By Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pirates/
Peter Diana/Post-Gazette
Craig Monroe follows through on the second of his two three-run homers in yesterday's 10-0 rout of the Braves at PNC Park.
So wait, the Pirates slip below .500 on Thursday against the awful Houston Astros, possibly for good, but pop up with a winning record again 48 hours later in a baseball season already two weeks old?
Is that legal?
On an afternoon when John Russell's team lumber-companied the Atlanta Braves 10-0, mashing nine extra base hits and even drawing three intentional walks, it began to emerge that certain presumptions about the 2009 Pirates are at least subject to review.
It was a given that this team would pitch better, mostly because it was nearly impossible to pitch worse than it did a year ago, but the even more common analysis was that the Pirates were not going to score a ton of runs over the next six months, the evidence being all over Russell's lineup for yesterday's rare Saturday matinee with the Braves.
More than half the Pittsburgh batting order was hitting .211 or lower, evaporating any mystery over how the Pirates had managed to score three runs or fewer in six of their first 10 games. But the next 10 might be different. The next 151 might not produce the bleak offensive numbers in every forecast.
"Gritty," was the term Russell chose to describe his club's offensive potential for the long term. "We'll have games like [Friday night's 3-0 victory] where we'll have to pitch to win, but we have offensive capabilities. We can hit homers, but we don't rely on them. We'll have to pitch and play defensive to win, but we do have good hitters and I think we can score in many different ways."
It was instructive in a rather pointed way that while the Braves were cooling Nyjer Morgan down to .333, Craig Monroe used only his second start in right field to put on a thumping demonstration of what he can do for your offense given the right set of opportunities. Monroe launched twin three-run homers into the bullpen in the sixth and seventh innings for the first six-RBI performance around here in nearly three years, then took a richly appreciative curtain call from some 20,755 assembled.
"That was my welcome," Monroe beamed in the Pirates clubhouse. "I felt really good about that out there today."
He didn't feel very good last summer in Minnesota, where his at-bats were too infrequent for his tastes, and where his approach to hitting off the bench suffered as a result. He had only one hit in his first 10 at-bats as a Pirate, but those two bombs yesterday had to re-clarify what could be an issue for Russell. On a team that finished ninth in the National League in runs scored after losing reliable producers Jason Bay and Xavier Nady, Monroe might have too much bang for the Pirates' dugout.
With Eric Hinske coming off the bench with a double in the eighth yesterday, the people who might prefer a Hinske-Monroe platoon or a Moss-Monroe platoon at one of the corner outfield spots instead of Morgan have renewed commitment even as Morgan carries on with his stunning impersonation of Pete Rose at the top of this lineup.
In any event, the various offensive elements at Russell's disposal have outscored the opposition 51-33 through 11 games, 51 runs that project to 751 for the season, 16 more than last year and likely into the top half of the league.
"We don't pay too much attention to what people's impressions are about us," said Ryan Doumit, who celebrated his bobblehead day with three doubles that yanked his batting average from .211 to .262. "We have guys on this team who have produced, who can be major offensive forces."
Part of that identity, to whatever extent it applies, is the ability to drive pitches that deserve to be crushed, like the one freshly-called-up Atlanta starter Jo Jo Reyes threw to Monroe in the sixth, and the one reliever Buddy Carlyle served him in the seventh, both belt-high presentations that virtually screamed, "Maul me!"
"I got some pitches that I could drive," Monroe said. "And good for me that I didn't miss them."
Monroe can turn out to be good for the Pirates in a number of ways, as so far his presence in the clubhouse has been appreciated for his encouragement and perspective.
"I told these guys in the spring that in '03, I was on a [Detroit] team that lost 119 games, and three years later we were in the World Series," Monroe said.
"At some point, you have to start feeling different about yourself and go out there every day like you're going to win."
He didn't mention that he hit 28 homers for those 2006 Tigers, or that he might do something similar if presented the right opportunity. Can the Pirates afford not to give it to him?
Gene Collier can be reached at gcollier@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1283. More articles by this author
First published on April 19, 2009 at 12:00 am
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