2012 MLB Predictions.

AL East:

1. New York Yankees (95-67) – The Yankees are coming off a disappointing 1st round exit, but they are still the defending AL East champs. If Alex Rodriguez has a bounce back season, watch out. 

2. Boston Red Sox ( 93-69) – The Red Sox looked like a lock for the 2011 postseason, then September came. But 2012 is a new season, if the Red Sox stay healthy and Carl Crawford can be the player they thought he would be last year, then the Sox could be playing in late October. 

3. Toronto Blue Jays (87-75) The old logo is back and the Jays have improved. While it may not be enough to lock up a playoff spot, it could be enough to give the AL a scare. 

4. Tampa Bay Rays (82-80) – This team always finds a way. I’m picking them to be a slight disappointment this season with an improved Jays club, but don’t be surprised if they are back in the postseason for a 3rd straight year. 

5. Baltimore Orioles (68-94) The Orioles can hit the cover of the ball, we all know that. Problem is their pitching is abysmal and they play in the toughest division in baseball. Looks like another long season for the black and orange. 

AL Central:

1. Detroit Tigers (92-70) – When you have a pitcher who is good enough to be the MVP and CY Young award winner, you know you’re in good hands. Adding Prince Fielder should also make for a dangerous lineup. Gonna be a fun summer in the motor city.

2. Kansas City Royals (84-78) – Royals fans, your time is coming. No playoffs this year, but with Hosmer, Gordon and Mike Moustakas, winning baseball has a good chance to return in 2012. 

3. Chicago White Sox (78-84) – This team has a lot of talent, but losing Mark Buehrle will hurt the pitching staff. New manager Robin Ventura will have his hands full, but he eventually will have the south siders back to contending.

4. Cleveland Indians (77-85) The Indians looked like MLB’s surprise team for a while, but they cooled off and finished just below 500. They have a promising young pitching staff and a solid bullpen, so do not rule the Tribe out. 

5. Minnesota Twins (70-92) – My WS pick from a year ago, wow did it go horribly wrong. Good news is the Twins will be better in 2012, bad news is they are likely going to be the bottom feeders of the central again. 

AL West:

1. Texas Rangers (94-68) The two time defending AL champs will have it harder in 2012 but they are still the class of the division. If Josh Hamilton stays healthy, the Rangers may again be the team to beat in the AL. New rotation addition Yu Darvish also will supply the Rangers fans with excitement. 

2. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (91-71) King Albert has found a new home, and spirits are high in LA. While the Rangers are going to be a challenge, the Angels should have no problem grabbing a wild card spot. 

3. Oakland A’s (83-79) Losing Gio Gonzalez will hurt the rotation but the offense will be improved with Yoenis Cespedes. Winning Baseball may be back in Oakland!

4. Seattle Mariners (69-93) – The Mariners again will be in last, but the future is looking brighter. Still a couple years away from contention. 

NL East:

Philadelphia Phillies (97-65) The Phillies will again be one of the best teams in baseball, but can they overcome an aging infield and the huge disappointment from last year’s playoffs?

Atlanta Braves (94-68) – Last year the Braves collapsed and fell short of the playoffs, this year they will learn from their mistakes and make it. 

Miami Marlins ( 86-76) The Marlins have a ton of talent and will be a threat, but the strength of the division will ruin their playoff chances under new manager Ozzie Guillen. 

Washington Nationals (79-83) Washington, you guys are close, very close. If Bryce Harper joins this team and Strasburg stays healthy, baseball in Washington will be fun to watch

New York Mets (67-95) – Every division has a bullied team, and the Mets look to be just that in 2012. Although stranger things have happened. 

NL Central:

St Louis Cardinals (93-69) Yes the Cardinals lost Pujols, but they are getting Adam Wainwright back. With Berkman and Holliday anchoring the lineup, the champs will be back to defend their title.

Cincinnati Reds (88-74) The Reds will be improved from 2011, but will their pitching be able to stay on track? If it is, then we have a contender in Cincy, if not then they will be in trouble.

Milwaukee Brewers (84-78) Prince is gone, but the offense is still powerful. We’ll see what this team can do with the loss of their slugger, can Braun still lead them? 

