Through five games, the Pirates have struck out 38 times and only drawn five walks. Their team OPS is .504. They’ve scored nine runs. What I’m saying is that they’ve been really bad at offense so far. They’re facing Chris Capuano tonight, which should theoretically help this problem.
To that end, I’m happy to see Clint Hurdle let Pedro Alvarez face the left tonight. Obviously the ultimate endgame with Pedro is for him to be an every day player and not a platoon guy, even though they’re trying to maximize his chances to succeed right now. I thought he got some really good swings in against the Dodgers last night, even though he doesn’t have results to show for it. He looks to me like a guy that’s working towards something, and, well, it’s Chris Capuano out there tonight and not Cliff Lee or Clatyon Kershaw. Baby steps, right?
Jeff Karstens goes for the Pirates, looking to do that Jeff Karstens thing that usually turns out well even though I don’t understand it. First pitch tonight is at 10:10.
