All Time Pirates

All Time Pirates


                     After a LONG layoff, I'm back! Going to try and include more run analysis while doing this. Our first team in the NL Central is the Pirates, one of the oldest teams in the sport. They briefly spent time in Allegheney before moving to Pittsburgh in 1891, and have been there ever since. Over their storied franchise they have won five World Series titles, although none since 1979. They’ve also won nine NL pennants, no central division titles, nine east division titles and three wild card births. Throughout their long history they’ve also had a large number of Hall of Famers don the black and yellow, including Honus Wagner, Roberto Clemente, Ralph Kiner and Willie Stargell. This team won’t have the same punch as the other teams, however they definitely have some fun players to use. 

                  

             This lineup had some very, VERY good players, however it also has some very poor players. McCutchen leads things off with a stellar 11 OB, 21 speed and a projected 6.77 runs. The Hall of Famer Clemente follows him, and will get pitched to often with Bonds behind him. 9 OB, with a ton of extra base hits and home runs, this card will demolish lower controls. Hitting third is pre-steroid bonds and boy oh boy could he play. 11 OB, 21 speed and a handful of home runs. Giles gives him some protection with the classic 10 OB, 17-20 Home Run chart. Bonds tops out this lineup with 7.42 expected runs, with Giles and Clemente both just over 6. Russell Martin provides a great catcher card with 10 OB and a +8 arm. After that this lineup starts to falter. 

(my attempt at jacking the 2013 card with 2014 numbers)

(same thing here with the 66 card to 67 numbers)

Kevin Young provides a solid 1B card and at 4.86 runs is still a solid player, but after that is gets ugly, quick. Sprague comes in at only 3.75 points with 8 OB, and plus 0 defense. Not what you normally want out of the hot corner, and he's followed by one of the worse cards you'll see on an All Time team in Enrique Wilson. Always a scrappy player, he gives you +3 defense, but only one HR with 7 OB makes it tough. I figured we'd round out the lineup with a decent player in Harrison, giving you an 8 OB with 19 speed and some pop to act as a second lead off man. It's definitely disappointing given how strong this lineup starts. The rotation is solid, albeit leaving a bit to be desired. Blass's Classic card leads things off with 4 control and 7 IP which is good for 5.86 expected runs against, followed by Veales 2 control, 20 to get on base 6 expected run card. Not terrible but definitely going to be a bit risky if you get on a cold streak rolling. Williams' 2018 card comes in third at 6.43 expected runs with 4 control and 17 to get on base over 5 IP. 

Dock Ellis is the fourth pitcher with 3 control, 6 IP, 17 outs and all singles, which clocks in at 6.50 expected runs against. Taillon is the fifth starter with his 2018 card, which comes in .1 runs behind Dock. Ritchie is the 6th starter, and really in the bullpen, but I'm keeping his card here with the other starters. Watson comes out of the bullpen as the top dog with 5.31 runs against, with 6 control and 3 singles and a double. This bullpen doesn't have a ton of depth or power, so you're going to need to tread carefully with the back end. Giusti comes in just above 5.5 runs, and Walker just below 6. Moose and Christiansen are both at 6.49 before weighted for innings, so Moose gets the slight nod being able to go 2. I'm going to go down to only 5 traditional relievers and throw Ritchie in here to give the bullpen some depth and innings with his 7 IP and 5 control, he makes a great addition to give them some needed support. 

The bullpen definitely isn't something to be feared, but should be able to have moments of magic with some solid advantage rolls. As for the bench, there's some real power to be had. Stargell is the most capable hitter at 5.87 expected runs. 9 OB and 16 to home run, he can definitely provide some pop and Vander Wall slots in right behind him and is very evenly matched. A great option if you desperately need a batters chart. Jason Kendall adds one of the top OG catcher cards, coming in just over 5 expected runs. In a very rare scenario, the Pirates have two catchers that would start on most rosters. Due to putting Ritchie in the bullpen we've got room for all three of these guys, and I think there's value to that. Having a potential 10 OB replacement for Clemente, the speed element to pinch run for Martin with Kendall, or a late inning power surge from Stargell, they could provide very timely for an adept manager.

Overall the lineup comes in at 3,890 points which is solid, but is heavily buoyed by Bonds, Giles and McCutchen who make up over half of it. If they only had slightly better middle infielders this could be a very scary lineup to face. The rotation comes in at 2,120 for the 5 starters and 2,620 points if you add Ritchie into the mix. The bullpen is a paltry 810, though with Ritchie it gets to 1,310 which makes a bit more sense. This totals them to 8,750 points which is actually a respectable number and proves that this team can definitely still make a run for it. They might not have the depth to get over the top of some of the power house teams, but they can be sneaky and undoubtedly will be a lot of fun to play with.

Hitters\

Starters

Closers

The top seasons in Pirates history belong to Honus Wagner by far and away. Unfortunately that time frame doesn't lend to showdown cards. Ralph Kiner's 1951 season would give us some extra power at first, which would help, but won't truly fix the issues. He hit .309/.452/.627 with 124 runs, 42 HRs, 109 RBIs and 137 walks. This article really sums up the problem they're running into: here. In fact looking at the pirates top 50 seasons of all time there is not a single middle infielder since Honus Wagner that makes the list. Jay Bell in '93 did slash .310/.392/.437 with 187 hits, 51 RBIs and 9 triples and home runs. That might be second to Jack Wilson's 2004 in which he had 201 hits, including 41 doubles, a league leading 12 triples, along with 11 home runs for a .308 average. Both would be a helpful addition. For pitching John Candelaria in '77 pitched to a 20-5 record with a 2.34 ERA over 230.2 IP and logged a league leading 169 ERA+. In '86 Rick Rhoden 15-12 but posted a 2.84 ERA over 253.1 IP and pitching 12 complete games. I'm sure this team could use some help with their arms so these two might be interesting places to start. Who else do you think the Pirates could use to bolster their All Time Showdown Team?