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Few players in baseball have been more consistently MVP-worthy over the past handful of seasons than Andrew McCutchen. Yet more than a month into 2015, the Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder, who has three straight top-three NL MVP finishes—including the 2013 trophy—has looked nothing like his usual MVP-caliber self.

In fact, entering play Tuesday, the 28-year-old is hitting just .219/.308/.342 with but two home runs and one stolen base through 31 games.

This, from a stud who has averaged—that’s averaged—a slash line of .320/.405/.534 with more than 25 homers, nearly 90 RBI and almost 22 steals per from 2012 to 2014.

Short of copping out by calling this something of a Samson situation after Cutch cut his dreads for charity this past offseason, let’s delve into what’s been going wrong here—and whether the Pirates superstar can turn things around.

To McCutchen’s credit—and perhaps a little to the concern of folks in Pittsburgh—he understandably is fed up with his mediocre performance so far.

“I’m sick and tired of going 0-for-freaking-4,” he told Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in early May. “I know I’m better than that. … It’s under mediocre right now. It’s bad.”

That’s refreshing to hear from a player, let alone one of McCutchen’s ilk. But it also sounds like a man searching for answers rather than one who knows how to find them, which is more discouraging than refreshing.

It’s not as if he is lacking for confidence, though. “I feel good. I feel strong when I’m up there. I feel fine when I’m hitting,” McCutchen said to Sawchik. “I can’t sit here and say my knee is the reason. I don’t believe so. I just believe I’m a little off. … Once it’s going, it ain’t gonna stop. While I’m down, get me while I’m down.”

In reading that second quote, you no doubt came across McCutchen’s passing reference to his knee. This, one figures, is related to the somewhat vague “lower body soreness” he was battling through during spring training, as Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported back in mid-March.

The injury kept McCutchen out of a number of games during the exhibition season and had to have impacted his preparation for the real games, which likely is part of why he hasn’t been his consistently uber-productive self.

The problem also hasn’t completely gone away, as McCutchen took himself out of a game during the opening week and questions about the knee have lingered into May, much like the apparent ailment itself.

In diagnosing McCutchen’s performance, a good place to start is with his plate discipline. His 9.8 percent walk percentage and 15.8 percent strikeout percentage both are within range of not only his career marks, but also those of the past few seasons.

As far as his contact rates, all of those seem to be more or less right in line with years past. His overall contact percentage of 78.8 percent isn’t far off his career rate (80.4 percent); and the same goes for his 9.3 percent swinging strike rate (8.2 percent career).

McCutchen’s batting average on balls in play, however, sticks out like crazy. Entering play Tuesday, he owns a .245 BABIP, which is remarkably lower than his .332 career number—and more than 100 points south of his lowest BABIP in any of the past three seasons (.353 in 2013).

The quick takeaway from that, of course, is that McCutchen has been superbly unlucky and merely needs to exorcise the demons, like so:

But let’s go a little deeper than that, shall we? This is, after all, one of the very elite players in baseball, and this slump has gone on for more than a month now.

The next portion of data to look into is McCutchen’s batted ball breakdown. He’s exchanged a few percentage points of line drives for ground balls, but it’s nothing that looks out of whack. Then again, grounders tend to find holes, which is why McCutchen’s drastic downturn in BABIP is even more puzzling.

The league-wide BABIP on grounders in 2015 is .237, and it normally settles in around the .230-.250 range. By comparison, McCutchen’s BABIP on grounders in his career is .311, but in 2015 it’s just .268.

In other words, it’s strange that McCutchen has been hitting the ball on the ground more often, yet it’s still producing a lower than usual BABIP for him. To an extent, that should start to even out.

The one counterpoint, however, is that McCutchen is hitting a much higher percentage of soft worm-burners (26.8 percent) compared to hard grounders (17.1) than he has in the past. To wit, the percentage of hard ground balls he has hit the past three years going backward were 28.0, 31.8 and 22.6.

At the same time, he’s pulling fewer balls (38.9 percent versus 43.2 percent career) while also trading hard contact (32.6 percent versus 36.9 percent career) for more soft contact (15.8 percent versus 13.5 percent career), enough that it’s noticeable, at least to this point in 2015. And if the focus is on the past few seasons only, the difference is even more stark.

Lastly, McCutchen’s 5.3 home run-to-fly-ball ratio is well below his 12.3 career figure, which speaks to both his misfortune as well as his inability to drive the ball with full force early on.

The bottom line? McCutchen’s approach remains the same, which is good. The contact rates do, too. Also good. But the type of contact, namely the amount of authority behind it, is different—and not in a good way.

As Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs concludes after examining the data and the footage for Fox Sports’ Just a Bit Outside:

The matter with Andrew McCutchen is his swing. Maybe he’s still in pain, and maybe he’s not still in enough pain for it to matter. But regardless, he has a swing that’s seemingly compensating for an uncomfortable left leg. And that’s not the swing of a successful Andrew McCutchen.

