Kuzul

There hasn’t been this much optimism in Pittsburgh about the Pirates since the early 1990’s.  Since then the Pirates have been under the Sid Bream Curse.  Now, it seems like everyone is drinking the Bucco Punch hoping the Pirates will become a better ball club.  Even though the Buccos are 11 games under .500; Andrew McCutchen is playing great baseball, Neil Walker looks like he belongs, and Brad Lincoln is making his Major League debut against the Nationals on Wednesday.  It looks like the Pirates finally have direction and are on their way to respectability.

The best part about this optimism is that it might actually be warranted this time.  Not only are some of the young guns already learning the ropes at the Major League level; it looks like a few more might be on the way soon.  The Pirates have Pedro Alvarez and Jose Tabata on the brink of being called up and they just drafted Jameson Taillon.  Taillon a 6’7″ flame thrower could finally be the ace the Pirates are looking for.  The Pirates have had so many disappointments with Kris Benson, Brian Bullington, Oliver Perez, etc. that this pick is crucial to the development of the franchise.  Especially when “A-Rod Light” was taken by the Orioles with the very next pick.

Sure, more has to be done.  Nothing signifies the Pirates woes of the past 17 years more than having their highest paid, non-pitching, player (Aki Iwamura) be a pinch hitter.  Not only is it sad that their highest paid player is a pinch hitter; it is sad their highest paid player only makes $5 Million.

Two main things need to be done to make the Pirates a legit Major League team.  First they need to keep their young players.  The cycle of being a “AAAA” team and just trading away players to the Red Sox and Yankees needs to stop.  If these players are the cornerstone players that ownership and management says they are; they need to be signed and kept in Pittsburgh.  Second, they need to spend money in free agency.  They need to add to their young talent.  It’s impossible to win in Major League Baseball without depth.  Players like Lastings Milledge should be at the bottom of the order and players like Ronny Cedeno should be bench players.  Players like Bobby Crosby and Jeff Clement wouldn’t even be on the roster of a competitive Major League team.

As soon as the first arbitration eligible player leaves town via free agency or trade for more “prospects” it could be the last heart break Pirates fans can endure.  Pirates fans have finally bought into this rebuilding process because the Pirates aren’t just bringing in Kenny Lofton, Reggie Sanders, and Matt Stairs so they can be show cased and traded at the deadline for single-A prospects that will never pan out.  Hopefully the Pirates are now in the process of building something special.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

A once proud franchise, the Pittsburgh Pirates have five World Series crowns. Players such as Honus Wagner, Goose Gossage, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Bill Mazeroski, Matty Alou, Bob Friend, Jason Bay, and Barry Bonds have all called Pittsburgh home over the years.

In recent memory, the wins have been hard to come by for the Pirates. Pittsburgh hasn’t posted a winning record since 1992—that’s 17 seasons! It was also Berry Bonds’ last season with the club.

What do all of these players have in common? Javy Lopez (ATL), Pedro Martinez, Mike Piazza, Matt Stairs, and Tim Wakefield. They all made their rookie debuts the 1992 season. Now that’s a drought.

After years of toiling in sub-mediocrity, things may be turning around for the Pirates.

(Enter, Andrew McCutchen.)

The Pirates’ 23-year-old center fielder has given Pittsburgh fans something to be optimistic about—sort of.

Defensively, he can run down just about everything and he has a good arm from center field. The ground that he can cover in the outfield reminds me of Torii Hunter during his days with the Twins.

Offensively, he can hit for average with a little bit of power. In 149 career games (108 in 2009, 41 in 2010), he’s hitting .296 with 17 home runs, 36 doubles, and 9 triples.

McCutchen won’t have to undertake this reclamation project on his own. The Pirates have a young, talented supporting cast of Ryan Church, Andy LaRoche, Garrett Jones, and Bobby Crosby.

It’s a long road back to prominence (or just getting above .500) for the Pittsburgh Pirates. They might not get there this season, or the next, or the next.

I believe that Andrew McCutchen, with some help, can change the direction of the Pirates…eventually.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

One old baseball adage states, “Speed slows down the game,” a quote likely coming from Casey Stengel or Yogi Berra.

On the surface, this statement makes no sense. But when you dig deeper, you gauge that when fast players get on base, the entire game changes. From throwing over to first base, to the pitcher stepping off the rubber, a once ncrisp moving game can get stalled as the pitcher and defense woorries about the speedy runner.

