Rabbit! Rabbit! for May

As is customary on the first day of every month, all fans should proclaim "Rabbit! Rabbit!" for good luck.

A new feature here at newpiratesfan, that I will surely only follow up on once or twice more before tiring of the blogging thing once again, is a monthly review and preview.  For the review side, I will assess the Pirates hitting, pitching, and intangibles.  For the preview side, I'll take a look at the month ahead, giving a prediction of the month-end record.  I'm pretty much making this up as I go along, so let's review ...

Hitting

It's been pretty poor, save last night's explosion of 9 runs.  MLB rankings in AVG (27), OBP (29), SLG (27), and Runs (30) pretty much prove that.  Top to bottom:  Alex Presley has been solid leading off, though his .313 OBP needs improvement.  Jose Tabata had a brutal start, but hopefully is coming out of it, with a 364/391/455 line in his last seven games.  Andrew McCutchen has had just an OK start to the season.  His 302/351/372 line clearly shows he's getting on base, but with exactly zero triples or homers, is showing no power.  Garrett Jones has had a decent April, .265/.275/.510 being pretty close to our expectations.  He leads the team in OPS which is a bit surprising, and concerning. Neil Walker also had a horrific start, but could be heating up with a line 364/440/455 line in his last seven games.  And then there is Pedro Alvarez.  El Toro is leading the team in HR, RBI, SLG, has slowly gotten that batting average over the Mendoza Line and is starting to flash the 2010 version of Pedro we're all hoping for.  While on pace for over 200K's, we can stomach that as long as he stays on pace for 30+ HR.  Clint Barmes and Rod Barajas have sucked.  Casey McGehee and Michael McKenry are the only bench guys showing why they should be getting any playing time.

Pitching

It's been pretty awesome.  MLB ranks: ERA (3), HR allowed (2), WHIP (7), BAA (6).  Erik Bedard, James McDonald, Kevin Correia, Charlie Morton and A.J. Burnett all have ERA's under 3, which accounts for all but three of the Pirates' Games Started this year.  Bedard, McDonald and AJ in particular are flashing swing-and-miss stuff, something sorely lacking in Pittsburgh for a long time.  Jeff Karstens is on the shelf, his 4.50 ERA and .313 BAA the only blips on Ray Searage's staff.  The bullpen has been pretty good as well, led by Joel Hanrahan, Jason Grilli and Juan Cruz.

Intangibles

The Bucs had a pretty tough schedule to start the year, with games against all three 2011 NL division winners, and road games against the Dodgers and Giants.  They were able to weather the storm, and finish 10-12, just as I suspected they would after starting 2-4.  As always, Clint Hurdle has infuriated Bucco Nation with his propensity for bunting, but when your squad is only scoring 2.6 runs a game, you have to manufacture them somewhere.  Obviously the pitching is keeping the Bucs in games, and hopefully this early season toughness, along with learning from the collapse of last summer will keep them relevant all summer.

Looking Ahead to May

Lots of home games!  18 to be exact, versus only 10 on the road.

3 @ St. Louis Cardinals (prediction of 1 win and 2 losses)

3 vs Cincinnati Reds (2/1)

3 vs Washington Nationals (1/2)

3 vs Houston Astros (3/0)

2 @ Miami Marlins (2/0)

2 @ Washington Nationals (1/2)

3 @ Detroit Tigers (1/2)

3 vs New York Mets (2/1)

3 vs Chicago Cubs (1/2)

3 vs Cincinnati Reds (1/2)

This would give the Pirates a May record of 15-14, for a month-end 25-26.

Beat Em, Bucs!