30 Clubs in 30 Days: No. 29 Pittsburgh Pirates

Black and yellow, black and yellow, black and yellow. Even though Whiz Khalifa dropped one of the hottest singles of the year it doesn’t stop his boys from finishing any higher than second to last.

No. 29 Pittsburgh Pirates

Projected Rotation

1. Ross Ohlendorf-RHP
2. Paul Maholm-LHP
3. Kevin Correia-RHP
4. James McDonald-RHP
5. Charlie Morton-RHP or Scott Olsen-LHP

Projected Bullpen

1. Joel Hanrahan-RHP
2. Evan Meek-RHP
3. Chris Resop-RHP
4. Joe Beimel-LHP
5. Jeff Karstens-RHP

Projected Lineup

1. CF Andrew McCutchen
2. LF Jose Tabata
3. 2B Neil Walker
4. 3B Pedro Alvarez
5. RF Matt Diaz
6. 1B Lyle Overbay
7. SS Ronny Cedeno
8. C Chris Snyder

Analysis

I’ll start with the positive; center fielder Andrew McCutchen is one of my favorite players. From his dreads, to his swing, to his speed, he’s one of the most exciting young players in the game today. Unfortunately that’s pretty much the only good thing about this Pittsburgh club heading into the 2011 campaign.

The most glaring concern for the Pirates is pitching. As of right now there is one left-hander in the starting rotation and one left-hander in the bullpen, depending on what they do with Scott Olsen will add up to a grand total of three lefties, which still isn’t cutting it.

The Pirates ace is Ross Ohlendorf and Pittsburgh is literally the only team where Ohlendorf, and ace will be used in the same sentence. In 2010 he racked up a total of one victory to go will eleven losses and had an ERA over four. Not all the blame can be placed on Ohlendorf as he had virtually no run support but it can’t get much worse when your projected ace is coming off a season with one win.

The run support should be better than last year as McCutchen isn’t the only talented bat in the lineup. Third basemen Pedro Alvarez and shortstop Ronny Cedeno both have the potential to be solid power hitters and could end up with averages around .300 (strong emphasis on the word could).  However, outside of that there’s not really anything that’s going to scare opposing pitching, with the exception of one name: Lyle Overbay.

Yup I said it, Lyle Overbay! Overbay might be washed up and not what he used to be, but he still managed to hit 20 home runs and 67 RBI for the Blue Jays in 2010. Those numbers look pretty solid until you remember that the 34-year-old hit just .243 from the plate. He has to get back to his .270-.275 range to have an effective year for a team that for all intensive purposes will finish last in the NL Central.

So the lack of pitching and consistent hitting combines for a 29th place finish in our 30 clubs in 30 days countdown. Sorry McCutchen, you’re still one of my favorite players.