The bad news is McCutchen doesn’t appear to be quite as healthy as he’s letting on, which is typical of a world-class athlete with top-of-the-scale confidence in his abilities. The good news? Once McCutchen gets back to normal—assuming his knee can recover and get right in short order—then so, too, should his performance.

Even MVP-caliber players have slumps and slow starts. Now we have some idea why McCutchen is fighting through one for the first time since, well, he’s become an MVP.

Statistics are accurate through Monday, May 11, and courtesy of MLB.com, MiLB.com, Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.

To talk baseball or fantasy baseball, check in with me on Twitter: @JayCat11.

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Expectations poured down on Gerrit Cole unlike few Major League Baseball draftees before him. 

That tends to happen when you have a triple-digit fastball, are picked first overall and sign for an $8 million bonus, the highest ever in MLB draft history.

The only job that followed for Cole was living up to the hype. Billing it was the easy part. Fulfilling it, that would take some professional seasoning.

Now, nearly four years after the Pittsburgh Pirates selected Cole with their No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 draft, the right-hander is emerging as the ace the franchise envisioned him becoming when they handed over that record-setting check.

Cole, through his first six starts this season, is 4-1 with a 2.27 ERA, a 2.63 FIP and is striking out 9.84 hitters a game, his highest rate as a major leaguer. He is also stranding baserunners 78.5 percent of the time—the league average is 72.9—and his 0.9 WAR, per FanGraphs, is up there with names like Max Scherzer, Zack Greinke, Jon Lester, Clayton Kershaw and Matt Harvey.

Cole’s 95.3 mph average fastball velocity ranks second in the National League to Harvey, proving he is learning to pitch while not completely sacrificing his heat.

He was also named the National League Pitcher of the Month for April.

Congrats to the Cole Train, #Pirates‘ ace Gerrit Cole, on being named the NL Pitcher of the Month! pic.twitter.com/EfodpdmQPR

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 4, 2015

“He’s so talented, but works very hard to perfect his craft,” Pirates general manager Neal Huntington told Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “He is focused on being excellent. Not on being good or being a big leaguer. His focus is excelling. His focus is on being elite.” 

After a pair of so-so seasons with the Pirates, Cole is flashing that kind of ability. Over 41 starts in his first two seasons, the UCLA product had a respectable 3.45 ERA and 3.09 FIP, but his 105 ERA-plus rated him as barely above league average.

This season, things have changed for Cole, starting with his command and pitch selection. His percentage of first-pitch strikes has jumped up 7.2 percent from last season, and while his fastball velocity is slightly lower than it has ever been in the big leagues, he is throwing it more (69.6 percent compared to 66.7 last season), according to Baseball Info Solutions.

FanGraphs also tells us that Cole is getting hitters to swing at more of his pitches (47.8 in 2015 compared to 45 last year) and they are making less contact (76.8 compared to 78.3). His swinging-strike rate is also up to nearly 11 percent from 9.5 percent last season. Cole’s slider has also found a new gear, and his command of it is good enough to throw in any count. 

For a power pitcher whose success is connected to his ability to strikeout hitters, these jumps are indicative of his newfound success.

“His fastball actually got stronger as the game went on,” Arizona Diamondbacks slugger Mark Trumbo told The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro two weeks ago after Cole pitched pitched 7.2 innings against them and gave up one run. “It’s a hard, boring one. It gets in on right-handers quite a bit and stays off the sweet part of the bat, at least. And a real good slider, a good swing-and-miss pitch late in the count.”

This kind of steady dominance is giving the Pirates a weapon that has foiled them in the postseason and one that several other National League teams possess—an ace.

Adam Wainwright twice dominated the Pirates in the 2013 postseason, and last season Madison Bumgarner threw a complete-game shutout against them in the NL Wild Card Game. And with Jon Lester and Johnny Cueto in Pittsburgh’s division, the Pirates tend to run into aces all over the place.

Cole’s emergence could be the vehicle with which to overcome those roadblocks. While the Pirates have had quality starters over their last two postseason runs—Francisco Liriano, Edinson Volquez, Vance Worley—they have lacked a shutdown ace, a pitcher who can go out and match an opposing team’s No. 1 inning for inning.

These changes and developments in Cole’s game are the evolution of a young pitcher emerging into an elite player. So far this season, he is producing the results the Pirates believed he would when they drafted him and plopped $8 million on the table.

The franchise has had four No. 1 overall picks in its history, and before Cole it took Kris Benson in 1996 and Bryan Bullington in 2002—infielder Jeff King was drafted first overall in 1986. Neither pitcher lived up to the hype or pressure. Cole is on his way to changing that trend.

“It’s time for him just to take the ball and go,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle told reporters. “He’ll write his own story along the way.”

If this season is an indicator, it could have a fairy-tale ending.