Pittsburgh Pirates (81-81) 19 years in counting, but it looked like last year was finally the year for a while. All relies on the rotation, if the Pirates can get consistency from the starters, then the streak will turn 1 instead of 20. 

Chicago Cubs (74-88) The Cubs have a new GM in Theo Epstein, but they lost Carlos Pena, Aramis Ramirez and there is a lack of certainty in closer Carlos Marmol. 

Houston Astros (61-101) I don’t like to predict 100 losses for any team but the Astros are just awful. They have a very young team and they will have to rely on veteran Carlos Lee for leadership.

AL West:

Arizona Diamondbacks (100-62) Yep I think the Dbacks will be the best team in baseball. Last year everyone (including me) picked them to finish last and they won the division. This is a team that has a powerful offense AND pitching staff, not to mention a lot of youth. Go to games, DBacks fans, this team is special. 

San Francisco Giants (90-72) Buster Posey is back and Freddy Sanchez is too. The Giants can be a serious contender if they get consistent hitting, we all know what their pitching can do. 

Los Angeles Dodgers (80-82) New ownership and new hope in Tinsel Town, the best pitcher in the NL is a nice piece, but the Dodgers have many more to fill before they become contenders again. 

Colorado Rockies (77-85) Powerful lineup, but very iffy pitching. This team has shocked the world before so do not count them out.

San Diego Padres (67-95) Rebuilding time in San Diego. At least Cameron Maybin is fun to watch. 

I’m Back!

Wow I really got lazy with my blogging (AGAIN), but in 2012, my goal is to change all that. I am going to try and post after every Pirates’ series in 2012. That’s the goal anyways, hoping I live up to it. 

But enough about that, lets talk Bucco Baseball 2012! Yesterday the Pirates lost their first spring training game 7-1, but really, who cares about spring training games? I am feeling a little bit edgy about the upcoming season because of the recent injury to new Pirate AJ Burnett. In case you haven’t heard, AJ will miss 2-3 months after surgery to repair a broken orbital bone which he suffered when he bunted a ball off his eye. Lets hope (And Pray) the Pirates can remain healthy in 2012 and keep fighting. 

 

I will likely wait until the end of spring to post again, that is when I will post my predictions for the 2012 season. I will predict every team’s record and finish like last year. (Last year I picked the Dbacks to finish last and the Twins to face the Phillies in the WS, so lets hope I’m not as stupid this year). But anyways, God Bless and LETS GO BUCS!

 

MIKE

Two months in, the Bucs are surprising.

It is now June 1st and that means that one third of the season is gone. So far the Pirates are in fourth place in the NL Central with a record of 25-28. This isn’t really good but it is great compared to years past. The biggest surprise is the road record which stands at 16-14. For a team that won 17 games on the road all last season, this is truely excellent.

The hitting as been the weak part of the team by far. Andrew McCutchen, Jose Tabata, Garrett Jones,  and Pedro Alvarez have all had disappointing starts. Tabata and McCutchen seem to be doing better as of late, but Jones is in danger of losing his starting job and Pedro is hurt. However, Neil Walker is having close to an all star worthy season at 2nd base and Ronny Cedeno had a great May. Chris Snyder is leading the team in hitting at the moment and has had a pretty good start behind the plate. He will need to especially keep it up now with Ryan Doumit out due to a  fractured ankle. Another thing about the offense is that one of the surprise players, Steve Pearce, went down with a calf injury. So with Pedro and Pearce out, and Brandon Wood not being able to handle 3rd, the Bucs called up Josh Harrison. The kid’s first major league start was a beauty last night, he collected his first hit and RBI, and he helped the Bucs to a 5-1 win in New York. Time will tell if the offense can get back on track.

The pitching, on the other hand, has been absolutely fantastic. The staff is led by Kevin Correia and Charlie Morton. Morton is 5-2 with an 2.51 ERA and Kevin Correia is tied for the major league lead with 7 wins. Also Paul Maholm has pitched well despite the poor record, and James McDonald has found his groove in May. Going into tonight’s game, the Pirates starters have had twelve straight games in which they allowed no more than two earned runs. That is incredible considering how bad the pitching has been over the years. One of the signs that this team is on the rise.

