State of the Pittsburgh Pirates

 Pittsburgh Pirates manager, Clint Hurdle, has the Bucs off to a decent start. They are 8-9, on pace to win 76 games. However, it is early and a lot of baseball is yet to be played.

Hitting

Jose Tabata, Garett Jones, Andrew McCuthen and Neil Walker are leading the offense. All four players are tide for the team lead in homeruns with three, while Walker leads the team in RBI with 12.

Pedro Alvarez and Ronny Cedeno are really struggling. Alvarez is hitting .183 with no homeruns and four RBI and Cedeno is hitting .180 with four RBI.

Speed

The Pirates have not shown much speed with the exception of Tabata who has swept eight bases in nine attempts. McCuthen has one stolen base in four attempts.

Defense

Defensively the outfield has played well. Through the first 17 games, only Andrew McCutchen has committed an error. In addition, the outfield has already combined for four assist, one from each of the four regular outfielders.

The infield has not played up to their ability. Each regular position player is fielding poorer than expected and Alvarez has really struggled. He has committed four errors in 15 games, posting a .926 fielding percentage.

Pitching

Kevin Correia and Charlie Morton have clearly been the Pirates leaders in the rotation. Correia is off to one of the best starts of his career. He is 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA and 0.97 WHIP. Morton has been almost as good. He is 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA and 1.14 WHIP.

Paul Maholm has been average. His 0-3 start is worst then he's pitched. Two of his four starts have been quality starts and his last start (4/19 in Florida) is his only poor outing.

James McDonald and Ross Ohlendorf have gotten off to poor starts. McDonald is 0-1 with a 7.47 ERA and 1.79 WHIP and Ohlendorf, now on the DL, is 0-0 with a 7.27 ERA and 1.85 WHIP.

The bullpen has recorded eight saves, but has had some rough outings. Chris Resop (2.25 ERA) is the only arm in the pen, of those who have appeared in five or games, with an ERA below 3.00.

All in all, Hrudle has the Pirates playing better than expected. It does not look as though they will break the .500 mark, but most certainly should reach 70 or more wins.

GO BUCS