All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired firsthand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates dropped their third straight game via walk-off fashion Sunday afternoon as Kolten Wong’s solo shot in the bottom of the 14th inning led the St. Louis Cardinals to the weekend series sweep. 

With the loss, the Pirates have now lost three games in a row and five of their last six games.  The team has won just three of its first eight series on the season, dropping four series and coming out with a series tie against the Chicago Cubs April 20-23.  

With a 12-13 record on the season, the Pirates do not look like the team people had expected to make the leap this season from a wild-card contender to a division title winner.  

Now, a dismal start to the regular season is something this Pittsburgh squad is accustomed to.  On May 3 last season, the Pirates were 12-18 through their first 30 games.  So, they have already matched their win total through 30 games last season in only 25 games this season.  

Still, the slow start in Pittsburgh is nothing to just brush to the side and not worry about.  A quick turnaround after a slow start in 2014 does not mean the Pirates will automatically do the same this time around.  

The biggest cause for concern has been the inability of Pirates batters to manufacture runs.  The Pirates scored just four runs in St. Louis this weekend, losing each game by just one run.

There should be little concern of batters’ abilities to drive in runners from second or third.  Entering Sunday’s contest, Pittsburgh batters owned a .285 batting average when there was a runner in scoring position.

Still, that average dropped to .274 when Pirates batters left a combined 19 runners on base Sunday afternoon.  

When there is no one on base, the team batting average stands at a dismal .209 on the season. After seeing nine batters strike out Sunday, the Pirates have 213 strikeouts as a team, which is third highest in the National League. 

The Pirates have just four regulars batting over .250 this season: Gregory Polanco (.290), Starling Marte (.258), Jung Ho Kang (.281) and Neil Walker (.267).  

Where is 2013 National League Most Valuable Player Andrew McCutchen and 2014 standout third baseman Josh Harrison on that list? 

Harrison, who is expected to serve as the table-setter for McCutchen, went 0-for-7 Sunday with two strikeouts and four men left one base.  McCutchen, who has become accustomed to driving in runners while also setting the table for cleanup men Pedro Alvarez or Neil Walker, is batting just .193 after going 1-for-7 Sunday.

McCutchen, himself, is an example of a slow starter who has been able to turn it on in the middle stages of the regular season.  

After starting off slow through the first two weeks of last season, McCutchen‘s average stood at .298 through the team’s first 25 games in 2014.  Never in his career has he slumped as badly as he has this season through Pittsburgh’s first month and change of baseball.

Then there is Harrison, who had a breakout 2014 season in which he batted .315 with 13 home runs and 52 RBI in 143 games.  

Through his first 25 games in 2014, Harrison batted .217 with five strikeouts.  Through 23 games this season, he is batting .188 with 18 strikeouts already.  

On the bright side, the Pirates have received dominant performances from their top three starting pitchers.  Gerrit Cole owns a 1.76 ERA in five starts.  In the same amount of starts, Francisco Liriano has pitched to a 1.95 ERA.  Then there is veteran A.J. Burnett, who has looked like a pitcher who is still in his prime, pitching to a 1.45 ERA in five starts.  

Still, aside from Cole, who is 4-0 on the season, Burnett and Liriano have just one win (and one loss) to show for their efforts.  

A big reason for the lack of wins for those two has been the lack of production on offense.  The Pirates have scored two runs or fewer in all five of Burnett’s starts this season.  

Another reason, though, has been the lack in efficiency from relievers such as closer Mark Melancon, who has a 4.76 ERA in 12 games this season.  In 10 of those appearances, Melancon has looked like the dominant closer that he is.  

In the other two games, however, Melancon has a blown save and a loss and has allowed three earned runs in both of them.  

The Pirates could not be happier with the performances from the starting pitchers this season. Unfortunately, many of those performances have been wasted, as the Pirates continue to struggle.  

So, is it time to start panicking in Pittsburgh?  I wouldn’t go that far.  At the same time, however, saying the big bats in the lineup are slumping is being generous.  In reality, they have been awful, and if they do not wake up soon, the Pirates will struggle to keep pace with the Cardinals for the division title race and possibly even the Cubs in the race for a wild-card spot.  

*Statistics courtesy of Baseball Reference.com.

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Baseball is back.  

The Pittsburgh Pirates opened up their season on Monday with a 5-2 loss to their division rivals, the Cincinnati Reds, at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.

Let’s take a look at the three things you need to know following Monday’s opener.  

McCutchen‘s Track Record of Success in Game 1 

Trailing 2-0 with two innings left to play, the Pirates leaned on franchise cornerstone Andrew McCutchen, who knotted the game up at two with his first home run of the season.  

McCutchen is no stranger to hot starts to the season. In six Opening Day starts, the former MVP is 7-for-21 at the plate, which equates to a .333 average. In fact, the only game in which he did not collect a hit in that span was in 2012 against the Philadelphia Phillies, when Roy Halladay shut the Pirates down and the Phillies won 1-0.  