Funny thing is that the runner by himself can’t hurt the pitcher, unless he steals second, third and home. Only the hitter holding the bat can hurt the pitcher. But the runner does take the pitchers full concentration off the hitter, causing more fastballs to be thrown, often causing a big fat pitch over the middle of the plate.

Just by getting on base, the speedster affects the next couple hitters.

Don Mattingly of the New York Yankees had many of his best seasons hitting two batters behind and in his prime Rickey Henderson.

However, speedsters affect the game in many other ways, including stolen bases, tracking down long outfield drives and turning certain extra base hits into big play (and game changing) outs.

This list includes major league baseballs top 15 fastest burners, all known for their stolen bases, great defense and ability to score from first base on a hard hit double.

It is an aspect of the game in which “you can’t teach” and is top heavy with centerfielders, with many young players of recent major league status. One of the reasons these guys are now major leaguers is that after consistent drug testing, baseball has transformed itself again into a speed game.

Begin Slideshow

Last year, you might recall I had a season-long series on the art of the stolen base and whether or not we’ll ever see a 100-steal man again.

While I have my doubts, I will however be continuing that monthly column update with yearly totals so look for that at the beginning of each month for the rest of the season.

With that here is the first installment of 2010:

The top-five base stealers as of May 1, 2010 were:

1. Brett Gardner, New York Yankees

Stole 10 bases in 11 attempts in April for a team that outside of the brief Rickey Henderson years, historically doesn’t emphasize or promote base stealing.

Based on that fact and 100 years of evidence, expect Gardner, while young and exciting, to taper off to around 40 steals by year’s end as the Yankees philosophy has always been to favor power over speed and what is called “small ball”, which has to be seen as an insult to the mighty Yankees.

10 steals in 11 attempts through 23 games (15-8 team record). On pace for 73.

2. Rajai Davis, Oakland Athletics

Like Bourn before him, Davis came on very strong late last year stealing 15 of 18 in August and 11 of 14 in September, to finish fifth in Major League Baseball.

When you consider that the A’s have a history of letting their players run, and the fact Davis lasted this long in Oakland which I had doubted (see previous link) then you have to like his chances this year. Finally, 26 of his final 32 being successful 81 percent is just about his season average from last year (77%), suggesting he hasn’t lost a step.

10 bases in 10 attempts in April through 25 games (13-12 team record). On pace for 66.

3. Michael Bourn, Houston Astros

On a team with not much to cheer for, Bourn will be a season-long bright spot. 

The man not only stole a career best 61 bags last year but got better as the season went on. That’s promising for this year when you consider last year at this time he had six in April.

Stole 9 bases in 11 attempts in April through 23 games (8-15 team record). On pace for 71.

4. Juan Pierre, Chicago White Sox

Pierre hasn’t seen this kind of speed since stealing a career high 64, in 2007 with the L.A. Dodgers, who, like the White Sox are a historically pedestrian team.

Still, if Pierre can stay healthy, productive, and be in the Sox lineup, he should do fine. If the team continues to struggle he could he dealt for help so his future production may have to be readjusted based on his new team’s philosophy.

But for now, sit back and watch him run.

Stole 9 bases in 12 attempts in April through 24 games (10-14 team record). On pace for 87.

5. Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates

We saw Nyger Morgan accidentally do too well in the Steel City, and thus he forced his way out of town in a never-ending mill of prospect exchange.

While that fate seems inevitable for the young (23), exciting, and affordable McCutchen, right now he’s all the perpetual cellar-dwelling Pirates have.

Enjoy him while you can Pirates fans…both of you. That’s all I have to say.

Stole 10 bases in 12 attempts in April through 24 games (10-14 team record) on pace for 65.

There you have it, the first installment of the 2010 “Stolen Base series”.

Note the new faces. We’ll have to see how long they stick around. Early trends show while it will be a ‘slow’ year on the base paths.

Twenty players currently have 6 steals or more and thus, are on pace for over 50 steals! (52 to be exact).

So while the quantity of exceptional runners has gone down, allowing them to separate from the pack like in most years, the quantity of runners in general hoping to “keep up” has gone up creating even more new faces of intrigue as we try and guess who may take over the torch of this lost art.

Be sure to check back around June 1, and the first of every month, for a continuation on this season-long look into this lost art, one of my favorite in baseball, and all of professional sports.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com