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The Pens Have Talent, But Lack A Team And Youth
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Here we are 4 games into the opening round of the Playoffs and if you're a Pens fan you have to be worried at this point about seeing the Pens get upset early in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It's not supposed to be this way. It didn't start of this way. he Pens started the series off with a masterful beat down to the tune of 5-0 over the Islanders. After that game, the Pens have largely been dominated on the ice outside of Special Teams, Faceoffs and individual skill. The "team" concept style of play has been tilted heavily in the Islanders favor. One of my greatest concerns for this team coming into the Playoffs outside of whether Marc-Andre Fleury could improve on his last 3 years of Playoff incompetence was whether too much roster change was made at the Trade Deadline. I love seeing talent brought in. I love all of the pieces that Ray Shero brought in as individuals, but 5 players to an 18 man starting roster is a lot. That is nearly 30% of your roster that is new. 30% of your roster that knows Dan Bylsma's system right now but surely don't know it comfortably or more important - confidently. On top of adding nearly 30% new faces to the roster, during that entire month while those new guys are getting acclimated to the system, and linemates, the Pens were shuffling guys in and out due to injury. Sidney Crosby missed the month of April. Evgeni Malkin, Brooks Orpik, Kris Letang and James Neal all missed good chunks of time in April when the Pens as a team needed to form chemistry and become a "team" on the ice. They never had that chance. The Pens finished out the Regular Season largely winning, but doing so without the need to adjust on a game to game basis and allowing the immense talent on the team to win with skill. Now it's time to make adjustments on a per game basis and the lack of team chemistry is showing. i.jpgThe Pens won Game 1 of this series playing their game, the same game that they had played in the Regular Season. They won in a landslide. The Islanders made a lot of adjustments in Game 2 and beat the Pens. Despite what the unintelligent hockey fan will suggest, Dan Bylsma has been making changes these past 3 games and even during the games. Coming out of the 2nd Period against the New York slanders last... [Read More] |
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Why, yes - we're up and at 'em again! This time, we've got Bench Coach Jeff Banister on whether Travis Snider is really healthy, howStarling Marte is dazzling everyone, and how the bullpen use is determined (You'll wanna hear this one).Also, we've got former Pirate Minor Leaguer Josh Poytress, who was unceremoniously (but shockingly, IMO) released by the organization earlier this Spring. An interesting segment about what really happens when a player gets his walking papers... We also have a contest, but you can find out more about that yourself by clicking http://rumbunter.com/2013/05/07/pitt...unter-podcast/ and then clicking on the link in the post. We're also now available on iTunes - if you go to the Apple Store, make sure you click on the icon that has a microphone on it - that's the current incarnation of the Podcast. We also have a direct link to it on our "Rumbunter Plus" site, where the podcast link itself is located. As always, gang - we sincerely appreciate you listening and commenting - it only helps us get better! |
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 Note before you read that I wanted this to be posted Thursday, but that did not happen, so last night’s game against Washington is not part of this blog. Today is May 2nd. The Pittsburgh Pirates have played 28 games in the 2013 season. They just came off of a brutal series in Milwaukee, in which they lost 2 games out of 3, somehow avoiding a sweep. They now sit a half game behind the Cardinals of St. Louis, good for second place in the NL Central. I continuously hear all the time about the surprising Pittsburgh Pirates. I am not surprised. I am however, pleased. I am surprised because if you look at the start to the past two seasons, I expected this. But with that expectation, you must remember that you are still talking about the Pittsburgh Pirates. Therefore, pleased could describe my feelings toward the first 28 games. The Pirates are 4 games above .500. That is more than you can ask of them. They won more games in April than they have since 1992. The last season that a winning team was in Pittsburgh. 4 games above .500 is a great start to the season because, if you are being honest with yourself, you will realize this team probably isn’t a 90 win team yet. But an 85 win team? I would say so. As long as the Pirates continue to hover around .500, they are playing to their potential. We don’t need them to be 16 games above .500 at the All-Star break. We saw how that turned out. We need them to continue to play to their potential as a team, and as individuals. Position by position, this is the deepest Pirates team in recent years. The Pirates vastly improved their catching game, they have a solid infield, a super-star outfield, solid starting pitching, (not to mention all of the injured starters and our minor league options), and a good bullpen, including Jason Grilli having an All-Star start to the season. The Pirates quality at shortstop still continues to worry me, but with all of the other puzzle-pieces falling slowly in place, it is something we can work around for a while. Hitting When talking about the beginning of the 2013 season, the obvious biggest improvement from last years 79 win team is at catcher. The Pirates going out and getting a proven catcher in Russell Martin was... [Read More] |