McCutchen had a solid spring training, where he batted .375 in 32 at-bats. However, he failed to hit a home run during that time. Any fears (though there shouldn’t have been any) about his power should have flown out the window faster than his batted ball flew out of the park yesterday.

Watson’s Rough Start to the Season

With the game locked at two runs apiece in the bottom of the eighth inning, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle called on his lockdown setup man Tony Watson.  

Watson has become arguably one of the best relief pitchers in baseball over the past two seasons, and he is coming off a 2014 season in which he went 10-2 with a 1.63 ERA in 78 games.  

What we saw Monday was completely uncharacteristic of Watson, as he was dealt the loss after giving up a three-run home run to Reds third baseman Todd Frazier.  

Watson’s first loss last season did not come until July 11, when he coincidentally gave up three earned runs against the Reds.  

Chalk Monday’s loss up to a rare bad outing by Watson, as there is nothing to worry about yet. Watson had a fantastic spring, yielding just three hits, one walk and zero runs in eight innings pitched.  

Leadoff Walks (Especially to a Pitcher) Loom Large

The Pirates were able to retain ace Francisco Liriano during the 2014-15 free-agency period this winter, and through one start, it is looking like general manager Neal Huntington made the right move.  

Liriano looked shaky early on in the game before settling down for a no-decision and allowing just two earned runs in seven innings pitched.

If there’s one rule to live by as a pitcher, it is this: Never allow the first baserunner to get on in a given inning via a free pass. More importantly, never allow that batter to be the opposing team’s pitcher, who is almost always a sure out.  

However, that is just what Liriano did in the third inning, walking Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto to start the inning. With Billy Hamilton at the plate, Cueto was erased with a force out at second base.  

After a single off the bat of Joey Votto landed runners on the corners with one out, Liriano allowed his first earned run of the season by balking on the mound, which again is a mistake you simply cannot afford to make.  

The disappointing part about Liriano’s shaky third inning is that the next batter struck out, and the batter after that popped out to end the inning. So, without Liriano’s balk, the run never would have scored. More importantly, however, without the leadoff walk, there wouldn’t have been a baserunner to score from third on the balk.  

Overall, it was a solid outing for Liriano, who earned the quality start. The Pirates will need him to perform at that level throughout the season if the team has any real visions of winning the National League Central Division.

Over a 162-game schedule, one loss is not going to hurt the Pirates. There were a lot of positives to take from the opener, and although Watson was dealt a rare loss, it doesn’t look like it is going to be the new trend for him this season.  

Pittsburgh has the day off and will resume play tomorrow night in Cincinnati at 7:05 p.m. EDT. Gerrit Cole will get the nod for the Pirates as they look to bounce back and erase the zero from the wins column.  

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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Pedro Alvarez was a dynamic offensive force in the middle of the Pittsburgh Pirates lineup in 2013. Although he batted just .233 and led the National League with 186 strikeouts in 152 games, he blasted a career-high 36 home runs while driving in 100.  

The 2014 season was a down year for Alvarez, who collected just 18 home runs and 56 RBI while missing 40 starts due to a lingering foot injury.  

No player on the Pirates roster came close to driving in 100 runs last season, though the team still managed to win 88 games and make the playoffs as a wild card.  Andrew McCutchen led the Pirates with 83 RBI in 146 games.

Although the Pirates endured success even without their most powerful bat in the lineup for about one quarter of the season, a bounce-back year from Alvarez is crucial for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2015.

For one, it gives McCutchen the protection behind him needed to see more strikes thrown his way and potentially drive in 100-plus runs for the first time in his already illustrious career.  In fact, the three-four lineup combination of McCutchen and Alvarez has been arguably the best in the National League over the last three seasons, as the pair has combined for 161 home runs and 504 RBI from 2012-14.   

While the Pirates would surely accept another berth in the Wild Card Game this season, they cannot be satisfied with that, as the team has made the playoffs as a wild card in two consecutive seasons and has only advanced past the one-game playoff once.  

As always, we can expect the St. Louis Cardinals to be potential front-runners in the race for the National League Central Division title, as they managed to retain most of its lineup while also acquiring the dangerous right fielder Jayson Heyward from the Atlanta Braves.  

Then there are the Milwaukee Brewers, who cannot be taken lightly after the hot start to most of the season in 2014 before they crumbled and failed to make the playoffs.  

While the Chicago Cubs are probably still a year away from making a major impact in the division race, the acquisition of ace starting pitcher Jon Lester along with their young star-studded lineup gives them the potential to make a run at a wild card.  

Needless to say, the Pirates will need all hands on deck as they pursue their first National League Central Division title in franchise history.  

Health is the main concern for Pedro Alvarez, who just turned 28 in February and is entering his sixth major league season.  