 

We shall see what happens through the final four months of the season, but if the Bucs keep getting great pitching like this, there is no reason why they can’t break the streak.

 

MIKE

My Piratefest experience

Well first of all, I would like to say that catchers and pitchers report in less than two weeks. I know you all can feel the excitement! Baseball season 2011 will be here is less than two months, hard to believe ain’t it? Now onto the topic.

Last weekend, I attended the annual Piratefest at the David L. Lawrence Convention center in Pittsburgh. I expected it to be a fun time, but I never would of guessed that it would be best day I have had in a long time. It all started when me and my sister Shell entered the place at 10 AM. Wow it looked better than ever and I sure was ready to take advantage of it.
Turns out that my cousins JT and Robbie were going to be there along with my Uncle Rob. So I knew I had even more people to hang out with on this day. My one friend Melissa was coming all the way down from Buffalo with her sister, and my other friend Kayla was going to be there. I was excited that I was finally going to meet both of them.
When me and Shell both got there we saw a batting cage, Shell told me to go take some swings but the instructor insisted she did too. Both of us did fairly well considering the pitches were a little out of the strike zone. Then we went to do a broadcast which was mainly meant for kids but had fun anyways. I felt like an 8 year old kid the whole time there.
After both of those things were done, me and Shell decided to just walk around a little bit and see what was there. I played a quick game of Plinko and won a bobble-head, then we went and sat down at the stage for a little bit. Shell told me she saw Robbie and company coming in through the above floor so we went to the entrance to wait for them, but they didn’t show up yet. 
So after that, we just decided to go back to the stage. That is when I bumped into a familiar face, it was Melissa and her sister, Monica. They had driven through a snowstorm five hours to get there. So me and Shell decided to show them around for a little bit and we stopped buy a jersey store where there was game worn jerseys for sale. All the players were there including the bullpen catcher, Heberto Andrade, much to my friend’s delight. Then they told us they hadn’t come in the right way so we went to the entrance to wait.
This is when things really started to get cool, Clint Hurdle, the Pirates new manager was up in the both right in front of us on a radio show. As we stood there watching him, my cousin just appeared right next to me. Didn’t see Rob or Robbie, but JT just knew where me and Shell were. So we took Justin around and looked at random things, while looking for his dad and brother at the same time. We eventually ran into them not too far from the broadcast booth where I decided to do one with Robbie. At 13 years old, Robbie was very excited to be there.
So after doing that, JT, and Shell decided to go get something to eat. I felt like I had ditched Melissa and Monica and invited them to join us for “Minute to win it” on the stage. So after we watched that, I realized there was a familiar face sitting behind us, although I didn’t know who it was. Turns out it was Rocco DeMaro, the Pirates former post game show host. I felt stupid for now knowing who he was.
The rest of the day went buy pretty fast, but it was also great. I got an autograph from Jeff Karstens, got Rocco’s autograph and shook hands with him, asked Neil Walker a question in the players’ Q&A, and got a Garrett Jones shirt. I saw Kayla once and said hi but we didn’t get to talk more which was a shame. I’m sure I’ll see her at a game this year though. 
My cousin Robbie got a picture with Robbie too, and he also won tickets to a game and a tour of PNC Park. Melissa got a picture with Rocco as well, what a nice guy he is. So at the end of the day I got a picture with Melissa and told her and Monica to have a safe trip home. Then I went with JT and Shell to watch minute to win it one last time. The girl won the game and Robbie had to give her a hug. Then after that, we decided it was time to leave and put a period on the best day of the year. 
Lets Go Bucs!
MIKE

Long time no blog

Well it has been nearly five months since I last posted so a lot has happened obviously. As you supportive shipmates all know, our battling Bucs lost a league high 105 games. Terrible pitching, rookie mistakes, and untimely hitting ultimately lead to their demise. In a season that was the worst one since 1952, it call almost be called the best season since 1992. Why is this you ask? Well it is quite simple really, because of the young talent we have in the majors and in our system.

