Postseason KTE - Pirates

[stevejrogers]

94-68, second in the NL Central, finishing 3 games behind the Cardinals, and finishing 7 games in front of the Cincinnati Reds, whom they ultimately defeated in the Wild Card Game.

Not only did the Pirates snap the 20 year drought of sub .500 seasons and lack of postseason appearances, but finished in the top 3 in the division for the first time since finishing 3rd in 1999, they also had a 2nd place finish in 1997.

Starters
1B 66 L/R Justin Morneau
Brought in on an 8/31 deadline deal from the Twins, the 4 time All-Star and former MVP batted .260 for the Pirates, drove in 17 runs, and still is looking for his first Pirate homerun.

2B 18 B/R Neil Walker
Batted .251, with 16 homers and 53 RBI

3B 24 L/R Pedro Alvarez
One of the Pirate All-Stars on the year, and led the team in both homers, 36 and RBI, 100

SS 12 R/R Clint Barmes
Was with the Rockies during their postseason runs in the last decade, but was injured for most of the Rockies NL Championship season of 2007.

LF 6 R/R Starling Marte
In his rookie season, Marte swiped 41 bases, and hit .280.

CF 22 R/R Andrew McCutchen
An MVP candidate and easily the face of the franchise these days, McCutchen was the team leader in Batting Average, .317, Slugging, .404, and On Base Percentage, .911 as well was hitting 21 homers and driving in 84 runs. Also made his third straight All-Star Game, though obviously this time with couple more of his teammates beyond a token pitcher.

RF 2 R/R Marlon Byrd
One of only two ex-Mets on the roster, Byrd hit .318 in his 30 games as a Bucco in 2013.

C 55 R/R Russell Martin
An ex-MFY and ex-Dodger, Martin hit .226 with 15 homers and 55 RBI.

Bench
INF 5 R/R Josh Harrison
INF 46 L/L Garrett Jones
INF 10 R/R Jordy Mercer
INF 17 R/R Gaby Sanchez
OF 31 R/R Jose Tabata
C 14 R/R John Buck, the other ex-Met on the Pirates' NLDS squad

Starters
SP 34 R/R A.J. Burnett
While not quite Oliver Perez levels, despite how he became an ex-MFY, Burnett certainty has his share of shaky performances in both big spots, and the run of the mill games. But he was a big part of the Pirate rotation all year, with a 10-11 record and a 3.30 ERA, and led the Pirates with 209 strikeouts.

SP 45 R/R Gerrit Cole
With 10-7 on the year with a 3.52 ERA.

SP 47 L/L Francisco Liriano
The Wild Card Game starter, and the anchor of the rotation, Liriano led the team with 16 wins against 8 loses, his .667 win percentage also tops for Bucco starters, and also led Pirate starters with a 3.02 ERA.

SP 50 R/R Charlie Morton
Went 7-4 on the year with a 3.26 ERA.

Bullpen
Closer 39 R/R Jason Grilli
Was named to the All-Star Game and finished the year with 33 saves, and a 2.70 ERA.

P 30 R/R Jeanmar Gomez
P 32 R/R Vin Mazzaro
P 35 R/R Mark Melancon
Was named to the All-Star Game

P 29 L/R Bryan Morris
P 44 L/L Tony Watson
P 37 L/L Justin Wilson


Former Met Clint Hurdle has ex-Mets Jay Bell, Hitting, and Ray Searage, Pitching, on his coaching staff.

This year the Pirates had a 10-9 edge over the Cardinals, punctuated by winning 4 out of 5 in late July to put the Pirates in the lead of the NL Central, and a 2 out of 3 series in late August that enabled the two teams to be tied on September 1st. A three game sweep by the Cardinals a week later though, all but made sure the Pirates would be the second place team in the division.

[Zvon]

Great job Steve. Thank you. Oh yea, that game should be on soon. GO PIRATES!

[MFS62]

Good job.
Beat 'em Bucs!

Later