His average over the last two seasons (.233 in 2013/.231 in 2014) has remained consistent with his overall career average of .235.  So, you can expect to get a low batting average from him, but his tremendous power and ability to drive runners in is a major trade-off that any manager would gladly take, especially in an era of baseball when scoring is down and pitching has dominated.  

The Pirates batted .230 as a team with runners in scoring position in 2013.  Alvarez accounted for a lot of those hits, batting .243 in that situation.  

Last season, however, the Pirates batted .249 with runners in scoring position, but Alvarez brought that average down from what it could have been if he was healthy and producing at his normal rate, batting just .202.  

Aside from a minor elbow injury that kept him off the field for a few games, Alvarez is off to a great start this spring, batting .333 with two home runs and nine RBI in nine games for the Pirates.

With the emergence of Josh Harrison as a star third baseman for the Pirates in 2014, Alvarez is likely to see a considerable amount—if not a majority—of his playing time at first base this season.  He played five games at first base last season, and the Pirates already have him listed as their primary first baseman on the team’s depth chart.   

The 25 errors he committed at third base in 2014 is what led the organization to make the transition. Meanwhile, Harrison made just three errors in 72 games at the hot corner in 2014.  

Right there alone, the Pirates will improve defensively, as runs will likely be prevented thanks to Harrison’s glove.  

What is most important to the Pirates, however, is that Alvarez remains healthy enough to play a full season in 2014, as the power he brings to the table can take them from being a wild-card team to potentially winning the division and making a deep run into the postseason.  

*Statistics courtesy of Baseball Reference

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After going two decades without making the playoffs, the Pittsburgh Pirates have cracked the postseason in each of the past two seasons. Maybe it’s not completely accurate to call them a team “on the rise,” but they have the pieces to become a perennial powerhouse in the National League for years to come.

It is no secret that pitching wins championships, and in a few years, the Bucs will have one of the most dominant rotations in the league.

Gerrit Cole is only 24 years old, and he is already building the resume of a proven big league ace. He has a 3.45 ERA and 8.4 strikeouts per nine innings in his two major league seasons. The first overall pick in the 2011 draft, Cole possesses a fastball that sits in the mid-to-high 90s as well as a filthy curveball and slider. He has the talent to be a tremendous pitcher and could easily reach elite status in the next three years.

Francisco Liriano, who was named the Pirates’ Opening Day starter earlier this week, signed a three-year, $39 million contract this past winter. He has had two consecutive outstanding seasons and should be a reliable starter for the life of his contract.

And there are plenty of reinforcements on the farm, especially the two players who most publications rank as the Pirates’ best prospects.

21-year-old Tyler Glasnow and 23-year-old Jameson Taillon, both hard-throwing right-handers, are two of the most highly touted pitching prospects in the game. 

Glasnow battled a back injury at the beginning of last season but was still able to finish the year with a sparkling 1.74 ERA and 157 strikeouts in only 124.1 innings. His command is still raw and he needs a few more years of development, but once he’s ready, he will be filthy.

Unlike Glasnow, Taillon did not have the chance to star in the minors in 2014. He had Tommy John surgery last April, and he was told Thursday that he will report to Triple-A Indianapolis to start the season. It shows how much confidence the Pirates have in the guy that they would put him on the doorstep of the big legaues without even making a spring training appearance as he recovers from surgery.

Here is part of MLB.com’s scouting report of Taillon:

Taillon is a classic power right-hander, mixing good size with a mid-90s fastball and a hard curveball. His changeup has also made strides, giving him a chance for three above-average pitches. Taillon‘s fastball has good sinking action, but it tends to flatten out and become easier to hit if he leaves it up in the zone.

If a pitcher of Taillon‘s stature and velocity has three above-average offerings, he has a chance to be great. I think he will be a quality MLB pitcher in the next three years, and after a few years of getting accustomed to big league hitters, he could be terrific.

Nick Kingham, another promising pitching prospect, is no slouch himself. He was committed to Oregon out of high school, but he chose to become a professional in 2010 when he was given a hefty bonus as a fourth-round pick. According to MLB.com, he has three “Major League average or better” pitches and could make his debut in 2015 if everything falls into place for the 6’5″, 220-pound righty.

Mark Melancon and Tony Watson will anchor a bullpen that is consistently strong. Pittsburgh ranked ninth in the league in 2014 in bullpen ERA, and there is no reason they shouldn’t be solid again this year.

It’s safe to say the Pirates are loaded in the pitching department, but it is the offense that could be potentially scary as early as this year.

With an outfield comprised of Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco, they have one of the youngest, most exciting trios in the league. They are all ultratalented and will stick together for several years if the front office can sign them all to long-term contracts.

All three are legitimate five-tool players. McCutchen is one of the top three or four all-around hitters in the league, Marte is a burner on the basepaths and in the outfield, and Polanco has loads of power and speed packed into his 6’4, 200-pound frame.

