The Pittsburgh Pirates finished 2011 with 72 wins and 90 losses. That was enough to put them in fourth place in the weak NL Central Division behind Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Cincinnati and above the Chicago Cubs and Houston. Although they flirted with the top spot of the division in the middle of July, the season ultimately ended up as their 19th consecutive losing record in a row. In spite of the disappointing result, the Pirates had shown a noticeable improvement from the previous season. They ended up 15 wins better from 2010. Considering the Pirates projection at the start of the season, the 15 win improvement was significant. There was even an insinuation in the off season about whether they would lose 100 games.
The turning point came in the middle of the season when the Pittsburgh Pirates had a winning record. They were occupying the top spot in their division. They added Derrek Lee and Ryan Ludwick at the trading deadline which made them buyers for the first time in many years. The expectations were very high, but then the team suffered ten successive losses in the early part of August which they never recovered. Just like in the past where they had shown to bounce back from losing streaks, it nonetheless had not improved on their losing seasons. That is why, there are many people who believe that the current improvement meant nothing at all.
Charlie Morton was one of the players who had shown the most improvement in 2011. The Pirates possessed one of the worst rotation in the pitching position, but Charlie Morton and Jeff Karstens took big strides during the course of the season. James McDonald also showed a strong showing, while Brad Lincoln came up with a good performance of his own towards the end. Andrew McCutchen was the one who had the biggest improvement, but he disappeared after the All-Star break.
It turned out that the Pittsburgh Pirate’s offense was the biggest letdown. McCutchen played like a star player, but he tapered off in the last two months. Jose Tabata and Neil Walker had shown some solid hitting, but they did not possess the necessary consistency to average good numbers. Pedro Alvarez mightily struggled and he disappeared on offense. He was the main reason why the team did not finished as strong as they ought to be. But amidst all these shortcomings, Alex Presley emerged with better numbers of .298 average and an .804 OPS.
The Pittsburgh Pirate’s defense was their strong point throughout the season. Andrew McCutchen emerged with -12.5 UZR/150 which was 7th best among the qualified center fielders around the majors. Ronny Cedeno came up with 6.4 UZR/150, which could be enough for his $3 million option to be picked up in 2012. Michael McKenry, who was signed in the middle of the season, was particularly strong for his defense behind the plate. And Neil Walker, who played his first full season at second base, was very encouraging with -2.2 UZR/150. The Pirates should build on this aspect of their game. Good teams, contending teams at that, always have a good defense and the Pittsburgh Pirates already have players in defensive positions that are difficult to fill.
