in the 2013 draft, the Pirates took a left-handed California high school pitcher named Blake Taylor. Taylor's only 17 years old, he currently throws his fastball in the low 90s, and he's 6'3." He's your protypical projectible high school pitcher, with his extremely young age making him particularly interesting. From what I […]

Just about every single mock draft had the Pirates drafting Washington (the state) high school catcher Reese McGuire with the ninth overall pick. They were half right; McGuire fell all the way down to 14th and the Pirates nabbed him there. Being able to get Meadows at nine along with the player that they wanted […]

A few unexpected picks in the first round left the Pirates with some more options than expected at the ninth overall pick, and they've taken Georgia high school outifelder Austin Meadows. Meadows is Baseball America's #5 prospect in the draft, so the Pirates are lucky that he fell to him. He's a lefty, a pretty […]

The Pirates are off today, which gives plenty of time to think about tonight's draft. I'm not sure exactly what time the draft is supposed to be; I only know that coverage starts at MLB.com and on the MLB Network at 6:00 PM. Only the first round takes place tonight, but the Pirates have both […]

Gerrit Cole has not had the season in Triple-A that any of us hoped that he'd have. He racked up high pitch counts early on on the season, then struggled badly with control for a stretch, then gave up 12 runs (11 earned) in 11 innings over two starts on May 14th and May 19th. […]