In a recent column by Jayson Stark of ESPN.com, he makes a compelling case that they are the best outfield in the MLB. They could all be All-Stars soon, and all three are under team control until at least 2018. The Pirates should enjoy their success for several years down the road.

There is plenty of talent around the diamond too. Josh Harrison had a breakout campaign in 2014, slashing .315/.347/.490 in his first MLB season of playing at least 105 games. He can play basically anywhere on the field. He played five different positions in 2014, mostly third base, and also made an appearance on the mound in 2013. A player who can hit so well in addition to possessing that type of defensive versatility is an incredible asset for a manager, especially one as creative as Clint Hurdle. 

Pedro Alvarez is one of the most powerful hitters in the league, and he should be able to return to his All-Star days now that he is moving from the hot corner across the diamond to first base, a less strenuous position. He should be able to focus more on his hitting and could easily hit 30 or more homers in 2015.

The Pirates’ keystone combination is plenty good as well. Second baseman Neil Walker’s 23 round-trippers were tied with the Twins‘ Brian Dozier for the most homers by a second baseman in 2014, and Jordy Mercer is an above-average defensive shortstop, according to Baseball-Reference’s defensive metrics.

Russell Martin was a pivotal part of both playoff teams, and he will definitely be tough to replace, but Tony Sanchez, a former top prospect, has been on fire this spring training.

He is currently hitting .529 with two home runs and two doubles, and Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette thinks that Sanchez has a chance to be the starting catcher in 2015. He obviously has the talent, and if he can find a way to put it all together, he could be a breakout star.

And don’t forget about recent top picks Austin Meadows and Josh Bell, who are ranked third and fourth, respectively, in the Pirates’ farm system per Baseball America. Both possess tremendous tools at the plate, and the only question is whether there will be room for them to contribute on Pittsburgh’s roster.

Simply put, the Pirates are loaded. They have a surplus of talented youngsters, which is definitely a good problem to have.

Sure, the Buccos have made the playoffs in each of the past two seasons, but they have failed to advance farther than the National League Division Series in both cases. They have the pieces to become a perennial pennant contender, and I think they will.

It is safe to say that the team will raise the Jolly Roger plenty of times in the future, maybe even once or twice in a World Series atmosphere.  

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Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Tony Sanchez has shown glimpses of stellar play at times with his bat over the last two seasons as one of the Pirates’ backups.  

At other times, he has looked completely lost.  

Such is not the case this spring, as Sanchez has been undoubtedly the Pirates’ best player in camp, and if he makes the Opening Day roster, it would be perhaps the most soothing story for Pirates fans.

Sanchez, who will turn 27 in May, has spent six seasons in the minors, collecting just 445 hits in 1,679 at-bats, which equates to a mediocre .265 average. He spent four full seasons playing in the minor leagues before making his Major League debut in 2013 for the Pirates.  

Sanchez has played in 48 games for the Pirates over the last two seasons, batting .252 with four home runs and 18 RBI. He had served as the third-string catcher behind backup Chris Stewart and three-time All-Star Russell Martin.  

According to R.J. White of CBS Sports, Stewart has a hamstring injury, and he has collected a hit in only five at-bats this spring.

Francisco Cervelli, who the Pirates acquired through trade with the New York Yankees during the offseason, has yet to live up to the Pirates’ expectations, collecting just two hits in 12 at-bats.  

With star catcher Martin a distant memory after he left the club during free agency for the Toronto Blue Jays, Cervelli struggling at the plate and Stewart trying to stay healthy, Sanchez has excelled in the role he has taken on with the team.  

Sanchez currently leads all teammates with two home runs and seven RBI in nine games this spring. He has remained red-hot at the plate throughout camp, batting .526 with 10 hits in 19 at-bats.

Now, all indications point to Cervelli still being considered the Pirates starting catcher. 

Jason Butt of CBS Sports reported Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said: “The nice part is, Sanchez has had a great camp on all sides of the game. And if Chris is not ready, we feel strongly about having somebody who can step in.”

By those words, it seems that Huntington has no intention of stripping Cervelli of his title as the starting catcher for the Pirates just yet.  

However, if Cervelli’s offensive woes continue over the next two weeks while Sanchez continues to rake, could Huntington really be so adamant about keeping Sanchez as a backup, at most?

Sanchez clearly has the talent to be a catcher in the big leagues. Whether he has the ability to lead a pitching staff throughout a full season is yet to be determined, as he simply hasn’t had the opportunity to prove his worth with Martin patrolling the backstop position over the last two years.

Sanchez is a prime example of a hard-nosed player who has had his fair share of long bus rides in the minors and who has found his form after struggling to get things going offensively in the past, which is why it makes Sanchez’s journey such a feel-good story.     

With two mediocre catchers as starters in Cervelli and Stewart, the competition is wide open for Sanchez, and he is doing pretty much everything in his power to take over.  

