Let’s start out with some self-promotion: Pittsburgh Magazine has put their Ultimate Fan Guide together for the Pirates and Steelers and Penguins and I helped out some with the Pirates/PNC Park section. You should check it out.
You’ve probably seen this by now, but in light of the Wandy Rodriguez trade the Pirates will move Kevin Correia to the bullpen. Correia is not happy about it and since his last few starts have been his best in a Pirates’ uniform he has a right to be upset, but it’s the right move. Correia wants to be traded and the Pirates will apparently try to grant his wish. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’d actually prefer the Pirates keep him around in the event that Erik Bedard goes down or that they need to give James McDonald some down time due to his post-All Star break struggles. I’m really just not sure how I’d feel about throwing Jeff Locke or Justin Wilson into the fire if that happens and given Brad Lincoln’s dominance out of the bullpen, I think that’s probably where the team will go in that event.
If a home run on the first pitch of his career wasn’t enough to make you a huge Starling Marte fan, then maybe knowing that he told his teammates that he was going up there looking for a fastball and planning on hacking away at it will do the trick. Seriously, this guy is awesome.
And who would’ve thought that Marte’s career would start just 4,999 days after the Brian Giles trade! Seriously, take a moment and think about the Giles trade and how lopsided it was and how bad all of the Pirate teams that he played for were. Remember that it takes more than just one trade or one draft pick or one free agent to turn a team around, and appreciate everything that’s had to happen and go right for the 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates to be where they are, especially after seeing so much go so very wrong.
Tim Williams catches up with Josh Bell and explains why his rehab is taking so long. Hopefully, he can get back on the field for most of August and 2012 isn’t totally lost for him.