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Warning: This is an exceedingly long piece which provides a update on how the Pirates minor leaguers performed in the month of April at each of the 4 full season affiliates. . The month of April is in the books and that means it is time to take a look down at the Pirates farm and see what noteworthy performances have taken place. With over 100 players having either thrown a pitch or swung a bat for the Pirates 4 affiliates this past month it would be impractical to note every performance instead let’s focus on the top prospects and anyone else who happened to have a unique (good or bad) month. . A: West Virginia Power The standout in the Pirates lowest level full season affiliate was undoubtedly Stetson Allie. Allie, as I’m sure most of you know, was converted from a pitcher to a position player last season and even though it seemed he wouldn’t be ready for full season ball this season the Pirates somewhat surprisingly started him there to begin the season. Allie has absolutely been crushing the ball at this level belting 8 HR and posting 1.069 OPS in 97 AB. He is a little old for the level but considering his unique path here I think for now that can be essentially ignored. The power Allie has shown has definitely been legit, his raw power is probably top 3 in the Pirates system along with Pedro Alvarez and Josh Bell, but the question is can he continue to make enough contact to keep his raw power useful. . Allie wasn’t the only hitter to burst out of the gates at the A ball level. Raul Fortunato who due to an injury last season is essentially playing his first season in the United States this year got off to a great start having numbers just slightly behind Allie however he trailed off towards the end of the month and his numbers (.754 OPS) look only average at this point. . Along with these hot starters the A ball team features some of the Pirates top hitting prospects in Josh Bell, Barrett Barnes, Dilson Herrera, Wyatt Mathisen, Eric Wood and Max Moroff. Barnes didn’t get a chance to play much because of a minor injury he suffered in Spring Training but since his debut he hasn’t exactly been tearing the cover off the ball posting a .556 OPS. He is an advanced college outfielder in his first full season of professional ball so A ball should be something he has little difficulty handling so hopefully he puts up a strong May. Max Moroff had a strong start but tailed off as the... [Read More] |
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The time has come, and the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs are about to commence. This is always a fun and energetic time for me, as well as every other hockey fan. The NHL Playoffs are unlike any other series in my opinion. Maybe it is because I have so much “invested” in hockey, vice the NBA or MLB playoffs. And I won’t include the NFL because it is a “1 and done” system, completely different situation there. Not only do I find myself wrapped up in the drama and excitement of the Penguins and watching their quest for glory, I find myself, moreso than any other sport, watching all the other series unfold, even if the Penguins have been eliminated. The Stanley Cup Playoffs have that affect on me, I can't say why for sure. Maybe because I never actually played the game but wished like hell I could have. Maybe it's because as a kid I was so spoiled with the Mario Lemieux teams of the early 1990s. I don't know what it is, but is has a hold on me, and I like it. Enough nostalgia and pontification, on to the good stuff. As History Would Have It This is the Penguins’ 7th straight appearance into the post-season, and every year it always feels like “The Year”. Then again, maybe that is my Pittsburgh bias, or maybe it’s because we are always good, with a solid core and great roles players. But I digress. This year, I think, out of any of the other playoff years, one could legitimately argue and label this year as “The Year”. There is a lot of pressure riding on the Penguins, and it isn’t just the local pressure this time around. Nationally speaking the Penguins are the “odd-on favorites” to win the Eastern Conference and represent the conference in the Stanley Cup Finals. Many national pundits also have the Penguins as the favorite to lift Lord Stanley's Cup. But with great hype, comes great responsibility. Are the Penguins up to the task? Will they falter? Will they succeed? Only time will tell what will happen, but here are a few observations/thoughts/fears/joys/etc. that I am feeling heading into Game 1 against the New York Islanders. The Penguins by virtue of their magnificent 17 game win streak, all but sealed up the #1 Seed back at the beginning of April, but it wasn’t confirmed until their victory over the Boston Bruins on 20 April, about a week and a half ago. It was also uncertain who the Penguins would play; that didn’t come until the Senators defeated the Bruins on the... [Read More] |
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