According to Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sanchez said when he walked into the clubhouse on the first day of spring training, “Hey, if I could play half as well as Russell Martin, I’d be happy.”

So far, so good.  

*Statistics courtesy of Baseball Reference

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Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Pedro Alvarez has been diagnosed with a mild hyperextension of his right elbow. He will be re-evaluated after missing the next “few” games. 

Continue for updates.

Alvarez To Miss Time With Elbow Soreness

Monday, March 9

“Pedro Alvarez has missed the last few games with discomfort in his right elbow caused by a mild hyperextension on a swing a few days ago,” the Pirates announced via Twitter. “Pedro Alvarez is expected to miss a few more games but will be able to partake in some workout activities as tolerated,” the team continued.

Alvarez, 28, is expected to be the Pirates’ Opening Day first baseman. He is making the full-time switch to first this season after primarily playing third base his first five seasons. The left-handed slugger hit .231/.312/.405 with 18 home runs and 56 RBI in 2014. It was the worst full campaign of his career, having hit a combined 66 homers in 2012 and 2013.

The Pirates will hope Alvarez’s elbow injury doesn’t derail his effort to regain his status among the NL’s best power hitters.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter

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With the increasing number of arm injuries to pitchers in baseball, talks of possibly going to a six-man rotation instead of the usual five have heated up.  

The idea is that with a six-man rotation, starters would not only be given more rest in between starts, but they would also be throwing fewer innings per season, which could increase their longevity by reducing the risk of devastating injuries.  

One team, in particular, jumps out at me as potentially being the perfect fit for this new format: the Pittsburgh Pirates.  

Let’s take a look at how that rotation could play out for the Pirates in 2015: 

1.  Francisco Liriano

Undoubtedly the ace of the staff for the Pirates in 2015, Francisco Liriano has managed to keep relatively healthy since 2008, when he made only 14 starts as a member of the Minnesota Twins due to an elbow injury that led to season-ending Tommy John surgery.  

In six seasons since, Liriano has averaged exactly 27 starts per season.  With a six-man rotation, how many starts would a pitcher make on average?  Exactly 27.  

Over the last two seasons with the Pirates, Liriano has pitched to a 23-18 record and a 3.20 ERA in 323.1 innings pitched (161.0 in 2013, 162.1 in 2014).

Given 27 starts this season, Liriano would be expected to perform on the level he has over the past two seasons in Pittsburgh. However, with that extra day of rest between each start, he may perform even better, which could help the Pirates claim the National League Central Division title (a feat they have never accomplished since the division was formed).  

Liriano is already 31 years old, and as the Pirates have him under contract for the next three seasons, it would make sense to consider moving to a six-man rotation.  

2.  Gerrit Cole

Many feel that 2015 will be the year that potential ace Gerrit Cole will take the next step to becoming one of the best pitchers in the game.  

Cole pitched to a 3.65 ERA in 2014, his second season in the majors, but made only 22 starts due to a lat injury that led to multiple disabled list trips.  

The good news for the Pirates was that his injury was not to his throwing arm. Moving to a six-man rotation would still benefit Cole as it would reduce the stress being put on his body.  

Cole will turn 25 in September, so he still has plenty of time to mature as a pitcher.  

Allowing him to throw 200 innings would be putting his health in jeopardy, as we have learned over the past few years with the injuries to an abnormal amount of pitchers. Cole threw 117.1 innings in 2013 before pitching 138.0 in 2014. A sensible target of innings for Cole to pitch this season would probably be somewhere around 160-170, which would be plenty of innings for him to win games and help the Pirates reach the playoffs again.  

3.  Charlie Morton

Perhaps the biggest question mark in the Pirates rotation heading into spring training, Charlie Morton is reportedly on track to be ready to pitch in April, according to Tom Singer of MLB.com.

Morton made 26 starts for the Pirates last season, going 6-12 with a 3.72 ERA, before being shut down to undergo surgery to repair the labrum in his right hip in September.  Four years ago, he had surgery to repair the labrum in his left hip, and, in 2012, he underwent Tommy John surgery.  

So, just what kind of pitcher will Morton be when he returns this season?  With three major injuries over the last four seasons, it would be difficult to predict that Morton would have a 2015 season free from injuries.  

However, implementing a six-man rotation in Pittsburgh could certainly benefit him.  Morton’s 26 starts were the second most he ever made in a single season.  In 2011, he made a career-high 29 starts for the Pirates, but given his inability to remain healthy over the last four seasons, it is unlikely that he will return to that type of durable pitcher.  

Morton has shown over the past two seasons that he is capable of being a tremendous help to the Pirates when he is healthy. Why would the organization want to risk having him sustain another major injury?  That is why the six-man rotation would benefit both sides in 2015.  

4.  A.J. Burnett

There is no question that giving a pitcher like A.J. Burnett an extra day of rest between starts could help the Pirates to not only get back to the playoffs, but to have the pitching depth needed to make a deep run in the postseason.  

