In part two of analyzing the Pirates offseason, take a look at the guys the Pirates parted ways with. Good-byes: Oct. 20 Baltimore Orioles claim Vance Worley off waivers - Worley was a likable guy and very pleasant in the dealings I had with him, but it was clear that the Pirates were done waiting for him to show consistent promise as a starter. Worley had a trying season and saw his time as a starter with the Pirates end in Philadelphia, site of where he had some of his best pitching ... Read More
Pirates offseason analyzed: New additions
It has been a busy time all around baseball as the 2015 season is over and teams are trying to find the right pieces to make a run toward the 2016 World Series. The Pittsburgh Pirates are no different and have welcomed some faces, while saying goodbye to other ones. Hellos: Oct. 24 Pirates acquire Trevor Williams - This was a bizarre acquisition as this was later revealed to be compensation for the Pirates losing their "pitching guru" in Jim Benedict, someone whose opinion had high ... Read More
Pittsburgh Pirates could not wait for Charlie Morton to find consistency
Mere moments before the team's annual fan convention was to begin, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded starting pitcher Charlie Morton to the Philadelphia Phillies. Ostensibly, this move was made to release Morton's $8 million salary to pursue other avenues of filling their remaining needs. The move came as a bit of surprise to many. It's fair to look to Morton as one of the pillars of the team's radical change in embracing defensive shifting. Earning the nickname of "Ground Chuck," Morton was ... Read More
Pirates trade Morton to Phillies
Charlie Morton will be opening the season on the other side of Pennsylvania as the Pittsburgh Pirates dealt the right-handed pitcher to the Philadelphia Phillies for minor league pitcher David Whitehead. In seven seasons with the Pirates, Morton battled injuries and inconsistency going 41-62 with a 4.39 ERA. The former 95th overall pick in the 2002 Major League Draft by the Atlanta Braves made his professional debut in 2008 for the Braves before coming to Pittsburgh in a trade that sent Nate ... Read More
COLUMN: Hurdle to blame for Morton’s struggles
Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle admitted that Wednesday's game was important and handed the ball to Charlie Morton. Whoops. Morton made it through two-plus innings before Hurdle emphatically took him out of the game. Mind you, it was the most emphatic removal I have ever seen. The movement up the step was decisive and so was the long, exaggerated arm point to signal the pitching change. From the beginning, Morton looked tired and over-matched, this after having an additional day ... Read More
Pirates headed to wild card game with loss to Cardinals
Many Pittsburgh Pirates fans had not yet filed in their seats by the time Charlie Morton was removed from the game. A two-plus inning start from Morton ended the Pirates chances of winning the National League Central as they lost 11-1 Wednesday night to the St. Louis Cardinals. “This is a game I want to come in and win," Morton said. "Folks showed up and everyone was excited and I gave it up. It’s just heartbreaking.” Morton [9-9] made his second shortest start of the season behind only ... Read More
Pirates pregame 9/30: Let’s play two part deux
The Pittsburgh Pirates are in must-win situation if it wants to keep its National League Central hopes alive. The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Pirates by a 3-0 score Monday night and reducing its magic number to two meaning a win in either doubleheader game would result in the NL Central title. “We’ve been in a footrace the entire year, and I don’t think we’re scared of who’s behind us, we just go out and play hard," Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal said. The Pirates are not panicking ... Read More
Pirates allow six runs in fifth; lose to Cubs
Scoring four or more runs is normally a winning recipe for the Pittsburgh Pirates as the team entered play 69-13 when accomplishing this, however the Chicago Cubs were able to overcome this for a 9-6 victory Sunday afternoon. “If you come on the short end you want other teams to beat you," manager Clint Hurdle said. "We continued to get in our way. We didn’t play a very good game and we’ve been outplayed these past three games.” The game's result also was coupled with a left knee injury ... Read More
Pirates pregame 9/17: Former reliever gives Watson valuable advice
The Pittsburgh Pirates will look to win its afternoon contest Thursday afternoon against the Chicago Cubs. If the Pirates do win it will avoid losing its first four-game series of the season. This afternoon, Charlie Morton will face Kyle Hendricks. Morton is 3-5 with a 4.71 ERA in 13 career starts against the Cubs. Morton won his last start, snapping a three-game losing streak. In the start, Morton allowed two runs on three hits over six innings of work against the Milwaukee ... Read More
Stewart uses head to help Pirates win
Chris Stewart offered a point to the head on three different occasions for the Pittsburgh Pirates and twice, runs were scored. “That’s just for everybody, I want to let them know that it’s a smart hit," Stewart said. "The more smart hitting we do, the more runs we had. I did it a little bit last year but people are getting into this year. It’s a lot of fun but at the same time it gets a lot of runs across.” Because of this and a reluctance to give in to Milwaukee Brewers starter Jimmy ... Read More