Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pirates lost another one yesterday, which was no surprise considering this weak-hitting club was facing future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson. Even in his dotage -- he'll be 44 in September -- the Big Unit is too much for the Pirates. He struck out 10 and allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings as the Arizona Diamondbacks won at PNC Park, 5-2. The Pirates were even more submissive against the three Arizona relievers, who retired 10 consecutive batters once Johnson departed.
And so it is that the Pirates continue their dogged pursuit of .500, a chase that is beginning to look like the impossible dream. They're five games under .500, which is not that much, except for them. After a promising April (12-12), they're a miserable 7-12 in May and looking every day like, well, the same old Pirates.
Paul Maholm
But here's what's really disturbing about this team. The plan to move forward with a group of players who are under contract through 2009, a plan that once had promise, is unraveling daily. The players that were being counted on as a major part of the team's future are either failing or failing to live up to expectations. At best, this was a modest group. But it's no longer at its best and the small window of opportunity that seemed to exist in 2008 and 2009 is narrowing.
Consider:
* Paul Maholm. He took the loss yesterday, giving up five runs and eight hits in five innings. Aside from one exceptional start, a three-hit shutout, Maholm has been extremely disappointing after a good second half last season. His earned run average is a whopping 5.82 and opponents are batting .309 against him. He has allowed 10 home runs in 51 innings. He should be a candidate for a trip to the minors, but he's not. "He has to stay in the rotation," manager Jim Tracy said when asked about Maholm's future. That, as much as anything, says it all about what the Pirates have behind Maholm at Indianapolis.
Zach Duke
* Zach Duke. He has fallen dramatically since his brilliant rookie season in 2005, when he was 8-2 with a 1.81 ERA. Opponents -- and this is hard to believe -- are batting .340 against Duke. To put that in perspective, only three players in the National League are batting higher than that. Perhaps worse is the fact that opponents are slugging (total bases divided by at-bats) .527 against Duke, worst in the National League. With those numbers in mind, it's incredible that Duke is 2-5 and not 0-7. This one time ace-in-the-making now has the look of a journeyman -- at best.
* Chris Duffy. He's a player the Pirates desperately need to succeed, and he's not. After a promising April, .264 batting average, .350 on-base percentage, Duffy has slumped badly. He's batting .153 in May with a .175 on-base percentage. Duffy has teased the Pirates before. In 2005, he batted .350 in the final two months of the season. He batted .336 last September. But he has never been able to put a full season together. At 27, time is running out. But Duffy's skill set, as a leadoff hitter and center fielder, is so important to the Pirates they can't even think about giving up on him.
Chris Duffy
* Andrew McCutchen. The thinking of some was that if Duffy failed, McCutchen might be waiting to take over for him. It doesn't look that way. No one doubts McCutchen's exceptional talent, but he's struggling at Class AA Altoona. He was dropped to seventh in the Curve's batting order yesterday and was hitting .180.
* Jose Bautista. He has made the transition to third base brilliantly, playing the position in a Gold Glove style. His offense, though, has been a disappointment. He's batting .261, which is acceptable, but his lack of power is troubling. After his recall in May of last season, he hit 10 home runs in 145 at-bats, an extremely promising rate. Those numbers look like a mirage today. Since that start, he has homered only eight times in 389 at-bats, an unacceptable rate for a third baseman. Bautista is 26 and with little major-league experience. His power stroke could return.
Jose Bautista
* Jose Castillo. Once a definite building block of the future, a possible Gold Glove second baseman with some pop in his bat, Castillo's career has taken a hard left turn. He's a utility player, who might not have a future with the Pirates.
* Xavier Nady. The Pirates need Nady to be a productive everyday player, a possible middle-of-the lineup presence. First, though, he must show he can handle right-handed pitching. He's batting .224 against right-handers this year, 19 points lower than his career average. He's a terror against left-handers, batting .393 this season and .332 for his career. What's alarming is that he has shown less power against left-handed pitching. At 28, Nady needs to step up soon or be relegated to a platoon role.
That's a lot of players on the bubble -- too many to expect anything but more of the same from this team the remainder of the season.
(Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com.)
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