Burnett, who turned 38 in January, made it clear when he signed his one-year deal with the Pirates this offseason that this would be his last go-around in what thus far has been a successful 16-year career.

Ironically, Burnett’s second-most innings thrown in any single season came just last year when he was 37 years old and pitching in his first (and only) season with the Philadelphia Phillies. He went 8-18 last year with a 4.59 ERA.  

However, in two seasons with the Pirates from 2012-13, Burnett pitched to a 26-21 record with a 3.41 ERA. Regardless of his ERA, however, one thing that has always remained constant with Burnett is his track record of staying healthy and making his scheduled starts.  

Since making just 25 starts in 2007 for the Toronto Blue Jays, Burnett has made at least 30 starts in seven consecutive seasons.  

Still, giving an aging Burnett more rest can only benefit both his personal performance and the Pirates’ performance in 2015.  

5.  Vance Worley

Vance Worley was surprisingly one of the main reasons the Pirates made the playoffs in 2014.  

In his first season with the team, the 27-year-old pitched to an 8-4 record and a 2.85 ERA in 110.2 innings after being called up from the minors in June.

Worley had a similar season in 2011 as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies when he went 11-3 with a 3.01 ERA in 131.2 innings pitched.  Aside from those two seasons, however, Worley‘s record amounts to just 8-15 in parts of three seasons.  

What kind of performance should we expect from this Pirates starter in 2015? Will Worley improve on his stellar 2014 season, or will he regress to the pitcher he was in 2013, when he went 1-5 with a 7.21 ERA in 10 starts for the Minnesota Twins?

Perhaps Worley is meant to start somewhere around 20 games? He has performed wonderfully when he has reached that total throughout his career.  

A six-man rotation would give Worley that ability while also allowing him to pitch the full season.  

6.  Jeff Locke

Jeff Locke should serve as a prime example of why the Pirates should consider using a six-man rotation in 2015, as this one really is a no-brainer.  

Locke was named to his first All-Star team in 2013, and rightfully so, as he went 8-2 with a 2.15 ERA during the first half of the season.  In the second half, he was a completely different pitcher partially because of a back injury that lingered and cost him some playing time.  

Locke finished that season with a 10-7 record and a 3.52 ERA in 30 starts.  

Last season, he went 7-6 with a respectable 3.91 ERA in 21 starts.  

Assuming he has returned to full health, it is wise to predict that Locke could have a much better season in 2015.  However, given the fact that he is still only 27 years old and entering his fifth major league season, it would be smart for the Pirates to limit him to a certain number of starts.  

At the same time, why would the Pirates want to limit him to a specific number of starts and shut him down before the playoffs start?  With a six-man rotation, they wouldn’t have to worry about that.  

Pittsburgh has what it takes to go a long way in 2015 as long as its starting rotation (which is still shaky) manages to stay healthy.  

Implementing a six-man rotation would give the Pirates’ starters more rest between each start, which would lead to increased stamina during the final months of the regular season and, for hopeful Pirates fans, the postseason.  

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After winning the bidding for South Korean infielder Jung-ho Kang, the Pittsburgh Pirates reached an agreement on a contract with the 27-year-old. 

The Pirates made the deal official Friday, Jan. 16:

Jon Heyman of CBS Sports divulged some financial details:

Kang will arrive in Major League Baseball with high expectations thanks to his performance for the Nexen Heroes, which included an MVP award in 2014. He hit .356/.459/.739 with 40 home runs and 36 doubles in 117 games. 

Upon learning that Kang was eligible to negotiate with a team following the bidding process, Jon Morosi of Fox Sports spoke to Kang‘s agent about the Pirates:

The Pirates were a surprise winner in the Kang bidding, mainly because they don’t customarily get involved in high-profile negotiations like this. Pittsburgh does need to add another bat to the lineup, whether it’s at shortstop or third base.  

According to Ben Badler of Baseball America (via Mike Axisa of CBSSports.com), scouts are mixed on what kind of MLB player Kang will be:

Kang is strong and has average raw power, with a chance for 15-20 home runs if he plays every day … He doesn’t have the range to play shortstop in the majors, and scouts also expressed concerns about his ability to make the routine plays … there’s enough potential at the plate for him to be an offensive-oriented utility player who starts his U.S. career in the majors.

While that issue may have to be worked out, the Pirates need to find production from the shortstop position after the unit posted a .258/.308/.378 slash line in 2014. 

The addition of Kang at least gives manager Clint Hurdle a new option to work with. The Pirates have made the postseason in consecutive seasons and return most of the roster from last year, as well as 2013 star A.J. Burnett to the rotation. They are poised to stay in the National League Central race. 

Kang will endure the growing pains that come with facing MLB pitching that most players do, but his history of performance in Korea suggests he won’t feel overwhelmed at being put on the biggest stage that baseball has to offer. 

Stats via Baseball-Reference.com

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