Anyways, I want to focus on the off season in this post. The Pirates first move was to fire manager John Russell and most of his staff. After parting ways with their sixth manager since the streak began, the search started for a replacement. The Bucs looked at Eric Wedge, Bo Porter, and Jeff Banister. Still none of these guys seemed like the right fit for the job. Then on November 14th, 2010, a man named Clint Hurdle was  there to  take the job. Clint is an excellent baseball man and is  perfect for the situation our beloved Bucs are in. He works well with young players, he has been to the fall classic, and he has lots of experience as both a player and manager.  I have a  feeling he will fit in perfectly with our team concept.

Now that the manager and coaching staff were named, the Bucs had to look for ways to improve the team on the field. Enter Scott Olson, Kevin Correia, and Matt Diaz. Olson had a lot of trouble with the Washington Nationals but he thrived with the Florida Marlins. I can’t make heads or tails of this signing yet. Kevin Correia is a good pickup in my opinion, he is an upgrade over what we had in Duke, plus he had a good 2009 season and he was doing good last year before a tragedy in his family. Matt Diaz is a 335 hitter against lefties and he would be a PERFECT fit in a platoon role with Jones in right field. I liked this signing most of all, but we shall see what happens the rest of the offseason.

Until next time, good luck, God Bless, and lets go Bucs!!!

Here we go again

Just when things were looking up, BOOM! The first place Padres come into town and send us into another tailspin. Friday’s game featured a blown call by the umpire and the Bucs fell behind 4-0. They battled back but the Padres used their great pitching to hold on for a 5-3 win. Saturday was the opposite as the Bucs fought hard for five innings and had a 2-1 lead. Then the Padres had a three run sixth and a five run eighth on route to a 9-2 win. Today’s game isn’t over but a 2-0 lead quickly turned to a 5-2 deficit thanks to bad luck and Brad Lincoln not being able to overcome it. Now we play the Rockies, Cardinals, Reds, and Rockies again. SO FOR THE LOVE OF GOD CAN WE HAVE SOME GOOD LUCK FOR A CHANGE?? HORSE SHOES, CLOVERS, RABBIT FEET! I don’t care what but something has to change. Until next time take care, God Bless, and lets go Bucs.

MIKE

What a fun series to watch!

After the first game of the four game series against the Brewers, it appeared the 3-1 loss was a sign that the offense had fallen asleep again. Then the very next night, the Bucs did something they had not done in 21 years: They had a nine run first inning and it appeared to be a blow out win. However, the Brewers decided to hit the ball too and they fought back but the Bucs held on for an 11-9 win. Pedro Alvarez was the star hitting a grand slam and a solo shot to help the Bucs to the win. It turns out that Pedro was just getting started as he hit two MORE home runs in game three of the series which was a 15-3 pounding by the Bucs. Pedro is now becoming the star we thought he would be. Game four saw no offensive explosion  but was a great game nevertheless. Sadly, the Brewers held on for a 3-2 win and a series split. Now the first place Padres come to town with the best pitching in the game. So can we win the series and secure a winning home stand, or will we be shut down? Until next time, take care, God bless, and lets go Bucs.

Mike

Growing Pains

As the All Star Break came, I saw my beloved Buccos drop three heart breakers to the hated Milwaukee Brewers. Although this came as no surprise seeing as the Pirates staggered into the break at 30-58 which was the worst record in the National League and second only to the Orioles. As I glanced over the schedule for the second half, I noticed that the Pirates had a home favored second half where they are a much better team. This includes  a ten game home stand to open it all up. Well three games have passed and the Pirates won two of three from the Astros to improve to 21-21 at PNC Park in 2010. While the road has been a living nightmare, the friendly confines of PNC have proved to take a liking to the black and gold. Lets look at some of the positives from the series against Houston shall we. The Pirates won twelve to six on Saturday night in front of a sold out crowd. Seventeen hits told the story as the Bucs had no problems with the Houston pitching. 30 year old rookie Erik Kratz made his major league debut a memorable one as he got his first hit, scored his first run and drove in his first run. Sunday’s game was never in doubt as the Bucs got a Cy Young caliber performance by Paul Maholm and the offense exploded again for nine runs on NINETEEN hits. Now those hated Brewers come in for four games and it will be interesting to see if the hitting can continue to produce. Pedro, Tabata, McCutchen, Cedeno, Jones, and company will have to back the pitching every step of the way. Until next time take care, God bless, and lets go Bucs.

Mike 

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