Room for Improvement

I have not been a huge fan of Bob Smizik, but he did a good job in pointing out what is the obvious. The Pirate pitching has been horrible this season. What he pointed out that I did not know was that Zach Duke and Paul Maholm are helping in leading the way.

Sure guys like Charlie Morton have done their fair share in 'helping' the staff look horrible, but having the two 'aces' pitch so poorly is not a good sign. If anything it underscores the biggest need for change for the club heading into next season.

There are holes all around the diamond, but the glaring holes have been the bad pitching that the team has gotten on the season. We are not looking for the staff to go out and just shut down a team, but at least pitching league average would suffice. Sadly pitching league average is a big struggle for most of them.

One then has to wonder what the team will look to do with their starting pitching. Maholm is under contract, Duke is arbitration eligible, as is Ohlendorf. Will this be the offseason that the club does what has been rumored and let go of Duke? Would they look to trade him or non-tender him? If he were to go, or any of the starters for that matter, how would they replace him?

A free agent starter, even a middling one, is going to be pricey. Price may have to be set aside. The team cannot have a core of players coming up and improving, with a horrible pitching staff. It would be like remodeling a house with a bad foundation. Sure it looks nice, but there are serious core issues.

It will be interesting to see how the pitching staff performs down the stretch, but equally more so, how will the club look to improve it in the offseason.